Free Republic

President Nicolas Maduro's government said on Thursday it had taken over warehouses around Venezuela crammed with medical goods and food that "bourgeois criminals" were hoarding for speculation and contraband. The socialist government says businessmen and wealthy opponents are trying to sabotage the economy to bring Maduro down, while also seeking to make profits from hoarding, price-gouging and smuggling across the border to Colombia. Critics say 15 years of failed policies of state intervention are to blame for the OPEC nation's widespread shortages, high inflation and apparently recessionary economy. They accuse nouveau riche officials and military officers of illegal business practices....

HAVANA — Call it "Eau de Revolution." Cuba's biggest producer of natural products has come up with a pair of colognes for the discerning supporter of international socialism who wants something more than just the iconic "Che" T-shirt. A woodsy and refreshing citric scent with notes of talcum powder called "Ernesto" honors guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara. For those seeking something softer and fruitier, there's a blend with hints of mango and papaya called "Hugo," for the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela's Roman Catholic Church has admonished the ruling Socialist Party for re-writing the Christian "Lord's Prayer" into an ode to its beloved late leader Hugo Chavez. "The Lord's Prayer, the typical prayer for Christians around the world, comes from the very lips of our Lord Jesus Christ... and is therefore untouchable," the local Catholic Church said in a statement. A party member introduced the prayer on the podium of the party congress on Monday, imploring Chavez for protection from the evils of capitalism."Our Chavez who art in heaven, the earth, the sea and in us delegates," red-shirted delegate Maria Estrella...

A member of Venezuela's Socialist Party has rolled out a variation of the classic Christian "Lord's Prayer" to implore beloved late leader Hugo Chavez for protection from the evils of capitalism. "Our Chavez who art in heaven, the earth, the sea and we delegates," red-shirted delegate Maria Estrella Uribe recited yesterday at the PSUV party Congress. "Hallowed be your name, may your legacy come to us so we can spread it to people here and elsewhere. Give us your light to guide us every day," she said in front of an image of Chavez. "Lead us not into the temptation...

CARACAS (Reuters) - A member of Venezuela's Socialist Party has rolled out a variation of the classic Christian "Lord's Prayer" to implore beloved late leader Hugo Chavez for protection from the evils of capitalism. "Our Chavez who art in heaven, the earth, the sea and we delegates," red-shirted delegate Maria Estrella Uribe recited on Monday at the PSUV party Congress. "Hallowed be your name, may your legacy come to us so we can spread it to people here and elsewhere. Give us your light to guide us every day," she said in front of an image of Chavez. "Lead us...

Socialism: As Venezuelans prepare to be fingerprinted to buy bread, it bears noting that their country's transformation came with the late Hugo Chavez's promise of "a sea of happiness." Some happiness. Fact is, socialism has made Venezuela the most miserable place on earth. But don't take our word for it. That's the result of objective research by Johns Hopkins University economist Steve Hanke. He has created a "Global Misery Index" based on the original inflation-unemployment misery index of the late economist Arthur Okun and the interest rate and GDP per capita additions of Harvard economist Robert Barro. Put them all...

In light of the recent "Child" immigration show brought on by Obama, it is interesting to look at what has been happening in Latin America under Obama's watch. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are over their heads with gangs and cartels in the drug trafficking trade that Obama helped install --------------------------------- 2010-Resurgent Communism in Latin America Many Cuban refugees risked everything to escape the murderous regime of Fidel Castro. Oftentimes they made treacherous voyages aboard rickety rafts, hoping only to reach the free shores of Florida with their lives. Many died along the way. But communist rule was vicious and...

A relative of labor leader Cesar Chavez, filed a legal challenge on Tuesday to have a man using his grandfather's name stricken from the ballot in Arizona. The challenge, alleges that the man who changed his name to Cesar Chavez from Scott Fistler should be removed from the primary election ballot for misleading voters in the largely Hispanic seventh congressional district.

When the Venezuelan government defends itself from its critics, it usually points to declining poverty rates as proof of its success. For a while, this worked; poverty figures indeed improved during a portion of the chavista years. But the days when poverty was a winning issue for chavismo are over. Official statistics now show that poverty is rising rapidly. Venezuela's official statistics office (INE) mostly spends its time producing reports charged with political language -- but it still manages to report actual data once in a while. A few weeks ago, the statisticians published proof that one in three Venezuelans...

....Hollywood has finally discovered Mexican Americans and turned its attention to Cesar Chavez as if all Mexican Americans adore Chavez. A movie partly based on fact will open this week in 400 theaters. I predict it will fail at the box office. Why? Fact: only 5 percent of all American Hispanics are rural, thus 95 percent are city people who could care less about Mexican or Mexican American farm workers.

Rather than dismissing his contrary views as sour grapes, the media simply ignore César Chávez’s opinions that stray from liberal orthodoxy. Chávez was a 1960s and 70s union leader who promoted unionization and Californian farm workers’ strikes. The farm workers of the time were predominantly Latino. He is particularly famous for the Delano grape strike: a five-year strike and boycott against Californian grapes. Liberals seized on this boycott, as well as several high profile hunger strikes, to promote Chávez as a symbol of immigrant and Latino rights. Even today, prominent media outlets often praise Chávez, just as they lauded his...

It takes a certain kind of fool to fall for the economic death trap that is socialism after a 20th century filled with death, oppression, stagnation and eventual collapse at the hands of those who fought for Marx's flawed vision of human history and progress. Such a fool, while probably motivated by the noble ends of eradicating poverty and inequality, ultimately lacks the courage to see the world as it is and fight within the confines of reality to better it. Rejecting a sober and honest appraisal of what works and what does not work given human history, he seeks...

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he was breaking diplomatic and commercial relations with the Panamanian government due to a "conspiracy" against him. "We're not going to let anyone get away with interfering with our fatherland, you despicable lackey, president of Panama," Maduro said in a speech to commemorate the anniversary of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's death. (Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Eyanir Chinea; Editing by Chris Reese)

Republicans are unhappy that President Obama is invoking his executive powers to govern in the face of a do-nothing-in-2014 House of Representatives. To hear them talk, you would think our chief executive is modeling himself on the late Hugo Chavez and wants to seize dictatorial control. This, of course, is nonsense. In fact, Obama has in many ways been less aggressive in his use of executive authority than his predecessors. Take the matter of executive orders. According to the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Obama issued 147 executive orders in his first term. This...

The protesters in Venezuela do not seek anything extraordinary: They demand to be secure in their homes and their persons, they demand an end to current shortages of staple foods and other goods in the country, and they demand the right to free speech. That these things should be considered a challenge to the Maduro regime is what is extraordinary, along with the regime’s brutal response to the protests — both speak to the character of the current Venezuelan government. If honoring such basic human decencies requires a regime change in Caracas, that is more a reflection on the current...

It’s hard times in Venezuela these days. The economy is in shambles, crime is spiraling, and the opposition is leading increasingly strident protests on the streets. To make matters worse, President Nicolás Maduro can’t even deal with the crisis from the comforts of the presidential palace. Constitutionally, of course, Maduro has been able live in La Casona, a luxurious villa in the heart of the capital, since he was sworn in last year. The only problem: Almost a year after Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, passed away, his three grown children—Maria Gabriela, Rosa Virginia and Hugo Jr.—are still living in the...

Sean Penn is an idiot. But you knew that. There are more idiots in Hollywood. But you knew that too. Here is a who's who of Hollywood idiots who were supporters of Hugo Chavez. Oliver Stone, Danny Glover, Kevin Spacey, Harry Belafonte and Don King. Belafonte has claimed that millions of Americans support Chavez. Of Chavez government King once said "To see what is happening here makes me feel good all over." If only someone would shove a microphone up his in his face and in the faces of all these idiots and see what they have to say about...

Young Venezuelans have been rallying for two weeks, despite a security crackdown, a local media blackout, and attempts by the government to censor the web and the airwaves. President Nicolás Maduro remains in control, but without Hugo Chavez’s as the unifying behind "Chavismo," there is a chance the unrest may shake the balance of power in Caracas. Wondering why Venezuelans are protesting in the first place? Watch our video:

Did you hear what El Presidente said now? "I make an appeal to the country economic sectors, for work and self-regulation of commodities and prices. You have time until next Monday; otherwise, I will take the most radical measures. I am determined to make an economic revolution. Nobody, nothing will stop me!" No, that wasn’t Big Guy; that was Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chavez’s successor and president of the other most dubiously democratic country in the Western hemisphere. Hugo (RIP) presents BHO with a book documenting 5 centuries of American and European Imperialism: BHO’s response, “ I wrote one of them...

Announcing the 2013 finalists in “The World’s Most Dubious Recovery” Contest: 1. Barack ObamaFor his “economic recovery” which is, by his admission, now into it’s fifth year. Unfortunately it has proved to be a “jobless recovery.” With 92 million Americans now “officially” deemed to be out of the workforce, we have a labor force participation rate of just 62.8% – the lowest since 1978. With only 74,000 jobs created last month, the fewest in five years, the economy managed to create just 1 job for every 5 people who abandoned the American Dream and gave up all HOPE of ever...