Free Republic

Civil servants, housewives and retirees alike lined up in Venezuela's capital Caracas over the weekend as thousands volunteered to join the country's militia in case there is a U.S. invasion. President Nicolas Maduro called on citizens to respond to "outlandish threats" by the U.S. and sign up over the weekend to the Bolivarian Militia, a civilian corps linked to the South American country's armed forces. The show of force is also intended to send a message to Washington, which has issued a $50 million bounty for Maduro -- who is accused by the Trump administration of leading a drug cartel...

Senator Bill Nelson, who accompanied Sen. Chris Dodd and Sen. Lincoln Chaffee on an ill-timed junket to meet Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, is in political trouble. As Richard Baehr predicted here in "Shilling for the new Castro" two weeks ago, his trip is already an issue with Florida's Latin America-savvy voters. In a panicky letter to a small local Vero Beach newspaper (a sure sign he's hearing from voters), Nelson defends his political tour in Caracas, repeatedly trying to assure Vero Beach readers that he was 'tough' on Chavez while there, and bringing up as much as he can the...