Free Republic

Leadership: Harry Reid has blown off President Ford's funeral because it would be "hard to cancel" his meetings with South America's leaders or put off his junket to Inca ruins. How's that for class? Reid's visit to a tourist site in Peru, instead of presenting himself as the next Senate Majority Leader at a rare state funeral, shows how little respect he has for Gerald Ford, a good man whose presidency was marked by his willingness to put duty to country first in an effort to heal a wounded nation. Not so Reid, who put his own agenda above the...

'Sandalistas' flock for first-hand view of the Chavez revolution By Sophie Arie in Caracas (Filed: 26/03/2006) Venezuela is overtaking Cuba as the inspirational holiday destination for Left-wing tourists, thanks to the socialist revolution of President Hugo Chavez. Wooed by reports of his crusades against poverty, globalisation and American imperialism, groups of visitors, nicknamed the "Sandalistas", are flocking to admire his policies at first hand. President Hugo Chavez Among the progressive pilgrims who have come to marvel are the American civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson, the actor and United Nations "goodwill ambassador", Danny Glover, and Harry Belafonte, the Jamaican-American musician known...

Despite U.S. efforts, the Venezuelan leader is winning friends across Latin America. IT WAS YET ANOTHER public relations coup for Venezuela: Vila Isabel, the samba club sponsored mainly by the Venezuelan government, won the parade competition in Rio de Janeiro's Carnaval last week. A float with a giant likeness of Simon Bolivar, combined with thousands of ornately costumed participants parading down the avenue, trumpeted the winning theme: Latin American unity. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just last month called for "a united front" against Venezuela, continuing a long-term policy of trying to isolate the country. But Washington has been...

U.S. antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan will open the World Social Forum in Caracas on Tuesday together with other political and cultural leaders from diverse nations with a mass action, organizers for the event said Sunday. Sheehan, mother of a dead soldier in Iraq who achieved notoriety from heading various antiwar actions against the government of George W. Bush, will give a speech at a march that will kick off the World Social Forum en the Venezuelan capital, said dará Edgardo Lander, a member of the organizing committee of the event. In the action for which the activist will assist, "she...

Here's something to get you all riled up for the weekend... Join CODEPINK for New Year’s in Cuba December 27-January 2, 2006 Cuba is one of the most beautiful and fascinating countries on Earth—and George Bush says you can’t go there. Well, we’re going anyway, and we invite you to join us! This New Year’s CODEPINK will be organizing a large group of fun-loving and freedom-loving Americans to break George Bush’s ban on travel to Cuba. Join co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, together with Academy Award winning producer Paul Haggis, as we visit with farmers at their co-ops, doctors...

Members of the Stop CAFTA Coalition denounced the approval of the US-Dominican Republic Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) which passed by a vote of 217 to 215 in the House of Representatives early Thursday morning. "This is a tragedy for people in the United States, and even more so for the people of Central America and the Dominican Republic," said Tom Ricker of the Quixote Center. "For three years, we have worked with our brothers and sisters in the region to build a broad-based cross-border movement against this agreement, only to see the Bush Administration and the Republican leadership...

Bogotá. The supposed assistance given by Colombian guerrillas to the kidnappers of the daughter of the Paraguayan ex-president is further proof of the international tentacles of the rebels who finance themselves through criminal activities, said Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Jorge Alberto Uribe. "This only confirms the fact that Colombian narcoterrorist groups are not merely Colombians, they have roots and presence in every country", warned Uribe, who was visiting Holland, according to AP. "I was just with the people at Europol – the European police- and I saw four or five cases which involved people from these groups, especially" from the...

A dialogue between two important members of the FARC (Colombian revolutionary Armed Forces), appears to be among the evidence submitted by the Colombian authorities to the Venezuelan Government according to Colombia’s Radio Caracol. Here is the translation of the only written report I have seen on the issue, which suggests that more than one hundred members of the FARC guerillas were in Caracas in early December for the II People’s Bolivarian Congress, financed and organized by the Chavez Government.. I had talked to two reporters who had mentioned this to me, but said they could not talk about it and...

Last week, three US Senators, Florida's Bill Nelson, Connecticut's Thomas Dodd, and Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee visited with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in Caracas, to try to assess the deteriorating state of US-Venezuelan relations. The three Senators left their meeting, reciting the need for improved relations, and describing how central was Venezuela's role in supplying oil to America. The identical statements could have been uttered had the three Senators visited the sheikhs and princes in Saudi Arabia, of course. However, other than the many paid shills for Saudi Arabia in the think tanks and Middle East studies institutes in this...

London 14.01.05 | Hugo Chavez, the greatest pariah ever to govern our nation, has just frozen diplomatic and trade relations with Colombia. The embarrassing thing for us decent Venezuelans is the reason for this breakage, i.e. the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Rodrigo Granda, FARC leader, was captured in Caracas by bounty hunters, when he was attending, as guest of honour, a Bolivarian celebration organized by the government of Venezuela. The Chavez regime then incurred in a series of mishaps, distortions and outright lies to cover its cosy relationship with the terrorist, who happened to have been naturalized in...

We are going to let go for a while the Anderson case to occupy ourselves with the other political scandal, the one of Granda, the affable "chancellor" of the FARC. This appears to have the façade of pure theater, by both sides. Granda was detained here, by Venezuelan police, and handed over to the Colombian police.... Our hypothesis is that for some reason that this very opaque government will never make public, the presence of the guerrilla chief got uncomfortable for the executive and, in the framework of the new relationship that has developed between Chávez and Uribe ("I swear...

London 05.01.05 | The answer is, he was a guest of honour of the Bolivarian encounter of intellectuals organized, hosted and sponsored by the administration of Hugo Chavez. That’s right folks; Hugo Chavez cuddles with and invites international terrorists at the taxpayer’s expense, although this is not the first time his criminal and clumsy actions are spoilt by respectable police forces. Just to refresh public memory: Remember Montesinos’ 'arrest' in Caracas? Costa Rican authorities would later reveal that a man fitting his description entered their country using a false Venezuelan passport under the name Manuel Antonio Rodriguez. But Venezuela's Foreign...

This evening at maghrib prayers throughout Java calls went out for "volunteers" to go to Aceh to provide humanitarian services and "spiritual guidance" for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Volunteers from Solo, Kendal, Bogor, Cirebon, Majalengka, Pekalongan and Yogyakarta have answered the call and are being transported in chartered buses to Jakarta. At least 77 members of (JI) departed Tuesday (4/1/05) from Yogyakarta to Jakarta in two chartered buses. Islamic militancy groups are angry and claiming that Jakarta has refused to allow the charter of private aircraft from Jakarta into Banda Aceh at the request of the Americans...

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) confirmed that Rodrigo Granda Escobar, known as "the Chancellor" was kidnapped in Venezuela, while attending the Second Bolivarian Peoples Conference. In a statement published on their web page, the Central Command of this organization blamed the kidnapping of "Ricardo", as he is known within FARC, on "the Colombian intelligence services" and blamed his deportation on "gringo advisors and the complicit support of corrupt elements of the Venezuelan police". In the statement they went on to ask that the government of Venezuela make "its position clear regarding guarantees to the other bolivarian organizations that...

London 03.01.05 | Undoubtedly internet is the true revolution, so much so that a bunch of assassins, otherwise known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have their own website where they post communiqués and other stuff. During last December's meeting in Caracas of guerrilla fighters, leftist talebans and revolutionaries, Ricardo Granda a.k.a FARC's 'foreign secretary' was arrested by Colombian police forces and whisked to Colombia. FARC leaders weren't amused by the operation and have released a communiqué criticising comrade Hugo for lack of protective measures towards such honourable guests. These guerrilla fighters must truly enjoy to crack bad...

"Our praises are our wages" Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale" Adulators often appear in countries where total political power is in the hands of a strongman. Longing for approval from the master, adulators will do or say whatever it takes. This has happened in Venezuelan history since Boves and Guzman Blanco walked our geography. The people objects of adulation do not have to be particularly distinguished, as long as they have power. They can be louts like the Monagas brothers or Cipriano Castro or Juan Vicente Gomez or Marcos Perez Jimenez, but this poses no problem for the invertebrate members of the...

When staffers at the National Endowment for Democracy opened a letter asking about their programs in Venezuela last year, they never expected their response to trigger the persecution of democratic activists in that troubled country. Yet that's exactly what has happened, as Latin America's most ambitious strongman, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, has joined forces with American leftists to crack down on grassroots organizations that merely seek to promote free elections. The story begins with Jeremy Bigwood, a self-described journalist with a history of left-wing activism in Central America. He wanted to take a look at just about every scrap of...

As television and radio reel from new censorship laws in Venezuela, there are also signs of intimidation appearing against Venezuela's bloggers. We've recently reported that "media" like VHeadline* aligned with Venezuela's dictatorship have targeted the fearless Aleks Boyd, whose blog VCrisis.vom is a thorn in the side of the Chavez regime. They've now taken aim at essayist Gustavo Coronel, a retired Venezuelan oil executive who writes graceful, informative essays on VenezuelaToday. Coronel's deep well of knowledge has drawn the invective of chavistas in the past, but his latest work, directed at Global Exchange and at the Sandalista political tourists who...

An organization called Global Exchange, based in San Francisco, promotes political tourism to Venezuela, defined in its brochure as a country where "winds of change are blowing." The introduction to the sales pitch is full of praise for the strongman Hugo Chávez, while all references and links recommended to those who might be interested are those known to be shameless propaganda appendices of the Venezuelan regime: Venezuelanalysis.com, VHeadline.com and such. Chávez's agenda, reads the brochure: "includes fighting corruption, redistributing national wealth and opposing the Free Trade Area of the Americas." My laughing aloud gave way to indignation when the brochure...

I am writing to you who are gathered in this august assembly in the Teresa Carreño. The Encounter Between Artists and Intellectuals has been receiving a mild coverage in the press, if not a sarcastic one, but this is probably due to the fact that they have not realized that you were invited by more than the Cuban government. These insensitive weirdoes should remember that poor Fidel is sick, and probably sick of having to receive you regularly in Varadero, amen of catering to you: jineteras are there for dollar paying tourists! No! Fortunately El Supremo the other night set...