Chavez grabs U.S. flagged ship and crew—“case in development”

Updated on Monday, September 10, 2012 at 2:28PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

Map: U.S. Government with marker pointing to Maracaibo added by The US Report.Venezuela’s government led by Hugo Chavez has seized a U.S. flagged ship and crew, according to Panorama, a daily newspaper in that country.

The ship, Ocean Atlas, has been held since the end of August. Panorama said an American diplomat confirmed the ship’s captain was arrested. The diplomat described the situation as a “case in development.”

Forbes surfaced the story in the U.S. with writer Christopher Helman updating the saga that has an unusual aspect.

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Chavez errs with criminal capitalism in climate change

Venezuela chief Hugo Chavez, is raging about “criminal capitalism,” saying this is what led to vast amounts of rain in his country, causing at least 70,000 of his people to become homeless (Reuters). Capitalism is Chavez's global warming/climate change culprit.

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Venezuela touts climate change policy, overlooks US superiority in forestland

Site in Bear Creek Educational Forest in Florida. [Photo Div. of Forestry, State of Florida]One of the big schemes in the climate change movement is to reward countries that have large amounts of forestland. The thinking goes that industrialized countries like the U.S. should pay these so-called developing nations to offset the carbon our society emits.

Never mind the Somalis who chop down trees for the black market in charcoal or the nomads in primitive countries who overgraze. Never mind the damage wrought by civil warfare or complete lack of regulation in some countries. And never mind the disasters caused in some large developing nations after questionable agricultural practices were mandated by their governments. But what we can't 'nevermind' is the US superiority in forestland.

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Venezuelan official chastises U.S. media ahead of referendum; embassy offers insight

Updated on Monday, February 16, 2009 at 10:56AM by Kay B. Day, Editor

The big surprise from official releases is that more than 25,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. can vote on that referendum. The non-surprise is that the Venezuelan government has a low opinion of the U.S.

Image of flag of Venezuela from CIA Fact Book online.(Washington, D.C.)— The government of Venezuela is angry at American media, mounting an effort to communicate information about the Feb. 15 referendum to amend that country’s constitution. The referendum if successful will enable elected officials to serve beyond the terms currently set. The official release from the embassy in Washington offers complete instructions for voting and the embassy issued a release explaining all aspects of the voting procedure. “On February 15th every Venezuelan citizen inscribed into the electoral registry can exercise his or her right to vote; in the United States, 25, 318 Venezuelans will be able to exercise this right. The referendum is about a proposal, introduced by the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, to amend the Constitution. The proposal would modify 5 articles of the Constitution to allow every popularly elected official to run for that same office again.” There’s a fact sheet available at the embassy website.

There will, as in the U.S., be poll watchers. Perhaps as an answer to media critics, the release said, “As of Thursday, February 12th, 98 representatives from international organizations and electoral bodies, as well as other figures, are in the country to accompany the referendum on February 15th. American citizens are among these representatives. According to the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE), on Sunday at 5:00 a.m. the international representatives will walk through voting centers and will be present at voting stations.”

So why is the Venezuelan government so angry at American media?

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