Free Republic

Four miles under the ocean's surface off Brazil's lush coast lie billions of barrels of recently discovered light crude — a treasure that could transform the country into an oil superpower. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called it "a gift from God" and pledged to end chronic poverty and narrow the country's broad gap between the rich and the poor.

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia: THE documentary on Bolivian state television opens with grainy images of leaders of the Ustashe, the fascist movement that ruled Croatia during World War II. The movie, part of a propaganda campaign against one of President Evo Morales's most vocal critics, then shows black-and-white photos of emaciated victims in concentration camps, followed by the question, "Who is Branko Gora Marinkovic Jovicevic?" Tapping a pack of Camel Lights on his desk, Branko Marinkovic, the 41-year-old scion of a cooking oil and cattle ranching empire, is understandably displeased at being associated with Nazis who fled to South America. After...

President Bush on Saturday used the visit of Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe to urge Congress to pass a free trade agreement with the South American country. In remarks to reporters alongside Uribe at the White House Rose Garden, Bush said it is vital that Congress considers the trade pact before adjourning. “It is a statement of friendship, it's a statement of common values. And if this agreement were not to pass it would embolden the voices of populism in the neighborhood, to the detriment of a government which has been very strong in dealing with human rights and human dignity...

<p>Welcome to Obama-mania, Brazil-style. Few countries have embraced the idea of the US's first black president as enthusiastically as Brazil, a country with one of the largest Afro-descendant populations on Earth yet where black faces remain a minority in politics. Obama T-shirts are everywhere while chat shows and newspaper columns are filled with talk of the 47-year-old Illinois senator.</p>

Excerpt - MOSCOW. Sept 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers have patrolled the eastern coast of South America, aide to Russian Air Force commander Col. Lieut. Vladimir Drik told Interfax-AVN. "The aircraft took off from the Libertador military airfield in Venezuela at 4.30 p.m. Moscow time [on September 15]. They flew over neutral waters along the eastern coast of South America in the direction of Brazil. They landed at an airfield in Venezuela at 10 p.m.," Drik said. The Alexander Molodchy and Vasily Senko bombers were in air for about six hours. The crewmembers practiced synchronization and...

Plans by an unknown group to attack staff of Israel's national carrier El Al in Canada have been thwarted, Israel's private Channel Two television reported on Wednesday. Without giving the nationalities of the alleged attackers, it said they had monitored the comings and goings of El Al aircrew at a Toronto hotel. Security procedures for crews overnighting at the hotel between flights have now been changed, it added. On Tuesday, Israeli newspapers reported that at least five attempts by Hizbullah to abduct Israeli businessmen in Africa, Asia, and South America had been foiled. Each time, Hizbullah -- which fought a...

Iran and Bolivia will "stick by each other" said hardline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday, in comments sure to provoke concern in Washington. Ahmadinejad's statements came at a joint press conference with leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales in Tehran. He said the two government weren't interested in U.S. concerns about their close ties. "We will stick by each other's side and will be supportive of each other. (I) had extensive talks with Mr. Morales on this," he said. "The geographical distance between the two countries is long but our hearts, thoughts and wills are very close." Ahmadinejad also praised Morales...

CARACAS (AFP) - The recent nationalizations of strategic sectors in Venezuela are frightening away foreign companies and turning the country into South America's worst destination for foreign investment, analysts say. President Hugo Chavez's decision to take over electricity, oil, steelmaking, cement and telephone enterprises over the past year may strengthen the "revolutionary" drive towards building a socialist nation, but it also drives off multinationals which have the funds to boost economic activity.

ASUNCION (AFP) - An ex-bishop who ended 61 years of one-party conservative rule in Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, was sworn in Friday as his nation's president, further swelling the ranks of leftwing leaders in South America. Ideologically aligned leaders, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner, Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Bolivia's Evo Morales and Ecuador's Rafael Correa attended the ceremony in Asuncion

CARACAS, Venezuela - Riot police used tear gas Wednesday to block hundreds of Venezuelans protesting the latest moves by President Hugo Chavez to concentrate his power. The demonstrators said a blacklist of opposition candidates and a series of socialist decrees are destroying what's left of their democracy. Though the protest of about 1,000 people chanting "freedom!" was small compared to past marches, there is a growing public outcry over the sidelining of key government opponents ahead of state and local elections in November.

The Colombian TV released footage taken by the army during the rescue operation of July 2, 2008 where several hostages were freed, including presidential hopeful Ingrid Betancourt and 3 American citizens. American CIA and Israeli Mossad were involved in this operation.

Scientists exploring caves in the bone-dry and mostly barren Atacama Desert in Chile stumbled upon a totally unexpected discovery this week: water. They also found hundreds of thousands of animal bones in a cave, possibly evidence of some prehistoric human activity. The findings are preliminary and have not been analyzed. The expedition is designed to learn how to spot caves on Mars by studying the thermal signatures of caves and non-cave features in hot, dry places here on Earth. Scientists think Martian caves, some of which may already have been spotted from space, could be good places to look for...

ZE08073008 - 2008-07-30 Number of Priests on Rise in Latin America Region Faces Challenges Regarding Vocations BOGOTA, Colombia, JULY 30, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The number of priests in Latin America and the Caribbean increased from 2000 to 2005, though the situation of vocations faces various challenges. A team within the Latin American bishops' council collected and analyzed the vocational statistics from 22 countries for the five-year period. Overall, there was an increase of 11.93% in the number of diocesan priests (from 37,884 to 42,405) and a slight decrease in the number of religious priests (from 24,186 to 23,945). During those years,...

In 2008, Sao Paulo, Brazil hosted the largest homosexual pride parade ever. A bill, already approved in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies and currently being debated in the Senate, demonstrates the type of dictatorship the homosexual movement would like to impose on the Christian world. If this bill were to become law it would punish with imprisonment, anyone who criticizes homosexual ideology or practice. This would empower the homosexual movement worldwide, thus reinforcing their plans here in America. Similarly, it uncovers the true goals of the homosexual movement, and, is thus of pivotal importance to freedom-loving people aroung the globe. Religious...

SAO PAULO (AFP) — Brazil should have a role as a leader in Latin America to counter "disturbing" leftist trends embodied by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez or Colombia's FARC guerrillas, US presidential candidate John McCain has told one of the biggest Brazilian newspapers. "There are disturbing trends in the region, like the anti-American socialism of Hugo Chavez.... Against these trends, Brazil represents something totally different, a successful country with a brilliant future," Tuesday's O Estado de S. Paulo daily said McCain wrote in an e-mail interview. The US Republican candidate said, according to the Portuguese translation of his comments, that...

Christians will face prison for speaking out against homosexuality if Brazil's Senate passes a bill approved unanimously by its House of Representatives. The measure is considered the country's newest attempt to promote homosexuality, disguised as an act to prevent discrimination, the Catholic News Agency reports. If anyone prevents actions of "homosexual affection" in public or private locations open to the public, they could face up to five years in prison for doing so, the Association of the Defense of Life reports. The bill also seeks to penalize private and public school administrators with up to three years in prison if...

The City of the White MenThere isn't much left of the city of Tiahuanaco in Bolivia, South America. In the 1500's, the Spanish systematically destroyed the buildings. Later, many of the stone blocks were looted for houses in a nearby village. Most recently more stone was taken to lay a railroad right-of-way. Despite this, what is left is still a sight to see. Tiahuanaco is old. It was already in ruins when the Incas took over the area in 1200 A.D.. It is situated on a mountain at an altitude of 12,500 feet and boasts a pyramid 700 feet long,...

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that South American nations will seek a common currency as part of the region's integration efforts following the creation of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) last week. "We are proceeding so as, in the future, we have a common central bank and a common currency," said Lula in his weekly radio program, noting that this process will "not be fast." The president highlighted the importance of helping the group's more "economically fragile" members, such as Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. "We have to help them because the stronger the countries...

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A shallow, 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit central Colombia on Saturday, shaking buildings in the capital, Bogota, and sending panicked residents into the streets, witnesses and the U.S. Geological Survey said. Authorities said there were no initial reports of injuries, but Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno told local radio some buildings in the city were slightly damaged. "The report we have so far is that it was strong and some structures have suffered damage, but there is nothing to lament," Moreno said. One Bogota government building was evacuated after the quake sent a shower of bricks tumbling off one of...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - Bolivia's largest state voted amid scattered violence Sunday on a measure seeking greater political and economic autonomy from the government of leftist President Evo Morales, who called the vote unconstitutional. As polls closed Sunday, exit surveys showed the autonomy referendum drawing as much as 85 percent support, though they were conducted by local news media sympathetic to the cause. No margin of error was available. Minor clashes across Santa Cruz state injured at least 25 people during the politically charged vote, which sought to separate the state's freewheeling capitalism and mixed-blood heritage from Morales' vision of...

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Hundreds of people fled remote villages in southern Chile on Friday after a snowcapped volcano erupted, sending minor earthquakes rippling through the region. The Chaiten volcano belched fire and ash on Thursday night, causing more than 60 small tremors in Los Lagos, a region about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) south of the capital of Santiago. More tremors can be expected in the coming days, warned Emergency Bureau Director Carmen Fernandez. The government evacuated as many as 1,500 people from nearby villages and the town of Chaiten, just 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) from the volcano, as ash...

Geopolitics: With the discovery of vast troves of oil south of our border, it's probable that U.S. strategic interests will shift to our hemisphere. For the Middle East, that's a warning. For the Americas, it's an opportunity. By 2020, the places that matter to the U.S. strategically may be entirely different than today. It's not hard to project the possibilities. Oil is being discovered in vast quantities in Brazil. Other gigantic deposits have been located in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. Colombia now shows oil reserves as high as Algeria's. The U.S. imported 4.9 million barrels of oil a day in...

Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, is in political trouble. He is clearly hoping that a new expropriation spree will fire up his supporters, at least long enough to keep his allies from suffering heavy defeats in November’s state and municipal elections. What is certain is that the country’s economy will suffer. Mr. Chavez’s cronies have proved that they don’t have the skill — or the honesty — to run these businesses. Bungled management is responsible for a decline in production at the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, known as Pdvsa. The expropriations, added to exchange controls and price controls, are...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) - Costa Rica has rejected a political asylum request by a Colombian presidential confidante accused of having ties with right-wing paramilitaries. The Foreign Ministry says that former Sen. Mario Uribe's request is inadmissible based on information shared with them by Colombian prosecutors. Uribe is a second cousin and close ally to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Colombia's chief prosecutor ordered Mario Uribe's arrest on Tuesday -snip-

THE YEAR 2008 may enter history as the time when the Democratic Party lost its way on trade. Already, the party's presidential candidates have engaged in an unseemly contest to adopt the most protectionist posture, suggesting that, if elected, they might pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared her intention to change the procedural rules governing the proposed trade promotion agreement with Colombia. President Bush submitted the pact to Congress on Tuesday for a vote within the next 90 legislative days, as required by the "fast-track" authority under which the U.S. negotiated...

BELGRADE- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has released a new report that the axis between South American drug cartels and the Albanian mafia have reached "alarming proportions". According to reports by several intelligence agencies, Kosovo is a distribution center on the crossroads of global routes and pathways of drug trafficking. “This represents reason for concern, primarily because of the new pathways of drug trafficking, and inclusion of cocaine in the range of products offered by the groups that are active along the Balkan drug route.... The Albanian mafia has recently begun taking over the control of...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Washington’s favorite Latin American bete noir after Fidel Castro, unsettled Washington again last year by negotiating a $1 billion deal with Moscow to purchase a number of 636-model Varshavianka-class (NATO designation “Kilo”) diesel electric submarines (Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostei, April 4). Various Russian and Venezuelan media reports say that the initial delivery will consist of three to four boats with an eventual nine submarines from Russia. President Chavez is reportedly traveling to Moscow next month for the inauguration of Russia’s new president, Dmitry Medvedev, and while there will sign an agreement for the delivery of the first...

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Venezuelan armed forces occupied 32 sugar plantations Thursday, the latest in a wave of takeovers that some say is a bid by President Hugo Chavez to regain political momentum and reverse his recent slide in the polls. The farms in Lara state were taken over by army units at the request of the Chavez government's National Land Institute, or INTI. The institute in recent years has handled the takeover of thousands of acres of farmland and turned them over to worker cooperatives. The government last week said it would seize privately owned cement manufacturers, and Wednesday it...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — The appearance of a Star of David on new national identity cards has alarmed opponents of President Evo Morales, who recall how the symbol was used to brand Jews in Nazi Germany. Tiny six-pointed stars within a tight circle are printed on the back side of some, but not all, recently issued picture IDs in the Santa Cruz region. The mark was present on three cards seen by The Washington Times. "It raises suspicions that the government is identifying individuals or segments of the population along racial, religious or ideological lines" said Carlos Klinsky, a member...

Contact: Grady Semmens gsemmens@ucalgary.ca 403-220-7722 University of Calgary Corn's roots dig deeper into South AmericaEarliest signs of maize as staple food found after spreading south from Mexican homeland Corn has long been known as the primary food crop in prehistoric North and Central America. Now it appears it may have been an important part of the South American diet for much longer than previously thought, according to new research by University of Calgary archaeologists who are cobbling together the ancient history of plant domestication in the New World. In a paper published in the March 24 advanced online edition of...

An informant who provided German authorities with data from a Liechtenstein bank that sparked a massive tax fraud probe has said his life is threatened, two news magazines are to report Monday. "You are putting my life in danger," Heinrich Kieber wrote to German intelligence services, according to German weekly Focus in an article released in advance of publication over the weekend. The informant has blamed the intelligence services for not keeping his identity secret and asked them to provide him with a new identity so that he can relocate to South America. His request has been refused, Focus reported....

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2008 – Colombia is making solid progress against terrorism, prompting desertions to rise among various subversive armed groups, the commander of U.S. Southern Command told Congress yesterday. Colombia’s main narcoterrorist group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has been reduced to about 9,000 fighters, Navy Adm. James Stavridis said in prepared testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. That’s down from about 17,500 fighters in 2002, he said. Stavridis pointed to the Colombian armed forces’ numerous operational successes against FARC, with the clearing of former strongholds and removal or bringing to justice of numerous...

Venezeuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered tanks and thousands of troops on Sunday to the border with Colombia, accusing it of pushing South America to the brink of war and likening it to Israel for its U.S.-backed attacks on militants. Chavez called Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a criminal and branded his government a terrorist state, over the killing of a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil. "The Colombian government has become the Israel of Latin America," an agitated Chavez said, reiterating his criticism of the Israel Defense Forces' strikes on Palestinian militants. "We aren't going to permit Colombia to become the...

Venezuela threatened to declare war on neighbouring Colombia last night, raising the prospect of the U.S. being drawn into conflict in South America. Venezuela's Left-wing president Hugo Chavez ordered ten tank battalions to the Colombian border and put war-planes under emergency stand-by. The tension follows Colombia's decision to send its army to strike against anti-government guerrillas hiding in the jungles of Ecuador. The surprise attack - launched without Ecuador's permission - killed Raul Reyes, a top commander in the Left-wing Colombian rebel group Farc, and about 16 of his men. President Chavez yesterday closed the Colombian embassy in Caracas, warning...

By Martin Arostegui - SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — South America was on the brink of war yesterday as Venezuela and Ecuador amassed troops on the Colombian border in response to the killing of a Marxist rebel leader. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to join the rebels in a war to overthrow hard-line Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a key ally of the United States, deploying tanks, fighter jets and thousands of troops along the Colombian border. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa also ordered troops to the border, expelled Colombia's ambassador and recalled its ambassador to Bogota, but left its embassy open. Venezuela...

The juxtaposition of events in Colombia and Venezuela give a compelling indication that Hugo Chavez has allied himself with FARC, the terrorist rebels just across his border. The day after the Columbians managed to kill FARC’s second in command, Chavez moved ten battalions to the border, threatening war against the US-allied government in Bogota, which he called “criminal”: President Hugo Chavez on Sunday ordered 10 battalions of troops to the border with Colombia after Colombia’s military killed a top rebel leader.Chavez told his defense minister: “move 10 battalions for me to the border with Colombia, immediately.” He also ordered the...

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez ordered tank battalions to the Colombian border on Sunday after Colombian troops struck inside another of its neighbors, Ecuador, in an attack on rebels. He also ordered the shutting of Venezuela's embassy in Colombia and the withdrawal of all diplomatic staff in the dispute, warning Colombia's actions could spark a war in South America. (Reuters)

Milton Friedmanesque reforms helped create South America’s most prosperous nation.There are now two South Americas,” says Chilean economist Rolf Lüders, a former prime minister under Augusto Pinochet. The old South America, which remains mired in populism and Marxist rhetoric, includes Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The new South America is democratic and free-market-oriented, and includes Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Chile is undoubtedly the most prosperous and stable country in the group, with an annual real growth rate averaging 5.5 percent over the last 15 years and a per-capita annual income of $12,000, the highest...

Discovery of vast prehistoric works built by Giants?The Geoglyphs of Teohuanaco Posted: February 24, 2008 1:00 am EasternBy David E. Flynn© 2008 RaidersNewsNetwork The size and scope of David Flynn's Teohuanaco discovery simply surpasses comprehension. Mammoth traces of intelligence carved in stone and covering hundreds of square miles. For those who understand what they are seeing here for the first time, this could indeed be the strongest evidence ever found of prehistoric engineering by those who were known and feared throughout the ancient world as gods. ~ Thomas Horn This satellite image (above) is a portion of the Andean foothills...

Nearly half a million Brazilians were murdered in the past decade but the homicide rate is gradually falling ... In the 10 years from 1996 to 2006, around 465,000 people were murdered, according to a study published by two aid groups and the federal government. The vast majority were shot. Gang-related violence routinely shakes Brazil's major cities, temporarily shutting down neighborhoods and killing innocent bystanders. the number of homicides in 2006 fell for the third consecutive year to 46,660 from a peak of 50,980 in 2003...

One of the most troubling threats in America's backyard is the emerging axis of Cuba's Communist regime and the Iranian government, assisted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Fidel Castro has been cultivating the Islamist regime in Tehran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.... In an address at Tehran University, Castro said that "Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with each other, can bring America to its knees. The U.S. regime is very weak, and we are witnessing this weakness from close up." He said American "imperialism" would be overthrown...a former counterintelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency said Cuba has established four...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — “Against narco-communism,” reads one line of graffiti in this city in the lowlands of Bolivia. “To arms, Cruceños,” reads another, calling on residents to fight the government of President Evo Morales, who put the armed forces on alert this week as four eastern provinces move toward greater autonomy.

Ex-wife takes on Chavez's socialist push By IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer Sat Dec 8, 7:36 AM ET BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela - A new voice has emerged to challenge Hugo Chavez's push to turn Venezuela into a socialist society, someone with rare insight into the president's passions and vulnerabilities: his ex-wife. Marisabel Rodriguez says her return to the public spotlight is not a personal vendetta. "This fight is not against a single person," she said in an interview at her home with The Associated Press. "This struggle is against the danger posed by leaving a person in power for a long...

China poised to take over U.S. base at Ecuador's invitation Ecuador’s president has offered the Chinese government an airbase currently serving as one of the last U.S. military outposts in South America. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said during his recent visit to China that he would offer Beijing a lease on the Manta Airport, the presidential website reported last week. Currently, Manta is used by U.S. military forces for operations. The contract is up in 2009 and Correa will not renew it, a transport and public works ministry communications official told BNamericas. Correa said access to the air base is...

As we've discussed before, everything that happens, anywhere in the world is now being described a "a defeat for George Bush." Two such "defeats for George Bush" came to light this past week - and I'm not even counting West Virginia's loss to Pittsburgh which helped vault LSU and Ohio State into the BCS title game in January. First came the news that John Murtha (D-Pa) who has been mentor to, and ally of, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) had changed his mind on Iraq. For years Murtha has been among the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. According...

An entire continent is sliding unremarked into dictatorship. That continent is South America, traditionally treated by the British press as a byword for dullness. In a famous competition among sub-editors at The Times to find the most boring headline, the winner, by a comfortable margin, was "Small earthquake in Chile: not many dead". Well, a tremor is now pulsing through the entire region, throwing down parliament after parliament. Please, before your eye skips on to the next article, pause to consider how swiftly, and with what enthusiasm, constitutional government can be overturned. Ten years ago, every country in South America,...

"Water, water every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water every where, Nor a drop to drink." --Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ----------------------------------------------------- Iran isn’t an energy-independent country. I’m well aware that Iran produces more than 4 million barrels of oil per day, the fourth-highest production in the world. And with the near-constant reporting about Iranian crude reserves during the past six months, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could be unaware that Iran has 132 billion barrels in proven reserves--or, at least, they claim to. But what’s often ignored is that...

CARACAS, Venezuela — A diplomatic crisis between Venezuela and Colombia deepened on Tuesday as the government said it has called home its ambassador to Colombia for consultations. The presidents of the two countries have exchanged increasingly sharp words since Colombia's conservative Alvaro Uribe halted efforts by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to mediate a swap of prisoners for hostages held by Colombian rebels...Colombia's foreign minister, Fernando Araujo, however, said that his government will not order its ambassador to return home and said the dispute was with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, rather than Venezuela. "The enemy...

An estimated six million Jews were murdered in the Nazi death camps A "final effort" is under way in South America to track down and prosecute ex-Nazi war criminals before they die.Operation Last Chance - a scheme devised by the Simon Wiesenthal Center - attempts to locate Nazis in hiding. It takes the form of a media campaign and offers financial rewards for any information that results in conviction. The four countries involved are Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil - where large numbers of Nazis are thought to have fled following World War II. 'Important results' The operation -...

Venezuelan President released another attention-catching remark about his long-time foe U.S. President George W. Bush. Chavez also attacked Spanish King Juan Carlos I, with whom he had recently come into conflict in Chile’s capital Santiago. Chavez blasted the U.S. and Spanish leaders visiting Paris and Lisbon, ITAR-TASS reports. The Venezuelan president stated in Paris that George W. Bush should be placed in an asylum for his comments about a possibility to start Third World War if Iran developed nuclear weapons. In Lisbon Chavez said that the Spanish King could not make up with the fact that Latin American countries (former...