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(Continued from page 16)
• As Yingluck spoke from the country's heavily fortified national police headquarters, stone-throwing protesters battled through clouds of police tear gas in a renewed attempt to seize her office, the Government House, and other key government buildings. As the day progressed, the protesters got hold of a garbage truck and a police truck, using them to break through parts of concrete barricades.
• The protests aimed at toppling Yingluck's government have renewed fears of prolonged instability in one of Southeast Asia's biggest economies and comes just ahead of the peak holiday tourist season.
• "If there's anything I can do to bring peace back to the Thai people I am happy to do it," Yingluck said, striking a conciliatory but firm tone. "The government is more than willing to have talks, but I myself cannot see a way out of this problem that is within the law and in the constitution."
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Venezuela's oil diplomacy wanes as impact of its economic problems spread beyond borders
• CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- The late President Hugo Chavez's dream of leveraging Venezuela's oil wealth to spread revolution across Latin America is crumbling under the weight of an economic crisis that is forcing his hand-picked successor to cut back on generous foreign aid.
• Signs of the country's waning influence are becoming more apparent. In early November, Guatemala withdrew from the Petrocaribe oil alliance launched by Chavez, saying it didn't receive the ultra-low financing rates it had been promised by Venezuela when it first sought to join the 18-nation pact in 2008. Also in recent weeks, representatives of Brazil and Colombia have held meetings with their Venezuelan counterparts to collect overdue payment for food, manufactured goods and other imports.
• While Venezuela has fallen behind on payments before, the latest cash crunch is more severe, and the economic outlook more uncertain, than any time in 15 years of socialist rule.
• The reason is a dependence on oil, which accounts for 95 percent of exports. Although Venezuela sits atop the world's largest reserves, production has steadily declined in recent years. Global prices for crude are also lower as hydraulic fracturing technology boosts supplies in the U.S. at a time that Europe's economic woes and weaker growth in China limit global demand.
• The result is a hemorrhaging of Venezuela's foreign currency reserves, which are (Continued on page 18)
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