Hugo Chavez

Rebuffing criticism of the warm greetings he exchanged with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, President Obama said Sunday that the United States, with its overwhelming military superiority and need to improve its global image, could afford to extend such diplomatic "courtesy." In a news conference capping a three-day meeting of leaders from the Western Hemisphere, Obama also said the U.S. must engage other countries through humanitarian gestures, not only military intervention.

Despite the prospect of economic hard times as oil revenue plunges, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is preparing to go before voters with a plea that they've rejected once before: End term limits that block him from staying in power indefinitely. The National Electoral Commission is expected this week to set a Feb. 15 date for a referendum seeking approval of a measure that would allow Chavez and all other elected officials to run for reelection an unlimited number of times.

With oil prices plummeting and homicide rates soaring, it might seem like an odd time for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to ask voters to scrap limits on how long he can stay in power. After all, they rejected a similar measure a little more than a year ago, when the petrodollars were pouring in. But Chavez learned from that defeat: He changed the proposal to cover all officials, not just the president.

Putting aside concerns over a worsening economy, rising crime and increasing social polarization, Venezuelan voters gave President Hugo Chavez a resounding victory Sunday on a constitutional amendment that will allow him to run for reelection indefinitely. With 94% of votes counted, the National Electoral Commission said "yes" votes outnumbered "no" by nearly 1 million, 54.3% to 45.7%.

Amid deepening shortages of food and household supplies, President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday ordered the seizure of a Venezuelan unit of U.S. agriculture giant Cargill, the latest in a series of takeovers of foreign-owned companies. In a speech during a ministers' council meeting broadcast over state-run television, Chavez also threatened to seize control of privately owned Polar, the country's largest food conglomerate and brewer.

Thousands of Venezuelans participated in protests and rallies Saturday to support or condemn an opposition-aligned TV station that President Hugo Chavez's government has threatened to close. Opposition protesters marched to Venezuela's journalists association, chanting "Journalism is freedom!" Thousands of Chavez supporters, meanwhile, marched to the National Assembly in a show of support for the Chavez government's actions.

President Hugo Chavez on Saturday announced the return of his ambassador to Colombia, but said Venezuela still intended to take a stand against negotiations to lease seven Colombian military bases to the U.S. Chavez told Ambassador Gustavo Marquez to return to Bogota, the Colombian capital, 11 days after the diplomat was recalled. He also reiterated concerns that the U.S. could use bases in Colombia to destabilize the region. "We're not telling Colombia what it has to do with its territory," Chavez said from Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, in an interview with Colombia's RCN television.