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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Battling food shortages, the government is rolling out a new ID system that is either a grocery loyalty card with extra muscle or the most dramatic step yet toward rationing in Venezuela, depending on who is describing it. President Nicolas Maduro's administration says the cards to track families' purchases will foil people who stock up on groceries at subsidized prices and then illegally resell them for several times the amount. Critics say it's another sign the oil-rich Venezuelan economy is headed toward Cuba-style dysfunction.

Let's review the following four scenarios: on December, El Nuevo Herald reports that on the occasion of a big group of rebels that came down from the mountains "In the Colombian's war black market there is an acute need for ammunitions 7.62 x 39 mm, appropriate for AK-47 rifles; In a Florida court there is a file from August 2004 related to 204.000 rounds of 7.62 x 39 mm ammunition that were seized before being illegally exported; and the press mentioned that these difficult to get ammo were going to be negotiated on western Venezuela, near the Colombian border". In...

n Venezuela, a popular uprising threatens to sweep Nicolas Maduro, the heir to Hugo Chavez, from power, along with his brutal, corrupt, viciously anti-American socialist regime. The magnitude of anti-Maduro demonstrations in Venezuela has not been adequately or consistently reported in the American press. Millions have taken part. To take just one example, this aerial photograph of an anti-government demonstration in Chacao last week, conveys some sense of the magnitude of the pro-freedom movement. When Miss Fernandez won the Miss Universe title in 2009, she was the second consecutive winner from Venezuela. I liked her predecessor Dayana Mendoza, who was...

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Barack Obama of dramatically weakening the United States' position in the world, drawing a straight line between Obama’s ever-yielding foreign policy and the increasing troubles around the world. Rice “Right now, there’s a vacuum,” she told a crowd of more than two thousand attending the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual dinner last night in Washington, D.C. “There’s a vacuum because we’ve decided to lower our voice. We’ve decided to step back. We’ve decided that if we step back and lower our voice, others will lead, other things will fill that vacuum.” Citing Bashar...

Ruling Socialist Party legislators seek charges of treason against Maria Corina Machado, one of the opposition's most visible leaders during the demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro ____ Venezuela's Congress on Tuesday requested a criminal investigation of opposition deputy Maria Corina Machado for crimes including treason in relation to her involvement in anti-government protests that have left dozens dead. Mrs Machado, a 46-year-old engineer, has been one of the most visible leaders in six weeks of opposition demonstrations against socialist President Nicolas Maduro that have unleashed the country's worst unrest in a decade. Ruling Socialist Party legislators, who hold a majority...

It's starting. The brave students and people of Venezuela are starting to fight back against the socialist CUBAN-run dictatorship in Venezuela. The brave people there need support. In the meantime, the United States sits on it's hands SHAMEFULLY doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!! SEE THE ON THE SCENE VIDEO....... HERE!

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that three air force generals have been arrested for plotting an uprising against his government. Mr Maduro said that the authorities had been tipped off by "young officers". The three generals, who have not been named, had links with the opposition, said Mr Maduro. The arrests are the latest development in nearly two months of political unrest, which have cost the lives of at least 32 people.

Last month Venezuela exploded, as discontent with the Socialist government that has ruled the country for more than a decade reached a boiling point. You can blame food shortages and inflation; you can blame joblessness and corruption. Ultimately, though, these problems have been compounded by the fact that Hugo Chavez is dead, and his party — The United Socialist Party of Venezuela — lacks the legitimacy he gave it in life. Now Chavez's successor, Nicolas Maduro, must deal with country-wide protests, with dissenting mayors in major cities, and the make-shift barricades protestors are building to keep government forces at bay....

US Embassy in Venezuela Halts New Visas US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela Notification March 23, 2014 We regret that as a result of the expulsion of several consular officials and Venezuelan government delays in issuing visas for incoming officers, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas does not have sufficient consular staff at present to continue to schedule appointments for first-time tourist (B-1/B-2) visa applicants. Until further notice, we are able to offer such appointments only in emergency situations. If you already have an appointment, please appear at the appointed date and time, because it is unlikely under current staffing conditions that...

They left after Venezuelan secret police raided a Jewish club in 2007, and after the local synagogue was ransacked by unidentified thugs two years later. They left after President Hugo Chavez expelled Israel's ambassador to Caracas, and when he called on Venezuela's Jews to condemn Israel for its actions in Gaza in 2009. They left when Caracas claimed the ignoble title of most dangerous city in the world, and when inflation hit double digits, food shortages took hold and the country's murder rate reached 79 per 100,000 people. With Venezuela now roiled by anti-government demonstrations-the death toll reached 18 last...

I dare any pro Chavez, pro Maduro, or CNN, or BBC or anything to show me a similar turnout recently for a Maduro support rally where NO buses to ferry people were used, where NO booze was given out, where NO breakfast or lunch or cookies were offered, where NO military were asked to attend. Then we can talk again about who has the most enthusiastic support in the country.

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird... It's a plane... It's a drone camera! And it was a drone camera whose video corrected the false impression left by a CNN en Español report that there was somehow an equivalency in the size of competing demonstrations on Saturday in Caracas, Venezuela. As Daniel Duquenal of Venezuela News and Views complained, the CNN en Español report by Guillermo Arduino gave only closeup shots of competing Chavista and opposition demonstrations. However, the drone eye in the sky revealed the vast panoply of the opposition demonstration that seemed to number in the hundreds...

700,000 have effectively seceded from the corrupt, socialistic, and repressive government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The rebels are working on defensive perimeters to keep out the National Guard. Meanwhile, back in Caracas Maduro is getting an upper hand on the opposition. Maduro is trying to pacify San Cristobal by sending goods to its supermarkets that were rarely there before the rebellion. Students want their deaths at the hands of thugs to have meaning for a big cause: “We prefer to die in an army attack than for an iPhone in an armed robbery outside our homes.” Hey Mexican readers,...

Maria Corina Machado, a not-yet-arrested Venezuelan opposition leader, is well spoken, understands how to respond effectively to question and knows what she, the people -- and the opposition in general -- want.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Qgnu-e76c?feature=player_detailpage] Video linkPlease watch the entire twenty-five minute video -- her English is as excellent. Is it too much to hope for that some of our own opposition "leaders" will watch and learn from her? Many of them could profit from doing so; if they do, the rest of us would too. I have often written about the worsening mess in Venezuela here, here, here, here and elsewhere over the...

Venezuelan deputies claim to have found new evidence that President Nicolás Maduro was born in Colombia and presented the nation with a fake birth certificate, according to one of Spain's largest newspapers. ABC reports today that deputy Walter Márquez, who initially revealed his concerns that Maduro was not legally able to run for president last autumn. While Márquez and fellow deputy Abelardo Díaz had accused Maduro of lying about his birthplace in the past, they revealed the results of a year-long research project on Thursday. They interviewed relatives and witnesses and concluded that Maduro not only has dual citizenship, but...

The protests continue. Off with their heads, says the Red Queen. When Venezuela reaches the bottom, will she be able to get back up?  Bello Monte when tear gas was dropped from far away the protest rally.Daniel at Venezuela News and Views posted an excellent article on March 20th titled First day of the dictatorship, referring to March 20th as the first day. An article at My Way titled Venezuela moves swiftly against opposition lists many of the same regime perversions and begins, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has used the military, legislative and judicial power consolidated during 15 years of socialist rule in a sudden series of blows...

Venezuelan intelligence agents have arrested an opposition mayor accused of fomenting violent anti-government protest, while another was jailed for 10 months in the latest move against opponents of President Nicolás Maduro. Daniel Ceballos, mayor of western city of San Cristóbal, which has been a crucible of anti-government protest, was detained by the national intelligence service Sebin and accused of "civil rebellion". Later on Wednesday, the supreme court jailed another opposition mayor, Enzo Scarano of San Diego in central Carabobo state, for 10 months and 15 days for failing to comply with a previous order to take down barricades there. Venezuela's...

During her visit to Wonderland, Alice had odd reactions to the weird things she experienced. Is President Obama trying to best her?The critters Alice met and spoke with in Wonderland made no sense at all. Neither did her responses. For example, having invited herself to a tea party with the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Door Mouse, The Hatter [asked], `Why is a raven like a writing-desk?' `Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. `I'm glad they've begun asking riddles.--I believe I can guess that,' she added aloud. `Do you mean that you think you can...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was caught on a hot mic Thursday telling Secretary of State John Kerry to let him know how he could “help” with House Speaker John Boehner. Screengrab via NBC News Screengrab via NBC News Kerry had just testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the need to provide Ukraine with economic assistance amid its turbulent transition following the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovich. Both House and Senate Republicans have expressed opposition to the proposed bill, mainly over a provision that would give unused U.S. Military money to the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.). Graham was offering...

It's been a month since violent clashes between opposition demonstrators and government forces in Venezuela first grabbed global attention. Since then, at least 23 people have been killed, according to the latest government tally. The tally did not specify whether the deaths occurred among demonstrators or government forces, or both. Protests rage on, and demonstrators show no sign of backing down. ... Violence surged this week in Tachira state, which borders Colombia. Government forces shot tear gas at opposition barricades there, and a well-known student leader was gunned down Monday. Daniel Tinoco, 24, was a university student studying mechanical engineering....