The New York Times's Nazila Fathi writes in a May 20 story entitled "Iranian Clerics Tell the President to Leave the Theology to Them":

TEHRAN — In his almost three years as president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been harshly criticized in the West. But he is increasingly drawing fire from Shiite clerics here, who accuse him of using religion to distract attention from his government’s failure to deliver on promises of prosperity and political freedoms.

Nelly Ávila Moreno AKA Karina, commander of the FARC's 47th Front, surrendered to agents of Colombia's Administrative Security Department (DAS) May 18 in Sonsón, Antioquia. Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos called it an "important blow" against guerilla organization. Karina was "nearly dying of hunger" when she and another guerrilla, "Michin," handed themselves in, Santos said. The surrender is a coup for President Alvaro Uribe, who made her a priority target for the security forces and put an $800,000 reward on her head. A military ring had been closing in on Karina for months. Two weeks ago, Uribe sent a public message to Karina, guaranteeing her safety if she turned herself in.

Colombia's Defense Ministry assured that the US air base now housed at Manta, Ecuador, would not be relocated to the Colombian Caribbean coastal zone of La Guajira—hours after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said Bogotá was "playing with fire," and that his country could revive claims to sovereignty over La Guajira if the plan went ahead.

Again displaying his penchant for name-calling, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez called Interpol chief Ronald Noble a "corrupt" and "immoral" "gringo policeman" and "international vagabond," and branded as "ridiculous" a new report authenticating computer data allegedly seized from a FARC camp in Ecuador. The data reportedly indicate the FARC had sought arms from the Chávez government. Chávez also called the report a "show of clowns," and asked: "Where is the evidence that the computers came from that camp?"

This is a clear sign of chastisement in high places. We sure hope these folks have got Barack Obama's ear! Jim Lobe writes for InterPress Service May 14:

New Approach Awaited on Latin America, Cuba
WASHINGTON - More than 150 years after the United States promulgated the Monroe Doctrine, Washington should recognise that its dominance over the Americas has ended and that it must "engage Latin America on its own terms", according to a new report released here Wednesday by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), one of the nation's most influential think tanks.

President Bush's $163 billion Iraq war funding request collapsed in the House May 15. Republicans expected to provide the winning margin instead sat out the vote in protest of Democratic efforts to add money for the unemployed and an expansion of education benefits for soldiers. In the 149-141 tally, 132 Republicans abstained. (AP, May 16) Also included in the measure was $500 million as part of a multi-year commitment to Mexico, including about $204 million for the purchase of transport helicopters and surveillance aircraft. An additional $50 million was requested for Central American governments. In a burst of phone calls, Secretary Condoleezza Rice called about a half-dozen lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol the week before the vote to advocate the Mexican measure, and Bush spoke for it at a meeting with Republicans at the White House. (Politico, May 8)

Barack Obama just can't win with some people. Either he's too Muslim, or not Muslim enough. In a bizarre op-ed in the New York Times May 12, "President Apostate," Edward Luttwak warns :

As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is "irtidad" or "ridda," usually translated from the Arabic as "apostasy," but with connotations of rebellion and treason...

In a piece ominously entitled "The Oil Nonbubble," Paul Krugman in the New York Times May 12 astutely calls out both right-wing optimism that the "oil bubble" would burst—and right-wing scapegoating now that it hasn't:

"The Oil Bubble: Set to Burst?" That was the headline of an October 2004 article in National Review, which argued that oil prices, then $50 a barrel, would soon collapse.