Venezuela

Reporting from Bogota, Colombia, and Caracas, Venezuela -- Nurse Luisa Perez Garcia thought there was no time to lose. So, first thing Monday morning, she rushed down to the Electropolis appliance store in the Sabana Grande section of Caracas and bought a new TV and refrigerator, purchases she had hoped to defer until later this year. Garcia was among the thousands of Venezuelans flocking to stores to snap up appliances, auto parts, electronics and other imports before they feel the full impact of President Hugo Chavez's decision last week to officially adjust the nation's currency for the first time since 2005.

Officials announced Monday that China had agreed to invest $5 billion in energy projects here, a deal that underscored the Asian nation's way of doing business in Latin America: Lock up significant natural resources with promises to fund huge public works projects. China's investment will be poured into new and mature oil fields through 2012, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told state television.

More than 100 celebrities, including singer Shakira and soccer star David Beckham, have backed a Spanish pop star in a dispute with Venezuela over a concert that was canceled after his criticism of President Hugo Chavez. The Latin Grammy music awards organization also supported Alejandro Sanz, one of Latin America's most popular singers, saying cancellation of the concert smacked of censorship. Actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, singer Ricky Martin and actress Penelope Cruz also signed a letter protesting Venezuela's decision.

In his new documentary "South of the Border," Oliver Stone is shown warmly embracing Hugo Chávez, nibbling coca leaves with Evo Morales and gently teasing Cristina Elizabeth Fernández de Kirchner about how many pairs of shoes she owns. These amiable, off-the-cuff snapshots of the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina, respectively, contrast with the way these left-leaning leaders often are depicted in U.S. political and mass media circles. That's especially true of Chávez, the former military officer turned democratically elected socialist leader, who has become the ideological heir apparent to Fidel Castro and the bête noire of Bush administration foreign policy officials.

Reporting from Caracas, Venezuela, and Quito, Ecuador -- Protests broke out in Venezuela on Monday after cable companies dropped transmission of a popular channel that the government declared had broken telecommunications laws by not broadcasting President Hugo Chavez's speeches. Government critics and supporters of Radio Caracas Television took to the streets of Caracas, the capital, and several other cities after companies dropped RCTV's programming under threat of losing their licenses.

Grimacing from contractions, expectant mother Castuca Marino had more on her mind than birth pangs. She was nervous about whether she and her newborn child would make it out of the hospital alive. Interviewed as she stood in the emergency room of Concepcion Palacios Maternity Hospital here last week, Marino had heard news reports of six infant deaths there over a 24-hour period late last month.

Venezuela took control this weekend of a Chinese-built communications satellite, part of a deepening trade relationship that some say illustrates waning U.S. influence in Latin America. Accompanied by Chinese technicians at a communications facility in western Guarico state, President Hugo Chavez presided at a ceremony in which Venezuela formally assumed operation of the Simon Bolivar, a $400-million satellite that China launched in October.

In his classic 1936 film, "Modern Times," Charlie Chaplin has to work so fast tightening bolts in a steel factory that he finally goes crazy. In a memorable scene that has become a metaphor for labor exploitation, the Little Tramp is run through the factory's enormous gears. For President Hugo Chavez's socialist government, the film is more than just entertainment: It's become a teaching tool.

The Bush administration declared Thursday that Venezuela had failed to cooperate in the fight against drug trafficking, a move likely to worsen already strained relations between the countries.

Authorities in Venezuela said Friday that Wilber Varela, the leader of Colombia's Norte del Valle drug cartel, had been found shot to death in the Venezuelan resort town of Merida. The location of the killing underscores the evolution of drug trafficking in the region. Increasing amounts of Colombian cocaine destined for U.S. and European markets flow through Venezuela, and as much as one-third of all the narcotic powder is now thought to transit there.

Reporting from Caracas, Venezuela, and Quito, Ecuador -- Protests broke out in Venezuela on Monday after cable companies dropped transmission of a popular channel that the government declared had broken telecommunications laws by not broadcasting President Hugo Chavez's speeches. Government critics and supporters of Radio Caracas Television took to the streets of Caracas, the capital, and several other cities after companies dropped RCTV's programming under threat of losing their licenses.

Reporting from Bogota, Colombia, and Caracas, Venezuela -- Nurse Luisa Perez Garcia thought there was no time to lose. So, first thing Monday morning, she rushed down to the Electropolis appliance store in the Sabana Grande section of Caracas and bought a new TV and refrigerator, purchases she had hoped to defer until later this year. Garcia was among the thousands of Venezuelans flocking to stores to snap up appliances, auto parts, electronics and other imports before they feel the full impact of President Hugo Chavez's decision last week to officially adjust the nation's currency for the first time since 2005.

President Hugo Chavez's government accused Colombia on Monday of using its state security agency to spy on Venezuela while purportedly helping investigate the killings of eight Colombians. Venezuela sent a diplomatic protest note saying officials of Colombia's DAS agency were "detected carrying out espionage work and attempting to bribe." Venezuela did not give details but said authorities had seized documents referring to a conspiracy to destabilize its government. Colombia has offered help in investigating the slayings of 10 men -- eight Colombians, a Venezuelan and a Peruvian -- whose bodies were found in the western Venezuelan border state of Tachira on Saturday.

The music program known as El Sistema -- which for 32 years has brought free classical music education to disadvantaged youth in Venezuela -- is no longer that country's secret. It seems as if now the whole world wants to copy or at least learn from the program, whose most famous alumnus is conductor Gustavo Dudamel. On Tuesday, the New England Conservatory launched its Abreu Fellows training program, one of the first major initiatives of El Sistema USA. The program is named after Jose Antonio Abreu, the founder of El Sistema in Venezuela.

Venezuelan authorities began opening tombs to identify the remains of dozens of people killed during riots more than two decades ago and look for evidence against police and soldiers responsible for slayings. The 1989 riots were triggered by an increase in gasoline prices and public transportation fares. Venezuela's army was deployed as looting spread through the capital. At least 300 people died, according to the government of then-President Carlos Andres Perez. But human rights activists say hundreds more were killed -- many shot indiscriminately by security forces.

In his new documentary "South of the Border," Oliver Stone is shown warmly embracing Hugo Chávez, nibbling coca leaves with Evo Morales and gently teasing Cristina Elizabeth Fernández de Kirchner about how many pairs of shoes she owns. These amiable, off-the-cuff snapshots of the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina, respectively, contrast with the way these left-leaning leaders often are depicted in U.S. political and mass media circles. That's especially true of Chávez, the former military officer turned democratically elected socialist leader, who has become the ideological heir apparent to Fidel Castro and the bête noire of Bush administration foreign policy officials.

Like nearly everyone else in this sleepy fishing town, unemployed former soldier Miguel Fernandez is eagerly anticipating the massive "oil city" that President Hugo Chavez has promised to build here on the banks of the Orinoco River. "There was a rumor last week that the first well was being drilled. Half the town rushed out there looking for work," Fernandez, 23, said. But the project was only a small field test, and there were no jobs. "We were all disappointed." Chavez's vision for the huge new oil complex 400 miles southeast of Caracas will cost $36 billion and ostensibly add half a million barrels of oil a day to Venezuela's output by 2012, reversing a decade-long decline in output.

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.

A breakdown in anti-drug cooperation between Venezuela and the United States has contributed to an alarming surge in cocaine trafficking from Venezuela, according to a report issued Monday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The volume of drugs passing through Venezuela more than quadrupled from 66 tons in 2004 to 287 tons in 2007, the GAO said. U.S.

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.