Caracas - Former Venezuelan defence minister Raul Baduel, a current leader of the opposition to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, was detained Friday for questioning in a corruption case, officials said.

Military prosecutor Nelson Morales said Baduel refused to appear before a court that is investigating an alleged misuse of public funds when he commanded the Venezuelan Army from 2004 to 2006.

Military intelligence officers were following the judge's orders as they took Baduel from the central Venezuelan city of Maracay, where the retired general lives, to the court in Caracas, Morales said.

Officials made it clear that Baduel was not arrested, as had originally been reported.

Caracas  - The government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday ordered Human Rights Watch (HRW) director Jose Miguel Vivanco to leave the country "immediately," saying his criticism was part of a plot by the United States against the country.

Just hours earlier, Vivanco had made public a report that criticized Chavez's human rights record. Venezuelan authorities complained that this report constituted an "attack" on the country's institutions.

Moscow / Caracas  - A Russian delegation arrived in Caracas Tuesday as Moscow moves to restore Soviet-era ties in South America heightening tensions with the United States already strained over the crisis in Georgia.

Two Russian, nuclear-capable bombers were carrying out exercises over the Caribbean from an air base in Venezuela on Tuesday, and the two countries plan joint naval games before the year is out.

The delegation, led by powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's deputy Igor Sechin, was on day two of a regional tour that began on the communist island of Cuba.

Caracas  - The Venezuelan government on Thursday accused the United States of sponsoring a plan to assassinate President Hugo Chavez, hours after he ordered an investigation into a military conspiracy to overthrow him.

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Caracas had no doubt of Washington's involvement in the plot and would file formal complaints against the United States in international fora.

"As investigations move on we will get to see to what extent (the United States) was involved," Maduro said.

Caracas  - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he hopes the next government of the United States "respects" the sovereignty of the peoples of the Americas and brings about "true change" in the White House.

"The only thing we aspire to in a new government in the United States is that it respects the dignity of the peoples of our Americas and respects the sovereignty of our peoples, of our governments," Chavez said at a Venezuelan oil field in the Orinoco Basin.

Caracas - Venezuelan Pre