Video: The Presidency of Hugo Chávez
Simon Romero, The Times’s former Caracas bureau chief, reflects on the presidency of Hugo Chávez.
Hugo Chávez Dies, Leaving a Bitterly Divided Venezuela
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
President Hugo Chávez left behind a nation in the grip of political turmoil that grew more acute as he languished for weeks.
Hugo Chávez | 1954-2013
Polarizing Figure Who Led Movement
By SIMON ROMERO
Mr. Chávez led a nationalist movement that lashed out at the United States and wealthy Venezuelans, tapping into the resentments of the poor.
Multimedia Feature: 10 Memorable Moments
President Hugo Chávez was known for his grand overtures and bold attacks.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was polarizing in life, and he remains polarizing in death. Reaction to the news that the controversial leader died today at 58 elicited both mourning and celebration from world leaders.
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via WSJ.com: World News on 3/4/13
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has a "new and severe infection" that has caused his breathing problems to worsen, the country's information minister said Monday.
via WSJ.com: World News on 3/6/13
Venezuela enters an uncertain future after the death of President Hugo Chávez, who led the country as a one-man show for 14 years.
via WSJ.com: World News on 3/6/13
Hugo Chávez, a former tank commander turned populist politician who used Venezuela's oil riches to pursue his vision of socialism and challenge the U.S., died Tuesday from complications related to cancer.
via WSJ.com: World News on 3/5/13
Venezuelans took to the streets after Vice President Nicolás Maduro announced the death of President Hugo Chávez.
via The Wall Street Journal's Facebook Wall by The Wall Street Journal on 3/5/13
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez died today from complications related to cancer. Full story: http://on.wsj.com/ZeeVmw
Photo: European Pressphoto Agency
Photo: European Pressphoto Agency
via World: World News, International News, Foreign Reporting - The Washington Post by Caitlin Dewey on 3/5/13
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was polarizing in life, and he remains polarizing in death. Reaction to the news that the controversial leader died today at 58 elicited both mourning and celebration from world leaders.
Read full article >>
via World: World News, International News, Foreign Reporting - The Washington Post by Nick Miroff on 3/6/13
Hugo Chavez was a polarizing, outsized figure, and reaction to his death has been as sprawling and contradictory as his legacy is likely to be.
His passing was tearfully mourned by the poor Venezuelans he provided with free housing and health care, and cheered in Miami by those he drove into exile.
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His passing was tearfully mourned by the poor Venezuelans he provided with free housing and health care, and cheered in Miami by those he drove into exile.
Read full article >>
via Reuters: World News on 3/6/13
CARACAS (Reuters) - At two defining moments of his rule, Venezuela's theatrical leader Hugo Chavez took a small silver crucifix from his pocket and held it above his head.
via Los Angeles Times - Top News by By Chris Kraul and Carol J. Williams on 3/5/13
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a barrel-chested former paratrooper who tapped his nation's oil wealth to deliver social welfare programs for the impoverished masses, died Tuesday at a Caracas military hospital where he was moved last month after a 10-week stay in Cuba for cancer treatment , Vice President Nicolas Maduro told national television.
Mike Nova's starred items
via Los Angeles Times - Top News by By Chris Kraul and Mery Mogollon, Los Angeles Times on 3/5/13
The charismatic leader won the loyalty of the impoverished with his socialist revolution, but he left the nation deeply divided and did little to help it develop, analysts say.
CARACAS, Venezuela —Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the charismatic socialist whose Bolivarian Revolution reduced poverty and galvanized anti-American sentiment across Latin America but left his nation deeply polarized and ever more dependent on oil dollars, died Tuesday in Caracas after a nearly-two-year battle with cancer. He was 58.
CARACAS, Venezuela —Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the charismatic socialist whose Bolivarian Revolution reduced poverty and galvanized anti-American sentiment across Latin America but left his nation deeply polarized and ever more dependent on oil dollars, died Tuesday in Caracas after a nearly-two-year battle with cancer. He was 58.
via The Huffington Post | Full News Feed by The Huffington Post News Editors on 3/6/13
HAVANA, Cuba — Reactions to the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were as mixed, polemical and outsized as the leader was in life, with some saying his passing was a tragic loss and others calling it an opportunity for Venezuela to escape his long shadow.
Seen as a hero by some for his anti-U.S. rhetoric and gifts of cut-rate oil, others considered him a bully.
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Seen as a hero by some for his anti-U.S. rhetoric and gifts of cut-rate oil, others considered him a bully.
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via World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk by Michael White on 3/6/13
On days like today when Hugo Chavéz is being adored and reviled in equal measure following his death from cancer I'm fascinated by society's deeply felt need for heroes and villains, the overwhelming urge to set aside inconvenient facts which mar the hero's life or put the villain's record in a more impressive light.
It will be the same when Margaret Thatcher, another charismatic and divisive figure, goes to join the majority. Both sides will be outraged that I mention Lady T in the same breath as Commandante Chávez. How dare he! But that reaction reinforces my point. People with a need for heroes – their black and white world view also needs villains – will have no truck with that sort of comparison.
Are our own times worse than others in this regard? Probably not, except that the widespread rejection of religious faith – plenty of scope for heroic saints to admire there – western secular society seems to search for other heroes. Did I say western? Europeans in their millions may have revered both Hitler and Stalin. But even more Chinese made a lethal cult of Mao Tse Tung well within living memory.
Maoist cult groups in Europe threatened death to writers who questioned his towering achievements. Even today the nervous crony capitalists elite in Beijing dare not do what Khrushchev did to Stalin in his secret speech a mere three years after his predecessor's death. Cromwell, Napoleon, Richard III, they all retain their active fan clubs and hate clubs centuries after they died. Some leaders have that knack.
Myself, I usually refrained from writing about Chávez, who struck me as a familiar type of Latin American caudillo whose career would probably end in tears – his own or other people's. I did so because a lot of people I like regarded him as a serious progressive who was trying to raise up the poor of oil-rich Venezuela and do so at the expense of the corrupted oligarchy that had run the place for a long time with the connivance of the United States.
The overall US record in South and Central America has been pretty baleful since it took over paternal stewardship of the subcontinent from the Spanish and Brits (Portuguese Brazil was always a special case), though the past few decades have been more successful and assertive, not least in modernising Brazil, which has avoided what we'll call Chávez's flair. Even Franklin D Roosevelt – who comes as close as I can muster to a 20th-century political hero of mine – once said of some ratbag (was it Batista of Nicaragua?) "he may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch". Not nice.
Like the dynastic Castro brothers, Chávez was part of the Latino self-assertion, for all his faults and excesses, economic, political and constitutional. It's pretty obvious that millions of poor people loved him and benefited from his rule, whatever sour-puss US analysts are saying on radio and TV today. Fair enough, so I gave the president-for-life the benefit of the doubt which was often difficult, as today's obituaries underline.
He did a lot of outrageous things at home, not all of them necessary to sustain his popular rule, his economic policies, based on the oil boom, would have run out of money sooner or later, and he chose some very unsavoury pen pals abroad. Check out this – and this balanced warts-and-all analysis from Rory Carroll, the Guardian's former Caracas correspondent and Chávez biographer. Here's Rory's thoughtful film.
It won't be good enough for the worshipping end of the trade, especially liberal and leftwing romantics who live far from Venezuela. Check the posts on the Guardian's coverage. This morning, ex-mayor of London Ken Livingstone traded blows on air with a US hardliner, both blinkered in their own ways. Honest, frank, likeable, you didn't feel at all deferential in his presence, the former mayor confided.
Livingstone said Tony Blair met Muammar Gaddafi too, so that made it OK, that Chávez was more popular than George W Bush – probably true, but a low benchmark – and that US and British ministers rig our supreme courts too by picking the judges. Hmmm. I can find no easy confirmation of Livingstone's claim that the US flew three assassins into Venezuela during the failed 2002 coup but that when Chávez's jailers realised they'd kill them too they saved him. Hmmm again.
Chávez bounced back in impressive style in 2002 as he had after his own botched coup in 1992, and after misleading voters over his own health – people with cancer are entitled to do that, but should his entourage have joined the conspiracy of silence? - got re-elected in November. What happens next is likely to be messy, let's hope it isn't. At least Barack Obama isn't Bush.
Quiet, fairly democratic states don't need heroes quite as much as those suffering deep turmoil or oppression. For most people, I suspect, ritual hatred of politicians is pretty skin deep. Even Maggie worship is fading and Churchill has little of no cult following left at all. In Italy the shine is coming off Beppe Grillo already – and he's only been a political kingmaker for a week.
That's as it should be. Happy the country without heroes. I like to think of the 1940s as offering two perfect, rival models of leadership – Churchill and Attlee. Sensible people would have voted for the charismatic Churchill as warlord in May 1940, the Labour party certainly did, though his own side was tepid and did not cheer his first entry into the Commons as PM.
But in July 1945 sensible people voted to chuck him out and quite right too. They elected his Labour deputy in the coalition, Clem Attlee, taciturn and uncharismatic, but a man who mastered a turbulent cabinet determined to rebuild war-ravished and bankrupt Britain. In her memoirs Thatcher gracefully conceded Attlee was "all substance and no show" (unlike most politicians today, she added meanly) while Attlee said of Churchill that he was "50% genius, 50% bloody fool".
Clem gets my endorsement, but he wouldn't want it. He wouldn't want a fuss. No demos, no placards please.
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via Nation - Google News on 3/6/13
 ABC News |
Venezuelans react to Hugo Chavez's death
Washington Post The country's poor masses take to the streets to mourn the president as they brace for what's next. Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez react to the announcement of his death outside his hospital. 1 / 10. Rate this Photo: 1 2 3 4 5. Buy this Photo ... Venezuelans mourn Chavez as focus turns to electionReuters BC-LT--Venezuela-Obit-Chavez,PackageAdvisory, LTNECN Hugo Chavez: Venezuelan leader's Latin American legacyBBC News TIME -ABC News all 1,722 news articles » |
via Top Stories - Google News on 3/6/13
 TIME |
Chávez as divisive in death as in life
Financial Times Even after his death, Hugo Chávez remained a controversial figure, with international reaction to the passing of the Venezuelan leader ranging from sad condolences to harsh words about his leadership. US President Barack Obama and William Hague, the ... Dead But AliveNew York Times (blog) Hugo Chávez, RIP: He Empowered the Poor and Gutted VenezuelaBusinessweek After Chávez, a Question of His Country's OilWall Street Journal The Guardian -Christian Science Monitor -The Hindu all 111 news articles » |
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Venezuela's Hugo Chavez dead at 58
via Caribbean Business on 3/5/13
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez dead at 58CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a so ... House Dem Heaps Praise on Hugo Chavez: 'He Was Committed to *...*
via puerto rican community in new york - Google Blog Search by Jason Howerton on 3/5/13
US Representative Jose Serrano (C), Democrat of New York, speaks alongside Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (R) of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican activists, urging Congress to allow an end to the island's territorial status, during a press ... But at his core he was a man who came from very little and used his unique talents and gifts to try to lift up the people and the communities that reflected his impoverished roots,” Serrano wrote in an additional statement.
Obama on Tuesday issued a statement saying that the United States reaffirms its support for the “Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government.”
“As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights,” according to the statement.
Meanwhile, the news of Chavez’s death was reportedly met with cheers from Venezuelans in South Florida who have actually lived under his reign and fled to the United States.
“I never wish anyone death,” Carlon Marino, 63, told the Miami Herald. “[B]ut in this case I did. He poisoned the Caribbean.”
“There’s so much happiness,” Venezuelan Oscar Pérez said. “We’ve been waiting 14 years. I’ve seen how he ruined the country. It’s anarchy.”
Mike Nova's starred items
via Latin American Herald Tribune by noemail@noemail.org (Latin American Herald Tribune) on 3/5/13
Latin American Herald Tribune posted a photo:
 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday in Caracas after battling cancer for nearly two years www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=701404&CategoryId=... Regional Leaders React to Death of Hugo Chavez www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=701486&CategoryId=... Venezuela Bonds Expected to Rise on Transition Hopes www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=701604&CategoryId=... Venezuela Expels U.S. Military Attache www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=701441&CategoryId=... 
via Latin American Herald Tribune on 3/6/13
The impetus from protesting students rejecting the chain of lies, half-truths, illegalities and radicalization engaged by the thieves of power is being felt again across Venezuela since Hugo Chávez (reelected but not sworn-in) is a no show.
via The Guardian's Facebook Wall by The Guardian on 3/6/13
Guardian front page, Wednesday 6 March 2013: Chávez dies at age of 58
http://gu.com/p/3cp36/tw 
via Global Voices en Español » Inglés by Cati Restrepo on 3/5/13
El día 5 de Marzo de 2013, el mundo conoció la noticia del fallecimiento del presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías.
De acuerdo a la cadena venezolana TeleSur, el Vicepresidente Nicolás Maduro “hizo el anuncio en cadena de radio y televisión desde el Hospital Militar Carlos Arvelo, en Caracas (capital), donde dijo que ‘a las 4:25 de la tarde de hoy 5 de marzo ha fallecido el comandante presidente'”. Tras ganar las elecciones del 7 de octubre de 2012, Chávez viajó a Cuba para ser sometido a una intervención quirúrgica y a una serie de tratamientos médicos debido al cáncer que padecía. Su estado de salud empeoró y no se le volvió a ver en medios desde el mes de diciembre. En Twitter se pueden seguir las opiniones de los internautas a través de las combinaciones Murió Hugo Chávez, Nicolás Maduro, y la etiqueta #MuereChávez. A propósito de su conocida ideología anti-imperialista, el escritor colombiano Héctor Abad Faciolince (@hectorabadf) expresa: @hectorabadf: Lo cierto es que Chávez sí inoculó el chavismo por toda América Latina.Mientras que desde Venezuela Nelson Bocaranada (@NelsonBocaranda) manifiesta sus condolencias:  Miles marcharon en apoyo al presidente Chávez en enero, mientras seguía bajo tratamiento en Cuba. Foto de Jesus Gil, copyright Demotix@NelsonBocaranda: Hugo Chávez Frías 1954-2013. Paz a sus restos y nuestro sentido de pésame a sus familiares y seguidores.Mauricio Rodríguez (@MauricioRG28) hace saber su admiración por el trabajo de Hugo Chávez: @mauricioRG28: Hombre sin tiempo ya eres eterno.Has entregado todo a la construcción de una patria incluyente y justa. Por eso, Comandante,tu pueblo te amaY Arturo Cazal (@ArturoCazal) le agradece: @ArturoCazal: Qué puedo decir. Seguiremos adelante. Luchando, amando… Gracias comandante ChávezRoberto Juan Carmona (@SelenioE) lo considera un ser inmortal: @SelenioE: Chávez es eterno, Chávez no estará nunca en una tumba.Y, por su parte, Andreína Miárquez (@mintina) hace referencia a la polarización que sembró: @mintina: Lo único que deseo es que Hugo Chávez se lleve con él todo el odio que sembró. Adiós.Lourdes (@lourdes_g) considera que es hora de que los venezolanos recuperen el país: @lourdes_g: This is your chance…take to the streets and take back your country! @lourdes_g: Esta es su oportunidad. Tómese las calles y recupere su país!Y el expresidente peruano Alejandro Toledo (@atoledomanrique) también publica al respecto: @atoledo: Es la hora de la Democracia y del pueblo venezolano. Descanse en paz, Presidente Chávez.Henrique Capriles (@hcapriles), representante de la oposición venezolana, hizo un llamado a la unidad. @hcapriles:En momentos difíciles debemos demostrar nuestro profundo amor y respeto a nuestra Venezuela!Unidad de la familia venezolana!Y RJ Gómez expresó en Facebook: Ojala que ahora El y el pueblo de Venezuela puedan tener paz.Yrivalera (@Yri_27) invita a los internautas a publicar sus opiniones con respeto. @Yri_27:Finalmente, algunos presidentes latinoamericanos se expresaron así: Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos), Colombia: @JuanManSantos: Lamento profundamente la muerte del presidente de Venezuela Hugo Chávez Frías. Nuestras sinceras condolencias… http://twiffo.com/1JJyOllanta Humala (@Ollanta_HumalaT), Perú: @Ollanta_HumalaT: Adiós Comandante y amigo Hugo Chávez. Mis sentidas condolencias a su familia y a todo el pueblo venezolano.Evo Morales, presidente de Bolivia, afirmó que “Las oligarquías, el imperio, seguramente están de fiesta”, de acuerdo a CNN México (@CNNMex). La presidenta argentina Cristina Fernández declaró duelo nacional y bandera a media asta. Y Sebastián Piñera, de Chile, expresó: “Teníamos diferencias, pero supe apreciar la fuerza y compromiso con los que H. Chávez luchaba por sus ideas”. Mientras en Venezuela se ordenó un despliegue militar y policial, en la red las opiniones se han vivido por miles y las aristas giran en torno a los cambios que, sin duda, se generan en la democracia de Venezuela. En el Diario El País de Colombia se puede encontrar una cronología multimedia con 36 hechos hechos que marcaron la vida del presidente Chávez, denominado el líder del socialismo del siglo XXI. Escrito por Cati Restrepo · Comentarios (0) Compártalo: Meneame · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper |
via FOX News on 3/5/13
The populist president of oil-rich Venezuela became Latin America's most vocal and controversial leader.
via FOX News on 3/5/13
Vice President Nicolás Maduro claims the infection afflicting Hugo Chavez was an "attack" by foreign enemies.
via FOX News on 3/5/13
Hugo Chavez cancer fight. He underwent surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment since diagnosed in June 2011.
via FOX News on 3/5/13
Vice President Nicolas Maduro faces the daunting task of rallying support in a deeply divided Venezuela.
via FOX News on 3/5/13
Venezuelans reacted with cautious optimism to news that their populist president had died.
via Latino Voices on HuffingtonPost.com by The Huffington Post on 3/5/13
The announcement of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's death Tuesday provoked a wide array of reactions from influential figures around the world. Here are some statements made by world leaders to the Chavez's death:
Here in the U.S., President Obama released a statement reaffirming his "support for the Venezuelan people," stressing that America "remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights."
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who met Chavez in 1998, released a long statement extending condolences to Chavez's family and praising the leader for reducing poverty. However, he also said that he did not agree "with all of the methods followed by [Chavez's] government."
Here's a roundup of other reactions from world leaders:
Here in the U.S., President Obama released a statement reaffirming his "support for the Venezuelan people," stressing that America "remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights."
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who met Chavez in 1998, released a long statement extending condolences to Chavez's family and praising the leader for reducing poverty. However, he also said that he did not agree "with all of the methods followed by [Chavez's] government."
Here's a roundup of other reactions from world leaders:
via latino - Google News on 3/5/13
Venezuelans Reflect On Hugo Chavez's Death
Fox News Latino From the streets of Caracas to popular restaurants in Doral, Fla., Venezuelans reacted with cautious optimism and some sorrow following news that their populist president had died. News broke of Chávez's death on Tuesday evening, as people left work in ... and more » |
via Latest News by AP on 3/6/13
HAVANA, Cuba — Reactions to the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were as mixed, polemical and outsized as the leader was in life, with some saying his passing was a tragic loss and others calling it an opportunity for Venezuela to escape his long shadow.
Seen as a hero by some for his anti-U.S. rhetoric and gifts of cut-rate oil, others considered him a bully.
A teary-eyed Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of Chavez's closest allies and most loyal disciples, declared that "Chavez is more alive than ever."
"Chavez will continue to be an inspiration for all peoples who fight for their liberation," Morales said Tuesday in a televised speech. "Chavez will always be present in all the regions of the world and all social sectors. Hugo Chavez will always be with us, accompanying us."
In Cuba, President Raul Castro's government declared two days of national mourning and ordered the flag to fly at half-staff.
"It is with deep and excruciating sorrow that our people and the revolutionary government have learned of President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias' decease," it said in a statement read on the nightly state TV newscast. "The Cuban people view him as one of their most outstanding sons."
Some islanders worried that the loss of the country's No. 1 ally, who has sent billions of dollars of oil to Cuba at preferential terms, could have a negative ripple effect there.
"It's a very tough blow. ... Now I wonder, what is to become of us?" said Maite Sierra, a 72-year-old Havana resident.
"It's troubling what could come now, first for Venezuela but also for Cuba," said Sergio Duran, a Havana resident. "Everything will depend on what happens in Venezuela, but in any case it will never be the same as with Chavez, even if Chavez's party wins" in upcoming elections.
In the United States, where relations with Venezuela were strained under Chavez, President Barack Obama issued a statement reaffirming Washington's support for the "Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government."
"As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights," the statement read.
Filmmaker Oliver Stone, who produced a film about Chavez and his leftist allies, wrote in his Twitter account, "I mourn a great hero to the majority of his people and those who struggle throughout the world ... Hated by the entrenched classes, Hugo Chavez will live forever in history. My friend, rest finally in a peace long earned."
Some of the estimated 189,219 Venezuelan immigrants living in the United States – about half of them in Florida – turned out cheering and waving their country's flag and expressed hope Tuesday that change would come to their homeland.
"He's gone!" dozens in a largely anti-Chavez community chanted after word spread of the socialist's death
"We are not celebrating death," Ana San Jorge, 37, said amid a jubilant crowd in the Miami suburb of Doral. "We are celebrating the opening of a new door, of hope and change."
Wearing caps and T-shirts in the Venezuelan colors of yellow, blue and red, many expressed cautious optimism and concern.
"Although we might all be united here celebrating today, we don't know what the future holds," said Francisco Gamez, 18, at El Arepazo, a popular Venezuelan restaurant in Doral.
"I always knew that for things to get better they had to get worse," said Mario Di Giovanni, a Venezuelan student activist in Miami who helped organize voters for last October's election. "So I guess this is the first step toward real change in Venezuela."
Republican U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida called Chavez's death "an opportunity for democracy in Venezuela."
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, another Chavez ally, declared three days of mourning nationwide.
She and President Jose Mujica of neighboring Uruguay also prepared to travel to Venezuela for the funeral.
In Nicaragua, another nation that broadly benefited from Venezuelan cut-rate oil, Rosario Murillo, the wife and spokeswoman of President Daniel Ortega, said Chavez is "one of the dead who never die."
"We are all Chavez," she said in televised comments.
But Raul Martinez, a leader of the leftist, pro-government Sandinista Youth group, acknowledged in an interview with a local television station that "it is a hard blow,"
"Hugo Chavez was our best ally, but we are confident that the Venezuelans we will continue their support," Martinez.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter released a statement saying Chavez "will be remembered for his bold assertion of autonomy and independence for Latin American governments."
"We came to know a man who expressed a vision to bring profound changes to his country to benefit especially those people who had felt neglected and marginalized," Carter wrote. "Although we have not agreed with all of the methods followed by his government, we have never doubted Hugo Chavez's commitment to improving the lives of millions of his fellow countrymen."
At the United Nations, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called the death a tragedy.
"He was a great politician for his country, Latin America and the world. He played a very important role in the development of relations between Venezuela and Russia, so we feel very badly about it," Churkin said.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague sent condolences to Venezuela and the family of Chavez, who he said "left a lasting impression on the country and more widely" during his 14 years as president.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered condolences to Venezuela's people and said he hopes Chavez's death brings hope of a better future.
"At this key juncture, I hope the people of Venezuela can now build for themselves a better, brighter future based on the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights," Harper said in a statement.
A wistful Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador and another of Chavez's closest allies, predicted Chavez would have a lasting influence. "We have lost a revolutionary, but millions of us remain inspired."
For good or ill, Chavez's influence was felt across Latin America. Alfonso Astorga, 65, a math teacher, was holding back tears as he walked into a store in a wealthy neighborhood of Santiago, Chile.
"He was an example of courage, struggle and passion for Latin America's integration," Astorga said. "The world loses a great man."
In China, which has provided tens of billions of dollars in loans that helped bankroll Chavez's social programs in exchange for oil, Chinese leaders did not immediately comment. But the Internet, the freest court of public opinion in China, crackled with praise for Chavez for standing up to the U.S. and for his socialist policies.
"Chavez and the `21st century socialism' he advocated was a big bright spot after drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe sunk the world socialist movement in a low ebb, and he was known as an `anti-American standard-bearer," Zhu Jidong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' World Socialism Research Center wrote on his feed on Sina Corporation's Twitter-like microblog service. "Mourn this great fighter."
There was no shortage of emotional farewells to a socialist hero who some feel rivaled the revolutionaries of the 1960s.
Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez, whose ode to revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara became famous, used the song's title words to bid farewell to Chavez on his blog.
"Hasta siempre, comandante," he wrote, Spanish for "Farewell forever, commander."
___
Associated Press writers Christine Armario in Miami, Ron Depasquale at the United Nations, Anne-Marie Garcia in Havana, Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
___
Follow Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi
Seen as a hero by some for his anti-U.S. rhetoric and gifts of cut-rate oil, others considered him a bully.
A teary-eyed Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of Chavez's closest allies and most loyal disciples, declared that "Chavez is more alive than ever."
"Chavez will continue to be an inspiration for all peoples who fight for their liberation," Morales said Tuesday in a televised speech. "Chavez will always be present in all the regions of the world and all social sectors. Hugo Chavez will always be with us, accompanying us."
In Cuba, President Raul Castro's government declared two days of national mourning and ordered the flag to fly at half-staff.
"It is with deep and excruciating sorrow that our people and the revolutionary government have learned of President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias' decease," it said in a statement read on the nightly state TV newscast. "The Cuban people view him as one of their most outstanding sons."
Some islanders worried that the loss of the country's No. 1 ally, who has sent billions of dollars of oil to Cuba at preferential terms, could have a negative ripple effect there.
"It's a very tough blow. ... Now I wonder, what is to become of us?" said Maite Sierra, a 72-year-old Havana resident.
"It's troubling what could come now, first for Venezuela but also for Cuba," said Sergio Duran, a Havana resident. "Everything will depend on what happens in Venezuela, but in any case it will never be the same as with Chavez, even if Chavez's party wins" in upcoming elections.
In the United States, where relations with Venezuela were strained under Chavez, President Barack Obama issued a statement reaffirming Washington's support for the "Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government."
"As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights," the statement read.
Filmmaker Oliver Stone, who produced a film about Chavez and his leftist allies, wrote in his Twitter account, "I mourn a great hero to the majority of his people and those who struggle throughout the world ... Hated by the entrenched classes, Hugo Chavez will live forever in history. My friend, rest finally in a peace long earned."
Some of the estimated 189,219 Venezuelan immigrants living in the United States – about half of them in Florida – turned out cheering and waving their country's flag and expressed hope Tuesday that change would come to their homeland.
"He's gone!" dozens in a largely anti-Chavez community chanted after word spread of the socialist's death
"We are not celebrating death," Ana San Jorge, 37, said amid a jubilant crowd in the Miami suburb of Doral. "We are celebrating the opening of a new door, of hope and change."
Wearing caps and T-shirts in the Venezuelan colors of yellow, blue and red, many expressed cautious optimism and concern.
"Although we might all be united here celebrating today, we don't know what the future holds," said Francisco Gamez, 18, at El Arepazo, a popular Venezuelan restaurant in Doral.
"I always knew that for things to get better they had to get worse," said Mario Di Giovanni, a Venezuelan student activist in Miami who helped organize voters for last October's election. "So I guess this is the first step toward real change in Venezuela."
Republican U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida called Chavez's death "an opportunity for democracy in Venezuela."
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, another Chavez ally, declared three days of mourning nationwide.
She and President Jose Mujica of neighboring Uruguay also prepared to travel to Venezuela for the funeral.
In Nicaragua, another nation that broadly benefited from Venezuelan cut-rate oil, Rosario Murillo, the wife and spokeswoman of President Daniel Ortega, said Chavez is "one of the dead who never die."
"We are all Chavez," she said in televised comments.
But Raul Martinez, a leader of the leftist, pro-government Sandinista Youth group, acknowledged in an interview with a local television station that "it is a hard blow,"
"Hugo Chavez was our best ally, but we are confident that the Venezuelans we will continue their support," Martinez.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter released a statement saying Chavez "will be remembered for his bold assertion of autonomy and independence for Latin American governments."
"We came to know a man who expressed a vision to bring profound changes to his country to benefit especially those people who had felt neglected and marginalized," Carter wrote. "Although we have not agreed with all of the methods followed by his government, we have never doubted Hugo Chavez's commitment to improving the lives of millions of his fellow countrymen."
At the United Nations, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called the death a tragedy.
"He was a great politician for his country, Latin America and the world. He played a very important role in the development of relations between Venezuela and Russia, so we feel very badly about it," Churkin said.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague sent condolences to Venezuela and the family of Chavez, who he said "left a lasting impression on the country and more widely" during his 14 years as president.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered condolences to Venezuela's people and said he hopes Chavez's death brings hope of a better future.
"At this key juncture, I hope the people of Venezuela can now build for themselves a better, brighter future based on the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights," Harper said in a statement.
A wistful Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador and another of Chavez's closest allies, predicted Chavez would have a lasting influence. "We have lost a revolutionary, but millions of us remain inspired."
For good or ill, Chavez's influence was felt across Latin America. Alfonso Astorga, 65, a math teacher, was holding back tears as he walked into a store in a wealthy neighborhood of Santiago, Chile.
"He was an example of courage, struggle and passion for Latin America's integration," Astorga said. "The world loses a great man."
In China, which has provided tens of billions of dollars in loans that helped bankroll Chavez's social programs in exchange for oil, Chinese leaders did not immediately comment. But the Internet, the freest court of public opinion in China, crackled with praise for Chavez for standing up to the U.S. and for his socialist policies.
"Chavez and the `21st century socialism' he advocated was a big bright spot after drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe sunk the world socialist movement in a low ebb, and he was known as an `anti-American standard-bearer," Zhu Jidong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' World Socialism Research Center wrote on his feed on Sina Corporation's Twitter-like microblog service. "Mourn this great fighter."
There was no shortage of emotional farewells to a socialist hero who some feel rivaled the revolutionaries of the 1960s.
Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez, whose ode to revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara became famous, used the song's title words to bid farewell to Chavez on his blog.
"Hasta siempre, comandante," he wrote, Spanish for "Farewell forever, commander."
___
Associated Press writers Christine Armario in Miami, Ron Depasquale at the United Nations, Anne-Marie Garcia in Havana, Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
___
Follow Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi
via latino - Google Blog Search by Ignacio Torres on 3/5/13
In the town of Doral, nicknamed 'Doralzuela' because of the number of Venezuelan-Americans who live in the community, Mayor Luigi Boria, the first Venezuelan-born mayor to be elected to the post, is already waiting on the ...
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Pesquera admite que "no es fácil" decidir si se queda o se va
05:37 p.m.Pesquera admite que "no es fácil" decidir si se queda o se va
El contrato del superintendente de la Policía expira el próximo 31 de marzo
Pesquera fue contratado el año pasado por Luis Fortuño. Su contrato de $283,100 expira el 31 de marzo. (LUIS.ALCALADELOLMO@GFRMEDIA.COM)
Por Alex Figueroa Cancel / alex.figueroa@gfrmedia.com y Alba Muñiz Gracia / amuniz@elnuevodia.com
A medida que avanza su último mes de contrato como superintendente, Héctor Pesquera ha comenzado a tomar con el mejor humor posible la presión pública que enfrenta para decidir si se queda como jefe de la Policía.
Esta madrugada, cuando estaba a punto de culminar una conferencia de prensa sobre un operativo federal, un periodista levantó la mano para una última pregunta, y era para el superintendente Pesquera.
"Jé, ya me imagino cuál es", bromeó, de inmediato, con una sonrisa, arrancando carcajadas de los presentes. "Déjame buscar la bola de cristal", agregó.
"Entiendo que estén preocupados por mí, si me quedo o no me quedo", continuó Pesquera, lo que provocó más risas.
"Pero denme espacio", reclamó en un tono más serio. "No es fácil. Hay muchas variables que hay en el aire. Vamos a ver, con el favor de Dios…", afirmó.
Pesquera fue contratado el año pasado por el entonces gobernador Luis Fortuño. Su contrato de $283,100 expira el próximo 31 de marzo, cuando debería regresar a su puesto como subjefe a cargo de la Autoridad de Puertos del condado de Miami-Dade en Florida.
El gobernador Alejandro García Padilla reiteró hoy que desea que Pesquera se quede, pero dijo que no le pondrá presión y dejará que decida tranquilamente.
"Estamos en conversaciones sobre ese tema. El superintendente tiene una familia y tiene unas raíces echadas. Muchos de sus familiares no están en Puerto Rico", dijo García Padilla. "Estamos trabajando sobre eso, pero si de mí dependiera, estamos muy contentos y satisfechos. Todos los renglones del crimen están reduciéndose", destacó el mandatario.
"Le he dado espacio al superintendente. No sería razonable ponerle presión pública innecesaria", afirmó.
Enmendarían el contrato
Más tarde, durante una conferencia de prensa en La Fortaleza, el mandatario dejó claro que solo espera por la determinación del funcionario, cuyo contrato fue duramente criticado ya que Pesquera continúa siendo empleado de la policía del condado de Miami Dade.
“El contrato que se utilizó, es un contrato modelo. Ni siquiera el superintendente está de acuerdo con las cosas que dice el texto de ese contrato. O sea que si se queda por ese mecanismo o por otro, no va a tener el mismo texto. Ni siquiera el superintendente está de acuerdo con que diga que le pagarían el laundry (lavandería)”, indicó García Padilla cuando se le preguntó si el contrato de Pesquera, si decidiera quedarse al mando de la Uniformada, tenía las mismas condiciones.
Pesquera también estuvo presente durante la conferencia de la tarde, pero –contrario a lo ocurrido durante la mañana- no habló.
“El superintendente está claro y yo estoy claro en que hay unas consideraciones más importantes que los deadlines, que es la seguridad de la gente de este país, que es lo que nos mueve a trabajar. No nos estamos poniendo esa presión”, indicó García Padilla en respuesta a una pregunta sobre la cercanía de la fecha de vencimiento del contrato de Pesquera, que termina este mes.
Esta madrugada, cuando estaba a punto de culminar una conferencia de prensa sobre un operativo federal, un periodista levantó la mano para una última pregunta, y era para el superintendente Pesquera.
"Jé, ya me imagino cuál es", bromeó, de inmediato, con una sonrisa, arrancando carcajadas de los presentes. "Déjame buscar la bola de cristal", agregó.
"Entiendo que estén preocupados por mí, si me quedo o no me quedo", continuó Pesquera, lo que provocó más risas.
"Pero denme espacio", reclamó en un tono más serio. "No es fácil. Hay muchas variables que hay en el aire. Vamos a ver, con el favor de Dios…", afirmó.
Pesquera fue contratado el año pasado por el entonces gobernador Luis Fortuño. Su contrato de $283,100 expira el próximo 31 de marzo, cuando debería regresar a su puesto como subjefe a cargo de la Autoridad de Puertos del condado de Miami-Dade en Florida.
El gobernador Alejandro García Padilla reiteró hoy que desea que Pesquera se quede, pero dijo que no le pondrá presión y dejará que decida tranquilamente.
"Estamos en conversaciones sobre ese tema. El superintendente tiene una familia y tiene unas raíces echadas. Muchos de sus familiares no están en Puerto Rico", dijo García Padilla. "Estamos trabajando sobre eso, pero si de mí dependiera, estamos muy contentos y satisfechos. Todos los renglones del crimen están reduciéndose", destacó el mandatario.
"Le he dado espacio al superintendente. No sería razonable ponerle presión pública innecesaria", afirmó.
Enmendarían el contrato
Más tarde, durante una conferencia de prensa en La Fortaleza, el mandatario dejó claro que solo espera por la determinación del funcionario, cuyo contrato fue duramente criticado ya que Pesquera continúa siendo empleado de la policía del condado de Miami Dade.
“El contrato que se utilizó, es un contrato modelo. Ni siquiera el superintendente está de acuerdo con las cosas que dice el texto de ese contrato. O sea que si se queda por ese mecanismo o por otro, no va a tener el mismo texto. Ni siquiera el superintendente está de acuerdo con que diga que le pagarían el laundry (lavandería)”, indicó García Padilla cuando se le preguntó si el contrato de Pesquera, si decidiera quedarse al mando de la Uniformada, tenía las mismas condiciones.
Pesquera también estuvo presente durante la conferencia de la tarde, pero –contrario a lo ocurrido durante la mañana- no habló.
“El superintendente está claro y yo estoy claro en que hay unas consideraciones más importantes que los deadlines, que es la seguridad de la gente de este país, que es lo que nos mueve a trabajar. No nos estamos poniendo esa presión”, indicó García Padilla en respuesta a una pregunta sobre la cercanía de la fecha de vencimiento del contrato de Pesquera, que termina este mes.
Google Translation
March 5, 2013
5:37 pm
Pesquera admits that "not easy" to decide if he stays or goes
The contract of the superintendent of police expires next March 31
Pesquera was hired last year by Luis Fortuño. His contract expires $ 283.100 March 31. (LUIS.ALCALADELOLMO @ GFRMEDIA.COM) .
By Alex Figueroa Cancel / alex.figueroa @ gfrmedia.com and Alba Muñiz Gracia / amuniz@elnuevodia.com
As you move your last month of contract as superintendent, Hector Pesquera has begun to take the best possible mood facing public pressure to decide whether to stay as chief of police.
This morning, as I was about to complete a press conference on a federal operation, a reporter raised his hand for one last question, and was superintendent for Fisheries.
"Heh, I can imagine what is," he joked, immediately, with a smile, pulling laughter from the audience. "Let me look into the crystal ball," he added.
"I understand they are worried about me, whether I stay or not staying," Pesquera continued, prompting more laughter.
"But give me space", claimed in a more serious tone. "It's not easy. There are many variables in the air. Lets see, with the favor of God ..." he said.
Pesquera was hired last year by the then Governor Luis Fortuño. His contract expires next $ 283.100 March 31, when he should return to his post as deputy chief in charge of the Port Authority of Miami-Dade County in Florida.
Alejandro García Padilla Governor reiterated today that Pesquera want to stay, but said he will not put pressure and will decide calmly.
"We are in discussions on that topic. Superintendent has a family and has roots pitches. Many of their families are in Puerto Rico" Garcia said Padilla. "We are working on that, but if I had my way, we are very happy and satisfied. Crime All lines are shrinking," said the president.
"I have given space to the superintendent. Would not be reasonable to put unnecessary public pressure," he said.
Would amend the contract
Later, during a press conference at La Fortaleza, the president made it clear that only waits for the determination of the official, whose contract was heavily criticized because fisheries are still employed by the police of Miami Dade County.
"The contract that was used, is a model contract. Even the superintendent agrees with the things he says the text of that contract. So if it is through this mechanism or another, it will not have the same text. Even the superintendent agrees with that say they would pay the laundry (laundry), "García Padilla said when asked if the contract Pesquera, if I decided to stay in command of the Uniform, had the same conditions.
Pesquera was also present at the conference in the afternoon, but, contrary to what happened during the morning, did not speak.
"The superintendent is clear and I am clear that there are more important considerations than the deadlines, which is the safety of the people of this country, which is what drives us to work. We're not putting that pressure, "said García Padilla in response to a question about the proximity of the date of expiry of the contract of Fisheries, which ends this month.
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Lo publicó el 18 de febrero
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via Caribbean Business on 3/5/13
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U.S. Catholics in Poll See a Church Out of Touch
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN
In a New York Times/CBS News poll, Catholics said that while their parish priests were in touch with their needs, the Church and most American bishops were not.
- U.S. Catholics Give Mixed Reviews of Benedict’s Papacy
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Post a Comment | Read (135)
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Op-Ed Contributor
Which Catholic Church?
By PAUL KENNEDY
Published: February 26, 2013
Being about the only professor at a liberal, tolerant, cosmopolitan Western university who is known to be a practicing Catholic — baptized at the age of two weeks — I have been asked frequently in recent times about what I think will happen to the church in the light of Pope Benedict’s resignation. Will it split further, between conservatives and liberals? Will there be an African pope? When will there ever be female priests, then bishops? What about declining attendance of the European congregations (as opposed to the surging populations in the southern world)?
I sigh. When I turn to my daily newspapers, I sigh further, at the stereotyping, the false assumptions, the hostility in some quarters, the focus upon protocol rather than substance, the obsession with fiscal laxities at the Vatican rather than the proclaimed mission of Christ. Much of this criticism is boringly predictable; I may be wrong, but I suspect it might be hard to find a month, for example, when New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd does not launch an attack upon the papacy and the Catholic Church. And when the College of Cardinals announces the successor to Benedict, there will be fervid speculation about the new pope’s attitude toward divorce, abortion, the Jews, secularism in Italy, and so on.
That is one view of the Catholic Church, the church of hierarchy, tradition, formalism, its bursts of reform soon restrained by a return to conservatism. It is the church so familiar to the minds of secularists, pagans and anti-Catholics everywhere. It is the church of the 19th-century popes. It is the church of infallibility, incense, candles, and of Latin masses. Pushing it further, it is the church of financial corruption and sexual abuse. It is the church of stereotype, which is not wise.
In the early 1790s, as Europe reeled under the shock of the French Revolution, the great English politician and philosopher Edmund Burke warned against condemning an entire nation, a France of about 30 million souls, for the troubles and wars. Shouldn’t we be wary of condemning a church of roughly 1 billion believers?
On Wednesday last week, I went, as I usually do, to work in the lunchtime soup kitchen of the St. Thomas More Catholic chaplaincy at Yale University in downtown New Haven, Connecticut, founded almost 30 years ago to meet the needs of the poor and hungry. Among our customers, there was the usual group of permanent down-and-outs, meth addicts, drinkers, druggies, and dignified older ladies and gentlemen who had recently lost their jobs and decided to take our food so they could spend their pittances on energy bills. There was a father with four young kids; the local schools had closed because of a blizzard, so they could not get their free school lunches. To talk with our clients is sometimes a revelation. Just a few weeks ago, I talked with a young man (never seen before or since) who wanted to discuss the poems of Shelley and Keats — plus Eliot’s “Four Quartets”!
The helpers at the soup kitchen are all volunteers; they would never expect to be remunerated. Not everyone is Catholic, but most are. They are the parishioners who live around Yale and come in for Sunday Mass and collegiality. They are the Yale students who also work in the downtown evening soup kitchen, or in the men’s overflow night shelter. A number of them are going off to Guatemala in mid-March to help rebuild a village still hurting from the civil wars. They welcome guest speakers and participate in theological discussion groups. This is not a dead or decaying church. It is vibrant and pulsing, rejoicing also in the beauty of the services (especially the sung Masses) and the sheer intellectualism of the homilies. It is our Catholic Church. Nobody is leaving it. What happens in Rome is, well, distant.
A few Sundays ago, the Gospel featured that very familiar tale of “the Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37). A man going to Jericho from Jerusalem was assaulted by robbers, then left to die in the ditch. A priest came by, and rode on. A Levite came by, and did not stop. But the despised Samaritan stopped, took the unknown victim to an inn and paid for all that he needed. Note that the benefactor did not assist a family member, or a college friend, or a favored charity. That’s simply not enough. “Even the pagans do that!” scoffed Jesus in another address.
The litmus test is whether you help the unknown, the desperate-looking person at the soup kitchen, the beggar on the street. At the end of his striking homily upon this passage, the remarkable Catholic chaplain at Yale told us bluntly: “This is the test. Do you love your unknown neighbor as yourself? Do you love your dirty, hairy, smelly, dispossessed neighbor as yourself, and will you reach out to help?” Loving your God, and loving your known and unknown neighbors as yourself, is the core. Everything else, said Father Bob, “is footnotes.” Wow. The married-priests issue is a footnote; the female-priests issue is a footnote; so is divorce, contraception, Latin Masses, changes in the liturgy, even perhaps the death penalty.
What matters is your reaching out to help. That’s the sole question you will be asked when you reach the Pearly Gates.
Does this mean that Catholics do not need a worldwide church structure? Not at all. We need the parish, the parish priest, the parish church, where most of us will be baptized, take Communion and confession, get married and eventually enjoy the last rites. But those parishes reside under the protective umbrella of a diocese and its bishop — and the line from a bishop goes straight to Rome.
The physical parish church offers not only a place for public worship but also a place for study groups, social and fund-raising events, soup kitchens and the like. Nobody, surely, wants to be like the early Christians, wandering through deserts and hillsides, without a physical place of worship, without roots. We need the Church Physical, just as we need the Church Ethical and the Church Social. Even the modest Quakers, with their great commitment to prayer and social justice, need meeting houses, organization and a network.
But no one launching an attack upon the papal elections, Vatican finances, sexism and the rest should think that they are attacking Catholicism per se. From my perspective, our Catholic Church is vibrant, helpful, intellectual, and working in so many ways to fulfill the message to love God and to love, and reach out to, one’s unknown neighbor. Everything else is, well, footnotes.
Paul Kennedy is Dilworth Professor of History and director of International Security Studies at Yale University; and the author of many books, including “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers.”
TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Letter
A Church in Need of Healing
Published: March 6, 2013
Paul Kennedy’s “Which Catholic Church?” (Views, Feb. 27) is a sad instance of an innovative, rigorous and independent thinker lapsed into apologetic denial. Kennedy’s touching soup kitchen narrative confuses Catholicism with Christianity and fails to address, let alone excuse the excesses of the Roman church at the highest level or at grass roots. He would do well to read Frank Bruni’s “The Wages of Celibacy” (Feb. 27), the message of which has long been glaringly obvious to most congregational Catholics. The church needs to change, and must embrace the humility and honesty of its founder if it is to cleanse itself of institutionalized sexual abuse, and survive as a force for good in the 21st century. People continue to have a refreshing capacity for charity, but without change they are likely to do so under the auspices of different organizations in the future. Kennedy shows surprising naïveté in his assessment of the church’s problems. If the decay is to be reversed, healing will require a grand strategy.
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Mark Horrigan, Melbourne
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LGBT rights advancing in Puerto Rico | National Gay and Lesbian ... - Tuesday, March 05, 2013
LGBT rights advancing in Puerto Rico
March 5, 2013
LGBT rights are advancing in Puerto Rico as a consequence of decades of amazing activism and a change in government last November. The Task Force has been at the forefront of this struggle for the past seven years, through the collaboration and leadership provided by our Pedro Julio Serrano.These efforts include speaking out against hate crimes and anti-LGBT violence; standing in solidarity with the Puerto Rican LGBT community; meeting with Congressman Luis Gutierrez to ask for support in this struggle against anti-LGBT violence; and the Task Force’s National Religious Leadership Roundtable convening in Puerto Rico to express support.
Recent media coverage spotlighting this critical work includes an Associated Press story and this ABC News profile that calls Pedro Julio “Puerto Rico’s most prominent human rights activist.” Last Saturday, he also participated in a debate on the popular international TV show Sábado Gigante. Watch here:
Today, Pedro Julio participated at HuffPost Live with Alicia Menendez to discuss the measures promoting LGBT rights in Puerto Rico and the rapid shift in culture toward inclusion. Watch it here.
The Task Force is committed to LGBT rights in Puerto Rico and will continue to support the LGBT community in the island until they achieve full equality.
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Police say patients lined up at doctor's office, prescriptions in hand
Daily Mail - Charleston He is a practicing physician at the VA Hospital in El Paso but is licensed in West Virginia and Puerto Rico. Officers began conducting ... The FBI obtained a search warrant for the office Friday and was still conducting surveillance Saturday. Officers ... |
News
Wednesday March 6, 2013
Police say patients lined up at doctor's office, prescriptions in hand
West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority
Dr. Fernando Gonzalez-Ramos, 47, of El Paso was arrested Sunday morning at his makeshift office on Old Logan Road after federal, state and local authorities showed up with a search warrant.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Logan building had no running water or examining tables, and the Texas doctor running it did not have any medical equipment on hand, but he did have a prescription pad, authorities said.
Dr. Fernando Gonzalez-Ramos, 47, of El Paso was arrested Sunday morning at his makeshift office on Old Logan Road after federal, state and local authorities showed up with a search warrant.
Gonzalez-Ramos was charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, according to federal court documents. He is a practicing physician at the VA Hospital in El Paso but is licensed in West Virginia and Puerto Rico.
Officers began conducting drive-by surveillance of the office in December, noting the steady flow of people coming and going. Surveillance revealed one person spent five to 10 minutes inside, according to a search warrant.
A State Police trooper watching the office on Dec. 1, a Saturday, noted about 50 vehicles stopping in a two-hour period.
The FBI obtained a search warrant for the office Friday and was still conducting surveillance Saturday. Officers noted a number of people going into the building, including a patient who was secretly working with authorities.
The patient went inside and paid $450 in cash for a prescription of hydrocodone. She was in and out of the building in about three minutes, according to a criminal complaint filed late Monday and made public Tuesday.
Dr. Fernando Gonzalez-Ramos, 47, of El Paso was arrested Sunday morning at his makeshift office on Old Logan Road after federal, state and local authorities showed up with a search warrant.
Gonzalez-Ramos was charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, according to federal court documents. He is a practicing physician at the VA Hospital in El Paso but is licensed in West Virginia and Puerto Rico.
Officers began conducting drive-by surveillance of the office in December, noting the steady flow of people coming and going. Surveillance revealed one person spent five to 10 minutes inside, according to a search warrant.
A State Police trooper watching the office on Dec. 1, a Saturday, noted about 50 vehicles stopping in a two-hour period.
The FBI obtained a search warrant for the office Friday and was still conducting surveillance Saturday. Officers noted a number of people going into the building, including a patient who was secretly working with authorities.
The patient went inside and paid $450 in cash for a prescription of hydrocodone. She was in and out of the building in about three minutes, according to a criminal complaint filed late Monday and made public Tuesday.
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