Free Republic

Last month Venezuela exploded, as discontent with the Socialist government that has ruled the country for more than a decade reached a boiling point. You can blame food shortages and inflation; you can blame joblessness and corruption. Ultimately, though, these problems have been compounded by the fact that Hugo Chavez is dead, and his party — The United Socialist Party of Venezuela — lacks the legitimacy he gave it in life. Now Chavez's successor, Nicolas Maduro, must deal with country-wide protests, with dissenting mayors in major cities, and the make-shift barricades protestors are building to keep government forces at bay....

US Embassy in Venezuela Halts New Visas US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela Notification March 23, 2014 We regret that as a result of the expulsion of several consular officials and Venezuelan government delays in issuing visas for incoming officers, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas does not have sufficient consular staff at present to continue to schedule appointments for first-time tourist (B-1/B-2) visa applicants. Until further notice, we are able to offer such appointments only in emergency situations. If you already have an appointment, please appear at the appointed date and time, because it is unlikely under current staffing conditions that...

President Barack Obama is seeking to abolish two highly successful missile programs that experts say has helped the U.S. Navy maintain military superiority for the past several decades. The Tomahawk missile program—known as “the world’s most advanced cruise missile”—is set to be cut by $128 million under Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal and completely eliminated by fiscal year 2016, according to budget documents released by the Navy. In addition to the monetary cuts to the program, the number of actual Tomahawk missiles acquired by the United States would drop significantly—from 196 last year to just 100 in 2015. The...

They left after Venezuelan secret police raided a Jewish club in 2007, and after the local synagogue was ransacked by unidentified thugs two years later. They left after President Hugo Chavez expelled Israel's ambassador to Caracas, and when he called on Venezuela's Jews to condemn Israel for its actions in Gaza in 2009. They left when Caracas claimed the ignoble title of most dangerous city in the world, and when inflation hit double digits, food shortages took hold and the country's murder rate reached 79 per 100,000 people. With Venezuela now roiled by anti-government demonstrations-the death toll reached 18 last...

While Vladimir Putin's actions in Crimea are worthy of international censure, a more imminent threat to world peace is impasse over Iran. There has been a sense in recent days that this was no ordinary week in the life of the planet. Our already bloodstained 21st-century history — unfolding once again in uncertain and threatening ways — seemed to be opening a new chapter. Two events last Tuesday in world capitals more than 2,000 kilometres apart best symbolized this. But which of these events do you think poses the greatest potential danger to world peace? In Moscow, a preening, self-satisfied...

Venezuelan deputies claim to have found new evidence that President Nicolás Maduro was born in Colombia and presented the nation with a fake birth certificate, according to one of Spain's largest newspapers. ABC reports today that deputy Walter Márquez, who initially revealed his concerns that Maduro was not legally able to run for president last autumn. While Márquez and fellow deputy Abelardo Díaz had accused Maduro of lying about his birthplace in the past, they revealed the results of a year-long research project on Thursday. They interviewed relatives and witnesses and concluded that Maduro not only has dual citizenship, but...

The protests continue. Off with their heads, says the Red Queen. When Venezuela reaches the bottom, will she be able to get back up?  Bello Monte when tear gas was dropped from far away the protest rally.Daniel at Venezuela News and Views posted an excellent article on March 20th titled First day of the dictatorship, referring to March 20th as the first day. An article at My Way titled Venezuela moves swiftly against opposition lists many of the same regime perversions and begins, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has used the military, legislative and judicial power consolidated during 15 years of socialist rule in a sudden series of blows...

(Original title: John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Ukraine Foreign Policy) In 1984, Jeane Kirkpatrick, a lifelong Democrat who Ronald Reagan appointed Ambassador to the United Nations, took to the stage at the Republican National Convention in Dallas. The Republicans and this Democrat roundly mocked the unseriousness of the Democrats who wanted to replace Ronald Reagan. Calling them “San Francisco Democrats” — the Democrats had held their convention in San Francisco — Kirkpatrick delivered many broadsides that ring true today. As she said of these San Francisco Democrats, “they always blame America first.” The San Francisco Democrats in 1984 included the...

Latin America, long considered off-limits for Russian military outposts because of its proximity to Washington, is rapidly becoming the latest region targeted for Moscow’s expanding reach. As the Kremlin was secretly planning its invasion of Ukraine in late February, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced Moscow’s plan to establish a permanent military presence in Latin America, including naval visits to ports in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Russia is also asking those countries to allow long-range bombers to refuel at their air bases.

(CNSNews.com) – At a time of escalated tensions with the West over Ukraine, Russia says it is negotiating with eight governments around the world for access to military facilities, to enable it to extend its long-range naval and strategic bomber capabilities. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday the military was engaged in talks with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Algeria, Cyprus, the Seychelles, Vietnam and Singapore. “We need bases for refueling near the equator, and in other places,” ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying. Russia is not looking to establish bases in those locations, but to reach agreement to use facilities there when...

MOSCOW, February 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is planning to expand its permanent military presence outside its borders by placing military bases in a number of foreign countries, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday. Shoigu said the list includes Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, the Seychelles, Singapore and several other countries. “The talks are under way, and we are close to signing the relevant documents,” Shoigu told reporters in Moscow. The minister added that the negotiations cover not only military bases but also visits to ports in such countries on favorable conditions as well as the opening of refueling sites for...

Snippet: "Iran and its terrorist proxy groups’ influence in Latin America remains a troubling security threat to the region and world, experts said at a congressional hearing on Tuesday."

Many people dream of quitting their job, collecting their bags and jetting off to a tropical paradise forever. Many people dream, but few people act. Gregory Simon is one of the few who decided to act. This year he moved to Nicaragua and bought a 0.3-acre plot of land with bitcoin. Just minutes from the beach in an area of San Juan del Sur called Paradise Bay, he’s hoping to build a home there with his girlfriend. “By using BTC we were able to complete the transaction quickly with no need to involve banks or other third party intermediaries. I...

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio vowed to act quickly to abolish horse-drawn carriages in the city. "We are going to get rid of the horse carriages. Period,” de Blasio said in response to a question at his press conference announcing his schools chancellor pick Monday. “It’s over,” he said.

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio has captured the attention of both constituents and political rivals by campaigning against racial profiling by the police and being a vocal proponent of fiscal egalitarianism in the country's wealthiest city. However, there are several aspects of the City Hall hopeful’s personal life that remain unknown to many New Yorkers. 1. He's a Red Sox fan. The New York Yankees have historically kept a tight grip on City Hall, claiming numerous mayors as tried-and-true pinstripes fans, but the mayoral candidate with strong chances of winning the seat confessed to being a...

Six months after the Sandinista government granted a Chinese businessman a 100-year concession to build a vast canal across Nicaragua, most of the nation is in the thrall of the imagined waterway. In the capital, Nicaraguans snap photographs of the plaster Virgin Mary perched on an altar against the backdrop of a supertanker traversing the country's biggest lake. 'Virgin Mary, bless the great trans-ocean canal!' declares the government-sponsored invocation behind her. From boardrooms in the capital to hamlets where goods move by horse cart, Nicaraguans say they are confident the £25billion ($40billion) canal will become reality, lifting their country from...

A week ago, President Obama publicly threw his support to Bill de Blazio (shown in suit), the Democratic Party candidate for New York City mayor, joining Hollywood activists Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon, Harry Belafonte — along with Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Soros, and a host of veteran “Progressives” who are endorsing the former NYC councilman and public advocate. On the same day that President Obama announced his endorsement (September 23), the New York Times published an extensive investigation of de Blasio’s radical Marxist background, focusing particularly on his devotion to the Marxist-Leninist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. De Blasio also...

A United States Commercial vessel was seized by Venezuela as it was doing seismic testing in Guyanan waters for Anadarko Petroleum Corp, when a Venezuelan ship detained it and is now escorting it to Margarita Island in Venezuela. For decades Gyana and Venezuela have disputed the borders, but this is the first incident to come out of it. "It was then clear that the vessel and its crew were not only being escorted out of Guyana's waters, but were under arrest," the ministry said. "These actions by the Venezuelan naval vessel are unprecedented in Guyana Venezuela relations."

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...

We used to call young Americans who went to Sandinista Nicaragua in the ’80s “Sandalistas,” a name of derision meant to mock the sandal-wearing leftists looking to help Daniel Ortega build the socialist future in Central America. As we all know, what was going on was a fight for freedom against the Marxist-Leninists, which included most of the Sandinista leadership, by those who wanted to defeat their attempt to build a second Cuba in this hemisphere. Bill de Blasio, who most likely will be the next mayor of New York, is not just a simple run-of-the mill “progressive.” The New...