Free Republic

Does U.S. President Obama have a foreign policy or should we call it a "dangerous farcical policy." Is he even control of the White House? By now, most people have heard the story of how, "11 Secret Service agents" and "as many as 10 U.S. military personnel," hired prostitutes, drank alcohol, and possibly used illicit drugs -- all in "security preparation" for the president to attend the Summit of the Americas in Columbia. Besides the security debacle, Obama's diplomatic effort, "wasn't exactly smooth sailing." But there's a subtle clincher to Obama's ridiculous Columbia trip which belies his true incompetency, a...

Diplomacy: After a weekend of cavorting in Colombia, the White House was caught flat-footed by Argentina's takeover of a big oil company whose loss will hike gas prices, harm Spain and slam U.S. investors. Lucky us. Never was a response to a global outrage more mealy-mouthed than the one from the U.S. after Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, standing under a portrait of Evita Peron, announced a brazen grab for YPF, the Argentine oil company that's 57% owned by Spain's Repsol. Markets fell, world leaders denounced the violation of contracts and economically battered Spain rallied European Union support. But...

Argentina has just lurched toward becoming a Fascist nation as “Peronist” president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced the nation’s intentions to nationalize the largest oil company in the country yesterday. Combined with rabble rousing rhetoric dredging up the impotent claim to the Falkland Islands, and a tightened control of the press, many fear that the leadership in Argentina have finally dropped all pretenses of a democratic and free market nation as they appear to be hurtling the nation towards populist policies that wrecked the entire continent of Europe during WWII. Cristina’s party controls the government, so there is little hope...

President Cristina Kirchner, in a move that marks a watershed in expanding the state's grip on the economy, said she will send a bill to Congress to nationalize Argentina's largest oil-and-gas company, YPF SA. Under the proposal, which declares the petroleum industry of "national public interest," Argentina's federal and provincial governments would take 51% of the company, now majority owned by Repsol YPF of Spain. The move is sure to be approved in Argentina's Congress, where the leftist Mrs. Kirchner's governing Peronist part holds a majority. The nationalization marks the culmination of a months-long battle between YPF and the Kirchner...