Western Hemisphere
Antonio Ledezma, the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas, formally asked the Senate of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) to send a commission to Venezuela so that it can verify all the complaints made by the Venezuelan opposition against the government of President Hugo Chávez.

"I asked the Senate to send a Commission to verify all the complaints that we are doing (against the government) as for example that there are political prisoners in Venezuela; that the branches of power are kidnapped, that (the authorities) do not respect either private property or free expression," Ledezma said in Brazil.

The mayor said that in his speech he asked the Senate to separate the Venezuelan state from its government and allow Venezuela's entry into the Mercosur.

"The State is permanent, governments come and go," he said.

Carolina Contreras
EL UNIVERSAL