Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 05/10/2025 1:12:47 AM PDT by John Semmens
In 2023, María Corina Machado won the nomination as the Unity Democratic Platform candidate for the presidency in Venezuela. The Maduro government invalidated this election. Edmundo González Urrutia took her place on the July 2024 ballot. According to non-government sources, he got 70% of the votes in the Venezuelan presidential election to 30% for incumbent Nicolás Maduro Moros. However, Maduro declared himself the winner. There were massive public protests against Maduro's usurpation. Thousands were arrested. Maria went into hiding. Edmundo sought and was granted asylum in Spain. Five top aides of the Unity Democratic Platform Party were granted asylum by the Argentine embassy where they have been besieged by the Maduro government for many months.
This week, under orders from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, these top aides were rescued by elite US forces. They are now in the United States. The Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Yván Eduardo Gil Pinto has demanded their return calling their removal from our country "a violation of our national sovereignty. They are election deniers who must be returned to face justice for their crimes."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) called for "an investigation of this invasion of foreign territory. How would we have responded if some other country's commandos had invaded our country and spirited away some of the January 6 insurrectionists? Can Democrats be expected to sit idly by and allow the Trump Department of State to trample the rights of a foreign government that's just trying to uphold its election integrity? Also, if our government can send so-called 'elite forces' to rescue these Venezuelans I wonder why such an audacious operation can't be used to rescue Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador? We need to find a federal judge who will restore justice to these two situations."
One indication that the Maduro government was undermining rather than upholding its election integrity is the fact that the Venezuelan Parliament condemned "Maduro's electoral fraud and his serious and systematic human rights violations perpetrated against the democratic opposition, the Venezuelan people, and civil society." Another is the awarding of the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia "for their brave fight to restore freedom and democracy in Venezuela."
In related news, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the deportation of Tren de Aragua gang members by the Trump Administration saying "in our country all men are created equal, and are endowed with certain unalienable rights, which include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Since the current government of Venezuela considers these individuals to be criminals, sending them back there would endanger all of these rights and would constitute cruel and unusual punishment for persons whose only alleged crime is entering the country without proper permission, because as Rep. Jasmine Crockett has so sagely reminded us, 'it is not a criminal violation to enter the country illegally.'"
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
ping
US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein enjoined deportation of Tren de Aragua gang members b/c
Rep. Jassmine Crockett thankfully reminded us, ‘it is not a criminal violation to enter the country illegally.’”
rotflol
‘lil Marco is not a good ..
After Greenland, we should invade Spain. Create a beachhead. A second front. And we should bomb Brussels. Belgium has no right to exist. From the Azores to the Fjords Europe will be Ours!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.