Free Republic

CARACAS, Venezuela—A gun-toting retired Venezuelan general has become a folk hero to the country's opposition and galvanized a protest movement by defying the government of President Nicolás Maduro, engaging in a Rambo-like standoff with security forces sent by the president to arrest him. Angel Vivas has been holed up in his home in a hilly Caracas suburb since last weekend, when Mr. Maduro, on live television, ordered his arrest for having backed student protests that have convulsed this oil-rich nation. When black-clad officers from military intelligence went to the retired Army general's house Sunday morning, he emerged wearing a flak...

Entrepreneur Bill Moore was in his Austin, Texas, office last Thursday, watching explosive growth for his company’s walkie-talkie app, Zello, inside Venezuela. Zello had become the favorite app of protest organizers there after recently hitting the mark as the most popular app in Ukraine. Over the past few days in Venezuela, the protests ballooned following rapidly rising food prices, controversy over President Nicolas Maduro’s economic policies, public dissatisfaction over crime and multiple other factors. Moore was finding that in Venezuela that popularity had a price. Shortly after 9 p.m., his Twitter feed blew up with messages from users inside the...

US Senator Tim Kaine, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee, said he expects the coming presidential elections in Egypt to be impartial. During a meeting with a number of journalists at a Cairo hotel Thursday, Kaine denied that the US let down Egypt in its war against terrorism, highlighting that the relations between the two countries are strong and that Washington will support Egypt in the coming period. Responding to a question on the US stance regarding the candidature of Defense Minister Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in the presidential polls, Kaine said that there is no problem at all...

SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) – Supporters of a plan to divide California into six sates can begin collecting signatures to get the proposal on the ballot. Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced that the proposed ballot initiative – known as Six Californias – could move forward Tuesday. Under the plan, from venture capitalist Tim Draper, most of the Bay Area would be considered “Silicon Valley.” Napa, Sonoma and Marin Counties would become part of “North California.”

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced Sunday that his government has expelled three US consulate officials accused of meeting with students involved in anti-government protests that have raged throughout Venezuela for nearly two weeks.In an address on Venezuela state television, Maduro accused the consulate workers and the United States government of conspiring with opposition forces to incite turmoil across the country. “We are determined to defend our country,” said Maduro. US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed concern over Venezuela’s handling of the protests, resulting in at least three deaths, more than 40 injuries and numerous arrests and detentions. “We are...

Mass protests have been taking place in Venezuela over the past few days to rally against the country’s government, an ignorant regime that has deprived its people of means to survive and allowed escalating criminal acts to go unpunished.Yet even more frightening than the reasons behind these demonstrations is the lack of coverage from a great deal of the Latin American media, which has been making a conscious effort to keep the unrest a secret.This video from YouTube user Andreina Nash explains why thousands of adults, children and students have taken to the streets, as well as what you can...

A suspected pirate, freed after a civilian trial, is seeking asylum here. Chalk up yet one more legal fiasco to Attorney General Eric Holder. Apart from failing to enforce Obamacare, immigration, and the drug laws, the administration continues to endanger national security with its catch-and-release approach to terrorists. In a preview of the consequences of its plans to close Guantanamo Bay, the Obama Justice department (DOJ) is starting to apprehend terrorists abroad and free them at home.

Americans must understand that our federal government has chosen to collude with insurance companies, hospitals and drug companies to take total control of our healthcare system and one sixth of the US economy rather than collaborate with patients and physicians to achieve good healthcare reform that benefits each individual patient. This unholy alliance is facilitated by lobbyists bearing gifts of money and power. Individual patients and physicians are by comparison penniless and powerless. We are nothing more than pawns in a game which we can play no more. This is the ultimate game of life, and the only way not...

Are we about to witness a big power shift in Latin America?Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina are languishing in differing shades of turmoil, steadily losing ground to regional underdogs. The Pacific Alliance, an historic trade agreement between Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia (and coming soon: Costa Rica), has the potential to recolor Latin America’s economic map and introduce some new regional powerhouses to the world stage. As The Atlantic points out, not all the credit goes to the underdogs: One reason the Pacific Alliance may succeed is the increasingly urgent need to transcend the chronic failure to link Latin America’s economies.The...

While speaking with Fox News' Neil Cavuto, Judge Andrew Napolitano said impeachment is the only way to stop President Obama from ruling by executive fiat, Newsmax reported Thursday. "The president is doing the opposite of what he was elected to do," he said. "At some point he is totally frustrating what Congress has written." He also told Cavuto that when Obama takes unilateral action, picking and choosing what laws -- or portions of laws -- to enforce, he is actually telling people how to avoid the law. The president has unilaterally delayed portions of Obamacare without going through Congress, and...

The anti-Government demonstrations in Venezuela may be approaching boiling point with a showdown set for Tuesday in the capital Caracas. Three US diplomats have been expelled and an arrest warrant issued for opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. The demonstrations have grown in intensity over the past two weeks. They are partially a response to an economic crisis in an oil-rich country. Inflation is the highest in Latin America. Crime has soared, there are power blackouts, the black market is flourishing and food staples are sometimes difficult to find. The Socialist Government blames shortages on saboteurs and sees the hand of the...

Iran has executed human rights activist Hashem Shaabani, a 32- year-old Arab-Iranian, for “waging war on God.” Other charges included sowing corruption on earth, propaganda against the Islamic Republic and acting against national security, according to a 2012 sentence handed down by the Ahvaz Islamic Revolutionary Court. A well-known and loved poet in Iran, Shabaani was originally arrested in 2011 and “confessed” the crime of terrorism on Iranian state-controlled Press TV after being subjected to months of torture and interrogation. However, in a letter that was published by Ahwaz News Agency in 2013, Shaabani said he had “never participated in...

Young Venezuelans have been rallying for two weeks, despite a security crackdown, a local media blackout, and attempts by the government to censor the web and the airwaves. President Nicolás Maduro remains in control, but without Hugo Chavez’s as the unifying behind "Chavismo," there is a chance the unrest may shake the balance of power in Caracas. Wondering why Venezuelans are protesting in the first place? Watch our video:

The US charge d’affaires in Khartoum, Joseph D Stafford, resigned from his post after he converted to Islam, Sudanese local media sources said. Stafford told the foreign ministry that his resignation was made for "personal reasons" but Sudanese sources claimed that the envoy was forced to resign after he turned to Islam. Sources said that Stafford has recorded visits to the headquarters of Ansar al-Sunnah in Sudan and established a close relationship with a number of Sudanese clerics through these visits. The U.S. State Department has not made any statement to confirm or deny the news on Joseph Stafford. After...

PORTLAND, Ore. – You already know the process that led to the failed rollout of the Cover Oregon website was bad. But was it criminally bad? Former Republican state Rep. Patrick Sheehan told the KATU Investigators he went to the FBI in December 2012 with allegations that Cover Oregon project managers initiated the design of dummy web pages to convince the federal government the project was further along than it actually was. If Sheehan’s allegations are true, those managers could face time in jail for fraud.

Barack Obama has been an indefatigable and unstinting supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, as well as of its proxies in the U.S. Thus it is not surprising that U.S. Embassy employees in Cairo would be Brotherhood allies as well. Obama was the target of vociferous criticism during the anti-Brotherhood demonstrations last summer for his uncritical support of the Brotherhood. “US Embassy confirms one of its local employees detained,” by Rabab Fathy for Youm7 via the Cairo Post, February 11 (thanks to Joyce): -more detail at source

WASHINGTON – Though President Obama insists the Internal Revenue Service is not guilty of political targeting of nonprofits, WND has learned the agency contracts with an avowedly “progressive” organization supported by George Soros to process data filed by smaller tax-exempt groups. The federal agency process sends details contained in the annual filings for organizations with $50,000 in annual receipts or less to the Urban Institute, which is funded at least partly by government payments as well as contributions from far-left activist George Soros. The IRS page directs groups to file with the Urban Institute, although apparently other providers also can...

You might think the question would be settled by now, but the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to opine on whether the Second Amendment right to “bear” arms for self-defense extends outside the home. We may soon get an answer. Lyle Denniston, writing for the Constitution Daily, reports about two gun rights cases that may get a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. Both cases, dealing with restrictions on the ability of minors to possess weapons in public, hinge on the difference between the right to “keep” a gun and a right “bear” one. The National Rifle Association thinks the...

BANGUI, Central African Republic — Polin Pumandele was killed about 9:30 a.m. He was a Christian walking in a Muslim enclave, carrying wood to sell. In these tense days, that is enough reason to die in the Central African Republic. A Muslim mob confronted Pumandele, 23, on a side street and pushed him around. Then, they threw him into a ditch. At least one man stabbed him before his throat was slit. As the slaughter unfolded, some of his killers ordered a Washington Post journalist witnessing the attack Sunday to leave. “Allez, allez — go, go, ” one yelled, wagging...

Che Guevara has the most effective public relations department on earth. The Argentine guerrilla and modern Cuba’s co-founding father has been fashioned into a hipster icon, a counter-cultural hero, an anti-establishment rebel, and a champion of the poor. As James Callaghan once put it, “A lie can be halfway round The truth about Che now has its boots on. He helped free Cubans from the repressive Batista regime, only to enslave them in a totalitarian police state worst than the last. He was Fidel Castro’s chief executioner, a mass-murderer who in theory could have commanded any number of Latin American...