Free Republic

"Epstein travelled to Cuba at Castro's invitation...former Colombian President [Andres Pastrana] says..." [Quoting from Miami Herald.] "In Cuba, the link between tourism and prostitution is perhaps more direct than in any other country that hosts sex tourists," reported the End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism Network..." In fairness, Epstein visited the Castro-family-fiefdom before the sex-abuse allegations against him surfaced. And the chances are the going rates of desperate child prostitutes per hour (extremely low in Cuba) weren't a major consideration for this multi-millionaire...but still.

The U.S. government eagerly reached out to Venezuelan presidential candidate Hugo Chavez in 1998 and moved quickly to denounce a rumored coup plot against the man who's become one of the Bush administration's archenemies, newly declassified State Department documents obtained by McClatchy Newspapers reveal. State Department officials initially appeared dazzled by Chavez's oversized persona and his promise for sweeping reforms, and seemed sincere in their efforts to help him, the documents show. Some of those overtures drew positive responses from Chavez, who said he wanted U.S. help in fighting corruption and drug trafficking.... ...A Jan. 20, 1999, cable setting the...

BOGOTA, Colombia (June 28, 2002 1:07 p.m. EDT) - A Catholic priest who was critical of leftist rebels was gunned down in front of a church where he had just performed Mass, becoming the latest religious leader killed in Colombia's escalating civil war. Hilario Arango's murder Thursday night in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, comes as Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels unleashed a wave of threats and violence against local leaders. In the past few weeks, the group known as the FARC has killed one mayor and demanded hundreds of other government employees and politicians around the country resign their...