(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Saturday he was praying for Libya's deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi and also sent a message of solidarity to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against "Yankee" aggression. Chavez -- who has inherited Fidel Castro's mantle as Washington's main irritant in Latin America -- views the wave of uprisings in the Arab world as Western-led destabilization and has been a strong ally of Gaddafi. "The Libyans are resisting the invasion and...

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad plans to visit Venezuela after attending a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in order to "strive to reform world management." Before leaving, the Head of State told reporters that his agenda includes "bilateral meetings with the Heads of different States, exchange of ideas and dialogue with several US groups," Efe quoted. "Our principal goal is being present at the General Assembly and make every endeavor to...

In a press release, Human Rights Watch Director for the Americas Miguel Vivanco termed as "completely unacceptable" Venezuelan authorities' hostility towards Humberto Prado, the director of Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons (VOP), and other activists. Vivanco recalled that Prado was accused by Venezuelan Minister of Interior and Justice Tareck El Aissami of inciting inmates from prisons El Rodeo I and II, east Caracas, to rebellion. Soon later, Prado began receiving death...

Caracas Ninth Trial Control Court, presided over by Judge Denisse Bocanegra, resolved to reverse a decision to ban the publication and distribution of Venezuelan weekly newspaper 6to Poder, attorney Pedro Aranguren reported. "Journalists and people who respect freedom of expression in Venezuela are pleased to learn that the Caracas Ninth Trial Control Court Judge just notified the reversal of the order to close 6to Poder," said the attorney of the weekly newspaper. Aranguren...

President Hugo Chávez reported Wednesday that Venezuela's Minister of Planning and Finance Jorge Giordani will travel to Moscow in a few weeks to "fine-tune the details" of a USD 4 billion loan the Russian government will grant to Venezuela to buy weapons. On Wednesday, Chávez received Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Miraflores presidential palace and at the end of the meeting the Venezuelan president answered the questions posed by three...

Russia appears ready to sell Venezuela the same five advanced S-300PMU-1 air defense missile battalions it withheld from Iran because of international sanctions. Debkafile’s military sources report Venezuela’s ruler Hugo Chavez, offered to buy them when he met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow Thursday, Oct. 14. Israel immediately turned to Washington to try and block the transaction. Clearly, the highly-sophisticated interceptors are bound for their original client,...

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez on Tuesday said his country recognized in Libya "only one government, the one headed by Muammar Gaddafi," and reiterated his criticism of NATO air strikes on Tripoli. "We recognize only one government, the one headed by Muammar Gaddafi. We reaffirm our solidarity with the Libyan people, our brothers who are attacked and bombed," Chávez said during a cabinet meeting broadcast by all Venezuelan radio and television stations,...

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez voiced on Monday once again his support to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and rebutted the possibility of underwriting a National Transitional Council in Libya. In a cabinet meeting aired during an obligatory simultaneous broadcast, the Venezuelan Head of State referred himself to a letter forwarded by Gaddafi through the secretary of the People's Committee for Finance and Planning Abdul Hafid Al Zleitni. The envoy met on Monday with Venezuelan...

Admiral Edgar Cely, the commander of Colombia's Military Forces, disclosed on Monday that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) continue in Venezuelan territory, as denounced in mid 2010 by the government of then Colombian President Álvaro Uribe. "In very concrete, fast terms, yes," Cely answered when queried by Bogotá's TV channel Caracol about the deployment of FARC members in Venezuelan territory, AFP quoted. Source:

WASHINGTON -­ America's top soldier warned Monday about the growing ties between Iran and Venezuela and said the U.S. is monitoring the burgeoning relationship. Referring to criticism in Congress leveled at Venezuela recently because of its relationship with Iran, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said, "I certainly share their concern in terms of Venezuela's links to Iran, which have been there for a significant amount of time and are growing." ...