Colombian President Alvaro Uribe missing 'Amazon Summit' in Brazil because of foot injury

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe today sent his regrets to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, saying he would be unable to attend the so-called “Amazon Summit” in Manaus, Brazil, on Thursday because of a foot injury.

Some hoped the Brazilian forum would help ease tensions between Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,who is expected to attend. Chavez has threatened war with Colombia over Uribe’s decision to allow the Pentagon to use seven Colombian bases for flights to combat drug trafficking and insurgency.

Chavez has closed the common border to much trade, and Colombian exports to Venezuela tumbled by 49% during the most recent month for which figures are available.

Tension remains high after several recent border incidents, including the demolition last week of two border foot bridges by Venezuelan armed forces. Also last week, three Colombian citizens were killed in Arauca state, Venezuela. On Nov. 2, two members of the Venezuelan national guard were mysteriously killed. Last month, nine Colombians were kidnapped and killed by suspected guerrillas after a pickup soccer game on the Venezuelan side of the border in Tachira state.

Uribe has remained characteristically calm in the face of Chavez's bluster, which many see as an effort to divert Venezuelans' attention from domestic problems.

But in an interview this week with Bogota’s Semana magazine in which he criticized Uribe’s deal with the Pentagon, former Colombian President Ernesto Samper warned that the crisis is “not the delirium of a paranoid.” He blamed Uribe as much as Chavez for tensions.

-- Chris Kraul in Bogota, Colombia

Latin America Digest: Today's one-line news briefs

Mexico City — NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez, the U.S.-born son of migrant farmworkers, Tuesday lobbied Mexico to start a space agency and invest more money in science, technology and education.

Caracas, Venezuela — Opposition parties and Jewish community members criticized a visit by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, citing worries over his denial of the Holocaust, human rights violations and Iran’s nuclear program.

La Paz, Bolivia — Bolivian police said Indians in the remote Qaqachaca village held police at bay with dynamite blasts, allowing some to escape, and one officer was wounded in the leg by gunfire last week before authorities busted five cocaine labs.

Brasilia, Brazil — Rio de Janeiro’s posh beach neighborhoods lost power for hours in sweltering summer weather just two weeks after a massive blackout left more than 60 million people in the dark and raised questions about the nation's ability to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

— Times wire reports

Latin America Digest: Today's one-line news briefs

Sao Paulo, Brazil -- Brazil's government should hear native Indians before deciding on the construction of a controversial $17.3 billion hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, rock star and environmental activist Sting said Sunday.

Brasilia, Brazil -- Hundreds of Brazilians protested the impending visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, citing his animosity toward Israel, his government's controversial nuclear activities and his declarations against homosexuals.

Caracas, Venezuela -- Venezuela has no interest in talking directly to Colombia to end months of tensions between the two countries but would support an effort by other South American nations to broker a solution, a top government official said.

Caracas, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez hailed the forthcoming arrival of 300 Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles, and urged civilians to join government-organized militias to be ready to defend Venezuela from a foreign invasion.

-- Times wire reports

Suspected Colombian paramilitary leader Magaly Moreno captured in Venezuela

A woman described by Venezuelan authorities as an important leader of a Colombian paramilitary group has been captured, the justice minister said today.

Interpol had called for the arrest of Magaly Janeth Moreno Vega, who was wanted by Colombian officials on homicide charges, said Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami. He referred to the 39-year-old suspect as a paramilitary chief for the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC.

Authorities said she was captured Thursday in Maracaibo, Venezuela. El Aissami said Moreno, nicknamed "The Pearl," deals with "extremely important information" for the paramilitary group.

El Aissami, who spoke on state television, accused Colombian President Alvaro Uribe of "institutional and moral decay" for his government's ties to paramilitary groups that "attack our people and threaten peace and order." 

Moreno previously worked as an investigator for Colombian prosecutors and was detained with her boss several years ago on accusations of aiding militias, according to news reports. Moreno was convicted on conspiracy charges tied to various crimes after she acknowledged working for paramilitary boss Jorge Ivan Laverde, who has said he participated in the killings of more than 2,000 people, the Associated Press reported.

Officials have said Moreno fled when prison officials granted her a temporary parole.

-- Efrain Hernandez Jr.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to join airborne scientists seeking rain

Venezuela's efforts to combat severe drought conditions may include President Hugo Chavez going airborne with scientists as they try to generate rain from clouds.

Chavez has said a team of Cuban scientists are in Venezuela to fly aircraft with special equipment designed to influence weather patterns, specifically to bring on much-needed precipitation.

“I’m going in a plane; any cloud that crosses me, I’ll zap it so that it rains,” Chavez said late Saturday, according to Reuters.

Though Chavez did not explain what method would be tried in Venezuela, many countries have attempted to influence weather through what is often referred to as cloud seeding. The practice involves shooting substances into clouds, such as silver iodide, salts and dry ice, that bring on the formation of large raindrops, triggering a downpour. 

Meteorologists in China actually used similar "weather modification" techniques to try to prevent rain during the 2008 Summer Olympics by reducing the size of raindrops and delaying any rainfall.

The drought in Venezuela has resulted in water rationing and government calls for residents to do whatever they can to save water, including taking shorter showers.

-- Efrain Hernandez Jr.

Photo: Venezuelan President Chavez greets supporters at a recent protest in Caracas against installation of U.S. military bases in Colombia.  Credit: Reuters

'Family Guy' offends in Venezuela

The animated series "Family Guy" is the latest American media export to offend the Venezuelan government.

Global Post reports that Stewie Griffin, one of the characters in the show, caused outrage by singing a ditty lauding marijuana’s restorative properties.

"The Venezuelan government highlighted the clip as an example of how the U.S. government promotes pot smoking and the legalization of drugs. Venezuela resented a recent U.S. Congress report that said a fourfold increase in cocaine smuggling through Venezuela has been aided by police corruption and a refusal to work with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration."

Read more about it here.

"Family Guy" is not the first cartoon to ruffle officials' feathers in Venezuela. Last year, "The Simpsons" was banned from broadcast television after it was ruled “unsuitable” for children. 

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Oliver Stone's new documentary heads 'South of the Border'

In his new documentary "South of the Border," Oliver Stone is shown warmly embracing Hugo Chávez, nibbling coca leaves with Evo Morales and gently teasing Cristina Elizabeth Fernández de Kirchner about how many pairs of shoes she owns, writes Reed Johnson.

These amiable, off-the-cuff snapshots of the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina, respectively, contrast with the way these left-leaning leaders often are depicted in U.S. political and mass-media circles. That's especially true of Chávez, the former military officer turned democratically elected socialist leader, who has become the ideological heir apparent to Fidel Castro and the bête noire of Bush administration foreign policy officials.

In setting out to make "South of the Border," which is scheduled to have its world premiere this week at the Venice Film Festival, Stone, a lightning-rod figure himself for the better part of three decades, says he wanted to supply a counterpoint to the prevailing U.S. image of Chávez, who's frequently represented in stateside op-ed pieces and political cartoons as a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure.

Read on here.

See more posts here on film, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia and culture.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Ticket sales uneven as Dudamel readies for his debut

Culture Monster reports that despite the rush for tickets to the first Los Angeles Philharmonic concert led by its new musical director, 28-year-old conductor Gustavo Dudamel, on Oct. 3 box office figures from Walt Disney Concert Hall show that even the young Venezuelan isn’t entirely recession-proof.

Subscription tickets, which went on sale in February and account for a majority of total sales, have fallen 7% from last year, the final year of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s tenure with the orchestra.

That was at least partly offset by an uptick in the sale of single tickets. The orchestra says purchases of individual tickets that went on sale Sunday were approximately 50% above the sales from the same day last year, resulting in several sold-out performances well in advance of Oct. 8, the official start of the 2009-10 season.

“It’s not unlike what we’re seeing at the Hollywood Bowl this summer,” said Arvind Manocha, the company’s chief operating officer. “There’s a certain population of people who migrate away from large subscription packages, and we’re seeing more of that than usual.”

Read the rest of the report here.

The Los Angeles Times magazine profiled the Venezuelan conductor this month.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Illustration: Gabriel Moreno / For the Los Angeles Times

Dudamel ticket hopefuls exhilarated, disappointed at Bowl

Culture Monster reports on the rush for free tickets to the first Los Angeles Philharmonic concert led by its new musical director, the 28-year-old Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

"Dezi Koster ... is the proud recipient of four free tickets to see 28-year-old Venezuelan wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel, the new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at the Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 3, conducting his first concert as leader of the celebrated orchestra.

"Koster was one of 1,000 people who spent a hot morning in line Saturday at the Bowl, some arriving as early as 5 a.m., with the hope of getting free tickets. Starting at noon, the first 246 or 247 received up to four seats. The rest went home empty-handed as demand outstripped supply. Countless more tried and failed to get tickets by phone and online, but no matter the method, tickets were gone in 1 hour and 20 minutes.

"The Bowl has long been known for bringing classical music to ordinary people in a casual arena far from the sometimes intimidating confines of the traditional concert hall. But Dudamel and the Philharmonic have taken the populist appeal of the Bowl to a new level by presenting '¡Bienvenido Gustavo!,' the first concert of his inaugural season, for free on a first-come, first-served basis."

Read more here on Culture Monster.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo gallery: Gustavo Dudamel's learning curve

A photo gallery on the Los Angeles Times website follows Gustavo Dudamel, the 28-year-old Venezuelan incoming music director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, ending his second season as the Gothenburg Symphony's music director last month.

Dudamel will take up his new role in Los Angeles in October.

The Venezuelan conductor is the most illustrious graduate of El Sistema, or the System, Venezuela's 34-year-old music tuition program that many regard as a model not only for music instruction but for helping children develop into productive, responsible citizens.

You can watch below a video shot by Reed Johnson last year of El Sistema in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.