Venezuela

South of the Border, the Cult of the Presidency

Washington Examiner Columnist, Vice President at the Cato Institute and author of “The Cult of the Presidency“ Gene Healy clearly despises rhetoric. His article, recently published in the Examiner, opens by emphasizing the repetitiveness with which Obama deals with each administrative failure – by pushing the charm offensive. However, unlike Healy’s many counterparts at the Examiner, his is [...]

Venezuela and the Socialist Supermarket

When your President tells you that ‘Playstation is poison‘, you know you’ve got a problem with the way things are being run. When hunger and power deficits are perpetual issues in your country yet those in the executive branch are more focussed on controlling industry for their own agenda, you know you have qualms with [...]

The Language of Human Rights

This article was first published in The Wall Street Journal. Human rights are under attack, and language is the weapon. The very grammar of justice has fallen into the wrong hands, instrumentalized in the elaborate and sensational theaters of due process. A trial without any rights of defense is still called a “trial,” a conviction [...]

Honduran Congress Approves Withdrawal From ALBA

Honduran Congress has approved a decree handed down in December by President Roberto Micheletti to end Honduras’ membership in the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (ALBA), a regional organization started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Presidential spokesman Rafael Pineda, in an apparent reference to Venezuela, explained that the decision to leave was taken because “some of the countries [...]

Chaos: The Hugo Chavez Doctrine

“Venezuela is going to rack and ruin. Chavez is in serious trouble. The economy is heading for the sewer,” stated Robert Amsterdam today on ‘Montel Across America’ on the Air America Radio Network. The international attorney explained that Chavez has devalued the currency by 50% in order to “have more money to throw around to keep [...]

The Chavezjad Doctrine: Between Myth and Speculation

The Inter-American Dialogue has recently published the works of Michael Shifter, here specifically on the dangerous alliance between Iran and Venezuela, the mastermind behind the union, Hugo Chavez, a skilled provocateur indeed and its geopolitical ramifications hindering infrastructure, human rights and international development in every regard. The following is excerpted from his article, “The Chavezjad Doctrine: [...]

Hugo Chavez Can’t Buy Love

Venezuela’s narcissist-Leninist President Hugo Chavez is not getting his money’s worth for the billions of dollars he is spending in public relations abroad: According to a new poll, his approval ratings in Latin America could hardly be worse. The Miami Herald’s Andres Oppenheimer has published a newly-released poll of 20,200 people in 18 Latin American countries [...]

Hugo Chávez Demands Jailing of Judge who Freed Banker

Rory Carrol, journalist for The Guardian, below covers the story of Eligio Cedeño’s release and the subsequent jailing of the judge who issued the order, the latest chapter in an intriguing case of corrupt leaders using corruption itself as a scapegoat for stifling political will. International attorney  Robert Amsterdam is interviewed below on the arrest and [...]

The (New) Berlin Wall

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Venezuela has put up an illegal trade embargo that is becoming a “Berlin Wall,” cutting off the South American neighbors. Uribe, in Portugal to attend a Heads of State Ibero-american Summit , criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for not attending the meeting and spoke out against Venezuela’s suspension of trade with [...]

Chavez to Hilton: I’ll Take It

It seems Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is at it again. Chavez has claimed he has seized the landmark Hilton hotel on Margarita Island because its owners dared to impose conditions on its use by his government to host a summit there last month. “To hold the conference we had to ask for permission… and the [...]