US Acts to Counter Venezuela's Clout in Latin America

By Brian Wagner Miami 07 March 2007

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President Bush's latest aid package for Latin America is aimed at combating poverty and strengthening democracy across the region. But some regional experts say the plan, announced just days before Mr. Bush's trip to Latin America, is designed to blunt Venezuela's growing clout on the continent.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez before the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2006

The announcement of the aid package showed a new side to the administration's relation with the region, which has typically focused on strengthening business ties and trade agreements. It also comes at a time when a key U.S. opponent, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, is seeking to increase his nation's outreach on the continent.

Since taking office in 1999, President Chavez has vowed to improve social conditions for the poor majority in his country through a series of anti-poverty, health and education programs. Supporters say the programs have been a success in the oil-rich nation, partly thanks to a rise in oil prices around the globe.

Jorge Castaneda, former foreign affairs minister for Mexico, says the relative success of the Venezuelan programs is unique to Latin America.

"You have a situation now where they have a social policy which means taking basic social services to the urban poor in Latin America," he said. "Health, education, water, controlled prices. It can't last forever, but it's a lot better than what many of these neighbors have elsewhere in Latin America."

Castaneda says some of these Venezuelan programs are modeled after similar ones in Cuba. The Communist government in Cuba has long prided itself on education, health and literacy programs for residents on the island, as well as initiatives to send teams of doctors to emergency zones around the world.

And just like Cuba, Castaneda says Venezuela is looking to export its social program to countries, such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. At the same time, Caracas has lent its financial backing to Argentina to issue a joint bond for $1.5 billion.

Venezuela's new efforts come at a time of major changes in the international aid and finance sectors, says Albert Fishlow, director of the Institute for Latin American studies at Columbia University. He says there are more possible sources of finance than ever before. The needs in Latin America, he says, have changed.

"You don't have much need, I would argue, for massive flows," he said. "And that is for the good, because every time the United States promises it's going to do something, it never does. And the most obvious and saddest case is the Millennium Project."

Fishlow and others have criticized the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, saying it has been too slow to fulfill its promises. The agency was created in 2004 to increase U.S. aid spending by $5 billion over the following year.

Officials at the Millennium Corporation say they have already signed deals worth more than $1 billion with 11 nations, including El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras. And days before launching a tour of Latin American nations, President Bush unveiled a new set of aid spending, especially targeted to Latin America.

President Bush

"In the coming years, these agreements will provide a total of $885 million a year in new aid, so long as these countries continue to meet the standards of the Millennium Challenge program."

Under the terms of a Millennium Challenge agreement, recipient nations must show a commitment to certain policies, such as political and economic freedom, anti-corruption measures and other reforms.

Similar conditions have been common with loans from the International Monetary Fund and other Western agencies. In contrast, Venezuela has not tied its foreign spending to political conditions or promised reforms, says Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

"So the Venezuelan government is providing an alternative source of financing, but it's not even trying to tell any of these countries what to do," he said.

Weisbrot says the absence of conditions makes Venezuela's spending attractive to other nations in the region. At the time, he said it represents a threat to U.S. leaders who fear losing influence to Venezuela's President Chavez and leftist leaders in the region.

"They do think these countries are pursuing reckless, populist policies, and they will eventually learn their lessons," he added. "In the meantime, the loss of influence for the United States is a major concern to the leaders of the Bush administration, the Congress, and most of the think tanks here."

During his Latin America tour, President Bush is expected to seek support from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to help counter Venezuela's influence. But experts say that Brazil views both the United States and Venezuela as important partners, and is unlikely to take sides against the other now.

Libby Guilty of Lying in CIA Leak Case

By Jim Malone Washington 06 March 2007

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Former White House aide Lewis Libby was found guilty Tuesday on four of five counts of lying, perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation into the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity in 2003. Vice President Dick Cheney said he was "very disappointed" with the verdict. National correspondent Jim Malone has details from Washington.

Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, left, accompanied by his attorneys, prepares to meet reporters outside federal court after jury reached its verdict in Washington, 6 March 2007

Libby is a former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney and at one time was one of the most powerful White House staffers in Washington.

Libby was convicted on four of five counts of either lying to or misleading FBI investigators as part of the investigation into who leaked the identity of former covert CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Plame's CIA identity was revealed in a newspaper column in 2003. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald launched an investigation into whether Plame's identity was leaked as part of a White House effort to discredit her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Wilson had accused the Bush administration of distorting intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

Libby did not speak to reporters after the verdict. But his attorney, Ted Wells, said he was disappointed in the jury's decision.

"We intend to file a motion for a new trial and, if that is denied, we will appeal the conviction and we have every confidence that ultimately Mr. Libby will be vindicated," he said. "We believe, as we said at the time of his indictment, that he is totally innocent, totally innocent, and that he did not do anything wrong."

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald also spoke to reporters outside the court following the verdict.

"The jury was obviously convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had lied and obstructed justice in a serious matter," he said. "The results are actually sad. It is sad that we had a situation where a high level official, a person who worked in the office of the vice president, obstructed justice and lied under oath. We wished that that had not happened, but it did."

Prosecutors said Libby knew of Valerie Plame's CIA connection from Vice President Cheney and others in the administration. Libby's attorneys countered that he had a bad memory and had misremembered his conversations with journalists, some of whom were called to testify in the case.

The only juror who spoke to reporters was Denis Collins. Collins said jurors did not believe Libby's faulty memory defense, but Collins also said there was sympathy for Libby on the jury.

Former White House aide Lewis 'Scooter' Libby arrives at Federal Court in Washington, 2 March 2007

"Now having said that, I will say that there was a tremendous amount of sympathy for Mr. Libby on the jury," he explained. "It was said a number of times, what are we doing with this guy here? Where is [presidential adviser Karl] Rove? Where are these other guys? We are not saying that we did not think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of. But it seemed like he was, the way Mr. Wells put it, he was the fall guy."

Prosecutor Fitzgerald said no additional charges will be filed in connection with the four-year-old investigation, meaning that no one will be charged with the original leak of Valerie Plame's CIA identity, which eventually made its way into the press.

At the White House, Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said President Bush had watched news of the Libby verdict on a television in the Oval Office and is saddened for Libby and his family.

"The best thing I can offer you right now is what the president's reaction was, he respected the verdict, he respects the jury, and we are just not going to be able to comment beyond it," she said.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid welcomed the Libby verdict, saying it was about time someone in the Bush administration was held accountable for manipulating pre-war intelligence on Iraq and discrediting war critics.

Libby is the highest-ranking former White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980's.

Libby could face a lengthy prison term in the wake of the convictions on four of the five counts against him. He will remain free on bail until a pre-sentencing hearing in May.

Libby, 56, could face up to 30 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines.

VOASE0307_Health Report

07 March 2007

New Malaria Drug Coming to Africa Is Low Cost, Easy to Take
ASAQ is the first product from the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative. Children will only need one pill, and adults two pills, a day for three days.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A boy waits to be tested for malaria in Mozambique in 2000

Malaria infects as many as five hundred million people worldwide each year and kills more than one million of them. The ones who die are mostly children in southern Africa -- another one every thirty seconds, says the World Health Organization.

Malaria drugs have been available for many years. Until now, however, they have been costly for the poor and not very easy to give to children.

But last week a big drug company and an international campaign announced a new antimalarial that is low cost and easy to take. The drug maker Sanofi-Aventis of France is working in partnership with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative.

The new product is called A-S-A-Q. It combines what experts say are two of the best drugs for malaria: artesunate and amodiaquine. Officials say ASAQ will soon be available throughout Africa south of the Sahara.

Combinations of drugs are used to treat diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. This is because it is easier for organisms to develop resistance to a single drug.

Current malaria treatments require adults to take as many as eight pills a day. And they often have to divide pills to administer a smaller amount to children.

ASAQ combines the medicines into one daily pill for children and two pills for adults. The medicine is taken for three days. Doctors say the simpler the treatment, the more likely people are to take their medicine.

Sanofi-Aventis has promised to sell ASAQ on a "no profit-no loss" basis to the poorest patients. The full treatment cost for older children and adults will be less than a dollar. The cost for a child under the age of five will be less than half a dollar.

Sanofi-Aventis has also made an unusual decision not to seek patent protections for ASAQ. That means other companies are free to make their own versions to sell at even lower prices.

Five organizations including the French group Medecins Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders, established the initiative four years ago. The aim is to work with major drug companies to create low-cost drugs for diseases that are common in poor countries. ASAQ is the first product to be launched.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. Our reports are online with transcripts at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Barbara Klein.