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The State of Oregon now requires everyone entering a business over the age of five to wear a mask-muzzle with no exceptions...Businesses have been told to call police if people enter a business without a muzzle covering their faces... In Miami-Dade County, Florida a coronavirus curfew imposed again... New Jersey Democrat Governor Phil Murphy signing an executive order this weekend extending the: "public health emergency"... Italy ordering more closures and restricted hours over a rise in coronavirus cases... Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announcing a nationwide 'state of alarm' which will impose curfews on all of Spain excluding the Canary...

CARACAS, Venezuela — (AP) — Venezuela's Supreme Court, loyal to President Nicolás Maduro, on Tuesday ordered the takeover of two influential political parties opposed to the socialist government ahead of parliamentary elections expected this year. The court suspended and replaced the board of directors for the Justice First party a day after the same move against the Democratic Action, one of the nation's oldest and largest parties. It was part of a “necessary restructuring process,” the court said in rulings posted on Facebook. No legal action was taken, however, against Popular Will, the party of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who...

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said president Nicolas Maduro's generals are willing to defect from his regime imminently, as Spain vowed to protect the politician. Speaking from the gates of the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, on Friday Mr Lopez said: "It's a crack that will become a bigger crack... that will end up breaking the dam". Mr Lopez said he had spoken with senior members of the military who supported the end of Mr Maduro's socialist government amid a failing economy and nationwide blackouts. Spain has refused to hand Mr Lopez, a leading figure in the...

Many of us have praised Pope Francis for his humbleness and for his tolerance toward victims of discrimination who had long been neglected by the Vatican, but it’s time to tell him loud and clear: Get out of Venezuela. The Vatican’s mediation effort in Venezuela has been — to use a word much in vogue in Washington these days — a disaster. It has legitimized that country’s authoritarian ruler Nicolás Maduro, throwing him a lifeline when millions of protesters were demanding his resignation on the streets in October 2016. And it has helped him get back on his feet by...

President Trump’s decision to suddenly announce a major change in U.S. policy toward Venezuela in February began with an unexpected Oval Office meeting with Lilian Tintori, the wife of the country’s most prominent political prisoner. At the White House to meet Vice President Pence and press the administration to do more about human rights in her home country, Tintori was whisked in to see Trump, who seemed unfamiliar with her story but praised her past as a reality television star in Venezuela’s version of “Survivor.” Later, as Tintori made her case during the 40-minute meeting, first lady Melania Trump, who...

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has been moved to house arrest after more than three years in jail. He left a prison near Caracas at dawn and was reunited with his family..... Hours after being freed, Lopez urged supporters to continue protesting against President Nicolas Maduro....

CARACAS, Venezuela – Jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was transferred to house arrest after spending more than three years behind bars in a military prison, Venezuela's Supreme Court said Saturday. A court statement said Lopez was granted the "humanitarian measure" for health reasons. It was instituted by court President Maikel Moreno, who agreed to evaluate the case due to "serious signs of irregularities."

Leopoldo Lopez has not seen a visitor for 37 days in his Venezuelan prison. Senator Marco Rubio said he was taken to a hospital in a very serious condition. There is concern about what the regime did to him. His wife has stood outside the prison seeking to be allowed in. In Nevada, Ammon Bundy was beaten and shackled earlier this week for a 13 hour period with guards threatening to leave him that way for 72 hours leaving Bundy fearing for his life. He sounded broken and hurt when he called his wife and activist Kelli Stewart afterwards. The...

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said Wednesday he had confirmed the rumor that jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez had been taken to a military hospital in Caracas "in very serious condition." Mr. Lopez's wife, Lillian Tintori, rushed to the hospital, waited to see him and was told he wasn't there. Mr. Lopez has had no visitors in 37 days, though the government says he's alive......

President Donald Trump met Lilian Tintori, the wife of Venezuela’s most prominent prisoner of conscience, at the White House Wednesday night, demanding freedom for Popular Will party leader Leopoldo López “immediately.”   The President met Tintori along with Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Marco Rubio, who had delivered a speech against the oppressive Venezuelan socialist regime to the Senate floor on Wednesday. Trump posted a photo of the group together to Twitter Wednesday night, with the message “Venezuela should allow Leopoldo Lopez, a political prisoner & husband of @liliantintori (just met w/ @marcorubio) out of prison immediately.”

Venezuela is afflicted with the world’s highest inflation, its second highest murder rate and crippling shortages of food, medicine and basic consumer goods. Its authoritarian government is holding some 70 political prisoners, including the mayor of Caracas and senior opposition leader Leopoldo López, and stands accused by human rights groups of illegal detentions, torture and repression of independent media. All of that is now pretty well known, and it is finally beginning to gain some attention from Latin American leaders who for years did their best to appease or ignore Hugo Chávez and his “Bolivarian Revolution.” What’s less understood is...

Monday January 12, 2015 01:40 PM Last Friday, dozens of people spent the night in the surroundings of the Andrés Bello square (north Caracas) to buy food in an outdoor market organized by the Venezuelan Ministry of Food. For taking home staples such as rice, pre-cooked corn flour, milk, oil, sugar, beef or chicken, people had to wait in line for at least twelve hours. Buyers had numbers written on their arms. With fear and anger, but with the need to buy food, they were waiting there since the day before. "No matter if I am very fond of this...

My country, Venezuela, is on the verge of social and economic collapse. This slow-motion disaster, nearly 15 years in the making, was not initiated by falling oil prices or by mounting debts. It was set in motion by the authoritarian government’s hostility toward human rights and the rule of law and the institutions that protect them. -excerpt- I am writing from a military prison, where I have been held since February as a result of speaking out against the government’s actions. I am one of scores of political prisoners in my country .... -excerpt- ... Venezuela’s road to ruin was...

The Tea Party favorite loves to needle Team Obama. But in an interview, Cruz also reveals a new kind of conservative foreign policy: American exceptionalism without the nation building.One way to understand Ted Cruz’s foreign policy, particularly if you are a Democrat, is through the prism of the social media phenomenon known as trolling. The best trolls are provocateurs. Their language is meant to expose a fallacy or weakness in the opponent’s position as opposed to offering a constructive alternative. In a wide-ranging interview with the junior senator from Texas, there was a lot of trolling. Of Obama’s recent attempt...

Moscow supports Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's efforts, in collaboration with the Vatican and the Union of South American Nations, to establish a negotiating process between the government and "a constructive opposition," Russia's top diplomat said. His comments came a day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to impose sanctions on Venezuelan officials accused of violating human rights during the last three months of anti-government protests in the Andean nation.Violence surrounding those protests has claimed the lives of 42 people, including both opponents and supporters of Maduro as well as bystanders and members of the security forces. Venezuelan...

The most terrifying aspect of the collapse of US power worldwide is the US’s indifferent response to it. In Europe, in Asia, in the Middle East and beyond, America’s most dangerous foes are engaging in aggression and brinkmanship unseen in decades. As Gordon Chang noted at a symposium in Los Angeles last month hosted by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, since President Barack Obama entered office in 2009, the Chinese have responded to his overtures of goodwill and appeasement with intensified aggression against the US’s Asian allies and against US warships. In 2012, China seized the Scarborough Shoal from the...

The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, announced a 30% increase in the minimum wage and pensions to protect Venezuelan people from an inflation that reaches an annual rate of almost 60 %. “Now, on the occasion of May First, I have decided to increase the national minimum wage and pensions of 30 % to bring the salary and pension levels for a proper life demand of our people,” said the president in a meeting with union leaders in Caracas. Maduro blames for the rising prices of consumer products to an “economic war” of enemies of the socialist government, and often...

While much of the world has focused on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, opposition forces in Venezuela continue to battle the brutal regime of Nicolas Maduro. While opposition forces battle for their basic human rights, the world, and in particular the government of the United States has remained largely silent. In February of this year, opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was arrested by government officials on charges of "inciting unrest" for leading, at the time, peaceful protests against the policies of Nicolas Maduro and his ruling United Socialist Party. Despite the overriding belief that he was being held illegally, few world...

What if you were forced to “register” in order to buy groceries? And what if, through that registration, the food you bought could be tracked and quantities could be limited? That’s exactly the plan in Venezuela right now. The AP reports that in an effort to crack down on “hoarding” that ID cards will be issued to families. These will have to be presented before foodstuffs can be purchased.

MOSCOW, April 1(RIA Novosti) - Russian lawmakers have endorsed draft legislation to allow the country to set up a satellite navigation monitoring system in Nicaragua, a Cabinet committee said Tuesday. "The agreement is aimed at creating an organizational and legal framework for mutually beneficial partnership between Russia and Nicaragua in terms of exploring and using space for peaceful purposes," the official statement explained. Under the agreement, Russia would set up a network of land-based control stations in the Latin American country to monitor and augment the accuracy of navigation satellites in Earth orbit. It is hoped the system will boost...