International Business News - VEN http://www.ibtimes.com All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif Colombian leader Alvaro Uribe pledged closer ties with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez on Saturday after months of on-and-off tensions, but Ecuador's leftist president said problems remain and he isn't ready to re-establish relations with Colombia. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080705/uribe-eases-tensions-with-venezuela.htm Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:32:14 EDT Military intelligence agents posing as aid workers and a film crew flew to the jungle aboard a white helicopter, staging a mock humanitarian mission that rebels were told would ferry their hostages to another camp for talks on a prisoner swap. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/86560-colombia-hostages.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080705/rescue-video-shows-duped-rebels-elated-hostages.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080705/rescue-video-shows-duped-rebels-elated-hostages.htm Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:47:56 EDT Hugo Chavez, once a key mediator in securing hostage releases from Colombian rebels, could do little more than phone congratulations to President Alvaro Uribe after this week's bold rescue. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/85884-venezuela-chavez-hostages.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080704/colombia-hostage-rescue-sidelines-chavez.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080704/colombia-hostage-rescue-sidelines-chavez.htm Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:21:12 EDT Video taken during the rescue of 15 rebel hostages shows them filing grim-faced toward the helicopter that would fly them to safety, then hugging one another and crying with joy after they are aloft and realize they are free. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/86073-colombia-hostages.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080704/colombia-rescue-hinged-on-rebel-disarray-payback.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080704/colombia-rescue-hinged-on-rebel-disarray-payback.htm Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:21:33 EDT Venezuela's state oil company said net income rose 80 percent in the first quarter as world oil prices soared. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, said late Tuesday that net income reached $3.5 billion in the quarter ended March 31--up from $1.9 billion in the same period last year. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/84832-argentina-mercosur-summit.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/venezuela-1q-oil-income-rises-80-percent.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/venezuela-1q-oil-income-rises-80-percent.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:08:10 EDT Comments by kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a dual French national who was freed Wednesday along with 14 other hostages by the Colombian military after being held for more than six years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/84632-colombia-hostages.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ex-hostage-betancourt-describes-rescue-gratitude.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080703/ex-hostage-betancourt-describes-rescue-gratitude.htm Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:14:58 EDT When the drug-surveillance plane carrying Pentagon contractors Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell went down in rebel-held Colombian jungle in February 2003, it seemed like any public efforts to rescue them disappeared as well. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/contractors-longest-held-us-hostages.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:35:01 EDT A look at key dates in the kidnapping of three American defense contractors and a Colombian politician held by Colombia's largest rebel force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/key-dates-in-kidnappings-of-politician-americans.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:24:22 EDT Shares of Latin American industrial metals producers trading on U.S. exchanges fell sharply on Wednesday after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his government was near a compensation deal over the nationalization of a subsidiary of Ternium SA. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/adrs-in-focus-latin-american-metals-decline.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:47:16 EDT Brazil hopes all Amazon nations can join in plans for sustainable development of the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness--with the rest of the world footing part of the bill--a top official said Wednesday. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/brazil-seeks-regional-policy-for-amazon.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:41:42 EDT An army general protesting the "socialism or death" motto of President Hugo Chavez has been released from military detention, but still could be charged with a crime, his attorney said Wednesday. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080702/anti-chavez-venezuelan-general-detained.htm Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:57:22 EDT Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday his government is close to a compensation deal for the nationalization of Venezuela's largest steelmaker, Sidor. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/chavez-agreement-near-on-sidor-takeover.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:43:54 EDT Venezuela's military on Tuesday detained a dissident army general who opposes the socialist ideology espoused by President Hugo Chavez, but the officer's attorney said he expects his client to soon be released. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/anti-chavez-venezuelan-general-detained.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:44:14 EDT Peru's president said Tuesday that he's sick of Bolivian President Evo Morales criticizing Peru's trade pact with the United States, spreading false rumors about American military bases and urging Peruvians to protest in the street. Things really got unneighborly when Morales called Garcia "fat." http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/peru-bolivia-leaders-not-so-neighborly.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:34:14 EDT President Hugo Chavez is inviting South American leaders to create their own version of OPEC. The socialist president says the group known as Petrosur would link state oil and gas companies in a system like OPEC, which sets production quotas for members. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/chavez-proposes-south-american-opec.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:24:45 EDT Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused Europe on Tuesday of taking a page from Washington by adopting a barbaric immigration policy that he said would create a "wall in the Atlantic." http://www.ibtimes.com/data/articleimgs/83598-argentina-mercosur-summit.jpg http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/chavez-eu-migration-rules-barbaric.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/chavez-eu-migration-rules-barbaric.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:32:41 EDT Among the stock activity stories for Tuesday, July 1, from AP Financial News: NEW YORK (AP)--Shares of Netflix Inc. rose Tuesday after a Needham & Co. analyst upgraded the shares to "Hold" from "Under Perform," saying that additional subscriber data from Netflix leads him to raise his fair value estimate for the stock. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/movers-roundup-netflix-mcclatchy.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:22:26 EDT Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told South American leaders on Tuesday that the U.S. Navy's newly reactivated Fourth Fleet poses a threat to Latin America. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/venezuelas-chavez-says-us-fleet-a-regional-threat.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:07:33 EDT Shares of Harvest Natural Resources Inc. fell sharply on Tuesday after a Jefferies analyst downgraded the independent oil and gas company to "Hold," saying Venezuela is becoming an increasingly difficult place to do business. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/harvest-natural-shares-slip-after-jefferies-cuts.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:48:07 EDT U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil and oil products fell by 11.7 percent to a five-year low in the first four months of the year, the U.S. government said Monday, while Venezuela boosted oil shipments to its budding ally, China, instead. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080701/us-imports-less-oil-from-venezuela.htm Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:13:43 EDT