Florida Sheriff Blasts Border Policies After 21 Charged in Sex Trafficking Ring

Grady Judd

An undercover human trafficking operation in Florida found that 21 illegal foreign nationals were using papers given to them by the Department of Homeland Security to fly to major cities in the United States for free to engage in sex trafficking, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

“Federal policy drives illegal immigrant crime and victimization,” Judd said when announcing the results of a multi-agency undercover operation that led to the arrest of 228 people. Among them, 21 people arrested were in the country illegally, citizens of Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.

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Nearly 600 Illegal Aliens May Be Transported to Middle Tennessee, DHS Notice Says

A notice from last September by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that a total of 573 “noncitizens” from Guatemala, Venezuela, Honduras, and Mexico intended on traveling to Franklin, Nashville, Davidson County, and Murfreesboro following their release from DHS custody.

The notice, dated as the week ending September 16, 2023, is titled “Intended Destination of Noncitizens Processed at the Southwest Border.”

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Commentary: Biden’s Shameful Border Legacy in Tennessee Is Human Trafficking

Illegal Immigrants

Every January, law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups mark National Human Trafficking Prevention Month to focus public attention on this horrific crime and its devastating impact on the victims involved. Once again, the Biden Administration is calling attention to the Department of Homeland Security’s broader “Blue Campaign” to combat human trafficking.

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Suspected Terrorism Funder Arrested After Being Released into U.S. at Border

Another foreign national who entered the U.S. illegally and was released into the country by the Biden administration had an extensive criminal record and was wanted in Venezuela for financing terrorism.

In April 2021, Border Patrol agents arrested a Venezuelan national for illegal entry near San Luis, Arizona, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was charged with inadmissibility under U.S. immigration law and issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

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More Than 100 Known, Suspected Terrorists Apprehended at Southern Border Fiscal Year to Date

An Afghan national on the federal Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) was apprehended attempting to enter the U.S. illegally near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, California.

The TSDS is the federal government’s database that includes sensitive information about terrorist identities. It originated as a consolidated terrorist watch list “to house information on known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) but has evolved over the last decade to include additional individuals who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known affiliates of watch listed individuals,” CBP states.

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DeSantis Signs Bill Blocking Chinese Property Ownership Near Military Installations

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday a bill that would block Chinese ownership of agricultural land and property near military installations, the latest state to crack down on Communist Party control of U.S. sites.

The law prohibits anyone from China and other totalitarian regimes, including Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Syria, Cuba and North Korea, from having a stake in any property within 10 miles of Department of Defense installations or critical infrastructure. A separate bill, also signed into law Monday, creates additional hurdles for foreign ownership of private schools after federal lawmakers raised red flags over Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ties to a private Florida high school operating a military pre-enlistment program.

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Thousands Stage Protest March Across Mexico, Head for U.S. Border

On Sunday, a group of over 3,000 illegal aliens began a protest march that started in southern Mexico and will march to the north to end at the border between Mexico and the United States.

According to Politico, the march is in protest against the use of illegal alien detention centers, one of which caught fire last month in an incident that led to the deaths of approximately 40 illegals. The mob of illegals, which started its march in Tapachula along the Guatemalan border, will head for Mexico City, to demand that the government put an end to the use of such facilities.

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Former Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton Team Up with American Express and ‘Welcome.US’ to Fly Migrants into the U.S.

American Express Global Business Travel and Welcome.US have reportedly teamed up with former Presidents Obama, Clinton, and George W. Bush’s nongovernmental organization (NGO) called Miles4Migrants to fly migrants to communities across the U.S.

Welcome.US is an NGO that was initially launched to work with President Joe Biden’s administration to facilitate some of the 85,000 Afghans who came into the U.S. in 2021 and 2022 after the debacle created when the U.S. evacuated from Afghanistan, according to Breitbart.

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Regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua Among the Most Undemocratic in the World, According to The Economist

Cuban Flag on Pole

The British magazine The Economist released the  2022 Democracy Index on Thursday, in which Cuba appears in 139th place, among 165 independent states. Once again the government of the country was described as an “authoritarian regime” and in this edition it scored zero in the indicator of electoral processes and pluralism.

The Havana regime also appears among the worst in the categories civil liberties (2.94 out of 10), political participation (3.33), government functioning (3.21) and political culture (3.75).

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Venezuela, Cuba, and Argentina Have the Highest Inflation in Latin America

Venezuela, Cuba and Argentina registered the highest inflation in 2022 compared to other Latin American countries, according to figures from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and BCC reports .

The report covers the period between October 2021 and October 2022, where the highest growth of the index is led by the Caribbean country, which accumulates an increase in inflation of 146%, exceeding that of Argentina by more than 50 percentage points (87 8%), the second on the list, and Cuba, which ranked third with 34.2%.

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Biden Admin to Give Chevron Oil Pumping License in Venezuela: Report

The Biden administration is set to give Chevron Corp. a license to pump oil in Venezuela, according to The Wall Street Journal.

As part of the deal, Chevron would retain partial control of both production and maintenance for a select set of run-down oil fields it previously had stakes in with Petróleos de Venezuela SA, a state-run oil company in Venezuela, according to the WSJ, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal, which is contingent on certain debts being repaid, would also mean President Joe Biden is continuing to move away from sanctioning the socialist regime.

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‘Truth About Socialism’ Tour Heads to University of North Florida

A tour that aims to teach college students about the ills of socialism will stop at the University of North Florida Wednesday. 

“The national ‘Truth About Socialism’ tour, which aims to educate students on college campuses across America about the dangers of socialism ahead of the midterm elections, is coming to the University of North Florida,” according to the press release from the organizers of the event. “This event will be hosted by Turning Point USA in partnership with the Leadership Institute, and members of the press are encouraged to attend.”

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Commentary: Karl Marx’s Gravest Miscalculation

I recently had occasion to re-read Karl Marx’s seminal Communist Manifesto. It had been nearly twenty years since my first reading of the text in graduate school and I remembered little beyond class antagonisms, Marx’s materialism, and the exploitation of the proletariat. But the ongoing crisis in Venezuela led me to once again reflect on the Socialist and Communist Philosophy underneath the unfolding crisis.

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Biden Admin to Expel Illegal Migrants from Venezuela, Provide Thousands of Others a Legal Pathway

The Biden administration will begin expelling some illegal migrants from Venezuela to Mexico, while giving 24,000 others a legal pathway to enter the country, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday.

U.S. border authorities will return Venezuelan migrants who cross illegally to Mexico; however, if they cross the border at a U.S. port of entry and meet certain requirements, including having a U.S. sponsor, they will be allowed to enter and apply for work authorization, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

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Biden Turns to Communist Dictatorship for Oil After OPEC Slashes Production

The Biden administration proposed a deal that will ease sanctions on Venezuela, allowing Chevron to pump oil in the country after the consortium agreed to its largest production cut since the COVID-19 pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The U.S. will unfreeze hundreds of millions of dollars of Venezuelan state funds held up in American banks and in exchange, the country will allow Chevron to produce oil on its lands, according to the WSJ, which cited sources familiar with the deal. The proposal comes after OPEC agreed earlier on Wednesday to cut oil production by two million barrels a day, a decision the White House called “shortsighted,” according to a statement.

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Tennessee Lawmakers Call for Safe Return of Marine Who Attempted Suicide in Venezuelan Jail

Elected officials in Tennessee are calling for the safe return of a U.S. Marine who is jailed in Venezuela after that Marine attempted to take his own life over the weekend. 

“The safe return of Matthew Heath must be the highest priority for the White House and State Department,” said Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03). “Our government and the Venezuelan government must come to an agreement to medically evacuate Matthew. His life is in danger, and we cannot delay.”

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Biden Once Again Turns to Venezuela for Oil After Shutting Down U.S. Leases

The Biden Administration is reportedly set to announce that it will lift several sanctions and other restrictions on Venezuela, allowing for the purchase of oil from the socialist dictatorship.

As reported by The Daily Caller, two anonymous administration officials said that the federal government will soon ease up some of the energy sanctions against the Latin American country, and will allow the American oil company Chevron to enter into negotiations to purchase oil from the state-owned firm PDVSA. In return for the lifting of sanctions, dictator Nicolas Maduro has tentatively agreed to talks with opposition leader Juan Guadio, who has claimed that Maduro’s rule is illegitimate and that he is the rightful president of Venezuela.

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Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez Responds to Biden Outreach to Venezuela Amid Rising Gas Prices

Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez responded to a report Sunday that the Biden administration was beginning discussions with the government of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro related to oil imports

“Rather than making America energy-independent, Biden wants to buy oil from Maduro — yet another murderous thug. Troubling pattern from this administration as they continue to embolden our enemies,” said Nuñez.

Nuñez was born in Miami and her parents lived under the reign of Fidel Castro. She was elected as Florida’s first Hispanic female lieutenant Governor of Florida in 2018.

Nuñez was referring to a New York Times report which indicated that senior U.S. officials with the Biden administration traveled to Venezuela on Saturday to meet with the government of President Maduro. The purpose of the meeting was to step up efforts to separate Russia from its remaining international allies amid a widening standoff over Ukraine.

The meeting was also related to oil.

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State Department to Waive Fees for Immigrants Denied Visas During Travel Ban to Reapply

The State Department will waive fees for immigrants seeking visas to come to the U.S. if they were previously denied one because of the Trump administration’s travel ban, according to a Wednesday announcement.

“An IV applicant who is the beneficiary of a valid immigration petition may submit another visa application after being refused and in most circumstances they are required to pay again the relevant application fees,” according to a Federal Register rule published Wednesday. “The Department exempts from such fees only those IV applicants who are applying again after being refused” a visa under the travel ban.

The ban prevented immigration from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. President Joe Biden issued an executive order repealing the ban on his first day in office in January 2021.

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Trump at Arizona Rally: U.S. Becoming ‘Large-Scale Version of Venezuela’ Under Biden

At a “Save America” rally in Arizona Saturday night, Former President Donald Trump treated a raucous crowd of followers stretching “as far as the eye can see” to a blistering indictment of President Biden, who, he said, has caused “more destruction than five presidents in the last year.”

Trump, who has fueled speculation that he may mount another run for the White House in 2024, told a crowd in Arizona Saturday night that “our country is going to hell” and “the American people must take their lives and future back.”

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Amid U.S. Nuclear Talks, Iran Provokes by Firing Missiles, Inviting Venezuelan Leader for Visit

missile firing into the sky

Iran fired missiles in a provocation toward Israel and invited Venezuela’s socialist leader for a visit as it continued to antagonize the West in the midst of slow-moving negotiations to stop Tehran’s nuclear program.

The official IRNA news agency reported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired 16 surface-to-surface missiles Friday at the end of five days of military drills in the desert, airing footage of the missile launches and suggesting it was a warning to Israel.

“These exercises were designed to respond to threats made in recent days by the Zionist regime,” Major General Mohammad Bagheri told the state television network.

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Attorney Lin Wood: Trump Will Be Inaugurated Based on Voter Fraud in Dominion Voting Machines

Attorney Lin Wood stated that the investigations into election fraud would clear the path for President Donald Trump to be inaugurated come January.

In an interview with The John Fredericks Show, Wood shared details of his Sunday night court victory. Initially, the court impounded all Dominion machines throughout Georgia. The court has since changed its order to reflect that only three counties would have their machines impounded.

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Venezuela Judge Convicts Six American Oil Execs, Orders Prison

Six American oil executives held for three years in Venezuela were found guilty of corruption charges by a judge Thursday and immediately sentenced to prison, dashing hopes of a quick release that would send them home to their families in the United States.

Some relatives had been bracing for the disheartening outcome, which came on the evening of Thanksgiving Day.

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Sidney Powell ‘Releases the Kraken’ in Georgia Lawsuit

Attorney Sidney Powell filed her “Biblical” lawsuit on Wednesday in Georgia, making good on her promise to “release the Kraken.” The defendants were named as Governor Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and State Election Board members David Worley, Rebecca Sullivan, Matthew Mashburn, and Anh Le. The lawsuit called into question around 146,600 votes at minimum.

The 104-page lawsuit claimed that Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) engaged in virtual ballot-stuffing through its electronic voting software. It bolstered its claim by alleging that the software design was created to manipulate the Venezuelan elections of Hugo Chavez, and was designed in a way to hide vote manipulations from any audits.

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Smartmatic Voting Technology Firm Linked to Alleged Fraud in Elections in Philippines, Venezuela

Smartmatic, a voting technology company that Trump’s lawyers have called out from the Nov. 3 election, has been linked to allegedly fraudulent elections in the Philippines and socialist Venezuela, foreign outlets have previously reported.

Sidney Powell, President Donald Trump’s election lawyer, spoke to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday on the many legal challenges that are active in several states and concerns about Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems, The Tennessee Star reported.

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US Tries to Seize Iranian Gas Heading Toward Venezuela

U.S. federal prosecutors are seeking to seize four tankers sailing toward Venezuela with gasoline supplied by Iran, the latest attempt to disrupt ever-closer trade ties between the two heavily sanctioned anti-American allies.

The civil-forfeiture complaint filed late Wednesday in the District of Columbia federal court alleges that the sale was arranged by a businessman, Mahmoud Madanipour, with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

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Trump: ‘I Just Want to Get a Vaccine That Works,’ Touts Vaccine by End of Year; Trump Moves Signal Maduro Regime Now on the Clock

  Trump at the Lincoln Memorial President Donald Trump told Fox News anchor Brett Baier and Martha McCollum he expects a COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year at Sunday night’s virtual town hall held at the Lincoln Memorial. “Look, a vaccine has never gone like it’s gone now,” the president said. “We’re so far ahead of any vaccine ever in history. You know, these things would take two, four, five, six years, 10 years. I think we’re going to have a vaccine. I’m telling you, by the end of the year, I think we’re going to have a vaccine.” MacCallum asked Trump: “Do you think another country could beat us?” Trump said in reply: “I don’t care. I just want to get a vaccine that works. I really don’t care, if it’s another country, I’ll take my hat off to them.” The three sat in chairs roughly six feet apart in front of Daniel Chester French’s 1920 sculpture of President Abraham Lincoln for a format that including video questions from around the country to supplement the anchors’ inquires. Sitting in such a stark setting, the president opened up about people in his life that he lost to  COVID-19.…

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Commentary: The Big Red Fake News Machine

In the late 1990s, Latin America underwent a seismic shift away from its northern neighbor as a result of the domineering and interventionist policies of successive U.S. administrations dating back to the 19th century. This led to the 1998 election of Hugo Chávez Frias as president of Venezuela, and a chain reaction of similar governments of varying leftist ideological stringency coming to power in nations such as Nicaragua, Bolivia, Uruguay, Brazil, and Ecuador. 

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Eight Industries Venezuela Nationalized (Besides Oil)

Caracas, Venezuela

Venezuela has experienced one of the sharpest economic declines in modern history—rampant inflation, near-famine, and an exodus of millions of asylum seekers. Yet there remains disagreement over what caused it.

Many refuse to blame socialism, instead citing the collapse of oil prices, corruption, its abandonment of democracy, and other factors. If socialism did play a role, it was a small one, says Venezuelan writer Francisco Toro in the Washington Post, citing “a unique mix of circumstances, in which socialism is just one ingredient.”

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The Hard Facts Behind Venezuela’s Oil Crisis

by Kaylee Greenlee   The citizens of Venezuela have gotten used to spending days parked in mile-long lines for state-owned gasoline as shortages worsened for the world’s largest oil producer. In the capital of Caracas, hundreds of motorists waited in lines last month while carrying rocks and pipes to defend themselves as Venezuela’s socialist regime clung to power, The Wall Street Journal and others reported. Violent crime became common at fueling stations, and Reuters reported one instance of a man being killed. A teenage boy lost his eyesight Monday after a policeman fired pellets at him during a protest of fuel shortages in Tariba in northwest Venezuela, The Sun newspaper in the United Kingdom reported. Why the fuel crisis? Sanctions implemented in January by the U.S. banned the sale of diluting agents used for transporting and processing crude oil to Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., the country’s state-run oil and natural gas company. Amid the sanctions, U.S. allies also were “prohibited from doing business” with the state-owned entity, according to a report by Ana Quintana, a senior policy analyst for Latin America and the Western Hemisphere in The Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy. The lack of…

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‘Cowardice’: Nikki Haley Takes Aim At Ocasio-Cortez, Omar And Sanders Over Venezuela

by Peter Hasson   Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley sharply criticized three prominent Democrats — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — for going soft on Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship. “On the fringes of the left, celebrity politicians refuse to condemn [Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro. Worse, some have actually embraced him,” Haley wrote in a Monday post for Stand For America, her new political organization. Haley ticked through the responses from Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and Sanders, taking shots at each one. Ocasio-Cortez dodged when asked if Maduro was a legitimate ruler. “A simple ‘no’ would have sufficed,” commented Haley. Omar blamed “a lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela” in an April interview. “When I saw this, I couldn’t stay silent,” Haley wrote, explaining why she slammed Omar’s response in a viral tweet on May 1. .@IlhanMN the avg Venezuelan adult has lost 24 lbs. Babies have no medicine. Families have to walk miles in the heat to get the only meal they may have that day. All bc of the corrupt Maduro regime. Your comments are so far from the truth.…

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Commentary: The ‘Linda Problem’ and Why Democratic Socialists Flunk Logic 101

by Barry Brownstein   Consider the following facts: Venezuela is a country with vast natural resources. Once it was one of the wealthiest countries in South America. Venezuela nationalized many vital industries such as oil. Price controls were instituted, and hyperinflation destroyed savings. Supermarket shelves emptied, and some even killed zoo animals for food. Malnutrition, even starvation, is common. Essential medicines, such as antibiotics, are unavailable. The ruthless despot who runs the country has stolen billions. He gives long speeches filled with socialist slogans and claims American interference, not socialism, has caused the failures of his regime. Which alternative is most likely? Venezuela is a failed socialist regime. Venezuela is a failed socialist regime, and the US caused its failure. No matter how you feel about US foreign policy, this is a question in pure logic. The question I posed is a variation on Nobel laureate in economics Daniel Kahneman’s famous Linda problem. Despite what many think, it is impossible for a conjunction of two events to be more likely than one event alone. The Linda Problem in Venezuela Democratic socialist-leaning Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is sure that if Venezuela has failed, it is not the fault of socialism. Appearing on the television…

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Commentary: The Three Phases of Socialism

by John Phelan   Venezuela is in a state of turmoil. After 20 years of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, or PSUV), its economy is collapsing. As Venezuelans have tried to vote the PSUV out of office, its leader, Nicolás Maduro, has responded by creating a rival body to the National Assembly made up exclusively of government supporters and rigging the country’s May 2018 presidential election. Left with no alternative, members of the opposition have taken to the streets where they have been met with merciless brutality by the socialist government’s forces. The Three Stages of Socialism in Venezuela Venezuela is only the latest country to go through the cycle all socialist countries go through. In his excellent new book, Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies, Kristian Niemietz of the Institute of Economic Affairs describes the process: 1. The honeymoon period…during which the experiment has, or at least seems to have, some initial success in some areas…During the honeymoon period, very few dispute the experiment’s socialist character. 2. The excuses-and-whataboutery period. But the honeymoon period never lasts forever. The country’s luck either comes to an end, or its already existing failures become more…

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Oil Markets Shrug Off Venezuela’s Political Unrest Thanks to U.S. Energy Boom

by Michael Bastach   When Juan Guaido launched his coup attempt, oil markets didn’t do what they typically do in the face of supply threats. Instead, markets largely shrugged off Venezuelan unrest instead of sending prices soaring. That’s because of two factors: mismanagement by Venezuela’s socialist government and the U.S. energy boom. At the turn of the century, Venezuela’s daily oil production was around 3 million barrels per day, but output dramatically declined during the reign of former President Hugo Chavez, a former military officer who took control in 1999. Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves. “Venezuela’s oil production has collapsed in recent years,” Juan Carlos Hidalgo, a policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute who specializes in Latin America, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Years of mismanagement, corruption and underinvestment are taking a toll,” Hidalgo said. “Oil has long been a terribly distorting factor in Venezuela’s political system.” Chavez, who essentially ruled as a socialist dictator, took several actions early on that crippled Venezuela’s long-term oil prospects, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, including firing thousands of experiences oil workers and subsidizing oil shipments to Cuba and other countries. Venezuela was also burdened by high inflation, corruption and…

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Ilhan Omar Blames America for Venezuela Chaos and ‘Devastation’

by Molly Prince   Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar stated Wednesday American policies were the catalyst for the armed conflict that tore through the Venezuelan capital of Caracas a day earlier, rather than blaming socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro. “You know, I mean, a lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela,” Omar said while on the progressive show “Democracy Now!” “We’ve sort of set the stage for where we’re arriving today.” Venezuelan Interim President Juan Guaidó, who is fighting to gain control of the country, called for a military uprising against Maduro in an operation titled Operacion Libertad. Venezuelans have been protesting against Maduro for months, and the U.S. has declared support for what Omar referred to as a “regime change.” Most other Western nations also declared Guaidó to be the legitimate leader of Venezuela after red flags arose during the 2018 election. “This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change really does not help the people of countries like Venezuela,” she continued. “It certainly does not help and is not in the interest of the United States.” Interestingly, despite condemning America’s…

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Pompeo: US Prepared for Military Intervention in Venezuela

  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday the United States is prepared to intervene militarily to stem the ongoing unrest in Venezuela. “Military action is possible,” the top U.S. diplomat told the Fox Business Network. “If that’s what’s required, that’s what the United States will do.” However, he reiterated that the U.S. would prefer a peaceful transition of power in Caracas from socialist President Nicolas Maduro to the self-declared interim president, Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly who is recognized by the United States and about 50 other countries as the legitimate leader of the South American country. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton told CNN and Fox News that Pompeo would talk Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Moscow’s continued support for the embattled Maduro. Pompeo told interviewers that Maduro, in the face of street protests against his regime, was prepared to leave Venezuela for Cuba on Tuesday, but that Russia convinced him to stay to fight Guaido’s call for the Venezuelan military to join him in a push to overthrow Maduro. Maduro and the Russian foreign ministry denied the Maduro departure allegation, with Moscow saying the U.S. claim was part of its…

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Mike Pence Urges UN to Recognize Venezuela’s Guaido

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called on the United Nations on Wednesday to “stand up for democracy” and recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as that country’s legitimate leader. “While other international bodies have acted, the United Nations and this Security Council have refused to act,” Pence told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States. “But now that nations across this hemisphere have spoken, the time has come for the United Nations to recognize interim president Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela and seat his representative in this body,” Pence added. “This body should revoke the credentials of Venezuela’s representative to the United Nations, recognize interim president Juan Guaido, and seat the representative of the free Venezuelan government in this body without delay.” Pence said the United States is working on a U.N. resolution to recognize the legitimacy of the government of Guaido and urged the international community to support it. The United Nations should revoke the credentials of Venezuela’s ambassador to the @UN, recognize Interim President @jguaido, and seat a representative of the free Venezuelan government in this body without delay! pic.twitter.com/1CRhBBr5J6 — Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) April 10, 2019 “Stand…

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Pence Announces More Sanctions on Venezuela as Chaos Continues Under Socialist Dictator

by Evie Fordham   The U.S. will impose even more sanctions on Venezuela after recognizing the rival of socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro as the country’s leader in January, Vice President Mike Pence announced Friday at Rice University in Houston. The U.S. is targeting 34 vessels owned or operated by the nation’s state-run oil firm PDVSA and two companies that transport Venezuelan crude oil to Cuba, Pence said. A word to this rising generation: Those of you who feel drawn to the siren song of socialism, be careful what you wish for. Socialism is not the road to freedom. Socialism is the road to government control. And it grows in the soil of censorship. pic.twitter.com/WZ7uNNMbIg — Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) April 5, 2019 “The struggle in Venezuela is between dictatorship and democracy, but freedom has the momentum … Nicolas Maduro must go,” Pence said. U.S. President Donald Trump shunned Maduro and recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido in January, as did other countries, including Brazil and Canada. “Thousands of Venezuelan children are starving at this very hour,” Pence later added. He also was heavy-handed in his criticism of Cuba. “Cuba’s leaders are the real imperialists in the western hemisphere. The truth…

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US Poised to Pump Dollars Into Venezuela After Maduro

The United States is prepared to pump U.S. dollars into Venezuela to fortify the economy if President Nicolas Maduro leaves, the top White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Wednesday. Kudlow told reporters that Washington is already working with banks and the International Monetary Fund on a rebuilding plan to revitalize the country’s crushed economy and said that, when the time comes, “we will be moving as fast as we can.” “We call it Day Two,” he said at a briefing arranged by The Christian Science Monitor newspaper. “It would be a rescue plan, it would be a restructuring plan, it would be a plan to put cash into the country.” Venezuela’s oil economy has crumbled under a collapse of crude exports and international sanctions against Maduro, who Washington and its allies view as illegitimate. The United States has been pressuring for Maduro to step down or be overthrown, but he has clung to power with the support of Venezuela’s military. “The timeline is to get rid of Maduro. I have no idea when that is going to be,” said Kudlow. Once Maduro leaves economic assistance would be immediate, beginning with pushing the US currency in to reignite economic activity,…

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Trump: Russian Military Must ‘Get Out’ of Venezuela

U.S. President Donald Trump says Russia “has to get out” of Venezuela, following the recent arrival of Russian military personnel in that country. “All options are open,” Trump repeated several times in response to a reporter’s question Wednesday about whether the United States is willing to put “boots on the ground” to remove the Russians. Trump added that Moscow is well aware of the U.S. stance. Trump spoke to reporters at the White House alongside Fabiana Rosales, the wife of Venezuelan opposition leader and self-declared interim President Juan Guaido. She went into the Oval Office following a meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. “The United States views Russia’s arrival of military planes this weekend as an unwelcome provocation,” Pence said alongside Rosales in the Roosevelt Room. “We call on Russia today to cease all support of the Maduro regime and stand with Juan Guaido, stand with nations across this hemisphere and across the world until freedom is restored.” “Today, in Venezuela, it is freedom or dictatorship. It is life or it is death,” Rosales said. “And those who are paying the price of this hate are the children.” She added that children are dying in hospitals which are without…

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OPEC Scraps April Meeting but Keeps Oil Cuts in Place

Reuters   Oil producer group OPEC on Monday scrapped its planned meeting in April and will decide instead whether to extend output cuts in June, once the market has assessed the impact of U.S. sanctions on Iran and the crisis in Venezuela. A ministerial panel of OPEC and its allies recommended that they cancel the extraordinary meeting scheduled for April 17-18 and hold the next regular talks on June 25-26. The energy minister of OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, said the market was looking oversupplied until the end of the year but that April would be too early for any decision on output policy. “The consensus we heard… is that April will be premature to make any production decision for the second half,” the Saudi minister, Khalid al-Falih, said. “As long as the levels of inventories are rising and we are far from normal levels, we will stay the course, guiding the market towards balance,” he added. The United States has been increasing its own oil exports in recent months while imposing sanctions on OPEC members Venezuela and Iran in an effort to reduce those two countries’ shipments to global markets. Washington’s policies have introduced a new level of…

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Mass Looting Plagues Venezuela Amid Power Crisis

by Tim Pearce   Looters have all but emptied stores and warehouses across western Venezuela as large parts of the country remain without power more than a week after a mass blackout. The mobs overwhelmed Venezuela’s security forces and broke into buildings. People stole cars, trucks and equipment. Hundreds of businesses in the Venezuelan oil capital of Maracaibo were emptied and left in shambles. VENEZUELA: Reports of looting in some cities as nationwide blackout, now in its 100th hour, continues pic.twitter.com/wLWp3BkSBL — BNO News (@BNONews) March 12, 2019 Looters broke through the cinder-block walls of a Pepsi plant and took thousands of cases of beer and soda and 160 pallets of food. They destroyed or stole 22 trucks and five forklifts, Bloomberg reported Friday. “If people made enough to make ends meet, we wouldn’t be trying to get by like this,” Enrique Gonzalez, an 18-year-old bus conductor, told Bloomberg. “This country has gone to hell.” Police and other emergency officials have stayed away from the carnage and refused to help businesses and property owners protect their property and assets. “It’s hard to swallow,” Bernardo Morillo, a 60-year-old mall manager, told Bloomberg. “The national guard stood by as this vandalism happened…

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