Venezuela Criticizes DEA As 'New Cartel'

by: Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press

Monday, May 07, 2007

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070507/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_us_drugs

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela on Monday said it will not allow U.S. agents to carry out counter-drug operations in the country, accusing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of being a "new cartel" that aids traffickers.

Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said the South American nation suspended cooperation with the agency in 2005 after determining that "they were moving a large amount of drugs." President Hugo Chavez at the time also accused the DEA of spying.

"The United States with its DEA monopolizes the shipping of drugs like a cartel," Carreno told reporters. "We determined that we were evidently in the presence of a new cartel." He did not elaborate.

U.S. officials say about 10 DEA agents have remained in Venezuela working with law enforcement contacts even after the Chavez government suspended formal cooperation.
Carreno was responding to comments by John Walters, the U.S. director of National Drug Control Policy, who told the Colombian magazine Semana in an interview published last week: "Chavez has refused to cooperate. It's a shame. Venezuela is gaining in importance for the drug traffickers."

Carreno said Venezuela is making important strides in fighting drug trafficking.

"The Venezuelan government doesn't accept blackmail," Carreno said. Security agencies are willing to follow up on any information provided to track down traffickers, he added, but "what we will not permit them to do is carry out operations in our territory."

Brits Out Of Falkland Islands: Venezuela's Chavez

Tueday, April 03, 2007

CARACAS (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez proclaimed on Monday that the Falkland Islands belong to Argentina on the 25th anniversary of the Argentine invasion of the territory which sparked a war with Britain.

"Enough already with colonialism," Chavez said on state television voicing solidarity with his fellow South American country which still lays claim to the British-run islands in the south Atlantic.

"Venezuela is among the countries demanding dialogue with Britain, which does not want to discuss it," he said.

"Today we pay tribute to those Argentine soldiers who gave their lives attempting to recover what belonged to them," he said.

Chavez did not miss the opportunity to criticize the United States, which he often refers to as "the empire," and which he said "disgraced" itself by aiding Britain in the conflict.

He also criticized Latin American countries that stood by "with their arms folded" during the 10-week conflict except for Cuba, "the only government that offered to send troops to go fight."

Chavez also proposed setting up a South American military organization for similar situations in the future.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher, prime minister during the 1982 Falklands War, paid homage to British veterans on the 25th anniversary of the conflict in low-key ceremonies in London.

More than 900 people died -- including 649 Argentine and 255 British troops and three islanders -- during air, land, and sea hostilities.