Carter Decries Israeli Atrocities in Gaza

Carter meets Hamas political chief
Jimmy Carter, a former US president, has met Khaled Meshaal, the exiled Hamas leader, in the Syrian capital, despite strong opposition from Tel Aviv and Washington.
The controversial meeting was being held at a Hamas office in Damascus and attended by Musa Abu Marzuq and Mohmmed Nazzal, senior figures from the Palestinian movement.
Carter arrived in Syria on Friday and held talks with Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, before meeting Meshaal.
[...] On Thursday, Carter met a delegation of Hamas leaders from the Gaza Strip in Cairo and held talks with Husni Mubarak, the Egyptian president.
Speaking to the media, Carter defended his meetings, calling them necessary in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The former US president also described Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip as a crime and an atrocity.
He said Palestinians in Gaza were being "starved to death", receiving fewer calories a day than people in the poorest parts of Africa.
"It's an atrocity what is being perpetrated as punishment on the people in Gaza," he said. "It's a crime... I think it is an abomination that this continues to go on."
Carter said that US attempts to undermine Hamas have been counterproductive.
His meeting with leaders of Hamas, a group he insists must be included in peace negotiations, has angered many in Washington and Israel, who call the Palestinian group a "terrorist" organisation.
[...] Israel has meanwhile sealed off the West Bank and Gaza for 10 days as it prepares to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Tanks and soldiers moved into position at the crossings following the shutdown that took effect early on Friday, barring Palestinians from the occupied territories from entering Israel.[...]
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AAE23DE4-60F5-4A05-B2B8-949E9E60FF67.htm

Espionage & Dirty Deals in Bolivia

The morally bankrupt power koo koos are getting desperate. Now it's name calling instead of policy! It is interesting that the word "conspiracy" is never used with respect to US foreign policy, or so-called interventions.
Morales accuses US of 'conspiracy'
Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, has accused the US ambassador of leading a conspiracy against his government and the US main aid organisation of carrying out a "dirty campaign" against him.
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera the Bolivian leader also said he had suffered from racism, even since his election as president.
"The conspiracy against my government is headed by the US ambassador," Morales said, referring to Philip Goldberg.
"USAID, with funds that come American tax payers, who think they are helping the Bolivian people, is using the money in a dirty campaign against my government and especially against me." [my bold]
In February, the US said an official at its Bolivian embassy would not return to the country after being recalled following accusations of spying.
Vincent Cooper, a security adviser to the embassy, was alleged to have told a US student and several aid volunteers to pass on information about any Venezuelans or Cubans they may meet in the country.
[...] Morales came to power after winning 54 per cent of votes cast in an election in December 2005, becoming the first indigenous Bolivian president.
[...] "As a trade union leader and leader of peasant movements, I witnessed and had to endure racism and I thought that once I was in the presidency that would stop.
"The things that some opposition groups and leaders are saying against the indigenous movement are increasingly more radical.
"For example, the governor of Santa Cruz [a Bolivian state] referred to president Hugo Chavez as the Chief Monkey, meaning that the other monkey, the other ape, was Evo Morales."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A273B880-3BAD-4733-8893-F271D43C5F74.htm