Free Republic

Arrest of the mayor of Venezuela's largest city on charges of treason should, but probably will not, end the dictatorial reign of Chavista el Presidente Maduro.My wife, Jeanie, and I spent periods totaling more than two years, and ranging in length from six months to a few days, in Venezuela between 1997 and 2002. During those periods, we saw much of Venezuela, from the cities to the rural mountain areas. It was a beautiful and comparatively prosperous country then. Food, most of it locally grown or raised, was plentiful, good and inexpensive. We both received excellent but inexpensive medical care. I felt safer in...

The FBI is looking for Ghazi Nasr Al-Din and believes he could be in South Florida. He was just added to the bureau’s seeking information terrorism list. The agency wants to talk to him about his fundraising efforts with Hezbollah contributors. Hezbollah is an Islamic militant group. Nasr Al-Din is 5 foot 7 and weighs about 175 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion. He speaks Arabic and Spanish and he has dual citizenship in Lebanon and Venezuela. If you see him call the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800- 225-5324) or contact your local...

The FBI has added a former Venezuelan ambassador to Lebanon and Syria to their Terrorism “Seeking Information” list, after evidence indicated that Ghazi Nasr al Din was using his position to help fundraise for the Shiite terror group Hezbollah. Nasr al Din, a dual Venezuelan and Lebanese citizen, served both of his terms under socialist leader Hugo Chávez before his death and has also served at the head of the Shi’a Islamic Center in Caracas, Venezuela, according to the United States Department of Treasury. The Treasury designated Nasr al Din a “supporter” of Hezbollah in 2008, with Adam J. Szubin,...

Venezuelans not 'lovin' it' as McDonald's fries go scarce CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan fast-food lovers are mourning the disappearance of McDonald's golden staple: the french fry. A recent shortage at the U.S. fast food chain comes as socialist Venezuela grapples with shortfalls of basic goods ranging from medicines to flour due to strict currency controls that stymie imports. McDonald's restaurants are coping by replacing the spuds with salad or local fare such as fried yuca or "arepa" corn pancakes - but Golden Arches fans are none too happy about the new meal. "Hamburgers don't go with arepas and this salad...

Famous Venezuelan ice-cream store closes over milk shortage CARACAS - An ice-cream store listed in the Guinness World Records book for its 863 different flavours has become the latest victim of Venezuela's economic crisis. "We are closed during the season due to shortage of milk," the famous Coromoto ice-cream store in the highland town of Merida announced on its Facebook page. Locals confirmed that the shop, hugely popular among tourists for its exotic and strange flavours ranging from beer to beans, had been closed since Christmas Eve. A sign on the door asked customers' forgiveness "for not attending you due...

<p>BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — It has been praised the world over as a model for uplifting disadvantaged youth by connecting them with classical music.</p> <p>But a new book about Venezuela's network of youth orchestras known as El Sistema, or The System, portrays it as a "model of tyranny" where brutal, marathon practice sessions mirror the apparently unlimited power and top-down style of its magnetic founder, Jose Antonio Abreu.</p>

The assignment editor of the Venezuelan TV news network Globovision has been kidnapped, according to her father. Nairobi Pinto was seized by two masked gunmen at her home in the capital Caracas, her father Luis said. He asked the kidnappers to "see sense" and release his daughter.

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird... It's a plane... It's a drone camera! And it was a drone camera whose video corrected the false impression left by a CNN en Español report that there was somehow an equivalency in the size of competing demonstrations on Saturday in Caracas, Venezuela. As Daniel Duquenal of Venezuela News and Views complained, the CNN en Español report by Guillermo Arduino gave only closeup shots of competing Chavista and opposition demonstrations. However, the drone eye in the sky revealed the vast panoply of the opposition demonstration that seemed to number in the hundreds...

This morning a truck broke the security barrier in a Caracas highway exchange and got stuck in the middle of the highway. The truck carried packs of frozen meat. It was 6 AM. Within minutes there were already people trying to loot the truck instead than trying to save the driver, who ended up dead later. The cops came and stopped for a while the actions. But since the Caracas main highway was paralyzed, motorbikes came from all around and started trying to rob all the unhappy drivers stuck in traffic. At 9 AM about 300 bikers arrived and tried...

A Venezuelan man has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for shooting and wounding two US military attaches at a strip club in the capital. Carlos Mejias, 32, admitted he shot the US Embassy employees in the early hours of May 28, the attorney general's office said. It said Mejias got into an argument with them at the Antonella 2012 club, better known as "Angelus," in the city's upscale Chacao district. "Later he pulled out a gun and repeatedly fired at the Americans, leaving them wounded at the location," it said in a statement. Five days later, Mejias...

CARACAS — Two employees of the US embassy in Venezuela were shot and wounded early Tuesday in the capital Caracas, in a murky incident that local media and a police source said took place at a strip club. "We can confirm that two members of the US embassy in Caracas were injured during an incident early this morning," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters in Washington. "Medical staff inform us that their injuries are not life-threatening," he added, noting that they were hurt at "some sort of a social spot" but without specifying the venue or nature of their...

The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, has sent 3,000 troops on to the streets of the capital, Caracas, to crack down on rampant crime which has made the country one of the most dangerous in the world. The "secure fatherland" plan is a new effort to lower violent crime following close to 20 similar attempts during the 14-year rule of the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez. "Our armed forces are taking the streets to protect the people," Maduro said in a speech to military police and troops that was broadcast live on state television. "I call on you to serve your...

Nicolas Maduro Wins Venezuela Presidential Election (50.7%): Opposition Gets 49.1% Socialist candidate Nicolas Maduro has won a narrow victory in Venezuela's presidential poll. Mr Maduro, who was chosen by the late Hugo Chavez, won 50.7% of the vote against 49.1% for opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. The electoral commission said the results were "irreversible". There has been no comment from Mr Capriles, who earlier on Sunday has suggested there was an attempt to doctor the result. Mr Maduro told a rally of supporters in the capital Caracas that he had won a "just, legal and constitutional" victory. However, the margin of...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. will be attending the state funeral for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday in Caracas, the nation's capital. Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, will be leading a delegation organized by the civil rights organization -- which is separate from the official U.S. delegation

Reports that the Venezuelan intelligence agency is targeting and spying on the Venezuelan Jewish community as well as on Venezuelan companies and organizations with ties to Israel is deeply troubling, asserted the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). “We are deeply troubled by a recent news report alleging that the Venezuelan Intelligence Service (SEBIN) is spying on the Venezuelan Jewish community,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman. “Venezuela under the regime of Hugo Chavez has a history of harassing the Jewish community in that country,” he said. “It is chilling to read reports that the SEBIN received instructions to carry out clandestine...

Dictator Hugo Chavez and friend of Sean Penn and Oliver Stone was mandated to take a sworn presidential oath before the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela this morning due to the specifics of their Constitution and that he won the Oct. election (unfortunately) for another six-year term starting today. However Hugo "smells of sulphur", it is reported, and is out of the country and deathly ill in Havana, Cuba of apparently malignant cancer, so he is not exercising his duties in addition to being absent from the country in the first place. There are succession plans in place in Venezuelan...

This is the first official report on the leftist president’s health since he arrived in Havana last Friday. Vice President Elias Jaua, “The complete extraction of the diagnosed pelvic lesion was performed, along with the removal of (putrid) tissue surrounding the lesion. There were no (unexpected) complications Jaua’s report on came hours after Spanish dailies Publico and El Pais published a document from a U.S. private intelligence firm asserting that the Venezuelan president is mortally ill. “The Russian team blamed the Cubans for an improper surgery the first time in trying to remove the tumor” and said Cuba lacks the...

The government of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is emerging as a rare supplier of diesel to Syria, potentially undermining Western sanctions and helping the Syrian government fuel its military in the middle of a bloody crackdown on civilian protests. A cargo of diesel, which can be used to fuel army tanks or as heating fuel, was expected to arrive at Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias this week, according to two traders and shipping data. The cargo could be worth up to $50 million. Chavez is a vociferous advocate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who face pressure...

There is concern in Venezuela about the direction the country is moving politically, and Venezuelan governor Henrique Capriles is beginning to represent hope for opposition groups. As mayor of Caracas, Henrique was targeted by the administration for not doing enough to suppress protests against the Cuban embassy in 2002, and was charged with fomenting violence; a charge that may have been intended to remove him as political competition. At least a third of Venezuelans currently support opposition candidates according to recent polls, and many Venezuelans left the country since Chavez came to power, and even more after a failed referendum...

Iran has begun enriching uranium deep inside a mountain and sentenced an American to death for spying, angering the West and undermining hopes that diplomacy could avert further sanctions or war. The start of enrichment at the Fordow bunker near the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom was confirmed on Monday by an Iranian official in Tehran and by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran says its nuclear program is purely non-military but the West believes it is designed to produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic's decision to carry out enrichment work deep underground could eventually make it much...