by the El Reportero’s news services
Hugo Chávez
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez denounced that U.S. military bases in Colombia are threatening the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) bloc. Colombia–EE.UU.: El nuevo pacto A letter Chávez addressed to his UNASUR peers was published on Sunday by El Nuevo Diario of Nicaragua.
In his letter, Chavez said everything is part of a political military plan orchestrated by Washington against UNASUR.
He also warned the military bases pose a threat to the region’s natural resources (oil, mining and the Amazonia forest).
According to Chavez, Colombia’s claims to allow the United States use its military bases and deploy troops in the South American nation are a real threat to peace and to Venezuela’s sovereignty.
Chavez’s letter was published on Sunday in several Latin American newspapers, sources from the Venezuelan embassy in Managua said.
Bolivia’s Morales accuses the right
On 13 August the police tentatively concluded that the two bombs that exploded on 12 August were linked. The terrorist attacks come just as the country is starting to gear up for general elections on 6 December. President Evo Morales lost little time in accusing his opponents on the Right of “hiring Peruvian gunmen” to perpetrate the attacks. This was an allusion to the arrest earlier this week of three Peruvians (and 20 Bolivians) with telescopic rifles in Cochabamba.
Castro to Cubans – “Yes, we can!”
On July 26, at a ceremony in Holguín to mark the 56th anniversary of the attack of the Moncada barracks, President Raúl Castro trotted out well-worn symbols of nationalist pride in an effort to urge Cubans to get to work, above all on the land, in order to confront the serious economic crisis facing the country. He insisted that Cubans together must take responsibility for the situation.
A few days later, in an August 1 speech to the national assembly, he was less conciliatory, condemning an “irresponsible attitude of consumption”, stating that “unsustainable spending” which, he said, made some people “impervious to work” would be pared back and warning that Cuba could not “eat socialism” before it had been fully constructed.
Venezuela to expand education
After the enactment of the Education Bill, Venezuela on Sunday enters a new stage in its drive to guarantee Venezuelans from all walks of life free access to education.
President Hugo Chávez on Saturday signed the bill that had been passed by Parliament early in the morning, despite attempts against it by the opposition, the private school system, the media, and the national Catholic hierarchy.
The bill does not eliminate private schools or prohibit religion teaching, but get it out of the curriculum.
The State can now supervise resources delivered to public universities, a mechanism that does not protect university autonomy and that, according to accusations, favored corruption and embezzled resources.
To guarantee education funds, the law establishes that the State will allot the sector a priority share of the Gross Domestic Product.
Why is Brazil doing so much better than Mexico
The region’s two big economies are facing very different prospects over the next 18 months. Brazil is increasingly confident that it is emerging from the global economic crisis while Mexico is far from sure that the worst of its economic crisis is over, despite claims from the government to the contrary. (Latin news and Prensa Latina contributed with this report).
