Death toll from the bus crash in Anzoategui state rose to 15, with 14 still seriously injured

The death toll from the bus crash in Anzoategui state rose to 15, with 14 still seriously injured, as news came in of another deadly crash in Sucre state. A truck carrying troops from a military training center overturned, killing 11 and injuring 21 others on Monday night.

President Hugo Chavez is to meet with national and foreign business leaders today. Talks are expected to center on government plans to boost private investment, but Chavez could find himself pressed to lower the tax on financial transactions (ITF), currently set at one percent. The Venezuelan Central Bank favors a cut to 0.5 percent.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) remains under pressure, this time from a document delivered by a pressure group, Cuidadania Activa, to the Organization of American States (OAS) office in Caracas. The group called on the CNE to comply with electoral laws and in the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

The food "basket" for a family rose by 2.1 percent on a month before to Bs.Fs.1,275.65 in May according to the documentation and analysis center at the Teachers union, Cenda. That took the increase this year so far to 11.9 percent, and on May 2007 to 41.2 percent. The minimum legal wage is Bs.Fs.799.23 a month.

Protesters of one sort or another blocked major highways in Caracas 10 times last month alone. The main complaints concerned crime, the poor quality of roads and inadequate housing. Others were bikers, who are no respecters of the law in any case.

Officials at the Transport Museum in Caracas claim they're being badgered by the Environment Ministry and the national parks institute, Inparques, to move from the site they've occupied on Avenida Francisco Fajardo since the 1960s. They say Inparques wants the land, but hasn't offered them an alternative, and they're not chuffed.