Bolivian president blames 'imperialists' for death of Chaves

Bolivian President Evo Morales is blaming "imperialists" for the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Morales said Tuesday that "if they can't achieve their goal democratically or with a putsch ... then they're trying different methods — that is ending someone's life."

Chavez's death last week from cancer has spawned conspiracy theories about his demise. Morales called for an investigation, telling reporters that Chavez was "only 58 years old and he died so quickly." He says that "sooner or later it will be proven that there was an attempt on his life. Because it is always like that when presidents or union leaders open their mouth to demand their rights."

The Montreal Gazette

Iran's president Ahmadinejad criticised for hugging mother of Hugo Chavez

The Iranian president's domestic opponents reacted furiously after photos emerged of him giving Elena Frias de Chavez, 78, a consoling hug at last Friday's funeral in Caracas - at which he also kissed Mr Chavez's coffin. Religious conservatives said the act insulted Iran's religious dignity and amounted to "haram" – a term used to describe a religiously forbidden act under Islamic rules.

Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, the Friday prayer leader of Iran's second city, Isfahan, told Mehr news agency that Mr Ahmadinejad had "lost control". He added: "Shaking hands with a non-mahram (unrelated by family) woman, under any circumstances, whether young or old, is not allowed. Hugging or expressing emotions is improper for the dignity of the president of a country like the Islamic Republic of Iran."

From the Telegraph

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Hugo Chávez  28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013

Hugo Chavez Wins Re-Election In Venezuela Presidential Vote

Venezuela's electoral council says President Hugo Chavez has won re-election, defeating challenger Henrique Capriles. National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena says that with most votes counted, Chavez had about 54 percent of the vote.

It was Chavez's third re-election victory in nearly 14 years in office. The victory gives Chavez another six-year term to cement his legacy and press more forcefully for a transition to socialism in the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves.

huffingtonpost.com

Opposition duo die at Venezuelan election rally

Two opposition politicians have been killed in Venezuela during a campaign rally, a week before the country's presidential election. Geison Valero belonged to the opposition party First Justice and Omar Fernandez was an independent.

The First Justice party said they were campaigning for opposition leader Henrique Capriles in Barinas state when gunmen shot them dead. Witnesses said the vehicle belonged to the state oil company PDVSA. But there has been no confirmation of this from the Venezuelan authorities.

A statement by the party said a rally had been planned in Barinas, President Hugo Chavez's home state, but the road was blocked by government supporters. When the two men left their car to try to gain access, they were fired on by gunmen inside a van, it said.

Mr Chavez and Mr Capriles are wrapping up their campaigns over the next few days ahead of the 7 October elections. There have been other incidents of violence on the campaign trail. Supporters of both candidates threw stones at each other earlier this month when Mr Capriles attempted to march through the city of Puerto Cabello.

BBC News

Has the US developed a secret technology to give cancer to left-wing leaders in Latin America?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has questioned whether the US has developed a secret technology to give cancer to left-wing leaders in Latin America. Treated for cancer this year, Mr Chavez was speaking a day after news that Argentina's president had the disease.

Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and her predecessor Lula da Silva have also had cancer. Mr Chavez said this was "very strange" but stressed that he was thinking aloud rather than making "rash accusations". But he said the instances of cancer among Latin American leaders were "difficult to explain using the law of probabilities". "Would it be strange if they had developed the technology to induce cancer and nobody knew about it?" Mr Chavez asked in a televised speech to soldiers at an army base.

Mr Chavez noted that US government scientists had infected Guatemalan prisoners with syphilis and other diseases in the 1940s, but that this had only come to light last year. And he joked that he would now take extra care of the presidents of Bolivia and Ecuador - Evo Morales and Rafael Correa - lest they also be diagnosed with cancer.

BBC News

The Destabilization of Venezuela? Applying Washington's “Benghazi Formula”

On November 10, H. Chavez called Contragolpe host Vanessa Davies in the middle of the show to break the news that a US nuclear-powered submarine had been spotted in the country's territorial waters. According to Chavez's on-air account, an “unidentified” and “large-size” submarine appeared on the radars of the Venezuelan submarine fleet which was conducting regular exercise, but, being an extremely fast-moving vehicle, easily escaped the Venezuelan boats that took to trailing it. Chavez stressed that the Venezuelan navy responded to the provocation with due restraint and did not open fire during the incident.

As a matter of fact, this was not the first US submarine invasion of Venezuela's territorial waters on record. In April 2002, on the eve of an attempted anti-Chavez coup, US Defense Intelligence Agency operatives were supposed to hold a coordination meeting with the perpetrators aboard a US submarine. In September 2005, the USS Virginia, a US attack submarine, left the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, CT, for a 70—day reconnaissance raid in the Caribbean Sea. The  Virginia and other US submarines are known to have paid a number of uninvited visits to Venezuela's territorial waters since the time. 

Global Research

'US plotting new coup in Venezuela'

A political analyst says that the US is trying to plot another coup in Venezuela by choosing an ambassador to Caracas that has tried to curry favour with the Venezuelan military.

The appointment of an ambassador by the US "who was really discussing Venezuelan military loyalty and morale … is really a discussion of the potential of a new coup in Venezuela," said Sara Flounders, Co-Director of International Action Center in New York.
In an interview with Press TV, Flounders noted that "Venezuela has been a victim of US coup d'état and attempted coups. President [Hugo] Chavez himself [was a victim] of a direct US sponsored coup in 2002."
Tensions have flared up between the United States and Venezuela since August after US President Barack Obama nominated Larry Palmer as the US ambassador to Caracas.
However, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insisted that Palmer was not welcomed after the diplomat levelled harsh criticism against Venezuela during his US Senate confirmation hearings months ago.
At the time, Palmer had claimed that morale is low in Venezuela's military and also linked the government to leftist rebels in neighbouring Colombia.

PressTV