Venezuela president offers to accept Guantanamo detainees News
Venezuela president offers to accept Guantanamo detainees

[JURIST] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] said Wednesday that Venezuela would be willing to accept detainees from the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] military prison. Chavez made his statements in an interview [El Universal report, in Spanish] with Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera [media website] while attending the Second Summit of Arab-South American Countries [official website] in Qatar. In the interview, Chavez also called for US President Barack Obama [official profile] to complete the release of all Guantanamo detainees and completely return Guantanamo to Cuba [BBC report]. Given the tense relationship [State Department backgrounder] between the US and Venezuela, it is unlikely that detainees will be sent to Venezuela.

US Attorney General Eric Holder [official profile] told reporters in March that the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] would consider accepting [JURIST report] in the US the 17 Uighur detainees [JURIST news archive] who have been cleared for release. The European Union (EU) [official website] has urged member nations to accept former Guantanamo prisoners, but EU leaders have requested complete background information [JURIST report] on each prisoner they would receive before making a decision to accept them. Spain, Ireland, and Portugal [JURIST reports] have already expressed their willingness to host detainees. Other EU members, including Poland [JURIST report], Sweden, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic [Financial Times report], have expressed strong reservations to doing so.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Laws of Burgos put into effect

The Spanish Crown put the Laws of Burgos into effect on December 27, 1512. These laws governed the relationship of Spanish settlers with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. The laws established the encomienda system of labor, promoted conversion to Catholicism, and safeguarded the indigenous peoples from physical abuse.  However, historians argue that the laws were ineffective at protecting the rights of the indigenous population. Learn more from the Library of Congress.

Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public bar smashing

On December 27, 1900, militant Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar, at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. Nation argued that destroying bars was an acceptable means of battling the liquor trade since the Kansas Constitution prohibited alcohol. Learn more about Carrie Nation.

World Bank created

On December 27, 1944, the World Bank was created during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. Learn more about the history of the World Bank.