Timeline Venezuela
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Venezuela
was
named after Venice.
(SFEC, 12/20/98, p.T2)
Apure state is on part of the 1,300 mile border with Columbia.
There are 23 states.
(SFC,11/4/97, p.A9)
8Mil BC About this time Phoberomis
pattersoni, a giant rodent related to later guinea pigs, wallowed in
the coastal marshes of northwestern Venezuela.
(SFC, 9/19/03, p.A2)
1.8Mil BC In 2006 a Petroleos de Venezuela team
looking for oil in Monagas state, found fossils of six scimitar cats,
or Homotherium, along with those of panthers, wolves, camels, condors,
ducks and horses, that dated to about this time.
(AP, 8/12/08)
1498 Aug 4-1498 Aug 12,
Christopher Columbus explored the Gulf of Paria (Venezuela) between
Trinidad and South America.
(http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/v3.htm)
1498 Aug 16, Christopher Columbus
reached the island of Margarita (Venezuela).
(http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/v3.htm)
1498 Aug 14, Columbus landed at
the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela.
(MC, 8/14/02)
1500 Nueva Cadiz was established
on Isla de Cubagua off the coast of Venezuela after Columbus discovered
rich pearl oyster beds nearby.
(SSFC, 2/19/06, p.F8)
1509-1520 The Spanish colonized the area of Nueva
Granada (modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela).
(http://homepage20.seed.net.tw/web@3/flags/wfh/pg-am-4.htm)
1536 The city of Porlamar was
founded on the southeastern coast of Margarita Island off the coast of
Venezuela.
(SSFC, 2/19/06, p.F8)
1541 An earthquake and tidal wave
finished off the settlement of Nueva Cadiz on Isla de Cubagua off the
coast of Venezuela.
(SSFC, 2/19/06, p.F8)
1595 Sir Walter Raleigh explored
the South American coast from the Orinoco River to the mouth of the
Amazon, an area that he called "Guiana."
(WSJ, 1/6/04, p.D10)
1616 Mar 20, Walter Raleigh was
released from Tower of London to seek gold in Guiana. He took along his
son Wat (22), who was killed during an attack on a Spanish outpost.
(MC, 3/20/02)(WSJ, 1/6/04, p.D10)
1778 Dec 26, Juan Lovera, artist,
was born: ‘artist of independence’: originator of Venezuelan historical
painting: paintings commemorate Venezuela’s independence dates.
(440.com)
1781-1865 Andres Bello, diplomat, politician (a
Senator in Chile - his adopted country), educator, poet and author of a
Spanish grammar, was born in Venezuela. His selected writings were
published by the Oxford Library of Latin America in 1998.
(WSJ, 2/3/98, p.A20)
1783 Jul 24, Simon Bolivar
(1783-1830), was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He was a soldier and
statesmen who led armies of liberation throughout much of South
America, including Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Peru and
Bolivia, which took its name from Bolivar. Bolivar, called "the
Liberator," was a leader in Venezuela for struggles of national
independence in South America. He formed a Gran Colombia that lasted 8
years but broke apart into Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. Bolivar
died of tuberculosis.
(AHD, p.148)(SFC, 6/14/97, p.E3)(AP, 7/24/97)(HNQ,
3/30/00)
1796 Hacienda Santa Teresa began
producing rum in Venezuela. In 1885 it was bought out by the Vollmer
family.
(WSJ, 11/10/04, p.A8)
1811 Jul 5, Venezuela became the
first South American country to declare independence from Spain.
(HFA, '96, p.34)(AP, 7/5/97)
1811 Scotsman Gregor MacGregor
(1786-1845), later known as His Serene Highness Gregor I, Prince of
Poyais, received a commission from Simon Bolivar in Venezuela to serve
in the Army of Liberation. After he returned to London in 1820, he
began selling land in the fictional kingdom of Poyais. He served 8
months in jail after English and French expeditions revealed the hoax.
In 1839 he returned to Venezuela. In 2004 David Sinclair authored "The
Land That Never Was: Sir Gregor MacGregor and the Most Audacious Land
Fraud in History."
(SSFC, 1/18/04, p.M2)(WSJ, 1/30/04, p.W9)
1812 Mar 26, Earthquake destroyed
90% of Caracas; about 20,000 died.
(SS, 3/26/02)(PCh, 1992, p.376)
1819 May 23, Bolivar’s
revolutionary commanders met in the deserted village of Setenta,
Venezuela, and planned a march across the Andes to attack Spanish
forces in New Granada (Colombia).
(ON, 3/05, p.1)
1821 Jun 24, Battle of Carabobo:
Bolivar defeated the royalists outside of Caracas.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1822 May 24, At Battle of
Pichincha (Ecuador) General Sucre (1795-1830) won a decisive victory
against Spanish forces. Shortly after the battle, Sucre and Bolivar
entered the newly-liberated Quito and Sucre was named President of the
Province of Quito, which formed Gran Colombia with Venezuela and
Colombia.
(HN, 5/24/98)(AP,
11/24/02)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Jos%C3%A9_de_Sucre)
1828 The Republic of Gran Colombia
fell apart due to political rivalries between its constituent
provinces. Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela became independent countries.
(ON, 3/05, p.2)
1830 Dec 17, Simon Bolivar
(b.1783), called "the Liberator," died of TB in Santa Marta, in
Colombia. He was a leader in Venezuela for struggles of national
independence in South America. He formed a Gran Colombia that lasted 8
years, but broke apart into Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. In 2006
John Lynch authored “Simon Bolivar: A Life.”
(AHD, p.148)(SFC, 6/14/97, p.E3)(AP, 12/17/97)(Econ,
7/1/06, p.77)
1846 Ezequiel Zamora (1817-1860)
spearheaded a peasant revolt in Venezuela. After a brief exile he
returned to lead the Federal War (1859-1863) and founded the Venezuelan
state of Barinas.
(SSFC, 8/26/07, p.M2)
1859 Jan 20, The Federal War began
in Venezuela. Ezequiel Zamora (1817-1860) led the Federalist Army until
his assassination on Jan 10, 1860.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_War)
1859 Dec 10, In Venezuela’s war
for independence from Spain Ezequiel Zamora (1817-1860) led the Battle
of Santa Ines. Zamora and 3,400 men defeated the Central Army of 2,300
men, with about 1,200 casualties altogether on both sides. Zamora had
returned to Venezuela to lead the Federal War, which lasted to 1863.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_War)
1860 Jan 10, Ezequiel Zamora
(1817-1860), leader of the Federalist Army in Venezuela, was
assassinated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_War)
1863 Apr, In Venezuela the
hostilities of the Federal War ended with negotiations for the Treaty
of Coche, singed on May 22. This was the biggest civil war Venezuela
had had since its independence.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_War)
1863 May 22, The Treaty of Coche
was signed in Venezuela. Arms were laid down from the Federal War and a
general assembly called at Victoria, which elected Juan Chrisostomo
Falcon as president and Antonio Leocadio Guzman as vice president. The
latter was at the same time secretary of the treasury, and went to
London to negotiate a loan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Guzm%C3%A1n_Blanco)
1870 Antonio Guzman Blanco
(1830-1899) became president of Venezuela.
(www.famousamericans.net/antonioguzmanblanco/)
1883 In Venezuela General Joaquin
Crespo, a friend of Antonio Guzman Blanco, was declared president, and
Guzman-Blanco became ambassador to France, living with great
ostentation in Paris. In 1886 he again assumed the presidency.
(www.famousamericans.net/antonioguzmanblanco/)
1884 English explorers Everhard Im
Thurn and Harry Perkins became the 1st Westerners to reach the 9,200
foot summit of Roraima in Venezuela.
(SSFC, 12/14/03, p.C5)
1899 Oct, An int'l. tribunal in
Paris ruled on a border dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana
(Guyana). Britain received most of the claim for the Essequibo region,
close to 111,000 square miles. Venezuela was represented by 2 US judges
and the chairman of the panel was Russian jurist Frederic de Martens.
Venezuela rejected this decision in the 1960s.
(SFC, 10/26/99, p.A12)(Econ, 9/29/07, p.44)
1899 Antonio Guzman Blanco
(b.1830), former president of Venezuela, died. He dominated Venezuela
from 1870-1888, when a revolution destroyed his power.
(www.bartleby.com/65/gu/GuzmanBl.html)
1899-1909 Cipriano Castro served as president of
Venezuela.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_leaders_in_1906)
1908 Dec 12, Luis Peraza (d.1974),
Venezuelan dramatist, was born.
(www.dramateatro.arts.ve/ensayos/n_0011/milagros_santana_11.html)
1908 Dec 13, The Dutch took two
Venezuelan Coast Guard ships.
(HN, 12/13/98)
1914 Venezuela’s 1st oil gusher
was drilled near Lake Maracibo.
(WSJ, 4/18/02, p.A9)
1914 The discovery of oil in
Venezuela prompted Royal Dutch/Shell to build an oil refinery on
Curacao.
(Econ, 6/19/04, p.72)
1916 Jan 24, Rafael Caldera,
president of Venezuela (1969-1974), was born.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)
1928 In Venezuela a student
movement shook, but failed to dislodge the dictatorship of General Juan
Vicente Gomez.
(Econ, 11/17/07, p.45)
1929 Rómulo Gallegos,
Venezuelan novelist and Venezuela's first freely-elected president,
authored Doña Bárbara. Mr. Danger, a long-standing
figure in Venezuelan life, was a character in the work. It was
republished many times. His government was brought down in
a U.S.-backed 1948 military coup, ten months after he took office.
(www.encyclopedia.com/html/G/Gallegos.asp)
1929-1970 Venezuela was the world's largest exporter
of oil.
(http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/venezuela/venezuela51.html)
1933 Nov 16, American pilot and
adventurer Jimmie Angel (1899-1956) flew over the world's tallest
waterfall in Venezuela, while searching for a cloud-shrouded,
flat-topped mountain where he had previously discovered gold. The falls
became known as Angel Falls. In 2009 Pres. Hugo Chavez said that the
waterfall should revert to its original indigenous name,
Kerepakupai-Meru.
(AP,
12/21/09)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Angel)
1943 Venezuela negotiated the
first 50-50 oil deal with Shell Oil and Standard Oil of New Jersey.
(WSJ, 9/13/99, p.R4)
1949 A memorandum by Severo
Mallet-Prevost was published posthumously. He had acted as junior
counsel in 1899 land dispute with British Guiana and asserted that
Venezuela was pressured to accept the deal or give up territory to the
mouth of the Orinoco.
(SFC, 10/26/99, p.A12)
1950s Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez
was a popular dictator for 10 years. He prided himself on colossal
public works that included the Central University.
(WSJ, 4/27/98, p.A16)(SSFC, 6/24/01, p.T6)
1952-1958 Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez was president
(dictator) of Venezuela. He prided himself on colossal public works
that included the Central University. He was ousted by a popular revolt
in Jan., 1958.
(WSJ, 4/27/98, p.A16)(SSFC, 6/24/01,
p.T6)(www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0838296.html)
1953 In Venezuela a statue of the
legendary Maria Lionza, crafted by sculptor Alejandro Colina, was
placed in Caracas by the dictator Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez. The
20-foot image of a naked, muscular Indian woman sitting astride a wild
tapir, a snake coiled at its feet split apart at the waist in 2004.
(AP, 6/8/04)
1954 Jul 28, Hugo Chavez, later
president of Venezuela, was born in Sabaneta, Venezuela.
(SSFC, 8/26/07,
p.M2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez)
1954 The Caracas Convention
established ground rules for political sanctuary in Latin America.
(SFC, 7/12/97, p.A13)
1954 Venezuela’s Radio Caracas
Television Station (RCTV) began operations.
(Econ, 6/2/07, p.38)
1957 Nov 21, A student strike
began at the Central Univ. of Venezuela (UCV) against the electoral
fraud of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez. This soon led his
downfall.
(WSJ, 11/24/07,
p.A12)(www.handsoffvenezuela.org/students_march_referendum.htm)
1957 Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez
opened his Hotel Humboldt atop a mountain overlooking Caracas. The
hotel closed in 1970. In 2001 it underwent a $90 million renovation.
(SSFC, 6/24/01, p.T6)
1958 Jan 23, Venezuela gained
liberties with the overthrow of Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez, its last
dictator. The social democrats' Democratic Action (AD) and the
Christian Democrats (Copei) began alternating power and then entered
into the power-sharing agreement called "Pacto de Punto Fijo." Rafael
Antonio Caldera (1916-2009) was one of the three signers of the Punto
Fijo pact, which organized democratic elections after the fall of
Jimenez.
(WSJ, 2/26/99, p.A15)(SSFC, 6/24/01, p.T6)(AP,
1/23/04)(AP, 12/24/09)
1958 May 13, Vice President
Nixon's limousine was battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S.
demonstrators in Caracas, Venezuela. Nixon’s eight-nation South America
goodwill tour encountered violent demonstrations, particularly in Peru
and Venezuela, spurring President Dwight Eisenhower to order the
movement of US forces into Caribbean bases.
(AP, 5/13/97)(HNQ, 6/14/99)
1960 Sep 14, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia and Venezuela formed OPEC. Fuad Rouhani (1907-2004) of
Iran served as its 1st secretary-general. In 1964 he was succeeded by
Abdul Rahman Bazzaz of Iraq.
(HN, 9/14/98)(WSJ, 7/28/03, p.A8)
1961 A Constitution was passed
with 252 articles and a wide variety of social rights. Article 99
declared the social function of private property.
(WSJ, 11/26/99, p.A11)(WSJ, 1/05/00, p.A11)
1962 Venezuela’s Pres. Romulo
Bettancourt announced the cessation of oil exploration concessions to
private companies. His energy minister became OPEC’s founder.
(WSJ, 1/05/00, p.A11)
1966-1996 Venezuela’s state owned Guayana Complex
(producing steel, electricity and aluminum) received more than 100
billion in government investments over this period.
(WSJ, 8/9/96, p.A11)
1967 Jul, A 6.7 earthquake hit
Caracas, Venezuela, and left 300 dead and 2,000 injured.
(SFC, 7/10/97, p.E3)
1967 Luis Posada Carriles,
Cuban-born CIA agent since 1965, moved to Venezuela and rose to become
head of a government counterintelligence security agency.
(SFC, 5/18/05, p.A9)
1967 At least 30 Indians in
Venezuela died from a measles epidemic that hit Yanomani villages at
least one year before researchers administered the Edmonston B vaccine.
(SFC, 11/16/00, p.A19)
1968 In Venezuela researchers,
Napoleon Chagnon and James V. Neel, reportedly inoculated thousands of
Yanomami Indians with a measles vaccine. Chagnon published
"Yanomamö: The Fierce People," a summation of his 30 years in the
Amazon forest. In 2000 the controversial book "Darkness in El Dorado"
Patrick Tierney blamed the researchers for a major epidemic that killed
hundreds of Indians. At least 30 Indians died from a measles epidemic
that hit Yanomani villages at least one year before researchers
administered the Edmonston B vaccine [see 1967].
(SFC, 11/10/00, p.A4)(SFC, 11/16/00, p.A19)(NH, Jul,
p.28)(WSJ, 2/23/08, p.W8)
1969 In Venezuela the Democratic
Action party changed the law so that judges would be chosen by party
affiliation in proportion to the electoral results, which put the
courts into the hands of the deepest pockets. Social democrats lost the
presidential election but maintained a legislative majority and passed
a new law making judicial appointments a function of electoral results.
The judiciary became politicized and corrupt.
(WSJ, 2/26/99, p.A15)(WSJ, 1/05/00, p.A11)
1969 In Guyana a group opposed to
the government of Pres. Forbes Burnham staged an uprising in the
Essequibo region. It was asserted that Venezuela had trained and armed
the militants.
(SFC, 10/26/99, p.A12)
1970 Venezuelan oil production
peaked in this year.
(http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/venezuela/venezuela51.html)
1970-1998 Brazilian Gold miners worked in the
Yanomani reservation near Venezuela beginning in the 1970s and
introduced disease that cut the Indian population by more than half.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.A1)
1974 Mar 12, Carlos Andres Perez
(b.1922) began serving as president of Venezuela and continued to 1979.
Oil income exceeded $48 billion over this period. Foreign debt
meanwhile grew from $3 billion to $18 billion.
(SFC, 12/8/99, p.A14)
1974 Venezuela’s Pres. Carlos
Andres Perez nationalized the oil industry and the central bank.
(WSJ, 1/05/00, p.A11)
1974 Venezuela set up a fund for
the future (El Fondo de Inversiones) to help spread its wealth to
future generations, but soon began to raid the kitty.
(Econ, 12/24/05, p.46)
1975 Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu
(b.1939) founded the "National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras
of Venezuela," which came to be called “El Sistema.” He believed that
introducing kids to classical music could heal the "spiritual poverty"
that perpetuates social and economic inequality. The school became a
network of schools and received UNESCO’s international music prize in
1995.
(Econ, 8/25/07,
p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Antonio_Abreu)
1976 Oct 6, A Cuban aircraft from
Venezuela with 73 people onboard was blown up on a flight over the
Caribbean. Castro blamed the explosion on the US. Luis Posada Carriles,
a veteran of the Cuban exile’s war against Castro, was charged and
twice acquitted in the bombing. Venezuelan authorities kept him in jail
for 9 years until his escape in 1985 when he settled in El Salvador. In
April, 2005, Posada sought asylum in the US. In May, 2005, declassified
documents were made public that linked Posada to the bombing and
indicated he was on the CIA's payroll for years.
(SFC, 7/9/96, p.A8)(SFC,11/17/97, p.A14)(AP,
4/15/05)(AP, 5/11/05)
1976 In Venezuela Carlos Lanz and
5 others kidnapped an American executive and held him captive for the
next 3½ years. Lanz later served time for military rebellion. In
2004 Pres. Chavez appointed Lanz to devise a plan for economic
self-sufficiency for workers in cooperatives.
(WSJ, 12/24/04, p.A1)
1976-1996 Venezuela’s political establishment
accumulated a growing control over the country’s assets.
(WSJ, 6/7/96, p.A15)
1978 Jul 3, The Amazon Pact was
established. Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru,
Suriname, and Venezuela signed the Amazon Pact, a Brazilian initiative
designed to coordinate the joint development of the Amazon Basin.
(http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Amazon+Pact)
1979 In Boston Joseph P. Kennedy
launched the Citizen’s Energy Corp., a tax-exempt social welfare
program that later depended on for-profit subsidiaries. The initial
idea was to ease heating bills during the oil crises. The group signed
its 1st crude oil contract with Venezuela. By 2007 the company had
expanded to 16 states delivering low-cost oil to as many as 400,000
households. In 1987 Kennedy was elected as a Massachusetts
Representative to Congress and served until 1999.
(WSJ, 3/25/98, p.A1,10)(SFC, 2/17/07, p.A3)
1981 Irene Saez of Venezuela won
the Miss Universe title. In 1998 she ran for the presidency of
Venezuela.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.D3)
1982 Dec 17, In Venezuela Hugo
Chavez (b.1954) and other junior officers formed a secret group, the
Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement 200 (MBR-200), and vowed to change
their society. They made their 1st coup attempt in 1992.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez)(WSJ,
6/12/03, p.A10)
1983 Feb 18, The Venezuelan
bolivar suffered a serious devaluation. Pres. Luis Herrera initiated a
round of currency devaluations. The Herrera government was forced to
devalue the currency, which at 4.3 bolivars to the US dollar had been
underwriting a lifestyle the country could no longer afford. By 2000
the bolivar lost 16,185% to the dollar.
(www.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/nov/13/guardianobituaries.venezuela)(WSJ,
1/05/00, p.A11)
1983 Venezuela’s finance minister
established exchange controls that offered a preferential rate and led
to crony favoritism.
(WSJ, 1/05/00, p.A11)
1984-1989 Jaime Lusinchi served as president of
Venezuela. Under his leadership the state Recadi agency under Guillermo
Meneses purchased some $40 billion dollars below the prevailing
exchange rate with $9 billion estimated in fraud.
(SFC, 12/8/99, p.A14)
1985 Jan 27, Pope John Paul said
mass to one million in Venezuela.
(HN, 1/27/99)
1985 Luis Posada Carriles,
Cuban-born CIA agent (~1965-1976), escaped from prison in Venezuela.
(SFC, 5/18/05, p.A9)
1986 May 8, In Venezuela 9 people
were killed by security forces in the western town of Yumare. Interior
minister Octavio Lepage described it as a clash with guerrillas —
remnants of leftist rebel bands that largely had put down their weapons
by the early 1970s.
(AP, 3/16/08)
1987-1991 Gen. Ramon Guillen Davila headed the
CIA-financed Venezuelan National Guard antinarcotics group. During his
tenure 1-2 tons of cocaine were smuggled into the US. He was indicted
by a federal grand jury in Miami in 1996.
(WSJ, 11/22/96, p.A12)(SFC, 11/23/96, p.A2)
1988 Dec 4, In Venezuela, former
President Carlos Andres Perez was declared the winner of the country's
presidential election.
(AP, 12/4/98)
1989 Carlos Andres Peres took
office and instituted bold reform plans. Increases in fuel costs and
government reforms in Venezuela sparked extensive rioting and looting
with hundreds of people killed.
(WSJ, 4/15/96, p.A-1)(WSJ, 5/22/96, p.A-16)(WSJ,
4/27/98, p.A16)
1989 An IMF loan was made to
Venezuela.
(WSJ, 6/7/96, p.A15)
1990 Dec 7, As President Bush
arrived in Venezuela on the last stop of his South American tour, his
chief spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, warned Iraq that there was "no
lessening in the threat of war," despite Iraq’s promise to release its
hostages.
(AP, 12/7/00)
1991 Venezuela’s Senate voted to
hold Jaime Lusinchi (b.1924), a former President (1984-1989),
"politically responsible" for multibillion-dollar fraud, though he has
never been tried on corruption charges.
(AP,
3/16/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Lusinchi)
1991 In Venezuela the Compania
Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV) was privatized. In 2007
Pres. Chavez planned to transfer the company into state hands.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.33)
1991 US Customs intercepted a
large cocaine shipment and began investigations. It was found to be
part of a CIA operation out of Venezuela.
(WSJ, 11/22/96, p.A12)
1992 Feb 4, In Caracas, Venezuela,
there was a coup attempt but Lt. Col. Chavez failed to capture the
presidential Palace and was forced to surrender. He served 2 years in
prison.
(WSJ, 6/12/03, p.A10)
1992 Nov 27, In Venezuela some
15,000 rebel forces under Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez tried but failed to
overthrow President Carlos Andres Perez for the second time in 10
months. The coup left dozens dead and Chavez was jailed for 2 years and
then pardoned by Pres. Rafael Caldera. Chavez was elected president Dec
6, 1998.
(AP, 11/27/97)(WSJ, 4/27/98, p.A16)(SFC, 12/7/98,
p.A9)
1992 Irene Saez, the Miss Universe
of 1981, was elected mayor of Chacao. By 1997 she was being considered
for national leadership.
(SFC, 8/19/97, p.A8)
1992 In Venezuela Victor Vargas
sold a small bank he helped for to Banco Latino, one of Venezuela’s
biggest banks. In 1994 Banco Latino collapsed as a run on deposits
exposed questionable loans.
(WSJ, 1/29/08, p.A14)
1993 May, Venezuela Pres. Carlos
Andres Perez was impeached. He was later charged with misusing $17
million security fund for election debts and a lavish inauguration.
(SFC, 5/31/96, A16)
1993 Aug 31, Venezuela’s Congress
officially removed President Andres Perez (b.1922) from office. Perez
had served 2 terms as presidents (1974-1979, 1989-1993). He was
impeached following a scandal on the alleged mishandling of US$17
million from the presidents' special secret fund, used to help Violeta
Chamorro's government in Nicaragua.
(www.expat-today.com/venezuela/expat1.htm)(http://tinyurl.com/orkso)
1993 Rafael Caldera was elected
president of Venezuela. He promised not to increase fuel costs.
(WSJ, 4/15/96, p.A-14)
1993 In Venezuela Victor Vargas
purchased Banco Occidental de Descuento, a small regional bank known
for it’s a-list of oil-services clients.
(WSJ, 1/29/08, p.A14)
1994 Jan 3, In Maracaibo,
Venezuela, a riot and fire at the Sabaneta Prison left 108 inmates dead.
(SFC, 10/24/96, p.C4)(AP, 1/3/04)
1994 Jan, Banco Latino failed and
sparked a run on the currency that put Venezuela into its worst
economic crises. Chairman Gomez Lopez left the country just before a
warrant for his arrest on charges of fraud was issued. Ricardo Cisneros
was on the board and fled after being charged with playing a role in
the bank’s failure. Victor Vargas, head of Banco Occidental de
Descuento, was able to snap up Banco Latino’s customers.
(WSJ, 7/31/96, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/18/96, p.A14)(WSJ,
1/29/08, p.A14)
1994 Venezuela Pres. Caldera
pardoned Hugo Chavez for the 1992 coup attempt, and asked him to leave
the military.
(WSJ, 4/27/98, p.A16)
1994 Financial controls were
imposed on Venezuela’s currency and the exchange rate was set to 170 to
the US dollar. Almost the entire private banking system had to be
nationalized at a cost of $8.5 billion, equivalent to three-quarters of
the national budget. Responsible bankers took much of the money and
fled abroad.
(WSJ, 12/12/95, p.A-15)(SFC, 12/8/99, p.A17)
1995 Venezuela devalued its
Bolivar currency 41% to 290 from 170 to the US dollar.
(WSJ, 12/12/95, p.A-15)
1995 In northwest Venezuela the
Carbones de la Guajira coal mine began operating in territory occupied
by the native Wayuu Indians. The operation poisoned the local Socuy
River, which drained into lake Maracaibo, which later became considered
too contaminated for swimming. The Wayuu Indians accounted for nearly
200,000 of Venezuela’s 300,000 indigenous people.
(SSFC, 12/16/07, p.A17)
1996 Jan, The Venezuela government
reopened the oil sector to private foreign investments.
(WSJ, 6/7/96, p.A15)
1996 Apr 15, Tens of thousands of
striking Venezuelan teachers defied a government order to go back to
their classrooms. The month-old stoppage has kept more than 6 million
children out of school.
(SFC, 4/16/96, p.A-9)
1996 Apr 15, Venezuela Pres.
Rafael Caldera was expected to announce increases in fuel prices by as
much as 850% from the 13-cent per gallon current cost.
(WSJ, 4/15/96, p.A-1,14)
1996 May 30, Venezuela’s former
Pres. Carlos Andres Perez was convicted on corruption charges. He was
sentenced to prison for 28-months and fined for misappropriation of $17
million from a secret security spending fund.
(SFC, 5/31/96, A16)(SFC, 5/28/97, p.A12)
1996 Jun 3, The IMF signed a $1.4
billion loan to Venezuela.
(WSJ, 6/7/96, p.A15)
1996 Jun 7, Assets under Venezuela
state control included all mines, oil production, petrochemical,
aluminum and iron factories, beaches, ports, a large proportion of
agricultural lands, prime real estate locations, 60% of the value of
the banking system, manufacturing companies, TV and the main radio
stations. Most of the state enterprises are money losing.
(WSJ, 6/7/96, p.A15)
1996 Jul 12, Venezuela was awarded
a $1.4 billion credit from the Int’l. Monetary Fund.
(SFC, 7/13/96, p.A10)
1996 Aug 1, The Venezuela tax
authorities increased the general sales tax to 16.5% from 12.5%. There
had been a 108% rate of inflation over the last 12 months. Transparency
Int’l., a Berlin base nongovernmental anticorruption organization,
rated Venezuela as the most corrupt country in the Western hemisphere.
(WSJ, 8/9/96, p.A11)
1996 Sep 18, It was reported that
the Cisneros Group, the wealthiest business group in Venezuela, was
moving its assets into communications companies such as Galaxy Latin
America, a direct TV satellite broadcast service.
(WSJ, 9/18/96, p.A14)
1996 Oct 22, In Venezuela at least
30 prison inmates died after a fire was started apparently caused by
tear gas canisters fired by guards. The fire was set by incendiary
devices fired by national guardsmen. 25 guards were assigned to watch
over 1,700 inmates at the La Planta prison designed for 1,000.
(SFC, 10/23/96, p.A10)(SFC, 10/24/96, p.C4)
1997 May 20, It was reported that
a plan was approved to allow Venezuela’s 4,000 jaguars to be legally
hunted. Proceeds of hunting licenses would be used to move remaining
jaguars to protected areas.
{Venezuela, Animal}
(SFC, 5/20/97, p.A14)
1997 May 26, Venezuela’s jaguar
hunting plan was dropped.
(SFC, 5/27/97, p.A16)
1997 Jul 9, In Venezuela a 6.7
earthquake hit the northeast coastal region and killed at least 59
people including 27 students trapped inside a collapsed school building.
(SFC, 7/10/97, p.E3)(SFC, 7/11/97, p.A11)
1997 Jul 23, The US and Venezuela
signed an agreement to allow authorities of both countries to board
boats of each others flags if suspected of carrying drugs.
(SFC, 7/24/97, p.A11)
1997 Aug 28, In Venezuela 29
prison inmates died after a dominant prison gang fell on a group of
newcomers in a remote jungle facility.
(WSJ, 8/29/97, p.A1)
1997 Oct 12, Pres. Clinton met
Venezuela Pres. Rafael Caldera on the first stop of his trip to South
America. It was reported that Venezuela handled some 100 metric tons of
cocaine and 10 metric tons of heroin from Columbia to the US.
(SFC, 10/13/97, p.A14)
1997 Nov 4, It was reported that
the new Venezuela town of Ciudad Sucre in Apure state was being set up
as a bulwark against guerrillas, drug traffickers and kidnappers.
(SFC,11/4/97, p.A9)
1997 Nov 22, From Venezuela it was
reported that 18,000 people were infected in an epidemic of dengue
hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and that 34 had died this year. Heavy rains
allowed Aedes aegypti, the mosquito which carries anyone of 4 dengue
viruses, to breed in water containers left out in the open. In 2006
over 500,000 cases of dengue were reported in Latin America including
14,000 cases of DHF.
(SFC,11/22/97, p.A9)(Econ, 4/21/07, p.42)(Econ,
7/14/07, p.46)
1997 Sidor, Venezuela's largest
steel maker, Sidor, was privatized.
(Econ, 4/12/08, p.43)
1998 Jan 12, It was reported that
over 140 dead dolphins were recently washed ashore on La Tortuga
Island. There were no external wounds other than some reddish marks on
the abdomen.
(SFC, 1/12/98, p.A8)
1998 Jan 23, Alicia Machado (21),
a former Miss Universe, drove the getaway car following an attempted
murder by her boyfriend, Juan Rodriguez Reggeti.
(SFC, 1/24/98, p.A10)
1998 Mar, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela
and Mexico began talking to reduce oil output. They pledged to take
2-3% of the world’s oil production off the market in what came to be
called the Riyadh Pact.
(WSJ, 6/23/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 27, It was reported that
Hugo Chavez, leader of Venezuela’s Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), was
campaigning for the office of president. He led a 1992 failed
coup and was jailed for 2 years.
(WSJ, 4/27/98, p.A16)
1998 Apr, Former Venezuela Pres.
Carlos Andres Perez (76) and Cecilia Matos, his longtime mistress and
personal secretary, were charged with depositing funds in US banks that
far exceeded their earnings as public officials.
(SFC, 1/8/99, p.A16)
1998 May 14, Irene Saez (38)
received the support of the Social Christian COPEI Party in her bid for
the presidency of Venezuela.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.D3)
1998 May 20, In another part of
Operation Casablanca, a US federal indictment in LA charged 5
Venezuelans with laundering millions of dollars from drug cartels.
Bankers Esperanza de Saad and Marco Tulio Henriquez were included.
(SFC, 5/21/98, p.A5)
1998 Jun 4, Mexico, Saudi Arabia
and Venezuela agreed to cuts in oil production and exports for the 2nd
time this year in order to raise prices.
(WSJ, 6/5/98, p.A2)
1998 Aug 20, In Venezuela the
market plunged 9.5% on fears that the Bolivar would be devalued.
(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.C12)
1998 Oct 28, The Inter-American
Development Bank approved a $400 million loan to help Venezuela adopt
economic reforms while battling the effects of low oil revenues.
(WSJ, 10/29/98, p.A13)
1998 Nov 8, In Venezuela a leftist
coalition led by Hugo Chavez, the Patriotic Pole movement, won a
majority in parliament. The Democratic Action and Copei parties won
most of the 23 governorships. Former Pres. Carlos Andres Perez won a
senate seat in Tachira. Corruption charges against Perez were later
dropped due to senatorial immunity.
(SFC, 11/10/98, p.A10)(SFC, 1/8/99, p.A16)
1998 Dec 6, In Venezuela national
presidential elections were scheduled. Hugo Chavez, a former army
officer who staged a bloody coup attempt against the government six
years earlier, won by a landslide. He faced a $22 billion foreign
debt and planned a constitutional assembly to replace the Congress and
to rewrite the constitution.
(WSJ, 12/3/98, p.A1)(SFC, 12/7/98, p.A1)(AP, 12/6/99)
1998 In Venezuela a 136-mile power
line was scheduled to be completed by Edelca. The line ran through
Canaima National Park, home to Pemon Indians and the world's highest
waterfall Kerepakupai-meru, or Angel Falls (3,200 feet). Construction
was delayed by protests and sabotage.
(SFC, 12/2/99, p.A18)(SSFC, 12/14/03, p.C5)
1999 Feb 2, Hugo Chavez was sworn
in as president. He soon began Plan Bolivar 2000, a national effort to
refurbish schools and clinics using military forces.
(SFC, 2/3/99, p.A9)(SFC, 6/14/99, p.A12)
1999 Feb 26, It took 578 bolivars
to buy on US dollar.
(WSJ, 2/26/99, p.A15)
1999 Mar 4, In Venezuela the
bodies of 3 Americans, who were kidnapped Feb 25 in Columbia, were
found shot to death.
(SFC, 3/6/99, p.A10)
1999 Mar 14, In Venezuela Irene
Saez, a former Miss Universe, won the governorship of Margarita Island.
(SFC, 3/15/99, p.A9)
1999 Mar 27, Congress approved a
bill that gave Pres. Chavez new powers to manage the economy. Chavez
vetoed it and said it was not enough.
(SFC, 4/13/99, p.A11)
1999 Apr 10, Pres. Chavez said he
would extend his term from 5 to 10 years. He had already threatened to
dissolve Congress and the Supreme Court.
(SFC, 4/13/99, p.A11)
1999 Apr 11, Pres. Chavez
reinstated 37 cashiered soldiers who had helped him in his failed 1992
coup.
(SFC, 4/13/99, p.A11)
1999 Apr 22, Congress granted
Pres. Chavez an "enabling law" to rule by decree on key economic issues
for the next 6 months.
(SFC, 4/24/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 25, A referendum was
scheduled to endorse Pres. Chavez's plan to elect a popular assembly to
write a new constitution.
(SFC, 4/24/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 25, In Venezuela voters
overwhelmingly endorsed the formation of an assembly to rewrite the
constitution. The abstention rate was 60%.
(SFC, 4/26/99, p.A13)
1999 Jul 1, Pres. Chavez appointed
Jose Rojas (35), the deputy finance minister, to succeed Maritza
Izaguirre (60) as Finance Minister. He then asked the upcoming
Constituent Assembly to dissolve Congress.
(WSJ, 7/2/99, p.A10)
1999 Jul 25, A Constituent
Assembly to rewrite the constitution was scheduled for elections.
(SFC, 7/2/99, p.A18)
1999 Jul 26, In Venezuela
candidates from the Fifth Republic Movement, supported by Pres. Chavez,
won over 80% of the 131 constituent assembly seats in preliminary
results. Less than half the eligible voters cast ballots.
(WSJ, 7/26/99, p.A19)
1999 Jul 30, A Venezuelan airliner
with 16 people went missing. Rebels on Aug 8 promised to free 14
passengers and crewmen. Colombian rebels freed 8 passengers Aug 9 and
allowed the pilot and co-pilot to fly the plane back to Venezuela.
(WSJ, 8/2/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/9/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/10/99,
p.A1)
1999 Jul, A new penal code was
implemented and led to the release of over 7,000 inmates from
overcrowded jails.
(SFC, 3/3/00, p.D4)
1999 Aug 12, In Venezuela the
Constitutional Assembly assumed sweeping powers and declared a state of
emergency for the courts.
(SFC, 8/13/99, p.D3)
1999 Aug 19, In Venezuela the
Constitutional Assembly declared a judicial emergency and gave itself
new powers to overhaul the court system.
(SFC, 8/20/99, p.D3)
1999 Aug 25, In Venezuela the
constitutional assembly declared a legislative emergency and usurped
most of the functions of Congress.
(SFC, 8/26/99, p.A12)
1999 Aug 27, In Venezuela members
of Congress clashed with police as they attempted to defy a government
ban on conducting a legislative session.
(SFC, 8/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 28, Congress members
announced that they would refuse to authorize funds for the
constitutional panel and would withhold legal permission for Pres.
Chavez to leave the country.
(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.A22)
1999 Aug 30, The constitutional
assembly stripped the opposition-controlled Congress of its last
remaining powers.
(SFC, 8/31/99, p.A13)
1999 Sep 9, In Venezuela the
Constitutional Assembly agreed to reverse its order for Congress to
shut down and allowed Congress to resume normal activities in an accord
mediated by the Catholic Church.
(SFC, 9/10/99, p.A16)
1999 Sep 16, In Venezuela a
Colombian delegation met with the largest guerrilla group to revive
peace talks.
(WSJ, 9/17/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 4, It was reported that
Venezuela had begun domestic sales of unleaded gasoline.
(WSJ, 10/4/99, p.B13E)
1999 Oct 8, In Venezuela
authorities suspended 122 judges for corruption and incompetence.
(SFC, 10/9/99, p.A11)
1999 Oct 21, In Venezuela
corruption cases against 2 former presidents, Carlos Andres Perez and
Jaime Lusinchi, were reopened.
(SFC, 10/22/99, p.B4)
1999 Nov 4, The Constitutional
Assembly approved a 6 year presidential term and allowed reelection.
(SFC, 11/5/99, p.A17)
1999 Dec 15, A vote for the
approval of the new constitution was scheduled. The new document
contained 368 articles and included the possibility of recall
referendums. Voters approved the new constitution which included
changing the name of the country to the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela.
(WSJ, 11/26/99, p.A11)(SFC, 12/16/99, p.A16)(Econ,
2/28/04, p.36)
1999 Dec 16, In Venezuela
torrential rains flooded 9 northern states and Caracas and forced some
120,000 people to flee their homes. Over 1000 people were killed in
Vargas state and 25,000 were described missing.
(SFC, 12/17/99, p.D6)(SFC, 12/18/99, p.A14)(SFC,
12/20/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 12/20/99, p.A1)
1999 Dec 22, In Venezuela 2
helicopters crashed on aid missions and at least 4 people were killed.
(WSJ, 12/23/99, p.A1)
1999 Dec 25, A Cuban airplane,
Russian-made YAK-42, with 22 people crashed just before landing in the
northern Venezuelan state of Carabobo.
(SFEC, 12/26/99, p.D6)
1999 Dec, Security forces killed
dozens of alleged looters following the flood disaster in Vargas state.
(SFC, 1/27/00, p.A12)
1999 The economic crises threw
some 600,000 people out of work and led to a major increase in crime.
(SFC, 3/3/00, p.D4)
2000 Feb, Mayors from the Caracas
region declared a "crime emergency" and demanded that Pres. Chavez take
action.
(SFC, 3/3/00, p.D4)
2000 Apr 6, In Venezuela Pres.
Chavez announced that the Pemon tribe had dropped their opposition to
construction of a 136-mile electrical line in the Canaima National Park.
(SFC, 4/7/00, p.D2)
2000 Apr 16, It was reported that
the murder rate had reached some 21 per day. Cars were reported to be
stolen every 10 minutes.
(SFEC, 4/16/00, p.T15)
2000 May, In Venezuela Ford Motor
Co. began a recall of Ford Explorers due to problems with their
Firestone tires.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A10)
2000 Jul 30, In Venezuela national
elections were scheduled. 56% of the populace turned out and endorsed
Pres. Chavez to a 6-year term by a 59 to 37% margin over Francisco
Arias. Chavez’s Fifth Republic Movement also won 9 of 23 state governor
races and a simple majority of the legislature. The new constitution
gave voters the right to revoke the president’s mandate after 3 years
by referendum.
(SFC, 7/29/00, p.A10)(SFC, 7/31/00, p.A12)(SFC,
8/1/00, p.A10)
2000 Aug 7, Venezuela’s Pres. Hugo
Chavez arrived in Saudi Arabia to begin a tour of 10 oil-producing
nations that included Iraq.
(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A10)
2000 Aug 10, In Iraq Pres. Chavez
held talks with Pres. Saddam Hussein in support of upcoming oil talks
in Caracas.
(SFC, 8/11/00, p.A15)
2000 Aug 13, Pres. Chavez held
talks in Libya with Moammar Khadafy and proceeded to Nigeria to meet
Pres. Obasanjo.
(SFC, 8/14/00, p.A14)
2000 Aug 18, Government forces
seized 5 tons of cocaine as part of the "Orinoco 2000" probe financed
by the US DEA. Another 5 tons was discovered at the Doble Uno ranch
just days later. The cocaine was suspected to have been dropped from
Colombia.
(SFC, 8/21/00, p.A10)(SFC, 8/26/00, p.A10)
2000 Aug 19, Hugo Chavez took the
oath of office as president of Venezuela after a landslide re-election.
(AP, 8/19/01)
2000 Aug 26, Maracaibo, Venezuela,
won the Little League World Series title, defeating Bellaire, Texas,
3-2.
(AP, 8/24/01)
2000 Aug 30, It was reported that
many professional and entrepreneurs were leaving the country due to
economic policies.
(WSJ, 8/30/00, p.A1)
2000 Sep 9, It was reported that
Venezuela had begun a criminal investigation against Ford and Firestone
due to at least 47 deaths from defective tires on Ford Explorers.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A10)
2000 Sep 22, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez announced his 1st major spending program. The $2.1 billion plan
included $819 million for infrastructure and $756 million for social
programs. The rest was for economic stimuli, technology and security.
(SFC, 9/28/00, p.A11)
2000 Sep 27, OPEC’s top leaders
gathered in Caracas for a 2-day meeting. OPEC speakers called on
Western countries to reduce taxes levied on oil to ease prices.
(SFC, 9/27/00, p.A1)(SFC, 9/28/00, p.A1)
2000 Sep 28, OPEC leaders in
Venezuela signed a united declaration of 20 resolutions and agreed to
meet again in 5 years.
(SFC, 9/29/00, p.A17)
2000 Oct 11, Tens of thousands of
oil workers went on strike for higher wages.
(SFC, 10/12/00, p.A16)
2000 Oct 26, In Venezuela Pres.
Chavez greeted Fidel Castro and they planned an accord for oil
shipments to Cuba in exchange for bartered products and services.
(SFC, 10/27/00, p.D2)
2000 Nov 7, The congress granted
Pres. Chavez fast track powers to decree laws without parliamentary
debate.
(SFC, 11/8/00, p.B5)
2000 Nov, In Portuguesa state
Alexander Mendoza Sr. (25) and brothers Gonzalo (29) and Ender Ramon
(16) were wrongly slain by police officers in Acarigua.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A8)
2000 Dec 3, In Venezuela a
referendum was scheduled on suspending the leaders of the nation’s
labor unions for 180 days pending new labor elections. Voters in a 20%
turnout approved the referendum to oust the leaders of the labor
unions. This paved the way for a government-dominated workers’
federation.
(SFC, 11/14/00, p.A17)(SFC, 12/5/00, p.A14)(WSJ,
12/5/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 24, Pres. Chavez
appointed Adina Bastidas as vice president following the recent
appointment of VP Isaias Rodriquez as attorney general.
(SFC, 12/25/00, p.B4)
2000 Venezuela’s largest
electricity company, Electricidad de Caracas, was bought by
Virginia-based AES for $1.7 billion. In 2007 Pres. Chavez planned to
nationalize the company.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.p33)
2001 May 14, Pres. Chavez planned
a 3-week diplomatic trip to Russia, Iran, India, Bangladesh, China,
Malaysia and Indonesia.
(WSJ, 5/14/01, p.A15)
2001 Jun 23, Vladimiro Montesinos,
Peru’s former spy chief, was arrested in Caracas, Venezuela. Pres.
Chavez pledged to return him to Peru.
(SFC, 6/25/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/25/01, p.A16)
2001 Jun 25, Vladimiro Montesinos
was flown from Venezuela to Lima.
(SFC, 6/26/01, p.A8)
2001 Oct 22, At least 11 people,
mostly children, were killed during a stampede into a bullring for a
music concert in Valencia.
(SFC, 10/23/01, p.C1)
2001 Dec 10, In Venezuela a
nation-wide 12-hour work stoppage was planned to protest policies of
Pres. Hugo Chavez. Thousands of businesses closed and millions stayed
home as Pres. Chavez countered as host of the annual air force show in
Caracas.
(WSJ, 12/6/01, p.A12)(SFC, 12/11/01, p.A6)
2001 Dec 31, In Caracas street
vendors began selling pre-recorded CDs of banging pots to help drown
out the long-winded speeches of Pres. Chavez. Earlier protests included
the banging of pots and pans and became known as "cacerolazes."
Approval ratings for Chavez had dropped from 80% to just over 50% in
recent months.
(SFC, 1/1/02, p.A2)
2001-2003 Cuba ran up an oil debt to Venezuela of
some $752 million.
(WSJ, 2/2/04, p.A1)
2002 Feb 12, Pres. Chavez said the
currency would go on float Feb 13.
(WSJ, 2/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 13, In Venezuela the
bolivar fell nearly 19% with the abandonment of exchange controls by
Pres. Chavez, who also announced a 7% cut in government spending to
help close a projected $8 billion deficit.
(SFC, 2/14/02, p.B6)
2002 Feb 18, Vice Adm. Carlos
Molina Tamayo called for the resignation of Pres. Chavez.
(SFC, 2/19/02, p.A8)
2002 Feb 25, Gen. Roman Gomez
became the 4th military officer to call for Pres. Chavez to step down.
(SFC, 2/26/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 7, Venezuela sent some
2,000 troops to its border with Colombia to block fleeing rebels.
(WSJ, 3/8/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 7, Pres. Chavez announced
the dismissal of 7 executives who led strikes and protests against the
state-owned oil monopoly.
(SFC, 4/8/02, p.A7)
2002 Apr 9, The 1-million member
Workers Confederation planned a strike to support protesting oil
executives of Petroleos de Venezuela, who were protesting tightening
controls by Pres. Chavez. Later reports indicated US cash was used to
support strike plans.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A8)(SFC, 4/25/02, p.A9)
2002 Apr 11, Venezuela’s military
removed Pres. Chavez from power after 19 demonstrators were killed as
some 150-200k marched on the presidential palace in Caracas. A tape,
later released, contained the voice of Pres. Chavez ordering the
activation of "Plan Avila," an emergency state security plan. In 2009 a
Venezuelan court sentenced nine former police officials to as long as
30 years in prison for the killings of demonstrators during street
protests that led up to the failed 2002 coup against President Hugo
Chavez. In 2009 Brian A. Nelson authored “The Silence and the Scorpion:
The Coup Against Chavez and the Making of Modern Venezuela.”
(SFC, 4/12/02, p.A1,8)(WSJ, 4/12/02, p.A1)(SFC,
4/25/02, p.A12)(AP, 4/12/08)(AP, 4/4/09)(Econ, 6/13/09, p.87)
2002 Apr 12, In Venezuela Pedro
Carmona Estanga, head of a business association, was installed as
interim president. A summit of Latin American leaders criticized the
ouster of Hugo Chavez. Chavez resigned under pressure from the
country's divided military but was returned to office two days later.
(SFC, 4/13/02, p.A9)(AP, 4/12/03)
2002 Apr 13, Hugo Chavez returned
to the presidency as Pedro Carmona resigned following large protests in
Caracas with dozens reported killed. Caracas mayor Alfredo Pena said at
least 9 people were killed in rioting and looting.
(SSFC, 4/14/02, p.1,20)
2002 Apr 19, A military helicopter
crashed in fog-shrouded mountains north of Caracas and 10 people were
killed including 4 generals.
(SSFC, 4/21/02, p.A16)
2002 May 1, In Venezuela rival
groups rallied for and against Pres. Chavez.
(WSJ, 5/2/02, p.A1)
2002 May 23, Pedro Carmona (60),
CEO of Industrias Venoco CA and Venezuela‘s recent 2-day president,
escaped house arrest and sought refuge in the Colombian Embassy.
(SFC, 5/24/02, p.A16)(WSJ, 3/10/08, p.A5)
2002 Jun 15, In Venezuela tens of
thousands opposed to President Hugo Chavez marched to demand his
resignation and punishment for those responsible for 17 deaths during a
coup in April.
(AP, 6/15/02)
2002 Jun 19, In Venezuela Pres.
Chavez made an offer for a referendum on his rule in 2003.
(SFC, 6/19/02, p.A8)
2002 Jun 29, In Venezuela over
100,000 people rallied in support of President Hugo Chavez's so-called
"peaceful and democratic revolution."
(AP, 6/29/02)
2002 Jul 6, Former President
Carter launched a Venezuela peace mission sanctioned by leftist
President Hugo Chavez but met with skepticism by many of Chavez's
opponents.
(AP, 7/6/02)
2002 Jul 11, In Venezuela an
estimated 600,000 people marched demanding that Pres. Chavez abandon
the presidency.
(AP, 7/12/02)(SFC, 7/12/02, p.A9)
2002 Jul 22-2002 Jul 24, Flooding
in southeastern Venezuela killed 5 people and left as many as 50,000
homeless in Apure state.
(AP, 7/23/02)(SFC, 7/25/02, p.A12)
2002 Aug 2, In Venezuela gunmen
with high-caliber weapons ambushed a police patrol in a Caracas slum,
wounding at least five people and raising tensions ahead of a Supreme
Court ruling on alleged coup leaders.
(AP, 8/2/02)
2002 Aug 16, President Hugo Chavez
railed against a Supreme Court decision to absolve four military
officers accused of leading an April coup but urged Venezuelans to
accept it.
(AP, 8/16/02)
2002 Aug 23, In Venezuela subway
and bus workers in Caracas unexpectedly walked off the job, forcing
more than a million people to find other ways to work.
(AP, 8/23/02)
2002 Aug 29, In Venezuela
thousands of opponents of President Hugo Chavez took to the streets in
Maracay to protest tax increases they say will further impoverish
Venezuelans in this recession-ridden country.
(AP, 8/29/02)
2002 Sep 26, In Venezuela
thousands took to the streets to protest a decree giving the government
the authority to ban protests in several areas of this capital city.
(AP, 9/26/02)
2002 Oct 8, In Caracas, Venezuela,
city police used tear gas to disperse a group of their colleagues who
tried to seize the department's communications system in an ongoing
eight-day strike.
(AP, 10/8/02)
2002 Oct 10, In Venezuela hundreds
of thousands marched through Caracas calling for the ouster of Pres.
Chavez.
(WSJ, 10/11/02, p.A10)
2002 Oct 21, In Venezuela
thousands of stores closed and workers stayed home to demand that Hugo
Chavez call early elections.
(AP, 10/21/02)(SFC, 10/22/02, p.A11)
2002 Nov 12, Clashes between
Venezuelan troops and supporters of President Hugo Chavez killed one
person, wounded 20 and prompted an appeal for peace from the head of
the Organization of American States.
(AP, 11/13/02)
2002 Nov 16, In Venezuela Pres.
Hugo Chavez ordered the federal takeover of the Caracas police force,
sending soldiers and armored vehicles to stations throughout the
capital. His opponents vowed to block the move and mounted street
protests.
(AP, 11/17/02)
2002 Nov 30, A fire ripped through
the packed La Guajira nightclub in downtown Caracas, killing 50 people,
most of them suffocated by smoke in what was one of the deadliest
blazes in Venezuela's recent history.
(AP, 12/3/02)(AP, 11/30/03)
2002 Dec 2, Venezuela's opposition
launched a general strike to protest President Hugo Chavez's defiant
refusal to call a referendum on his rule, closing hundreds of
businesses in Caracas.
(AP, 12/2/02)
2002 Dec 6, In Venezuela at least
one gunman opened fire on a Caracas square packed with opponents of
Pres. Hugo Chavez, killing three people as strikers trying to force a
change of government. Captains and officers of 12 of the nation’s 13
oil tankers joined the strike.
(Reuters, 12/6/02)(SFC, 12/7/02, p.A1)
2002 Dec 9, In Venezuela a general
strike aimed at ousting leftist President Hugo Chavez sparked panic
buying at supermarkets and gasoline stations and forced the national
guard to commandeer delivery trucks and ensure that service stations
opened.
(AP, 12/9/02)
2002 Dec 15, In Venezuela hundreds
of thousands of people marched through the capital demanding Pres.
Chavez step down. The strike had cut oil output by at least 70%.
(WSJ, 12/14/02, p.A12)(AP, 12/15/02)
2002 Dec 20, In Venezuela hundreds
of thousands of whistle-blowing demonstrators demanding President Hugo
Chavez's resignation took to the streets on the 19th day of a general
strike.
(AP, 12/20/02)
2002 Henrique Capriles, one of the
5 mayors of Caracas, was put under detention for “abuse of power,”
following a protest in front of the Cuban Embassy. By 2004 he was still
under detention with no formal charges filed.
(WSJ, 6/25/04, p.A11)
2002 In Venezuela Pres. Chavez cut
off supplies to Industrias Veneco Ca after CEO Pedro Carmona’s brief
2-day coup. Franklin Duran and Carlos Kauffman purchased Veneco and the
company grew with new government contracts.
(WSJ, 3/10/08, p.A5)
2002 Under Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, the Oct 12 holiday name Día de la Raza was changed
to Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous
Resistance) to commemorate the Indigenous peoples' resistance to
European settlement. Between 1921 and 2002, Venezuela had celebrated
Día de la Raza along with many other Latin American nations. The
holiday was officially established in 1921 under President Juan Vicente
Gomez.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Indigenous_Resistance)
2003 Jan 3, In Caracas, Venezuela,
clashes between opponents and supporters of Pres. Chavez left at least
eighty people wounded.
(AP, 1/3/03)
2003 Jan 9, Thousands of
Venezuelan bank workers stayed home to support a nationwide strike
seeking new presidential elections.
(AP, 1/9/04)
2003 Jan 10, In Venezuela
opponents of President Hugo Chavez took to the streets as a bank strike
prompted authorities to suspend dollar auctions for a second day in a
row after Venezuela's currency fell.
(AP, 1/10/03)
2003 Jan 15, Venezuela's VP said
the government would respect the high court if it approves a Feb. 2
referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule.
(AP, 1/15/03)
2003 Jan 18, In Venezuela at least
100,000 anti-government protesters staged a candlelight march in
Caracas.
(AP, 1/19/03)
2003 Jan 25, In Venezuela
opponents of Pres. Hugo Chavez launched a 24-hour street demonstration
to protest a court ruling that postponed a referendum on Chavez's rule.
(AP, 1/25/03)
2003 Feb 4, Venezuela's government
suggested a referendum on his rule later this year as a way out of the
country's political crisis.
(AP, 2/4/03)
2003 Feb 8, Tens of thousands of
Venezuelans marched in support of 9,000 oil workers fired for leading a
two-month strike against President Hugo Chavez that battered the
economy of this oil-dependent nation.
(AP, 2/8/03)
2003 Feb 18, In Venezuela
police reported that the bodies of 3 soldiers, who had called for
"civic disobedience" against President Hugo Chavez’s government, had
been found with their hands tied and faces wrapped with tape.
(AP, 2/18/03)
2003 Feb 19, In Venezuela
the secret police (DISIP) arrested Carlos Fernandez, head of the
largest business federation, for his role in the general strike.
(SFC, 2/21/03, A10)
2003 Mar 9, In Venezuela
Pres. Hugo Chavez claimed an international campaign involving the US
was trying to discredit his government and he warned other countries
not to be fooled by the so-called smear tactics.
(AP, 3/9/03)
2003 Apr 3, Venezuela’s government
fired 828 more employees from Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state
oil monopoly, for participating in a two-month strike to oust Pres.
Chavez. PDVSA lost many of its most experienced and best-qualified
employees.
(AP, 4/4/03)(Econ, 8/12/06, p.56)
2003 Apr 11, The Venezuela
government of Hugo Chavez and his opponents agreed to a plan for a
referendum on his presidency, and the chief of state pledged to leave
office if he loses.
(AP, 4/11/03)
2003 Apr 18, In north central
Venezuela a fight between inmates wielding homemade knives and machetes
left 11 dead and 40 injured inside a maximum security prison.
(AP, 4/19/03)
2003 Apr 23, Colombia and
Venezuela agreed Wednesday to build a $120 million pipeline to deliver
natural gas to northeastern Colombia and western Venezuela.
(AP, 4/23/03)
2003 Aug 18, In Venezuela 9
workers died as 8 tried to rescue a comrade who was felled by toxic
industrial gases at an animal feed plant outside Caracas.
(WSJ, 8/19/03, p.A1)
2003 Aug 20, Opposition leaders
turned in 2.7 million signatures to demand a referendum on ending Hugo
Chavez's tumultuous four-year presidency in Venezuela.
(AP, 8/20/03)
2003 Sep 9, In western Venezuelan
2 passengers buses crashed in separate highway accidents, killing 45
people and injuring dozens of others.
(AP, 9/9/03)
2003 Oct 23, Venezuelan
troops and police killed 7 heavily armed gunmen during a raid on a drug
trafficking ring in northeast Venezuela.
(AP, 10/24/03)
2003 Oct 24, Venezuelan troops and
police killed seven heavily armed gunmen during a raid on a drug
trafficking ring in northeast Venezuela, officials said Friday.
(AP, 10/24/03)
2003 Dec 2, In Venezuela
opposition leaders claimed that more than 3.6 million people had signed
a petition demanding a recall referendum on Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez.
(AP, 12/2/03)
2003 Dec 19, Venezuela's
opposition turned in 3.4 million signatures to demand a recall
referendum on Hugo Chavez' rule.
(AP, 12/19/03)
2003 Dec 20, Four Venezuelan
National Guard soldiers were killed in an ambush while patrolling an
area near the Colombian border.
(AP, 12/21/03)
2003 Dec 23, Venezuelan opposition
leaders turned in more than a million signatures to demand recall
referendums against 26 lawmakers aligned with President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 12/24/03)
2003 Pres. Hugo Chavez, under
advice from Cuba, began creating emergency health, education and
welfare programs called “missions” to provide public services and
subsidies to the poor. They were paid for by a budget controlled by the
president without going through social ministries.
(Econ, 2/18/06, p.36)
2003 Venezuela's tax collection
was reported up 28% under a "Zero Evasion" campaign.
(WSJ, 1/23/04, p.A10)
2003 The Bolivarian University was
founded in Venezuela as an alternative to a university system Chavez
accuses of being elitist. The main campus in Caracas was set up in a
10-story building formerly used by the state oil company. The
government seized the building and converted its offices into
classrooms after firing thousands of oil workers who participated in an
anti-government strike.
(AP, 7/29/05)
2004 Jan 27, Venezuela's central
bank agreed to allow commercial banks to tap into their reserves by as
much as 2% to finance agricultural programs. Venezuela require banks to
maintain a 15% deposit as a guarantee against runs.
(WSJ, 1/28/04, p.A15)
2004 Feb 9, Venezuela devalued its
currency by 17 percent against the U.S. dollar, a surprise decision
that could fuel inflation but help the government meet financing needs.
(AP, 2/9/04)
2004 Feb 27, In Venezuela clashes
between police and thousands of protesters pressing for the recall of
President Hugo Chavez overshadowed a summit of developing nations, with
at least two people killed and dozens injured. Chavez opened a two-day
summit with the leaders of 18 other developing nations in Caracas,
urging them to reject free-market policies imposed by industrialized
nations.
(AP, 2/28/04)
2004 Mar 2, In Venezuela
demonstrators hurled rocks and gasoline bombs at soldiers as protests
intensified after the elections council ruled against an opposition
petition to force a presidential recall referendum.
(AP, 3/3/04)
2004 Mar 6, Hundreds of thousands
of Venezuelans marched through Caracas to protest the rejection of a
petition aimed at recalling President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 3/7/04)
2004 Mar 15, In Venezuela
opponents of President Hugo Chavez celebrated a Supreme Court ruling
that signatures on petitions seeking a presidential recall vote were
valid unless citizens disclaim them.
(AP, 3/16/04)
2004 Mar 23, A chamber of
Venezuela's Supreme Court dealt a blow to opponents of President Hugo
Chavez by overruling fellow justices on a petition for recalling him
from office.
(AP, 3/23/04)
2004 May 27, Vito Bigione (52),
one of Italy's most-wanted Mafia suspects, was captured in Venezuela.
He was accused of a key role in international drug trafficking and
flown back to Italy. Bigione had spent years living in Namibia and only
recently moved to Venezuela.
(AP, 5/29/04)
2004 Jun 5, In Venezuela tens of
thousands of opposition supporters marched through Caracas to celebrate
a recent announcement by election authorities that President Hugo
Chavez likely will face a recall referendum on his rule.
(AP, 6/6/04)
2004 Jun 8, In Venezuela,
elections officials said President Hugo Chavez must face a recall vote
on Aug 15. Should Chavez lose a recall before Aug. 19, the completion
of the fourth year of his six-year term, presidential elections would
be held within a month. After Aug 19, Chavez's vice president, Jose
Vicente Rangel, would serve out the remainder of Chavez's term.
(AP, 6/9/04)
2004 Jul 6, President Hugo Chavez
announced that Venezuela has granted citizenship to 216,000 immigrants
since May under a fast-track nationalization plan.
(AP, 7/6/04)
2004 Jul 30, A Venezuelan judge
ordered the arrests of 59 former military officers on suspicion of
plotting against President Hugo Chavez's government.
(AP, 7/31/04)
2004 Aug 15, In Venezuela the
opposition's long and bitter campaign to oust Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez finally came down to a recall referendum. Chavez survived a
referendum to oust him.
(AP, 8/16/04)
2004 Aug 16, Election officials in
Venezuela announced that voters had overwhelmingly chosen to keep
President Hugo Chavez in office.
(AP, 8/16/05)
2004 Aug 18, In Venezuela
opposition leaders charged that as many as 500 of 8,900 polling
stations used voting machines that were programmed with an artificial
cap to limit the number of votes cast in favor of recalling Pres.
Chavez. In 2003 the Chavez regime has purchased 28% of Bizta Software,
owned and operated by 2 Venezuelans, who also supplied the election
machinery (Smartmatic Corp). Bizta bought back the shares after the
story broke and after the 2 companies received a significant part of
the $91 million referendum contract.
(WSJ, 8/19/04, p.A11,12)
2004 Aug 21, The head of the
Organization of American States said the results of an audit supported
the official vote count showing that President Hugo Chavez won this
month's recall referendum in Venezuela.
(AP, 8/22/04)
2004 Aug 21, A military plane
crashed into a mountain in central Venezuela, killing 25 people,
including five children.
(AP, 8/22/04)
2004 Sep 10, President Bush
ordered a partial cut in U.S. assistance to Venezuela because of its
alleged role in the international trafficking of women and children for
sexual exploitation.
(AP, 9/10/04)
2004 Sep 13, In Venezuela at least
five people were killed and a dozen injured in heavy rains, flooding
and giant waves from Hurricane Ivan. Nine people were reported missing
on a small boat off the coast. Some 350 homes were damaged and 21
destroyed.
(AP, 9/14/04)
2004 Sep 17, Gunmen killed a
Venezuelan oil engineer and six soldiers near the border with Colombia
in an attack that officials suspected was carried out by Colombian
rebels.
(AP, 9/19/04)
2004 Sep 21, Inmates rioted at a
western Venezuela prison, killing at least six fellow inmates and
injuring 35 others before hundreds of national guardsmen restored order.
(AP, 9/22/04)
2004 Oct 17, Military helicopters
doused a 730-foot office tower in Caracas' Parque Central complex, one
of Venezuela's tallest buildings, bringing under control a blaze that
many feared would cause the tower to collapse.
(AP, 10/17/04)
2004 Oct 31, In Venezuela
candidates backed by President Hugo Chavez swept all but two of 23
governorships in regional elections.
(AP, 11/1/04)
2004 Nov 19, In Caracas a truck
owned by a prosecutor pressing charges against supporters of
Venezuela's failed 2002 coup exploded. Prosecutor Danilo Anderson was
inside. In 2005 a court convicted 3 men in the murder of Anderson, who
had been investigating opponents of Pres. Chavez and sentenced them to
up to 30 years in prison. In 2008 Giovanny Vasquez, a star witness,
recanted his testimony saying he testified against suspects after
receiving $500,000 from a government official.
(AP, 11/19/04)(AP, 12/21/05)(AP, 4/9/08)
2004 Nov 23, In Venezuela lawyer
Antonio Lopez, a suspect in the slaying of a top prosecutor last week,
was killed in a shootout with police.
(AP, 11/23/04)
2004 Nov 24, Venezuela’s Congress
passed a bill that lays down strict guidelines for sex and violence in
broadcast programming and threatens multimillion dollar fines or even
closure for media outlets that disobey.
(AP, 11/25/04)
2004 Dec 9, In Venezuela a law
that gives the government control over the content of radio and
television programs took effect.
(AP, 12/9/04)
2004 Dec 10, A Venezuelan military
plane crashed in a mountainous region near Caracas on Friday, killing
16 people, including high-ranking officers.
(AP, 12/10/04)
2004 Dec 13, In Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez's allies in Congress appointed 17 new justices to
the supreme court.
(AP, 12/13/04)
2004 Dec 13, Rodrigo Granda, the
principle international spokesperson for the most powerful
revolutionary guerrilla group in Latin America, the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC), was kidnapped in broad daylight (4pm) in the
center of Caracas.
(www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=10216)(Econ,
1/22/05, p.36)
2004 Cristina Marcano and Alberto
Barrera Tyszka authored the biography “Hugo Chavez.” In 2007 Kristina
Cordero translated it to English.
(Econ, 8/4/07, p.70)
2004 Venezuela’s government built
a $9 million outpost on Isla de Aves, 380 miles from its coast and much
closer to Dominica, Antigua and Puerto Rico. The island measured 1,900
feet long and 1,640 feet wide. Fishing waters offshore teem with tuna,
grouper and red snapper, while oil and natural gas are thought to lie
under the sea floor.
(AP, 10/17/05)
2005 Jan 1, Venezuela was forecast
for 4.1% annual GDP growth with a population at 26.5 million and GDP
per head at $4,140.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.93)
2005 Jan 4, Venezuela's
left-leaning government promised to grant poor farmers at least 100,000
plots of land carved from either state property or large private
holdings, a step toward implementing a controversial agrarian reform
law.
(AP, 1/4/05)
2005 Jan 8, Venezuela government
officials escorted by troops and police descended on a privately owned
cattle ranch to determine whether some lands may be turned over to poor
farmers as part of an agrarian reform. The owner of the 32,000 acre El
Charcote Ranch, Agropecuaria Flora C.A., is a subsidiary of the
British-owned Vestey Group Ltd. and a major beef producer. The company
insists that it can prove ownership back to 1830. A 1998 census found
that 60 percent of Venezuelan farmland was owned by less than 1 percent
of the population.
(AP, 1/8/05)
2005 Jan 10, Venezuela's President
Chavez declared that farmland nationwide would be inspected and some of
it given to the poor, expanding agrarian reforms with a pledge to fight
"the large estates."
(AP, 1/11/05)
2005 Jan 14, President Hugo Chavez
said that diplomatic and commercial relations with Colombia would be
put on hold until it apologizes for paying bounty hunters to abduct
rebel leader Rodrigo Granda from inside Venezuela.
(AP, 1/14/05)
2005 Jan 28, Colombia and
Venezuela announced a settlement in a bitter dispute over the capture
of a Colombian rebel on Venezuelan soil.
(AP, 1/29/05)(Econ, 1/22/05, p.36)
2005 Feb 1, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez said he intends to sell his country’s interests in 8 US oil
refineries.
(WSJ, 2/2/05, p.A2)
2005 Feb 9, Helicopters rescued
stranded Venezuelans after flood waters struck the mountainous central
coast, triggering landslides, destroying homes and washing out roads.
Officials said at least 13 people were killed and thousands of others
were forced from their homes.
(AP, 2/9/05)
2005 Feb 11, Venezuela's vice
president said US objections will not prevent Venezuela from going
ahead with its plans to purchase 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and
dozens of Mi35 helicopters from Russia.
(AP, 2/11/05)(Econ, 2/26/05, p.35)
2005 Feb 13, Floods and landslides
in Colombia and Venezuela over the past few days cut a trail of
destruction through small Andean towns and killed at least 64 people.
(AP, 2/13/05)(WSJ, 2/14/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 14, Brazil and Venezuela
signed 25 accords dealing with energy and economic cooperation,
including the joint development of the Mariscal Sucre offshore natural
gas project.
(WSJ, 2/15/05, p.A16)
2005 Mar 2, It was reported that
the bodies of at least 34 men found in Venezuela's central Guarico
state in the past three years had burns, bruises and cuts suggesting
they were tortured before being executed.
(AP, 3/2/05)
2005 Mar 4, President Hugo Chavez
said Venezuela wants to supply crude oil to India, Asia's third-biggest
consumer, under a long-term agreement.
(AP, 3/4/05)
2005 Mar 5, India clinched a deal
to operate a Venezuelan oilfield and import the output as Asia's third
largest consumer and the world's No.5 oil exporter vowed to strengthen
ties.
(AP, 3/5/05)
2005 Mar 10, Iran’s Pres. Khatami
began a 3-day visit to Venezuela and planned to strengthen political
and economic ties with Pres. Chavez.
(WSJ, 3/10/05, p.A15)
2005 Mar 13, Venezuela announced
that it would seize parts of 4 large estates, some 270,000 acres of
farmland, after finding irregularities in their ownership status.
(WSJ, 3/15/05, p.A18)
2005 Mar 29, In Venezuela a
crowded bus overturned on a highway and plunged 50 feet down a hill,
killing 25 people.
(AP, 3/29/05)
2005 Apr 22, The US Embassy in
Caracas announced that President Hugo Chavez's government has
unexpectedly ended a military exchange program with US.
(AP, 4/22/05)
2005 Apr 23, President Hugo Chavez
says "Don Quixote" is a must-read for Venezuelans — and his government
has printed 1 million free copies to mark the 400th anniversary of the
classic tale of the knight who dared to dream.
(AP, 4/23/05)
2005 May 4, It was reported that
Cuba and Venezuela agreed to start a joint shipyard in Venezuela, the
latest sign of strengthening economic ties between the Latin nations.
(AP, 5/4/05)
2005 May 17, Russia and Venezuela
signed a contract for 100,000 Russian assault rifles to be provided to
the Latin American nation.
(AP, 5/18/05)
2005 May 21, In eastern Venezuela
armed gunmen stole a 2nd government-owned helicopter before dawn after
taking 3 security guards hostage at an airport in Ciudad Bolivar.
(AP, 5/21/05)
2005 May 29, In Venezuela tens of
thousands of marched in Caracas demanding the US extradite a Cuban
militant wanted for his alleged role in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban
airliner.
(AP, 5/29/05)
2005 May, Energy ministers from
Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela agreed to develop a field in
Venezuela’s heavy-oil belt in the Orinoco, a refinery in Brazil’s
north-east and an oil and gas venture in Argentina under the name
Petrosur.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.33)
2005 Jun 11, Jose Maria Corredor,
a Colombian drug smuggler wanted by the US, bribed his way out of
Venezuela's secret police headquarters with help from federal agents.
(AP, 6/14/05)
2005 Jun 18, Venezuela said
another land holding of Britain’s Vestey Group Ltd. has been found to
be idle and rightfully belongs to the state. The 67,000-acre ranch,
owned by Vestey subsidiary Agroflora, was reported to be underutilized.
(WSJ, 6/21/05, p.A14)
2005 Jun, Venezuela set up
Petrocaribe under which it offered 12 Caribbean countries cheap credit
for oil imports.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.33)
2005 Jul 21, Venezuelan leaders
condemned a U.S. decision to transmit broadcasts to this South American
country to ensure its citizens receive "accurate news."
(AP, 7/21/05)
2005 Jul 22, At a meeting of
Andean presidents Pres. Chavez proposed Petroandina, under which
oil-producing countries would cooperate on pipelines and refining.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.33)
2005 Jul 22, Seniat, Venezuela’s
tax authority, presented Harvest Natural Resources with an $85 million
retroactive income tax bill. Royal Dutch Shell received a bill a week
earlier and was seeking talks on its bill.
(WSJ, 7/25/05, p.A13)
2005 Jul 24, Telesur, a new TV
station backed by Venezuela's government, began transmitting in various
countries across Latin America. The station, funded by Venezuela and
also backed by Argentina, Uruguay and Cuba, has drawn concern in the US
Congress, where House members last week approved a measure to transmit
radio and television broadcasts to Venezuela to ensure citizens receive
"accurate news."
(AP, 7/24/05)(Econ, 7/30/05, p.33)
2005 Jul 28, In Panama a 2-day
summit started for 25 members of the Association of Caribbean States
(ACS). Venezuela said it will continue offering crude on favorable
terms, and even in barter trades, to countries in the region. Thirteen
of the 15 members of the narrower Caribbean Community group, or
Caricom, mainly island nations, have already signed onto Venezuela's
oil initiative.
(AP, 7/29/05)
2005 Aug 7, Voters across
Venezuela cast ballots to select thousands of local officials in
elections that could predict how well President Hugo Chavez's political
allies will fare in key congressional elections in December.
(AP, 8/7/05)
2005 Aug 9, Six of Venezuela's
indigenous communities received title to their ancestral lands in a
ceremony that Venezuela's president said reversed centuries of
injustice. An estimated 300,000 Venezuelans belong to 28 indigenous
groups, many living in the country's sparsely populated southeast.
(AP, 8/9/05)
2005 Aug 10, In Venezuela
lawmakers approved a transfer of $14 million (30.6 billion bolivars) as
seed money for a new Treasury Bank to handle government banking needs.
(WSJ, 8/11/05, p.A11)
2005 Aug 11, Venezuela's major
newspapers calculated that pro-Chavez candidates won some 47 percent of
city council posts across the country, while opposition candidates won
17 percent and other independent parties had 18 percent of posts in the
Aug 7 elections.
(AP, 8/11/05)
2005 Aug 11, Argentina and
Venezuela signed an accord to set up a joint trust fund aimed at
providing export financing to small businesses. Presidents Kirchner and
Chavez signed a series of accords during the Chavez visit that included
an expansion of Venezuelan fuel oil imports. Kirchner thanked Chavez
for the purchase of $500 million of Argentine government bonds over the
last few months.
(WSJ, 8/12/05, p.A7)
2005 Aug 12, Venezuela’s Vice
President Jose Vicente Rangel said American citizens could be denied
visas to visit Venezuela in response to a US decision to revoke the
visas of three Venezuelan military officers.
(AP, 8/12/05)
2005 Aug 16, A chartered jet
filled with tourists returning home from Panama to the French Caribbean
island of Martinique crashed in western Venezuela, killing all 160
people on board. The pilot had been attempting an emergency landing
after both engines failed.
(AP, 8/16/05)(WSJ, 8/17/05, p.A1)
2005 Aug 22, Religious broadcaster
Pat Robertson suggested that American agents assassinate Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming "a launching
pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism." Robertson later
apologized, saying he had spoken out of frustration.
(AP, 8/23/06)
2005 Aug 24, Venezuela condemned
American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson for suggesting President
Hugo Chavez should be killed, saying he committed a crime that is
punishable in the United States.
(AP, 8/24/05)
2005 Aug 24, Government officials
from Ecuador and Venezuela singed a preliminary agreement by which
Venezuela would lend Ecuador a million barrels of crude oil between
September and October. A loan of naphtha and diesel was also part of
the deal.
(WSJ, 8/25/05, p.A7)
2005 Aug 29, The Rev. Jesse
Jackson met with President Hugo Chavez in hopes of reducing tensions
between the US and Venezuela after religious broadcaster Pat Robertson
called for the assassination of Chavez.
(AP, 8/30/05)
2005 Aug, In Caracas, Venezuela, 3
male students were shot to death while dropping off a friend at her
home in a dangerous slum. In 2006 a court sentenced 19 soldiers and
five police to prison terms of 10 to 30 years in the shooting deaths of
the 3 students.
(AP, 8/31/06)
2005 Sep 1, Venezuelan leader Hugo
Chavez offering planeloads of soldiers and aid workers to help American
victims of Hurricane Katrina, while at the same time taking aim at the
US government for its handling of the crisis. He called Bush "the king
of vacations" and noted he had been at his Texas ranch and when the
storm hit and didn't provide leadership.
(AP, 9/1/05)
2005 Sep 3, It was reported that
Venezuela’s worker co-operatives under Pres. Chavez had increased from
less than 1000 in 1998 to an estimated 67,000.
(Econ, 9/3/05, p.34)
2005 Sep 5, A Venezuela official
said a state governor allied to leftist Pres. Hugo Chavez has ordered
troops to seize an abandoned tomato-processing plant owned by the H.J.
Heinz Co.
(AP, 9/5/05)
2005 Sep 6, Nine countries:
Antigua, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Dominica, Suriname, St. Kitts, St.
Vincent and the Dominican Republic, signed oil deals with Venezuela in
Jamaica. Cuba and Jamaica had previously signed. Chavez urged Caribbean
governments to consider Cuba-style socialism as an alternative to
capitalism.
(AP, 9/11/05)
2005 Sep 13, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez extended a preferential oil trade deal to 13 Caribbean
countries in what he says is part of a plan to challenge U.S. economic
domination of the region. The plan includes a $50 million fund to pay
for social programs across the Caribbean, similar to those Chavez has
started at home with rising oil profits.
(AP, 9/14/05)
2005 Sep 15, Venezuelan Pres. Hugo
Chavez took Pres. Bush to task in front of a global summit for waging
war in Iraq without UN consent and won rousing applause for his
critique.
(AP, 9/16/05)
2005 Sep 16, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez said he has documentary evidence that the United States
plans to invade his country. Chavez, interviewed on ABC's "Nightline,"
said the plan is called "Balboa" and involves aircraft carriers and
planes.
(AP, 9/17/05)
2005 Sep 21, In Venezuela Pres.
Chavez said his government would cancel existing mining concessions and
not award new ones.
(WSJ, 9/23/05, p.A15)
2005 Sep 23, Colombia's
2nd-largest rebel group, the ELN, accepted an offer from Venezuela to
host peace talks between the guerrillas and the Colombian government.
(AP, 9/24/05)
2005 Sep 26, Hugo de los Reyes
Chavez, father of Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez and governor of Barinas
state, ordered the seizure of a plant owned by the country's largest
food company, the latest move in the federal government's land reform
program.
(AP, 9/26/05)
2005 Sep 26, A judge in El Paso,
Texas, cited conventions against sending a person to a country where he
could face torture. Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban militant, was wanted
in Venezuela for a 1976 airliner bombing. President Hugo Chavez said
the decision by a US immigration judge in the case of Posada protects a
terrorist and shows the "cynicism of the empire," a term he uses for
President Bush's government.
(AP, 9/28/05)
2005 Sep 30, South American
presidents committed themselves to establishing a continental free
trade zone. The South American summit was attended by the presidents of
Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and
Argentina.
(AP, 10/1/05)
2005 Sep, Some National Guard
generals in Venezuela, suspected of easing drug movement through the
country, were quietly removed from their posts.
(Econ, 9/24/05, p.48)
2005 Oct 4, Venezuela said it has
reduced its holdings of US Treasury securities and moved some foreign
exchange reserves into European investments.
(SFC, 10/5/05, p.A18)
2005 Oct 8, Thousands of poor
farmers marched through Venezuela's capital demanding that the
government expand its initiative to expropriate what they called "idle"
land, a program that has raised the ire of cattle ranchers across the
country.
(AP, 10/9/05)
2005 Oct 12, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez ordered a U.S.-based Christian missionary group working
with indigenous tribes to leave the country, accusing the organization
of "imperialist infiltration" and links to the CIA. Chavez said
missionaries of the New Tribes Mission, based in Sanford, Fla., were no
longer welcome during a ceremony in a remote Indian village where he
presented property titles to several indigenous groups.
(AP, 10/12/05)
2005 Oct 13, Spanish authorities
said police have seized 3.5 tons of cocaine in a fishing boat bound for
Spain from Venezuela after tip-offs from U.S. authorities.
(AP, 10/13/05)
2005 Oct 15, Members of a
Venezuelan indigenous tribe criticized President Hugo Chavez's order to
expel a U.S. missionary group he accused of links to the CIA, saying
the decision goes against the interests of their impoverished
communities.
(AP, 10/16/05)
2005 Oct 25, A Venezuela military
court sentenced 3 former Venezuelan military officers and 27 Colombians
to prison terms ranging from two to nine years for an alleged plot in
May 2004 to kill President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2005 Oct 26, The Mormon Church,
citing difficulties with the government of President Hugo Chavez in
renewing visas or obtaining new ones, said it is pulling its foreign
missionaries out of Venezuela and reassigning them to other countries.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2005 Oct 31, Live news broadcasts
began on a new Latin American TV station backed by Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez as an alternative to large corporate media outlets.
(AP, 10/31/05)
2005 Nov 14, Mexico said it will
sever diplomatic ties with Venezuela if Pres. Chavez doesn't apologize
for warning Mexican leader Vicente Fox: "Don't mess with me." Mexico
and Venezuela called their ambassadors home in a sharp dispute between
presidents Hugo Chavez and Vicente Fox over the latter's relations with
Washington.
(AP, 11/14/05)(AP, 11/15/05)
2005 Nov 17, In Venezuela
officials said the government will expand a land reform program next
year to take control of some 3.7 million acres of "idle" farm land and
turn it over to cooperatives of poor farmers.
(AP, 11/17/05)
2005 Nov 21, In Venezuela Pres.
Chavez pledged to help build a natural gas pipeline stretching from
Venezuela to Argentina during talks with Argentine leader Nestor
Kirchner.
(AP, 11/21/05)
2005 Nov 22, Massachusetts signed
an agreement with Venezuela to obtain discounted home heating oil.
Democrat Rep. William Delahunt helped broker the deal.
(WSJ, 11/23/05, p.A14)
2005 Nov 24, Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe met with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to try to help bridge
differences in Latin America.
(AP, 11/24/05)
2005 Nov 28, Spain agreed to sell
12 military planes and eight patrol boats to Venezuela in a $2 billion
deal that the United States has threatened to block.
(AP, 11/29/05)
2005 Dec 3, A rupture in an oil
pipeline caused a fire in western Venezuela, but firefighters quickly
brought the blaze under control. Evidence of sabotage was soon found.
[see Dec 5]
(AP, 12/04/05)(AP, 12/05/05)
2005 Dec 5, In Venezuela President
Hugo Chavez's governing party won full control of the 167-National
Assembly, claiming a sweeping victory in congressional elections
boycotted by major opposition parties.
(AP, 12/05/05)
2005 Dec 5, In Venezuela a Dec 3
explosion that damaged an oil pipeline supplying the country's largest
refinery was reported to have been caused by government foes attempting
to disrupt congressional elections. Interior Minister Jesse Chacon said
investigators found remnants of C-4 explosives at three spots on the
pipeline.
(AP, 12/05/05)
2005 Dec 26, In southeastern
Venezuela an accidental fireworks explosion touched off a blaze that
raced through a busy strip mall, killing at least 12 people and
injuring five others.
(AP, 12/27/05)
2005 Venezuela’s government in
2005 approved plans for 20 co-management operations. Some 200 small
companies had voluntarily applied for co-management status in exchange
for government funds. Pres. Chavez vowed to continue taking over
companies and converting them to co-managed entities.
(WSJ, 12/27/05, p.A12)
2005 Transparency Int’l. placed
Venezuela 130th out of 159 countries in its annual survey of
perceptions of corruption.
(Econ, 4/1/06, p.31)
2005 Venezuela’s Ministry of
Justice reported 9,402 homicides nationwide for 2005. Deaths by gunfire
per capita was the highest in the world at 34.3 per 100,000.
(SFC, 10/6/06, p.A14)
2006 Jan 1, In Venezuela 32
privately operated oil fields returned to state control. A 2001
hydrocarbons law had required oil production to be carried out by
companies majority-owned by the government.
(WSJ, 1/3/06, p.A14)
2006 Jan 3, Venezuela President
Hugo Chavez offered Bolivia's president-elect Evo Morales diesel fuel,
trade benefits and help in financing his social reforms as the two
leftists cemented ties, reasserting their opposition to US policy in
Latin America.
(AP, 1/3/06)
2006 Jan 5, In Venezuela a
viaduct, carrying the motorway that crosses the mountains between
Caracas and the int’l. airport, was closed due to geologic and
structural problems. Travel time one way rose up to 5 hours.
(Econ, 1/14/06, p.44)
2006 Jan 6, Venezuela said it will
expand a program to provide discounted home heating oil to low-income
Americans, bringing savings to some Indian tribes in Maine.
(AP, 1/6/06)
2006 Jan 7, American singer Harry
Belafonte led a delegation of Americans including the actor Danny
Glover and the Princeton University scholar Cornel West in a meeting
with Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 1/8/06)
2006 Jan 8, In Venezuela American
singer and activist Harry Belafonte called President Bush "the greatest
terrorist in the world" and said millions of Americans support the
socialist revolution of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 1/8/06)
2006 Jan 13, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez on blasted an attempt by the US to block Spain from selling
Venezuela 12 military planes with American parts.
(AP, 1/13/06)
2006 Jan 19, Venezuelan officials
said that they have approved a new anti-drug agreement with the US,
months after suspended cooperation amid allegations of US spying.
(AP, 1/19/06)
2006 Jan 24, In Venezuela
activists gathering for the six-day World Social Forum in Caracas. 2
other gatherings were set in Mali and Pakistan. The World Social Forum
was first held in Brazil in 2001 and coincides each year with the
market-friendly World Economic Forum of political and business leaders
in Davos, Switzerland.
(AP, 1/24/06)(SFC, 1/24/06, p.A2)
2006 Jan 25, Venezuela’s VP Jose
Vicente Rangel said that some Venezuelan military officers have been
detained after they allegedly passed information to US officials.
(AP, 1/26/06)
2006 Jan 25, In Venezuela
thousands of activists marched through Caracas demanding an end to the
war in Iraq and shouting slogans against U.S. imperialism at the
opening of the World Social Forum backed by President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 1/25/06)
2006 Jan, The presidents of
Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil met in Brazil and promised to come up
with the first set of preliminary studies in March for a $20 billion,
5,000-mile gas pipeline, stretching from Venezuela to Argentina.
(AP, 1/26/06)
2006 Feb 2, President Hugo Chavez
said that Venezuela is expelling a US Navy officer for allegedly
passing secret information from the Venezuelan military to the Pentagon
and warned he will throw out all US military attaches if further
espionage occurs.
(AP, 2/2/06)
2006 Feb 3, Responding to
Venezuela's expulsion of a US naval officer from Caracas, the State
Department declared a senior Venezuelan diplomat persona non grata and
gave her 72 hours to leave the United States.
(AP, 2/3/06)
2006 Feb 3, Some 200,000 Cubans
crowded Revolution Plaza for a ceremony granting Hugo Chavez UNESCO's
2005 Jose Marti International Prize. President Castro himself handed
over the framed certificate to Venezuela’s Pres. Chavez. UNESCO
introduced the Marti prize in 1994 to recognize an individual or
institution contributing to the unity and integration of countries of
Latin America and the Caribbean.
(AP, 2/3/06)
2006 Feb 9, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez unleashed more criticism toward President Bush and accused
the US and Britain of planning to invade Iran.
(AP, 2/9/06)
2006 Feb 23, Venezuela said it
will prohibit Continental and Delta Airlines from flying into this
South American nation. Initially effective March 1, the ban was soon
delayed to Mar 30. The ban was in response to a 1996 FAA ban on
commercial jets registered in Venezuela, because Venezuela allegedly
didn't meet international safety standards. Venezuelan officials say
they have improved safety standards since then.
(AP, 2/24/06)(WSJ, 2/27/06, p.A6)
2006 Feb, In Venezuela
parliamentary hearings exposed some $1.5 million in bribes, kickbacks
and commissions involving the opening of the new Ezequiel Zamora
Agroindustrial Sugar Complex in Sabaneta, Barinas state, where the
father of Hugo Chavez is governor.
(Econ, 4/1/06, p.31)
2006 Mar 2, Venezuela's VP Jose
Vicente Rangel said that the US was the world's biggest consumer of
illegal drugs and had no "moral authority" to criticize Venezuela for
failing to control narcotics.
(AP, 3/2/06)
2006 Mar 7, Venezuela's solidly
pro-Chavez National Assembly gave final approval to changes in the flag
proposed by the socialist president: an eighth star and a turnabout of
the horse that until now has galloped to the right.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 20, Venezuela agreed to
sell fuel under preferential terms to an El Salvador association
created by a group of leftist mayors.
(AP, 3/20/06)
2006 Mar 21, An international
audit concluded there are tens of thousands of dead voters listed on
Venezuela's voter rolls, but the country's top electoral official said
that those errors are being fixed and do not amount to significant
flaws.
(AP, 3/21/06)
2006 Mar 23, The US ambassador
said that the US and Venezuela had reached a temporary agreement that
will avoid a proposed ban on flights by most US airlines to Venezuela.
(AP, 3/23/06)
2006 Mar 29, In Venezuela the body
of Filippo Sindoni (74), a prominent businessman who owned a TV
station, newspaper and pasta company, was found a day after he was
abducted by men wearing police uniforms.
(AP, 3/30/06)
2006 Apr 3, Venezuela seized
control of oil fields from France's Total SA and Italy's Eni SPA in a
show of force against those resisting President Hugo Chavez's efforts
to pry more profits from the industry at a time of high oil prices.
(AP, 4/4/06)
2006 Apr 4, Venezuelan authorities
found the bullet-ridden bodies of three Canadian boys who had been
kidnapped more than a month ago. John Faddoul (17), along with his
brothers Kevin (13) and Jason (12) were abducted Feb. 23 when
unidentified men dressed as police stopped their car at a checkpoint in
Caracas as the boys were on their way to school.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, In Venezuela Jorge
Aguirre, a photographer for the Caracas daily El Mundo, was shot and
killed on the way to an anti-crime protest. He managed to take a
picture of his assailant fleeing on a motorcycle. Homicide charges were
filed on April 15 against Boris Lenis Blanco (33), a police officer,
who was arrested April 13.
(AP, 4/16/06)
2006 Apr 7, Venezuela Attorney
General Isaias Rodriguez said that five suspects were being charged
with willful homicide in the slayings of the 3 Faddoul brothers, whose
bodies were found April 4. Supporters of President Hugo Chavez pelted
the car of the US ambassador with eggs and tomatoes, then chased after
his convoy on motorcycles.
(AP, 4/7/06)(AP, 4/8/06)
2006 Apr 10, Cuba and Venezuela
signed agreements for a joint venture to revamp an unfinished
Soviet-era refinery in Cuba and supply it with oil from Venezuela.
(WSJ, 4/12/06, p.A7)
2006 Apr 10, Mexican soldiers
seized 5 1/2 tons of cocaine worth more than $100 million from a
commercial plane arriving from Venezuela.
(AP, 4/12/06)
2006 Apr 19, In Venezuela a riot
erupted at a western prison, leaving 10 inmates dead and one wounded. A
day earlier authorities had seized weapons and illegal drugs from gang
members in the jail.
(AP, 4/19/06)
2006 Apr 21, US aviation
authorities upgraded Venezuela's safety ranking, averting a ban that
would have blocked most US airlines from flying to the country.
(AP, 4/22/06)
2006 Apr 22, Thousands of
Venezuelans lay in the outlines of bodies chalked on a main avenue to
protest against President Hugo Chavez's handling of violent crime,
while supporters held a separate demonstration backing his social
policies.
(AP, 4/22/06)
2006 Apr 29, Bolivia's new
left-leaning president, Evo Morales, signed a pact with Cuba and
Venezuela on rejecting US-backed free trade and promising a socialist
version of regional commerce and cooperation. Bolivia became the 3rd
member of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).
(AP, 4/29/06)(Econ, 5/6/06, p.38)
2006 Apr 29, Peru recalled its
ambassador from Venezuela over what it called President Hugo Chavez's
"persistent and flagrant interference" in its upcoming presidential
elections.
(AP, 4/29/06)
2006 May 4, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez said he was withdrawing his ambassador from Peru as a
matter of principle after Peru called home its ambassador.
(AP, 5/4/06)
2006 May 4, Brazil’s President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with Argentina’s Pres. Nestor Kirchner,
Venezuela’s Pres. Chavez and Bolivia’s Pres. Morales in response to
Bolivia’s decision to nationalize its oil and gas industry. Morales
offered to refrain from cutting off supplies and to negotiate prices.
(Econ, 5/13/06, p.43)
2006 May 4, Nicaraguan Foreign
Minister Norman Caldera asked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to butt
out of his country's political affairs after Chavez signed a favorable
oil pact with dozens of leftist Nicaraguan mayors.
(AP, 5/5/06)
2006 May 15, Washington banned all
US arms sales to Venezuela, punishing President Hugo Chavez for his
ties with Cuba and Iran and for what it believes is his inaction
against guerrillas from neighboring Colombia.
(Reuters, 5/15/06)
2006 May 17, In Libya Venezuela's
anti-American president was given a warm welcome in Tripoli by Col.
Moammar Gadhafi. Chavez and Gadhafi planned to discuss "social programs
based on oil revenues."
(AP, 5/17/06)
2006 May 24, President Hugo Chavez
said that Venezuela will buy Russian jets because of a dispute over
parts for US-made aircraft, launching yet another verbal assault on
Pres. Bush.
(AP, 5/24/06)
2006 May 26, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez moved to expand his oil-rich country's influence in Bolivia
with a set of accords to secure Venezuela's role in the impoverished
Andean nation's recently nationalized energy industry.
(AP, 5/26/06)
2006 Jun 3, President Hugo Chavez
inaugurated a Venezuelan film studio to counter what he called
Hollywood's cultural "dictatorship." Venezuela received 30,000
Russian-made assault rifles, the first shipment in a deal for 100,000
rifles.
(AP, 6/3/06)
2006 Jun 14, Pres. Hugo Chavez
said Venezuela will buy 24 Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets this year,
and his government will build a factory to produce Kalashnikov assault
rifles.
(AP, 6/15/06)
2006 Jun 26, In central Venezuela
a riot by inmates fighting for control of cell blocks within a prison
left seven prisoners dead and 11 wounded.
(AP, 6/27/06)
2006 Jul 4, President Hugo Chavez
marked Venezuela's entry into the South American trade bloc Mercosur
with a six-nation summit, an alliance that he says should be a common
front against US free trade deals.
(AP, 7/4/06)
2006 Jul 5, Venezuela marked its
Independence Day showcasing recent arms deals that have alarmed
Washington. Pres. Chavez proposed that Mercosur members: Brazil,
Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay and Paraguay, should one day join their
militaries to guarantee the region's security.
(AP, 7/5/06)
2006 Jul 17, In western Venezuela
a fire broke out at the Amuay oil refinery. Officials said it was soon
extinguished without reported injuries or loss of deliveries.
(AP, 7/17/06)
2006 Jul 20, Luis Jefferson Lira
Rodriguez (20), a Venezuelan soldier, massacred 8 people at Ranch Adi,
but said he acted on orders from at least one other lieutenant who
claimed there was a Colombian rebel camp nearby. Officials later said
rape was the motive and that the soldier acted alone.
(AP, 8/17/06)
2006 Jul 21, Venezuela formally
entered Mercosur, increasing the South American trade bloc's economic
might and vowing to transform the policy organization into a force for
profound social change. Cuba’s Fidel Castro signed a modest trade at
the 2-day Mercosur meeting in Cordoba, Argentina.
(AP, 7/21/06)(Econ, 7/29/06, p.36)
2006 Jul 24, In Belarus leftist
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez exchanged declarations of solidarity
with the authoritarian leader of isolated Belarus, who shares his
anti-US views. During the talks with Lukashenko, the two sides signed
seven agreements on military-technical cooperation, economic and other
ties as well as a declaration pledging a strategic partnership.
Bilateral trade was just under $16 million in 2005.
(AP, 7/24/06)
2006 Jul 27, The head of Russia's
state arms-trading agency said that Russia has signed contracts with
Venezuela for 24 military planes and 53 helicopters.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2006 Jul 29, In Tehran the
presidents of Iran and Venezuela pledged to support one another in
disputes with Washington, with the Iranian calling Hugo Chavez "a
brother and trench mate."
(AP, 7/29/06)
2006 Jul 31, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez praised Vietnam for its battle against "imperialism" and
pledged to help the communist country develop its nascent oil and gas
industry during a two-day state visit.
(AP, 8/1/06)
2006 Aug 7, Venezuelan authorities
captured Elias Verde, the alleged head of an international drug
trafficking group that was involved in a major cocaine smuggling
operation earlier this year in France.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 9, In Venezuela 8
candidates opposing Pres. Chavez called off a primary and agreed to
support front runner Gov. Manuel Rosales in the Dec 3 presidential
balloting.
(SFC, 8/10/06, p.A8)
2006 Aug 13, In Venezuela prison
officials discovered that Carlos Ortega, an anti-Chavez union leader,
had slipped out of the Ramo Verde prison west of Caracas, where he was
serving a 16-year sentence for civil rebellion. Three convicted
military officers also escaped.
(AP, 8/14/06)
2006 Aug 22, In China visiting
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said China will expand its cooperation
in oil exploration and help his country build a fiber-optic
communications network under agreements to be signed in Beijing this
week.
(AP, 8/22/06)
2006 Aug 30, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez said in Damascus that he and Syrian President Bashar Assad
shared a "decisive and firm" stance against American "imperialism" and
"domination."
(AP, 8/30/06)
2006 Sep 7, American officials
said the US government has ordered Venezuela to close its military
purchasing office in Miami after suspending arms sales to the South
American country.
(AP, 9/7/06)
2006 Sep 17, Iran's president made
his first visit to Venezuela, seeking to strengthen ties with a
government that also opposes the US.
(AP, 9/17/06)
2006 Sep 20, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the US to the floor of the UN
General Assembly, calling President Bush "the devil." "The devil came
here yesterday," Chavez said. "He came here talking as if he were the
owner of the world."
(AP, 9/20/06)
2006 Sep 21, In NYC Venezuela’s
Pres. Chavez visited the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Harlem and
promised to double the amount of discounted heating oil his country is
shipping to needy Americans. His offer included 100 gallons of heating
oil for each of 12,000 households in rural Alaska.
(SFC, 9/22/06, p.A3)(SSFC, 10/8/06, p.A27)
2006 Sep 27, In Venezuela’s Los
Roques islands Elena Vecoli (34), a newly married Italian woman, was
murdered and her husband, Riccardo Prescendi (46) beaten inside an inn
popular with foreign tourists. Police identified 3 suspects the next
day.
(AP, 9/29/06)
2006 Sep, In Venezuela soldiers
killed 6 miners from La Paragua in the Caroni basin, where mining was
banned. 14 officers and men later arrested in the case. Another 4 men
drowned while allegedly fleeing an army operation on the upper Carua
River. 18 soldiers were later accused of abuse of authority.
(Econ, 10/28/06, p.44)
2006 Oct 3, In Venezuela 2 boys,
Renzo Festa (9) and Domenico Festa (12), were abducted along with their
mother, Nathaly Gotera de Festa, as she drove them to school. Gotera
(35) was married to Italian-Venezuelan businessman Domenico Festa and
was in the process of obtaining her Italian citizenship.
(AP, 10/7/06)
2006 Oct 7, In Caracas, Venezuela,
thousands marched in the biggest show of public support yet for Manuel
Rosales, the main opposition presidential candidate, who pledged to
undo what he called the ills of President Hugo Chavez's government.
(AP, 10/8/06)
2006 Oct 9, In Venezuela spending
exceeded gains from oil sales and the government expected to see a
deficit for the year of 4.3% of GDP.
(WSJ, 10/10/06, p.A6)
2006 Oct 16, Guatemala topped
Venezuela in the first round of voting for a UN Security Council seat,
but it failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority to win a
two-year term on the decision-making body. The 192-nation General
Assembly elected South Africa, Indonesia, Italy and Belgium for the
four other open seats in a secret ballot. 10 rounds of voting failed to
anoint a winner to fill the spot reserved for Latin America.
(AP, 10/16/06)(AP, 10/17/06)
2006 Nov 1, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez handed public workers $3 billion in Christmas bonuses 1 1/2
months early, angering opposition leaders who called it part of a
cynical pattern of public handouts ahead of a December presidential
election.
(AP, 11/2/06)
2006 Nov 1, Venezuela and
US-backed Guatemala agreed to withdraw from the race and support
Panama, a compromise reached after voting in the UN General Assembly
dragged through 47 rounds of balloting.
(AP, 11/2/06)
2006 Nov, Venezuela inaugurated
its Venirauto car factory, a joint venture with Iran. The first 300
units were released on July 9, 2007.
(Econ, 11/28/09,
p.42)(www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/2491)
2006 Dec 3, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez won re-election, defeating Manuel Rosales, governor of the
western state of Zulia. With 78% of voting stations reporting, Chavez
had 61% of the vote, to 38% for Rosales.
(Econ, 11/11/06, p.44)(AP, 12/3/06)(AP, 12/3/07)
2006 Dec 18, Venezuela's ruling
party took the first step toward creating a single pro-government
party, a move opponents criticized as a push to consolidate more power
in the hands of President Hugo Chavez after his landslide re-election.
Chavez met with Malaysia's PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to discuss
expanding trade and deepening ties.
(AP, 12/18/06)
2006 In Caracas, Venezuela, the
annual murder rate was 107 per 100,000.
(SSFC, 11/16/08, p.A16)
2007 Jan 2, Rival gangs battled
for control of Uribana Prison in eastern Venezuela, killing 16 inmates
and injuring 13. National Guard troops restored order after the riot
broke out overnight. The death toll in riots this week rose to 22.
(AP, 1/2/07)(AP, 1/3/07)
2007 Jan 8, Venezuela’s Pres. Hugo
Chavez announced plans to nationalize power and telecommunications
companies and make other bold changes to increase state control as he
promised a more radical push toward socialism. Chavez stated that he
had been a “communist” since at least 2002.
(AP, 1/9/07)(Econ, 1/13/07, p.34)
2007 Jan 18, Venezuelan lawmakers
gave initial approval to a bill granting President Hugo Chavez the
power to rule by decree for 18 months so that he can impose sweeping
economic, social and political change.
(AP, 1/19/07)
2007 Jan 21, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez told US officials to "Go to hell, gringos!" and called
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "missy" on his weekly radio and TV
show, lashing out at Washington for what he called unacceptable
meddling in his country's affairs.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2007 Jan 23, Hundreds of
Venezuelans protested against a congressional measure that would grant
President Hugo Chavez the power to pass laws by decree in areas from
the economy to defense.
(AP, 1/23/07)
2007 Jan 30, Venezuela said it
plans to obtain air defense missiles to guard strategic sites such as
oil refineries and major bridges against any air strike.
(AP, 1/30/07)
2007 Jan 31, A Congress wholly
loyal to President Hugo Chavez met at a downtown plaza to give the
Venezuelan leader authority to enact sweeping measures by presidential
decree.
(AP, 1/31/07)
2007 Feb 7, Officials in Venezuela
confirmed that Venezuela will buy whatever legal products Bolivia can
make from coca leaf as part of an effort to wean farmers from the
cocaine industry.
(SFC, 2/8/07, p.A2)
2007 Feb 8, President Hugo
Chavez's government moved to nationalize Venezuela's largest private
electric company, signing an agreement to buy a controlling stake in
Electricidad de Caracas from its US-based owner, AES Corp.
(AP, 2/8/07)
2007 Feb 11, In Venezuela
officials said President Hugo Chavez's government has drafted a decree
allowing officials to take control of food distribution chains,
including supermarkets and storage depots, if services are interrupted.
(AP, 2/11/07)
2007 Feb 12, Venezuela signed a
preliminary agreement to purchase Verizon Communications Inc.'s stake
in the country's largest telecommunications company, the latest move by
President Hugo Chavez toward nationalizing strategic sectors of the
economy.
(AP, 2/12/07)
2007 Feb 26, President Hugo Chavez
ordered by decree the takeover of oil projects run by foreign oil
companies in Venezuela's Orinoco River region.
(AP, 2/26/07)
2007 Mar 2, Venezuela accused US
anti-drug agents of collaborating with traffickers and rejected
Washington's allegations that rampant corruption has allowed illegal
drug smuggling to thrive in the South American country.
(AP, 3/3/07)
2007 Mar 6, Venezuelan authorities
arrested, Gen. Ramon Guillen Davila, a retired National Guard general,
on accusations that he plotted to overthrow President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 3/7/07)
2007 Mar 9, Nearly 20,000 fans
gathered at a stadium in Buenos Aires, not to watch soccer but to hear
Hugo Chavez bash George W. Bush.
(AP, 3/10/07)
2007 Mar 10, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez visited flood-ravaged Bolivia to show off the fact that his
country has pledged 10 times more aid than the Bush administration. But
local leaders gave him a cool reception, accusing him of meddling in
Bolivian politics.
(AP, 3/10/07)
2007 Mar 11, In Bolivia
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez called for a socialist counterattack
against the American "empire," taking his campaign to upstage President
Bush's Latin American tour to a packed gymnasium in a poor, indigenous
Bolivian city.
(AP, 3/12/07)
2007 Mar 12, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez shadowed his political foil President Bush on a tour of
Western Hemisphere nations, stopping in Haiti after passing through
Jamaica to promote aid packages and discuss development projects.
(AP, 3/12/07)
2007 Mar 25, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez said that his administration plans to create "collective
property" as part of sweeping reforms toward socialism, and that
officials would move to seize control of large ranches and redistribute
lands deemed "idle."
(AP, 3/25/07)
2007 Apr 19, Venezuela launched a
Zeppelin to patrol Caracas, seeking to fight crime in one of Latin
America's most dangerous cities but also raising fears that President
Hugo Chavez could be turning into Big Brother.
(Reuters, 4/19/07)
2007 Apr 21, Venezuelans marched
amid heavy security in the opposition's largest show of support yet for
a television station targeted by President Hugo Chavez, whom they
accuse of suppressing freedom of speech and democratic rights.
(AP, 4/21/07)
2007 Apr 24, Yanis Chimaras (51),
a Venezuelan soap opera actor, was stabbed to death when he came upon a
robbery in a Caracas suburb. The Justice Ministry reported 9,402
homicides nationwide in 2005.
(AP, 4/26/07)
2007 Apr 25, In Venezuela
officials from Chevron, BP PLC, France’s Total SA and Norway’s Statoil
ASA signed memorandums of agreement to give state-owned Petroleos de
Venezuela SA a majority stake in 3 projects. ConocoPhillips resisted
giving up control of 2 projects.
(SFC, 4/27/07, p.D3)
2007 Apr 28, President Hugo Chavez
said that Venezuela is ready to become the sole energy supplier to
Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Haiti, presenting the countries with his
most generous offer yet of oil-funded diplomacy in the region.
(AP, 4/29/07)
2007 Apr 29, President Hugo Chavez
said that Venezuela hopes to gradually sell off its refineries in the
United States and build a new network of refineries in Latin America,
part of a plan to offer his leftist allies in the region a stable oil
supply.
(AP, 4/30/07)
2007 Apr 30, President Hugo Chavez
announced he would pull Venezuela out of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund, a largely symbolic move because the nation
has already paid off its debts to the lending institutions.
(AP, 5/1/07)
2007 May 1, President Hugo
Chavez's government took over Venezuela's last privately run oil
fields, intensifying a struggle with international firms over the
development of the world's largest known petroleum deposit.
(AP, 5/1/07)
2007 May 3, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez warned he will nationalize the country's banks and largest
steel producer in an apparent bid to strong-arm the businesses to
contribute more to local industry.
(AP, 5/4/07)
2007 May 5, President Hugo Chavez
said that Venezuela's largest steel maker, Sidor, will not be allowed
to make any more exports until it meets domestic needs, and threatened
to expropriate the Argentine-controlled company if it resists.
(AP, 5/5/07)
2007 May 7, Venezuela said it will
not allow US agents to carry out counter-drug operations in the
country, accusing the US Drug Enforcement Administration of being a
"new cartel" that aids traffickers.
(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 12, A cutter of the
Dominican Republic picked up 3 men hauling in bales of cocaine dropped
from a plane that had originated in Venezuela. A US plane and British
helicopters took part in the seizure of a half-ton of cocaine as
Colombian drug traffic via Venezuela escalated.
(SFC, 7/2/07, p.A17)
2007 May 15, Venezuela’s health
minister said Venezuela will impose a limited smoking ban in bars and
restaurants but has no plans to halt the production of cigarettes and
tobacco.
(AP, 5/15/07)
2007 May 19, Tens of thousands of
Venezuelans marched to support a TV station aligned with opponents of
President Hugo Chavez, whose government plans to kick the channel off
the air next week by not renewing its license.
(AP, 5/19/07)
2007 May 26, Tens of thousands of
Venezuelans took to the streets chanting "Freedom, Freedom!" to protest
President Hugo Chavez's decision not to renew the broadcast license of
the country's most-watched TV station, an outlet for the opposition.
(AP, 5/26/07)
2007 May 28, RCTV, Venezuela's
oldest private television station, was pushed off the air as President
Hugo Chavez's government replaced the popular opposition-aligned
network with a new state-funded channel. Police fired tear gas and
plastic bullets into a crowd of thousands protesting the decision by
President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 5/28/07)(AP, 5/29/07)(Econ, 6/2/07, p.14)
2007 May 30, In Venezuela a top
opponent of President Hugo Chavez demanded the release of jailed
protesters as university students poured into the streets for a third
day to protest the removal of a leading opposition TV station from the
air.
(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 Jun 4, In Venezuela thousands
of university students, their hands painted white as a symbol of
nonviolence returned to the streets of Caracas, keeping up a week of
protests against President Hugo Chavez's decision to force a popular TV
station off the air.
(AP, 6/5/07)
2007 Jun 6, President Hugo Chavez
called for the creation of a common defense pact between Venezuela,
Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia. The leftist Latin American bloc announced
the creation of a development bank to finance joint projects.
(AP, 6/7/07)
2007 Jun 9, Venezuelan authorities
seized 2.5 tons of cocaine bound for Africa and arrested nine suspects
including four federal police officers and a US citizen.
(AP, 6/10/07)
2007 Jun 26, It was reported that
ConocoPhillips planned to walk away from its Venezuelan investments,
rather than agree to a government takeover of assets, and preserve its
right to seek international arbitration. Exxon Mobil Corp. and
ConocoPhillips refused to sign deals to keep pumping heavy oil under
tougher terms in Venezuela's Orinoco River basin, signaling their
departure from one of the world's largest oil deposits. 7 of the 11
companies agreed to new terms with Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA).
(WSJ, 6/26/07, p.A7)(AP, 6/26/07)(WSJ, 6/27/07,
p.A1)(Econ, 6/30/07, p.46)
2007 Jun 28, President Vladimir
Putin welcomed Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez for talks at the Russian
presidential retreat outside Moscow, saying economic affairs and
military-technical cooperation were on the agenda.
(AP, 6/29/07)
2007 Jun 29, In Minsk Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez called for a strategic partnership with Belarus,
calling his counterpart a "brother-in-arms" and lamenting the pressure
he said the US was putting on Minsk and Caracas.
(AP, 6/29/07)
2007 Jun 30, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez arrived in Iran for a two-day visit.
(AP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jul 3, President Hugo Chavez
said his government will nationalize Venezuela's privately owned
hospitals and clinics if they fail to reduce health care costs.
(AP, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 3, Venezuela’s energy
minister said in newly published comments that Venezuela has agreed to
sell gasoline to Iran.
(AP, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 16, In Venezuela RCTV
resumed broadcasting on cable and satellite TV channels. The station
had been pushed off public access on May 28.
(Econ, 7/21/07,
p.38)(www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=22903)
2007 Aug 1, An opposition-aligned
television channel (RCTV), already booted from the airwaves, faced a
deadline to agree to carry speeches by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
or be yanked from the cable lineup.
(AP, 8/1/07)
2007 Aug 3, In Venezuela US actor
Sean Penn accompanied Pres. Chavez on a visit to western Venezuela.
"I'm also here as a journalist and so I owe it to that medium to wait
until I've digested, fact-checked and finished my journey here" before
saying more, Penn said. He thanked Chavez for the visit.
(AP, 8/4/07)
2007 Aug 7, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez said Venezuela would invest in a regasification plant for
liquid natural gas for Argentina, which is weathering an energy crisis.
Chavez was in Argentina as part of a regional tour.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Venezuela's socialist
President Hugo Chavez took a campaign of petrodollar diplomacy to
Uruguay, seeking stronger political ties while offering energy aid from
one of the world's largest oil producers.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Argentine authorities
said they were investigating why Venezuelan businessman Antonini Wilson
was carrying $800,000 in undeclared cash aboard an executive jet
charted by Argentina's state energy company. In December US prosecutors
said that the suitcase full of Venezuelan cash was intended to finance
the presidential campaign of Cristina Kirchner.
(AP, 8/8/07)(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Aug 9, In Ecuador Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez offered to help Ecuador build a $5 billion oil
refinery, as the socialist leader pledged to spread his government's
oil wealth to another South American ally.
(AP, 8/10/07)
2007 Aug 16, Opponents of
President Hugo Chavez vowed to block his plans to radically overhaul
the constitution, warning the changes would give him unlimited power
and cripple democracy in Venezuela.
(AP, 8/16/07)
2007 Aug 21, Venezuela's National
Assembly, dominated by allies of President Hugo Chavez, gave unanimous
initial approval to constitutional reforms that would allow him to run
for re-election and possibly govern for decades to come.
(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Aug 31, Colombia's Alvaro
Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez agreed to allow a
representative of Colombia's largest guerrilla group to travel to
Caracas for talks aimed at freeing dozens of rebel-held hostages,
including three U.S. defense contractors.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Sep 1, In Venezuela more than
two dozen Colombian prisoners arrested three years ago in an alleged
plot against President Hugo Chavez were freed in a goodwill gesture he
hopes will help facilitate a prisoner exchange in Colombia.
(AP, 9/1/07)
2007 Sep 12, Exxon Mobil Corp.
said in a filing with the SEC that it had filed a request with the
Int’l. Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes for arbitration
over compensation from the Venezuelan government for seized oil
production assets.
(WSJ, 9/14/07, p.A9)
2007 Sep 17, President Hugo Chavez
threatened to take over any private schools refusing to submit to the
oversight of his socialist government, a move some Venezuelans fear
will impose leftist ideology in the classroom.
(AP, 9/17/07)
2007 Sep 27, Iran’s President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad traveled stopped in Bolivia, where he pledged $1
billion in investment. He pledged investment over the next five years
to help the poor Andean nation tap its vast natural gas reserves,
extract minerals, generate more electricity and fund agricultural and
construction projects. He then visited Venezuela to meet President Hugo
Chavez. Chavez embraced the Iranian leader, calling him "one of the
greatest anti-imperialist fighters" and "one of the great fighters for
true peace."
(AP, 9/28/07)
2007 Oct 3, President Hugo Chavez
accused the US of trying to spur a military rebellion, saying the CIA
is behind the distribution of leaflets inside army barracks calling for
his ouster.
(AP, 10/3/07)
2007 Oct 19,
Armed with clubs and waving provincial flags, thousands of
residents of Bolivia's wealthiest province seized control of Santa
Cruz’s Viru Viru airport from troops sent in by President Evo Morales.
The previous day Morales had ordered 220 troops to take control of the
airport after workers threatened to block flights that did not pay
landing fees to local officials rather than the national airport
authority. Television footage showed a Venezuelan air force plane and
uniformed personnel at the site.
(AP, 10/19/07)(Econ, 8/1/09, p.32)
2007 Oct 23,
In Venezuela thousands of university students scuffled with
police and government supporters during a protest against
constitutional reforms that would let President Hugo Chavez run for
re-election indefinitely.
(AP, 10/23/07)
2007 Oct 29,
Patrick Duddy, the new US ambassador to Venezuela met with
President Hugo Chavez, calling it a positive start toward improving
tense relations.
(AP, 10/30/07)
2007 Nov 1, Soldiers used tear
gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter tens of thousands who
massed to protest constitutional reforms that would permit Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely.
(AP, 11/2/07)
2007 Nov 2, Venezuela's
pro-government National Assembly overwhelmingly approved constitutional
reforms that would greatly expand the power of President Hugo Chavez
and permit him to run for re-election indefinitely.
(AP, 11/2/07)
2007 Nov 7, Masked gunmen opened
fire on students returning from a march in which tens of thousands of
Venezuelans denounced President Hugo Chavez's attempts to expand his
power through constitutional changes. At least eight people were
injured.
(AP, 11/8/07)
2007 Nov 16, Guyana rushed troops
and police to its western border a day after Venezuelan soldiers
allegedly blew up two Guyanese gold-mining dredges on a river near the
frontier.
(AP, 11/16/07)
2007 Nov 19, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez made his fourth trip to Iran in two years, as the two
countries sought to strengthen ties while their leaders exhort the
international community to resist US policies.
(AP, 11/19/07)
2007 Nov 21, In Venezuela tens of
thousands of President Hugo Chavez's supporters filled the streets to
back his proposed constitutional changes, while anti-government student
leaders announced a bold plan to march on the presidential palace.
(AP, 11/21/07)
2007 Nov 21, Colombia's government
said it was canceling Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's mediation role
with leftist rebels in a possible hostage swap, dealing a blow to
efforts to free three kidnapped US contractors and a former
presidential candidate.
(AP, 11/22/07)
2007 Nov 29, in Venezuela more
than 100,000 people flooded the streets to protest constitutional
changes that would boost President Hugo Chavez's power. Students again
showed they are a key force behind the re-energized opposition.
(AP, 11/30/07)
2007 Nov 30, In Venezuela some
200,000 gathered in Caracas as President Hugo Chavez urged supporters
to approve constitutional changes that he said could keep him in power
for life and threatened to cut off oil exports to the US if it tries to
meddle in the Dec 2 vote.
(AP, 12/1/07)
2007 Dec 2, Venezuelans voted in a
referendum on granting President Hugo Chavez expanded powers and ending
term limits under sweeping constitutional changes. Voters narrowly
rejected changes to 69 of 350 articles in the 1999 constitution by 51%
to 49%.
(AP, 12/2/07)(AP, 12/3/07)(Econ, 12/8/07, p.30)
2007 Dec 3, In Venezuela President
Hugo Chavez, humbled by his first electoral defeat ever, said he may
have been too ambitious in asking voters to let him stand indefinitely
for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state.
(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Dec 8, Venezuela’s Pres. Hugo
Chavez promised to supply the oil needs of Belarus for years to come
and dismissed Western accusations that Pres. Alexander Lukashenko is a
dictator. Chavez presented Lukashenko with a medal, and they signed an
agreement pledging military cooperation.
(AP, 12/9/07)
2007 Dec 11, US officials in
Florida arrested 4 people, 3 from Venezuelan and one from Uruguay, and
accused them of being agents of the Venezuelan government. Prosecutors
later said the 4 were seeking to silence Guido Alehandro Antonini
Wilson, a citizen of both the USA and Venezuela. In August Wilson was
detained in Argentina for carrying $800,000 in a suitcase, which
prosecutors said was intended to aid the campaign of Cristina Kirchner.
Franklin Duran, multimillionaire owner of Industrias Venoco CA, was one
of the arrested Venezuelans. In 2008 a federal jury convicted Duran on
charges that he was a foreign agent involved in a conspiracy.
(WSJ, 12/13/07, p.A16)(WSJ, 3/10/08, p.A5)(SFC,
11/4/08, p.A4)
2007 Dec 18, The leaders of
Argentina and Venezuela closed ranks against the United States,
rejecting US court charges in a campaign cash scandal as one more
example of Americans treating their nations like subservient colonies.
(AP, 12/19/07)
2007 Dec 21, Caribbean leaders
gathered in Cuba for a regional oil summit. Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez presided at a regional petroleum summit, pressing his efforts to
counter US influence in Latin America and the Caribbean by suggesting
more of his neighbors could pay for cheap oil with goods or services in
lieu of cash.
(AP, 12/21/07)
2007 Dec 31, President Hugo Chavez
granted amnesty to many opponents accused of supporting a failed 2002
coup that briefly drove him from power. Chavez said he signed an
amnesty decree that would also pardon others accused of attempting to
overthrow his government in recent years.
(AP, 1/1/08)
2007 Dec 31, A Venezuelan-led
mission to rescue three hostages, including a 3-year old boy, from
leftist rebels in Colombia's jungles fell apart as the guerrillas
accused Colombia's military of sabotaging the promised handoff.
(AP, 1/1/08)
2007 Inflation in Venezuela rose
22.5% for the year. Some 13,000 people were murdered this year
producing a murder rate of 48 per 100,000, the 2nd highest in the world
after El Salvador. In Caracas there were 2,710 murders, or 130 per
100,000 citizens.
(Econ, 1/12/08, p.32)(Econ, 7/19/08, p.47)(SSFC,
11/16/08, p.A16)
2008 Jan 1, Venezuela launched a
new currency with the new year, lopping off three zeros from
denominations in a bid to simplify finances and boost confidence in a
money that has been losing value due to high inflation.
(AP, 1/1/08)
2008 Jan 3, President Hugo Chavez
shuffled his Cabinet, naming a retired military officer as vice
president and other changes aimed at tackling corruption and
inefficiencies in his socialist government.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008 Jan 4, A private plane
carrying 14 people, including 8 Italians, crashed into the sea after
taking off from Venezuela's Los Roques islands.
(AP, 1/5/08)(AP, 1/7/08)
2008 Jan 10, Helicopters sent by
Venezuela's president picked up two hostages freed by Colombian rebels
in the jungle and flew the women across the border. Clara Rojas was an
aide to Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt in February
2002 when the two were kidnapped on the campaign trail. Rojas gave
birth in captivity to a boy fathered by one of the guerrillas.
Betancourt is still being held. The other freed hostage, former
congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, had been abducted in
September 2001. FARC, in a statement published on a pro-rebel Web site,
said the unilateral release demonstrated the group's "unquestionable
willingness" to engage the government in talks over the release of
remaining hostages. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is
thought to still hold more than 700 others.
(AP, 1/11/08)(Econ, 1/19/08, p.39)
2008 Jan 12, In Venezuela
Commander Hugo Chavez, spearheaded the installation of the Founding
Congress of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) at the San
Carlos quarter in Caracas.
(www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/index.php?act=ST&f=31&t=58972)
2008 Jan 16, The Venezuelan
Observatory of Prisons said more than an inmate a day died violently in
Venezuela's crowded prisons last year. Some 498 prisoners were killed
in riots and other violent acts in 2007, up from 412 in 2006.
(AP, 1/17/08)
2008 Jan 25, In Miami Moises
Maionica (36) of Venezuelan pleaded guilty in a scheme to cover up the
source of $800,000 seized in a suitcase in Argentina that was allegedly
sent by Venezuelans as a donation to Cristina Fernandez's presidential
campaign.
(AP, 1/25/08)
2008 Jan 26, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez and allies Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba, members of the
Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), launched a regional
development bank intended to strengthen their alliance and promote
independence from US-backed lenders like the World Bank as Chavez
hosted a summit with ALBA leaders.
(AP, 1/26/08)
2008 Jan 29, In Venezuela 4 gunmen
held more than 30 people hostage inside a bank during a lengthy and
tense standoff with police that began with a botched robbery in the
town of Altagracia de Orituco. The 4 gunmen surrendered to police after
freeing dozens of hostages and a high-speed chase, ending an ordeal
that lasted more than 30 hours.
(AP, 1/29/08)(AP, 1/30/08)
2008 Jan 30, Wilber Varela, one of
Colombia's most-wanted drug lords, was found slain in Merida,
Venezuela. Varela's war with his rival within the Norte del Valle
cartel, Diego Montoya, plagued the city of Cali and much of
southwestern Colombia, killing more than 1,000 people in several years.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008 Feb 8, It was reported that
Exxon Mobil Corp. has obtained a court order freezing over $12 billion
in bank accounts and assets in Europe, the Caribbean and New York
belonging to Venezuela’s state oil company in a dispute over
compensation for expropriated assets.
(WSJ, 2/8/08, p.A3)
2008 Feb 10, President Hugo Chavez
threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic
war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize billions of
dollars in Venezuelan assets.
(AP, 2/10/08)
2008 Feb 12, Venezuela's state
petroleum company PDVSA said it suspended oil supplies to ExxonMobil in
retaliation for the US energy giant's effort to freeze billions of
dollars in global PDVSA assets.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 21, In Venezuela a plane
carrying 46 people crashed in the western mountains, 6 miles from the
airport in the Andean city of Merida. All aboard were believed killed.
(AP, 2/22/08)
2008 Feb 24, In Venezuela a blast
near the entrance of the Fedecamaras business chamber headquarters in
Caracas killed a 44-year-old man suspected of trying to plant the bomb.
The next day Venezuela's justice minister blamed "anarchists" for the
explosion and vowed to capture those responsible.
(AP, 2/25/08)
2008 Feb 27, Two Venezuelan
helicopters left for Colombia on a mission to pick up four hostages
held by rebels for more than six years. Rebels turned over four
ex-lawmakers to representatives from Venezuela in the same region where
they released two others on Jan 10.
(AP, 2/27/08)(AP, 2/28/08)
2008 Feb 29, Peruvian officials
arrested seven members from the Coordinadora Continental Bolivariana, a
Venezuela-based leftist movement, including the group's alleged leader,
Roque Gonzalez, who spent eight years in prison for kidnapping a
Bolivian politician. Two more alleged members were arrested on March 17
trying to carry in $65,000 from Ecuador, money Peruvian authorities
suspect is Venezuelan. Coordinadora founder Fernando Rivero told The
Associated Press in Venezuela that the group is entirely autonomous.
(AP, 3/22/08)
2008 Feb 29, Italy’s Eni SpA
signed a major oil production agreement with Venezuela. Last month Eni
said it had reached a compensation deal in which Venezuela agreed to a
payment in excess of $700 million.
(WSJ, 3/1/08, p.A5)
2008 Mar 1, Colombia's defense
minister said security forces killed Raul Reyes (59), a leading
commander of the FARC rebel group, in combat and air strikes in
neighboring Ecuador. Reyes was the nom de guerre of Luis Edgar Devia.
23 other rebels were also killed and a laptop computer was seized with
documents indicating a close relationship between the rebels and
Venezuela’s Pres. Chavez. Colombia later acknowledged that an
Ecuadorean was killed during the raid.
(AP, 3/1/08)(AP, 3/5/08)(Econ, 3/8/08, p.43)(AP,
3/24/08)
2008 Mar 2, Venezuela and Ecuador
ordered troops to their borders with Colombia, sharply raising tensions
after Colombia killed a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil. Ecuadorean
troops recovered the seminude bodies of 15 rebels in their jungle camp.
Soldiers also found three wounded women at the camp, a Mexican
philosophy student injured by shrapnel and two Colombians, who were
evacuated by helicopter to be treated.
(AP, 3/3/08)
2008 Mar 3, Ecuador's president
said that his government was in "very advanced" talks with Colombian
rebels to free 12 hostages, including former presidential candidate
Ingrid Betancourt and three US contractors, but was thwarted by
Colombia’s military raid. Venezuela and Ecuador expelled Colombia’s
diplomats and cracked down on trade across the border.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 5, The Washington-based
OAS declared Colombia’s attack on rebels in Ecuador a violation of
Ecuador's sovereignty and called for OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel
Insulza to lead a delegation to both countries to ease tensions. But
the resolution stopped short of explicitly condemning the assault.
Pres. Chavez said Venezuela will search for other countries like
Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina to replace products imported from
Colombia.
(AP, 3/6/08)
2008 Mar 7, At a summit in the
Dominican Republic the presidents of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador
agreed to end a bitter dispute triggered by a Colombian cross-border
raid with testy handshakes and an apology.
(AP, 3/8/08)
2008 Mar 21, In Venezuela a riot
broke out between prison gangs at the San Fernando de Apure lockup. 9
inmates were left dead and 20 more wounded.
(SSFC, 3/23/08, p.A3)
2008 Mar 26, Venezuela's National
Assembly opened an investigation into a congressman's accusations that
two of President Hugo Chavez's brothers acquired 17 ranches in recent
years.
(AP, 3/26/08)
2008 Mar 28, Combat helicopters
and F-16 fighter jets opened fire at a clandestine airstrip in
Venezuela's remote southern plains as part of a government counter-drug
effort. Army Gen. Jesus Gonzalez told state television that so far this
year, the military has demolished 67 airstrips used by drug traffickers
to smuggle cocaine from neighboring Colombia to the United States and
Europe. Another 90 are to be destroyed next week.
(AP, 3/28/08)
2008 Apr 3, President Hugo Chavez
ordered the nationalization of Venezuela's cement industry, saying his
government cannot allow businesses to continue exporting raw materials
needed to help tackle a domestic housing shortage.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 9, President Hugo
Chavez's government said it will nationalize Sidor, Venezuela's largest
steel maker and a unit of Ternium SA, bringing one more key industry
under state control in its drive toward a socialist economy. Ternium,
based in Luxembourg, was controlled by Argentine owners.
(AP, 4/9/08)(SFC, 4/10/08, p.A9)
2008 Apr 9, Venezuela forced US
cartoon "The Simpsons" off its airwaves, calling the show a potentially
bad influence on children, and filled its morning slot with reruns of
the beach-and-bikini show "Baywatch."
(Reuters, 4/9/08)
2008 Apr 13, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez said his government is working to create a NATO-like South
America defense council along with Brazil and other countries.
(AP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 15, Venezuela moved to
take a greater cut of windfall oil profits, approving a 50 percent tax
on foreign oil companies when crude tops US$70 a barrel.
(AP, 4/15/08)
2008 Apr 23, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez joined with his leftist allies to create a $100 million
program to fight the rising cost of food for Latin America's poor.
(AP, 4/24/08)
2008 Apr 24, The Washington-based
Cato Institute announced that Yon Goicoechea (23), a law student in
Venezuela, was winner of the $500,000 Milton Friedman Prize for
Advancing Liberty. Goicoechea took a central role last year in rallying
students to oppose what he sees as threats to personal liberties and
democracy in Venezuela.
(AP, 4/24/08)
2008 Apr 29, A power outage left
wide swaths of Venezuela without electricity, including much of the
capital. The blackout was caused by a forest fire that overheated power
lines in the central state of Guarico.
(AP, 4/29/08)
2008 Apr 30, President Hugo Chavez
ordered the expropriation of Sidor, Venezuela's largest steel maker,
after attempts by the government to acquire a majority stake in the
company failed. Chavez said Venezuela will turn Siderurgica del
Orinoco, which was controlled by Luxembourg-based Ternium SA., into "a
socialist company."
(AP, 5/1/08)
2008 May 28, Venezuela announced
that the new Intelligence and Counterintelligence Law, passed by Pres.
Chavez, would replace the Disip secret police and Military Intelligence
Directorate with 4 new agencies. Under the law citizens who refuse to
act as informants for intelligence agencies could face as much as 4
years in prison.
(WSJ, 6/4/08,
p.A17)(www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3505)
2008 Jun 2, In Venezuela the vice
president of a Venezuelan newspaper was shot and killed by a gunman who
police said could have confused the victim for his brother, the
president of Reporte Diario de la Economia, a daily that has closely
covered corruption cases.
(AP, 6/3/08)
2008 Jun 7, President Hugo Chavez
said that his government will rewrite a new intelligence law to calm
fears in Venezuela that the decree could be used to stifle dissent.
Thousands of opponents of President Hugo Chavez protested a "blacklist"
unveiled by Venezuela's top anti-corruption official that bars key
opposition candidates from running in upcoming elections.
(AP, 6/8/08)
2008 Jun 8, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez urged Colombian rebels to lay down their weapons,
unilaterally free dozens of hostages and end a decades-long armed
struggle.
(AP, 6/8/08)
2008 Jun 10, In Venezuela the new
intelligence system, dubbed the “Gestapo law,” was repealed less than a
fortnight after its introduction.
(Econ, 6/14/08, p.47)
2008 Jun 14, Annualized inflation
in Venezuela stood at around 30% amidst an economic slowdown and an
unprecedented crime-wave.
(Econ, 6/14/08, p.47)
2008 Jun 15, Javier Garcia, a
Venezuelan television anchorman, was found slain in his apartment, his
body riddled with stab wounds.
(AP, 6/16/08)
2008 Jun 18, Venezuela's national
electoral council dealt a setback to President Hugo Chavez's foes by
tentatively accepting a blacklist barring nearly 400 potential
candidates, most from the opposition. Venezuela's government started
posting National Guard troops on buses to try to prevent violent crime.
(AP, 6/18/08)(AP, 6/19/08)
2008 Jul 11, Venezuela's Hugo
Chavez and Colombia's Alvaro Uribe mended relations after months of
sniping that threatened trade and unleashed a diplomatic crisis.
(AP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 12, President Hugo Chavez
said that he is expanding his Venezuela's Petrocaribe oil-supply pact
to include Guatemala.
(AP, 7/13/08)
2008 Jul 12, Thousands of
Venezuelans protested in the capital demanding that the Supreme Court
overturn a "blacklist" blocking key opponents of President Hugo Chavez
from running in upcoming elections.
(AP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 14, In Vietnam Dayana
Mendoza, Miss Venezuela, was crowned Miss Universe 2008 in a contest
marked by the spectacle of Miss USA falling down during the evening
gown competition for the second year in a row.
(AP, 7/14/08)
2008 Jul 17, Venezuela's ruling
party pledged to seek to reform the nation's constitution to let
President Hugo Chavez seek indefinite re-election.
(AP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 17, Six prominent members
of Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC met this day with Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega according to Nicaragua’s La Prensa newspaper.
The members of the guerrilla organization arrived in Nicaragua in a
Cessna airplane from Venezuela. Both Ortega and Venezuela denied the
newspaper report.
(http://colombiareports.com/2008/07/23/ortega-met-with-farc-delegation-says-la-prensa/)
2008 Jul 20, In central Bolivia a
Venezuelan military helicopter often used to transport Bolivian
President Evo Morales crashed. Four Venezuelan military personnel and a
Bolivian officer were reported killed.
(AP, 7/21/08)
2008 Jul 23, Venezuela signed over
three more oil fields to a joint venture with Belarus, with Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez declaring that the two nations were strongly
united in their resistance to "US imperialism" and Washington's
"lackeys."
(AP, 7/23/08)
2008 Jul 31, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez said his government will nationalize Banco de Venezuela, the
local unit of the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander.
(WSJ, 7/31/08, p.A6)
2008 Jul, In Venezuela inflation
was running at 32%.
(Econ, 7/19/08, p.47)
2008 Aug 3, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez says 24 Sukhoi fighter jets have been delivered to
Venezuela, and are ready to defend his country from "imperialist"
aggressions.
(AP, 8/4/08)
2008 Aug 4, In Venezuela changes
in areas from the military to small business loans were pushed through
by the president in 26 laws released in the official gazette. Chavez
approved them on the final day of an 18-month period during which
lawmakers had granted him special legislative powers.
(AP, 8/4/08)
2008 Aug 5, Venezuela's Supreme
Court ruled that a list barring hundreds of candidates suspected of
corruption from running in elections is constitutional, despite
complaints that it singles out opponents of President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 8/5/08)
2008 Aug 6, Riot police used tear
gas as they blocked hundreds of Venezuelans protesting what they call
new moves by President Hugo Chavez to concentrate his power.
(AP, 8/7/08)
2008 Aug 8, Researchers said at
least 38 Warao Indians have died in remote villages in Venezuela since
June 2007. Medical experts suspected an outbreak of rabies spread by
bites from vampire bats.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 12, Venezuela raised the
regulated prices of foods ranging from bread to beef by up to 50
percent and removed price controls from other goods in a bid to ease
sporadic shortages in supermarkets.
(AP, 8/12/08)
2008 Aug 12, Spanish officials
said local police acting on a tip-off from US authorities have seized
1.4 tons of cocaine and arrested eight South American suspects, 6 from
Colombia and 2 from Venezuela.
(AP, 8/12/08)
2008 Aug 18, Mexico’s Cemex SAB
rejected Venezuela’s $500 bid for the companies assets in Venezuela. At
midnight oil workers and Venezuelan soldiers occupied Cemex facilities
around the country.
(WSJ, 8/19/08, p.A10)
2008 Aug 19, The Dutch Navy and a
squad of US Coast Guard raiders seized 4.6 tons (4,200 kilograms) of
cocaine from a Panamanian-flagged freighter that had set sail from
Venezuela. The freighter was boarded on Aug 17 and it took 36 hours of
searching to find the drugs.
(AP, 8/23/08)
2008 Aug 31, Venezuela rejected US
requests to resume cooperation in the war on drugs, saying it has made
progress despite an alleged fourfold-gain in the amount of Colombian
cocaine now passing through its territory.
(AP, 8/31/08)
2008 Sep 2, South Africa signed an
energy agreement with oil-rich Venezuela as President Hugo Chavez
arrived on his first state visit. Political, trade and economic
relations were on the agenda with President Thabo Mbeki.
(AFP, 9/2/08)(AFP, 9/3/08)
2008 Sep 11, Venezuela
interrogated military officers named in recordings of an apparent plan
to kill President Hugo Chavez, in what may the firmest evidence in
years of a barracks plot to oust him. Chavez ordered the US ambassador
to leave Venezuela within 72 hours, accusing the diplomat of conspiring
against his government and saying he would also withdraw his own envoy
from Washington immediately.
(AP, 9/12/08)(Reuters, 9/12/08)
2008 Sep 12, The US accused
Rodriguez Chacin and 2 other top aides to Venezuela’s Pres. Chavez of
helping Colombian guerrillas traffic cocaine and procure weapons for
FARC. Chacin had just resigned on Sep 8 from Venezuela’s Interior
Ministry.
(SFC, 9/13/08, p.A5)
2008 Sep 23, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez arrived in China to hold talks with his counterpart Hu
Jintao and sign a deal for combat aircraft in a visit likely to irk the
US. Chavez said Venezuela and China agreed to jointly build 2 oil
refineries, one in each country.
(AP, 9/23/08)(WSJ, 9/24/08, p.A25)
2008 Sep 28, President Hugo Chavez
said that Russia will help Venezuela develop nuclear energy, a move
likely to raise US concerns over increasingly close cooperation between
Caracas and Moscow.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Oct 1, In Venezuela Julio
Soto, a student leader at the University of Zulia, was killed by
unidentified gunmen in the western city of Maracaibo. Assailants
sprayed his vehicle with gunfire and then fled without taking anything.
Soto had helped organize protests against constitutional amendments
proposed by President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 10/1/08)
2008 Oct 12, In Venezuela Pres.
Chaves, on Indigenous Resistance Day, presented the Yukpa Indians
titles to some blocks of land. This fell short of the 150,000 acres
they claimed as ancestral territory.
(Econ, 1/17/09, p.41)
2008 Oct 13, A Venezuelan court
issued arrest warrants for eight suspects in the Oct 1 killing of Julio
Soto, a student leader who helped organize protests against
constitutional amendments proposed by President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 10/14/08)
2008 Oct 29, Venezuela launched
its first satellite from Sichuan, China. It will begin carrying radio,
television and other data transmissions in early 2009 after three
months of tests.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Nov 8, Kenneth Dale Peters
(55), an American tourist, was shot and killed and a friend wounded, in
an apparent robbery attempt aboard a sailboat on Venezuela's Caribbean
coast. On Nov 12 regional police arrested Jose Rodriguez, Jonas Marcano
and Johan Isazis. They will face charges of homicide and attempted
homicide.
(AP, 11/10/08)(AP, 11/13/08)
2008 Nov 17, Venezuela and Iran
announced a plan to start a new university program in the South
American country with a focus on teaching socialist principles.
(AP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 20, Vietnam's president
Nguyen Minh Triet was set to meet Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, during
the first visit by a head of state from the communist nation here,
mainly focused on oil and gas ties.
(AP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 23, In Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez sought to hold on to his dominance in state and
municipal elections, facing an opposition aiming to win back power in
key states and cities. Chavez's opponents made important gains in local
elections, capturing the Caracas mayor's office and three of the most
populous states, but his allies won a strong majority.
(AP, 11/23/08)(AP, 11/24/08)
2008 Nov 25, Russian warships
arrived in Venezuela in a show of strength aimed at the United States
as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America.
(AP, 11/25/08)
2008 Nov 26, In Venezuela Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to help start a local nuclear energy
program and said Moscow is willing to participate in a socialist trade
bloc in Latin America led by President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 11/27/08)
2008 Dec 11, Venezuelan
prosecutors formally charged Manuel Rosales, a leading opposition
figure, with corruption, as President Hugo Chavez pushed forward with
plans for a referendum to end term limits. Rosales denied any
wrongdoing, saying the accusations are politically motivated.
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 13, Cuban President Raul
Castro arrived in Venezuela on his first international visit as Cuba's
leader.
(AP, 12/13/08)
2009 Jan 5, Former US
Representative Joseph P. Kennedy said Citgo Petroleum, the US refiner
owned by the Venezuelan government, planned to stop deliveries to his
Boston-based nonprofit, Citizens’ Energy, due to falling oil prices.
The stop order was removed 2 days later.
(WSJ, 1/6/09, p.A7)(AP, 1/8/09)
2009 Jan 6, Venezuela ordered
Israel's ambassador expelled from the country in protest over the
Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 1/6/09)
2009 Jan 6, Turkey held a shipment
bound for Venezuela from Iran saying it contains equipment that can
make explosives.
(WSJ, 1/7/09, p.A1)
2009 Jan 7, Venezuela's Citgo
Petroleum Corp. announced its fuel oil aid program would continue, just
two days after its partner nonprofit group, Boston-based Citizens
Energy, said Citgo had halted the free fuel shipments due to the world
economic crisis.
(AP, 1/8/09)
2009 Jan 14, Venezuelan lawmakers
approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow President
Hugo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely, the final step before
the proposal goes before voters in a referendum.
(AP, 1/14/09)
2009 Jan 14, Venezuela and Bolivia
broke off diplomatic relations with Israel to protest its military
offensive in Gaza.
(AP, 1/14/09)
2009 Jan 16, In Venezuela a
takeover of the Caracas City Hall began violently when dozens of armed
Chavez supporters wearing ski masks stormed in after shooting at the
building and tying up security guards. Chavez backers occupied the
civil registry and other municipal buildings to protest Ledezma's
decision to cut them off the city payroll. Caracas Mayor Antonio
Ledezma took to working from an undisclosed friend's office.
(AP, 1/31/09)
2009 Jan 20, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez challenged President Barack Obama to remake US policy
toward Latin America, but said he isn't holding out much hope for major
changes. Police used tear gas, plastic bullets and a water cannon to
break up a protest by university students against Chavez's attempt to
eliminate term limits.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 30, In Venezuela an armed
group vandalized Caracas' oldest synagogue, shattering religious
objects and spray-painting walls in what Jewish leaders called the
worst attack ever on their community. On March 26 prosecutors filed
charges against eight police officers and three other people, accusing
them of involvement in the attack.
(AP, 2/1/09)(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Feb 7, In Venezuela tens of
thousands of protesters marched in Caracas to oppose a constitutional
amendment that could allow President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election
indefinitely.
(AP, 2/7/09)
2009 Feb 12, In Venezuela tens of
thousands clad in red flooded the streets of Caracas, saying a
referendum that would end term limits is the only way President Hugo
Chavez can complete what he calls a socialist revolution.
(AP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 15, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez tried for a second time to win the right to seek
re-election far into the future with a referendum widely regarded as a
way to cement socialism. Some 55% percent of the voters approved the
amendment.
(AP, 2/15/09)(AP, 2/16/09)(Econ, 2/21/09, p.39)
2009 Feb 26, Venezuela condemned a
US State Department report on human rights problems in the South
American country, saying Washington has no right to pass judgment on
its record.
(AP, 2/26/09)
2009 Feb 28, President Hugo Chavez
ordered troops to intervene in Venezuelan rice processing businesses,
saying some have balked at producing under regulated prices.
(AP, 2/28/09)
2009 Mar 4, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez ordered the expropriation of the rice operations of US grain
giant Cargill Inc. and threatened to take over beer and food
manufacturer Polar, the country’s largest private company.
(WSJ, 3/5/09, p.A9)
2009 Mar 10, Venezuela's National
Guard destroyed an elaborate network of clandestine cocaine-processing
laboratories along the country's border with Colombia as part of its
anti-drug efforts.
(AP, 3/10/09)
2009 Mar 10, In northern Honduras
a plane from Venezuela that was carrying more than 2 tons of cocaine
crashed, killing the pilot. 2 US Drug Enforcement Administration
helicopters were allegedly pursuing the aircraft when it went down near
El Negrito town.
(AP, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 14, A Russian Air Force
chief said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered an island
as a temporary base for strategic Russian bombers. Maj. Gen. Anatoly
Zhikharev also said Cuba could be used to base the aircraft.
(AP, 3/14/09)
2009 Mar 15, President Hugo Chavez
dispatched the navy to Venezuela's seaports, warning that state
governors who challenge a new law bringing transportation hubs under
federal control could end up in prison. Chavez also said that Russian
bombers would be welcome in Venezuela, but he denied that his country
would offer Moscow its territory for a military base.
(AP, 3/15/09)
2009 Mar 19, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez announced the nationalization of Banco de Venezuela, a unit of
Spain’s Banco Santander SA.
(WSJ, 3/20/09, p.A10)
2009 Mar 21, Venezuela's federal
government seized seaports and airstrips in at least four states, a
move critics say is meant to limit the powers of mayors and governors
opposed to President Hugo Chavez.
(AP, 3/21/09)
2009 Mar 22, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, who has for years funneled state oil income into sweeping
social programs, vowed to cut nonessential state spending and order a
review of top officials' salaries as oil income plunges. Chavez also
called President Barack Obama "ignorant," saying he has a lot to learn
about Latin America.
(AP, 3/22/09)
2009 Mar 23, In Venezuela thieves
in Caracas ransacked the offices of the Ibrahim Al-lbrahim mosque,
stealing jewels, computers and other objects and throwing books across
the floor. The Ibrahim Al-lbrahim building is Latin America's second
largest mosque after the Rey Fahd Islamic Cultural Center in Argentina.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 25, US authorities
arrested Florida businessman Rama K. Vyasulu and froze his
Rosemont Finance Corp. following a federal grand jury indictment in
Boston indicting him on charges of laundering $900,000 in drug profits.
His firm served as a key US clearing house for dozens of black market
brokerages selling dollars in Venezuela, despite an official ban on
private firms buying an d selling currency at unofficial rates. An
estimated $100 million was believed to be frozen.
(WSJ, 3/28/09, p.A1)
2009 Mar 26, The UN's top
human-rights body approved a proposal by Muslims nations urging passage
of laws around the world to protect religion from criticism. The
resolution was sponsored by Pakistan, Belarus and Venezuela.
(AP, 3/26/09)(Econ, 4/4/09, p.17)
2009 Mar 31, In Qatar Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez sought Arab support for a proposed oil-backed
currency to challenge the US dollar in his latest swipe at Washington's
dominance in global financial affairs.
(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Mar, In Venezuela Manuel
Rosales, a leading opposition figure, stepped down as mayor of
Maracaibo and went into hiding following politically motivated
corruption charges. Rosales entered Peru as a tourist on April 4 and
sought asylum there.
(AP, 12/11/08)(SFC, 4/21/09, p.A2)(AP, 4/21/09)
2009 Apr 2, Venezuelan authorities
arrested retired Gen. Raul Baduel, a former defense minister and a
prominent critic of President Hugo Chavez, on corruption charges. The
former ally of Pres. Chavez went into opposition 18 months earlier.
(AP, 4/2/09)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.36)
2009 Apr 2, Washington expressed
no interest in an offer by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to take in
any of the 240 remaining Guantanamo detainees after they are released
from the US military prison.
(AP, 4/2/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Venezuela 3 of the
capital’s former police chiefs were sentenced to 30 years in prison.
They were accused without evidence of complicity in the murder of
several supporters of Pres. Chavez, who died during a coup attempt in
2002.
(Econ, 4/11/09, p.36)
2009 Apr 6, Japan’s Finance
Minister Kaoru Yosano said PM Taro Aso has ordered a $100 billion
stimulus plan to boost the national economy. PM Aso and Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez agreed to deepen ties in energy, investment and
trade, with Japanese companies ready to participate in gas and crude
production in the Latin American country.
(WSJ, 4/7/09, p.A8)(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 8, In China visiting
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the world's center of gravity has
moved to Beijing, as he focused on boosting Chinese oil purchases.
(AP, 4/8/09)
2009 Apr 8, The US Coast Guard
located a Venezuela-flagged fishing boat 500 miles east of Brazil,
boarded the vessel and found about 2,500 pounds (1,135 kilograms) of
cocaine. They planned to turn over the boat, the drugs, the prisoners
to Venezuelan authorities.
(AP, 4/10/09)
2009 Apr 18, Venezuela’s Hugo
Chavez said that he is restoring Venezuela's ambassador in Washington,
voicing hopes for a "new era" in relations after exchanging greetings
with US President Barack Obama at a regional summit in Trinidad. Chavez
presented Obama with a Spanish hardcover edition of "Open Veins of
Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" (1971), by
Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano.
(AP, 4/18/09)(WSJ, 4/27/09, p.A13)
2009 Apr 20, In Florida 7 more
Venezuelan polo horses sickened just before a tournament died
overnight, raising the death toll to 21. Officials said they may have
been killed by some type of poison.
(AP, 4/20/09)
2009 Apr 27, Palestinian officials
established formal ties with Venezuela and opened a diplomatic mission
in the South American country.
(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 Apr 27, Peru's government
said that it has granted political asylum to Manuel Rosales, a
Venezuelan opposition leader, who faced corruption allegations in his
homeland but claimed to be persecuted by leftist President Hugo Chavez..
(AP, 4/27/09)
2009 Apr 28, Venezuela recalled
its ambassador to protest Peru's decision to grant political asylum to
a prominent opponent of President Hugo Chavez, calling it a mockery of
international law and escalating a diplomatic dispute.
(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 May 1, In Venezuela police
and national guard troops broke up an opposition march in Caracas as
thousands of opponents and supporters of Pres. Chavez held separate May
Day marches.
(SFC, 5/2/09, p.A2)
2009 May 3, Sixteen Venezuelan
soldiers and a civilian were killed when a military helicopter crashed
near the Colombian border. A brigadier general was among those killed.
(AP, 5/3/09)
2009 May 6, Venezuelan prosecutors
filed embezzlement and other charges against a former Caracas mayor who
supports the government of President Hugo Chavez. Juan Barreto, mayor
from 2004 to 2008, denied the allegations and vowed to clear his name
in court.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 May 8, Venezuelan police
uncovered a cache of weapons and explosives at a Caracas apartment. The
discovery led to the detention of 3 citizens of the Dominican Republic,
Luini Omar Campusano de la Cruz (38); Edgar Floiran Sanchez (29); and
Diomedis Campusano Perez (31) and a Frenchman, Laurent Frederic
Bocquet, on suspicion of planning terrorist acts.
(AP, 5/9/09)
2009 May 8, Venezuela’s National
Guard began occupying dozens of oil rigs, docks and boats operated by
private contractors, both local and foreign, hired by PDVSA, the state
oil company. It appeared that PDVSA had run out of cash.
(Econ, 5/16/09, p.44)
2009 May 9, In Venezuela police
and soldiers discovered 4,370 pounds (1,983 kilograms) of cocaine
during a raid on a ranch in central Miranda state. A Colombian and two
Venezuelans were detained.
(AP, 5/11/09)
2009 May 10, A small plane filled
with cocaine crashed in Honduras. The plane registered in Venezuela was
carrying around 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms) of cocaine when it
crashed on Utila, one of the Bay Islands off the country's northern
coast.
(AP, 5/11/09)
2009 May 20, In Venezuela
thousands of university students marched through Caracas demanding more
state financial aid for public universities after President Hugo
Chavez's government reduced funding by 6 percent.
(AP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 21, In Venezuela police
and soldiers raided a property belonging to the head of the only
anti-government news network amid a growing confrontation between the
station and President Hugo Chavez's government.
(AP, 5/22/09)
2009 May 25, It was reported that
a secret Israeli government report said Venezuela and Bolivia are
supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program.
(AP, 5/25/09)
2009 May 26, Wilmer Ignacio
Guerrero Ibanez (40), a suspected trafficker accused of smuggling
cocaine through Venezuela was deported to Colombia, where officials
took him into custody at an international bridge linking the countries.
(AP, 5/27/09)
2009 May 27, In Venezuela hundreds
of opponents of President Hugo Chavez marched in support of press
freedom, two years after his government refused to renew the concession
of an opposition-aligned television station.
(AP, 5/27/09)
2009 Jun 4, Venezuelan prosecutors
charged Guillermo Zuloaga (67), president of the anti-government
television station Globovision, with usury. This ended a
weeks-long investigation into his business activities that Zuloaga
called politically motivated.
(AP, 6/5/09)
2009 Jun 5, Venezuela's tax agency
ordered an anti-government news network to pay $2.3 million in back
taxes, a day after its president was charged in a separate
investigation and troops raided his home.
(AP, 6/5/09)
2009 Jun 20, Venezuela’s Commerce
Minister Eduardo Saman, a close confidant of President Hugo Chavez,
announced that the government would annul patents on some medicines
under a reform of existing intellectual property laws. Industry leaders
soon responded saying the action could cause shortages and scare off
foreign investment.
(AP, 6/21/09)
2009 Jun 20, In Venezuela
authorities arrested Salvatore Miceli, suspected of being a key
intermediary in the drug trafficking trade and one of Italy's most
dangerous Mafia fugitives, as he left his apartment in Caracas. Police
also picked up two other Italian suspects.
(AP, 6/21/09)
2009 Jun 24, Venezuela and the
United States said they will restore their ambassadors more than nine
months after President Hugo Chavez expelled the US envoy in his final
diplomatic bout with the Bush administration.
(AP, 6/24/09)
2009 Jun 27, Thousands of
Venezuelans held separate protests to support and condemn an
opposition-aligned TV station that President Hugo Chavez's government
has threatened with closure.
(AP, 6/27/09)
2009 Jul 3, The head of
Venezuela's telecommunications regulatory agency said that 240 radio
stations will have their licenses revoked for failing to update their
registrations with the government. The government now controls six
television channels, including the Caracas-based international network
Telesur, two national radio networks and other smaller media outlets
including 600 radio stations and 72 community TV stations.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Venezuela’s top
telecommunications official said President Hugo Chavez's government is
imposing new regulations on cable television while revoking the
licenses of more than 200 radio stations.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 14, Venezuela's oil
minister Rafael Ramirez said workers at the state oil company must
support President Hugo Chavez's endeavors or be suspected of conspiring
against his socialist revolution.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Venezuela National
Guard troops seized a police station controlled by a leading opponent
of President Hugo Chavez, sparking clashes between soldiers and
protesters that authorities said injured eight people.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Venezuela Alicia
Torres, a judge handling one of Venezuela's most politically charged
cases, said that she was fired after complaining about pressure to rule
against an opponent of President Hugo Chavez. Torres said last week she
was pressured by a superior to prohibit Guillermo Zuloaga, president
and owner of the Globovision TV channel, from leaving the country.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 27, Sweden said it was
demanding an explanation as to why Swedish-made anti-tank rocket
launchers, sold to Venezuela years ago, were obtained by Colombia's
main rebel group. Three launchers were recovered in October in a FARC
arms cache belonging to a rebel commander known as "Jhon 40" and
Colombia only recently asked Sweden to confirm whether they had been
sold to Venezuela.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 28, Venezuela’s Pres.
Hugo Chavez recalled his ambassador from Bogota and threatened to halt
Colombian imports after the neighboring country said anti-tank weapons
found in a rebel arms cache came from Venezuela.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 30, Venezuela's top
prosecutor, Attorney General Luisa Ortega, insisted that freedom of
expression in Venezuela "must be limited" and proposed legislation that
would slap additional restrictions on the country's news media.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 31, Venezuelan regulators
revoked the broadcast rights of 34 radio stations for allegedly failing
to submit the proper paperwork to the broadcasting regulator, deepening
a rift between President Chavez's government and the private media.
Venezuelan lawmakers approved an election law to redraw voting
districts, a step that President Hugo Chavez's opponents say will give
his party a big advantage in next year's congressional vote.
(AP, 7/31/09)(AP, 8/1/09)(Econ, 8/8/09, p.32, 34)
2009 Aug 3, In Venezuela a
far-left party led by Lina Ron attacked the opposition-aligned
Globovision TV station. The next day Pres. Chavez condemned the attack
and had Ron arrested for taking part in the assault.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 5, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez said his government will buy dozens of Russian tanks
because Venezuela feels threatened by a pending deal for the US
military to increase its presence in neighboring Colombia.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 8, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez said he's returning his ambassador to Colombia, moving to
resolve rising diplomatic tensions after weapons sold to Venezuela were
found in a rebel cache.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Venezuela
attackers injured 12 of the journalists as they passed out leaflets
warning against a new education law that critics fear could lead to
indoctrination in schools. Their fliers warned against a provision for
sanctions against reports that "produce terror" among children or
incite hate.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Venezuela
lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez gave final approval on to
legislation that has raised fears among government opponents of
impending socialist indoctrination in schools. The National Assembly
also approved a law that paves the way for the government to take over
private buildings and land in urban areas.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 19, US authorities in
collaboration with Venezuela led to the seizure of about a ton of
cocaine aboard a ship in the Caribbean Sea. Two Venezuelans and a
Colombian were arrested.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 22, Venezuelan police
dispersed opponents of Pres. Chavez's government as thousands
demonstrated both for and against an education law that critics fear
will lead to political indoctrination in schools.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, In the Bahamas
Stefania Fernandez (18), Miss Venezuela, was the fairest of them all
once again, winning the 2009 Miss Universe crown for the second year
straight and the sixth time since the pageant's creation.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Algeria Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez called for closer economic ties with Algeria,
notably in the energy sector, during a two-day visit here.
(AFP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 4, Thousands of opponents
of Hugo Chavez marched against the Venezuelan president across Latin
America, accusing him of everything from authoritarianism to
international meddling. The protests, coordinated through Twitter and
Facebook, drew more than 5,000 people in Bogota, and thousands more in
the capitals of Venezuela and Honduras. Smaller demonstrations were
held in other Latin American capitals, as well as New York and Madrid.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Iran Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez sealed an agreement to export 20,000 barrels per
day of gasoline to Iran. The deal would give Tehran a cushion if the
West carries out threats of fuel sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.
The two countries also agreed to set up a bank together to help finance
joint projects.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 10, In Russia Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez recognized the pro-Russian rebel regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, a rare boost to the
Kremlin's campaign for their international acceptance.
(Reuters 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Spain Venezuela’s
Pres. Chavez paid a brief courtesy call on King Juan Carlos and met
briefly with PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to discuss energy issues
and Spanish investment in oil-rich Venezuela.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez returned home from a world tour. He said he has signed
military agreements with Russia and is soon expecting the arrival of
some "little rockets," which reach up to 186 miles (300km) and are
strictly for defense purposes.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 12, In Venezuela
opposition Mayor Lluvane Alvarez was shot by unidentified assailants as
he entered his home in western Tachira state, which is plagued by crime
related to drug trafficking and other illicit activities.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 13, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez said Russia has opened a $2.2 billion line of credit for
Venezuela to purchase weapons including armored vehicles and
surface-to-air missiles.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Sep 16, In Venezuela the
collision of a truck carrying chlorine gas and a cargo vehicle killed
nine people and provoking breathing problems in 326 others.
(AP, 9/17/09)
2009 Sep 18, In Venezuela an
emergency meeting of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) took
place in Caracas. Former presidents from Peru and Bolivia joined
newspaper editors from across the Americas in condemning what they call
a series of attempts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and some of
his allies, to clamp down on the news media.
(AP, 9/19/09)
2009 Sep 22, Venezuelan police
have captured Julio Mendez (38), an American pilot wanted since
2007 on cocaine smuggling charges in the United States.
(AP, 9/23/09)
2009 Sep 24, Venezuela’s Justice
Minister Tareck El Aissami said the animated television series "Family
Guy." should be pulled from the airwaves because it promotes the use of
marijuana. He said that cable networks that broadcast "Family Guy"
would be fined by Venezuela's telecommunications regulator if they
refuse to dump the program.
(AP, 9/25/09)
2009 Sep 26, In Venezuela some 30
African and South American leaders met for a 2-day summit on Margarita
Island seeking to build on their alliances. Libyan leader Moammar
Gadhafi called for a NATO-like defense alliance for Africa and South
America as leaders from the two continents agreed to link up to gain
more clout as economic and political blocs.
(AP, 9/26/09)(AP, 9/27/09)
2009 Sep 27, In Venezuela Pres.
Hugo Chavez proposed that South American and African nations unite to
create a cross-continental mining corporation to keep control of their
resources. Chavez made diplomatic inroads in Africa at a summit of
South American and African leaders where he offered Venezuela's help in
oil projects, mining and financial assistance. Venezuela signed
agreements to work together on oil projects with South Africa,
Mauritania, Niger, Sudan and Cape Verde.
(Reuters, 9/27/09)(AP, 9/28/09)
2009 Sep 28, In Venezuela Pres.
Hugo Chavez and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi called for a new global
definition of terrorism. Meeting a day after the end of a summit of
African and South American leaders in Venezuela, the two men signed a
declaration urging a global conference be held to sketch out new terms
defining terrorism.
(Reuters, 9/28/09)
2009 Sep 30, In Venezuela more
than 150 university students ended a hunger strike after the
Organization of American States (OAS) agreed to hear their concerns
over alleged political persecution by President Hugo Chavez's
government.
(AP, 10/1/09)
2009 Oct 1, Venezuela's top
security official said Julio Mendez (37), an American pilot wanted in
the United States on cocaine-smuggling charges, has been turned over to
representatives of the US State Department to be taken home.
(AP, 10/1/09)
2009 Oct 3, Some 2,000 people
marched across Venezuela's capital to protest what they say is the
persecution of President Hugo Chavez's opponents.
(AP, 10/3/09)
2009 Oct 11, In Venezuela 12 men
were kidnapped from a field where they were playing soccer. On Oct 25
the bodies of 10 of the men, most of them Colombians, were found with
multiple spots in western Tachira state. A single survivor, Manuel
Cortez (19) of Colombia, was shot in the neck.
(AP, 10/26/09)
2009 Oct 12, In Venezuela
thousands of people congregated for candlelit rituals on a remote
mountainside where adherents make an annual pilgrimage to pay homage to
an indigenous goddess known as Maria Lionza. The traditions, hundreds
of years old, draw on elements of the Afro-Caribbean religion Santeria
and indigenous rituals, as well as Catholicism. Believers often ask for
spiritual healing or protection from witchcraft, or thank the goddess
for curing an illness.
(AP, 10/13/09)
2009 Oct 22, Venezuela deported
Luis Cediel to the US. The Colombian man had links to a pyramid scheme
that bilked Colombians out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
(SFC, 10/23/09, p.A2)
2009 Oct 27, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez said two Colombian spies have been captured and will go on
trail for conducting espionage within his country. Colombia's security
agency denied sending any agents into Venezuela.
(AP, 10/28/09)
2009 Nov 2, In Venezuela a lone
gunman approached Gustavo Gonzalez, a member of the Copei opposition
party, at a restaurant, fatally shot the politician in the head and
fled on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice. 2 National Guard soldiers
were shot multiple times at a roadside checkpoint near the border with
Colombia. Prosecutors believed the troops were attacked by four men on
two motorcycles. Johan Manuel Mora Rodriguez (20) was detained at a
National Guard checkpoint near where the killings occurred in western
Tachira state.
(AP, 11/3/09)
2009 Nov 4, The London-based
indigenous rights group Survival International said Swine flu has
appeared among the Yanomami Indians of Venezuela, one of the largest
isolated indigenous groups in the Amazon. A local doctor and that the
virus is suspected in seven deaths, including six infants.
(AP, 11/4/09)
2009 Nov 8, Colombia said it will
appeal to the UN Security Council and the OAS after Hugo Chavez, the
fiery leftist president of neighboring Venezuela, ordered his army to
prepare for war in order to assure peace.
(Reuters, 11/9/09)
2009 Nov 11, Venezuelan
authorities destroyed more than 30,000 illegal firearms as part of an
effort to combat soaring crime. The government stopped releasing
complete annual murder figures in 2005, but in 2008 the Justice
Ministry said homicides averaged 152 a week, or roughly 7,900 for 12
months.
(AP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 14, Colombia’s government
4 soldiers from Venezuela's National Guard captured in Colombian
territory will be repatriated in a bid to ease tensions between the
South American neighbors. The Colombian navy intercepted the men Nov 13
in El Aceitico along the border.
(AP, 11/15/09)
2009 Nov 19, Venezuelan
authorities captured Magally Moreno (39), a former Colombian official,
wanted for collaborating with outlawed right-wing paramilitary
fighters. Moreno was wanted by Colombian authorities on charges of
aggravated homicide and Interpol had called for her arrest.
(AP, 11/21/09)
2009 Nov 20, Hugo Chavez has
defended the alleged terrorist mastermind Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich
Sanchez Ramirez, saying the Venezuelan imprisoned in France was an
important "revolutionary fighter" who supported the cause of the
Palestinians. Ramirez gained international notoriety during the 1970s
and 80s as the alleged mastermind of a series of bombings, killings and
hostage dramas. He is serving a life sentence in France for the 1975
murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informant.
(AP, 11/21/09)
2009 Nov 25, Iranian Pres.
Ahmadinejad arrived in Caracas for a meeting with President Hugo
Chavez, as the two outspoken anti-US leaders try to boost ties.
(AFP, 11/25/09)
2009 Nov 27, Venezuela’s President
Chavez said he plans to open an embassy in Palestinian territories and
upgrade its ties to ambassadorial level, to support Palestinians in
their struggle against Israel.
(Reuters, 11/27/09)
2009 Dec 7, President Hugo Chavez
said that Venezuela has received thousands of Russian-made missiles and
rocket launchers as part of his government's military preparations for
a possible armed conflict with neighboring Colombia.
(AP, 12/7/09)
2009 Dec 8, In Venezuela a group
of college students ended a hunger strike after 17 days following a
meeting with Organization of American States representatives to air
their concerns about human rights. A dozen students started the protest
Nov. 21 outside the OAS office in Caracas, aiming to press the body to
look into their complaints, including allegations that President Hugo
Chavez's government abuses the legal system to persecute opponents.
Jesus Ramirez Bello (20), a student, was shot and killed during a
protest in the southwestern city of San Cristobal, Tachira state. 2
suspects were later detained in the killing.
(AP, 12/9/09)(AP, 12/11/09)
2009 Dec 10, In Venezuela Judge
Maria Afiuni was jailed on charges of corruption and abuse of power for
freeing a high-profile banker while he awaited trial. An angry
President Hugo Chavez demanded she be kept in a cell for the maximum
sentence, 30 years.
(AP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 15, In Venezuela
lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez inaugurated a state-run radio
station that replaces a previous broadcaster that sandwiched criticism
of Venezuela's socialist leader between jazz and salsa music.
(AP, 12/16/09)
2009 Dec 24, In Venezuela Rafael
Antonio Caldera (b.1916), former two-time president (1969-1974 and
1994-1999), died. He is considered as one of the founders of Venezuelan
democracy (1958) after decades of dictatorship.
(AP, 12/24/09)
2010 Jan 8, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez issued a presidential decree devaluing the currency by up to
50%. Finance minister Ali Rodriguez admitted that this would boost the
inflation rate, 27% last year, by 3-5 percentage points.
(Econ, 1/16/10, p.39)
2010 Jan 8, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez said his government is determined to keep Guri Dam from falling
to a critical level that would cause its electricity-generating
turbines to fail. The dam, which supplies 73% of Venezuela's
electricity, was at dangerous lows.
(AP, 1/10/10)
2010 Jan 10, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez says there's too much capitalism on Venezuelan TV. So he's
urging producers to start making films and TV shows that stress
socialist values.
(AP, 1/11/10)
2010 Jan 13, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez indefinitely suspended rolling blackouts in Caracas, just a
day after they began, and sacked his electricity minister saying he was
responsible for mistakes in the way the rationing plan was applied.
(AP, 1/14/10)
2010 Jan 15, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez announced a 25% increase in the minimum wage to try to
blunt the effects of soaring inflation, and playing down criticism of
his government's handling of an energy crisis and other domestic
problems.
(AP, 1/16/10)
2010 Jan 16, Venezuelan
authorities said they have captured Salomon Camacho Mora (65), a
prominent Colombian drug trafficker wanted by the United States.
Venezuelan intelligence and counter-drug agents captured Mora during
the past week in the city of Valencia.
(AP, 1/16/10)
2010 Jan 23, In Venezuela tens of
thousands opposed to President Hugo Chavez took to the streets, blaming
him for rolling blackouts, water rationing, widespread crime and other
problems they say are making daily life increasingly difficult. This
day marked the 1958 uprising that ousted Venezuela’s last military
dictator. The Chavez regime told cable TV operators to stop carrying
RCTV, a pro-opposition channel.
(AP, 1/24/10)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.44)
2010 Jan 24, In Venezuela a cable
television channel critical of President Hugo Chavez was yanked from
the airwaves for defying new regulations requiring it to televise the
socialist leader's speeches.
(AP, 1/24/10)
2010 Jan 25, In Venezuela police
and supporters of President Hugo Chavez clashed with students in cities
across the country during protests over the government forcing an
opposition channel off cable TV. One youth was reported killed and 16
people suffered injuries. A government official said that Pres. Chavez
has accepted the resignation of Ramon Carrizalez, who also served as
defense minister. Carrizalez’s wife, the environment minister, also
resigned.
(AP, 1/25/10)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.46)
2010 Jan 26, In Venezuela
thousands of university students again protested against Pres. Chavez,
accusing the socialist leader of forcing an opposition-allied TV
channel off cable and satellite as a means of silencing his critics.
(AP, 1/26/10)
2010 Jan 28, In Venezuela police
fired tear gas to chase off thousands of students demonstrating in the
capital, a fifth day of protests against President Hugo Chavez for
pressuring cable and satellite TV providers to drop an opposition
channel.
(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Feb 2, Venezuela deported
alleged major drug traffickers to the US and France. Suspected
Colombian drug kingpin Salomon Camacho Mora, French smuggling suspect
Jean Marie Bonnamy and alleged Colombian paramilitary member Oscar
Ospino were ferried to the nation's main airport for deportation.
(AP, 2/3/10)
2010 Feb 4, Venezuelan police used
tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter hundreds of
students protesting against the government, as Pres. Chavez's
supporters celebrated the 18th anniversary of his failed coup as an
army officer.
(AP, 2/4/10)
2010 Feb 6, Venezuela’s government
announced that it will spend $15 billion over the next 5 years to
increase electricity production.
(SSFC, 2/7/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 8, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez declared a national emergency in the electricity sector as the
worst drought in 50 years dried up water supplies in hydroelectric dams.
(SFC, 2/10/10, p.A3)
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Subject = Venezuela
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