Free Republic

Venezuela’s government has freed a former presidential candidate and several student activists who were jailed during anti-government protests in 2014. Former opposition candidate Manuel Rosales was imprisoned in October 2015 on charges of illicit enrichment upon returning to Venezuela after six years of exile in Peru. A former governor of Zulia state who ran for president in 2006, he was released before dawn Saturday along with five other activists who opposition groups consider to be political prisoners. The releases come as a two-month-old, Vatican-mediated attempt at dialogue to ease tensions stemming from the country’s deep economic and political crisis hangs...

In last night’s Athletics-Indians game, the A’s trailed by one run with two outs in the ninth inning. Up came shortstop Adam Rosales to face Indians closer Chris Perez. On a 1-1 pitch, Rosales blasted a 93 mile per hour fastball to left center field for a game tying home run. Only the umps didn’t see it that way. They ruled the ball had hit the outfield wall, giving Rosales a double. After a brief protest from A’s manager Bob Melvin, the umpire crew headed for the replay room to make sure of their call. Replays definitively showed the ball...

An alleged murderer may escape the death penalty because of where he grew up. The lawyer for Manuel De Jesus Rosales, accused of slitting the throat of his baby grandson and attempting to stab his daughter to death, planned to file a motion to bar the use of the death penalty. The attorney claimed it would be too dangerous to travel to his client’s native Honduras to gather information about his past.

SNIPPET: "MANILA, Philippines—A group of suspected Filipino hackers allegedly financed by a Saudi-based terrorist cell was arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police and the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) disclosed on Thursday." SNIPPET: "The group was allegedly behind attacks on the US telecommunication firm AT&T that resulted in $2 million in losses to the company in 2009. In a statement, the CIDG said the group also had links to the Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)." SNIPPET: "ATCCD chief Senior Supt. Gilbert Sosa identified the suspects as Macnell Gracilla,...

EDINBURG -- Authorities scrambled Friday to figure out how to arrest, incarcerate and prosecute a woman estimated to weigh nearly half a ton who was indicted on capital murder charges earlier this week. Mayra Rosales, 27, has remained under house arrest since she was charged in March with beating her 2-year-old nephew to death. But now that her case has moved into the state court system, law enforcement officials must address a whole new set of logistical problems before it can go to trial.

The National Assembly (AN) will urge the Attorney General Office to request the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) pretrial on the merits against Zulia Governor and major opposition leader Manuel Rosales. During a plenary session, the AN agreed on taking action against Rosales for presumed lack of observance, to the detriment of Zulia government staff. According to a press release from the Parliament, in 2006 the Zulia government received USD 203,572,800 in additional lending, part of which should have been used to pay labor liabilities.

(12:07 p.m.) Rosales announces front against authoritarian pretensions of the government Caracas. - The Governor of the State of Zulia and ex-presidential candidate, Manuel Rosales, warned the national government today that the Venezuelan people will fight to safeguard their democratic principles when facing the coming presidential announcements which they are awaiting. The leader assured everyone that the citizens are not so defeated as they would make themselves out to be and he guaranteed that he will work jointly and in an organized way against any authoritarian pretension. He said that the activity of an organized society with clear objectives will...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans packed a major highway Saturday in a rally for opposition presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, one of the largest demonstrations against President Hugo Chavez in years. Shouts of "Dare to change!" rose up from the dense crowd filling the highway for several miles and spilling into nearby overpasses and streets in Venezuela's capital, Caracas. The rally came eight days before the country's presidential election on Dec. 3. Rosales, speaking from a stage, promised democracy for a country he said was sinking into Cuba-style authoritarianism under Chavez.

Rosales says that he is tied with Chavez in the polls Caracas. - The opposition candidate Manuel Rosales assured today that the polls reflect a technical tie between his candidacy and that of President Hugo Chavez. "The most important thing in a poll, and it's what the experts indicate, translates itself in the tendencies" and "at this moment they reflect what can be defined as a technical tie, (because) I don't know if he (Chavez) is a few points ahead or if I am," Rosales said in an interview with a German television station replayed by the Globovision network,...

Caracas 16.10.06 | Imagine abject poverty. Imagine people scavenging for food on stinking rubbish piles. Now try and imagine a very poor person in such a setting saying "and to top it all off he is losing the UN vote to Guatemala..." Such is the surreality of this country. Hugo Chavez lost the vote today, and as Manuel Rosales aptly said moments ago in Montalban (west Caracas) Venezuela did not lose anything, rather it was Hugo Chavez who received today a democratic whipping in spite of having wasted millions in lobbying and outright vote-buying.

Caracas |14.10.06 I have been meaning to address the question of whether to vote or not in the upcoming presidential elections for quiet a while. Maybe I am still early in addressing it, but wanted to make sure I did, because there are lots of comments and emails on the subject. First of all, recall that I am a firm believer that there was cheating in the 2004 recall referendum. From a statistical point of view, it is clear that the results were tampered with. Having said that, these studies can tell there was cheating, but they are not capable...

The following photo essay is put up as an antidote to this week's reporting from Venezuela of Associated Press correspondent Elizabeth Nuñez for her errors of fact which, if taken as accurate and viewed from an international perspective, appear to suggest that the opposition to sitting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is only of modest intensity. Nuñez has erroneously reported on the strength of support for Chavez's opponent Manuel Rosales, who will face the Venezuelan President in a December 3 election, specifically for her drastic understating of the attendance of Rosales supporters at Sunday's "Caracas Avalanche" rally. Ms. Nuñez has...

Tens of thousands of people have marched through the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in support of the main opposition candidate, Manuel Rosales. Mr Rosales will face President Hugo Chavez in December's presidential poll. The march, which filled the main avenues of the city centre, was the biggest opposition rally Venezuela has seen since early 2004. Then, protesters made an unsuccessful bid to oust Mr Chavez from power in a recall referendum. Chance to unite Young and old took to the streets to throw their weight behind the campaign of Mr Rosales, a middle-class Social Democrat who governs the state of Zulia,...

Lara: It was an error of the opposition to compete with Fitcar Caracas. -- The planners of the electoral campaign of opposing candidate Manuel Rosales "committed a serious error to put themselves in competition with the International Caracas Tourism Fair (Fitcar) 2006, in the judgement of the Minister of Communication and Information, William Lara. After traveling throught the different pavilions which are located on the Francisco de Miranda Air Base, [Lara, who] also serves as the National Coordinator of National Tactical Command(CTN) of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) asserted that the public attendance at the Rosales meeting today came mainly...

Caracas, Oct 2 (EFE).- The leading presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Manuel Rosales, said Monday that his rival in the upcoming elections, President Hugo Chavez, plans to impose communism on the country. "On Dec. 3 we Venezuelans will have to choose either a communist system or a democracy that guarantees us freedom, progress and prosperity," Rosales said Monday at a press conference.

Rosales will lead "Caracas Avalanche" Saturday Pedro Pablo Peñaloza El Universal (Caracas) The director of the First Justice Party, Liliana Hernandez, member of the campaign command of Manuel Rosales, summoned the followers of the opposition candidate to concentrate themselves next Saturday in Libertador Avenue [in Caracas]. Hernandez specified that the act of support for the Governor of the State of Zulia1 will be named the "Caracas Avalanche" and it is scheduled to begin at 10:00 in the morning. "The idea is that, besides demonstrating in favor of the victory of the National Unity candidate [i.e. Rosales], we are calling...

Rosales accuses "Fat Fish" of the Government Opposition candidate Manuel Rosales attributed the events which occurred in La Paragua1 to "the fat fish of the government, who have a big business in [the sale of] gasoline, contraband gold, and diamonds." In a visit to Trujillo, where he carried out a campaign visit, Rosales condemned the acts. "It is one of the most clear manifestations of how an authoritarian government stimulates criminal acts and insecurity in Venezuela. The deed in La Paragua is the action of a few spineless military men, who are not the majority, who felt themselves handsome...

Rosales Promises to Exchange Arms for Vouchers of 5 Million Bolivares1 Caracas -- The unitary opposition candidate, Manuel Rosales, formulated today the security plans which form an integral part of his governing strategy and promised to create and preside over a National Council of Justice and Security. He explained that this body "would render an accounting of the security of the country and will incorporate within itself the President of the TSJ [Supreme Tribunal of Justice], the General Prosecutor of the Republic, the Public Defender,2 and the Ministers of Defense, Interior, and Justice." Furthermore he announced a "true disarmament...

In nine states Rosales surpasses the President Elvia Gomez El Universal (Caracas) Jose Vicente Carrasquero, manager of the campaign command of the opposition candidate, announced that next Wednesday Manuel Rosales will present his government plan in the matter of citizen security, while later he will expound upon ideas in matters of housing construction and about the treatment the military sector will have which, he put forth, will be strictly attached to that which the Constitution forsees. In a press conference, accompanied by the ex candidate for the presidency of the republic, Roberto Smith (Venezuela First Party), Carrasquero explained that,...