Free Republic

JWYSS@MIAMIHERALD.COM BOGOTA, Colombia -- Former Finance Minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga won Sunday’s presidential election, setting the stage for a contentious June 15 runoff against President Juan Manuel Santos. With 99 percent of voting tables counted, authorities said Zuluaga had won 29.3 percent of the vote followed by Santos with 25.7 percent. Polls had been predicting a tight race but few gave Zuluaga the lead he clenched Sunday, where he beat Santos by more than 400,000 votes. In his victory speech, he asked Colombian’s to vote for change in three weeks and attacked Santos’ signature achievement — peace talks with the...

Nobel literature laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez returned to his Mexico City home on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, after a week-long hospitalisation for a lung infection, but officials said he remains in "delicate" condition.

Services needed for everybody from new immigrants to employers bringing in foreign workers will be brought to a halt. Foreign Ministry’s workers committee declared a full-fledged strike on Sunday, closing the ministry and all the country’s embassies and consulates around the world for the first time. The strike is the latest development in a nearly two-year-old work dispute that the workers declared for improved salaries and work conditions. Seven months of mediation efforts exploded on March 4 when the workers rejected a Finance Ministry proposal. The workers then resumed crippling labor measures that had been put on hold during the...

Instantly putting himself in the running for political candor awards, Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzon eschewed the tired spend-more-time-with-my-family cliche and went with a much rarer reason for turning down a government job: His dog would get too hot. Garzon had been nominated to be Colombia’s ambassador to Brazil, but apparently the Amazon nation’s tropical climate would not suit his beloved German shepherd, Orion. In an interview with Colombia’s Semana magazine, Garzon said that he had a “very hairy” dog and that Brasilia’s weather might “harm him.” “This is not a dog of the vice-presidency of the republic, it’s a...

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....

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."

Upgrading military aircraft – fixed wing and rotary – is a common operation performed all over the world. You take an old platform, reinforce the fuselage and wings, install some new systems and it can fly for many more years. But what Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is currently doing with its old Kfir fighter aircraft is an exception. The Kfir (Lion Cub) fighter is a single-seat multitask fighter built by IAI. The aircraft was first built for the Israeli air force (IAF). The first Kfir was delivered to the IAF in 1975, and entered into service in 1976. The fighter...

Trajectory apparently began in near-Earth asteroid group ApolloAstroboffins have figured out where the Chelaybinsk meteorite came from using the power of maths and videos shot by witnesses in Russia.Click here for VideoJorge Zuluaga and Ignacio Ferrin of the University of Antioquia in Colombia have come up with a preliminary reconstruction of the orbit of the meteor, which smashed into the city in the Urals completely unexpectedly two weeks ago. By combing through the witness videos and using trigonometry, the astronomers have determined that the meteorite came from the Apollo class of asteroids in our Solar System's space rock belt. The...

SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON – Four members of a violent guerilla organization were indicted on Friday on conspiracy and hostage-taking charges stemming from the kidnapping of more than 60 people in Colombia in 2000, including three United States nationals."

IAI selling upgraded Kfir jets for $20m Israel Aerospace Industries promises very short delivery schedules for the renovated jets, which it claims are even better than fourth-generation jets. 6 August 13 17:45, Yuval Azulai Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) is trying to sell dozens of Kfir fighter jets to foreign air forces, offering a 40-year manufacturer's guarantee. The veteran jets are equipped with new avionics and powerful radars developed by IAI unit Elta Systems, diversified armaments, updated electronic warfare systems, and air-to-air refueling. IAI has told its sales reps to sell the Kfirs to Eastern European countries that...

As we close out the week, the US Treasury 10 year yield fell 5.4 basis points, similar to the decline in the Japanese 10 year sovereign yield of 6.0 basis points. The UK, Germany, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand all saw around 15 basis point drops in their 10 year sovereign yields. Colombia and South Korea saw over 20 basis point yield declines. wbm071213 According to the Bankrate 30 year mortgage survey, mortgage rates and the US Treasury 10 both fell after a dramatic rise since the May Day Massacre (international sovereign yield rise). ust10br30071213 In the agency MBS market,...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2002.aspx Treasury Targets Major Money Laundering Network Operating Out of Colombia 7/9/2013 Trade Based Money Laundering Network Supported Narcotics Traffickers Ayman Joumaa and Evaristo Linares Castillo WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of Colombian nationals Isaac Perez Guberek Ravinovicz and his son, Henry Guberek Grimberg, as well as 29 other individuals and entities, including companies located in Colombia, Panama, and Israel, as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs). These 31 individuals and entities together form a money laundering network responsible for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in...

A DEA agent has died in an apparent robbery attempt in Colombia, U.S. Ambassador Michael McKinley said Friday. Colombian authorities said the American agent was stabbed four times.

"IRAN SPY NETWORK 30,000 STRONG Pentagon report: Iranian intelligence linked to spying, terror attacks" SNIPPET: "Iran’s intelligence service includes 30,000 people who are engaged in covert and clandestine activities that range from spying to stealing technology to terrorist bombings and assassination, according to a Pentagon report." SNIPPET: "“MOIS provides financial, material, technological, or other support services to Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), all designated terrorist organizations under U.S. Executive Order 13224,” the report said. The spy service operates in all areas where Iran has interests, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Central Asia, Africa, Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, France,...

SNIPPET: "An Argentine prosecutor has accused Iran of trying to infiltrate countries in Latin America to sponsor and carry out "terrorist activities". Alberto Nisman said Iran was attempting to set up intelligence-gathering stations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and other countries in the region. Mr Nisman is investigating a bomb attack that killed 85 people in a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in 1994." SNIPPET: ""I legally accuse Iran of infiltrating several South American countries to install intelligence stations - in other words espionage bases - destined to commit, encourage and sponsor terror attacks like the one that took place against...

The Colombian Constitutional Court on Monday reasserted its support for gay rights in response to a reactionary appeal raised by the Inspector General. In May of 2012, Colombia’s inspector general sought to annul the court’s 2011 decision which established survivor pension rights for couples of the same sex. The court on Monday reasserted the stance it took in 2011, which was that couples of the same sex constitute family before the law. An official ruling on the Inspector General’s appeal has yet to be provided by the court. …

The U.S. Geological Survey says a strong but deep earthquake has shaken western Colombia. The agency says the quake struck at 9:16 a.m. (1606 GMT) Saturday and had a magnitude of 7.0. it was located about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Pasto. There are no immediate reports of damage.

Colombia announced that it produced an average of 1.01 million barrels of oil per day in January, marking the first time that average crude output for a month surpassed the one million-barrel mark that the government had set as a target for the country's oil industry. Last month's figure was more than 7% higher than the 944,000 barrels a day produced in January 2012, the Mines and Energy Ministry said in a statement. For all of 2012, average oil output stood at 940,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents a 3.16% increase from 2011. Colombia has seen its oil...

NASA has revealed that the Columbia crew were not told that the shuttle had been damaged and they might not survive re-entry. The seven astronauts who died will be remembered at a public memorial service on the 10th anniversary of the disaster this Friday at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle was headed home from a 16-day science mission when it broke apart over Texas on February 1, 2003, because of damage to its left wing. Ten years ago, experts at NASA's mission control faced the terrible decision over whether to let the astronauts know that they may die on...

Treasury Targets Major Money Laundering Network Linked to Drug Trafficker Ayman Joumaa and a Key Hizballah Supporter in South America 6/27/2012 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated four individuals and three entities involved in laundering the proceeds of narcotics trafficking for drug kingpin Ayman Joumaa. Treasury also designated a Colombia-based individual under its terrorism authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, for directing Hizballah’s fundraising activities in the Americas. This individual was previously designated under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for his role in narcotics-related money laundering. Today’s designations further expose Ayman Joumaa’s network as...