CARACAS, Thursday November 20, 2008 | Update
The head of Venezuela's top electoral body, Tibisay Lucena, praised the presence of international observers from America, Europe, Africa and Asia (File Photo)
Politics
The president of Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE),
Tibisay Lucena, welcomed on Thursday 134 foreign observers
that arrived in the South American country to monitor next
November 23rd election of governors and mayors.
Lucena said at a press conference in Caracas that the presence
of international observers from America, Europe, Africa and
Asia, will help "show before the world (...) the reality of
the Venezuelan electoral process," EFE reported.
Representatives of international electoral organizations
of the United States and Canada, as well as members of the
Latin American Economic System (SELA), the Common Market of
the South (Mercosur) and the Organization of American States
(OAS) will be among the international observers invited to
participate, the CNE said.
The OAS confirmed on Thursday in a statement that two top
officials of the OAS, on behalf of Secretary-General José
Miguel Insulza, will participate as guests in the activities
planned by the Venezuelan electoral institution.
10:07 AM. DIPLOMACY. Admired by the Colombian guerrilla after his coup attempt in 1992, the then lieutenant colonel Hugo Chávez Frías received financial support by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for his projects after his capture that year. This mostly explains the relationship and "debt" between the parties, as revealed by a paper of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) of the United Kingdom.