Manuel Zelaya to Head Petrocaribe's Political Council

March 8, 2010

Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has accepted an invitation to head Petrocaribe’s newly formed political council, Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolás Maduro announced on Saturday. Minister Maduro said that in his new post, Zelaya would "oversee strengthening of political independence and the defense of 'popular democracy' in Latin America and the Caribbean."

Petrocaribe, a Venezuelan state initiative created in 2005, gives preferential oil prices to 18 Caribbean and Central American nations. The announcement came at a governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) meeting in Caracas, to which Zelaya had traveled from the Dominican Republic (where he is living under exile) to attend.

Zelaya, who was overthrown in a June 28, 2009 coup has been living in self-imposed exile since January 27, 2010, when Porfirio Lobo was sworn in as president.

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Honduran Congress Approves Withdrawal From ALBA

January 14, 2010

On Tuesday, Honduras’ Congress approved a decree handed down in December by interim President Roberto Micheletti to end Honduras’ membership in the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (ALBA), a regional organization started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Presidential spokesman Rafael Pineda, in an apparent reference to Venezuela, explained that the decision to leave was taken because “some of the countries in the organization have not treated Honduras with the respect it deserves.” Pineda also cited Venezuelan threats during the initial stages of the Honduran coup last year to invade Honduras in support of deposed President Manuel Zelaya.

Honduras joined the regional organization on August 25, 2008, during a meeting between former President Zelaya and President Chávez. However, it was not until October 9 that the membership agreement was ratified by the Honduran Congress—then, ironically, presided over by Mr. Micheletti himself.

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Water Rationing Begins in Caracas, Other Major Venezuelan Cities

November 3, 2009

A water rationing regime began today in Caracas and may last as long as six months depending on climatic conditions. During this period, residents throughout the Venezuelan capital and other affected cities will go without running water for as long as 48 hours per week.

The rationing is the latest development in the government’s efforts to combat the effects of an unusually dry rainy season, which Venezuelan meteorologists attribute to the effects of the el niño weather phenomenon. Prior government efforts to curb residential water consumption include a campaign by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to promote “revolutionary showers”—3-minute showers he says should include “one minute to get wet, another to soap up, and the third to rinse off and avoid stinking.” The ultimate objective of these initiatives is to cut water use by a total of 20 percent in the next few months.

Critics of the Chávez administration contend that the rationing has less to do with weather patterns than with the nationalization of utility companies and the government’s failure to adequately invest in water-related infrastructure over the last decade.

Residents in cities affected by today’s water rationing have been observed stockpiling water in recent days in anticipation of the shortages. People throughout Venezuela have become accustomed to shortages and rationing in other areas, particularly electricity. According to reports, the country’s electricity challenges have led to an increasing number of shortages and widespread blackouts in recent weeks.

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Venezuela Finds 11th Victim of a Cross-Border Massacre

October 29, 2009

Venezuelan authorities recovered yesterday the body of Jose Luis Arenas, 21, who was abducted and murdered over the weekend in the Venezuelan state of Táchira, near the town of El Pinal.  Mr. Arenas is the last of 12 amateur soccer players  kidnapped on October 11 by unidentified perpetrators and held for several days before being slain. There was one survivor of the massacre, an 18-year-old boy, who was found alive on Sunday and hospitalized.

The incident has renewed tensions between the Venezuelan and Colombian governments. President Hugo Chávez has alluded that the men may have been spies for Colombia’s state security agency, while spokesmen for the regional government of Táchira have blamed units of the National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian paramilitary guerilla group. On Monday, Venezuela denied permission for a Colombian government plane to land in Venezuela to repatriate the remains of the dead and despite pleas from Colombian authorities, the Venezuelan government has refused to cooperate with its neighbor on an investigation into the murders.

Colombian officials and family members of the victims contend that they were simply playing a pick-up game of soccer. William Bello, the father of one of the dead, has said that his son was a street vendor who worked near the Colombia-Venezuela border crossing and had never had a run-in with the law. This most recent massacre raises the number of Colombians killed in recent weeks in Venezuela to at least 20 people.

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