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I dare any pro Chavez, pro Maduro, or CNN, or BBC or anything to show me a similar turnout recently for a Maduro support rally where NO buses to ferry people were used, where NO booze was given out, where NO breakfast or lunch or cookies were offered, where NO military were asked to attend. Then we can talk again about who has the most enthusiastic support in the country.

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...

700,000 have effectively seceded from the corrupt, socialistic, and repressive government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The rebels are working on defensive perimeters to keep out the National Guard. Meanwhile, back in Caracas Maduro is getting an upper hand on the opposition. Maduro is trying to pacify San Cristobal by sending goods to its supermarkets that were rarely there before the rebellion. Students want their deaths at the hands of thugs to have meaning for a big cause: “We prefer to die in an army attack than for an iPhone in an armed robbery outside our homes.” Hey Mexican readers,...

Maria Corina Machado, a not-yet-arrested Venezuelan opposition leader, is well spoken, understands how to respond effectively to question and knows what she, the people -- and the opposition in general -- want.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Qgnu-e76c?feature=player_detailpage] Video linkPlease watch the entire twenty-five minute video -- her English is as excellent. Is it too much to hope for that some of our own opposition "leaders" will watch and learn from her? Many of them could profit from doing so; if they do, the rest of us would too. I have often written about the worsening mess in Venezuela here, here, here, here and elsewhere over the...

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...

President Barack Obama says a nuclear agreement with Iran can open up “new possibilities and prosperity” for the Iranian people.Even as negotiations on the accord continued, the Obama administration issued an order Thursday allowing U.S. academic institutions to operate exchange programs with Iranian universities. The announcement followed Obama’s comments in an annual videotaped message to Iranians marking the Persian new year, Nowruz. This year’s message coincides with nuclear negotiations between the U.S., Iran and five other world powers. Obama says reaching a final nuclear agreement “will be difficult.” But he says he’s committed to diplomacy because he believes there is...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - 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 against opponents who have spent more than a month protesting in the streets, knocking down their barricades and throwing dissident leaders in jail..... [SNIP] Maduro's rivals said they would not be bullied into submission, vowing new marches. Two-time opposition presidential candidate and Miranda state Governor Henrique Capriles said through his Twitter account Thursday that Maduro had "thrown gasoline on the fire." "He and only he will be responsible for the situation...

Venezuelan intelligence agents have arrested an opposition mayor accused of fomenting violent anti-government protest, while another was jailed for 10 months in the latest move against opponents of President Nicolás Maduro. Daniel Ceballos, mayor of western city of San Cristóbal, which has been a crucible of anti-government protest, was detained by the national intelligence service Sebin and accused of "civil rebellion". Later on Wednesday, the supreme court jailed another opposition mayor, Enzo Scarano of San Diego in central Carabobo state, for 10 months and 15 days for failing to comply with a previous order to take down barricades there. Venezuela's...

It takes a certain kind of fool to fall for the economic death trap that is socialism after a 20th century filled with death, oppression, stagnation and eventual collapse at the hands of those who fought for Marx's flawed vision of human history and progress. Such a fool, while probably motivated by the noble ends of eradicating poverty and inequality, ultimately lacks the courage to see the world as it is and fight within the confines of reality to better it. Rejecting a sober and honest appraisal of what works and what does not work given human history, he seeks...

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.

As her de facto colony, Venezuela has Cuban assistance in resisting anti- regime protests. Iran also seems to be helping. March 16th march against Cuban interference Although not very successful, Cuba has been helping the Venezuelan regime to respond in the only ways she understands to anti-regime protests. In consequence, there is increasing anger about Cuban intervention. People are starting to express clear feeling of xenophobia, justified as it is against colonial masters: the Cuban mercenaries sent over by Fidel to control Venezuela. And the world saw that, which is not only an embarrassment for the regime towards its colonial masters as far as...

People line up to buy goods at a store in Caracas, Venezuela. Alvaro Villarueda starts his morning the same way every day — putting in a call to his friend who has a friend who works at a Caracas, Venezuela, supermarket. Today, he's looking for sugar, and he's asking his friend if he knows if any shipments have arrived. As he talks on the phone, his wife Lisbeth Nello, is in the kitchen. There are 10 mouths to feed every day in this family — five of them children. The two youngest are still in diapers. "The things that are...

As the daily street protests grow bloodier and bloodier, Venezuelan President Maduro has escalated his comments today, exclaiming that he "won't be bullied," and warning "prepare yourself, we are coming for you," if protesters don't "go home within hours." •*VENEZUELAN PROTESTERS HAVE 'HOURS' TO CLEAR BARRICADES: MADURO •*MADURO SAYS HE'LL SEND ARMED FORCES TO 'LIBERATE' PROTEST AREAS With 28 dead in the last month of protests, things are very serious but as we warned previously, Maduro still enjoying the support of the poor - as EuroNews reports, it appears he is not going anywhere soon. John Kerry also came under...

During her visit to Wonderland, Alice had odd reactions to the weird things she experienced. Is President Obama trying to best her?The critters Alice met and spoke with in Wonderland made no sense at all. Neither did her responses. For example, having invited herself to a tea party with the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Door Mouse, The Hatter [asked], `Why is a raven like a writing-desk?' `Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. `I'm glad they've begun asking riddles.--I believe I can guess that,' she added aloud. `Do you mean that you think you can...

As the Venezuelan government continues to violently crack down on protesters, the credibility of Maduro’s regime hangs in the balance. The world has been watching Venezuela, as well as both Ukraine and Thailand, during these difficult political times Maduro’s government has been accused of human rights violations by the U.N. and over half the 1World voters on the ground in the three embattled countries around the world (Ukraine, Venezuela and Thailand) feel unsafe in their country. To make matters worse, 30% feel the domestic media coverage of the unrest is inaccurate and 50% think the coverage has been mixed.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was caught on a hot mic Thursday telling Secretary of State John Kerry to let him know how he could “help” with House Speaker John Boehner. Screengrab via NBC News Screengrab via NBC News Kerry had just testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the need to provide Ukraine with economic assistance amid its turbulent transition following the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovich. Both House and Senate Republicans have expressed opposition to the proposed bill, mainly over a provision that would give unused U.S. Military money to the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.). Graham was offering...

You want food in Venezuela? Wait in line and get marked like an animal.

THE NEW NEXUS OF NARCOTERRORISM: HEZBOLLAH AND VENEZUELA By Vanessa Neumann December 2011 Vanessa Neumann is a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and is co-chair, with FPRI Trustee Devon Cross, of FPRI’s Manhattan Initiative. PDF Version of bulletin. (4 pages, 91K PDF) Press stories, as well as a television documentary, over the past two months have detailed the growing cooperation between South American drug traffickers and Middle Eastern terrorists, proving that the United States continues to ignore the mounting terrorist threat in its own “backyard” of Latin America at its own peril. A greater portion of financing...

It's been a month since violent clashes between opposition demonstrators and government forces in Venezuela first grabbed global attention. Since then, at least 23 people have been killed, according to the latest government tally. The tally did not specify whether the deaths occurred among demonstrators or government forces, or both. Protests rage on, and demonstrators show no sign of backing down. ... Violence surged this week in Tachira state, which borders Colombia. Government forces shot tear gas at opposition barricades there, and a well-known student leader was gunned down Monday. Daniel Tinoco, 24, was a university student studying mechanical engineering....