Free Republic

A new report released by the Heritage Foundation offers the first comprehensive English language look at the massive Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) whose cruel exploits in the U.S. have been making national headlines. The verdict? According to the report’s author, Joseph Humire, the threat America faces from Tren de Aragua is much worse than most people think.... American media coverage and politicians have cast Tren de Aragua as a group of simple thugs and criminals. However, Humire’s report emphasizes that Tren de Aragua is a state-sponsored transnational criminal organization sponsored by and embedded in the Venezuelan socialist government.......

In the midst of a second nationwide power outage in Venezuela, the vast majority of the country is engulfed in a massive internet outage. The first electrical blackout, which swept across the nation on Thursday, left Venezuela with only two percent connectivity amid the ongoing presidential crisis. Most of the country has been offline since Thursday with limited or no connectivity being reported across large swaths of the South American nation. The NetBlocks Group, a private internet watchdog organization based in the UK, reported on Saturday that 96 percent of the country was offline: .. On March 4, NetBlocks reported...

CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that Russian President Dimitri Medvedev wants to send a Russian naval fleet to visit Venezuela. "Russia has informed us they intend to visit Venezuela, that is, the intention that a Russian fleet should come to the Caribbean," Chavez said on his weekly radio program. "I told the president (Medvedev), 'If you're coming to the Caribbean, we'll welcome you,'" Chavez said, adding that the Russian naval fleet would pay "a friendly and working" visit to Venezuela. Under leftist President Chavez, Venezuela has been seeking closer relations with Moscow, in part to buy military hardware,...

The Dominican Republic and most of Central America just agreed to CAFTA with the USA. Their debts are massive and they are unable to pay them. Their electricity is off for 8 to 10 hours a day. Conditions are even terrible for the well to do. The President of the Dominican requests help from a rich country. President Chavez of Venesuela, is offering discounts on oil to any Carribean country as long as they use socialist measures in their country and teach the children socialism. Even with the discounts their nations will continue in a downward spiral to abject poverty...