CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela is offering women the free removal of breast implants made by a bankrupt French company that used industrial silicone to make cheap prostheses linked to health risks.

The implants were made by the now defunct Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) and appear to have had an unusually high rupture rate, prompting the authorities in France to urge women to have them removed.

CARACAS (Reuters) – The United States believes increasingly warm ties between Venezuela, Iran and Cuba do not benefit the Venezuelan people, U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview with a Venezuelan newspaper published on Monday.

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have expanded the two OPEC nation’s close business and political relations in recent years, exacerbating tensions between Caracas and Washington.

CARACAS, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
canceled a trip to Argentina and Brazil that would have been
his first official trip abroad since undergoing cancer surgery
in June, but said on Friday he was in good health and had been
jogging.

The 57-year-old socialist leader said in an hour-long phone
call to state TV that he had to stay home to manage an
emergency response to torrential rains that hit Venezuela this
week and left thousands of people homeless.

CARACAS, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
canceled a trip to Argentina and Brazil that would have been
his first official trip abroad since undergoing cancer surgery
in June, but said on Friday he was in good health and had been
jogging.

The 57-year-old socialist leader said in an hour-long phone
call to state TV that he had to stay home to manage an
emergency response to torrential rains that hit Venezuela this
week and left thousands of people homeless.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez laughed off a Benetton advertisement that showed him kissing his ideological adversary and U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, guffawing on Tuesday that it was a “good joke.”

The photo was part of a controversial campaign by the Italian fashion company that showed political and religious leaders kissing each other on the mouth.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Showing off new energy after his recent cancer treatment, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez hosted Latin American leaders at a meeting on Friday to create a new regional body that pointedly excludes the United States.

The inauguration of the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which also deliberately excludes Canada, was the Venezuelan socialist’s biggest moment on the world stage since he underwent surgery in June.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Showing off new energy after cancer treatment, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez hosted Latin American leaders on Friday to create a new regional body that pointedly excludes the United States.

The inauguration of the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which also deliberately excludes Canada, is the charismatic socialist’s biggest moment on the world stage since his surgery in June.

CARACAS, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Uncertainty about President Hugo
Chavez’s recovery from cancer, stuttering oil output that could
slow economic recovery, and political positioning ahead of next
year’s election are the main risks to watch in Venezuela.

CHAVEZ’S CANCER

The 57-year-old socialist has declared himself free of
cancer following four sessions of chemotherapy and five months
after surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his pelvis.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hosts a regional summit this week that puts his recovery from cancer at center stage as he begins his toughest election campaign yet.

The first meeting of the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) on December 2-3 was originally meant to be held six months ago to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Venezuela’s independence.

CARACAS, Nov 25 (Reuters) – The first shipment of gold bars
arrived home in Venezuela on Friday after President Hugo Chavez
ordered that almost all of the country’s foreign bullion
reserves be repatriated from Western bank vaults.

Experts had cautioned the operation, which eventually will
transport more than 160 tonnes of ingots worth more than $11
billion to Venezuela — will be risky, slow and expensive.