Western Hemisphere
The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Brazilian Senate rejected on Thursday a proposal to send a delegation to Venezuela to investigate allegations of human rights violations by the government of President Hugo Chávez.

The proposal presented by Senator Mozarildo Cavalcanti, of the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), was based on a suggestion made last Tuesday by Antonio Ledezma, Caracas Metropolitan Mayor, DPA reported.

Romero Jucá, the leader of the ruling party group in the Brazilian Senate, instructed the members of the group to vote against the proposal, saying that the Brazilian Parliament must not "meddle" in Venezuela's internal policy affairs.

The Senator of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) said that the debate in the committee should be limited to voting on the protocol of accession of Venezuela into the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).