Latin America: Week in Review, Venezuela
Chávez Says Venezuela Only Recognizes Gaddafi Gov In Libya
August 24, 2011 By Staff
Today in Latin America
Top Story— Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said on Tuesday that Venezuela will continue to recognize Muammar Gaddafi as the leader of Libya and will not recognize any interim-rebel government. Speaking as Libyan rebels broke into Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli after hours of fighting, Chávez blasted NATO and the U.S. government for their roles in Libya’s conflict and said that they were fomenting unrest in the North African nation to control of the country’s oil riches. “Getting the dogs to fight. Arming here, arming there, and later bombing it and we take that country,” said Chávez, A staunch supporter of Col. Gaddafi throughout the conflict. “They loot it and they take the international reserves and the oil…This destroys international law and takes the world back to the Stone Age.”
Read more from the Associated Press.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- Mexico and Costa Rica jointly unveiled Strategic Association Accord to help the two nations battle drug cartels.
- In front of dozens of motorists in Monterrey, gunmen hung a man from a bridge over a busy avenue and shot him to death.
- Mexico’s soccer federation called for an end to violence in the wake of an incident that forced the suspension of a match last weekend.
Caribbean
- Cuba is now the head of the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament, almost half a century after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Irene ripped through the island.
Central America
- The vice president of a group representing landless peasants in Honduras and his wife were killed by gunmen in the Caribbean province of Colón.
- A former Salvadoran military officer linked to the killing of six Jesuit priests during El Salvador’s civil war was arrested Tuesday in Massachusetts.
Andes
- The 5.9 magnitude earthquake that rattled the eastern U.S. on Tuesday also damaged the Ecuadoran embassy in Washington D.C.
- The general manager of exporter association Comexperu said that Peruvian President Ollanta Humala’s plans to increase state control of country’s natural resources are a bigger threat to the economy than slower global growth.
- Colombia has begun to search for a new coach for the country’s national soccer team after the resignation of Hernán Darío Gómez, who acknowledged he struck a woman in a bar.
Southern Cone
- A court in Chile ordered that student protesters will receive police protection after they received death threats via Twitter.
- Brazil said that it believes that Libya will respect its contracts despite the recent uprising in the north African nation.
- The president of the Chamber of Senators of Paraguay said that the Southern Cone nation is looking to expand relations with Iran.
Image: Chavezcandanga @ Flickr.
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