Free Republic

Remember how Republicans "pounced" in so many news articles that it became a laughable cliché to the extent that, in order to avoid more mockery, it was replaced by "seized?" Well, perhaps "seized" has also worn out its welcome because now Politico has a new term to mean the same as the other two: "pile."That is the term Politico used on Wednesday to describe what those nasty Republicans are doing in reaction to Joe Biden now begging Venezuela for oil in "Venezuela talks strike political nerve in Florida."

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Nicolas Maduro's government is slashing the amount of U.S. dollars Venezuelans traveling to Florida and other popular destinations take with them under decade-old currency controls. Travelers just to Florida will be allowed to charge a maximum of $700 annually on their Venezuelan credit cards and will be allowed to buy no more than $300 in cash. That compares with limits of $2,500 in credit and $500 in cash they were previously allowed for trips to Florida, an amount that will be maintained for the remaining 49 US states. The restrictions published Friday in the Official...

Some of Venezuela's public hospitals are closing. Others are ridden with crime. Many physicians are quitting medicine -- starting new careers in Venezuela or emigrating, upset at being paid a pittance or not at all. Medical supplies are in short supply. A "confidential" U.S. Embassy cable from Caracas, just released by WikiLeaks, says socialist Venezuela's health care system is in "disarray" -- and the poor are suffering the most. The document appears to be authentic. However, U.S. officials have flatly refused to confirm the authenticity of any purloined documents published by WikiLeaks. The Embassy cable released in December 2009 blames...

Anti-Chavez sentiment running high in Venezula. A current trending topic on twitter is #freevenezula I wonder if Chavez will try and have twitter blocked?Twitter search for #freevenezula

Gunmen of the Bolivarian Revolution Photograpy by Alvaro Ybarra Zavala. The people of Venezuela are living in fear. The militias of the Bolivarian Revolution, armed by President Hugo Chavez, have taken control of the country. Fear sets the tempo of Venezuelan society. With estimates in excess of 18,000 homicides each year (approximately 50 per day), violence dictates the future of the country. International pressure and internal divisions with Venezuela have forced the Chavez adminstration to radicalize their political stance, including making use of the criminal gans of Caracas, turning them into gneuine death squardrons serving the revolution. [...] Most of...

CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuela's state petroleum company, PDVSA, increased petroleum imports by nearly 150 percent between the first quarter of 2007 and the same period this year, bank statistics show. A report by the Venezuelan Central Bank this week demonstrated that petroleum imports reached US$1.5 billion (€964 million) during the first quarter of 2008. The imports — which include diesel oil, gasoline and chemical additives for gasoline products — are the country's highest in more than a decade. A spokesperson for PDVSA said the company had no immediate comment on the issue. Economist Gustavo Garcia, a professor at a Caracas business...

BOGOTA, Colombia — President Alvaro Uribe said Tuesday that his government would ask the International Criminal Court to try Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez for financing and supporting Colombia's main rebel group while it was engaging in genocide. The Uribe government claims documents found in the laptop of a slain commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia indicate Chavez's government recently gave $300 million to the group known as the FARC

When we last left it, Prince William County in Virginia was trying to defend itself and its legal inhabitants against the massive influx of illegal aliens pouring into the county. A migration that is putting a tremendous strain on the infrastructure of the county while substantially raising the crime rate. Toward that end, the county logically decided that the best way to combat this invasion by illegal aliens was to simply enforce the laws. Mistake. At least as far as the illegal aliens, their left-wing lawyers, and the left-leaning Washington Post are concerned. The illegal aliens and their lawyers, with...

NORFOLK — The Navy will send an aircraft carrier strike group, with four ships, a 60-plane air wing and 6,500 sailors, to Caribbean and South American waters for a major training exercise, it was announced Monday. Some defense analysts suggested that the unusual two-month-long deployment, set to begin in early April, could be interpreted as a show of force by anti-American governments in Venezuela and Cuba. “The presence of a U.S. carrier task force in the Caribbean will definitely be interpreted as some sort of signal by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela,” said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute,...

A Latin-American gentleman on a hometown discussion forum wrote the following . Not up on Latin-American foreign policy at all , so would appreciate any ammo you guys and gals can provide for a counter argument . Thanks in advance ! BTW , spelling mistakes are his ! " My friends, We need to review the history of our country. The War started long before 9/11. We have a bad foreign policy and Cold war mentality. We have supported terrorist regimes in the name of market economy and our ideological diferences with the nationalistic goverments. We persecute dicent even in...