FABIOLA SANCHEZ

Associated Press
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Chavez taps hardline generals for inner circle

President Hugo Chavez has been filling top posts in Venezuela's armed forces with hardline political loyalists, raising concerns among critics that the military leaders might not accept the results of this year's election if it goes against him.

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Chavez's spending could boost Venezuela inflation

President Hugo Chavez's government is likely to spend heavily this year to rev up the economy during his re-election bid, and that could worsen one of Venezuela's biggest problems: 27-percent annual inflation that is already close to the highest in the world.

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Ex-baseball executive key to anti-Chavez strategy

A former baseball executive is plotting strategy for Venezuela's political opposition, and he's on a winning streak.

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Threats, violence rising for Venezuelan activists

Humberto Prado has seen plenty of danger. Once an inmate in some of South America's most feared lockups, he later was pardoned and became a prison director himself, then spent years campaigning for reforms in Venezuela's notorious prisons.

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Hackers hijack Twitter accounts of Chavez critics

Over months, Venezuelan TV soap opera writer Leonardo Padron built a Twitter following of about 250,000 people by posting more than a dozen messages a day, many of them skewering President Hugo Chavez.

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In Venezuela crime spree, even hospitals are hit

A young man dies of gunshot wounds, and enraged friends and relatives react by shooting up the hospital. A medical student leaving another hospital at the end of her shift is shot to death by a robber. Doctors working late take to sleeping in their workplace rather than risk being mugged.

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Venezuela's Chavez expects 1 more round of chemo

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he expects to undergo a fourth phase of chemotherapy to prevent cancer from reappearing and that it should be the last round.

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Chavez: Venezuela recalling $11B in gold reserves

President Hugo Chavez announced Wednesday he is nationalizing Venezuela's gold mining industry and intends to bring home $11 billion in gold reserves currently held in U.S. and European banks.

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Confronting cancer, Chavez relies on trusted VP

Gripping a microphone, the vice president had a moment to shine as he stood in for President Hugo Chavez and welcomed hundreds of athletes to a competition hosted by Venezuela's government.

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Chavez says Venezuela's OPEC quota should grow

President Hugo Chavez said Friday that Venezuela's oil production quota within OPEC should increase now that its proven crude reserves have grown.

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Ailing Chavez faces dire problems in Venezuela

Even before President Hugo Chavez announced he was fighting cancer, Venezuela was one of Latin America's most troubled nations.

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'Devil Dancers' revel in Venezuela's festival

Dancers in brightly colored devil masks whirled around and shook their hips to the heavy beat of African drums Thursday, marking the beginning of Venezuela's exuberant Corpus Christi celebration.

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Poll: Venezuela almost evenly split on Chavez

Venezuelans are almost evenly split about President Hugo Chavez's performance in office, according to a poll released Monday.

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Venezuelan rights group: Extrajudicial killings up

Unjustified killings by police officers are escalating and occurring across Venezuela, a human rights group charged Thursday.

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Venezuela economy grows 4.5 percent in 1st quarter

Venezuela's economy expanded 4.5 percent for the first quarter, confirming a growth trend after nearly two years of recession, officials said Tuesday.

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Venezuela imposes tax on windfall oil prices

Venezuela is imposing a windfall profits tax on royalties from oil projects when crude prices are above $40 a barrel, seeking to squeeze as much as $16 billion mostly out of foreign oil companies, the government said Tuesday.

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Bitter battle over body of Venezuelan ex-president

Three months after the death of former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, his embalmed body is still in limbo — kept in cold storage in a Miami mortuary while his relatives battle in court over where he should be buried.

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Venezuela students end hunger strike

University protesters in Venezuela have ended a month-long hunger strike, saying President Hugo Chavez's government has met their demands.

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Chavez decree strengthens pro-government militias

New rules authorizing Venezuela's military to distribute weapons to pro-government militias took effect Tuesday, raising concern among critics who say the armed groups could be used by President Hugo Chavez to cement his hold on power.

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Rights group: Hunger strikes increase in Venezuela

Venezuelans are increasingly resorting to hunger strikes as a form of protest or a way to press grievances against President Hugo Chavez's government, the representative of a human rights group said Thursday.

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Venezuela out of recession, but doubts remain

Venezuela has officially emerged from recession, but business leaders and independent analysts said Wednesday that modest fourth-quarter growth doesn't mean the economy will continue to expand.

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Workers end strike at Coca-Cola plant in Venezuela

Workers at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Venezuela have ended a strike that lasted nearly a month and drastically cut back production of soft drinks in the country, the company said Thursday.

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Public securities exchange launched in Venezuela

The Venezuelan government on Monday launched a new public securities exchange that is to be a venue for selling both government and corporate bonds.

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The Venezuelan who 'knew too much'

By the time the White House designated him an international drug kingpin in May 2009, Walid Makled had risen comet-like from petty smuggler to port mogul and airline owner through the good graces of Venezuelan power brokers.

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Venezuelan students protest against university law

Police and soldiers fired water cannons and plastic bullets Thursday as thousands of students protested against a law passed by Venezuela's congress that increases the government's powers over the country's universities.

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