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EDITOR'S NOTE: The opinions expressed in the following conversation are those of the book's author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of LifeSiteNews. September 1, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Journalist Maike Hickson conducted an interview with author George Neumayr on his new book, The Political Pope. Neumayr offers insights into communist influences on Pope Francis.  Maike Hickson: Throughout your book, you make references to Pope Francis' relationship with communism or with certain communists in particular. Could you describe for us in general his attitude toward communism? George Neumayr: He tends to speak of communism in benign terms. He told the Italian press that he wasn't "offended"...

Communism is not dead in Latin America. In fact, the dominoes are falling south of the border, but no one seems to be noticing. “It’s a new day. Communism is dead. It’s even dead in Cuba.” So declared Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in May 2002. “I hate to say it,” she continued, “it’s dead.” The senator’s proclamation was a surprise, no doubt, to Fidel Castro, whose regime was (and is) alive and as Red as ever. It also must have come as welcome news to the people of Cuba, still suffering, after nearly half...

PRAGUE, August 4, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Moscow's new diplomatic assertiveness was on display for the world to see during last month's G8 summit in St. Petersburg. And one controversial topic that dominated the run-up to the summit has remained in the spotlight -- Russia's repeatedly stated intention of following its own democratic path, dubbed "sovereign democracy." The concept was formulated by Vyacheslav Surkov, the deputy chief and prime ideologue of President Vladimir Putin's administration. Surkov began floating the new ideology during speeches to activists of the pro-presidential Unified Russia party in February and May. Sovereign Democracy As outlined by Surkov...

Brainchild of the KGB As Ion Mihai Pacepa, onetime director of the Romanian espionage service (DIE), later explained, the PLO was conceived at a time when the KGB was creating “liberation front” organizations throughout the Third world. Others included the National Liberation Army of Bolivia, created in 1964 with help from Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and the National Liberation Army of Colombia, created in 1965 with help from Fidel Castro. But the PLO was the KGB’s most enduring achievement. In 1964, the first PLO Council, consisting of 422 Palestinian representatives handpicked by the KGB, approved the Soviet blueprint for a Palestinian...

In a remote Bolivian town, within a compound owned by a radio station catering to coca growers, former president Evo Morales is holed up, shielded by thousands of loyalists armed with sticks. Facing charges of human trafficking and statutory rape, he risks arrest the moment he steps outside. Yet, Morales remains defiant, plotting a comeback despite a court ruling barring him from running in August’s election. The former leftist leader, once hailed for overseeing Bolivia’s economic boom, is now confined to a few buildings in Lauca N, Cochabamba.

A major lithium deposit discovered near the Portuguese border in Castilla Leon could power Spain’s energy future. Found within the Conchas Project by Berkeley Energy, the 31 square kilometre site has been hailed financially as a highly significant resource that, if mined efficiently, could meet Spain’s lithium needs, reducing the country’s reliance on imports. Currently, most of the lithium Spanish battery manufacturers use comes from South America. The project, which is still in feasibility studies, promises significant economic growth for the region but faces hurdles. Environmental groups warn that extraction could harm water resources and biodiversity, and they are calling...

Cuba has officially declared its intention to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the court announced on Monday. “Cuba, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration of intervention in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip,” the court stated. With the move, Cuba joined Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico, Libya, Bolivia, Turkey, the Maldives, Chile, Spain, Ireland and the Palestinian Authority, all of which had previously joined the South African...

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee activating the National Guard... air raid alert early Saturday morning in Kiev... Tensions in Bolivia...former Leftist President Evo Morales and current President... 11 wounded when a rocket struck a home late tonight... Legal filings about abuse at the US Coast Guard Academy from 22 former cadets... Israeli attack...in Gaza...five reported dead... The British Anti-Islamization Activist Tommy Robinson moved...Belmarsh Prison...Woodhill Prison... US intelligence community getting involved in the US election saying that a video... US military adjusting its presence in the Middle East... In Israel suspects have been arrested...connection leaking of documents...Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office......

A recent analysis of classical medical texts suggests dementia was extremely rare in ancient Greece and Rome 2,000 to 2,500 years ago. The USC-led research, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, bolsters the idea that Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are diseases of modern environments and lifestyles, with sedentary behavior and exposure to air pollution largely to blame. “The ancient Greeks had very, very few—but we found them—mentions of something that would be like mild cognitive impairment,” said first author Caleb Finch, a University Professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “When we got to the Romans,...

In Bolivia former Leftist President Evo Morales demanding... In Israel early Tuesday rocket fire from Lebanon rockets landing... Telegram CEO Pavel Durov saying the social media app will share phone numbers and IP addresses with authorities when presented with a valid legal request. Durov currently under the pressure... A police internal investigation order in Israel that's after confrontation between religious Jews (Haredi) and police... The US moving additional troops to the Middle East... The US sanctioning Chinese technology for cars as well as car technology from Russia... At least 30 bodies have been discovered on a boat drifting off the...

(CNN) An alleged multistate human trafficking ring forcing immigrant women into prostitution. The mysterious killing of a former police officer in South Florida. Attacks against police officers in New York. The arrest of a drug dealer in Chicago. Local and federal officials say these apparently unrelated crimes have a common denominator: Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang that originated in a Venezuela prison and has slowly made its way south and north in recent years. They say it’s now operating in the United States. The scale of its operations is unknown, but crimes attributed to alleged members of the...

China is planning to restrict exports of a key mineral needed to make weapons while a U.S. company that could be reducing America’s reliance on foreign suppliers is languishing in red tape, energy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Chinese government announced on August 15 that it will restrict exports of antimony, a critical mineral that dominates the production of weapons globally and is essential for producing equipment like munitions, night vision goggles and bullets that are essential to national security, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Perpetua Resources, an American mining company, has...

A nuclear policy expert appointed to the Department of Energy under the Biden administration in February 2024 previously co-authored an article entitled "queering nuclear weapons" which argued "queer theory" should be used to inform American nuclear policy. Sneha Nair works as a special assistant at the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency responsible for maintaining the safety and security of America's extensive arsenal of nuclear weapons. On Wednesday Beijing said it was "seriously concerned" after President Biden updated America's Nuclear Employment Guidance to focus on the threat from China, according to The New York Times. Nair co-authored a piece titled...

Bolivian forces arrested the army commander who led a coup attempt against President Luis Arce on Wednesday, shortly after rebel soldiers besieged the government headquarters for hours and tried to break down one of its doors. At the end of a frantic day, General Juan José Zúñiga was arrested outside a military barracks in La Paz and taken to a police vehicle on charges of terrorism and armed uprising, according to the prosecutor’s office. “You’re under arrest, General!” said Deputy Minister of Government (Interior) Jhonny Aguilera, according to state television footage. Surrounded by about eight armored vehicles, Zúñiga led the...

What is Bolivia worried about? Perhaps the 25,000% hyperinflationary evaporation of the peso in the '80s has left a deep scarring on the South American countries lawmakers. In 2018, The Bolivian Central Bank (BCB) took the administrative measure to suspend the sale of dollars in order to maintain its peg to the dollar. And in doing so, the BCB has been forced to puke away its reserves (now at their lowest level) since 2007. Source: Bloomberg All of which is why, as Bloomberg reports, Bolivian lawmakers are debating a bill that would require all gold produced in the country to...

Bolivia Files Charges for Crimes Against Humanity Against Evo Morales at The Hague The International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague received a petition Tuesday to open a case against socialist former president of Bolivia Evo Morales and several of his senior cabinet members for “crimes against humanity” committed in the aftermath of his resignation in November. The government of Bolivia filed the charges citing evidence of a “campaign of terrorism” against the Bolivian people intended to ensure Morales returned to power. Morales resigned on November 10 willingly in the aftermath of the publication of an Organization of American States...

The conservative government of Bolivia published an audio file on Wednesday, allegedly of a conversation between a socialist activist and former President Evo Morales in which the latter ordered him to ensure that socialist rioters prevented food and basic goods from getting to the nation’s cities. Morales resigned from the presidency two weeks ago, after 13 years in power, following the revelation of widespread fraud in the October elections he claimed had earned him another five-year term. He then fled to Mexico and claimed to be the victim of a “coup,” although he voluntarily resigned, and is now demanding that...

The Military Coup in the Bolivian Capital of La Paz, is reportedly being led by Bolivian Army General Juan José Zúñiga

Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora reviewed with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin the joint lithium and nuclear projects with which the South American country consolidates its position from a geopolitical and strategic viewpoint given the presence of Iranian facilities and equipment. Arce told reporters in La Paz Tuesday that all these matters were discussed during his recent meeting with the Russian leader in St. Petersburg on the occasion of the International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in the former imperial capital. According to Arce, the project involving Russia's Uranium One company regarding direct lithium extraction in Bolivian salt flats “must start operating...

The world’s despots have rushed to congratulate Vladimir Putin for his all-but-assured Russian election win. -snip- North Korean media says Kim Jong-un sent his congratulations via his embassy in Russia this morning – unsurprising as North Korea has provided Putin with supplies and munitions for his war in Ukraine. Putin has also received well-wishes and congratulations from the authoritarian ruler of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. ‌The presidents of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and Bolivia, Luis Arce, joined the small repressive group hailing Putin’s overwhelming victory