Honduran Foreign Minister Mario Canahuati criticized President Hugo Chávez for his "intent to influence" and his "intervention" in the domestic policy of other countries, according to statements published on Monday by Colombian newspaper El Espectador. "We do not share the intention to influence the domestic policy of other countries. He (Chávez) should not promote interventionism as part of his policies," said the Honduran Foreign Minister when...

President Bashar al-Assad and Mrs. Asma al-Assad started on Friday an official visit to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela within a tour of several Latin American countries that includes also Cuba, Brazil and Argentina. Upon their arrival in their residence in Caracas, President al-Assad and Mrs. al-Assad were received by hundreds of members of the Syrian community in Venezuela who expressed their happiness over this historic visit. The President will discuss with the Venezuelan President...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad embarks on a landmark Latin American tour on Friday to reinforce economic ties with a continent he is visiting for the first time. Accompanied by his wife, Asma, the Syrian leader will arrive in Venezuela on Friday before proceeding to Brazil and Argentina, all three home to large communities of Syrian emigres. He will also visit Cuba to strengthen traditionally close ties. "Bilateral relations and developments in the Middle East and Latin...

The release of a Cuban prisoner of conscience who spent almost a year in pre-trial detention at a maximum security prison after organizing protests critical of the government is long overdue, Amnesty International has said. Darsi Ferrer was convicted on Tuesday on spurious charges of receiving illegally obtained goods and "violence or intimidation against a state official". He was sentenced to one year in jail and three months' "correctional work" outside the prison....

The International Socialist unanimously approved a report submitted by an international mission of the organization that visited the country in January. The report condemns the "authoritarian regime established in Venezuela." According to the document, which examines different aspects of the Venezuelan situation, Venezuela's democracy is threatened "by an authoritarian regime that uses shamelessly and regularly government institutions to put an end to democratic...

As a result of our ongoing efforts to reinforce and expand our presence in Latin America and the US Hispanic community we, at CIEMPRE, have accepted the request to form a sister organization, Latino Anti-Defamation Alliance (LADA). Under the leadership of Daniel Ajzen in association with Enrique Morones, recipient of Mexico’s 2009 Human Rights Award LADA will monitor media outlets to expose those promoting xenophobic, fundamentalist and extremist ideas and provide guidance and...

Diego Arria, the former Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations, regretted that some opposition leaders consider that it is impossible that President Chávez can be tried in a court. “It is incredible that the people who have mostly undermined the arguments against the (Venezuelan) regime come from the opposition. They prefer to attack opposition leaders rather than recognizing them” Former UN ambassador Diego Arria reported that there is an organized process to take...

Camagüey, Cuba. The Cuban political prisoner who has been on a hunger strike since April 16 was admitted to a Havana hospital Thursday, human rights activists in Miami said. Egberto Escobedo Morales was transferred from a Camagüey prison to the hospital at the Combinado del Este penitentiary in Havana, Directorio Democratico said. Escobedo, who has not eaten for 64 days to protest prison conditions, called his wife from the hospital, the organization said. Escobedo, who is anemic,...

Representatives from 12 Latin American countries and Spain met in an event called "MPs around the world", in which former governor of the state of Zulia, Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, highlighted the importance of having international observers in the upcoming parliamentarian elections to be held in Venezuela. The former presidential candidate called upon European lawmakers to assess Venezuela's situation. "International observers must witness the disaster Venezuela has...

Cuba on Saturday freed a political prisoner who is confined to a wheelchair and began transferring six others to jails closer to their homes, part of a deal with the Roman Catholic Church and the most important sign yet that the government may be softening its hardline stance on organized dissent. Ariel Sigler, one of 75 activists, community organizers and journalists arrested in a sweeping 2003 crackdown, was released in his hometown of Pedro Betancourt in the province of Matanzas. "I...