Venezuelans vote in a tightly contested referendum on Sunday on whether to allow left-wing President Hugo Chávez to stay in power for as long as he keeps winning elections or hand him his first defeat at the polls. The anti-American firebrand, who has easily won one election after another against a fragmented opposition, is in the hardest campaign of his life.
Colombia and Venezuela faced the worst crisis in their relations in years on Monday after the Colombian president accused Venezuela of seeking to install a Marxist regime in his country and Caracas "froze" relations between the two countries. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said earlier he was putting bilateral ties in a "freezer".
Cheering crowds waved Spanish flags as King Juan Carlos visited Spain's disputed North African enclave of Ceuta on Monday, but hundreds of Moroccans demonstrated against him just across the border. With shouts of "Long live the King!" and "Ceuta is Spanish", thousands of locals roared their approval at Juan Carlos.
Thousands cheered to the boom of a 21-cannon salute welcoming Spain's king and queen to the North African enclave of Melilla on Tuesday, the second day of a trip that has seriously irked Morocco. The two-day visit is King Juan Carlos's first as head of state to Ceuta and Melilla, North African cities that are remnants of Spain's colonial empire.
