Hezbollah in Venezuela, weapons to FARC and of course, Obama busts Honduran cojones.

August 25, 2009
Obama Screws Up Latin American Policy
By Mona Charen NRO

The lights are going out in Venezuela. The Chavez-controlled legislature passed an education bill on Aug. 13 that will extinguish the last glimmers of free thought in the country's classrooms. The law is such a caricature of revolutionary legislation that it almost seems like a joke, like something out of Woody Allen's "Bananas." But it's not funny for Venezuelans. Schools will now be required to teach "Bolivarian doctrine," a vague catchall for Chavez's sloganeering. They will be supervised by "communal councils" (read commissars from the socialist party) and the central government will decide who can and who cannot enter universities and the teaching profession.

The new law stretches government power beyond the schools, permitting the state to suspend media outlets that negatively affect the public's "mental health." This comes just three weeks after the government declined to renew the licenses of 34 radio stations. "We haven't closed any radio stations, we've applied the law," Chavez explained. "We've recovered a bunch of stations that were outside the law, that now belong to the people and not the bourgeoisie." Get it? They've been "liberated."


Chavez is also saving elections from the "bourgeoisie" by gerrymandering districts before he next offers himself to the voters. When his motorcycle-mounted goons attacked the offices of Globovision, the only remaining independent TV station, with tear gas and rocks, Chavez piously condemned the attacks. But Globovision is not long for this world. He is remarkably blunt about his aims. As The Economist magazine reported, the Venezuelan dictator cited the Italian communist theorist Antonio Gramsci on the importance of seizing control of a nation's key institutions in order to control the minds of the citizenry. The most important institutions to conquer, Chavez added, were the media, the churches, and the schools. Last year, some of the same Chavez thugs who tear-gassed Globovision stormed the episcopacy in Caracas after the Catholic Church criticized the president.
Chavez condemned that attack as well.

Hugo Chavez has invited Hezbollah into Venezuela, and chased most of the Jewish community out. He has sent advanced weaponry to the FARC communist insurgency that has been terrorizing neighboring Colombia for 40 years, and has spawned a bevy of imitators in Latin America. Next month, he will visit his good friend Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran.

And yet President Obama has been silent. It isn't as if he has a strict policy against criticizing other nations. He's been quick enough to condemn Israel for settlement policies and Honduras for ousting Chavez wannabee Manuel Zelaya.

No, the Obama administration has kept mum because Barack Obama, schooled in leftist fairy tales from the cradle, seems to believe that what the region requires from the United States is not leadership but contrition. He was hopeful after the Summit of the Americas, he said, because the leaders of Latin America could "at least see that we are not dug in into policies that were formulated before I was born." Chavez didn't need to hand Obama a copy of "The Open Veins of Latin America" because our president probably already believes 80 percent of what's in the book.

Far from condemning our hemisphere's little Mussolini, the Obama administration has courted Chavez. The Department of State declared Venezuela's willingness to exchange ambassadors a "positive development."
And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, displaying the cold-blooded indifference to human rights that has characterized her approach to China, said, "Let's see if we can begin to turn (the) relationship (with Venezuela)."

Meanwhile, our beleaguered ally Colombia, which has done so much to stem the drug trade and to develop centrist and stable governance, still waits for ratification of the bilateral free trade agreement. And it will continue to wait. When Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., learned that the U.S. and Colombia were in negotiations to enhance cooperation against narcotraffickers, they expressed their dismay in a letter to the secretary of State, warning against closer ties with our most loyal ally in the region.

The Obama administration's reaction to the Zelaya case in Honduras and ongoing weakness toward Hugo Chavez reveal everything you need to know -- they don't know who our friends are.

Zelaya, flying in Venezuelan plane blocked by army. Ortega's Nicaragua sending troops to Honduran border.

Zelaya Blocked From Landing in Honduras After Supporters Shot


By Andres R. Martinez and Steven Bodzin Bloomberg

July 5 (Bloomberg) -- A plane carrying deposed President Manuel Zelaya was blocked from landing in Honduras as he tried to enter the country and resume power. He vowed to return as the jet he was traveling in headed to Nicaragua.

At least one person was killed near the airport in the capital, Tegucigalpa, as security forces blocked the runway with trucks and clashed with demonstrators. Six people were injured, five by gunshots, according to aid workers at the scene. Telesur, a television network owned by Venezuela’s government, reported that at least two Zelaya supporters were killed.

“Stop this massacre in the name of God,” Zelaya said in an interview on Telesur as his plane circled the airport.

Zelaya, 56, will now regroup with supporters as he continues his quest to return to power after being deposed June 28. The Honduran armed forces, lawmakers and courts have rallied behind interim President Roberto Micheletti, who said today: “I won’t be pressured by anyone.”

The acting government put two vehicles on the runway, leaving too little space for the Venezuela-owned jet to land, Zelaya said on Telesur by phone from the plane. He said his plane was landing in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

Zelaya had originally planned to return to Honduras on July 2. He delayed his trip as the Organization of American States and regional leaders tried to reach a compromise that would restore him to office.

OAS Meeting

Micheletti, speaking at a news conference today in Tegucigalpa, said the plane wouldn’t be allowed to land to prevent the dispute from escalating into violence. Micheletti took power when troops ejected Zelaya from the country.

Zelaya flew from Washington where he attended a meeting of the OAS. Shortly before midnight, the group suspended Honduras’s membership from the regional body, paving the way for sanctions.

The Honduran military closed the road in front of the presidential palace as well as the road to the international airport in Tegucigalpa. Venezuelan television showed images of military helicopters taking off and landing from the Tegucigalpa airport and vehicles and people on the runway.

Zelaya told Telesur that Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo and OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza would fly in a separate aircraft to San Salvador, capital of neighboring El Salvador.

The OAS’s reprimand further isolates the transitional government, which has yet to be recognized by any country.

Opposition to Zelaya

While the UN, European Union and OAS condemned the coup, the courts, Congress and business groups in Honduras defended the ouster, saying it was necessary to avoid a shift toward a government similar to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez, who said he would hold the new government responsible for anything that happens to Zelaya, said Venezuela has provided the plane he is flying in.

More than 10,000 people rallied in support of the transitional government July 2, the largest demonstration so far for the new government.

Opposition to Zelaya grew over the past year as he joined an alliance of socialist countries led by Chavez.

Approval for the Zelaya government fell to 30 percent in February from a high of 57 percent in January 2007, according to a nationwide poll by CID-Gallup.

U.S. President Barack Obama has also called for Zelaya’s reinstatement, and the deposed president’s wife and youngest son are being protected at the residence of the U.S. ambassador in Tegucigalpa.

Zelaya may return to Washington as soon as tomorrow should he be barred from landing in the Honduran capital, a U.S. administration official said today on condition of anonymity.

To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Bodzin in Caracas at sbodzin@bloomberg.net; Andres R. Martinez in Tegucigalpa at amartinez28@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 5, 2009 20:40 EDT

Just in case  you needed reminding about who the demonstrators are, check the dude on the right. They are carrying a demonstrator who ran onto the runway and was shot by security forces.

Russia just looking for a friend in Venezuela.

According to the Russian analyst, the United States will just have to get used to the Hugo Chavez's of the world. That certainly would take some getting used to, especially while countries like India are being attacked by terrorists and Russia is selling arms and weapon systems to all comers. The World has taken a decided turn to her ugly side and it is difficult to find news encouraging for the future.

Russia acts as if she will suffer no consequences from a less stable World and means to profit from whomever, wherever, whenever.

Nice. Real nice.

The Ugly Underbelly of America

Rampant violence is Latin America's 'worst epidemic'
Rory Carroll in Caracas
The Guardian, Thursday October 9 2008

Violent crime in Latin America kills more people and wreaks more economic havoc than Aids, the head of the Organisation of American States warned this week. Drug trafficking, gang warfare, kidnapping and other crimes pose one of the gravest threats to the region's stability, said José Miguel Insulza. "It is an epidemic, a plague on our continent that kills more people than Aids or any other known epidemic. It destroys more homes than any economic crisis."

The warning came amid a backdrop of horrific violence in Mexico, where drug cartels are waging war against the state, and evidence that cities from Caracas to Buenos Aires are becoming more dangerous.

The number of people killed by gun crime in central and south America is four times the world average, according to UN estimates, with a homicide rate of more than 25 per 100,000 people. In parts of El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela the rate is more than 100 per 100,000.

The violence has been blamed on factors including poverty, inequality, cocaine trafficking, the legacy of civil wars, a bountiful supply of guns and corrupt, ineffective state institutions, notably the police, prisons and courts.

Anger at crime and distrust of the police often leads to lynchings, with several suspects recently beaten and hacked to death in Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru. There are even grimmer stories from jails which are controlled by inmates.

Crime stories, often accompanied by grisly images, dominate media coverage and rank at or near the top of public concerns. Most victims are impoverished slum-dwellers but the perception of danger still hinders tourism and investment, with several Caribbean countries feeling the sting of recent high-profile murders.

Some studies suggest Latin America"s income could be 25% higher if its crime rate, which began soaring in the 1980s, was similar to the rest of the world.

Insulza made his dramatic warning at a two-day security meeting of the OAS in Mexico City. He praised the host government's controversial decision to deploy 20,000 soldiers against powerful drug cartels, a move which provoked a vicious backlash. Thousands have died, the state has lost control of several areas and headless bodies are discovered with numbing regularity.

Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, called for a pan-regional database on criminals and a "continental front" which would include the US. "We must attack simultaneously not only drug smuggling, but the world's main market," he said.

Some countries, such as Costa Rica, are relatively untouched by the violence and in Colombia, once-notorious cities such as Bogotá and Medellín have enjoyed a renaissance as leftwing insurgency has ebbed before a US-supported military offensive. Brazil's favelas, however, remain killing zones for gangs and police and a perceived crime wave in Argentina has driven anxious middle-class families into South Africa-style gated communities.

Ecuador, Honduras, Bolivia and Venezuela Expel US Envoys

The bench is getting crowded.

Ecuador, Honduras support Bolivia, Venezuela in expulsion of U.S. envoys

LIMA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador and Honduras on Friday voiced support for Bolivia and Venezuela's decision to expel U.S. ambassadors in their countries in protest of Washington's intervention in their domestic affairs.

"The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales and the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, have enough reasons to label (as "persona non gratas") the U.S. ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, and that in Caracas, Patrick Duddy. I respect those countries' decisions and I am sure that they had their concrete and verified reasons," Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said during his visit to Peru.

"Ecuador will make its resolutions in a sovereign way," Correa noted.

"I have to acknowledge that former U.S. ambassador to Ecuador always respected my country," the president said, adding that "if any U.S. ambassador or of any place attempts to interfere in our internal affairs or affect the country's security, he will be immediately expelled."

Correa made the remarks at a press conference at the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) that groups Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The Ecuadorian president had previously met with his Peruvian counterpart Alan Garcia.

Meanwhile, reports monitored here said that Hondurian President Manuel Zelaya also voiced support for Bolivia's decision to expel the U.S. ambassador, saying he will not receive the new U.S. ambassador to Honduras for the moment, though he does not want to have problems with Washington.

In another development of the day, the Venezuelan government said it formalized the expulsion of U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, after President Hugo Chavez announced the decision on Thursday to show solidarity with Bolivia.

The U.S. ambassador was asked to leave the country within 72 hours starting from 19:15 local time (2345 GMT) on Thursday.

In a communique, the government declared Duddy as "persona non grata" , saying it subjects the ties with the United States to an intense evaluation "to guarantee the respect to our homeland."

Bolivian Ambassador to Venezuela Jorge Alvarado said on Friday that he appreciates Venezuela's sympathy with La Paz, describing the words of President Chavez as a honor and an incentive for the Bolivian people.

"The Bolivians, Venezuelans and the Latin Americans should feel proud because our governments are dignifying us," Alvarado said.

Alvarado said Latin American nations could not react to the U.S. intervention before, because they lived with alleged help from it. "But we are now showing that we can expel a U.S. ambassador," Alvarado told local VTV channel.

Bolivian President Evo Morales on Wednesday requested U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg to leave the country immediately, accusing him of "heading the division" inside Boliviaby encouraging, together with the opposition, the protests agains this government.

Editor: Du

Worried About Iranian Arms in Iraq? Look Closer to Home. Say Venezuela.

An Su-30MK is more fun than a machete

Iraq and Afghanistan may be worthy endeavors but they sure are sucking up a lot of oxygen from other US interests. Latin America is our home turf. There are enough natural and human resources in the Americas and enough shared culture and values to enrich an area that stretches to both polar regions. Create stability and growth in all American countries and you create opportunities and wealth. The US clearly has greater interests in Venezuela than in Kosovo and would be far better off buying from Mexican or Nicaraguan factories than from factories in Guangzhou. When will that lesson be learned?

Published: Monday, October 29, 2007
Bylined to: VHeadline.com Reporters


Moscow expects doubling or trebling of Russia's weapons sales to Venezuela

Moscow expects a doubling or trebling of Russia's weapons sales (currently amounting to US$4 billion) in agreements with Venezuela over the next few years, according to Russian state arms exporting agency Rosoboronexport executive Serguei Ladiguin.

"We have initialed agreements for US$4 billion with Venezuela and we are to at least double or treble this sum," Ladiguin told Russian television in a direct broadcast from Caracas, where he was taking part in Venezuela-Russia bilateral cooperation meetings.

Ladiguin stressed that Russia and Venezuela are drafting supply agreements for warships, warplanes and helicopter gunships, as well as a wide range of weapons for the Army.
Reported by Interfax, Ladiguin reminded his audience that Moscow is actually supplying Su-30 warplanes, different types of helicopter gunships and cargo choppers, as well as Kalashnikov rifles to Venezuela and that Russia is also building three military manufacturing facilities in Venezuela ... one Kalashnikov manufacturing plant, an ammunutions factory and one helicopter maintenance and repair workshops.

Over the last few years, Venezuela has made significant weapon purchases from Russia, including 24 Su-30MK warplanes, 50 helicopter gunships and cargo choppers, Tor-M1 anti-aircraft defense systems and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

Ladiguin confirmed that Rosoboronexport has an interest in consolidating its position in the Latin American marketplace.

"We do believe our company can offer a lot to Latin America, particularly in transferring certain technologies and supplying a number of equipment, not only military items."

New mosques are popping up across Venezuela. No Problem?

Family values may not end at the US border but then neither do US security risks, none more so than those coming from Hugo Chavez. The Republicans can criticize the Democrats for considering talking with America's declared enemies, but when are the Republicans going to actually do something about them? It will not come from the present White House.The neglect and the action shortfall from The Bush Administration when it comes to US border security borders is a scandal.The Democrats are even worse.

Yesterday in the Senate, Barack Hussein Obama, made a ruling that secure borders and homeland security were not related. That may prove to be a costly mistake for the Democrats. Here is hoping.

______________________________

Venezuela and Iran team up for `axis of unity'


THE GUARDIAN, LONDON
Thursday, Jul 26, 2007

A billboard of Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looms over a motorway in Venezuela, marking the entrance to a factory designed to produce three things: tractors, influence and angst.

The tractors, lined up in shiny red phalanxes on the grounds of Veniran, a joint venture between Venezuela and Iran, are for peasants and socialist cooperatives across Latin America.

The influence, less visible but real enough, is for Chavez and Ahmadinejad, two presidents who hope this and other ventures will project their prestige and power.

The angst, if all goes to plan, is for Washington. Veniran might be tucked away in the backwater provincial capital of Ciudad Bolivar but it is part of a wider attempt by Chavez to forge a common front against the US.

The socialist radical is using Venezuela's vast oil wealth to strike commercial and political deals with countries that challenge the US such as Iran, Belarus, Russia and China, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, to rebuff what he refers to as the "empire".

"Chavez is a global player because right now he has a lot of money that he is prepared to spend to advance his huge ambitions," said Michael Shifter, an analyst with the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank. "He has worked tirelessly to upset US priorities in Latin America."

Supporters say he has worked tirelessly to support the poor and marginalized, for example through a US$250,000 loan to help farmers in Bolivia's lowlands build a coca industrialization plant, part of an effort to turn the leaf into cakes, biscuits and other legal products instead of cocaine.

"For years we have wanted to do this but no one would support us," said Leonardo Choque, leader of the Chimore federation of coca growers. "Then the Venezuelans come and offer us a loan with very low interest rates. And no conditions." Venezuela is also funding a new university nearby.

In contrast the US is accused of bullying Andean nations into destroying coca crops without promoting equally lucrative alternative livelihoods -- a big stick and a small carrot.

Of all Chavez's alliances the one with Iran is the most striking. Some of the estimated 180 economic and political accords signed with the mullahs over recent years are now bearing fruit.

The first "anti-imperialist cars" from a joint venture reached Venezuela's roads this month, with the first batch earmarked for army officers.

There is now a weekly flight between Caracas and Tehran, with a stopover in Damascus, operated by the Venezuelan state-controlled airline Conviasa and Iran's national carrier, Iran Air. New mosques are popping up across Venezuela and universities are teaching Farsi.

Iran is to help build platforms in a US$4 billion development of Orinoco delta oil deposits in exchange for Venezuelan investments.

The 4,000 tractors produced annually in Ciudad Bolivar are small beer in comparison but they have a symbolic value as agents of revolutionary change. Most are given or leased at a discount in Venezuela to socialist cooperatives that have seized land, with government blessing, from big ranches and sugar plantations.

Dozens have also been sent to Bolivia and Nicaragua.

"The idea is to help our brothers develop the land," said Reza Mahboubi, an Iranian manager at the plant. The technology was Iranian, as were the supervisors, but most of the 130 staff were Venezuelan. Asked if the objective was also to stick a finger in George Bush's eye, Mahboubi merely smiled.

A colleague who asked not to be named said the Iranians had been warmly welcomed: "I love it here. It's hot and sunny and they eat rice, just like back home. Except here I go out salsa dancing."

Chavez inaugurated the factory in 2005 with the then Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami. He has struck up a friendship with his successor, Ahmadinejad, and hailed their "axis of unity."

"The relationship is fundamentally geopolitical rather than economic," Shifter said. "It tells the world that Iran, an international pariah, is welcome in Latin America, which is traditionally regarded as the strategic preserve or `back yard' of the United States."

Al Qaeda Threatens Venezuela? Allah Akbar!

I have no theories on this at all. I was looking at some stories about Chavez threatening to nationalize butcher shops and supermarkets in Venezuela and found this in a Venezuelan newspaper. Poor Hugo is trying to convince Venezuelan butchers to put a chicken in every pot, regardless of price and at the same time he is getting out-flanked by Al Qaeda. Imagine if George Bush would have suggested that this was a possibility. I thought maybe Hugo's new buddies in Iran could help, but to my surprise The Bush Administration is suggesting US assistance.

Al Qaeda launches threat against Venezuela eluniversal


Wednesday 14th

Al Qaeda suggests striking Venezuelan oil premises
The Saudi branch of terrorist group Al Qaeda Wednesday made a call to launch attacks on oil facilities based in countries outside the Middle East supplying oil to the United States, and suggested nations such as Canada, Mexico and Venezuela, AFP reported.
"In the long term, the United States will no longer need the Middle East (for oil supplies) or is to curb dependence, and it will be supplied with oil from Canada, Mexico and Venezuela," the Saudi faction of Al Qaeda said.

"We should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States, and not only in the Middle East, because the target is to stop its imports or decrease it by all means," said the group on the on-line magazine Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad).

Thursday 15th

Venezuela to verify "illogical" threat from Al Qaeda
Rear admiral Luis Cabrera, one of the members of President Hugo Chávez' Joint Chiefs of Staff, Thursday asked for verification of the "illogical" threat Al Qaeda allegedly launched against Venezuela, as this country is fighting US imperialism too, but using other methods.

"We should confirm the authenticity of these reports. It seems illogical that Al-Qaeda, which is against the US imperialism, is going after a State that is precisely fighting this hegemony, this imperialism, yet using other methods," Cabrera told official TV channel VTV.

Cabrera stressed that the means to fight the United States "are different" because Venezuela fight "with the Constitution, with legality, moral and the truth, rather than terrorist attacks."

Oil market ignores Al Qaeda threats
Experts weighed Thursday on the impact of Al Qaeda threats against oil facilities and noted the ordinary nature of such a geopolitical risk and the fact that the market has exceeding stocks.

Governments involved conceded that they had taken seriously such threats. However, financial markets were even-tempered.

Neither oil nor gold prices changed at all following the news.

Minister of Defense advocates reinforcement of security vis-à-vis Al Qaeda threats
Following Al Qaeda call to Mujahideens to strike petroleum facilities in the countries selling oil to the United States, including Mexico, Canada and Venezuela, Venezuelan Minister of Defense General Raúl Isaías Baduel advocated reinforcement of existing security mechanisms and seeking new methods to find any "alleged abnormality."

He asked for patience, claiming these are "very sensitive" issues and "have to be dealt with tact," as they create "uneasiness" in the Venezuelan people. "We hope it is not like that."

He added that military intelligence agencies have joined the State security and prevention bodies to be "on alert" and "implement security plans that have been outlined in advance."

Venezuelan Congress committee attributes Al Qaeda's threats to the US
Lawmaker Saúl Ortega, chair of the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs, Thursday attributed to the United States the threats Al Qaeda launched on Wednesday to strike oil facilities worldwide, including premises in Venezuela.

According to Ortega, such reports are a US "terrorist maneuver" aimed at intimidating the nations that are at odds with Washington and having an excuse for likely interventions.

He added that the alleged threat was not launched directly by the terrorist group, but through a translation reportedly made by US intelligence agencies under the Central Intelligence Agency.

Friday 16th

Al Qaeda threat should be taken seriously
International terrorist group Al Qaeda's call to strike Venezuelan oil premises should not be dismissed, warned foreign policy expert and former Venezuelan ambassador Julio César Pineda.

"This thread should be taken seriously," as for the organization headed by Osama bin Laden "this involves a strategy to advance a asymmetric war," Pineda explained.

He explained that beyond Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' anti-US stance, in Al Qaeda's view, Venezuelan, Mexican and Canadian oil supplies are fueling US troops in different areas, particularly in the Middle East.

Hughes: Al Qaeda's threat should be taken seriously
US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Karen Hughes in Guadalajara Friday said terrorist group Al Qaeda's threats should be "taken seriously."

Mexico and the United States should not take these threats "lightly, but we have to take them seriously," the official said when asked about reports published on Thursday that an alleged online magazine published by Al Qaeda urged the group's activists to strike any country supplying oil to the United States, including Canada, Mexico and Venezuela.

US willing to help Venezuela face Al Qaeda threat
A senior US official Friday said his country is likely to help Venezuela face terrorist group Al Qaeda threat against countries supplying oil to the United States.

Alberto Fernández, director of Public Diplomacy, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the US Department of State, Friday told Caracas-based Unión Radio that "in the face of this serious threat, the important thing is saying that the United States is willing to cooperate with Venezuela in the world fight against Al Qaeda."

He stressed that such cooperation is necessary despite President Hugo Chávez' frontal and continued criticisms against Washington and his calls to combat the US empire, Efe reported.

North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela

Shortages.

Electricity in Korea
With the announcement of an agreement in which it appears the sociopath dictator once again gets his way (50K tons of fuel oil now and another 950k tons later) it is being pointed out on the BBC that North Korea, when seen from space at night, is a vast area of darkness between South Korea and China.

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Cigarettes in Cuba

In Cuba, a shortage of cigarettes has driven the per pack price in Santiago from the equivalent of 33 cents to 95 cents.

It seems a government retail company in Santiago owes about $430,000 to the government's regional cigarette wholesaler, which in turn owes $95,000 to the government cigarette manufacturer.

The manufacturer stopped shipping cigarettes to the wholesaler after the debt extended past 30 days.

Juventud Rebelde said that officials were working to solve the payment problems and had begun to ease the shortage by bringing in cigarettes from other areas.

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Meat and Sugar in socialist Latin America.

Just to the south of Cuba, in the nascent socialist paradise of Venezuela, the news via the AP from CARACAS, is about a shortage of meat and sugar:

Meat cuts vanished from Venezuelan supermarkets this week, leaving only unsavory bits like chicken feet, while costly artificial sweeteners have increasingly replaced sugar, and many staples sell far above government-fixed prices. Shortages have sporadically appeared with items from milk to coffee since early 2003, when Chavez began regulating prices for 400 basic products as a way to counter inflation and protect the poor.

Yet inflation has soared to an accumulated 78 percent in the last four years in an economy awash in petrodollars, and food prices have increased particularly swiftly, creating a widening discrepancy between official prices and the true cost of getting goods to market in Venezuela.

"Shortages have increased significantly as well as violations of price controls," Central Bank director Domingo Maza Zavala told the Venezuelan broadcaster Union Radio on Thursday. "The difference between real market prices and controlled prices is very high."

President Hugo Chavez's administration blames the food supply problems on unscrupulous speculators, but industry officials say government price controls that strangle profits are responsible. Authorities on Wednesday raided a warehouse in Caracas and seized seven tons of sugar hoarded by vendors unwilling to market the inventory at the official price.

Major private supermarkets suspended sales of beef earlier this week after one chain was shut down for 48 hours for pricing meat above government-set levels, but an agreement reached with the government on Wednesday night promises to return meat to empty refrigerator shelves.

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Common Sense in the West
The world has gone mad and there seems to be a severe shortage of common sense in the politically correct, multi-culti, environmentally panicked west. It refuses to believe the bellicose threats of Ahmadinejad or the lying Kim il Jong but it also refuses to believe the constant reassures of Tony Snow that the US is not preparing for war with Iran. The world discounts or ignores the threat posed by the Wahhabists and their banished cousins, al-Qaeda but it sees the United States as the greatest threat to world peace. Crying "overpopulation will be the death of us" the west has gone into a demographic death spiral and is not replenishing its population while the third world which evidently didn't get the message, exports its children at alarming rates. Communism has collapsed, Fidel Castro is not long for this world, socialist Europe is living on borrowed time, Hugo Chavez is screwing South America and Democrats in the United States still want socialized medicine. Sometimes I feel as though I am in an alternate reality.