The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, died this afternoon in Caracas of respiratory complications caused by the cancer treatment he had been receiving for the past year and a half. He underwent surgery in Cuba on December 11th and never fully recovered from complications that resulted.

Chávez did not live long enough to be sworn in for his third term as President, which would have expanded his socialist regime over two decades.

Venezuela’s Vice-President, Nicolás Maduro, addressed the country accompanied by Information and Communications Minister, Ernesto Villegas. “He has passed…after a difficult fight against disease for almost two years,” Maduro said with a cracking voice and a tear-streaked face.

Up until now, Venezuelans had only received vague and incomplete reports on the disease that eventually took the President’s life and his supposed recovery; over the course of the past year and a half, Chávez underwent four surgeries in Cuba, the specific type of cancer he was suffering from has never been revealed.

An entire community was shaken by the unfathomable murder of two innocent children whose only crime was to sneak onto a vehicle to hitch a ride.

Two boys, just 11 years old, knew it was dangerous to walk along certain streets in Comuna 13, their hard-working single mothers had certainly warned them enough. Sometimes, however, it’s easier to just forget and go play with friends.

Recently one of the boys’ mothers had even “bought him a cell phone and got cable TV so he’d stay home more and she could check on him more often,” a relative of one of the boys said.

On Saturday afternoon the boys, usually inseparable, ran off to play and no one heard from them until around 6:00 p.m. when a third child showed up with a horrendous tale. The boys had allegedly been taken by men wearing boots who started beating them and told the third boy to “get lost”.

The boy said they had all climbed into a delivery car without the driver’s knowledge and hitched a ride to a sparsely populated area, they got out and the car drove off, the boys stayed behind to play. Several men showed up and started to beat the older boys, the younger one was let go and came back with the story.

The boys’ relatives contacted authorities immediately; police went to the area to check but found only signs that the boys had been there. The boys’ bodies were found the next day in the afternoon, both were found in an abandoned ranch in Aguas Frías, the boys had been stripped down to their undergarments and were stuffed in sacs, they had multiple wounds to the head and torso.

“They were just children. All they did was play soccer and run errands, they never had any trouble with anyone,” one of the children’s relatives said.

Yesterday, both children’s mothers had to head to work despite the terrible loss they just suffered. The women know that losing a day’s pay just isn’t an option and that the products they sell from carts on the street are perishable, and to miss a day is to let them go to waste.   The families are trying to gather donations to pay for their sons’ funeral services.

With an interest rate reduction from 4,25 to 4,0 percent, Colombia’s Central Bank will both boost the economy, which experts say isn’t growing to its full potential, and encourage Colombians to accumulate more debt.

“Each person and bank must take on the task of assessing if they are able to take on more debt and how to use available credit options”, said bank chief, Jose Dario Uribe.

Uribe also said that the decision was made considering that, on average,  the economies of Colombia’s commercial partners have grown as much as expected. The Board of Directors also decided to extend daily dollar purchases thru May and expects to accumulate 3,000 million dollars, with daily purchases of no less then 30 million dollars.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Farc, are willing to arrive in Norway to negotiate peace with the National Government with an open mind, disregarding obstacles like the President’s refusal to cease military operations during talks and the presence of alias ‘Simón Trinidad’ at the negotiating table.

“Looking at things with optimism, we feel there is no problem we cannot solve,” said guerrilla leader Marco León Calarcá during an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.

The Government and Farc will begin formal peace talks in October after having meeting in Cuba for at least six months to reach preliminary agreements.

Two issues brought up by Farc, however, looked to many like the first hangups in what will be at least the third attempt at negotiation between the government and the insurgency. The first was a ceasefire, which the Government immediately rejected. The second was a request for alias ‘Simón Trinidad’, who is currently serving a 60-year sentence in the United States for the kidnapping of three Americans, to be at the table.

“We’re not saying that if there isn’t a ceasefire we won’t start (…) but we are calling for good judgement, we’re saying that if we’re going to talk let’s not harm each other anymore, if we are willing to find peace, let’s not harm each other anymore.”

Calarcá was part of the ‘exploratory’ talks with government delegates in Cuba along with alias ‘Andres Paris’, ‘Hermes Aguilar’ and ‘Sandra Ramirez’, among others. He said the agreement is also an invitation for other organizations to build peace in the country. When asked if this meant an invitation to the National Liberation Army (Eln), he said,“all we are saying to the comrades of the Eln is that they should think about that purpose, because we know it’s part of their strategic goals, as it is of our own.”

In reference to the United States Calarcá said: “Allow me to dream and say that the best thing the US can do would be to leave us alone, (…) let us resolve our own problems and create our own problems, because many of the problems we have in Colombia were created by imperialistic policies.”

Italian Georgio Sale, who was arrested last Friday, can probably shed some light on a few cases for Colombia’s Attorney General and the Accusations Committee of the House of Representatives. His testimony will likely help determine if they have a case against former magistrate, Jose Alfredo Escobar, and other government officials.

Sale was convicted and served five years in prison in Italy for money laundering and faces similar charges in Colombia. Despite the fact that a warrant for his arrest had been out since 2006, Sale risked returning to the country in an attempt to recover goods that were confiscated because they were tied to the activities of former paramilitary chief, Salvatore Mancuso, who was extradited to the United States.

It’s no secret that technology and the internet have become key to a good education and the government is determined to make sure the opportunity of owning a computer becomes available to as many Colombian homes as possible.

The “My First Computer” program is a partnership between HP, Exito stores, Intel and Une, and focuses on offering customers the chance to purchase a computer with special financing options. They will be made available in 76 Exito stores throughout the country.

Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, apologized to former President Belisario Betancur Cuartas after Bogotá’s Superior Court asked the International Criminal Court to investigate him for the Siege of the Justice Palace in 1985. During an event in Cali, Santos made reference to the issue and said that sometimes it is necessary to express disagreement.

“We cannot remain silent towards a ruling that asks for an investigation against president Betancur, who is approaching the age of 90, 90 years of serving the country, 90 years of promoting the arts, 90 years of public service. To ask an international court to try him for the Justice Palace at this point makes no sense, judicial or otherswise.”

“That’s why I will just apologize to President Betancur on behalf of Colombians, we are sorry that he has been put in this position once again.”

President Santos added that it’s also important to show respect and admiration for the Army.

The ultimate decision in the lawsuit brought against newspaper El Universo by President Raúl Correa will be left up to the 21 delegates of Ecuador’s National Court of Justice, whose members were sworn in yesterday.

The magistrates must decide whether to confirm or revoke the sentences imposed on three newspaper executives and former columnist, Emilio Palacio, for what President Correa called slander. Analysts, however, don’t feel the magistrates are able to guarantee a fair ruling, a concern shared by Palacio, currently in Miami due to what he says is “political persecution”.

The General Comptroller’s office opened investigations against 21 current and former magistrates of the Superior Council of Judicature for alleged pension benefit irregularities. “With all due respect,” Defense Minister, Juan Carlos Esguerra, said, “I think the Council has fallen short of the expectations, short of what it was believed to be and what was created in the National Constitutional Assembly”. They are being investigated for what’s being called the “pension carrousel”, which consists of hiring auxiliary magistrates for short periods of time and allowing them to benefit from inflated pensions.

Among those involved, 17 are from the Disciplinary Committee and three others from the Administrative Committee.

Colombia’s Minister of the Interior, Germán Vargas Lleras, said on Thursday that, depending on the circumstances, the Colombian government would have no problem allowing the Brazilian government to assist in the hostage release process announced by the Farc guerrilla.

“We don’t feel it’s necessary right now, the Defense Ministry has taken care of all the logistics so that these releases can happen without delay, but if for any circumstances Brazil’s participation became necessary, there wouldn’t be any inconvenience. “

On previous occasions, Vargas pointed out, “it’s been demonstrated that the logistics provided by the Government to guarantee the release of hostages has sufficed (…)”, the Government also wants to keep Farc from turning this into an international show.