Free Republic

Representatives from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) met Friday with Venezuela’s contested President Nicolás Maduro. Participants in the meeting, which took place in Venezuela’s capital of Caracas, included the chairperson of the DSA’s National Political Committee, members of the International Committee, and members of the organization’s Political Formation, Foreign Policy and Bilateral Relations sections, local news outlet Telesur reported. Venezuela has experienced widespread protests against the Maduro regime and nearly five million Venezuelans have been forced to flee the country under his rule due to food and medical shortages. A fact-finding mission appointed by the United Nations Human Rights...

A former professional baseball player teared up on the Fourth of July, passionately describing what his U.S. citizenship means to him. “It’s special,” said retired Major League Baseball All-Star Ozzie Guillen during an interview on Pre Game Live with host Chuck Garfien. “People, they don’t know how hard that is. How many people die … How many people want to be American. It's [an] honor for me,” the teary-eyed Guillen continued. As the retired star was speaking, a video of him becoming a citizen in 2006 played in the background. Garfien pointed out how emotional his guest had become from...

Oil prices fell on Monday, with Brent dropping after four days of gains, as investors and traders awaited crucial talks by OPEC+ following disagreement within the group that could lead to major producers pumping up volumes to grab market share. Brent crude was down by 40 cents, or 0.5per cent, at US$75.77 a barrel by 0131 GMT, after falling 1 cent last week, the first weekly decline in six. U.S. oil was down by 30 cents, or 0.4per cent, at US$74.86 a barrel, having risen 1.5per cent last week, the sixth consecutive week of gains for the contract. The Organization...

723 new deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control following COVID-19 vaccination... The CDC holding an emergency meeting of advisers next Thursday regarding 226 cases of heart inflammation... Vaxx makers Moderna and Pfizer expect to make coronavirus vaccines available to children 5 to 11 by September... Police in Calgary, Alberta Canada continuing to move against churches trying to operate in spite of coronavirus restrictions... The Sun newspaper in the UK reporting that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is delaying easing of coronavirus restrictions... Two 'fully vaccinated' guests on a Royal Carribean cruise ship testing positive for COVID-19... In Oregon...

BEIJING - Chinese state-controlled oil company CNOOC Ltd. said Monday it is paying $2.3 billion for a 45 percent stake in a Nigerian oil field in its first major investment since its failed bid to take over Unocal Corp. last year. The deal adds to a multibillion-dollar string of foreign acquisitions by Chinese oil companies, which are aggressively pursuing energy supplies to fuel China's booming economy. The agreement, which requires approval from the Nigerian and Chinese governments, covers a deep-water area of the oil-rich Niger Delta region, CNOOC said. It said the area includes the Akpo oil field discovered in...

Communist candidate Pedro Castillo appears to have won the Peruvian presidential election as of Wednesday afternoon in a tight race separating him from rival conservative Keiko Fujimori by less than 0.5 percent of the vote. Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), which verifies and counts every vote, had completed 99.795 percent of the tally as of Wednesday morning local time. With over 18.5 million votes counted, including 100 percent of ballots from abroad, Castillo was holding firm with 50.206 percent of the vote to Fujimori’s 49.794 percent.

“In just the last 7 days, our agents have encountered over 5,800 migrants from 29 different countries,” Del Rio Sector Border Patrol Chief Austin Skero wrote on Twitter on June 4. “During this same time, 63 smuggling attempts were caught on our highways.” [snip] Many Venezuelans told The Epoch Times they flew to Cancún then Monterrey, in Mexico, before crossing the river into Del Rio. Some came via Colombia. A large portion intend to live in Florida—in particular Orlando, Tampa, and Miami—where they already have family members.

[My translation- JA] Media in Iran have reported this evening (Tuesday) on an explosion and fire on a ship of the Iranian Navy, the Harj. The ship, which serves as a forward base for special forces, attack ships and the launch of drones, went up in flames in the Gulf of Oman. According to reports in Iranian media, the ship returned to an unidentified port, where local forces worked to extinguish the fire. They further reported that there were no injuries in the incident. In Iran they have denied reports on social networks that the Harj was making its way...

“It can’t happen here” is a political cliche in the United States. Regardless of your personal viewpoint, there is a vast swath of the American population who simply do not believe in the possibility of any kind of totalitarianism in the United States. It’s worth noting that throughout history, in virtually every place that totalitarian regimes have arisen, the residents of these countries felt the same way. Russia was seen as too traditional and backward, the power of the Czar too entrenched to be defeated. Germany had been viewed throughout most of the modern period as the home of Goethe,...

US security agencies are keep a close eye on two Iranian warships that may be headed toward Venezuela. An Iranian frigate and a former oil tanker known as the Makran are currently sailing south along the east coast of Africa, anonymous sources told Politico on Saturday. Intelligence officials remain mystified by Iran's motivations with the two vessels and they are unsure what kind of cargo they may be holding. However, if the ships do end up in Venezuela it could be a sign Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is trying to intimidate Washington. The 755-foot long Makrtan was commissioned this year....

An Iranian frigate and the Makran, a former oil tanker that was converted to a floating forward staging base, have been heading south along the east coast of Africa, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject. U.S. officials do not know for sure the destination of the Iranian ships, these officials said, but believe they may be ultimately headed for Venezuela. Iran’s intent in sending the vessels in the direction of the Western Hemisphere remains a mystery, the people said, as does their cargo. Iranian media has claimed the 755-foot long Makran, which...

The repressed island nation of 11 million people is at a precarious tipping point, with the economy in tatters and the clamour for personal freedoms growing as more Cubans gain access to the internet. There have been protests, hunger strikes and even clashes with police as an underground opposition movement has increasingly ventured into the open.

The experience of Venezuelans under the late President Hugo Chavez offers a cautionary tale to the United States about where packing the Supreme Court can lead. Last fall, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden refused to answer whether he would support adding justices to the Supreme Court and now has established a commission to review the proposal and other issues concerning judicial reform. One need look no further than Venezuela’s recent history for the devastating impact on liberty such a move could have. “In 2004, Chavez’s allies held a majority in Venezuela’s National Assembly (congress), passing a law that increased the number...

Mike Lindell announced his second movie in a series on Voter Fraud in the 2020 Presidential election called Absolute Interference on War Room Pandemic with Steve Bannon. Bannon asked some thoughtful questions and pushed Lindell to be very clear about his film project, the companion documentary to Absolute proof, which Lindell claims will prove that the 2020 election was interfered with by the Chinese Community Party in China. “Mike Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow, says his new film proves that foreign adversaries hacked the election,” Bannon said. The two had a rousing, hour-long discussion Friday, with Lindell revealing updates...

Early on the morning of March 16th, 1984, William Buckley left for work at the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Officially, Mr. Buckley, a decorated veteran of the Special Forces, served as the political officer at the embassy. In reality, however, Mr. Buckley was the embassy’s CIA station chief. On his way to the compound, Buckley’s car was stopped by a group of masked men, who forced him from his car at gunpoint. His assailants would later be identified as terrorists from the group Islamic Jihad, which served as an alias for the real perpetrators, Hezbollah. The circumstances surrounding the...

Abdala Rada Ramel has close ties to Salman Raouf Salman, who has been also accused of an important role in the AMIA bombing attack The "clans" consist of groups of Lebanese origin who exert control over given territories in South America - and enable Hezbollah All three clans are strategically positioned close to the most important ports of Venezuela, from which they doubtless oversee the trade and handling of goods that in turn allows Hezbollah to profit Assad Ahmad Barakat is accused of having been involved in the AMIA bomb attack and operating call centers and shell companies on behalf...

The tenth anniversary of the conflict in Syria that began on March 5, 2011 was greeted with deafening silence in Washington, D.C. Though the Biden administration would favor a political settlement of the conflict and is conscious of humanitarian problems of displaced civilians in the area of Idlib, it has not settled on any policy on Syria, which appears to rank relatively low on its list of global and regional priorities. At present, it has no intention of drawing another "red line" as the Obama administration did. In contrast, it comes as no surprise that the Russian Wagner Group, a...

A tract of a gas pipeline in eastern Venezuela suffered an explosion on Saturday afternoon, according to a report from state oil company PDVSA seen by Reuters, an incident the country’s oil minister blamed on an attack. The explosion at the 36-inch pipeline providing natural gas to the Pigap II gas reinjection plant in northern Monagas state prompted PDVSA to temporarily shut the plant in order to halt the flames and evaluate the damages to the pipeline, according to the report. Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami in a brief statement on state television late on Saturday called the incident a...

The political left has proven itself to be amazingly incompetent when it comes to governing. Examples abound of nations, states, and cities—even those with tremendous wealth, resources, and other advantages—reduced to nightmare zones of poverty, violence, and corruption. Think of Venezuela, Cuba, California, Detroit, and Baltimore. Yet, there is one area in which the left excels to a remarkable degree: the attainment of power and advancement of its political aims. Every year, every month, and every day, somewhere in the nation the left is implementing or proposing some action that will further its agenda. Consider the breakneck speed at which...

All it takes to be a millionaire in Venezuela is a few American pennies: the beleaguered South American country’s economy is so bad, they’re introducing a million bolivar note worth roughly 53 cents. Venezuelans once again fleeing on foot as troubles mount According to a statement from the country’s central bank, Venezuela will also be printing 200,000 and 500,000 bills along with the 1,000,000 bills. The move comes as hyperinflation has made smaller bills superfluous and worthless – and most citizens are “turning to the U.S. dollar for everyday transactions,” Bloomberg notes, adding “About 66 percent of transactions across the...