Hugo Chavez Condemns ‘Horrible Repression’ of Wall Street Protests

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez condemned on Saturday the “horrible repression” of anti-Wall Street protesters and termed a U.S. Republican presidential candidate “crazy” for his criticism of Cuba and Venezuela.

Although still convalescing from cancer surgery in June followed by four rounds of chemotherapy, the 57-year-old Venezuelan president is quickly returning to the tough rhetoric and strong views that have made him famous worldwide.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Chavez expressed solidarity with American activists who have been staging rallies and marches against what they view as corporate greed by Wall Street. » | ENRIQUE ANDRES PRETEL | REUTERS | Saturday, October 08, 2011

Hugo Chavez in Hospital 'for Kidney Failure'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Hugo Chavez, who has been fighting cancer, was rushed to a military hospital for emergency care following kidney failure, according to reports.

The leftist, staunchly anti-US stalwart Chavez went into the Military Hospital in Caracas on Tuesday morning, the report on the newspaper's website said, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the case.

"He was in fairly serious overall condition," a source told the Miami-based Spanish-language daily. "When he arrived, he was in quite serious shape and that is why he was brought in for emergency care." » | Thursday, September 29, 2011

Hugo Chávez Tells of Cancer Diagnosis

THE GUARDIAN: Venezuelan president describes surgery to remove a cancerous tumour, in his first television address since flying to Cuba

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, has finally returned to the public eye, describing in a nationwide address that doctors had diagnosed him with cancer, following furious speculation about the true state of his health.

In his first live appearance since undergoing emergency pelvic surgery in Cuba on 10 June, Chávez said doctors had removed "cancerous cells" from his body. "This [is] the new battle that life has placed before us," he said.

Flanked by a Venezuelan flag and a portrait of Simón Bolívar, the South American liberator, Chávez said he had committed a "fundamental mistake" in not taking better care of his own health.

"I neglected my health and I was reluctant to have medical check ups. It was a fundamental mistake for a revolutionary," he said, directing his speech "to the Venezuelan people and the international public opinion".

Chávez slipped off the radar at the start of June when he embarked on a tour of South America and subsequently underwent emergency pelvic surgery in Cuba.

In his Thursday night address, broadcast on national television, an unusually reserved looking Chávez who read rather than improvised his speech, said Cuban doctors had detected "a strange formation in the pelvic region" following the first round of surgery.

During a second operation they found "cancerous cells", he said, without specifying which kind of cancer had been detected. » | Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro and Virginia Lopez in Caracas | Friday, July 01, 2011

Hugo Chavez in 'Critical' Condition in Cuban Hospital

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Hugo Chavez, the radical left-wing Venezuelan president, is reported to be in a "critical" but stable condition in a Cuban hospital following surgery earlier this month.

Speculation about Mr Chavez's condition has been mounting ever since he underwent an operation on June 10, for what his government has said was a pelvic abscess.

He remained uncharacteristically silent after the operation, even as Venezuela was hit by prison riots that killed at least 25 people and an electricity crisis, before messages began to appear again on his Twitter account on Friday.

A US-intelligence source told the Miami-based newspaper El Nuevo Herald that Mr Chavez "is in critical condition; not on the brink of death, but critical indeed, and complicated."

The newspaper said its sources could not confirm rumours that Mr Chavez may be receiving treatment for prostate cancer in Havana.

But it reported that his daughter Rosines, and his mother, Marisabel Rodriguez, were "urgently" flown to Cuba in an air force plane last week. » | Robin Yapp, Sao Paulo | Sunday, June 26, 2011

Libye: Chavez juge "irresponsable" l'intervention armée contre la Libye
ROMANDIE NEWS: CARACAS - Le président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez a jugé "irresponsable" l'intervention armée internationale lancée samedi contre la Libye, qui vise selon lui à s'emparer du pétrole libyen, et il a réclamé qu'un cessez-le-feu soit instauré.

Dans une déclaration télévisée, M. Chavez a condamné "l'action militaire des alliés contre la Libye", qui constitue "une ingérence dans les affaires intérieures d'un pays". » | AFP | Samedi 19 Mars 2011

President Hugo Chavez Bans Unauthorised Use of His Image
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela, has banned the use of his image in propaganda unless he has explicitly granted permission in advance.

A decree issued by his Government outlaws the unauthorised use of his "name, image or figure" on "infrastructure projects, constructions, educational establishments or public buildings of any kind."

Murals, graffiti and posters featuring images of President Chavez by amateur artists wanting to show their support have become a common sight in the capital city, Caracas, and many other parts of Venezuela.

Political opponents have expressed concern about the widespread use of his image in public areas. >>> Robin Yapp in Sao Paulo | Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Venezuela Introduces Cuba-like Food Card
MIAMI HERALD: Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the “Good Life Card'' is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba.

The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups.

“We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,'' Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. “It would use more advanced technological means [than those used in Cuba], but when they tell you where to buy and what the limits of what you can buy are, they are conditioning your purchases.''

Chávez said Tuesday that the card could be used to buy groceries at the government chain of markets and supplies.

“I have called it a Good Life Card so far,'' Chávez said in a brief statement made on the government television channel. “It's a card for you to purchase what you are going to take and they keep deducting. It's to buy what you need, not to promote communism, but to buy what just what you need.'' Read on and comment >>> Antonio Maria Delgado | Friday, September 03, 2010

Chavez affirme avoir déployé des troupes militaires à la frontière avec la Colombie
Hugo Chavez a également annoncé la création d'une nouvelle "région militaire" à la frontière avec la Colombie. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Après avoir rompu les relations diplomatiques avec son voisin colombien la semaine dernière, le président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez a affirmé, vendredi 30 juillet, que son pays avait déployé des unités d'infanterie et de l'armée de l'air à la frontière avec la Colombie, en prévision d'une éventuelle attaque de cette dernière.

"Nous avons déployé des troupes, de l'armée de l'air (...) de l'infanterie, mais en silence parce que nous ne voulons déranger personne dans la population", a-t-il déclaré par téléphone à la télévision d'Etat VTV, sans donner de détails sur les troupes déployées. "Uribe [président sortant de Colombie] est capable de n'importe quoi dans les jours qui lui restent [au pouvoir] (...) Cela est devenu une menace de guerre et nous ne voulons pas la guerre", a poursuivi M. Chavez. Arrivé au terme de son dernier mandat, Alvaro Uribe transmettra ses pouvoirs le 7 août à son successeur élu Juan Manuel Santos. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters | Samedi 31 Juillet 2010

Venezuela : Hugo Chavez exhume les restes de Bolivar
Quels moments extraordinaires avons-nous vécus ce soir !" a écrit Hugo Chavez, sur son compte Twitter, après que les restes de Simon Bolivar eurent été exhumés. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Les autorités vénézuéliennes ont exhumé vendredi les restes de Simon Bolivar, héros de l'indépendance décédé en 1830, afin de vérifier une thèse selon laquelle il aurait été empoisonné par des ennemis en Colombie. Le président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez rejette la thèse traditionnelle selon laquelle Bolivar, qui a libéré une grande partie de l'Amérique du Sud du joug espagnol, est mort de tuberculose. "Quels moments extraordinaires avons-nous vécus ce soir ! Nous avons vu les restes du grand Bolivar. Mon Dieu, mon Dieu. (...) J'avoue que j'ai pleuré. (...) Je leur ai dit : Ce glorieux squelette doit être celui de Bolivar parce que vous pouvez sentir sa présence", écrit Chavez sur son compte Twitter @chavezcandanga. >>> Reuters | Samedi 17 Juillet 2010

Chávez-Kritiker muss acht Jahre ins Gefängnis: Ex-Verteidigunsminister Baduel wegen Machtmissbrauchs verurteilt
NZZ ONLINE: Der ehemalige venezolanische Verteidigungsminister Raúl Isaías Baduel ist zu knapp acht Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt worden. Ihm wird Veruntreuung und Machtmissbrauch zur Last gelegt.

Der ehemalige venezolanische Verteidigungsminister Raúl Isaías Baduel, ein früherer Vertrauter von Staatschef Hugo Chávez, ist wegen Veruntreuung und Machtmissbrauchs zu knapp acht Jahren Haft verurteilt worden. >>> sda/afp | Samstag, 08. Mai 2010

Chavez Rallies to Defend His Government

Russia and Venezuela Announce Nuclear Union
THE TELEGRAPH: Russia has agreed to help Venezuela draw up plans for a nuclear power plant and space programme, President Hugo Chavez announced.

Putin and Chavez shake hands after signing commercial agreements at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. Photograph: The Telegraph
Atomic energy was one of many areas of co-operation discussed as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made his first visit to the South American country.

"We're ready to start drawing up the first plan of a nuclear power plant, obviously with peaceful aims," Mr Chavez said.

Mr Chavez had announced plans to turn to Russia for nuclear help in the past.

He did not give details on how much Venezuela is prepared to invest, or how long it might take.

Russia and Venezuela also launched a joint business to tap vast oil deposits in eastern Venezuela and Mr Chavez said Moscow has offered to help Venezuela set up its own space industry including a satellite launch site.

Mr Putin also pledged to keep selling arms to Venezuela. Mr Chavez's government has already bought more than $4 billion (£2.6bn) in Russian weapons since 2005, including helicopters, fighter jets and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

"We will continue supporting and developing Venezuela's defence capabilities," said Mr Putin, who headed back to Moscow after the one-day visit. >>> | Saturday, April 03, 2010

Sean Penn: Journalists Who Call Hugo Chávez a Dictator Should Be Jailed
THE GUARDIAN: Actor accuses US media of smearing Venezuelan president

Sean Penn, pictured, said journalist who smeared the Venezuelan president should be punished. Photograph: The Guardian
Sean Penn has defended Hugo Chávez as a model democrat and said those who call him a dictator should be jailed.

The Oscar-winning actor and political activist accused the US media of smearing Venezuela's socialist president and called for journalists to be punished.

"Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it, and accept it. And this is mainstream media. There should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies."

Penn, who has visited Chávez in Caracas, said Venezuela's poor majority had willingly embraced his leftist revolution, but that this view was concealed from Americans.

"We are hypnotised by the media. Who do you know here who's gone through 14 of the most transparent elections on the globe, and has been elected democratically, as Hugo Chávez?"

Penn, speaking on Bill Maher's HBO chatshow, is part of a small but vocal pro-Chávez Hollywood group which includes Oliver Stone and Danny Glover. >>> Rory Carroll in Caracas | Thursday, March 11, 2010

Hugo Chavez Demands Queen Returns [sic] Falkland Islands to Argentina
THE TELEGRAPH: President Hugo Chavez delivered a bizarre attack on the Queen when the firebrand Venezuelan leader demanded Britain return the Falkland Islands to Argentina.

Hugo Chavez has asked the Queen to return the Falkland Islands to Argentina. Photo: The Telegraph
The outspoken Mr Chavez used his weekly television and radio show Alo Presidente to rally Latin America behind the cause of his Argentine counterpart Cristina Kirchner by making a direct appeal to Buckingham Palace.

"Look, England, how long are you going to be in Las Malvinas? Queen of England, I'm talking to you," said Mr Chavez.

"The time for empires are [sic] over, haven't you noticed? Return the Malvinas to the Argentine people."

Still addressing the Queen, he went on: "The English are still threatening Argentina. Things have changed. We are no longer in 1982. If conflict breaks out, be sure Argentina will not be alone like it was back then."

He described British control of the islands in the South Atlantic as "anti-historic and irrational" and asked "why the English speak of democracy but still have a Queen". >>> Tom Leonard in Port Stanley | Monday, February 22, 2010

Venezuela schaltet weitere TV-Sender ab: Opposition spricht von Einschränkung der Meinungsfreiheit
NZZ ONLINE: In Venezuela sind der oppositionelle Fernsehsender RCTV und fünf weitere Kabelsender nicht mehr zu empfangen. Die Kabelnetzbetreiber hätten die Sender am Sonntag ohne Vorwarnung aus dem Programm genommen, sagte eine RCTV-Sprecherin.

Die TV-Sender gehen davon aus, dass sie abgeschaltet wurden, weil sie sich einer Anordnung der Regierung widersetzten. RCTV hatte sich am Samstag zum zweiten Mal geweigert, eine Ansprache von Präsident Hugo Chávez zu übertragen. Ob die Weigerung in einem direkten Zusammenhang mit der Stilllegung stand, ist aber unklar.

Die Regierung in Venezuela hatte in der Vergangenheit bereits mehrfach Sender geschlossen. Menschenrechtsorganisationen befürchten deshalb eine ernsthafte Einschränkung der Meinungsfreiheit in Venezuela. >>> sda/afp | Sonntag, 24. Januar 2010

Venezuela: Chávez ruft zu den Waffen
ZEIT ONLINE: Staatspräsident Chávez ist in Rage. Er sieht sein Land durch das Militärabkommen zwischen Washington und Bogotá gefährdet und bereitet sich auf einen Krieg vor.

Venezuelas Präsident Hugo Chávez ist kampfbereit. Er glaubt, dass die USA und Kolumbien sein Land angreifen wollen. Bild: Zeit Online
Venezuelas Staatschef Hugo Chávez wirft den USA und Kolumbien vor, einen Angriff auf sein Land zu planen. Die Regierungen beider Länder hätten einen "teuflischen Pakt" geschlossen, um einen Krieg gegen Venezuela vorzubereiten und den bolivarischen Sozialismus zu bremsen, sagte der linksgerichtete Staatschef am Freitag bei einer Parteiveranstaltung in Caracas.

Grund für seine heftigen Verballattacken ist das kürzlich abgeschlossene Militärabkommen zwischen Washington und Bogotá, das eine stärkere Militärpräsenz der USA in Südamerika ermöglicht.

Chávez betonte, Venezuela werde niemanden angreifen, aber das Land sei darauf vorbereitet, sich zu verteidigen. Der Staatschef rief erneut das Militär und die Milizen in Venezuela auf, sich auf einen Krieg vorzubereiten, um die Souveränität des Landes gegen die Bedrohung der USA über Kolumbien zu verteidigen. >>> Zeit Online, dpa | Samstag, 14. November 2009

Hugo Chávez Seizes Golf Clubs in Drive to Defeat ‘Bourgeoisie’
Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: For decades, wealthy Venezuelans have luxuriated in the vistas of the Caribbean from the terrace of the Caraballeda Golf Club, relaxing with a whisky before teeing off amid tropical palms, above a marina filled with gleaming yachts. It is a way of life that is under threat, however, with President Chávez deriding the game as lazy, bourgeois and the antithesis of his Bolivarian Revolution.

Thick with Louis Vuitton handbags and luxury vehicles, Caraballeda, north of Caracas, is a symbol of everything Mr Chávez detests. He launched his attack on the sport on his weekly TV show, Hello Mr President, branding players selfish elitists who annexed acres of prime land while the poor suffered in slums.

“Golf is a bourgeois sport,” he spat, citing the use of golf carts as evidence of the laziness of the “little Yankees”.

Officials have moved to seize two of Venezuela’s prime courses, at Caraballeda and Maracay. However, the move has divided local supporters of the President, with many warning of a detrimental impact on surrounding communities. >>> | Saturday, October 17, 2009

Hugo Chavez: Only Socialism Brings Genuine Change: Venezuelen President Hugo Chavez addresses the U.N. General Assembly

Teaching Socialism

«Ma main reste tendue vers Obama et son peuple»
LE FIGARO: INTERVIEW - Le président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez, dans une interview exclusive au Figaro, appelle les États-Unis à mettre en place un grand plan Marshall en faveur de l'Amérique latine.

Lundi soir, Hugo Chavez a volé la vedette aux stars du cinéma en apparaissant au festival de la Mostra de Venise. Il a aussi accepté de répondre aux questions du Figaro, exprimant notamment ses positions sur l'Iran et Israël.

LE FIGARO. - Monsieur le président, vous terminez une grande tournée diplomatique qui vous a mené à Tripoli, Alger, Damas, Téhéran et qui se termine par Moscou et Madrid. Vous qui êtes allié et ami du président iranien Ahmadinejad, avez-vous la certitude et les preuves que l'Iran n'est pas sur le point d'acquérir une bombe atomique ? 
Hugo CHAVEZ. - Je suis effectivement ami avec le président Ahmadinejad. Je suis son allié. Je le remercie d'ailleurs pour les transferts de technologie de l'Iran au Venezuela. Nous avons signé un nouvel accord la semaine dernière à Téhéran. L'Iran a le droit de développer son énergie nucléaire comme le font la France, de nombreux pays et le Venezuela, pourquoi pas. Je parle au nom du Venezuela et, pour moi, l'usage de la bombe serait une catastrophe. C'est pourquoi il faut en finir et aller vers un désarmement généralisé.

Vous ne répondez pas sur l'Iran ? 
Je suis certain que l'Iran n'est pas en train de produire la bombe. Personne d'ailleurs n'en a apporté la preuve.

Mais, si c'est le cas, pourquoi l'Iran ne répond-il pas aux demandes formulées par les Européens et les Américains ? 
Je ne peux pas répondre pour l'Iran, mais le président Ahmadinejad et le guide suprême Khamenei ont accepté les visites et les contrôles de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA). Mais ils n'accepteront jamais qu'on les mette sous tutelle. Si l'Europe et les États-Unis sont inquiets, à mon avis à tort, qu'ils soient cohérents et proposent un pacte sous les auspices de l'ONU pour aboutir à l'élimination totale des armes nucléaires.

Vous avez, il y a quelques jours, à propos d'Israël, parlé d'un État «génocidaire» ; ces propos sont inacceptables car ils signifientque le gouvernement israélien a un plan d'extermination des Palestiniens comparable à celui d'Hitler vis-à-vis des Juifs... 
Ce n'est pas que les Israéliens veulent exterminer les Palestiniens. Ils le font ouvertement. Rappelez-vous la dernière agression israélienne contre Gaza. De quoi s'agit-il sinon d'un génocide. >>> Propos recueillis à Venise par Étienne Mougeotte | Mercredi 09 Septembre 2009