RIYADH, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez broke Saudi Arabia's strict religious laws during an opening address at an OPEC summit on Saturday by making a sign of the cross at the start of his speech.

The Catholic leftwing president, who issued a warning about rocketing oil prices and encouraged OPEC to become actively involved in foreign policy, began his speech with the ritualistic Christian hand movement.

RIYADH, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned on Saturday that oil prices could hit 200 dollars if the United States attacked Iran or Venezuela, in an opening speech at a summit of OPEC leaders.

'If the United States was mad enough to attack Iran or aggress Venezuela again the price of a barrel of oil could reach 150 dollars or even 200 dollars,' he said.

'The basis of all aggression is oil. It is the underlying reason,' he said, pointing to the war in Iraq and US threats against Iran.

CARACAS, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pursued an ambitious diplomatic mission Saturday aimed at persuading OPEC nations to maintain oil prices at their current level, defending Iran's nuclear program, and stepping up efforts to get Colombian rebels to release hostages.

Chavez wants the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries summit in Saudi Arabia this week to take on a stronger 'political and geopolitical' role and return to its stance of the 1970s when it tightened the screws on consumer nations.

LA PAZ, Sept 29, 2007 (AFP) - Iran's top Latin America diplomat denied that his country was forming an anti-US bloc with Venezuela and Bolivia, two countries that support Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

'Neither Bolivia nor Iran or Venezuela are forming blocs against anyone,' Safar Ali Eslamian, director of the Iranian foreign ministry's Latin America Department, was quoted as saying Saturday in La Razon newspaper.

'We have decided to have a different way of life, we are not against them,' he said, referring to the United States.

CARACAS, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Caracas Thursday for talks with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, following a brief trip to Bolivia, another anti-US ally in South America.

Chavez and fellow leftist President Evo Morales, of Bolivia, both support Iran's controversial nuclear program and, like Ahmadinejad, are virulent critics of the US administration.

The two South American nations have reached a number of trade and aid agreements with Iran, particularly in the energy sector.

LA PAZ, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad headed to Caracas Thursday for talks with firebrand Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in a mini-tour of Iran's anti-US allies that also took him to Bolivia.

He boarded a plane for Venezuela after talks in La Paz with Bolivian President Evo Morales during a five-hour visit to the South American country.

Chavez and fellow leftist Morales both support Iran's controversial nuclear program and, like Ahmadinejad, are virulent critics of the US administration.

CARACAS, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that the United States could help efforts to get Colombia's goverment and Marxist rebels to agree on a exchange of hostages for guerrilla prisoners.

Chavez, a mediator in Colombia's hostage crisis, has an adversarial relationship with the United States, but he said he hoped US President George W. Bush offer assistance.

CARACAS, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuela announced on Tuesday Hugo Chavez will skip the UN General Assembly, one year after the leftist president caused a stir by calling US President George W. Bush 'the devil' in his address to the world body.

As authorities made the last-minute announcement, Chavez came out in support of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, deploring the way the Iranian president was 'insulted' during a appearance at New York's Columbia University ahead of his UN speech.

The two controversial allies are due to hold talks in Caracas this week.

CARACAS, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has decided not to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, the information ministry said Tuesday.

Chavez, who last year controversially used his General Assembly speech to call US President George W. Bush 'the devil,' was due to address the world body on Wednesday.

The ministry said Chavez had a scheduling conflict and will be represented instead by his Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will visit France in November to discuss the fate of hostages, including prominent Franco-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, held by Colombian Marxist rebels, the French President said Monday.

'Mr. Chavez will visit France in November. I have spoken with him by phone three or four times over the past 15 days,' President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

CARACAS, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Venezuela following his stay in New York where he is to address the UN General Assembly, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Sunday.

Chavez said during his regular radio program that the Iranian leader will be arriving in Venezuela on Wednesday.

It will the third trip by Ahmadinejad to the Latin American country, whose president is a fierce critic of the United States.

MANAUS, Brazil, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro had a near total blood transfusion during his recovery from surgery that nearly killed him, said his top ally and friend, Venezuelan Hugo Chavez, here Friday.

Chavez, who was in an official visit in Brazil's Amazon city of Manaus, told reporters that the 81-year-old Cuban leader underwent several transfusions but he did not indicate when he underwent the procedures.

Castro, who underwent gastrointestinal surgery in July 2006 for an ailment that remains a mystery, has since regained weight, Chavez said.

CARACAS, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Seventy-two human rights activists have been killed in Venezuela over the past 10 years, many of them labor activists, the church-related Vicaria of Human Rights organization said Friday.

The victims included 52 activists in labor rights, 14 in farmer rights and six working with general human rights and family organizations, the Vicaria said in its report.

Seven of the murders were linked directly to government officials, while the rest involved hired assassins, according to the report.

PARIS, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet with Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe on Monday to discuss the fate of hostages held by rebels including prominent Franco-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, his spokesman said Thursday.

Sarkozy will hold talks with Uribe on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to mediate a solution between Bogota and the rebels.

BOGOTA, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Marxist rebels agreed to meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a mediator in Colombia's hostage crisis, in Venezuela next month for talks on a possible prisoner swap, a senator involved in the process said Wednesday.

Chavez will meet with a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on October 8 to discuss the group's demand that Bogota release 500 FARC prisoners in exchange for 45 high-profile hostages, Senator Piedad Cordoba told Radio Caracol.

CARACAS, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The Colombian government and leaders from the country's Marxist rebel movement have set an October 8 date for talks on a prisoner swap deal brokered with the help of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

'The talks will take place in Venezuela -- that has been agreed to by (Colombian) President Alvaro Uribe as well as by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,' Colombian senator Piedad Cordoba told Venezuelan radio Wednesday.

MOSCOW, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - British-Russian venture TNK-BP is seeking the Russian state's help to break into the Venezuelan market in what may prove a new trend, the Russian broadsheet Kommersant reported Wednesday.

Kommersant said TNK-BP chief executive German Khan had written to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on August 30 asking for help in Venezuela.

TNK-BP could 'contribute to developing and reinforcing economic cooperation' between Russia and Venezuela by participating in fossil fuel projects in the South American country, Kommersant quoted the letter as saying.

CARACAS, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is acting as a mediator in Colombia's hostage crisis, said Tuesday that leftist rebels insist that the Colombian government create a demilitarized zone for a prisoner swap.

Chavez said the two top leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group, which wants to swap 45 high-profile hostages for 500 imprisoned rebels, made their demand in two letters sent to him.

CARACAS, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is acting as a mediator in Colombia's hostage crisis, said Tuesday that leftist rebels insist that the Colombian government create a demilitarized zone for a prisoner swap.

Chavez read on television two letters signed by the top leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group, which wants to swap 45 high-profile hostages for 500 imprisoned rebels.

CARACAS, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to take over or shut down private schools that refuse to follow his government's populist-socialist programme.

The educational programme, due to be implemented nationwide by 2010, seeks 'to replace capitalist values with an emphasis on human beings, and rise above Eurocentric colonialism,' Chavez said Monday in a back-to-school address.

CARACAS, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez insisted Sunday on holding face-to-face talks with Colombian rebel leaders if he is to broker a swap of rebels in Colombian prisons for hostages held by the FARC.

Chavez has agreed in principle to help his rival, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, broker the deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is holding 45 hostages.

'I must speak with (FARC leader Manuel) Marulanda,' Chavez said during his weekly television and radio show, 'Hello, Mr. President.'

PARIS, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is ready to travel to Colombia if such a visit can help win the release of hostages held by Marxist rebels, his spokesman said Sunday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday said he was ready to play the role of go-between for Bogota and suggested that Sarkozy too could step in to find a solution.

'If it's necessary, I think that he will not hesitate, if it can be useful and if it's the appropriate moment,' said presidential spokesman David Martinon, when asked about a possible visit.

CARACAS, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Saturday pressed his efforts to play a role as intermediary with Marxist FARC rebels, urging his Colombian counterpart to let him meet in Colombia with the guerillas' chief, and suggesting France's leader could join the talks.

'President (Alvaro) Uribe asked me to help. I want to help. I make the formal request before the world: let me talk with (Manuel) Marulanda in Colombia,' Chavez said on television, naming the head of the guerrilla movement.

CARACAS, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez Saturday asked his Colombian counterpart to let him meet with the chief of Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels to discuss a hostage swap, and suggested French leader Nicolas Sarkozy could join the talks.

'President (Alvaro) Uribe asked me to help him. I want to help him. I make a formal request to him before the world: let me talk with (Manuel) Marulanda in Colombia,' Chavez said on television, naming the head of the guerrilla movement.

HAVANA, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez expects to visit Cuba in December to set up an oil refinery to be run bilaterally, Venezuela's ambassador to Cuba said Saturday.

Ambassador Ali Rodriguez also said that Chavez maintains 'very good communication' with convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Chavez has not been in Cuba to visit his ally, Castro, since June. Last year he visited Castro six times.

NEW YORK, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - US oil giant ExxonMobil said Thursday it has asked for international arbitration as it seeks compensation from Venezuela after it pulled out of the country when the Orinoco fields were nationalized.

In June the government of President Hugo Chavez passed a law forcing multinationals to give at least 60 percent of the capital in their Venezuelan operations to the state-controlled Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).

BOGOTA, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Colombia's defense minister said on Monday army troops have killed a senior rebel figure wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Tomas Medina, a commander in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed in clashes on Saturday.

Medina was considered a key figure overseeing FARC's vast drug trafficking network and Santos said his death represented a serious blow to rebel forces.

PARIS, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - France Monday hailed the efforts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to secure the release of 45 hostages held by the Colombian rebel group FARC, including the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

'We salute the efforts of President Chavez to help conclude a humanitarian accord,' said foreign ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani. 'We urge the FARC to make the necessary moves to allow the hostages in Colombia to be released without delay.'

CARACAS, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez said Sunday he wants to meet in Venezuela with Colombian guerrilla leader Manuel Marulanda to discuss a hostage exchange between the guerillas and the Colombian government.

'Last night I sent a message to Marulanda. A new message, because earlier I was waiting to travel to Colombia to speak with President Alvaro Uribe,' Chavez said a day after he returned from Bogota where he sought to help engineer the long-awaited swap.

CARACAS, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned Venezuela's

President Hugo Chavez to make the best of life before old age cuts into his time, in a letter Chavez read out to the public on Sunday.

'Don't be afraid over that lone white strand you found in your dark hair. My problem is trying to find a black one among my white head of hair,' Chavez read from Castro's letter in his weekly radio program 'Alo Presidente.'

'When the time comes,' Castro told Chavez in the letter, 'you'll find you need more time than ever to meditate and go deep.'

BOGOTA, Sept 1, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met Saturday with lawyers of Colombian leftist guerrillas on the second day of a visit aimed at engineering a hostage swap between the rebels and the Colombian government.

Chavez met with the lawyers for Rodrigo Granda, the recently released 'foreign minister' of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and for Simon Trinidad, a FARC leader now jailed in the United States.

BOGOTA, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday he had agreed to meet with Colombian leftist guerrillas to discuss the possible freeing of rebel prisoners in return for the release of hostages.

'I am going to receive a representative of the FARC secretariat in Venezuela,' Chavez said, referring to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group, after talks with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

BOGOTA, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday he had agreed to meet with Colombian leftist guerrillas to discuss the possible freeing of rebel prisoners in return for the release of hostages.

'I am going to receive a representative of the FARC secretariat in Venezuela,' Chavez said, referring to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group, after talks with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

BOGOTA, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday he had agreed to meet with Colombian leftist guerrillas to discuss the possible freeing of rebel prisoners in return for the release of hostages.

'I am going to receive a representative of the FARC secretariat in Venezuela,' Chavez said, referring to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group, after talks with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

BOGOTA, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Colombia Friday amid hopes that he can convince his counterpart Alvaro Uribe to swap rebel prisoners for hostages held by Colombian Marxist guerrillas.

'I come with faith and optimism,' Chavez said after landing here for the high-stakes talks, casting himself as a mediator in the drawn-out hostage crisis. His visit aims at 'seeking peace, peace for all,' he said.

BOGOTA, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Colombia Friday to try to convince his counterpart Alvaro Uribe to conduct a prisoners-for-hostages exchange with Colombian Marxist guerrillas.

'I come with faith and optimism,' Chavez said after landing here.

Chavez and Uribe met in Colombia's presidential retreat in the outskirts of Bogota to discuss a proposed swap of 45 hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for 500 imprisoned rebels.

CARACAS, Aug 30, 2007 (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez pardoned 41 Colombian paramilitaries jailed in Venezuela Thursday as a 'good will gesture' on the eve of his visit to Bogota, where he hopes to mediate in a hostage crisis, the government said.

The pardon for the Colombians, who were convicted three years ago of plotting to overthrow Chavez, was announced in a presidential decree after Chavez earlier said he would free them 'to trigger the hearts and good will' of Colombians.