"In Venezuela we suffer from an outlaw government, neodictatorial," said Mayor Antonio Ledezma of Caracas during a speech at the New York think tank Council of the Americas, which was attended by U.S. investors and entrepreneurs. He said he wanted to "restore the democracy that we have been robbed of," while stressing that his aim was to draw the attention of the international community to what is happening in Venezuela. He also noted that the situation in Venezuela is a "true nightmare" and that what happens there is a "threat" to the country itself and the rest of the continent. Ledezma met this week with the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Chilean José Miguel Insulza, and requested his support because he believes the multilateral agency's actions must be "preventive." Antonio Ledezma won the mayoral election of Caracas on November 23, 2008 and was sworn in on January 7, but was unable to take charge of his office due to limitations imposed by the National Assembly. The office's powers have been curtailed by government measures, including the appointment of a municipal government head who oversees his office.
Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) will issue with the endorsement of the Ministry of Finance a bond issue in an amount not yet defined, but which will be used to pay "national obligations," said Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez on Wednesday. "The issuance is denominated in bolívares and is aimed at paying our national obligations," Ramirez said, without specifying the conditions of placement. "PDVSA will not go around issuing papers on its own, we are subject to the coordination of the rest of the ministries," he explained upon departing a meeting at the sixth summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for Our America (ALBA), held in Maracay, 80 miles west of Caracas. "We expect the Central Bank of Venezuela and the Ministry of Finance to conduct all the necessary evaluations to determine an official position," he added. Shortly before that, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez confirmed that "the Executive Branch and the Central Bank has authorized the issuance," without giving further details of the transaction.
Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday that diplomats from Venezuela and the United States will be reinstated once both governments retract declarations that the ambassadors in Washington and Caracas are personae non grata. Maduro told state television that the United States and Venezuela agreed to "withdraw the declaration of persona non grata" regarding the Venezuelan diplomat Bernardo Alvarez, and the U.S. ambassador Patrick Duddy, who were expelled in September 2008 from Washington and Caracas. Since that time both countries have been without ambassadors. The Venezuelan foreign minister said that after a conversation with Thomas A. Shannon, Assistant Secretary of State for the Americas, "we essentially agree on this proposal (to withdraw the declaration of persona non grata).
The new head of U.S. Southern Command, Air Force General Douglas Fraser, expressed concerned about the risk Iran's relationship with extremist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah may pose to Latin America. Fraser took office today in the headquarters of Southern Command, based in Miami, replacing the Navy Admiral James Stavridis, who will be the commander in chief of the allied forces of NATO in Europe. "The real concern is not the nation-to-nation interaction (...) it is the relationship Iran has with with extremist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah and the potential risk that such relationships can bring to this region," Fraser said when asked about the rapprochement between Iran and Venezuela. "That is our concern and we will continue to monitor any increase in activity," he said. Another focus of concern for the new head of U.S. Southern Command is the increase in arms purchases by the Venezuelan government in a time when, he said, there are no military threats in Latin America. "I am concerned about the arms race that Venezuela seems to be encouraging because I do not understand the threat they see. I do not see a conventional military threat in the region, so we are not sure why they need to increase their military forces to the point at which they have," he added.
Today's session of the National Assembly could be the first discussion of the draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code. Among the aspects of interest is the reform of Article 219 on the interception or recording of private communications. According to the draft there will be available, according to law, the interception or recording of private communications, whether as background noise, by telephone or other means, whose content will be transcribed and added to the proceedings. This is already established in the code, the difference being that according to the draft, whatever company or public or private party which provides telecommunications, banking or financial services is required to submit the information requested by the Public Ministry, according to whether the request is for a set time or in real time. The draft states that "public or private entities that provide telecommunications services will create permanent units 24 hours a day, seven days a week that will be charged with processing and delivering real-time information required by the Public Ministry" or the appropriate authorities.
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