Rep. Lantos assails Chavez regime

The seniormost Democratic foreign policy authority in the US House of Representatives assailed the Chavez regime for a wide range of abuses.

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Cal.) fired both barrels at Caracas during a recent hearing on democracy in Latin America. He assailed the Venezuelan democratic process as reminiscent of that of the Soviet Union.

"Democracy’s foundations have been systematically undermined by a demagogic leader [Chavez], bent on opposing democratic values and interests," Lantos said. "To the discerning observer, the facade of democracy Chavez has erected cannot hide the destruction he has brought on democratic principles and fundamental freedoms."

"Candidates subservient to Chavez won every seat just like the old Soviet elections," the lawmaker stated.

"Chavez has created a one party state with his authoritarian regime consolidated. Chavez turned his attention and his country’s considerable oil wealth to increasing his stature at the expense of his Latin American neighbors and our own [US] national interests," Lantos continued.

"To insure the recently elected and soon to be elected Presidents of Latin America are not pressured into accepting the oil slick promises of dictators with dollars, we must reengage with the region."

Lantos was one of several US congressmen whom Chavez barred from the country last November during the signing ceremony with Spain to buy EADS CASA cargo planes. While the lawmakers were being harassed at Caracas airport, EADS CASA lobbyists in Washington pressed Congress to earmark money for two planes for the US Coast Guard.

Caracas denies buying North Korean weapons

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez denies reports that dictator Hugo Chavez plans to buy military technology during his upcoming visit to North Korea.

"No discussions whatsoever have been held with Korea concerning military technology," Rodríguez tells reporters, according to El Universal.

French politics could determine EADS leadership

French politics could determine the leadership of Hugo Chavez's military transport aircraft provider, EADS.

Partly owned by the French government, EADS is selling Chavez more than $1 billion worth of CN-235 and C-295 military cargo planes, over the strong objections of the United States.

EADS is trying to sell the same planes to the Pentagon as the new Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA).

EADS Chief Executive Noël Forgeard, a former advisor to French President Jacques Chirac, is embroiled in a scandal after he sold millions of dollars worth of EADS stock shortly before the share value tanked in March.

Chirac helped Forgeard become EADS executive.

Forgeard needs the backing of anti-US prime minister Dominique Villepin to stay at the helm of EADS, according to London's Daily Telegraph.

Iran to invest $9 billion in Chavez

The Iranian government is set to invest $9 billion in the Chavez regime, paying for 125 industrial and development projects across Venezuela.

"Western diplomats in the region are clearly uneasy about Iran establishing a commercial beachhead in Venezuela, fearing the Islamic Republic's designs in the region may not be strictly business. Some have said that Iran's increasing links with Venezuela already have helped make the South American country a center of intrigue," the Los Angeles Times reports.

Venezuelan officials say they have "a lot to learn from Iran's formation of its many socialist cooperatives, a central part of the new economic model being followed by President Hugo Chavez."

Wall Street Journal: A UN vote for Venezuela is a vote for Iran

Naming Venezuela to the UN Security Council is the same as naming Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has made it clear that when it comes to geopolitics, his preferences lie with hostile states like Iran, Cuba, Sudan and North Korea," writes WSJ columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady. If the UN gives Venezuela the Latin American seat on the Security Council, she says, it will effectively be giving it to Iran.

Al Jazeera: Iran views Venezuela as anti-US ally

"After boosting its relations with Arab countries like Syria and Iraq, and with groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran is currently seeking political and economic cooperation with a number of other states - like Venezuela, Sudan and Cuba - as part of a series of calculated foreign policy moves aimed at exacerbating an already tense stand-off with the Bush administration over its nuclear program," Al Jazeera reports in a story titled, "Iran forging alliances against the US."

Caracas denies it will disrupt UN Security Council

Ali Rodriguez, the former Maoist terrorist who is now Venezuela's foreign minister, strenuously denies that his government would be a disruptive presence on the United Nations Security Council.

"We will use our position there to support peace in the world and refuse all kinds of attacks on peaceful countries," Rodriguez tells the BBC.

The US is trying to prevent Venezuela from assuming a rotating membership on the UN Security Council.

When Venezuela headed OPEC, Rodriguez tried but failed to steer the oil cartel down a militantly anti-US course.

Chavez talks of sinking US aircraft carrier

Hugo Chavez publicly fantasized about sinking an American aircaft carrier in the Caribbean with new Sukhoi fighter jets that he is buying from Russia.

Sukhoi joins EADS CASA as Chavez's principal supplier of warplanes.

"Chavez said he could imagine a Sukhoi fighter jet launching a missile at an invading US aircraft carrier anchored off La Guaira, a seaport located along Venezuela's Caribbean coast, from skies above the central city of Valencia," the Associated Press reports.

In his June 14 comments the dictator announced he purchased 24 Su-30 fighters from Russia, and is considering buying the upgraded Su-35.

How EADS CASA looks in Congress

EADS CASA's Venezuelan tar baby is earning derision on Capitol Hill, with some insiders laughing at the company's last-minute attempts to distance itself from its paying customer, Hugo Chavez.

Two weeks after inking a controversial military transport deal with Venezuela over high-level US opposition, EADS CASA lobbyists reassure policymakers in Washington that the deal to provide Chavez with CN-235 and C-295 aircraft won't go through.

Policymakers don't know what to believe. EADS CASA, considered a reliable foreign defense partner until the Venezuela deal, is becoming known in Washington as EADS CHAVEZ.

EADS-CASA tries to neutralize senators' letter to Bush

EADS CASA is sending its big guns around Capitol Hill today, putting the squeeze on senators who signed the June 5 letter to President George W. Bush, urging him to crack down on foreign defense companies that help arm the Venezuelan dictatorship.

EADS CASA has been trying to have it both ways: participating in Hugo Chavez's anti-US propaganda campaign as part of its sale to Caracas, while lobbying the US Congress for money to buy the same planes.

The company's latest line: The Chavez deal won't go through because EADS CASA can't remove all the American technology aboard the controversial CN-235 and C-295 cargo aircraft.

Cuba advises Venezuela on airport security

The Cuban government is helping Venezuela with its airport certification process to comply with guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), El Universal reports. Cuban technicians will help Venezuela comply with international airport security requirements.

Hugo's excellent adventure: Chavez to visit 3 state sponsors of terrorism plus Russia and China

The Venezuelan dictator has added three state sponsors of terrorism to his upcoming trip to Russia and China, plus a symbolically significant side trip to Vietnam. The trip includes stops in Iran, Syria and North Korea.

Russia offers Venezuela 'a wide variety of advanced weaponry'

"Russia is planning to increase sales of military hardware in Venezuela by offering the Latin American country a wide variety of advanced weaponry," Russia's Novosti information agency reports. The state-controlled Rosoboronexport arms export agency says Moscow will focus on selling high-performance jet combat aircraft and the Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopter.

Russia to give Venezuela license to manufacture Kalashnikovs

Venezuela may soon build its own factory to manufacture Russian-designed Kalashikov assault rifles.

Leader Hugo Chavez announced an official visit to Moscow next week, when he will sign the deal, Cuba's Prensa Latina propaganda agency reports.

Senators tell Bush they're upset by Spanish aircraft sale

A bipartisan group of senators has told President George W. Bush that Spain's sale of military transport aircraft to Venezuela "threatens to undermine the U.S. ban and weaken democratic stability in the region."

"Spain's decision is all the more troubling in light of Mr. Chavez's recent threat to sell advanced weaponry to Iran," the senators said.

The senators are:

* Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security;
* Bill Nelson (D-FL); member, Senate Armed Services Committee;
* Johnny Isakson (R-GA); member, Senate Veterans Affairs Committee;
* Rick Santorum (R-PA); Chairman, Senate Republican Conference.

(Click on the senators' letter for a larger copy of the image.)

Senators singled out European EADS-CASA for aiding Chavez

In a "Dear Colleague" letter inviting other lawmakers to sign the message to Bush, Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) explicitly cited the "Spanish-owned Construcciones Aeronauticas SA (CASA)" company, part of the French-German EADS consortium, which is selling CN-235 and CN-295 troop transports to the Chavez regime.

"This case underscores the need to establish a comprehensive policy that holds foreign military suppliers accountable for cooperating with hostile regimes that compromise US security," Kyl said.

The letter, titled "Coordinating Policy Toward Venezuela," states:

"In November 2005, the Spanish government finalized a $1.3 billion deal to supply the Hugo Chavez regime with military supply boats and aircraft. Despite objections by the Bush administration, Spanish-owned Construcciones Aeronauticas SA (CASA) proceeded with the sale, removing US components from the aircraft so the US could not use the International Trade in Arms Regulations to block the sale. President Chavez welcomed Spain's decision to proceed with the deal, characterizing the sale as 'confronting the hegemonic and imperialist ambitions of the elite that now governs the United States.'

"This case underscores the need to establish a comprehensive policy that holds foreign military suppliers accountable for cooperating with hostile regiems that compromise US security. The attached letter expresses support for the Bush administration's effort to prevent the sale, and urges the development and implementation of a new policy that encourages allied cooperation in dealing with the threat posed by the Chavez regime."

(Click on Senator Kyl's letter for a larger image.)

EADS says it won't violate US export laws . . .

Finally caught in the act, EADS tries to reassure US lawmakers that it won't violate any American export laws in its sale of military aircraft to Venezuela - while its CASA subsidiary works frantically behind the scenes to replace American-made engines to circumvent (and therefore not violate) those laws.

According to The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper, EADS "has said repeatedly that it will not violate US export laws and regulations. EADS Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders recently reaffirmed that the company will not do any deal that harms its opportunities in the United States, a company official said.

"EADS says the [Chavez] deal has always been a 'country-to-country issue.' It is not clear how much the company stands to profit from it."

. . . while it strips out US parts to circumvent US law

EADS-CASA is trying to find alternative engines for the CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft it is selling the Chavez regime in Venezuela.

Because the US opposes the sale on national security grounds, EADS-CASA has been trying to circumvent US law by replacing nearly five dozen American-made parts in the CN-235 and C-295 planes bound for Chavez.

EADS-CASA risks losing the contract if it can't get rid of all the made-in-America components and find suitable substitutes. Russia's Antonov aircraft company could take EADS-CASA's place.

Today, Flight International is reporting, "Additional Antonov models could be considered if a delayed deal with EADS CASA for 10 C-295 transports and two CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft falls through.

"The Venezuelan navy says the company has found replacements for the majority of US-sourced equipment, but that their engines pose a major stumbling block."

EADS-CASA en route to Caracas for parts-stripping brief

A group of EADS-CASA officials will travel to Caracas give the Chavez regime a progress report on how it is trying to circumvent US law.

The brief is about how successfully EADS-CASA is stripping US-made parts from the CN-235 and C-295 (pictured) military aircraft it is building for Chavez.

Covering Hugo Chavez's arms-buying visit to Moscow, Pravda reports, "EADS-CASA is now working to replace the American parts with European technology. A delegation from the company will travel to Venezuela to give the government a status report on the overhaul, Europa Press reported Thursday, citing Venezuelan Ambassador Arevalo Mendez."

Brazil backs Venezuela for UN Security Council seat

The Brazilian government is backing Venezuela as a rotating member of the United Nations Security Council. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim says that "it is only natural" that Brazil would side with its northern neighbor, and not with Guatemala, the other country vying for the Latin America slot.

The US is backing Guatemala as a member. Amorim made the statement after a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick. (MercoPress)

Chavez says he is 'not planning' to attack other countries

Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez says he is not planning to attack other countries, according to the Cuban propaganda agency Prensa Latina.

"We will not attack anyone but no one must attack us either," said Chavez, in reference to Sunday's arrival of 30,000 Russian-made assault rifles.

Human rights group says it's not allowed in Venezuela

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR) issues a report to the Organization of American States, saying that it has not been allowed to operate in Venezuela since 2002. The IAHCR says it paid "special attention to the conditions related to justice administration" under Chavez, and is concerned about civilians being tried in military courts. (El Universal)

Russian fighters may arrive in July, Chavez claims

"I'm going to tell you something in advance. It's very probable. . . that on July 5 Sukhoi planes will be crossing the skies of Caracas," Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez says, according to the Chinese Xinhua "news" agency.

Venezuela and Cuba not fighting human trafficking

Venezuela and Cuba are failing in their international obligations to fight the illegal trafficking of human beings, the US State Department reports. Belize is also cited as the hemisphere's third "Tier 3" violator, in the new 2006 Trafficking In Persons Report.

Chavez defends Iran's nuclear program

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, stating plans for a visit to Teheran, says he hopes to expand ties with Iran, and voices support for "Iran's inalienable right to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." (Islamic Republic News Agency)

Separately, Iran announced that its state-owned oil company Petropars will start operations in Venezuela. (Islamic Republic News Agency)

Cubans report arrival of first 30,000 assault rifles

The first shipment of 30,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles arrived in Venezuela on June 4, the Cuban propaganda agency Prensa Latina reports.

Peru defeats Venezuela's 'backward looking model'

Peruvians rejected Venezuelan interference in their electoral process, routing an extremist candidate openly backed by the Caracas regime.

"Today, Peru has sent a message of national sovereignty and has defeated efforts by Hugo Chavez to incorporate us in the expansion strategy of his military and backward-looking model, which he's tried to implant in Latin America," the apparent president-elect, Alan Garcia, said after exit polls showed him winning. (Reuters)

Garcia, who had been president before, is a democratic leftist whose legacy of economic failure and corruption made him an unlikely victor against Venezuelan-backed radical Ollanta Humala.

Peru nearly severed diplomatic relations with Caracas earlier this year after accusing the Chavez regime of sponsoring political subversion on behalf of Humala.

Thousands of Venezuelan troops mass on Colombian border

Following the landslide re-election of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Venezuela is increasing its troop strength along the Colombian border by a factor of six, AP reports.

Meanwhile, the regime becomes more shrill about having to defend itself against a US invasion.

Currently, about 1,000 troops patrol the 1,300 mile border, but Caracas is upping the strength to at least 6,000, citing problems with trafficking, paramilitary groups and Yankee invasion plots.

The regime said nothing about using its troops to stop communist FARC narcoterrorist infiltration from their safe havens in Venezuela to launch attacks in Colombia.

Spain is helping Venezuela improve its troop mobility by selling CASA transport aircraft (pictured) - despite official, high-level US opposition. Spain and CASA are currently lobbying the US Congress to buy the same planes for the Coast Guard and Pentagon.

Venezuela & Iran plot to support euro against dollar

Following Iran's lead, Venezuela is attempting to use its oil wealth to weaken the dollar and make the euro - the currency of the regime's strongest western ally, Spain - the preferred international medium of exchange.

Meeting in Caracas, OPEC ministers rebuffed the Venezuelan strongman's push to dump the dollar and denominate the cartel's oil in euros, according to the Financial Times.

OPEC unites against Venezuelan extremism

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is uniting against the latest Venezuelan attempts to use the oil cartel as a weapon against the US and its traditional allies.

OPEC's move is a double embarrassment to dictator Hugo Chavez, because the rebuke occurred on Venezuelan soil.

Meeting in Caracas, OPEC ministers quietly but firmly dismissed their host's attempt to cut oil production drastically in an effort to cause a price spike, the Financial Times reports.

According to FT, the Venezuelan dictator "angered OPEC ministers with anti-US rhetoric as they united against him in rejecting his call to cut the oil cartel’s production."

Chavez says he's friends with terrorist 'Carlos the Jackal'

Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez created another controversy at the OPEC summit when he claimed to be friends with Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the 1970s Venezuelan terrorist known as 'Carlos the Jackal.'

'Carlos' led a bloody attack on OPEC leaders in 1975. A convert to Islam, he is imprisoned in France and has publicly praised al Qaeda for the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Moscow to build assault rifle factory in Venezuela

"Russia has agreed to build arms factories" in Venezuela, including a plant to manufacture assault rifles, the Telegraph reports in London.

"The Russians are going to install a Kalashnikov rifle plant and a munitions factory so we can defend every street, every hill, every corner," dictator Hugo Chavez announced during his recent visit to Moscow.