Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday it was unlikely that ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro would ever appear in public again. “That Fidel in his uniform who walked the streets and towns late at night, hugging the people, won’t return,” Chavez said during his Sunday TV and radio program. “That will remain in memories.” He did not discuss the 82-year-old Castro’s current medical condition or say why he thought Castro would not return to the public stage. Chavez has continued to meet occasionally with his friend Castro in private since the former Cuban leader underwent emergency intestinal surgery about two-and-a-half years ago. Castro was last seen in public on July 26, 2006, at a celebration in eastern Cuba.
■UNITED STATES
Pelosi wants more women
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday said there should be more women in the incoming administration of president-elect Barack Obama, but praised the “diversity” of his team. “We always want more. There is no question about it,” Pelosi, the first woman in history to head the Congress, told CNN when asked if the gender balance in Obama’s Cabinet picks was to her liking. “When I went to my first meeting at the White House as a leader and looked around and saw that I was the first woman in history to be seated at that table, my first thought was, ‘We want more,’” she said, recalling events in 2002 when she was minority whip, or the second highest-ranking person in the Democratic party. “But I feel confident [in] the diversity in [Obama’s] Cabinet and among the advisers to the president, who, as you know, are as important in many ways as members of the Cabinet,” Pelosi said. Obama’s 18-strong Cabinet-in-waiting includes five women.
■UNITED STATES
Senator Voinovich to retire
Two-term Republican Senator George Voinovich of Ohio had told associates he intended to retire rather than run again in 2010, party officials said. A formal announcement was expected yesterday. Voinovich would become the third Republican in recent weeks to announce retirement plans in traditionally competitive states, giving Democrats a chance to expand their already strong majority. Veteran Senator Kit Bond of Missouri said last week he would retire at the end of his term. First-term Senator Mel Martinez of Florida has also said he would not seek reelection. Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas has also announced plans to retire, although his state is more reliably Republican than Ohio, Missouri or Florida. The officials who described Voinovich’s plans did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss them.
■PERU
Bus crash kills 33
Police say at least 33 people were dead and 23 injured after a bus ran off a remote, rain-slicked mountain road. Local police Captain Jose Cotillo, who was involved in the rescue, told broadcaster Radioprogramas that rainy conditions made for poor visibility when the vehicle plunged into a ravine before dawn on Saturday. Highway police commander William Vasquez said the bus was traveling to the northern city of Querocoto. There was no word on the condition of the injured, who were being taken to hospitals. Bus crashes are common in the mountains of Peru, where most roads are unpaved.
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