Free Republic

The government of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is emerging as a rare supplier of diesel to Syria, potentially undermining Western sanctions and helping the Syrian government fuel its military in the middle of a bloody crackdown on civilian protests. A cargo of diesel, which can be used to fuel army tanks or as heating fuel, was expected to arrive at Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias this week, according to two traders and shipping data. The cargo could be worth up to $50 million. Chavez is a vociferous advocate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who face pressure...

Senator Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today calling for “increased scrutiny” of the Iranian Mission to the United Nations in light of potential terrorist attacks against New York City. Pointing to NYPD’s director of intelligence warning that Iran is “essentially” the number one threat, Mr. Schumer argued these diplomats must ”be vigorously monitored.” “With Iran’s increasingly bellicose and threatening behavior, it’s imperative that agents of the Iranian government in the United States receive additional scrutiny to ensure that they pose no threat to New York or the rest of the country,” Mr. Schumer said...

<p>CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Actor Sean Penn criticized Republican presidential candidates during a visit to Venezuela on Thursday, saying that right-wing policies in the United States aim to benefit the wealthy. Penn made the remarks after meeting with socialist President Hugo Chavez at Venezuela's presidential palace, when he was asked by a reporter about criticisms of Chavez by some Republican candidates.</p>

enezuela's ailing strongman Hugo Chavez unleashed a crude anti-Semitic attack on a rising opposition figure, Henrique Capriles Radonski, the New York Sun reported Thursday. Capriles is a Catholic whose maternal grandparents were Jews from Poland. That makes him a Jew, by Jewish standards. He is emerging as a challenger to succeed Chavez, who suffers from cancer. According to the Sun, a broadcast titled “The Enemy Is Zionism” on the main and official government radio station in Caracas said that Capriles had worked for private firms “linked to the interests of the Zionist bourgeoisie.” It called him part of a “fascist...

On the campaign trail, presidential candidate Barack Obama once called for a "reset" policy with Iran. Supposedly, the unpopularity of the Texan provocateur George W. Bush and his administration's inability to finesse "soft power" had needlessly alienated the Iranian theocracy. After all, the widely quoted but highly politicized 2007 National Intelligence Estimate claimed that Iran had ceased work on a bomb in 2003 and would not have a weapon for the foreseeable future. That flawed analysis fueled another popular talking point: that the Bush-Cheney warmongers were looking for more phantom weapons of mass destruction in Iran of the sort that...

For most Venezuelans, obtaining U.S. dollars in a tightly regulated economy is a nightmare. But not for President Hugo Chavez’s 14-year-old daughter, Rosines, who posted a picture of herself peering out from behind a wad of greenbacks. The picture, posted on Instagram, a free photo-sharing app, triggered controversy in Venezuela this week after posting a picture of herself flaunting a fistful of dollars.

(CNN) -- Cancer has spread in Hugo Chavez's colon, spine and bones, and the Venezuelan president could have only nine months to live, Spain's ABC newspaper reported Monday, citing medical records provided by unidentified intelligence sources. "His health appears to be deteriorating at a more rapid pace. Clearly there has been metastasis in the bones and the spine," the ABC report says, citing what it said were doctors' observations after medical tests December 30. The newspaper did not divulge its sources or detail how it checked the information's accuracy, and CNN was unable to verify the report. An official in...

WASHINGTON — On Dec. 31, just hours before a New Year's Eve celebration, President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. Section 1245 of the law contains language providing authority to impose economic sanctions on Iran in order to deter the ayatollahs from acquiring nuclear weapons. White House efforts to have the sanctions provision stripped from the bill failed, and the measure became law with a quiet flourish of the presidential pen. Ever since, Washington and Tehran have been waging a war of words. None of this works to the advantage of the American...

The racism bluff By GUSTAVO D. PEREDNIK 12/21/2011 21:46 Judaism brought anti-racism to the world via the idea that all mankind was derived from Adam, the first man. Haitian anthropologist Antenor Firmin pioneered in 1885 the rebuttal of racist theories; since then there has been a constant endeavor to defeat racism through education and legislation. These efforts are undermined by those who deliberately exaggerate the problem of racism in present times in order to avoid criticisms of the many other evils in their societies. In a world in which Barack Obama was elected president of America, and that put a...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that his government will close its consulate in Miami after the U.S. government expelled a diplomat. Chavez said he decided the consulate will shut its doors in response to what he called an unfair action by the U.S. State Department...Livia Acosta Noguera, Venezuela’s consul general in Miami, was ordered out of the U.S. last weekend followed an FBI investigation into allegations that she discussed a possible cyber-attack on the U.S. government while she was assigned to the Venezuelan Embassy in Mexico. The allegations were detailed in a documentary aired by the...

At the best of times, the U.S. government is regarded as somewhat out of touch with what’s happening in the American “heartland,” much less the world at large, so much so that the phrase “inside the Beltway” was coined to define the syndrome. But every now and again, an incident occurs that so perfectly encapsulates Washington’s self-absorbed navel gazing that little further comment is needed. On 9 January U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland provided such a “Kodak moment” to the Washington press corps. The object of her concern? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s visit to Latin America, where he is...

Iran has begun enriching uranium deep inside a mountain and sentenced an American to death for spying, angering the West and undermining hopes that diplomacy could avert further sanctions or war. The start of enrichment at the Fordow bunker near the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom was confirmed on Monday by an Iranian official in Tehran and by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran says its nuclear program is purely non-military but the West believes it is designed to produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic's decision to carry out enrichment work deep underground could eventually make it much...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his country's nuclear program as he began a four-nation tour of Latin America, joining his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in accusing the U.S. and its allies of using the dispute to unjustly threaten Iran.[snip] Both leaders planned to travel to Nicaragua on Tuesday for the inauguration of newly re-elected President Daniel Ortega, and then Ahmadinejad will also visit Cuba and Ecuador.

The United States has ordered the expulsion of Venezuela’s consul general in Miami, AFP reported on Sunday. The expulsion comes amid reports linking the diplomat to an alleged Iranian plot to target sensitive U.S. facilities with cyber attacks. According to the report, the Venezuelan embassy in Washington was notified on Friday that Livia Acosta Noguera, the consul general in Miami, had been declared persona non grata and had until Tuesday to leave the country...

Nearly a decade after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez fired 20,000 oil workers from the state oil company, Venezuelan production has slumped. In nearby Colombia, a country that has attracted many Venezuelan oil engineers, production is soaring. As recently as 2005, Colombia thought it would have to import oil, but today it is exporting sizable amounts to the United States and on the verge of producing 1 million barrels a day.

President Obama’s recent decision to drastically cut future military spending puts the United States in a weakened position vis-a-vis despot regimes and terrorist organizations who are always looking for gratuitous opportunities to attack U.S. interests, according to Congressman Allen West. West says that “there is a sense of weakness that we are conveying, and there is a window of opportunity that people like Iran are seeing.” According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, Obama’s proposed cuts to the military budget “could shrink by over 30%” in the next decade- The Administration projects outlays at 2.7% of GDP in 2021,...

Hugo Chavez has a new theory: that the US has developed a secret technology and is using it to give cancer to left wing Latin American rulers that we don’t like. After all, Fidel Castro, the Hero of Venezuela himself, the president of Paraguay, the current and former presidents of Brazil and now Cristina Kirchner of Argentina have all come down with (quite different) cancers. Bringing the logical acuity and sure grasp of the laws of probability and of cause and effect that he brings to all his policy making, Chavez, the Times of India reports, has shared his reasoning...

SNIPPET - quote: Dissemination *_is_* collection I always get a kick out of people who tell me I give away intelligence for free. What I do is watch how information moves. Keep in mind that the subject covered on this site are pretty darn esoteric by most standards. What kind of people, for example, even know who Oussama Salhab is? Answers include: Oussama Salhab, his family, friends, associates in and out of Hizballah, people he does business with, spies of various nations, etc. Yep. The barn is free, and so is the food.

The US consulate in Caracas has declined to comment on the allegation, so I will in my usual rational, reasonable, and logical manner.This charge that the US has developed a means of infecting anyone - much less Latin American allies of Chavez - with cancer is loony tunes.Bloomberg:...

Paging Andrew Zimmern! Paging Andrew Zimmern!!! You MUST visit San Cristobal and the surrounding region of the state of Tachira. I´m a big fan of ¨Bizzare Foods¨ and I believe the closest Zimmern has ever come to this area was Ecuador. Keep in mind that the state of Tachira was almost completely cut off from the rest of Venezuela until early in the 20th century due to the high mountains and lack of adequate roads. Therefore this region developed its own unique cuisine in isolation from the rest of the country. Access to these many foods is easy accessible at...

I can´t say that I´m a fan of Michael Jackson. I´m not particularly fond of his music nor do I agree with a lot of his lifestyle which best be left unmentioned. However, I do have to give Jackson credit for bringing us an incredible innovation...Moonwalking. And it was Moonwalking, or at least the drunken version of it, that made yours truly a big hit at a mountain resort wedding party on Wednesday. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let us drop back a few hours from your humble correspondent´s drunken Moonwalk to our arrival at the resort. We...

Before I tell you what happened on my second day in Venezuela, a correction on the geography. San Cristobal is about 600 miles mainly west and only a little south of Caracas rather than just south as I posted before. It is in the state of Tachira which is one of three Andean states of Venezuela. Andean which means it is part of the Andes as you can tell from the heights of the nearby mountains and the coolness of the weather. Anybody into hang gliding would love it here. Right near the airport where I landed we spotted somebody...

Caracas, Venezuela (CNN) -- A day after officials announced the cancer diagnosis of Argentina's president, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wondered Wednesday if the United States could be infecting the region's leaders with the illness. Five current or former Latin American presidents have battled cancer in the past few years, including Chavez himself, who claims to have beaten an unspecified cancer. Chavez prefaced his remarks at a military event in Caracas by saying, "I don't want to make any reckless accusations," but the Venezuelan president said he was concerned by something he finds "very, very, very strange." "Would it be strange...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to visit Venezuela and Cuba as part of a four-nation Latin America tour in the second week of January 2012, an official said Wednesday. Ahmadinejad will also visit Nicaragua and Ecuador on the trip, his international affairs director, Mohammad Reza Forghani, told the official news agency IRNA. All the countries are left-leaning and share an ideological antagonism towards Iran's arch-foe, the United States. "Mr Ahmadinejad will first go to Caracas to visit (Venezuelan President) Hugo Chavez," Forghani said, confirming an announcement made Tuesday by Chavez. "He will then go to the swearing-in ceremonies for Nicaraguan...

Bienvenidos Desde La Republica Capitalista (en un futuro cercano) de Venezuela!Well, the big surprise is that it is NOT sweltering jungle hot like I thought it would be. I am in the mountainous region of San Cristobal about 600 miles south of Caracas. Daytime temps in the 70s and down to the 60s at night. The other surprise was an ecologically DEVASTATED country. No, not Venezuela. Haiti. Our plane flew over the mountains of Haiti and I was shocked at what I saw. Not a tree, not a bush, not even a blade of grass judging from the utter lack...

Cuban-born, Venezuelan-raised actress Maria Conchita Alonso and actor Sean Penn had a contentious exchange at Los Angeles International airport recently, in which Alonso called Penn a “communist a**hole“ and Penn called Alonso a ”pig.” Over a year and a half after Alonso penned an open letter to Penn asking him why he supports socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the two met up serendipitously (or not so) at LAX while both were waiting to claim lost luggage. Alonso, who starred alongside Penn in the 1988 film “Colors,” described the exchange to Steve Malzberg on WMAL. “I go ‘Hello,’ and he smiles...

Interview over a confrontation at the Airport where she has words with Sean Penn. Audio at link.

The Black Sea region is the center of the world's nuclear black market, with Russia being the known or suspected source of most nuclear contraband and Turkey the preferred destination. To date, known attempts at nuclear smuggling have been unsuccessful, because the insiders who stole fissile material were not experienced at finding buyers and moving the material across country borders. Recently, however, organized crime appears to have become involved in some nuclear trafficking. Such involvement threatens to change the nuclear terrorism equation, providing the marketing and transportation expertise previously lacking. The US response to nuclear smuggling is handled by the...

During a recent visit to Guaicaipuro, a traditional market in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, a fresh meat refrigerator sat empty at a grocery. Many consumers looking for beef, poultry or fish had to go home empty-handed. The produce section looked well stocked with plenty of fruits and vegetables. But consumers shopping at Guaicaipuro complained that prices, even for basic products, had skyrocketed. Alba Varela, a housewife and resident of Caracas, went to the market looking for cornmeal to prepare hallacas, a traditional Venezuelan dish, especially this time of the year. "It's fundamental, because other than pork it's the main dish...

NEW YORK — In an historic hearing in the federal courthouse in Manhattan on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels said he planned to issue a ruling in the coming days declaring that Iran shares in the responsibility for the 9/11 terror attacks. “The extensive record submitted to this court, including fact witnesses and expert testimony, is satisfactory to this court,” Judge Daniels said. The court “accepts as true” the various allegations of the plaintiffs and their experts, he declared, and “will issue an order” in the coming days that Iran bears legal responsibility for providing “material support” to...

U.S. officials are investigating reports that Iranian and Venezuelan diplomats in Mexico were involved in planned cyberattacks against U.S. targets, including nuclear power plants. Allegations about the cyberplot were aired last week in a documentary on the Spanish-language network Univision, which included secretly recorded footage of Iranian and Venezuelan diplomats being briefed on the planned attacks and promising to pass information to their governments. A former computer instructor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (said) he was recruited by a professor there in 2006 to organize a group of student hackers to carry out cyberattacks against the United States,...

In the Bible, shepherds and wise men paid homage to the newborn baby Jesus. In Venezuela, it seems Hugo Chavez turned up in the manger, too. A Nativity scene in Caracas showing the socialist president standing before the traditional crib-in-a-manger has stirred up a pre-Christmas controversy in the politically polarized country. "It has nothing to do with the real Nativity, with religion. I don't like it," said passerby Arnaldo Amundaray, tutting as he took a close look at the model. For Chavez supporters and the Nativity's creators, it is a legitimate and innocent tribute to their man. "The intention is...

"The Iranian Threat" ("La Amenaza Irani"), a documentary that looks at Iran's growing political, economic and military ties in Latin American, will premiere Dec. 8 on the Univision Network ... the documentary also looks at the threat Iran's ties pose to the Latin American regions and the United States.The documentary, which was produced in collaboration with Univision News' Investigative unit, reveals exclusive findings, including secret video and audio recordings that provide a rare window into an alleges Iranian-back cyber attack against the United States from Mexico ... also features unseen video footage from extremists linked to Iran and an interview...

Leaders of Latin American and Caribbean governments gathered in Caracas, Venezuela, on Friday and Saturday to forge a new regional organization that includes representatives from every country in the Western Hemisphere except the United States and Canada. According to socialist rulers backing the new scheme, it is aimed at providing a counterweight to U.S. “imperialism” in the region while promoting “integration.” The communist regime ruling mainland China celebrated the news and vowed to support the group. The budding 33-member alliance — dubbed CELAC, the Spanish initials for “Community of Latin American and Caribbean States” — is reportedly the brainchild of...

Jimbo Wales (the founder of wikipedia) criticized the Hugo Chavez article for not including criticism of Chavez's food policies. Some of the things that Jimbo criticized the article for including are the very same sources that I had added in the past, which the Chavez supporters then deleted. My original account was Grundle2600. I was banned by User Rd232. He was one of the Chavez supporters who kept deleting that information. Jimbo doesn't seem to know that this info has been repeatedly added and then deleted from the article. The person who banned me from wikipedia was Rd232, one of...

The hemisphere is throwing a party, but not everyone’s invited. On Friday, the leaders of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries are gathering in Venezuela to forge a new organization that will include every nation in the region — except the United States and Canada. Some are hoping the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC, will blunt U.S. influence in the region and replace the Organization of American States, the only group that’s opened to all countries in the hemisphere. The OAS, which promotes democracy and development in the region, has been accused by some nations of...

CAIN’S VISION FOR FOREIGN POLICY & NATIONAL SECURITY The Americas Mexico: Friend and Partner Mexico is a friend in need. Our southern neighbor is struggling with drug-related violence that has claimed an estimated 40,000 lives over the past several years. By standing with Mexico now to help it solve its increasingly severe economic and security problems, we will help solve the problem of illegal immigration at home. Some 40% of Mexicans believe Mexico is a failed state. This helps explain why so many are seeking to emigrate. With declining oil reserves, a looming water shortage in Mexico City, and youth...

Much like his back-slappin' pal Vlad, Comrade Hugo's been (undeservedly) blessed with oil, minerals, mountains, dramatic ocean coastlines... and a whole bunch of these: ¡Ay caramba! If it was she who invited me to Caracas, perhaps I could get used to waiting in line 2 hrs for bread... as much as I detest socialism, it's important to maintain a balanced perspective and consider the situation as a whole! Video/links/more at Reaganite Republican Missology   glamcheck   Pageant.com

Venezuela has received its first shipment of gold bars, after President Hugo Chavez ordered the repatriation of 85% of the country's bullion reserves. President Chavez has explained the move as an act of sovereignty that will protect Venezuela's reserves from global economic turbulence. Some critics have suggested that Mr Chavez is acting out of fears Venezuela's overseas assets could one day be frozen by sanctions, as happened to his friend and ally, the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Amid the many depredations of Hugo Chávez, it is easy to forget that Venezuela has turned into the most violent country in South America, and that Caracas has become a global murder capital. According to the independent Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, the annual number of homicides nationwide grew from 5,974 in 1999 (when Chávez took power) to 17,600 in 2010. Venezuela today is a haven for international terrorist groups (including the Colombian FARC, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, and the Spanish ETA), and it is also a veritable gangster’s paradise of narco-trafficking, kidnapping, and armed robbery, with brutal crime syndicates running drugs,...

H.L. Mencken, I think it was, who uttered the immortal phrase "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." No one is a greater admirer of the dynamic and generous society that is America, and when I consider all the nations we could have had living next door I often think we won the neighbourhood lotto. But for some reason Mencken's phrase kept echoing in my head when I heard the news about Washington's plan to delay their decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. Folly is too kind a word for this decision. It is the crassest...

The election of Barack Obama, we were told, would bring new respect and friendship for America in the world. No longer would we be led by a Texas cowboy ignorant of and indifferent to world opinion. Instead, we would have a visionary leader sympathetic to the governments and peoples of the world. But Obama's best moments in foreign policy have been when he follows the leads of predecessors. In his twice-postponed trip to Australia this week, he will reportedly announce that a U.S. Navy base will be opened there. That cements ties already strengthened by George W. Bush and previous...

Supernatural things are coming your way , The stuff dreams are made of but won't fade away \o/ , The supernatural exposed in and through you , Watch now as "I" come into view ! The Ancient of Days The I AM That "IS ONE" ! A Fullness , a Gladness , My Entire Kingdom , For when ever "I" show My Face , There in the midst you shall find "My" Grace , Abounding , Abiding , Sweet and True , The "ALL of ME " all over you ! Genesis 28:10-19 Amplified Bible (AMP) 10And Jacob left Beersheba...

<p>CARACAS, Venezuela - The kidnapping ordeal of Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos ended after two days when Venezuelan police commandos swooped in to rescue him in a flurry of gunfire and arrested five alleged abductors.</p> <p>Ramos said he was happy and thankful to be alive, and that the final moments had been hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy fire in the remote mountainous area where he was being held.</p>

President Hugo Chávez’s cancer is spreading faster than expected and his doctors fear that he may have only a few months left to live, a former U.S. government official said Wednesday, citing sources inside the Venezuelan government. “The international team of doctors in charge of treating Hugo Chávez’s cancer does not expect him to live more than six months,” said Roger Noriega, former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States. Noriega’s opinion came in a column titled “Hugo Chávez’s Big Lie and Washington’s Apathy,” published on the Internet portal of Inter-American Security Watch. “Sources who have given me privileged...

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was abducted by gunmen Wednesday from his home in his native Venezuela. Ramos, 24, was taken away in an SUV by four armed men in Santa Ines in central Carabobo state, Kathe Vilera, spokeswoman for the catcher's Venezuelan League team, said through her official Twitter account. "This is sad, worrisome and true that Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped," she said. Ramos was playing winter ball with the Aragua Tigers. She said the rising Major League Baseball star was kidnapped at 6:45 p.m. local time (2315 GMT) and that police have been notified. Santa Ines lies...

Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped, the Denver Post's bilingual website, VivaColorado.com, reports, with other media sources corroborating the news. No other information is available at this time. Ramos hails from Venezuela, where there is a significant problem with kidnapping. Generally, these crimes are for money and Ramos was a logical target, given that his success in the majors earned him the right to a league-minimum contract, which was $414,500 in 2011. That's a lot of money to most people, especially in Venezuela. The 24-year-old just completed his rookie season with Washington, hitting .267/.334/.445 in 435 plate appearances, slugging...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will run the first-ever Emergency Alert System (EAS) test for 30 seconds Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST, which will be used to inform Americans in the case of a national emergency. *snip* The alert, administered in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will be used to inform Americans in the event of a national emergency, should other modes of communication be unavailable.

Venezuelan militant Carlos the Jackal, who goes on trial in France Monday, boasted in an interview with the daily El Nacional of committing more than 100 attacks that claimed up to 2,000 lives. Asked about civilian bystanders who lost their lives in his attacks, the Marxist-Leninist radical said: "There were very few. I calculated that they were fewer than 10 percent. "So out of 1,500 - 2,000 killed, there were not more than 200 civilian victims," . ... Asked if he believed that he had made mistakes, Carlos said his crimes were minor. He charged that former Cuban president Fidel...

MANAGUA (Reuters) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla leader, looks likely to win re-election on Sunday after heavy social spending won him strong support among the country's poor. Ortega has overseen a period of economic progress in his five years in power, backed by financial aid from his socialist ally in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez.