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Venezuela Readies for War While Joe Biden Sleeps – The United States is a zombie empire abroad and a banana republic at home. On the world stage, Washington went from being the first among equals following the end of the Cold War; the sine qua non of the world system that it had helped to foster, to today being a cancerous growth to an international order trending toward multipolarity—specifically, a tripolar system in which China and Russia triangulate against the United States. snip The kleptocratic socialist dictatorship under Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela has failed to thrive economically, politically, or socially....

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela this week arrested four bakers making illegal brownies and other pastries as President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government threatens to take over bakeries in Caracas as part of a new "bread war". Maduro has sent inspectors and soldiers into more than 700 bakeries around the capital this week to enforce a rule that 90 percent of wheat must be destined to loaves rather than more expensive pastries and cakes.

Facing a bread shortage that is spawning massive lines and souring the national mood, the Venezuelan government is responding this week by detaining bakers and seizing establishments. In a press release, the National Superintendent for the Defense of Socioeconomic Rights said it had charged four people and temporarily seized two bakeries as the socialist administration accused bakers of being part of a broad “economic war” aimed at destabilizing the country.

Facing a bread shortage that is spawning massive lines and souring the national mood, the Venezuelan government is responding this week by detaining bakers and seizing establishments. In a press release, the National Superintendent for the Defense of Socioeconomic Rights said it had charged four people and temporarily seized two bakeries as the socialist administration accused bakers of being part of a broad “economic war” aimed at destabilizing the country. In a statement, the government said the bakers had been selling underweight bread and were using price-regulated flour to illegally make specialty items, like sweet rolls and croissants. The government...

Venezuela is running out of just about everything. Food, medicine, electricity, toilet paper, condoms -- you name it. And over the weekend at least two large international airlines -- Lufthansa and LATAM -- said they will suspend service to Venezuela in the coming months due to the economic crisis. The widespread scarcities and fleeing businesses reflect a country in crisis. "There's a shortage of everything at some level," says Ricardo Cusanno, vice president of Venezuela's Chamber of Commerce. Cusanno says 85% of companies in Venezuela have halted production to some extent. Venezuela's economy is spiraling into extreme recession. It is...

Turns out Nicolás Maduro's still the guy the world has to talk to in Venezuela. But recognizing Juan Guaidó as the country's legitimate president is still a useful tool. This week Colombia’s leftist President-elect Gustavo Petro said he recently discussed bilateral issues with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — despite the fact that Colombia does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state. But even top aides to President Biden are visiting Caracas lately to talk with top Maduro aides, even though the U.S. doesn't recognize Maduro, either. (On Thursday, the Biden Administration said it would make it easier for...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Jose Diaz-Balart Reports,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) reacted to the Biden administration reportedly looking to increase oil imports from Venezuela by stating that there is no need to go to the Maduro regime in Venezuela that President Biden declared a national security threat five days ago for more oil when there are other nations the U.S. can get oil from and domestic production that is already licensed.

Saab was charged with money laundering in the US One of President Nicolás Maduro's closest aides has been extradited from Cape Verde to the United States, where he's been charged with money laundering. The US Treasury says Alex Saab worked as a front man for Mr Maduro's regime. The Venezuelan government suspended talks soon afterwards with the US-backed opposition. The talks were to resolve a political crisis that has led to violence and the collapse of the economy

Last September, 39-year-old Matthew Heath, a former marine, was arrested in Venezuela and charged with spying and plotting to overthrow the government of dictator Nicolas Maduro. He was tossed in prison and cut off from all contact with his family and the outside world since October. Attorneys for Heath allege that their client has been literally tortured in prison, frequently being locked down in a tiny cell for extended periods of time. The question now is what, if anything, the Biden administration can do to ensure justice for Heath in what’s expected to be a kangaroo court show-trial and bring...

President-elect Joe Biden has made clear in his staffing plans and public remarks that he intends to return America to many of the foreign policy positions championed by his former boss, President Barack Obama. While American mainstream media has largely cheered this – and glowered at President Donald Trump for defending his achievements by making regression more difficult under Biden – many of America’s allies, and some of its foes, around the world are making moves suggesting they expect a full return to the state of global affairs in 2016. The Obama administration’s foreign policy was defined by the tension...

Venezuela’s congressional election on Sunday will almost certainly give President Nicolás Maduro control over the country’s last major independent institution, but will do little to improve his image at home and abroad. Maduro, who already has the loyalty of the courts, the military, prosecutors and other institutions, seeks to load the National Assembly with members of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Critics say he’s guaranteed that by rigging the system to smother the last remnants of democracy in Venezuela. An opposition coalition led by U.S.-backed politician Juan Guaidó is boycotting the vote. The European Union, the U.S. and several...

America’s Future? Marxist Tyrant Maduro Looks to Capture National Assembly — Will Complete Stranglehold on Venezuelan People Since Rigged Smartmatic Election for Chavez Back in 2004.. Joseph Stalin famously said: “Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” Stalin was right. Smartmatic, a UK based company, is a George Soros linked company that has provided voting technology in 16 states including battleground zones like Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The company was formed in 2000 and a Chavez campaign adviser was placed on the board as well. The chairman of Smartmatic...

Iran is supporting embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government with weapons and troops, a U.S. military official told the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, bolstering suspicions that the two governments — which have been roiled by economic and political pressure from the United States — are developing stronger military ties. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to bring an end to Maduro’s regime, which it has called a human rights abuser and a national security threat, doubling down on efforts by former President Barack Obama. The United States has placed heavy sanctions on the country, and after Maduro’s questionable reelection...

Multiple COVID-19 vaccine trials are in the final stages around the world. But in one unlikely place, that being the collapsed state of Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro touted Sunday, in an appearance on state television, that his government scientists have developed a "highly effective antiviral" that kills the virus without any side effects. Maduro tweeted: "Tremendous News! We certify the DR10 molecule as a highly effective antiviral in the fight against Covid-19." He continued: "We have started the World Health Organization (WHO) certification process to offer this treatment to the world. I thank the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research...

Venezuela is staggering in the face of a years-long power struggle, food shortages, hyper-inflation and an exodus of its citizens. The country’s foreign minister says, Blame Canada. Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza is part of Nicolas Maduro’s government, which most Western countries no longer recognize, but it does still control most of the country’s institutions. He was speaking through Zoom to a Canadian audience on Thursday, in an event organized by the left-leaning Canadian Foreign Policy Institute. Canada and most other Western nations have backed Juan Guaidó, a former member of the country’s national assembly who declared himself the interim president...

The John Durham investigation into the origins of the Justice Department's probe of alleged Russian collusion involving President Trump and his 2016 campaign leading to a guilty plea in Washington DC today..... A pro-Syrian government grouo claiming responsibility for a rocket attack on a US military base in the eastern part of the country...... The Prime Minister of the Bahamas backing down from a seven day complete lockdown of New Providence, the country's most populous island where the capital city of Nassau is located..... The "Conservative' Prime Minister of Australia a close ally of President Trump and the United States,...

CARACAS, Venezuela — (AP) — Venezuela's Supreme Court, loyal to President Nicolás Maduro, on Tuesday ordered the takeover of two influential political parties opposed to the socialist government ahead of parliamentary elections expected this year. The court suspended and replaced the board of directors for the Justice First party a day after the same move against the Democratic Action, one of the nation's oldest and largest parties. It was part of a “necessary restructuring process,” the court said in rulings posted on Facebook. No legal action was taken, however, against Popular Will, the party of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who...

The owners of the Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey intend to re-open tomorrow after today's New Jersey State Health Department notice at the door of the gym closing it down...... The latest twist in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia is the arrest of the man who made a video of the killing used as evidence to arrest the first two suspects..... Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli set to plead guilty in the federal college admissions case alleging a scam tomorrow..... The FBI says that an attack this morning at the Corpus Christi Naval Air...

The United States stopping a United Nations Security Council vote on the coronavirus situation citing the inclusion of "false narratives" from China.... The United States tightening visa guidelines for Chinese journalists.... The unemployment rate in the United States was 14.7 percent for April...... Tesla trying to resume work at its factory in Fremont, California.... Ohio State University is paying out some 41 million dollars to settle lawsuits with 162 survivors of sexual abuse by a former school doctor.... (Warning: Disturbing Content) The woman who's accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993 is ready to take a lie detector...

President Trump hoping for higher oil prices coming out of the OPEC+ nations video conference tomorrow.... Word tonight is that the price of Brent Crude Oil already rising to over 33 dollars a barrel..... The energy ministers of the G20 nations set to convene Friday...... The Afghan government said today that its going to release 100 Taliban prisoners..... The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claim to have killed dozens of Saudi coalition soliders and militia in a missile attack in Yemen.... In Syria, US military patrols in the northeast have again been confronted..... Today a report alleging the Syrian military staged chemical...