VIVE CHAVEZ

Big Left Outside just posted the breaking news from Venezuela. Chavez has decriminalized personal possession of drugs. You won't find this in the mainstream media folks. A google news search turns up the usual propaganda of the oligarchy there, criticizing the Chavez administration for ruining the economy and claiming that he is trying to subvert the 'will of the people' by avoiding the recall vote.

As always, Giordano and his Narco News team deliver the real story.

The latest: a reform of the penal code that, while increasing penalties for drug traffickers like every other country, has just decriminalized possession. According to the oligarch's daily El Universal, which leads its report in a panic over the reform's simultaneous legalization of abortion and euthanasia, here's what the new law does for drug users:

"As personal dose for consumption, the (allowable) quantity of the drug substance is extended to that which is necessary for average individual consumption for no more than five days; and as a provisional dose, the quantity of the substance that is employed for average individual consumption (according to forensics experts) for no more than ten days."

You can expect the same level of attention in the mainstream press that they gave to Ecuador's recent decision to do the same. Once again only Narco News reported the story for English readers.

Welcome back to Al, Luis, Dan and the rest of the team.