Juanson World

Venezuela will not negotiate with foreign companies during the nationalization process, said the country’s oil minister. AP

El Pais is reporting that Fidel Castro has had at least three failed operations and is suffering from diverticular disease, an intestinal infection. Cuban authorities denied the report. AP, BBC, Miami Herald

Eugenio Montoya, alias Don Hugo, was arrested in the Colombian town of El Dovio. Montoya is believed to be a leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel. BBC, AP

Rafael Correa was sworn in as Ecuador’s president, announcing the launch of a “citizen’s revolution” through debt restructuring and the call for a constituent assembly. LA Times, BBC, AP

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged close ties with Nicaragua on a visit to Managua as he continued his tour of Latin America. BBC

Ahmadinejad also met with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in Caracas, much to the chagrin of Venezuelan Jews. New York Times

Rolando Alfonso Borges, head of the Ideology Department of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, reportedly called for a broader range of stories by the state-run media that reflect the realities facing the Cuban population. Miami Herald