Free Republic

Geopolitics: America's string-along -and-dither policy on a free-trade pact with Colombia is not only costing U.S. firms; it's exacting a strategic price. China is now exploiting the void with a dry canal at a strategic choke point. A decade ago, military analysts worried about what the final handover of the Panama Canal in 2000 might mean if Chinese companies got a foothold there. Some did, setting up warehouses. Today, something much more dramatic is happening. China's Development Bank is prepared to splash out $7.6 billion to build a whole new railroad "dry canal" on the Colombian side of the isthmus...

MIAMI – A suspected al-Qaida operative who lived for more than 15 years in the U.S. has become chief of the terror network's global operations, the FBI says, marking the first time a leader so intimately familiar with American society has been placed in charge of planning attacks. Adnan Shukrijumah, 35, has taken over a position once held by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Miami-based FBI counterterrorism agent Brian LeBlanc (said). That puts him in regular contact with al-Qaida's senior leadership, including Osama bin Laden... Shukrijumah and two others were part of an "external operations council" that designed and approved...

Two men from Pakistan and Sri Lanka were held without bail Friday on charges that they smuggled Middle Easterners into the United States through third countries for $20,000 each. Iqbal Munawar and Chelliah Sri Kajamukam were arrested late Thursday at Miami International Airport on charges filed in New York, federal authorities said.They made federal court appearances Friday and were ordered to return to court for bond hearings Thursday.An Indian businessman led the smuggling ring, which illegally flew people to Miami and New York and carried them to the United States by boat, FBI agent Timothy Ryan wrote in a court...

Suspected Terrorist Arrested In Florida Iqbal Munawar Arrested In Alleged Immigration Scheme UPDATED: 3:25 p.m. EDT September 14, 2002 MIAMI -- Iqbal Munawar, who was on the FBI's list of suspected terrorists, was jailed as he tried to fly from Miami to Tampa, Fla., Friday morning. Munawar and two other men have been charged with smuggling illegal aliens from the Middle East into the United States on airplanes through Miami International Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport. The suspects are accused of making more than $100,000 in the smuggling operation, selling more than 1,000 false visas to illegal immigrants. Miami-Dade...

The recent border dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is a sign of an ambitious plan by Venezuela, Iran and Nicaragua to create a "Nicaragua Canal" linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that would rival the existing Panama Canal. Costa Rica says that last week Nicaraguan troops entered its territory along the San Juan River – the border between the two nations. Nicaragua had been conducting channel deepening work on the river when the incident occurred. Sources in Latin America have told Haaretz that the border incident and the military pressure on Costa Rica, a country without an army, are...

It was the biggest event in our planet's history since the extinction of the dinosaurs.Three million years ago, the Americas collided. The creation of the Panama Isthmus - the narrow land bridge that joins the two continents - wreaked havoc on land, sea and air. It triggered extinctions, diverted ocean currents and transformed climate. Now a multi-billion dollar project to widen the Panama Canal is set to reveal new secrets about the event that changed the world. Panama is a tiny country, but in a perfect location. > The formation of the Panama Isthmus, however, did not only affect the...

NOTE The following text is a quote: August 06, 2010 ICE removes man after investigating a terroristic threat on Metro in January Convicted murder who escaped from jail abroad returned to Panamanian law enforcement WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Panama man convicted of murder in his native country was returned Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Juan Alberto Barrera-Candelaria, 36, illegally entered the United States in 2008 after he escaped from a Panama detention center where he was being held to serve a more than 13 year sentence for murder. In January 2010, ICE special agents assigned to the FBI's...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) - First lady Michelle Obama has arrived in the Florida Panhandle to meet with business and tourism leaders to discuss how the Gulf oil spill has harmed them. Obama's plane landed Monday at the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Panama City.

Islamic Iran / Hezbollah's roots in Brazil (& Latin America) UN approves Iran sanctions [9 Jun 2010] ... UN approves Iran sanctions. Twelve Security Council members endorse fourth round of sanctions against Tehran; Turkey and Brazil vote against proposal, Lebanon abstains; decision marks compromise between US demands, Russia's and China's conditions... http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3902831,00.html Turkey? We all know that the current Islamic party's Mr. Erdogan was looking for an excuse to go against Israel, especially since the Gaza operation, the Flotilla Jihad boat incident only helped him in his anti-Israelism campaign. Analysis: Erdogan's harsh Israel rhetoric tests ...2 Jun 2010 ... The...

An interesting clip from C SPAN shows this debate between Reagan and Buckley in 1978 over the Panama Canal treaty. Buckley for it and Reagan against it. Even more interesting is seeing both a young George Will and a young Pat Buchanan among the questioners. Also, Reagan at times turns the floor over to his military expert who is none other than the father of a certain Arizona Senator. It's not interesting to watch the debate but even more fascinating to see so many influential conservatives all at the same event, and knowing in the case of Will and Buchanan...

I have seriously been thinking of leaving the country. My hope is pretty much gone that we can turn any of this around. Who would I be staying for....to support the people who ride in the cart and don't contribute and hate this country? I'm too old for all this and if the immigration bill goes through, I totally believe all is lost. How can we pay VAT, Tax and Trade, Healthcare, Local sales taxes, income taxes, etc., etc. and survive? So overused today, but it's "non-sustainable"

A NORTH Dorset explorer has discovered evidence of an ancient water route connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Col John Blashford-Snell made the breakthrough on his recent trip to the Central American country of Nicaragua. It is believed the route, which encompasses rivers, a lake and flood plains, would be more ancient than the Panama Canal. The research focused on the strip of west-coast land separating Lake Nicaragua from the Pacific. A local fisherman told how he managed to cross the strip on a temporary lake created during wet season floods. “It seems likely that even if early cartographers did...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Jan. 4, 2010 – After the U.S. Army invaded Panama in 1989 to oust the dictator Gen. Manuel Noriega, the country’s people went on to rebuild their lives. Army Sgt. Nicanor Garcia left his native Panama in 1989 before the invasion by the U.S. Army and didn’t return until 20 years later. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Travis Zielinski  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Twenty years after Operation Just Cause, a soldier deployed here who left Panama before the war began to live in the United States had the chance to return to his native country...

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThursday, December 17, 2009 Guyanese National Charged with Smuggling Indian Nationals to the United States A Guyanese national has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and alien smuggling in connection with her role in the smuggling or attempted smuggling of four Indian nationals to the United States. Annita Devi Gerald, aka Annita Rampersad, 52, was charged in a nine-count indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas. Gerald was arrested by ICE special agents in Houston on Nov. 17, 2009, and has been held without...

When Islamists made their roots south of the border... Venezuela's dictator: H. Chavez that "sees" only money, oil and Anti-Americanism-Power, does "serve" the Islamic Iranian Republic well, giving out passports to anyone. From that "port" it is quite easy for an Islamic Iranian AGENT to arrive into any other Latin American country as a... "Venezuelan". A "random" different case (of a Muslim trying to "blend" into Latin America), a year ago, a Jordanian Arab that "met" a Costa Rican (Tica) girl in Spain (she vouched for him in CR, asw this man came from the area in Jordan where a...

Head Up, no link yet!

Panama agrees to host two U.S. naval bases MEXICO, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Panama will sign before October 2009 a treaty with the United States on the opening of two U.S. naval bases on its territory, a senior Panamanian government official said on Sunday. According to Panama's La Prensa newspaper, a preliminary agreement was reached between Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during recent talks in New York. "The U.S. and Panama will sign before October 30 an agreement on the deployment of two naval bases on the pacific coast of our country to...

A slimy, glob-like creature dubbed Gollum has terrified children after it slithered out of a lake and clambered over the rocks towards them. The young teenagers were playing by the waterfront in a Panama lake near Cerro Azul when the bald beast emerged from a cave behind a waterfall. They started screaming as it shuffled out "as if to attack them". Locals told Panama news the monster was like "Gollum from Lord of the Rings". One said: "I have only seen that creature once before - and it was in the Tolkien film." But in a "desperate bid to defend...

Doctors move to Panama from the states and abroad so they can truly practice medicine. Many of the doctors you find in Panama will have been top specialists who got tired of the bureaucracy and restrictions on their ability to truly offer the best care to their patients because they were always having to think about insurance and mal-practice law suits. As a result you can get the best medical care in the world in Panama. Every specialist you can imagine is here, and many new aspects of medicine are being offered here. for example the Stem Cell Institute of...

Richard Lehman sues Panama 03-11-2009 | BUSINESS WIRE The Lucom’s legacy would give the poor children of Panama $50 million Panama Star BOCA RATON, FLORIDA. Richard Lehman, a Florida attorney who was falsely charged with murder and over a dozen other crimes in Panama for his efforts to defend a $50 million food aid donation, has filed a human rights lawsuit against the country with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Organization of American States). “Panama continues to foster an atmosphere of corruption in the legal system which has caused it to be in violation of several human rights...