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POPS20 Heads of State in Venezuela for Pact on Cheap Oil The pact has helped Chavez promote his vision of regional independence from the United States. He used the summit to blame Washington for international economic problems, and called US military spending in Iraq "madness." He also denied criticism from Venezuelan opponents who say he is giving away Venezuela's oil wealth. Reading from an opposition statement accusing him of "bribery diplomacy," Chavez mused: "It's very probable this was written in the U.S. Embassy." Some Petrocaribe member countries have the option of paying partially for oil with services or goods such as rice, bananas and sugar. To help boost agriculture, Chavez said Venezuela will donate US$460 million from its oil proceeds annually to create an aid fund providing farming supplies and machinery in the region. He also offered to supply subsidized fertilizer to other countries. ... iht Great man. Any of this in the 'free and fair' USA media? Doubt it!
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POPS$50 a Barrel for OIL!? Court Case Lost by Exxon to Chavez! Two events that were not reported in the US 'fair and balanced' media.The $50 a barrel item was on Monday April 3, 2006. The UK court case that Exxon lost against Venezuela was published on March 25, 2008. The commencement of the case was covered extensively but the outcome and loss was ignored. Wouldn't it be nice now to have a barrel of oil at $50? Pity politics got in the way of business for once.
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POPSChe's Children seek respect not money A man who fought and died trying to overthrow capitalism and material excess should not be used to sell British vodka, French fizzy drinks and Swiss mobile phones, among other travesties, she said. "We don't want money, we demand respect." Aleida, 47, the eldest of Guevara's four children by his second wife, made the comments during an internet forum sponsored by Cuba's government ahead of what would have been her father's 80th birthday on June 14. The complaint came amid a surge of renewed interest in Guevara. The actor Benicio del Toro won best actor at the Cannes Film Festival this month for his portrayal in Steven Soderbergh's four and a half hour epic Che. Camilo Guevara, a son, who participated in the forum, said he welcomed the film as long as it was faithful to his father's memory.
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POPSColombia's Uribe refuses to rule out third term "Uribe is a Wall Street favorite but many investors and analysts say a third term by the bespectacled conservative would present a threat to the independence of Colombian institutions, such as the courts and the central bank."
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POPSChavez to Try Referendum Again Guess what will get missed AGAIN in the analysis of this story: 1. The Venezuelian voters will be ASKED once more to decide. 2. The ability of Chavez to run in COMPETITIVE elections is no different than what occurs in paralimentry democracies throughout the world. 3. The USA holds referendums on any matter of national interest.
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POPSDublin Zoo: Nature's Way is Best Way I was reminded of this while visiting last week. I'm a member and had been informed of this in our newsletter. In the brand new extensive Zoo area, two new caves have been born. I love visiting my relatives with my grandchild.
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POPSColombian drug lord killed by security forces The brothers' empire evolved amid a murky nexus between Colombia's narco-trafficking mafias and right-wing militia groups, which were battling left-wing guerrillas. The militias supposedly disbanded under a peace deal with the government, but the Mejias remained fugitives ... Guardian Opportune 'success' given the scandals of late in the right-wing Columbian governments.
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POPSHugo's Friend, former Bishop is New President in South America!
Lugo calls himself an independent and has steered clear of Latin America's more radical leftwing leaders, such as Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales in Bolivia. But he is seen as a likely ally of moderate leftist presidents in the region. Lugo, nicknamed the "bishop of the poor", was confident Paraguayans would elect him in the hope of seeing "a different country", likening himself to a David fighting a "monstrous Goliath". The Colorado party has stayed in power by means of democracy and dictatorship, ruling even longer than Cuba's Communist party. Eight months ago, Lugo welded unions, Indians and poor farmers into a coalition with the main opposition party to form the Patriotic Alliance for Change. Many ordinary Paraguayans had become fed up of what they saw as a corrupt establishment, that failed to safeguard the poorest in a country landlocked by wealthier neighbours Argentina and Brazil, and economically dependent on its agricultural and hydroelectric power exports.
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POPS62% Less Children's Tooth Decay: New Gum, better than Brushing The soft mints are designed to be dissolved and chewed into the biting surfaces of the back teeth, where about 90 percent of cavities in children occur. "Unlike regular candies, we want this product to be stuck in the teeth," said Mitchell Goldberg, president of Ortek Therapeutics Inc, a privately held company in Roslyn Heights, New York, that licensed the technology from Stony Brook. Goldberg said in a telephone interview that unlike sugarless gum, which fights cavities by temporarily increasing the flow of saliva in the mouth, the mints actively neutralize acids that cause cavities. ...Reuters
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POPSFor now: just remember, half the story The peace talks had to be stopped. Peace in Columbia at this point does not suit the US drug runners so they assassinate the main peace maker of FARC, an old man. So will we have another Kosovo in Columbia? Oh sorry, only the USA can create new states and they already have a narco drug state in Columbia!
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POPSNOT Available In 'free nor fair' USA "Colombian President Alvaro Uribe apologized for his country's cross-border attack on rebels to Ecuadorian counterpart Rafeal Correa, who accepted Uribe's apology and shook hands with Uribe. Later on, Uribe shook hands with his Venezuelan and Nicaraguan counterparts Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega"
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POPSColombia: Marchers Against Government Violence Columbia's government comes under pressure from within. The days of this fascist government are numbered despite all the N.E.D. money spent buying elections. The largest drug grower and last US 'friend' left in South America is under severe pressure. How much of a coincidence is it that wherever the CIA reigns that drug production is at its peak. When long before the new Kosovo-type state of FARC is declared?
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POPSYankees Go Home: US 'diplomacy' in Ecuador Did anyone imagine that the last fascist state in South America, Columbia could cross Ecuador's border without sanction of the Yankee master. I hadn't known about the primary reason for the US stirring it with Ecuador previously. I hadn't know the the US lease is up on its Ecuador and wouldn't be renewed unless Ecuador could have a similar base in Miami!!! The nerve of Correa! Did you know of this affront to Bush imperialism? I'd say he's getting off light with the blatant incursion into his territory! Probably only round one.
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POPSBBC: Cuba's Health Aid in Bolivia "We treat anyone who walks in, and we do it for nothing," Then there is the joint Cuban-Venezuelan literacy programme. One hundred and eighteen Cuban and 18 Venezuelan trainers backed with texts and television sets have taught Bolivian teachers the best ways of getting people to read and write. "We give our services free, bring our own supplies and equipment, and don't take any patients from the Bolivian doctors. Our staff have been accused by those who object to our presence here of being careless and unqualified. But they have never been able to stand their objections up,"
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POPSSerbia:Kosovo Bush:Clinton Israel:Gaza USA:Hyprocisy! "Bush deserves to go down in history as a US president who has worsened it immeasurably by wholly abandoning even the pretence that the US should act as an impartial referee in the Arab-Israeli dispute. Instead, by taking the brakes off Israel entirely, he emboldened a weak government containing a few hard men – an unfortunate combination – to go for broke and try to crack Hamas once and for all. We can only hope a change in the White House will bring about an end to the policy of offering Israel unreserved support, restore a degree of fairness to America's Middle Eastern diplomacy and prompt a more proactive attitude on the part of the US in general. Nothing else will encourage Palestinians to have any store in peace negotiations, or offer any prospect that Gaza's dreadful nightmare can be ended. ...Independent
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POPSUS Loves Peace? Practices WAR! Only! "Who has China been invading lately? Russia? Fidel? Those perfidious (and perfumed) French? Heck, even Saddam couldn't touch this record for aggression, especially once you account for the fact that the U.S. government assisted his foreign soiree into Iran (complete with the chemical weapons, of course) and likely green-lighted the one into Kuwait as well. ...AlterNet
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POPSUS Army School of Torture & Murder on Trail Feb 12 2008. Lizarbe, one of the few survivors of the massacre, testified Monday before U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan saying she watched soldiers under their command rape and torture women and children. Another plaintiff, Baldeón, also gave an emotional testimony about the Accomarca massacre; she was 12 years old at the time. The plaintiffs each testified that they survived by hiding from the soldiers. Despite Lizarbe's own escape, her mother, four brothers and a sister were killed . Soldiers also murdered Baldeón's mother and brother. The plaintiffs testified about life after such a devastating loss and their on-going struggle to heal.
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POPSKiss of the Assassin Observing the habitat of the Assassin bug and counting the number of bugs noted by exterminators has been tested as a very inexpensive, yet accurate method to determine if children need to be tested for the presence of the parasite, a protozoan called Trypanosoma cruzi. Good news for the people in Peru and other South American countries plagued by Chaga's Disease.
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POPSCIA involvement in murderous Operation Condor The US ambassador to Paraguay, Robert White, feared that the US connection to Condor might be publicly revealed at a time when the assassination in the USA of Chilean former minister Orlando Letelier and his American assistant Ronni Moffitt was being investigated. White cabled that "it would seem advisable to review this arrangement to insure that its continuation is in US interest." This demonstrates that the US facilitated communications for Operation Condor, and has been called by J. Patrice McSherry (Long Island Univ.) "another piece of increasingly weighty evidence suggesting that U.S. military and intelligence officials supported and collaborated with Condor as a secret partner or sponsor." It has been argued that while the US was not a key member, it "provided organizational, intelligence, financial and technological assistance to the operation."