15 July 2011

VENEZUELA / BRASIL/ CUBA : 16 July UPDATE: Chavez Goes To Cuba For Chemo.; Chavez Foe Convicted In Free Speech Case.

                       LINK CHANGE/BLOOMBERG
   A Sao Paulo newspaper report that President Hugo Chavez would undergo cancer treatment at a renowned cancer hospital there...was WRONG!
   Chavez will return instead...to La Habana.
   Caracas lawmakers approved his request to depart...and still remain in charge.
   Critics speculate that Chavez will have better control over information about his condition and treatments in a tightly controlled La Habana hospital...than in Sao Paulo.
   Chavez did not say how long he would be gone.


ALSO:   Long-time Chavez foe and former Zulia governor...Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, 68, was convicted of spreading the "falsehood" on TV last year that Venezuela "facilitates the business of  drug trafficking."
   "The conviction of Álvarez Paz is a major blow to free speech," said Human Rights Watch.    "It shows how the laws put in place by Chávez and his supporters to regulate public debate can be used to punish his critics."
  Alvarez Paz was sentenced to 2 years...and forbidden from leaving the country.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304521304576446422744794898.html