Venezuela's Guaido says will send representatives for talks with govt

Yahoo – AFP, May 26, 2019

Representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader
Juan Guaido are set to have their first face-to-face meetings in Oslo (AFP Photo/STF)

Carora (Venezuela) (AFP) - Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Saturday he would send delegates to Oslo next week for the first face-to-face meeting with representatives of President Nicolas Maduro's government as part of a Norway-led mediation effort.

They "will talk with both the Norwegian government and with representatives of the regime", Guaido said in a statement, after the two Venezuelan sides traveled separately to the Norwegian capital last week without meeting.

Guaido, recognized by the United States and dozens of other countries as Venezuela's interim president, said the opposition delegation will be headed by deputy parliament speaker Stalin Gonzalez and the ex-deputy Gerardo Blyde, both of whom were involved in the initial talks with the Norwegians.

Media reports said Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez and the governor of Miranda province Hector Rodriguez represented Maduro's government in the initial talks, but it was unclear if they would participate in next week's meeting.

Guaido has appeared cautious about talking with Maduro's representatives since the idea is unpopular with the opposition base that has spent months in the streets trying to push Maduro out.

Earlier on Saturday, Guaido told supporters in Carora, Lara state that "nobody is ever going to get us here confused about a false dialogue."

He said there had been no "negotiation" in the earlier meetings in Norway, and that any deal should include mediation leading to Maduro's departure and new elections being scheduled.

"We are going to insist," he said, "because today by combining all our strategies, using all the tools we have, we are going to get to that final step," Guaido said, referring to street protests and multiple levels of diplomacy.

The bid for talks comes after a months-long power struggle between National Assembly leader Guaido and the socialist president, with sometimes deadly street clashes.

Guaido's backers dismiss Maduro's presidency as "illegitimate" following his re-election last year in polls widely labeled as rigged.

Maduro has been shunned by much of the international community for presiding over the country's economic collapse, which has led to shortages of basic goods -- forcing millions to flee -- as well as brutally suppressing dissent.

He retains the backing of major creditors Russia, China and Cuba, as well as the powerful military.

Guaido tried to incite a military uprising against Maduro on April 30 but only about 30 members of the armed forces joined him.

The socialist regime has since ramped up pressure on Guaido's allies and supporters, charging 10 lawmakers with treason.

The pro-government Constituent Assembly recently stripped 14 opposition lawmakers of their legislative immunity over their support for the failed uprising.

Pope accepts resignation of Brazilian bishop

Yahoo – AFP, May 17, 2019

Pope Francis last week passed a landmark new measure to oblige those who know
about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors (AFP Photo/
Vincenzo PINTO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Brazilian bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira, the Vatican said Friday in a statement.

The bishop is under investigation for alleged extortion of priests in his diocese, and the covering-up of sexual abuse cases, according to Brazilian media reports.

Dias de Oliveira allegedly protected a priest accused of clerical abuse.

The bishop confessed to police in April that he had swiped $4,000 (3,580 euros) from parish funds for personal use, telling them he did so because he was having financial difficulties, the reports said.

The Vatican always announces when Francis has accepted the resignation of a bishop, but never explains why.

"Dear brothers and sisters, in recent months we have had to bear all sorts of crosses through attacks against our Limeira church, against me and other presbyters," Dias de Oliveira said in a statement.

"I acknowledge my limitations, but I also carry in my heart all the love I have received from the good people of God.

"I ask to resign for the love of Christ and for the good of the diocese," he said in the letter published by the diocese of Limeira, a city in the Sao Paulo state in southern Brazil.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by a global clerical paedophilia scandal, with victims coming forward in countries ranging from Australia to Chile, Germany and the United States.

Pope Francis passed a landmark new measure this month to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Church to report it to their superiors, in a move which could bring countless new cases to light.

Nationwide student strike begins in Brazil over budget cuts

Yahoo – AFP, May 15, 2019

Brazilian Education Minister Abraham Weintraub has slashed subsidies to federal
universities by 30 percent, triggering protests by teachers and students across
the counttry (AFP Photo/EVARISTO SA)

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Students and teachers from hundreds of universities and colleges across Brazil began a nationwide demonstration on Wednesday in "defense of education" following a raft of budget cuts announced by President Jair Bolsonaro's government.

Classes were suspended in numerous establishments as demonstrations took place in 17 of Brazil's 27 states, local media said, with particularly large ones in major cities like Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Belo Horizonte.

The biggest demonstrations are planned for the end of the day, though.

In the capital Brasilia, federal troops were deployed in front of the ministry of education in case of trouble.

The protest movement was sparked by Education Minister Abraham Weintraub recently slashing federal university subsidies by 30 percent.

Several chief education officers claimed the budget cuts would compromise the ability of federal universities to function, and threatened to paralyze them.

Then the sudden suspension of the payment of masters and doctorate scholarships in the sciences and human sciences last week threw oil on the fire.

"Secondary school pupils, university students, researchers, teachers and other education employees will take to the streets in every state" to protest against the budget cuts, the National Student Union (UNE) had announced on Tuesday.

Despite the cuts affecting only federal institutions, the protest movement has been joined by many private universities such as Rio's Pontifical University which voted last week to join the nationwide demonstration.

Cuban police break up unauthorized LGBT rights march in Havana

Yahoo – AFP, Carlos BATISTA, May 12, 2019

Police swept in quickly to break up an unauthorized LGBT rights march in Havana
(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Havana (AFP) - Cuban police on Saturday broke up an unauthorized pro-LGBT rights march in Havana, held as an alternative to the government-sanctioned Gay Rights parade that authorities canceled earlier in the week.

To the cries of "Yes we can!" the demonstrators, several waving rainbow flags and carrying signs with slogans like "Diverse Cuba," managed to march a mere 400 meters along Havana's downtown Paseo del Prado before being dispersed by police.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists, numbering around 100, were protesting the cancellation of the parade against homophobia organized by the government's National Center for Sexual Education (Cenesex), an office under the Ministry of Health, and held for the past ten years.

The colorful parade, or "conga," used to kick off activities educating people about homophobia and transphobia that are nevertheless taking place.

Onlookers were stunned to see an unauthorized march in Cuba, where government 

control is near absolute (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

At least three protesters who refused to obey orders to leave were arrested, according to AFP journalists.

Laydel Alfonso, a 31 year-old restaurant waiter who marched with his face concealed by a silver mask and waving a rainbow flag, was upset that police had broken up the march.

"I don't believe this is right because we're doing nothing wrong," he told AFP.

In a first for Cuba, where there is tight government control, the march was organized on social media.

Cenesex is led by lawmaker Mariela Castro, the daughter of former president Raul Castro, who at the age of 87 is still first secretary of the island's ruling Communist Party.

Earlier in the week Cenesex announced that the official march was cancelled due to unspecified "new tensions in the international and regional context." The office urged people to respect the official calls for unity.

Bolsonaro cancels New York gala trip as sponsors withdraw

Yahoo – AFP, May 4, 2019

A gala set to honor Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro in New York has lost
several sponsors (AFP Photo/Mauro Pimentel)

New York (AFP) - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday cancelled plans to attend a New York gala in his honor after several companies withdrew their sponsorship and thousands of people demanded it be scrapped.

The gala, organized by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce for May 14, had attracted widespread criticism over the far-right president's record, with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio describing Bolsonaro as "a dangerous man".

Bolsonaro decided to cancel the trip due to "resistance and deliberate attacks by the Mayor of New York and the pressure of interest groups" on organisers, a spokesman said in a statement.

The event had been due to be held at the New York Museum of Natural History, before it pulled out of hosting.

It was moved to the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square, where protesters have been gathering every night outside seeking the complete cancellation of the event.

On Friday, US airline Delta, British daily Financial Times and consulting firm Bain & Company all confirmed to AFP that they would not sponsor the dinner as planned.

Bolsonaro was to receive a Person of the Year award at the event.

Every year, the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce awards the prize to a Brazilian and an American at a gala dinner, with famous guests on hand. The event -- which costs $30,000 a plate -- was sold out.

Elected late October with an ultraconservative agenda, Bolsonaro has been widely criticized for his environmental policy.

Since taking office in January, he has reduced or eliminated funding for indigenous protection organizations.

He also placed them under the responsibility of the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina Dias, who is close to the massive agribusiness industry, which is accused of aggravating deforestation.