Ahmadinejad gives Chavez Iran's highest medal

Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bestowed Hugo Chavez with the Islamic Republic Medal,

"The medal was awarded as an expression of gratitude for Chavez's support for Iran's stance on the international scene, especially its opposition to a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency," Iran's state-run television said.

"He is the one who has resisted imperialism for years and has defended the interests of his and other Latin American countries," Ahmadinejad said, according to AP.

Team JCA - Joint Chavez Aircraft

Congressional staff who follow Venezuela are having fun watching EADS North America CEO Ralph Crosby squirm over EADS CASA's $600 million sale of military aircraft to Hugo Chavez.

Some staffers say that Crosby denied that the deal would go through - at the very time his parent company in Europe was accepting Venezuela's cash deposits for the plane.

Now, Crosby is facing the embarrassment of having to explain why he made such a denial when Venezuelan Defense Minister Raul Baduel says the deal's still on.

EADS CASA is lobbying hard to sell the exact same planes to the US to serve as the new Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA). It even has a new front group - "Team JCA" - designed to make the EADS CASA-led consortium look more American, by putting junior partner Raytheon front and center.

Some wags on Capitol Hill are saying "Team JCA" is for "Joint Chavez Aircraft" and are circulating a satirical picture montage, shown above, of Crosby and Chavez.

Critics of EADS CASA's help for Chavez set up their own satirical website, TeamJCA.org.

EADS CASA still working with Chavez regime to circumvent US law, Baduel affirms

EADS CASA and the Spanish government continue to work closely with the Chavez regime to circumvent US nonproliferation law.

That's what Venezuelan Defense Minister Raul Baduel affirmed in a July 28 news conference. EADS CASA and Spain are working hard to replace all American-made components from the planes they are selling the regime to get around the US International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) law designed to stop weapons proliferation to "bad actors" abroad.

"The Defense Minister said in a news conference that EADS CASA and the Venezuelan government agreed to maintain the acquisition of the ten C-29 transport planes and two C2-195 [sic] maritime patrol planes, with a 'margin that allows for alternatives in the substitution of components of non-European origin,'" AP reports in Spanish from Caracas.

Defense Minister says EADS CASA deal is still on track

The Venezuelan Defense Ministry has officially declared that the EADS CASA airplane deal is still on track.

A top military aide to Hugo Chavez had thrown the matter into confusion when he said the deal was off because the planes, shorn of their US-made components to circumvent American nonproliferation law, were becoming too expensive.

EADS CASA's sale of CN-235 and C-295 military patrol and transport planes has been an embarrassment for its lobbyists in Washington, who want to sell the same aircraft to the Pentagon to serve as the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA).

General Raúl Isías Baduel (pictured), Venezuela's minister of defense, announced at a July 28 news conference that "the negotiation that is proceeding with the Spanish enterprise [EADS CASA] is for 496 million euros for the purchase of ten C-295 medium-transport aircraft and two [CN-235] maritime patrol aircraft," Spain's ABC newspaper reports from Caracas.

According to the Spanish report, Baduel "indicated that the contract was 'certified by the contraloría [accounting tribunal] of the Ministry of Defense on the 28th of November of last year.' The minister added that the Spanish enterprise 'still has not presented the guarantees.' In saying that, he referred to two deposits of 20 percent, for a value of 99 million euros each."

Ayatollah Khameni and Chavez meet

During his visit to Iran, Hugo Chavez met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, where they "exchanged talks of bilateral and international interest," the Cuban Prensa Latina propaganda agency reports.

Venezuelan leader pledges unrestricted support for Iran

The Venezuelan regime has pledged unrestricted support for the Islamist regime in Iran.

Following formal talks, Hugo Chavez pledged that his government would "stay by Iran at any time under any condition," AP reports, citing Iranian state television.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke effusively about Chavez: "I feel I have met a brother and a trench mate after meeting Chavez," Ahmadinejad said in the state TV report. "We think Iran and Venezuela should share all experiences of each other, stay by each other and they have to be supporters of each other."

"We do not have any limitation in cooperation," Ahmadinejad said. "Iran and Venezuela are next to each other and supporters of each other. Chavez is a source of a progressive and revolutionary current in South America and his stance in restricting imperialism is tangible."

Chavez plans to export assault rifles to Bolivia

Hugo Chavez shed light on why he wanted to build Russian-style Kalashnikov assault rifles in Venezuela, rather than buy them on the international market. He intends to export the weapons to prop up other revolutionary regimes.

"Chavez said . . . Venezuela could eventually export guns and ammunition to Bolivia and other allies once it opens a factory to make Russian-developed Kalashnikov rifles under license," AP reports from Qatar.

Chavez accused Washington of "threatening" to stop providing replacement parts for Bolivian military hardware and said that he would arm the revolutionary Evo Morales government.

He said he would use the pretext of a US arms cutoff to Bolivia: "we could supply Bolivia . . . and other friendly countries that also require a minimal level of defense."

"Maybe in the future we'll become an [arms] exporting country," Chavez said.

Venezuela confirms EADS CASA still trying to circumvent US law

EADS CASA is still searching for non-US parts to replace American components in the 12 military aircraft it is selling the Chavez regime, according to the Venezuelan Embassy in Madrid.

The part-switching is intended to circumvent US nonproliferation law.

Spain's EFE news service reports that "There is no decision by the Venezuelan government about cancelation of those [EADS CASA] contracts, and the purchasing decision remains, but they are searching for the components that will substitute the ones initially in those airplanes," a Venezuelan Embassy official said.

Chavez aide: US killed EADS CASA deal

A military advisor to Hugo Chavez says the United States killed the deal in which the European defense conglomerate EADS CASA was to have provided the Chavez regime with military patrol and transport aircraft.

Gen. Alberto Muller tells AP that the deal "was canceled because the United States canceled it." Muller said the cost of replacing the American-made parts to circumvent US law made the costs prohibitively high.

EADS CASA is relying on the United States to contract it to build the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA), using the same planes the company had hoped to sell to Chavez. The multibillion-dollar JCA contract would effectively subsidize the losses that EADS CASA would have incurred in circumventing US nonproliferation law and breaking the US military embargo on Caracas.

As it did with EADS CASA, Washington asked Russia not to sell planes

Just as it did with the EADS CASA sale of military patrol and transport aircraft, the United States has asked Russia not to sell warplanes to the Venezuelan regime.

"We repeatedly talked to the Russian government that the arms purchases planned by Venezuela exceeded its defensive needs and are not helpful in terms of regional stability," State Department spokesman Tom Casey tells reporters, according to Reuters. "We certainly hope that Russia will reconsider."

Colombian narcoterrorists offer to fight US for Bolivarian regime

Colombia's FARC narcoterrorists have offered to fight the United States in defense of the Chavez regime.

"Count on us if the hawks of Washington come to attack the brave people, those who embody the hopes of our continent in their revolution," said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in a statement to the congress of the Venezuelan COmmunist Party, according to the Associated Press.

Iranians organize 'Hands Off Venezuela' campaign

An international "Hands Off Venezuela" campaign is now operational in Iran.

"Our task in this campaign is, on the one hand, to support the Bolivarian revolution and create solidarity between the workers and youth of Iran with the workers and youth of Venezuela, and to expose the conspiracies of the American government against this revolution," according to Vheadline.com, a Chavez propaganda outlet.

Vheadline.com says the campaign was started in 2002 by a website called "In Defense of Marxism."

Belarus dictator proclaims solidarity with Chavez

Europe's "last dictator" proclaimed solidarity with Hugo Chavez after the Venezuelan strongman's two-day visit to Minsk.

"They are trying to impose on us an alien ideology and morals, pseudo-economic reforms resulting in the population growing poor for the sake of a bunch of fat cats," said Belarusan leader Aleksandr Lukashenko said of the United States.

"Lukashenko . . . said Belarus and Venezuela had many common interests and one main goal: to raise their living standards and ensure peaceful conditions to implement creative plans," according to RIA-Novosti.

"He said when people opposed this tendency, the country was usually accused of a lack of democracy and human rights abuses."

Standing with Lukashenko, Chavez said, "After a day of intensive work, we have created a strategic alliance between our countries," Reuters reports. "It is absolutely vital to protect our homeland, to guard against internal and external threats."

"The jaws of imperialism and hegemonism have both us and Belarus in their grip."

Another Spanish firm plans to circumvent US arms embargo

Another Spanish boatmaker planning to circumvent the US arms embargo on the Chavez regime.

Rodman Polyships is building 31 high-speed patrol boats to serve as what the pro-government El Universal calls "surveillance, security and salvage ships." The deal is worth $199 million and the boats' US navigational components will be replaced by Japanese and European instruments.

According to Defense Industry Daily, "The boats will reportedly be 30, 20 and 17 meters long (approx. 100, 75, and 55 feet). In order to avoid the US ITAR arms export regulations that appear to have killed the deal for EADS-CASA aircraft, they will reportedly use European and Japanese navigation and communication equipment that does not fall under such regulations."

While known for its composite-hulled yachts and pleasure craft, Rodman Poliships says that one of its specialties is building "paramilitary" boats.

The boats are well-suited for Venezuela's diverse coastline, estuaries and rivers. The high-powered vessels can be converted effectively into maneuverable gunships and serve other military purposes with little modification. According to the article, the Spanish company may also transfer composite construction technology to Venezuela.

Venezuela, Cuba and Belarus to hold international tribunal against Bush

"Last month Adan Chavez, Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba and brother of the president, visited Minsk and proposed to set up a common front against the United States and hold an international conference to establish a tribunal to judge United States President George W. Bush," El Universal reports.

Cuba, East Germany and the Soviet Union sponsored similar tribunals in past decades to serve as propaganda events against the United States and its allies. A favored Cuban event was the "Youth Accuse Imperialism" tribunal.

Chavez says he wants to copy Belarus model

On signing his "pact of unity" with Belarusan dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko, Chavez says that Venezuela's manufacturing, technology, mining, petrochemical, educational and other needs can be met through partnerships with places like Belarus.

The Belarus pact will satisfy "the needs of the people and not the capitalist interests, hegemons, neither of Europe nor of America nor of anywhere else," Chavez announces.

Belarus, he says in Spanish-language Associated Press coverage, "is a social model that we are starting to create."

Chavez signs 'pact of unity' with Belarus dictator

Visiting Minsk on his way to Moscow, Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez signed what he called a "pact of unity" with Belarusan dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko (pictured).

"Here we have some true brothers who don't want to colonize us, nor cheat us, nor exploit us," Chavez said on his arrival in the Belarusan capital. He announced that he was meeting with Lukashenko to "seal a pact of unity."

Even the European Union has anathematized Lukashenko as Europe's "last dictator."

Chavez calls Lukashenko 'a new friend'

"Here, I've got a new friend and together we'll form a team, a go-ahead team," Chavez says about Lukashenko in public comments before a private meeting.

"I thank you, Alexander, for solidarity and we've come here to demonstrate our solidarity."

Lukashenko returned the praise, Moscow's Pravda reports, calling Chavez "a man of extensive knowledge."

Russians say Chavez will have most powerful air force in Latin America

Russian military aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi has announced a billion-dollar deal to sell Venezuela 24 high-performance Su-30MK2 fighter jets, the quasi-official RIA-Novosti agency reports.

The sale will give Hugo Chavez the most advanced air force in Latin America, according to the report, issued in Russian and Spanish. Europe's EADS CASA is providing Chavez with advanced transport planes to allow the regime to mobilize troops and supplies throughout the country and abroad.

The Su-30MK2 is an advanced multi-role fighter, at least a generation ahead of other combat aircraft in South America.

"Just a couple years ago, we could never dream about selling combat aircraft to Latin America, with the exception of Peru and Cuba that have them from Soviet times," says Ruslan Rukhov, director of the Russian Center for Strategic and Technological Analysis. Rukhov calls the Venezuela sale "a historic advance."

White House curiously silent about Senators' letter

President George W. Bush has not responded to four US senators who expressed concern about the European sale of military transport aircraft to Venezuela.

A spokesman for Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida, pictured) tells El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language paper of the Miami Herald, that the White House has not replied to the letter, sent six weeks earlier on June 5.

The silence is odd, as the administration pulled out all the stops to prevent EADS CASA from modernizing Chavez's military forces.

El Nuevo Herald credited this blogger with writing an article that formed the "root" of the senators' complaint.

To read the senators' letter, click here.

Russian analyst sees anti-US agenda behind Sukhoi sale

Russia's sale of advanced fighter jets to Venezuela is not simply a commercial matter, according to a prominent Russian analyst.

"The sale of warplanes in such important quantities cannot be interpreted as strictly commercial and has political undertones," RIA-Novosti reports, citing Boris Shmelov of Moscow's Center for Comparative Political Studies.

"Latin America is living a series of complicated social processes that have brought the rise of the left, of anti-American orientation, and President Chavez acts as the standard-bearer of these forces who search for weapon alternatives to the US.

"Ultimately, the US is resisting to recognize the interests of Russia in the post-Soviet space," such as the right to sell arms to countries to countries "like Venezuela, that belong traditionally to the zone of American interests in terms of national security," Shmelov says in the report.

Sukhoi and EADS CASA deals nearly equal for Chavez air force

Russia's Sukhoi and Europe's EADS CASA military aircraft companies are about neck-in-neck as the largest suppliers of warplanes to the Chavez regime.

The sale of high performance Sukhoi fighter jets and relatively low-tech EADS CASA CN-235 and C-295 troop and cargo transport craft are roughly of similar size. The Sukhoi deal is worth up to $1 billion, and the EADS CASA deal, depending on the source, ranges from $800 million to $1.2 billion.

Press group says media freedoms are in danger

Press freedoms in Venezuela are "worsening" as the country moves toward its December presidential election.

The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) released a report that describes how the Venezuelan government is slowly squeezing the opposition press, according to the BBC.

"A delegation from the Miami-based IAPA concluded a three-day visit to Venezuela, saying it had evidence of media workers being threatened or attacked by supporters of President Hugo Chavez," the BBC reports.

"The IAPA said the Venezuelan government was using the courts and legal reforms against journalists who were critical of it."

"The different branches of government appear to have a strategy to weaken the work of an independent press," IAPA President Diana Daniels told a press conference.

"We are worried that, far from improving press conditions in the country, freedom could be further restricted after the election."

EADS CASA unveils Joint Chavez Aircraft at British air show

The first C-295 Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) - dubbed "Joint Chavez Aircraft" by critics of the manufacturer's modernization of the Venezuelan military - has made its debut in Britain.

Over strong US objections, EADS CASA is selling 10 C-295s to Chavez, and is lobbying hard to sell the same planes to the Pentagon.

The Massachusetts-based defense contractor Raytheon sent out the news release announcing the debut, as part of EADS CASA's ongoing efforts in the US to make the plane look more American.

Raytheon is a minority player in EADS CASA's "Team JCA," but is prominently featured in US lobbying literature as if it was the main manufacturer of the planes.

Online activists for Venezuelan democracy are lampooning "Team JCA" as an oddball group of Spanish socialists who run the state-owned CASA airplane manufacturer, crooked French executives who until recently ran EADS, French President Jacques Chirac who represents the French government's partial ownership of EADS, Hugo Chavez and his generals, EADS North America CEO Ralph Crosby, and EADS CASA's main Capitol Hill advocate, Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama).

For a lighter look at Team JCA, click here.

Chavez spending spree creates new wealthy class

Venezuela's huge government sector, with a combination of huge oil revenues, massive spending and corruption, has created a new wealthy class that's buying expensive cars, yachts, aircraft - anything luxurious and almost always in cash.

The Miami Herald reports that the "bolibourgeoisie," the Bolivarian revolution's new rich, is spending money so fast that car dealers can't keep up with demand.

Record oil prices "and Chavez's efforts to weed out old money, which has generally opposed his policies, have opened the door for a new class of rich here -- bankers, oil contractors and others who have profited mightily from lavish government spending.

"Analysts say these nouveau riche are concentrated in the oil, finance, construction and government service industries, and that their riches likely come from their ties to a state overflowing with money as the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

"This wealth can only be explained by their connection to the government, because they became rich very quickly," says a former Central Bank official.

"They buy everything: watches, bags and pens, whatever," says a Montblanc store employee at a high-end Caracas mall. "And they only use cash, especially the military."

"But the boom has been accompanied by allegations of massive corruption, as it was in the 1970s," correspondent Steven Dudley reports from Caracas.

The former Central Bank official alleged in 2005 that corruption in the state-owned PDVSA oil company is so rampant that $4 billion has disappeared.

Chavez won't criticize Hezbollah; blames US for 'holocaust'

Commenting on Israel's response to Iranian-backed Hezbollah attacks, Hugo Chavez laid blame squarely on the United States.

He pointedly avoided condemning Hezbollah.

"The fundamental blame falls again on the U.S. empire. It's the empire that armed and supported the abuses of the Israeli elite, which has invaded, abused and defied the United Nations for a long time," Chavez said at a military event.

Russia, by contrast, is trying to be constructive, calling on Hezbollah to stop using terrorist tactics and to stop attacking across international borders.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov had tough words for both sides, but came down especially hard on Hezbollah and said that Russia is using its contacts with radical Muslims to try to prevent the violence from escalating.

Venezuela has given no indication that it would try to use its influence with Iran to rein in Hezbollah.

Protesters demand clean presidential vote

Pro-democracy protesters marched in Caracas Saturday to demand a clean voting process for December's presidential elections.

They took their protest across the capital to the office of the National Elections Council, which is stacked with Chavez loyalists and is widely believed to be engineering the process to impede viable opposition candidates.

Catholic bishops worry about Chavez's militarization

The Catholic Church is standing up to the militarization of Venezuelan society.

"Venezuela is seeing with astonishment and moral disapproval the promotion of a war-like environment and the militarization of society, including the creation of civilian militias," said Bishop Ovidio Perez, reading from a document listing the concerns of the Venezuelan bishops' conference.

Critics of the regime dismiss the dictator's constant denunciation of an impending American invasion as propaganda to "create the means to suppress internal dissent and defend Chavez's presidency at all costs," AP reports.

Chavez throws out Biblical quotes and claims he wants good ties to the church, but he has also called the Catholic bishops a "tumor."

The bishops also denounced the regime's political repression, or what they call "persecution and discrimination for reasons related to ideological discrepancies."

Venezuela no longer cooperating against terrorism

"Stepping up complaints that Venezuela isn't cooperating in the war on terrorism, US government officials say the country has provided no substantive response to about 130 written requests for information on terrorism suspects over the past three years," McClatchy newspapers are reporting.

"In addition, socialist President Hugo Chavez's government has turned down 20 written requests by the US Embassy in Caracas for interviews with senior Venezuelan counterterrorism authorities - without explanation, the US officials said," according to correspondent Pablo Bachelet.

"The refusals are fueling concerns that Venezuela, ruled by a president who's condemned the Bush administration while maintaining close ties with countries such as Cuba and Iran, is becoming a dangerous blind spot in international counterterrorism efforts."

The Voice of America reports Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of a terrorism panel, as saying, ""Venezuela under President Hugo Chavez has tolerated terrorists on its soil and has forged close relationships with officially-designated state sponsors of terrorism, for example Cuba, Iran and North Korea."

Pork-barrel earmarks will subsidize Chavez deal

A Homeland Security bill before the US Senate may be used by a European aircraft company to subsidize its military sale to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), pictured, is pushing the deal.

"While Senator Shelby has a record of putting national security interests first, EADS-CASA is attempting to change this by promising to build and service the planes at a new facility in his home state," says this blogger in a Yahoo.com/PRNewswire release.

I like and admire Senator Shelby, and he's a true patriot. But on this issue, he's unintentionally allowed a foreign company, partially owned by the French government, to muscle in on American politics as it joins the Russians in arming the Chavez regime.

"Pork-barrel promises are a proven tactic for foreign companies to gain leverage in America's national security policy process. EADS-CASA should not be allowed to use U.S. tax dollars to subsidize its deal with Chavez."

Chavez: 'Long live comrade Fidel'

Hugo Chavez reacted rashly to a US government commission report that Cuba is using Venezuelan petrodollars to subvert democracy in the Americas, pledging solidarity with "comrade Fidel."

The dictator called the report a "new imperialist threat" by planning for a post-Castro transition.

"They've publicized a plan of transition, they think Fidel is going to die," Chavez said in a July 11 televised statement.

"This is what I say to U.S. imperialism: Now is when Venezuela will support the Cuban revolution," Chavez added. "Long live Fidel - brother, comrade and partner!"

CITGO to stop selling gas to US stations; let's act while there's still time

CITGO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned PDVSA oil monopoly, will stop selling gasoline to 1,800 American gas stations, AP reports.

CITGO will stop selling gas to its stations in Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakota. It will also stop supplying many stations in Illinois, Texas, Arkansas and Iowa.

Though American patrons of CITGO have funneled $400,000,000 in royalties to the Chavez regime this year, the Venezuelans say they can do better by selling gasoline on the open market instead to CITGO stations. To meet demand in the US, CITGO must guy gasoline from third parties.

Venezuela is increasingly selling its petroleum products to China and other Asian countries.

As I recommended before, the US government should nationalize CITGO while it still has assets in this country, privatize the assets to American companies, and use the proceeds to fight Chavez-backed subversion in Latin America. Individual franchise owners would be protected.

Venezuela to build 2 Kalashnikov plants

Venezuela will build two Kalashnikov assault rifle factories, not one, as previously reported.

"They will not be joint ventures. Venezuela will acquire a license to make Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition in the next few years," an officer with Russia's Rosoboronexport tells Interfax. "They will not be joint ventures. Venezuela will acquire a license to make Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition in the next few years," the head of Rosoboronexport's exports and imports department Igor Sevastyanov said at an arms show, Interfax reported. " Dow Jones carries the story.

Chavez's troop transport chief crashes and burns in corruption scandal

The chief supplier of Chavez's new troop transport aircraft has been sacked over alleged corruption.

EADS, the parent of EADS CASA that is building CN-235 and C-295 cargo planes for the Venezuelan military, fired its French co-CEO in an alleged stock corruption scandal, Defense Industry Daily reports. The scandal concerns EADS CASA's civilian sister operation, Airbus.

Banana politics redux: Venezuela picks up Caribbean support

Barbados is backing Venezuela for a UN Security Council seat, saying it cannot support Guatemala because of that country's objectionable banana policies.

Radio Jamaica reports that Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur also objects to Guatemala because the Central American country has territorial issues with Belize, "and the region must take a position that will protect the territorial integrity of its members."

Arthur said nothing about Venezuela's territorial claims on neighboring Guyana.

The Barbados position is important because in the UN, as in the Organization of American States, the tiny island micro-states count as much as large countries.

The failure of the US to gain Barbados' opposition to Chavez shows how weak the United States has become diplomatically in its own front yard.

First Russian warplanes fly over Caracas

The first two of an anticipated 24 Russian Su-30 fighter jets are in Venezuela and have been practicing for a July 5 Caracas flyover to mark the country's independence from Spain.

Chavez is making a big show of his new Russian armaments, having invited assault rifle designer Mikhail Kalashnikov as a special guest at the military celebration.

The regime bought the Sukhois after the US refused to sell spare parts for its aging fleet of American-made F-16s.

Xinhua reports that Chavez sounded like a spoiled child who had been denied a favorite toy. He called his new Sukhois "100 times better than the F-16s that Venezuela bought from the United States."

As North Korean missiles fly, Chavez plans Pyongyang embassy in Caracas

Literally as North Korea fired long-range, nuclear-capable missiles into the Sea of Japan, reports emerged from Caracas that strongman Hugo Chavez plans to invite Kim Jong-il to open an embassy in the Venezuelan capital.

Chavez may also arrange an oil-for-arms deal with Pyongyang when he visits later this month, according to the World Tribune.

Chinese quote US ambassador pledging never to invade Venezuela

US Ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield is getting dragged into the regime's paranoid invasion propaganda.

Now Beijing's party-controlled media outlets are picking up on the theme. Today, Xinhua reports Brownfield as saying at a Fourth of July ceremony that the US "has never invaded Venezuela, is not invading the country at present, and will never invade."

"There is no chance of a U.S. invasion," he added.

That may be true. But the more US officials say such things, the more credibility they give the regime (and the Chinese).

A year after Chavez oil pact, Caribbean countries haven't seen a drop

"One year after 13 Caribbean countries signed a deal with Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, to buy oil under preferential terms, a majority of the nations have not received a single drop of fuel, while those that have are still seeing high retail prices," AP reports.

The deal, called Petrocaribe, has failed to help most of the countries evade high oil prices. Eight countries have received no Venezuelan fuel yet, mainly because their governments have no state-owned docking or storage facilities, and lack the knowledge and expertise to run an oil company, according to AP.

Venezuela's deal is a government-to-government arrangement that cut out the private sector.

Chavez seen stripping BP of its oil rights

British Petroleum is losing its valuable oil rights in Venezuela, as the Bolivarian regime forces the company to surrender its production to state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Chavez has placed PDVSA under his personal political control.

BP is believed to have lost two-thirds of its production in three Venezuelan fields, and might lose again in another field, The Independent reports.