Spanish energy company Repsol announced Friday a large natural gas find off the coast of Venezuela and visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was immediately informed, a Repsol spokesman told CNN. "We've just found this out," said the spokesman, Kristian Rix, in a phone call with CNN. Repsol believes the discovery might amount to 7 or 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which would be the equivalent of up to 1.44 billion barrels of oil, Rix said. But he cautioned, ...

Iran and Venezuela plan to stand up against "imperialist" foes by strengthening bilateral cooperation on a range of issues, including nuclear power, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday. "Expansion of Tehran-Caracas relations is necessary given their common interests, friends and foes," Ahmadinejad said after a meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart President Hugo Chavez, according to Iran's semiofficial FARS news agency. Chavez was in Tehran on Saturday with a team of high-ranking officials for a two-day visit. Chavez reiterated the goal: ...

Libyans on Tuesday celebrated Col. Moammar Gadhafi's 40 years of rule with lavish pageantry -- complete with a lengthy parade, an elaborate stage production and spectacular fireworks. The massive celebration for 67-year-old Gadhafi came less than two weeks after Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, who was convicted of murdering 270 people by blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, was freed from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds. The world watched as al Megrahi, who has ...

If there is, or should be, one rule of U.S. Latin America policy today, it is this: Don't give Hugo Chávez a freebie. Avoid handing the leftist Venezuelan President a reason to sound an alarm against yanqui aggression in the western hemisphere. Chavez's reputation in Washington may be that of an ...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he is preparing to break off diplomatic relations with Colombia over the neighboring country's plan to allow U.S. troops access to its military bases. "It is going to happen," Chavez said on Tuesday in a state broadcast. "We are going to prepare for this, because the Colombian bourgeoisie hates us. And now, it just isn't possible to make up. No, it is impossible. "The agreement of the seven bases is a declaration of war ...

Air China, the country's flag carrier, has agreed to pay HK$6.3bn (US$813m) to increase its stake in Cathay Pacific, only three years after first securing a holding in the Hong Kong airline. Chavez's government is "moving forcefully to silence critics," said the unclassified U.S. analysis prepared by the Open Source Center, a government intelligence center. The relationship between privately owned media in Venezuela and the leftist Chavez have never been rosy. Chavez has accused private television stations of supporting his ...

The recent closure of 32 privately owned radio stations and a proposed law to punish "media crimes" are signs that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is moving to quash criticism of his government, according to a recent U.S. intelligence report. Chavez's government is "moving forcefully to silence critics," said the unclassified U.S. analysis prepared by the Open Source Center, a government intelligence center. The relationship between privately owned media in Venezuela and the leftist Chavez have never been rosy. Chavez has ...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday blasted accusations that his government supplied Colombian guerrillas with shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons and accused the neighboring country of blackmail. The remarks follow a freezing of diplomatic relations between the countries over the weapons issue and over negotiations that could lead to American military bases in Colombia. Colombia announced last week that three anti-tank weapons seized from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had been traced to Venezuela. "What a coincidence that ...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez froze diplomatic ties with neighboring Colombia, citing verbal "aggressions" from that country, he said in a televised speech Tuesday.

When Spain's King Juan Carlos verbally slapped down bad boy Hugo Chavez at the Ibero-American summit, it came, to say the least, as a surprise. For a man who normally is the very embodiment of decorum, Juan Carlos' retort to the Venezuelan president — "Why don't you shut up?" — seemed shockingly uncharacteristic. But a statement from the Palace on Tuesday may have offered a bit of context on the royal mood: the king's eldest child, the infanta ...