Venezuela's Chavez vows to win health battle

President tells thousands gathered outside his palace that he still has to
Chavez made a surprise homecoming in time for Venezuela's 200th independence anniversary celebration [Reuters]

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has said he had to submit to "strict" medical treatment but would win the battle to regain his health after an operation in Cuba for a cancerous tumor.

Chavez was addressing delirious supporters on Monday from the balcony of his presidential palace on his return after cancer treatment in Cuba.

Thousands gathered opposite the Miraflores palace, cheering, waving banners and sporting the red colours of the 56-year-old socialist leader's ruling party.

Chavez spoke strongly but was thinner and paler than usual. He wore the red beret from his days as an army paratroop commander.

He thanked Fidel Castro, saying that the veteran leader has been practically his "medical chief" while recovering in Cuba. He said he will "win this battle for life."

Chavez arrived at Maiquetia airport outside Caracas early on Monday as the country was preparing to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its independence from Spain.

Chavez's return changes the political dynamics once again in Venezuela, where politicians on all sides had been bracing for a protracted months-long absence of the man who has dominated the nation for the last 12 years.

"It took all of us by surprise," Al Jazeera's Monica Villamizar reported from Caracas about Chavez's return.

"We spoke to his supporters yesterday and they were quite confident that he would recover from his health issues, but it was still pretty much an unknown if he was going to preside over the military parade, and everybody [was] obviously preparing for months for this independence day celebration."

"This is a date that is important for the Venezuelan people, but it is also an important date for Chavez himself who has compared his rule here in Venezuela, his leadership, to that of Simon Bolivar, the liberator of Venezuela," our correspondent said.

Bolivar, the Caracas-born 19th-century general who liberated much of Latin America from colonial rule, is the inspiration for Chavez's self-styled "Bolivarian Revolution". Since 1999, the country has been officially known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Venezuelan state television on Monday showed footage of Chavez leaving Havana and then arriving in Caracas at about 2am. The video report also showed Chavez bidding farewell to Cuban leader Raul Castro.

"I'm fine. I'm happy," Chavez, 56, said upon his arrival.

He hugged his vice-president, Elias Jaua, and his elder brother, Adan, after stepping down from the plane. "A perfect landing," Chavez said.

In a telephone interview, Chavez later told state television he was having breakfast. "I'm devouring everything," he said.

Secrecy surrounding illness

Chavez, who had been in Cuba since June 8, was rushed to hospital on June 10 for what was initially described as a "pelvic abscess".

He revealed on Thursday that he had a cancerous growth, which was fully removed in a second operation. There had been previous speculation that he was seriously ill.

Despite euphoria among supporters, Chavez's exact condition remains unclear, and he may still face lengthy treatment in Venezuela.

A military hospital was prepared for his arrival.

"There has been a lot of secrecy surrounding all of this," Al Jazeera's Villamizar said.

"He has been away from the country for almost a month. He has undergone two operations for cancer, we do not know what type of cancer. His foreign minister said that the tumour was encapsulated and extracted successfully, which would lead someone to think he was on a recovery phase.

"But it is not clear if this disease has spread, if he is going to have to undergo chemotherapy, all of that remains a mystery."

Thai opposition sweeps to power

Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of ousted former leader, set to form next government as prime minister concedes defeat.

Yingluck Shinawatra will be Thailand's first female prime minister [Reuters]

Thailand's prime minister has conceded defeat in the country's elections, paving the way for Yingluck Shinawatra, the leader of the opposition and the sister of the ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, to form the next government.
With 92 per cent of votes counted, Puea Thai had won 260 seats out of 500, well ahead of the ruling Democrats with 163, according to the Election Commission.
"It is now clear from the election results so far that the Puea Thai Party has won the election, and the Democrat Party concedes defeat. I would like to congratulate the Puea Thai Party for the right to form a government," Abhisit Vejjajiva, the incumbent prime minister, said on television on Sunday.
Yingluck, who is set to become Thailand's first female prime minister, said she was working on building a coalition.
"I don't want to say it's victory for me and the Puea Thai party but people are giving me a chance and I will work to my best ability for the people," she told reporters at her party headquarters in Bangkok, the capital.
"While we are waiting for the official results, the Puea Thai executive has already contacted and discussed with Chart Thai Pattana to work together," the 44-year-old said, referring to negotiations for a coalition with a smaller party.
Sunday's vote was the first major electoral test for the Thai government since mass opposition rallies in Bangkok last year, which sparked a military crackdown that left at least 91 people dead.
Reporting from Bangkok, Wayne Hay said many Thais were taken aback by the scale of Pheu Thai party's projected win.
"Everyone is quite surprised, stunned - perhaps by these results," he said.
"Exit polls could change a little bit but certainly everything points towards a comprehensive win for the largest opposition party, Pheu Thai, led by Yingluck Shinawatra."
Yingluck lacks political experience but has garnered much attention as Thaksin's sister.
Thaksin, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai since being ousted by the military on charges of corruption in a 2006 coup, remains hugely popular among the country's poor. The elite, however, are wary of him.
'Tough work ahead'
Thaksin told a Thai broadcaster in an interview held in Dubai, that he had called to congratulate his sister and cautioned her of "tough work ahead".
He also said he hoped to return to Thailand from the United Arab Emirates, but only when the time was right.
"I want to go back to Thailand but I will wait for the right moment," he said.
The Democrat party wants Thaksin to return to the country to stand trial for corruption.
Vejjajiva took office in 2008 following a court ruling that threw out the previous administration. His party has not won a general election in nearly two decades.
Pithaya Pookaman, who heads Pheu Thai's foreign relations, said a Pheu Thai landslide meant anti-democracy forces would have to "think very hard" before provoking a repeat of previous years' violence and election nullifications.
"We learned from our lessons. If the people give us a landslide victory; if the people give us an overwhelming victory, I'm sure the people who are trying to derail the election, who are trying to prevent democracy from working in Thailand, will have to think very hard," he said.
"I think the world opinion is upon them. The people have given their answer, their decision, so I think it's a matter of taking that into consideration and not derailing the democratic process."
source: aljajeera

Protestors fury outside Greek Parliament

In Athens, police and protesters have clashed outside the Greek Parliament ahead of a final vote on so-called severity measures.

The bill will inflict big spending cuts, raise taxes, cut public sector wages and privatize public assets.

The European Union and the IMF are demanding these measures in return for a further massive bailout for the indebted country.

The Greek Parliament's expected to pass the bill tonight, despite widespread public anger.

Our correspondent, Mari bet is in Athens and she joins me now.

Mari can you tell me - we've seen horrific scenes on the television here from the streets of Athens - what is it looking like in the vicinity of the Parliament and the city area now?

MARI BET: Well Stephen I'm actually currently in the Parliament building waiting for the ministers as they arrive, in fact we've been speaking to ministers as they arrive for today's final vote on the specifics of the spending cuts and the tax hikes that will be introduced later this year.

Now it's extraordinary to us, having been here the last few days and seen first hand the widespread violence on the streets to wake up this morning and find a perfectly operating developed city, as if nothing had happened at all.

There's been massive clean-ups overnight. We woke to find that all the hotel staff around Syntagma Square are busily washing down their awnings because they were so heavily graffitied. It's really quite stark how quickly they've been able to bring order back to this city.

HENRY: I guess the very fact that you could actually get into the Parliament is testament to the fact that it's been cleared, the streets?

MARI BET : Yes, I mean there is still very high tensions around and the police presence is still very heavy. It took us a lot to get through the cordons to come into the Parliament, in fact it took us about an hour and a half to actually convince all the various levels of authority along the route that we were who we said we were and yeah there is still a lot of nervousness around here.

And you know, there's a lot of sympathy in fact from the ministers we're speaking to. One of them, who happened to be the deputy finance minister, Pandillas Economou said to us that if he wasn't inside the building he'd be out there protesting with everyone else, which I thought was fairly odd considering he's the man imposing these austerity measures on the nation.

HENRY: Well that is very interesting; we saw a preliminary vote past and is it then certain that the final vote on these austerity measures will pass, given those clear mixed feelings from Greek parliamentarians?

MARI BET : Well this is more incremental today. Yesterday was the big vote to actually pass the laws in principle.

Now what they're doing, while it is of course incremental it's also quite critical because it's the specifics, it's how do we raise taxes? How do we cut jobs in the public sector? It's nutting down to the basics of how they actually implement these measures to save $AU 40 billion worth, which is the end game over five years.

HENRY: The devil in the detail so to speak.

MARI BET : Yes, yes well it's a lot of money for a country this small.

HENRY: Indeed. Mari betin Athens, thank you very much.

Greek parliament approves severity bill

The Greek parliament has approved an severity package by a slim majority to slash $40bn off the national debt.

Wednesday's poll saw 155 members of parliament vote in favors, 138 against and 5 abstentions.

The package of taxes, spending cuts and privatizations has angered many Greeks, with thousands taking to the streets as part of a 48-hour national strike protesting against the bill.

Parliament will grip a second vote on Thursday expected at changing a law allowing the measures to be implemented.

George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, has said the second bailout will be roughly equal a previous package last year.

Papandreou expelled a Greek ruling party deputy who voted against the austerity package.

The five-year severity package will allow Greece to secure a second bailout of $17bn of emergency loan funds on top of last year's $157bn bailout.

 

The poll took place as clashes between police and protesters broke out outside parliament, with the booms of stun grenades and tear gas resonating across the square outside the building.

Riot police fired up volleys of tear gas at swarms of young men who were hurling rocks and other debris as well as setting fire to rubbish containers.

Police with truncheons rarely charged the demonstrators, but pulled back just as swiftly. As stun grenades boomed and flashed, many members of the crowds jeered and booed.

The majority of the anti-government protesters who marched to the square stayed clear of the fighting, but they vented their anger at the political establishment with chants and insults.

EU officials have called on Papanderou to draw the widest possible support. Christine Lagarde, named as the next head of the International Monetary Fund, called on Greece's opposition parties to offer support. The IMF provides about 30 percent of Greece's bailout fund.

European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President, Herman Van Rompoy said in a statement that the Greek parliament's approval of the bill is a "vital step back" from a debt default.

The euro rose against the dollar after the parliament accepted the severity measures needed to avoid a default, though concern over whether the government can implement them could limit gains.