CARACAS, Tuesday June 23, 2009 | Update
Politics
At least 100 military officers, cadets and troops of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba rehearsed on Monday in Los Próceres parade ground. The group is to participate in the parade commemorating the 188th anniversary of the Battle of Carabobo and the Army Day.
General Clíver Alcalá Cordones, commander of the 41st Armored Brigade of the Army, said that 175 foreign military officers, representatives of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our Americas, ALBA (comprised by Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Ecuador, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in addition to Venezuela), will march in a military parade along with the Venezuelan National Armed Forces in Campo de Carabobo, southwest of central Valencia state.
Rocío San Miguel, the head of NGO Control Ciudadano para la Seguridad y Defensa (organization for social monitoring of security and defense matters), warned that "this particular and unprecedented situation" violates Article 187, number 11 of the Venezuelan Constitution, since the National Assembly must "authorize" the deployment of foreign missions in Venezuela and "the government has not published any resolution in the Official Gazette to confirm this action."
mdespinoza@eluniversal.com
Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas
María Daniela Espinoza
EL UNIVERSAL
05:09 PM. Economy. If any country has cashed in on the Bolivarian revolution, that is Brazil, particularly the private companies of the southern neighbor. Over the past five years, it has been awarded contracts for works to be carried out in Venezuela for over USD 14 billion. This puts it as the first recipient of government-to-government contracts, that is, without bidding, since Hugo Chávez took office.