Venezuela: No Jews allowed

Via Linda, Venezuela stops issuing tourist visas to Israelis

Venezuela has ceased issuing tourist visas to Israelis, its embassy in Israel said Monday, accenting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's harsh criticism of Israel.

They say it's because of "technical" issues. I say it's technical issues like this.

The next time you read about Hugo being a-charismatic-leader-helping-the-poor-offering-free-health-care-education-adult-literacy-and-job-training-initiatives-that-help-millions-of-Venezuelans^tm, bear in mind that he's lying about the drop in illiteracy rates:
Falsean cifra de analfabetos en Venezuela (Literacy rate data falsified in Venezuela)

En octubre del 2005, las autoridades venezolanas anunciaron que sólo había en el país uno por ciento de iletrados, gracias al esfuerzo de los planes oficiales de alfabetización, que contaban con asesoría cubana. Pero dos estudios de la Unesco y del Programa para el Desarrollo de las Naciones Unidas (PNUD) publicados este año pero con estadísticas del 2005, revelaron que en realidad la cifra de personas que no saben leer ni escribir ascendía a 7 por ciento
(my translation)

In 2005, Venezuelan authorities announced that the country had only 1% illiteracy, thanks to the efforts of the official literacy programs, which relied on Cuban advisors. But two studies published by UNESCO and the UN Development Program published this year with data from 2005 revealed that the actual illiteracy rate exceeds 7%.

(technorati tags Venezuela, UN Hugo Chavez)