"We have to be very careful about what is going on in Venezuela, especially what is going on in the private universities," Mario Silva asserts on his pro-Chávez television talk show La Hojilla ("The Razor Blade") in late November 2007. The provocative host points out that in television news footage of a recent student march against proposed changes to the Venezuelan constitution, which were voted down December 2, a leader of the marchers crosses a police barricade...

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chávez, who says he intends to remain in office for decades to come, lost a referendum 14 months ago that would have removed the constitutional limit on his tenure. When he announced another referendum in December, the first polls showed him losing again by a wide margin. Yet, as Sunday's vote approaches, his government is predicting victory -- and some polls show him with a narrow advantage. How did Latin America's self-styled "Bolivarian...

The Israeli incursions into Gaza have triggered protests all over the world with demonstrators calling for an immediate ceasefire. Public fury at the Israeli violence targeting the residents of Gaza has brought thousands of people in Turkey, Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, Lebanon and Austria to the streets. Austria Austrian demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations Office in Vienna to protest Israel's incursion into Gaza. Protesters slammed Arab states for their silence...

Spurred on by both Venezuela's relationships in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and his hatred of Western capitalism, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has fallen into political step with some of the most dangerous players in the Middle East and, in doing so, has become an increasingly outspoken detractor of Israel: Chavez has situated himself in direct opposition to the U.S. and much of the West, billing himself as the successor to Fidel Castro-the next...