The US government says it respects Venezuela's sovereignty and will investigate an alleged incursion by one of its military planes into Venezuelan air space. Yesterday afternoon, Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Nicolas Maduro lodged an official complaint to Ambassador Duffy about a US Marine plane encroaching over Venezuela's Los Roques islands. US State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack later admitted that the plane accidentally strayed into Venezuelan airspace on Saturday night. The plane is based in Curacao where the US has a forward operation location (FOL) base and was undertaking a training mission. According to US sources, the plane is used in anti-drugs missions and it has emerged that the pilot after experiencing navigation problems had a brief conversation with the radio control tower at Simon Bolivar international airport in Maiquetia. McCormick claims that the pilot had language problems during a three-minute conversation with staff at the Maiquetia control tower but he did identify himself as a US Marine. The Venezuelan government is taking the incident as another sign of US meddling and provocation.
Former Defense Minister Vice Admiral Orlando Maniglia claims the US plane's incursion was premeditated and recalls the closeness of similar planes during the time President Chavez was held captive in Orchila Island on April 12, 2002.
The surrender of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader of the 47 front, Karina is seen as a major victory for the government of Alvaro Uribe. The guerrilla leader, accused of assassinating Uribe's father, ratified at a press conference that the FARC was being defeated and admitted that many of her companions were ready to demobilize. During a press conference, the guerrilla leader says she admires President Chavez but was unaware of any possible link between President Chavez and the FARC secretariat.
Education Minister, Hector Navarro says the country defined in the Constitution and the values contained therein should be taught in the school room. The Minister insists that the Constitution is the basis of the new school curriculum. The values contained in the Constitution, Navarro points out, are respect for national sovereignty, territorial integrity and being a Republic. The Minister made the statement during an interview on state television. Referring to meeting, which the Minister held last week with representatives of the Catholic Schools Association (AVEC), Navarro comments that it was interesting, adding that there is always a good disposition within that particular group to reach beyond party politics and discuss the education of children in more convenient terms. The talks with the group centered around the principles of education and Navarro went so far as to say that Socialist values and Christian values coincide. The Minister is set on getting a national debate up and running so that all sectors can take part in the discussion on the new curriculum. "If the Bolivarian curriculum contains a vision, it's possible that it is not being proposed with sufficient amplitude." Venezuela must be a country that appropriates science and technology, Navarro concludes, and its development must be based on science and technology used to solve people's problems and not to create them.
Venezuela's opposition broadsheets have come under fire because on Sunday they ignored the news story of 60 Colombian soldiers entering Venezuelan territory on Saturday. Instead, broadsheets such as El Nacional and El Universal preferred to print news and views on Interpol's technical report on the laptops, allegedly belonging to slain Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader, Raul Reyes. The news about the incursion broke out on Saturday and critics say the broadsheets and tabloids had sufficient time to publish the story. El Nacional's front page headline on Sunday was the following: Colombia reports FARC presence in Venezuela.
Patrick J. O'Donoghue
patrick.vheadline@gmail.com
Venezuela is facing the most difficult period of its history with honest reporters crippled by sectarianism on top of rampant corruption within the administration and beyond, aided and abetted by criminal forces in the US and Spanish governments which cannot accept the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people to decide over their own future.
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