Free Republic

NEW YORK - The war of words over the transit strike took an ugly turn after Mayor Michael Bloomberg described union heads as "thuggish," a remark some said was racist in the context of a predominantly black union. During his first briefing on the strike Tuesday at City Hall, Bloomberg complained that union leaders had "thuggishly turned their backs on New York City and disgraced the noble concept of public service." A group of City Council members and black leaders said Wednesday that Bloomberg's comment was racist because it was directed at leaders of a union that is less than...

CARACAS, Venezuela - A Venezuelan governor ordered the seizure of a plant owned by the country's largest food company Monday, the latest move in the federal government's land reform program. Hugo de los Reyes Chavez, father of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and governor of the southwestern Barinas state, said the expropriation was justified because the plant was no longer being used. Seizure of the plant owned by Ramavenca, an affiliate of Venezuelan food giant Alimentos Polar, exacerbated already tense ties between the government and business groups. Business leader requested a meeting with Chavez to discuss concerns about expropriations and land...

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico's political, church and business elite are expressing concern that Latin America's rising tide of charismatic leftists may soon sweep into Mexico. The warnings are clearly aimed at Mexico City's free-spending mayor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who leads the polls for the 2006 presidential race. "Here come the messiahs who offer the earth and the sky ... populists with magic recipes for everything," President Vicente Fox said recently. "In the end they are only cheating people and taking money away from hard working people." But the mayor insists he's just focusing on "social justice, helping the...