Results from TruthNews for Venezuela

... with the cartel last May. But while Saudi Arabia can act quickly to calm market concerns about Venezuela and Iraq, Russia may be able to provide little more than moral support. Boston, 8 January 2003 ... www.truthnews.net

... wail that Venezuelan courts are human-rights violators more malignant than Ken Starr. Yet it was Venezuela's criminal justice system that produced two acquittals for Bosch -- in both civilian and military ... www.truthnews.net

TruthNews -- William F. Buckley Jr.

April 19, 2002 Chavez Saves Democracy?    Pedro Carmona of Venezuela has a nice point. He didn't participate in a coup, he says. All he did was agree to serve as interim president after being told ... www.truthnews.net

... money and use our young people to police the entire world in order to spread democracy. Whether in Venezuela or Columbia, Afghanistan or Pakistan, Iraq or Iran, Korea or Vietnam, our intervention is always ... www.truthnews.net

... is generally happy with a range of $18 to $25 a barrel, about where oil was before the strikes in Venezuela and jitters about Iraq helped push prices over $34 a barrel. If we were really concerned about ... www.truthnews.net

... Implications For Online Media * A Date Which Will Live in Infamy * Pro-Chavez Gunmen Kill 3 During Venezuela General Strike * Hezbollah Calls For "Export" of Suicide Bombings * U.S. Announces Plan To ... www.truthnews.net

... environmentalists” who care about the Alaskan arctic not care about the environment in Nigeria, Venezuela, the Arabian peninsula, or Texas, for that matter? The strategy pursued by the foes of Alaska ... www.truthnews.net

Truth News-Voice of America, April 12, 2003

A powerful explosion in Venezuela's capital has damaged the building hosting key negotiations between government and opposition leaders.

Authorities said Saturday, the high intensity explosion occurred before dawn at the Caracas Teleport office building. No one was injured in the blast, which shattered windows and destroyed a conference area in the building's basement.

Two men were in the building at the time of the blast. A watchman escaped injury because he was sleeping under a desk, and a technician was several floors above the explosion.

Authorities suspect the explosion is linked to similar blasts at the Spanish Embassy and the Colombian Consulate in February. The bombing comes one day after government and opposition representatives met with negotiators from the Organization of American states. The two sides agreed Friday to work toward a referendum to support or reject the presidency of Hugo Chavez.

Mr. Chavez's opponents say he has destroyed the country's economy, and have been calling for him to resign. Friday also marked the one-year anniversary of a massive protest outside the presidential palace in Caracas which left 19 people dead.

San mateo County Times By Alec Rosenberg, BUSINESS WRITER

SINCE STARTING in 1988, the Women's Initiative for Self Employment has helped Bay Area low-income women create 1,000 businesses from caterers to clothing designers. There's El Salvador native Gladys Nunez, who started a beauty salon in Hayward; Nicaragua native Maria Osejo, who followed in her mom's footsteps and began a house cleaning business; and Oakland artist Latisha Baker, who started Ishama Designs.

"It gave me a foundation of empowerment, motivation, resources, expertise," Baker said. "(They) want you to be successful. It's not just a job to them."

The nonprofit Women's Initiative plans to increase its efforts. On Friday, it celebrated the opening of its new, larger facility in Oakland, which will allow it to expand its bilingual training and technical assistance programs.

"The growth has been fast and furious -- women are creating businesses at twice the rate of others," said Paulette Meyer, co-founder and outgoing chairwoman of the Women's

Initiative. "We try to figure out what they need and how can we provide it."

The Women's Initiative provides low-fee services in English and Spanish with training to help low-income women start and manage businesses, including consultations and ongoing support. Also, it gives loans of as much as

$25,000 and access to Individual Development Accounts, where participants' savings are matched on a two-to-one basis.

It pays off. Within 18 months of graduation, the average Women's Initiative participant doubles her income to $26,000. Overall, the organization has assisted more than 10,000 low-income women -- and some men -- loaned $700,000 and helped clients leverage another $1 million in capital from other lenders.

The Women's Initiative serves Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties with offices in Oakland and San Francisco. Its new 2,300-square-foot downtown Oakland office is at 519 17th St., which also houses the Oakland Business Development Corp. and Small Business Administration One Stop Capital Shop.

"If there were not someone like Paulette to do it, it would not have happened," said Mark Quinn, San Francisco district director of the SBA, which Friday honored Meyer as its Women in Business Advocate of the Year.

Meyer was quick to credit the Women's Initiative staff, board and donors. The initiative is funded by a mix of individuals, banks, corporations, private foundations and public agencies such as the SBA and Port of Oakland.

"Lower-income women do have the talent and creativity and determination to make these businesses work ... if they have the access," Meyer said.

Venezuela native Ana Kwan, a former bank employee and housewife, opened Sage Documents a year ago. Her translating business has prospered since completing the Women's Initiative's Spanish-language training in September.

"They opened my horizons," she said.

Ishama Designs' Baker was graduated from the Women's Initiative two years ago. After getting laid off from her executive assistant job eight months ago, she devoted herself full time to her business, which now includes handcrafted jewelry, greeting cards and keepsake boxes.

"Getting laid off was an opportunity," she said. "It's pushing me to take it to another level."

For more information, visit www.womensinitiative.org or call (510) 451-3415.

The Associated press From correspondents in Caracas April 13, 2003

A BOMB blast yesterday heavily damaged the building that served as the headquarters for internationally sponsored negotiations between Venezuela's government and opposition.

No one was injured in the explosion which happened at 4.45pm AEST yesterday, said Caracas fire chief Rodolfo Briceno.

The attack came one day after the Organisation of American States (OAS) brokered a deal between the government and opposition to work toward a referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule.

Federal police chief Carlos Medina said the attack may have been politically motivated. An opposition leader said the blast was intended to intimidate his delegation which attended the talks.

The explosion destroyed the first three floors of the Teleport building in central Caracas, shattering windows, destroying the entrance and twisting steel gates.

Elevator cables hung from the facade and broken glass, roof tiles and light fixtures littered the ground.

A night watchman and a technician, the only two people inside the building when the blast hit, were unharmed, Briceno said.

Firefighters evacuated 40 people from a neighbouring building.

"It was felt in various zones of Caracas," Briceno said. "There was a lot of panic."

Medina said the perpetrators may have been the same ones behind bombs that destroyed the Spanish embassy and the Colombian consulate in February.

Investigators have suspects in the embassy explosions, Medina said, though he declined to give names.

"Judging from the type of damage, it may have been the same group," Medina said.

He added that yesterday's blast was an expert job, and the explosive appeared to have been homemade.

Rafael Alfonzo, an opposition negotiator, said the attack was an attempt to intimidate his delegation at the peace talks.

"This permanent intimidation ... is very worrying," Alfonzo said. "Every time we get an advance, every time there is the possibility of establishing the foundations for a recall referendum, then something like this happens."

There was no immediate comment from the government.

Chavez was scheduled to address the National Assembly overnight to mark the anniversary of the April 12, 2002 coup that ousted him for two days.

Venezuela has been steeped in months of upheaval over Chavez's leftist rule. The president weathered a two-month strike to force his resignation or early elections.

The strike, which collapsed in February, temporarily crippled Venezuela's oil industry, costing the country $US6 billion ($9.93 billion) and devastating the economy.

After five months of OAS-brokered talks, the government and opposition agreed to work toward a referendum to ask Venezuelans whether Chavez should step down. The Associated Press