Free Republic

Official: Laptop reveals ties to Ecuador By ALEJANDRA LABANCA New documents a Colombian government official says were retrieved from the computer of slain guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes show FARC's ties in Latin America may be more widespread than previously reported. Some of the documents, obtained by The Miami Herald, indicate that a leading member of Ecuador's constitutional assembly, charged with reshaping that country's political landscape, may have been a longtime supporter of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. María Augusta Calle -- also the head of Venezuela's Telesur TV network in Ecuador and a supporter of President Hugo Chávez --...

Iran's Global Ambition   Michael Rubin   Middle Eastern Outlook/AEI Online   March 17, 2008   While the United States has focused its attention on Iranian activities in the greater Middle East, Iran has worked assiduously to expand its influence in Latin America and Africa. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's outreach in both areas has been deliberate and generously funded. He has made significant strides in Latin America, helping to embolden the anti-American bloc of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. In Africa, he is forging strong ties as well. The United States ignores these developments at its peril, and efforts need to...

Brasilia - A large new oil reserve has been found in Brazil. The exact size of the reserves is unknown, but Brasilia is optimistic. Minister for Energy Dilma Roussef believes they could make Brazil just as big an oil producer as Venezuela and some Arabic countries. One of the oil fields off the coast of Sao Paulo is thought to contain 8 billion barrels of oil.

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Vilified by world leaders wary of his nuclear ambitions, Iran's president is turning to South American leftists who are embracing him as an energy and trade partner and counterweight to U.S. influence. On the heels of a U.N. General Assembly appearance in which he said Iran will ignore demands by "arrogant powers" to curb its nuclear program, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was headed to Bolivia on Thursday to establish first-time diplomatic relations with the Andean nation.

Police on Thursday recovered a small part of the fortune in cash that disappeared from a small plane after it crashed in northeastern Brazil, according to news reports. The twin-engine plane was carrying $2.6 million worth of Brazilian reals when it crashed Wednesday afternoon near the city of Salvador, some 750 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro in Bahia state, killing all four people aboard, officials said. Police say they suspect locals made off with the bags of cash before rescuers arrived on the scene. But on Thursday, according to the Web sites of O Globo and Estado de S....

Troops have been deployed to boost police presence in Bogota US President George W Bush has arrived in Colombia as part of his five-nation Latin American tour.He will meet President Alvaro Uribe in a display of support for efforts to combat that country's insurgency. Colombia is one of the largest recipients of US aid to help fight a long-running war against left-wing guerrillas and drug traffickers. The visit is being overshadowed by a political scandal, which has raised questions about US support in Congress. The scandal has linked a number of President Uribe's government politicians to right-wing paramilitaries. Some...

Thousands of protesters greeted Mr Bush's arrival US President George Bush has met his Uruguayan counterpart, Tabare Vazquez, as part of his five-nation Latin American tour to promote trade.Mr Bush arrived in Montevideo from Brazil - where he signed a deal to develop alternative fuel sources. Uruguay is keen to sign free trade deals with the US, even if it means leaving the Mercosur trade bloc. The tour attracted protests in Brazil and about 5,000 protesters gathered in Uruguay for Mr Bush's visit. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is conducting his own tour of the region and addressed 40,000 anti-Bush...

!-- S IIMA --> Chavez attacked Bush in front of the Buenos Aires crowd It was the kind of situation that the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez, loves - 40,000 flag-waving supporters joining him in hurling insults at the US President, George W Bush.He was at a football stadium in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, leading what he called an anti-imperialist rally to coincide with Mr Bush's arrival in neighbouring Uruguay. Most of the crowd were members of trade unions, left-wing and human rights organisations, those who already supported Mr Chavez and what he calls his brand of socialism for...

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington, D.C. Thank you all. (Applause.) Please be seated -- si ntese. Buenas tardes. Gracias por la bienevenida. For those of you not from Texas, that means, good afternoon. (Laughter.) And thank you for the welcome. I'm honored to be back again with the men and women of the Hispanic Chamber. I appreciate your hospitality. I'm pleased to report the economy of the United States is strong, and one of the reasons why is because the entrepreneurial spirit of America is strong. And the entrepreneurial spirit of America is represented in this room....

CARACAS, Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez threatened Wednesday to nationalize any privately owned supermarkets and food storage facilities caught hoarding inventories or violating price controls imposed on basic goods. Accusing private companies of hoarding foods such as beef, Chavez warned supermarket owners and distributors that he would nationalize their facilities as soon as they gave him "an excuse" to seize such assets. "If they remain committed to violating the interests of the people, the constitution, the laws, I'm going to take the food storage units, corner stores, supermarkets and nationalize them," Chavez said during a televised broadcast. "So prepare yourselves!" Chavez...

President Hugo Chavez has pledged to nationalise key Venezuelan companies, as part of plans to transform the country into a full socialist state. Mr Chavez said he wanted to see major Venezuelan power and telecoms companies come under state control. The country's telecoms giant CANTV is an expected target He also called for an end to foreign ownership of lucrative crude oil refineries in the Orinoco region. Mr Chavez's comments came in an address to the nation following the swearing in of his new cabinet. "All of that which was privatized, let it be nationalised," he said during the...

Colombians granted their Right-wing president a second four years in office yesterday, backing his assaults on the booming drugs trade. Alvaro Uribe, Washington's staunchest ally in Latin America, changed the constitution last year to allow himself to seek re-election and becomes the first Colombian president to win a second term for more than a century. His victory, with 62 per cent of the vote, halts a trend in the continent that has seen Left-wing leaders elected in Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay. The Oxford-educated president campaigned on his uncompromising security policy, under which murder rates have fallen by a...

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is approaching his wary South American neighbors about developing a nuclear energy program, raising questions in Washington about his atomic ambitions. ADVERTISEMENT Chavez, a self-described socialist revolutionary fiercely opposed to the U.S. administration, says he wants to cooperate with Argentina, Brazil and possibly Iran to develop nuclear energy as part of his drive for regional integration. But energy experts estimate it will take his government at least five years of studies, training and investment to develop a sustainable nuclear energy project in Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter. "Nuclear energy is...

<p>"Elections now!" thousands of pot-banging demonstrators chanted Tuesday night as they flooded the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital. Amid an escalating economic crisis and the Argentine legislature's recent assault on democracy, their outrage is unmistakable and thoroughly justified. On Tuesday, lawmakers scrapped the March 3 presidential elections and put in place a leader of its own choosing, Sen. Eduardo Duhalde, to hold power through 2003. Yesterday, the Peronist Party leader was given a farcical inauguration ceremony, making him Argentina's fifth president in two weeks.</p>

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's state oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) (PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its operations in Bolivia had not been hurt so far by civil unrest in the neighboring Andean country. Its two refineries and the production and export of natural gas in Bolivia -- its biggest investment in the country -- are operating under normal conditions, the company's press office said. Nevertheless, it later said protesters had occupied a terminal owned by a another company, Transrede, where it stores liquified gas from the San Alberto and San Antonio gas fields...

Early on the morning of March 16th, 1984, William Buckley left for work at the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Officially, Mr. Buckley, a decorated veteran of the Special Forces, served as the political officer at the embassy. In reality, however, Mr. Buckley was the embassy’s CIA station chief. On his way to the compound, Buckley’s car was stopped by a group of masked men, who forced him from his car at gunpoint. His assailants would later be identified as terrorists from the group Islamic Jihad, which served as an alias for the real perpetrators, Hezbollah. The circumstances surrounding the...

Where 'Disrespect' Can Land You in JailVenezuela's minister of communication and information, Andres Izarra, recently accused The Post and several other American media of being part of a campaign to defame Venezuela directed by the Bush administration and funded by the State Department. Apparently I drew Izarra's attention by writing several columns and editorials lamenting President Hugo Chavez's assault on press freedom and the independent judiciary and his support for anti-democratic movements elsewhere in Latin America. One of the journalists libeled by Izarra pointed out that he had no evidence to back up his accusations. According to the newspaper El...

AFRICANS WILL LEAVE ANGLICAN COMMUNION SAYS CHURCH SOCIETY LEADER By David W. Virtue Come October the Africans will leave the Anglican Communion following the conclusion of the Lambeth-Eames Commission, because they think the report will be little more than a "fudge", says David Phillips, General Secretary, Church Society. Writing in Anglican Mainstream, the online voice of orthodoxy in the Church of England, Phillips said, "There is no doubt that the Africans in particular do not really understand the western church. They do not understand they way it plays politics in bodies such as the General Synod or the Primates meetings....

<p>NAIROBI, Kenya — The shock waves of last year's ordination of an openly homosexual bishop in the United States reverberated in Kenya yesterday, as Anglican leaders from across Africa began meeting to discuss whether to keep accepting crucial funding from the U.S. Episcopalian Church.</p>

African Primates in make-or-break summit Number: 5712 Date: April 8, Africa’s continuing place in the Anglican Communion will come under sharp scrutiny next week as the leaders of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa [CAPA] meet in Nairobi. The summit, running from April 14-16, will review the future of CAPA in light of the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in the USA. The 12 African Primates and the Bishop of Egypt will be joined by the Archbishops of Southeast Asia, South America, the West Indies, the Philippines, Pakistan, and New Guinea along with other Anglican...

GUATEMALA DISASSOCIATES ITSELF FROM IARCA AND ROBINSON CONSECRATION Statement of the Episcopal Church of Guatemala on the participation of the Central American Primate in Gene Robinson's consecration THE CASE HISTORY The Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church of the United States of America (ECUSA) elected the Rt Revd Gene Robinson as Bishop Coadjutor by a legal canonical process according to the law and constitutions of ECUSA. The aforementioned canonical legislation stipulates that to be consecrated as a bishop, it is required that the majority of diocesan bishops and their respective diocesan committees give their consent. When there is...

Anglican Leaders Back Ban on Gay Clergy By RICHARD N. OSTLING AP Religion Writer NEW YORK (AP)--Leaders of Anglican churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America joined Friday to endorse a new protest group that is trying to unite Episcopalians in the United States who oppose gay clergy. The statement came from the top officials (called ``primates'') of 13 denominations, which together claim more than half of the 77 million Anglicans worldwide. Their message spurns the leaders and policies of the Episcopal Church, which is the U.S. branch of the international Anglican Communion. The action gives the new U.S. conservative...

The Most Reverend Frank Tracy Griswold Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the USA 815 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 USA 8th January 2004 Dear +Frank, This comes with a prayerful greeting from the Southern Cone in Jesus’ name. As you can see from the attached statement, the decision of ECUSA to consecrate Gene Robinson, a person sexually active outside marriage, and to declare by resolution that same-sex blessings are "in bounds," has left us no choice but to recognize the situation which you have created. That is one of a profound impairment of communion. Our deep sadness...

Huge Weapons Shipment Seized At Port PORTLAND - Federal officials announced late Wednesday the seizure of possibly the largest shipment of weapons ever found in the northwest from Terminal Six at the Port of Portland. Officials with the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and extension of the Department of Homeland Security said inspectors seized more than 700 handguns, 900 magazines, and 450 shotguns from a container at the port on June 28. The CBP said the shipment was bound for Central America, and originated in the People's Republic of China. Authorities say they learned of the...

CHILE-- A PASTORAL LETTER Pastoral Letter of the Diocesan Bishop to the Parishes and Missions of the IACH Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: The notice of the consecration of Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual as Bishop Coadjutor of the DIocese of New Hampshire, USA; has caused a great deal of pain and deception. This has brought us to the point of breaking communion with this diocese as we consider this consecration contrary to the Bible and the practice of traditional Anglican theology. The Diocese of Chile does not recognize to Gene Robinson as an Anglican bishop. Our Anglican Province...

Primates break with Church over homosexuality By Chris Hastings and Elizabeth Day (Filed: 02/11/2003) Twenty Anglican primates who oppose the ordination of homosexuals will announce today that they have split from their North American counterparts. The primates will make public their decision to break away from the Episcopal Church of the USA if, as expected, the American Church consecrates Canon Gene Robinson, a practising homosexual, as Bishop of New Hampshire today. In the statement, the primates will say that continued communion with the New Hampshire diocese and those who support the appointment, including the presiding Episcopalian archbishop, Frank Griswold, is...

WASHINGTON -- Al-Qaida and Middle East terrorists are operating near Ecuador's borders with Peru and Colombia, and Ecuador needs U.S. help to combat them, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Thursday. "We have got in the tri-border area a bit of a problem with al-Qaida itself and some Hezbollah elements," he told the House Appropriations' foreign operations subcommittee. "We do need cooperation." In addition, U.S. efforts to help Colombia combat drug traffickers -- and perhaps insurgents -- might hurt Ecuador if the traffickers and rebels seek to escape there, he said. President Bush's request for $27 billion in...

BOSTON -- The FBI has issued an alert, asking the public to be on the lookout for four Middle Eastern men the agency wants for questioning on terrorist matters and they may be in New England. The FBI in Portland, Maine has alerted State Police that a witness may have seen two men who resembled the wanted men in that area. The witness spotted them in Naples, Maine, just northwest of Portland, last Sunday around 4 p.m. They were heading south on Route 302. The witness told police the two men were driving a late-model, slate-gray BMW with Massachusetts plates....

Latin America’s fastest-growing faith resents terror allegations from U.S. By Michele Salcedo Staff Writer September 1, 2003 PORLAMAR, MARGARITA ISLAND, Venezuela -- Margariteños cannot figure out how their picturesque island off the coast of Venezuela became a battleground in the war on terrorism. No bomb ever exploded here, no shot fired. But the Bush administration has the island, and other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, under scrutiny as a place where terrorists might live, raise money or move contraband. "The television commentators are distorting information," said Sulenma Reyes, who, like other villagers of El Magüey, learned from television...

The ambiguous - not to say complicit - attitude of the Lula da Silva administration vis-a-vis the recent crackdown on Cuban dissidents by Fidel Castro’s tyrannical government has had a profound impact in the United States. Castro imprisoned 75 opponents and had three men who tried to flee the island executed by firing squad. The Workers’ Party (PT) government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva once again displayed its duplicity and ideological compromise with leftist and dictatorial regimes. It also made clear its unstated but real desire to work for a politico-social destabilization of Latin America, which it sees as...