Free Republic

The United States enters its 250th year in fantastic shape. Elsewhere, not so much. We are the oldest continuous democracy in the modern world. In large part, this is because our founders were the products of the Enlightenment who fashioned a written Constitution, which provides both freedom to citizens and checks and balances to restrain those in power. Massive celebrations are called for, with big ships, flyovers, and the largest ever fireworks display in the cleaned-up National Mall. It’s extremely hot, but that doesn’t seem to have dampened enthusiasm, and crowds have been large at scheduled events. Just as they...

Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was on a flight to return home when the plane was abruptly forced to return after Washington allegedly withdrew its support, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been in exile since December, was apparently warned through “intermediaries” that if she pushed forth with her bid to go home to the earthquake-devastated country, she could derail President Donald Trump‘s strategy for Venezuela, according to the outlet. That would add more delays to the country’s elections, sources told the paper. Machado made the $35,000 trip last week...

The band Van Der Dijs were in their rehearsal space at the time of the natural disaster. All four members of Venezuelan nu-metal band Van Der Dijs have died following the devastating earthquakes that struck the country on 24 June. According to Venezuelan outlet Últimas Noticias, vocalist Manuel van Der Dijs, guitarist Gabriel Gómez, bassist Xander Hernández and drummer Abraham Foucault were killed after the Costamar II building where they were rehearsing in the coastal state of La Guaira collapsed. La Guaira has been among the areas worst affected by the disaster. Their bodies were later recovered from the rubble...

Jessica Gorman delivered emotional testimony during a heated House hearing on sanctuary city policies, recounting the death of her daughter and criticizing Democratic lawmakers over immigration and public safety. Her remarks sparked a tense exchange as lawmakers debated border security, crime, and accountability in cities with sanctuary policies. Watch the full Capitol Hill hearing and the most emotional moments from the high-profile immigration debate.

As ordinary Venezuelans dig their neighbors out of their monster two-earthquake rubble with their hands, the Venezuelan government is doing all it can to sit on its hands, loot the victims, obstruct the rescue teams, harass the aid givers, block the reporters, and hide the body count. It's a foul picture, but one incident stands out: #AHORA | Parte de la delegación de rescatistas de EEUU enfrenta a Diosdado Cabello y le reclama porque le están saboteando sus esfuerzos de rescatar a las víctimas. “¿No quieres que vaya y ayude a la persona que está allí?”. pic.twitter.com/TzuSG3WKzM — Orlando Avendaño...

A rare double earthquake ravaged Venezuela on Wednesday, killing at least 920 and injuring another 3,360, authorities said. Many more are feared dead. Thousands of people have been reported missing. Some of the heaviest damage and casualties were in La Guaira, a coastal region north of the capital, Caracas. Here’s what to know about the earthquakes and the search for survivors: The powerful 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck 39 seconds apart along the San Sebastian fault on Venezuela’s northern coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. They were among the strongest in the South American nation in more than a...

The United States is sending hundreds of personnel, two warships, fixed and rotary-winged aircraft, and search and rescue teams to Venezuela in the wake of Wednesday’s earthquake that killed more than 500 people. The first arrivals, with a Marine Corps general leading them, reached Caracas Thursday night. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Jarrard, who previously commanded the 4th Marine Division, arrived in Caracas on Thursday. The exact number of military personnel deploying hasn’t been disclosed, but is in the hundreds and is pulled from multiple branches. Rotary-wing aircraft stationed in the region are flying in assistance teams. Marine Corps...

Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist congressional candidate endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, deleted a previous Twitter account that included thousands of posts and reposts expressing support for abolishing police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and calling into question Israel’s right to exist. Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old investigator at a public defender’s office in New York City and doctoral student, has emerged as one of the most prominent left-wing challengers in the country after Mamdani endorsed her bid to unseat longtime Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th...

[I]t appears these two quakes may have occurred on two separate faults. Several faults intersect in this tectonically complex region. Historically, when experts evaluate earthquake risk, they haven't necessarily accounted for this multifault scenario, says Chris Goldfinger, a paleoseismologist at Oregon State University. "We always tend to kind of assume that earthquakes will just be on one fault and only on one fault," he says. In 2016, a multifault event — the Kaikōura earthquake in New Zealand — took people by surprise, says Goldfinger, and changed scientists' understanding of how interconnected faults can trigger multiple ruptures. Assuming the Venezuelan quakes...

Harrowing footage has revealed the extent of the damage and chaos inflicted on Venezuela by a pair of massive earthquakes last night. The back-to-back 7.1 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck near the coast, sending terrified residents racing out from swaying apartment blocks as walls collapsed and clouds of dust rose over the capital. 'High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,' the US Geological Survey said, 'with an initial death toll estimate likely between 10,000 and 100,000.' On Thursday, Venezuelan authorities said at least 164 people had been killed, while hundreds more have been injured....

Tragic news has broken out of Venezuela. On Wednesday, Venezuela was hit by back-to-back earthquakes causing buildings to collapse across its capital. The USGS revealed the earthquakes were measured in at a magnitude of 7.1 and 7.5 making the earthquakes two of the most powerful earthquakes to hit the country. Currently no death toll has been reported but due to the large amount of residential buildings collapsing thousands are feared dead. Here was the aftermath: Video circulating from La Guaira, Venezuela, showing the aftermath of the devastation caused by powerful earthquakes.Thousands of people are feared dead in the earthquakes, according...

A strong earthquake struck Venezuela on Wednesday, near the capital Caracas, with witnesses reporting tremors in Colombia as well. The magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the area of Montalbán at a depth of 13.2km depth at 18:04 local time (23:04 BST), according to the US Geological Survey (USGC). People in Caracas were quick to evacuate during the earthquake, with one witness reporting that cracks appeared in their apartment and glass shattered, Reuters reported. Tsunami threats have been issued for Venezuela, Aruba and Bonaire, with advisory threats issued to Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands, according to the US Tsunami Warning...

In 2019, 14-year-old Amira Hawat boarded a plane with her family from Venezuela to the United States believing her mother’s promise: she was headed to Disney World. What she didn’t know was that she would never return home. Today, seven years later, the Lipscomb University student speaks publicly about her experiences growing up in Venezuela. Her family fled the country after socialist policies led them to close their two small businesses, and she’s warning American students the same type of thing could happen here. “Socialism is a fairytale: perfect in theory, but horrible in practice and reality,” she told The...

A sanctioned Russian LNG tanker from the Portovaya project idled near Singapore in May 2026 with no buyer. At the same time, Ukrainian drones had already knocked roughly 700,000 barrels per day of Russian refining capacity offline across 16 major facilities. Europe had locked in a binding legal phase-out of Russian gas. And just four months earlier, U.S. forces had captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

The dramatic killing of Tren de Aragua gang leader Niño Guerrero follows a stepped up operation by the Venezuelan military in a mob-linked region – in a joint operation with US forces, marking a new level of cooperation for the two former rival nations. Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Armed Forces launched major operations targeting illegal gold mining in Bolivar state Tuesday, local media reported, following a meeting by acting President Delcy Rodriguez with top military leaders. US military officials stressed the joint action with the former US rival in statements after President Trump shared video of the “swift and lethal” strike...

AA staffer for Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, allegedly lied about being an attorney at least 11 times for detainees at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in an effort to meet with them and sneak in cell phones. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons informed Escobar in a letter dated Thursday about Benito Torres, a senior caseworker on the congresswoman's staff. Lyons said Torres lied about being a lawyer for detainees in ICE custody at the Camp East Montana facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso. "The available evidence demonstrates your staffer, a senior caseworker named Benito Torres, misrepresented himself...

US federal agents have uncovered a sophisticated “narco tunnel” equipped with electricity and a working ventilation system that smugglers had been using between El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico. Homeland Security Investigations EL Paso said the man-made tunnel, which is about 4 feet wide and 6-feet high, burrowed into El Paso’s Boone Street storm-drain system, which is located just a few blocks from the border, KTSM reported. Shocking video from inside the tunnel, which was enforced with only wood beams, shows its sprawling path beneath the border that smugglers used to transport people and drugs in and out of the...

A congresswoman has been sending staff members to Mexico to coach asylum seekers on a loophole in the immigration system, according to a new report. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) has sent aides to Juarez, just across the border, to speak to migrants who have been taken there after arriving at the United States under the recent policy change that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their case to finish. Aides to Escobar are telling migrants that they should pretend not to speak Spanish because the policy requires that migrants waiting in Mexico must speak Spanish, according to the...

A number of reports have surfaced in the last few weeks that corroborate a story Judicial Watch broke in mid-April verifying that ISIS is operating in a Mexican border town just eight miles from El Paso, Texas. This includes the startling development over the weekend that the Islamic terrorist group claimed responsibility for a shooting at a “Muhammad Art Exhibit” near Dallas because it was considered to be anti-Islam. JW’s report was based on intelligence from a Mexican Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police inspector and was met with denials from both the U.S. and Mexican government...

Controversy regarding essay...Epstein associate Kathryn Ruemmler... Trump announcing the assassination of an alleged drug gang leader... US Central Command says Iran was attacking shipping... Trump notified Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an impending deal with Iran... "Commitments made must be commitments kept..."...message from Iran's parliament speaker... Trump agreeing to unfreeze 24 billion dollars in Iranian assets...without Mr. Trump acknowledging it publicly... Tonight the United Arab Emirates denying reports... Six wounded when Israeli nationalist settlers clashed with Palestinians... US Justice Department suing the State of Virginia over laws... Justice Department approving a major media merger... European Union launching talks to...