05-04-2024, 05:10 AM
USA
This part of my post should be called the Non Sense Section for sure.
You know what's curious about that act? If we translated Jesse M. Unruh's surname, it'd mean unrest, agitation.
And you wonder why the University of Florida had come up with the catch phrase "this is not a daycare."
LATIN AMERICA
Keep in mind that communist regimes love purges. Seriously.
It's not unusual to see how well a former terrorist and an existing terrorist organization getting along quite well.
Under Petro, the Colombian army can no longer safeguard its own ammunition and weaponry.
EUROPE
ASIA
I'm not surprised to see how Turkey blames Israel for everything and even compares it with the Nazis. Communist parties have followed the same playbook that teaches them how to blame other groups for what they themselves are actually doing.
This part of my post should be called the Non Sense Section for sure.
US & Russian Troops in Niger
Quote:U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed on Friday that American troops are sharing space on Airbase 101, a facility in the capital of Niger, with Russian military forces, but dismissed the Russians’ presence as “not a significant issue here.”
Reuters reported late on Friday that the government of Niger – a military junta known as the “National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland” that took power in a televised coup in July – had allowed Russian forces onto the airbase.
“A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian forces were not mingling with U.S. troops but were using a separate hangar at Airbase 101, which is next to Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger’s capital,” Reuters relayed.
The anonymous official described the situation as “not great.”
Asked about the report of Russian troops at Airbase 101, Austin confirmed that the Russian soldiers were in the facility.
“The Russians are in a separate compound and don’t have access to US forces or access to our equipment,” Austin claimed during a press conference in Hawaii. “And this is something that, you know, again, I’m always focused on the safety and the protection of our troops, something that we’ll continue to watch.”
“But right now, I don’t see, I don’t see a significant issue here in terms of our force protection,” Austin added.
The Russian military presence in Niger is reportedly a direct result of the coup, which placed former presidential guard leader Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani in power. The “National Council” claimed in its initial message assuming power that it would not break any international agreements made by the government of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, but it rapidly moved to distance Niger from its Western allies. It has taken its most aggressive moves against France, its former colonial ruler, which completed the removal of its troops in December.
The relationship with the administration of leftist American President Joe Biden has been tremendously fraught, as well, characterized by American delegations repeatedly traveling to meet coup leaders in Niger and coming to no significant agreements on the status of the United States presence in the country.
Following the latest visit by American officials to Niger, in March, coup spokesman Col. Amadou Abdramane announced that Tchiani was forcing America to end its military presence in the country on the grounds that the Biden regime had been “condescending” to the junta.
Paraphrasing Biden Admin: Japan Still is a Xenophobic Country
Quote:White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday refused to apologize to Japan after President Joe Biden, 81, called the U.S. ally “xenophobic.”
While delivering live remarks at a campaign fundraiser in Washington, Biden said the United States’s economy was strong due in part “because we welcome immigrants.”
Biden, whom special counsel Robert Hur characterized as “an elderly man with a poor memory,” contrasted America to U.S. ally Japan and adversarial China, and Russia.
“Think about it,” Biden said referencing why their economies allegedly struggle. “Why is China stalling so bad economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia?”
“Because they’re xenophobic,” he said. “They don’t want immigrants.”
Japan is a longtime ally of the U.S. as a counterweight to China’s growing aggression in the Asia-Pacific. Biden recently worked to build trust with Japan. In April, he hosted Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit and state dinner.
Jean-Pierre refused to apologize for Biden’s comment when asked during Thursday’s gaggle with the White House press pool.
“The president last night described Japan as ‘xenophobic’ along with China and Russia. Was that intentional? a reporter asked Jean-Pierre. “Does the president want to apologize to Japan?”
“The broader case that he was trying to make,” Jean-Pierre replied, “which I think most — most leaders and allies across the globe understand, is he’s — he was trying — he was saying that when it comes to — when it comes to — when it comes to who we are as a nation, we are a nation of — of immigrants. That is in our DNA.”
Jean-Pierre continued to avoid apologizing:
And — and so — and you’ve heard the President say this, and you’ve heard us say it more as an administration. It’s in — it makes us better. We are stronger for it because of the fact that in our DNA we are a nation of immigrants. And I think that’s probably very important to note as well. And that’s what he was —
US Government: Do Not Travel to Germany
Quote:May 1, 2024
Germany - Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
Exercise increased caution in Germany due to terrorism.
Country Summary: Terrorist groups keep planning attacks in Germany. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning. They target tourist locations and transportation hubs. They also target markets/shopping malls and local government facilities. They target hotels, clubs, and restaurants. They also attack places of worship, parks, and major sporting and cultural events. They target schools, airports, and other public areas.
Read the country information page for additional information on travel to Germany.
If you decide to travel to Germany:
- Be aware of your surroundings when traveling to tourist locations and crowded public venues.
- Follow the instructions of local authorities.
- Monitor local media for breaking events and adjust your plans based on new information.
- Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
- Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter.
- Review the Country Security Report for Germany.
- Visit the CDC page for the latest Travel Health Information related to your travel.
- Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the Traveler’s Checklist.
UC Riverside & Protesters
Quote:The University of California Riverside capitulated Friday to the demands of pro-Palestinian activists at a campus “encampment,” breaking with the rest of the University of California (UC) system to consider divesting from Israel.
The activists, part of a nationwide effort by anti-Israel activists and organizations — which may have foreign funding, according to the New York City Police Department — also demanded that UC Riverside boycott Israeli universities.
Local KTLA 5 reported:
The encampment began on April 29 as protestors occupied the area beside Bell Tower. The movement was led by the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
...
The UCR Administration agrees to form a task force that includes students appointed by ASUCR’s Diversity Council and faculty appointed by the Academic Senate to explore the removal of UCR’s endowment from the management of the UC Investments Office, and the investment of said endowment in a manner that will be financially and ethically sound for the university with consideration to the companies involved in arms manufacturing and delivery.
...
The School of Business has discontinued Global Programs in Oxford, USA, Cuba, Vietnam, Brazil, China, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.
The UC Riverside chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) portrayed the terms of the deal somewhat differently, claiming triumphantly on Instagram that the institution suspended “all study abroad programs with Israel.”
In addition, SJP claimed that UC Riverside had committed to boycotting the Sabra brand of hummus. “Sabra” is a Hebrew word referring to a native-born Israeli. Some activists claim that Middle Eastern foods like hummus are “stolen” by Israel from Arabs. (Sabra is based in the U.S.)
In return, the students in the encampment agreed to take down their tents, having “won” through coercion.
But it is not clear how UC Riverside’s agreement will comport with existing California law that prevents anti-Israel boycotts, known as “anti-BDS” (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) legislation. In 2016, then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed AB 2844, which stipulates the following:
It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that taxpayer funds are not used to do business with or otherwise support any state or private entity that engages in discriminatory actions against individuals under the pretext of exercising First Amendment rights. This includes, but is not limited to, discriminatory actions taken against individuals of the Jewish faith under the pretext of a constitutionally protected boycott or protest of the State of Israel.
...
A person that submits a bid or proposal to, or otherwise proposes to enter into or renew a contract with, a state agency with respect to any contract in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or more shall certify, under penalty of perjury, at the time the bid or proposal is submitted or the contract is renewed … That any policy that they have against any sovereign nation or peoples recognized by the government of the United States, including, but not limited to, the nation and people of Israel, is not used to discriminate in violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Section 51 of the Civil Code) or the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 12960) of Part 2.8 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
You know what's curious about that act? If we translated Jesse M. Unruh's surname, it'd mean unrest, agitation.
University of Chicago
Quote:An organizer involved in the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas encampment at the University of Chicago released a list of needed supplies, which includes Plan B, HIV tests, vaseline, and much, much more.
UChicago United for Palestine, which describes itself as a “coalition currently committed to Palestinian liberation and racial justice at The University of Chicago,” posted a list of items needed for the encampment at the university, listing more than two dozen items.
The organization listed the items “needed most” at the top, which include a table, wound-packing gauze, heat gloves, portable chargers, CAT tourniquets, goggles, emergency bandages, trauma shears, and more.
But the list also contained several sexual-oriented items, including dental dams for oral sex, HIV tests, and Plan B.
Additionally, the list asked for menstrual cups, vaseline, disposable stethoscopes, and buckets with lids:
And you wonder why the University of Florida had come up with the catch phrase "this is not a daycare."
Princeton
Quote:Pro-Palestinian protesters taking part in an encampment at Princeton University began a hunger strike to raise awareness for starving people in Gaza.
The Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest (PIAD) student organization posted a series of photos on Instagram announcing that pro-Palestinian protests would be launching a hunger strike “in solitary with Gaza.”
“PRINCETON STUDENTS LAUNCH HUNGER STRIKE IN SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA!!” the group wrote.
PIAD explained that as part of the hunger strike, protesters would “abstain from all food and drink” except for water until their demands were met.
“We commit our bodies to their liberation of Palestine,” the group continued. “PRINCETON, hear us now! We will not be moved!”
The PIAD added that they would strike until their demands were met.
PIAD is demanding that the university’s administration meet with protesters and “discuss their demands for disclosure, divestment, and a full academic and cultural boycott of Israel,” and grant students who have been arrested or faced academic disciplinary action full amnesty.
Brown University
Quote:Brown University caved to radical anti-Israel demonstrators this week, promising that the university’s governing body would consider voting on divestment from Israel if the activists would dismantle their encampment on campus.
According to the Jerusalem Post, that makes Brown the first university to consider divestment from Israel.
In December, 41 anti-Israel activists were arrested after occupying an administration building. In April, activists took over an area of campus known as the Main Green, prompting concern from local Jewish leaders and clergy, who noted that some chants used by activists on and off campus were antisemitic, calling for the elimination of Israel.
Instead of enforcing university policies, Brown — like Northwestern University — decided to capitulate to the mob.
The Brown Daily Herald reported:
The Corporation, Brown’s highest governing body, will vote on divestment from companies affiliated with Israel at its October meeting following an agreement between encampment organizers and University administrators this afternoon. Organizers announced the agreement at a rally.
Organizers have agreed to clear the Main Green encampment by 5 p.m. today and not hold any unauthorized protests through Commencement, which ends May 26. Students in the encampment, which began last Wednesday, have been calling on the University to divest from companies with ties to the Israeli government and drop the charges against the 41 students arrested in a Dec. 11 University Hall sit-in. Charges against the 41 arrested students will not be dropped at this time.
…
Students will still face disciplinary proceedings for their involvement in the encampment, the agreement states.
2000+ Arrests
Quote:Anti-Israel protests have rocked college campuses across the United States in past weeks and now protester arrest numbers are rising as authorities try to end the disruption.
AP reports police have arrested nearly 2,200 people in the period of trouble with no sign of protests – or arrests – ending anytime soon despite police resorting to using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings.
Even as the arrests are being made, students are pleading for special treatment and demanding no records are kept of their lawful detention.
The AP report sets out the methodology for assessing arrest numbers, stating:
A tally by The Associated Press recorded at least 56 incidents of arrests at 43 different U.S. colleges or universities since April 18. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
Police officers behaved admirably by arresting many “radical left,” anti-Israel “lunatics” on the campuses of Columbia University and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), former President Donald Trump said Thursday, as Breitbart News reports.
Trump, who is running as the law and order candidate against President Joe Biden in the 2024 election race, told reporters before entering a Manhattan courthouse radical “morons” should not be allowed to “take over this country.”
NYP on Pro-Palestinian Protest Funds
Quote:New York Police Department (NYPD) Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard told Fox News‘ Neil Cavuto on Thursday that pro-Palestinian “encampments” at many universities are run by “outside agitators” with funds from “around the world.”
Sheppard said that the NYPD was “very confident” that “outside agitators and influencers” have been present at protests in the city. Often, these “professionals” manage to escape arrest.
“They may just fly in for a day or two, and leave,” he said, adding that they “travel around the country” between protests.
Sheppard added: “And they have funding. They are funded by private individuals around the world sometimes.” He said that students are often easily manipulated by the professional activists to join radical, often illegal, protests.
As Breitbart News noted, one veteran activist, Lisa Fithian, was allegedly seen this week at the site of the Columbia University protests, which ended with a violent occupation of a university building, and intervention by the NYPD.
China Funds US Universities
Quote:China’s state-linked electronics giant Huawei has reportedly been “secretly funding cutting-edge research at American universities” through a Washington-based nonprofit called the Optica Foundation.
A Bloomberg News report on Thursday said Huawei is the sole funding source for a research competition administered by the Optica Foundation, which is in turn managed by a professional association that specializes in visible-light technologies such as fiber optics and lasers. The competition offers a hefty million-dollar reward for optical research projects and receives hundreds of submissions each year.
Bloomberg contacted university officials, applicants for the competition, and even one of the judges, and they all said they had no idea Huawei was involved. Reporters uncovered a private document that specifically instructed the Optica Foundation not to divulge the involvement of the Chinese tech company.
“The existence and content of this Agreement and the relationship between the Parties shall also be considered Confidential Information,” the document said. The agreement it outlines was struck in 2021 and set to last for ten years, which means it will disburse a total of $10 million in awards.
Optical offers ten other “early career prizes and fellowships” that do not appear to be linked to Huawei, but they also feature much smaller cash prizes and grants.
Optica told Bloomberg that Huawei donations were reviewed by legal teams and approved by the board. The foundation insisted there was “nothing unusual” about the practice of donors remaining anonymous.
Legal experts told Bloomberg that Huawei’s donations to Optica are probably legal, but definitely uncomfortable, and there could be some national security ramifications:
Research security specialists said the lack of transparency underlying the arrangement nonetheless violates the spirit of university and US funding-agency policies requiring researchers to disclose whether they’re receiving foreign money.
They also said some of the resulting research is likely to have both defense and commercial relevance. Topics the Optica Foundation singles out in an online post as being “of interest” include “undersea and space-based solutions for the global communications grid” and “high-sensitivity optical sensors and detectors.”
“It’s a bad look for a prestigious research foundation to be anonymously accepting money from a Chinese company that raises so many national security concerns for the US government,” said James Mulvenon, a defense contractor who has worked on research security issues and co-authored a seminal book on Chinese industrial espionage.
Representative & His Wife Indicted for Bribery
Quote:The Department of Justice announced the indictment of U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife, Imelda, on charges of accepting bribes. Cuellar, the representative for Texas 28th Congressional District, has been in office since 2005. The indictments come more than two years after agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation served a search warrant on Cuellar’s Laredo home.
DOJ officials stated that the congressman and his wife are charged with accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an energy company in Azerbaijan. Cuellar and his wife appeared before Magistrate Judge Dena Palermo in Houston.
Prosecutors claim the couple accepted the bribes from the energy company controlled by the Government of Azerbaijan and a bank located in Mexico City. The payments were laundered through sham consulting contracts. The congressman then provided influence for the energy company to affect U.S. foreign policy and to pressure U.S. Executive Branch officials to benefit the bank’s interest, prosecutors stated.
In January 2022, Cuellar’s home on Estate Drive in Laredo was raided by federal authorities. At the time of the raid, Breitbart Texas contacted Cuellar’s Office who confirmed the search warrant was executed at the address and added that “Congressman Cuellar will fully cooperate in any investigation. He is committed to ensuring that justice and the law are upheld,” according to Cuellar’s Press Secretary Dana Yougentob.
According to an Associated Press news report shortly after the raid, Cuellar’s attorney Joshua Berman issued a statement indicating the congressman was not the target of the investigation according to federal authorities. According to law enforcement authorities, the raid on Cuellar’s residence in 2022 was in connection to an ongoing federal investigation related to Azerbaijan and improprieties involving U.S. businessmen with the country.
At the time of the raids, Cuellar was the co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus. According to the CIA world factbook, the oil-rich nation is predominantly Muslim and has a history of corruption. The factbook describes issues within the country stating:
Since gaining its independence in 1991, Azerbaijan has significantly reduced the poverty rate and has directed some revenue from its oil and gas production to develop the country’s infrastructure. However, corruption remains a burden on the economy, and Western observers and members of the country’s political opposition have accused the government of authoritarianism.
DACA & Obamacare
Quote:President Joe Biden is opening the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, to illegal aliens enrolled in former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
On Friday, Biden issued a final rule that will open Obamacare rolls to some DACA illegal aliens enrolled in the program. Obama first created the DACA program via executive order, shielding more than a million illegal aliens from deportation through the years.
Previously, Center for Immigration Studies researchers estimated that the cost of opening Obamacare and Medicaid rolls to illegal aliens would cost American taxpayers about $4,600 per illegal alien.
At this rate, Obamacare and Medicaid for DACA illegal aliens has the potential to cost American taxpayers roughly $2.8 billion every year. At the same time, more than 25 million Americans are expected to be uninsured today.
Biden said in a statement:
Nearly twelve years ago, President Obama and I announced the DACA program to allow our young people to live and work in the only country they’ve called home. Since then, DACA has provided more than 800,000 Dreamers with the ability to work lawfully, pursue an education, and contribute their immense talents to make our communities better and stronger.
I’m proud of the contributions of Dreamers to our country and committed to providing Dreamers the support they need to succeed. That’s why I’ve previously directed the Department of Homeland Security to take all appropriate actions to “preserve and fortify” DACA. And that’s why today we are taking this historic step to ensure that DACA recipients have the same access to health care through the Affordable Care Act as their neighbors
LATIN AMERICA
Cuba Hates People With Cameras...
Quote:The communist regime in Cuba sentenced 22-year-old Mayelín Rodríguez Prado to 15 years in prison this week for filming peaceful protests in the town of Nuevitas in August 2022.
Rodríguez Prado, sentenced alongside a group of more than a dozen Cubans who had also participated in Nuevitas protests, received a combined 15-year sentence — the highest among the group — for the alleged crimes of “continued enemy propaganda” and “sedition.”
The 22-year-old Cuban was arrested hours after the August 2022 Nuevitas protests, when hundreds of Cuban citizens peacefully protested against the Castro regime and demanded an end to months of near-endless daily electrical blackouts and other inhumane conditions.
Rodríguez Prado filmed the Nuevitas protests and published the footage on her social media accounts. One of the videos, livestreamed by Rodríguez Prado, showed Cuban police officers beating Cuban citizen José Armando Torrente and three 11-year-old girls, including Torrente’s daughter.
Videos of the girls describing the situation also surfaced on social media. One of the girls, presumed to be Torrente’s daughter, described attempting to fight police officers herself to defend her father.
“I was holding on to my dad, and she was holding on to my dad, and then, to arrest my dad, the police had to hit us,” the girl said. “I also hit them because they hit me.”
Rodríguez Prado was able to speak with the Cuban Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs (CRDHC), a non-government organization, while serving her sentence in Granja Cinco, a maximum-security female prison located in Camagüey.
In the interview, published by Martí Noticias on Thursday, Rodríguez Prado accused the Castro regime’s prosecution of presenting several pieces of falsified evidence in her trial. She also denounced that the prosecution denied the physical abuse of police officers against the minors despite the video evidence she produced. The officers also claimed that she filmed the girls without their parents’ permission.
“They say no, that it was a lie and that I did it in the absence of the girl’s mother and aunt,” Rodríguez Prado said. “Her mother was present there, it is her who directly confirms that I asked her permission.”
Cuba, Iran & Sugarcane
Quote:The Islamic regime in Iran has held talks with Cuba’s communist Castro regime to renovate 160 run-down sugarcane factories in Cuba, the Iranian state-run Tasmin News Agency reported Wednesday.
Cuba, once one of the world’s top sugar exporters, has seen its sugar production drop to levels not seen in more than 125 years. Only roughly two dozen sugar mills remain in operating conditions out of more than a hundred on the island.
The announcement of the Iran deal was made during the Iran-Cuba Business Forum, held in Tehran on April 30. During the event, the CEO of Iranian Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization Farshad Moqimi stated that feasibility studies had started in the “lucrative Cuban market,” adding that results will soon be available to the Iranian economic enterprises that are “interested to cooperate with Cuba.”
Moqimi noted that, following the 39th edition of the Havana International Fair (FIHAV) in November 2023, several Cuban delegations visited Iran to hold talks regarding the renovation and optimization of 160 sugarcane facilities in Cuba.
Cuba’s flagship sugarcane industry has experienced a continued decline throughout the past six decades of communist rule following the rise to power of late dictator Fidel Castro, who nationalized the entire sugarcane industry in 1960. Castro stole sugarcane mills from private ownership, including those that belonged to U.S. entrepreneurs.
During Cuba’s 1959-1960 sugarcane harvest season — the last under private entrepreneurship — the nation yielded 5.6 million tons of raw sugar.
In 1964, Castro promised to increase Cuba’s sugar yield to ten million tons by 1970 at a time when the Soviet Union, Cuba’s main business partner at the time, had agreed to purchase a larger amount of Cuba’s sugar harvest. Under a slogan roughly translating to “The Ten Million Are Happening” (¡los diez millones van!), Fidel Castro forced Cubans into “volunteer” labor for a project that even the pro-Castro New York Times admitted was a failure.
Nicaragua & US Dollar
Quote:The communist dictatorship of Nicaragua saw a growth of nearly 12 percent in the amount of remittance money emigrants sent to the country during the first quarter of 2024, mainly driven by remittances sent from the United States, according to a report published by the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa on Sunday.
According to statistics from the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), remittances sent to the country during the first three months of 2024 totaled $1.14 billion, marking an 11.8-percent increase from 2023’s $1.02 billion in the same time period.
Of the $1.14 billion received in the first quarter of 2024, the report states, $930.7 million came from the United States, representing a staggering 81.6 percent of the total. The increase, according to BCN, means Nicaragua remains the Central American country with the most growth in remittances received.
Since 2023, Nicaragua has experienced a dramatic upsurge in the amount of remittance funding received by locals from Nicaraguan citizens abroad who have either fled or been banished from the communist regime. Dictator Daniel Ortega turned remittances into a crucial funding resource for the economically-ailing regime.
La Prensa estimated that some 800,000 Nicaraguas have left their country in recent years due to Ortega’s growing repression after the April 2018 protests, which saw thousands of Nicaraguan citizens flock to the streets to demand the end of communism in their country.
In 2023, Nicaragua received a record-breaking 4.32 billion euros (roughly $4.6 billion) in family remittances, an amount that represented nearly 30 percent of Nicaragua’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Of the total, $3.56 billion came from the United States. In 2022, Nicaragua received a total of $3.22 billion in remittances, or 23 percent of its GDP.
Venezuela & Nicaragua
Quote:An upcoming Caracas-Managua flight route operated by the Venezuelan state-owned Conviasa airline will increase the flow of migrants trying to reach the United States, according to a report published by the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa on Wednesday.
Nicaragua’s communist dictator Daniel Ortega has allowed migrants in recent years to freely pass through the country while on route towards the United States. Experts have suggested that Ortega is seeking to use migration as a “golden opportunity” bargaining tool to negotiate potential sanctions relief with the United States.
Nicaragua presents itself as an alternate route for migrants seeking to reach U.S. territory, as it allows them to avoid passing through the deadly Darien Gap jungle trail located between Colombia and Panama.
Migrants from Haiti, India, and African countries such as Senegal have also begun to reach Nicaragua by air and pass through the country to reach the United States despite the hefty costs incurred by such a long trip in the case of African and Indian migrants. Nicaragua lacks entry visa requirements for most nations. Experts have also denounced that the Ortega regime charges $200 per migrant to use the country’s airports.
Conviasa’s new Venezuela-Nicaragua biweekly Sunday and Tuesday flights will begin operations on Sunday, May 5, according to promotional material published by the airline on social media. The flight route, according to La Prensa, will have a stopover in Havana, Cuba. Since 2022, Cubans have begun to use Nicaragua after the Ortega regime rescinded entry visa requirements for Cuban nationals. President Barack Obama ended policies that allowed Cubans who touch U.S. soil via water to stay in the country legally, creating a new Cuban refugee flow through the southern border: ...
UN on Venezuela
Quote:The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances warned in a report Tuesday of an alarming rise in enforced disappearances of Venezuelan citizens committed by the socialist regime since December 2023.
The U.N. Working Group stressed that Venezuelan citizens who have been subject to disappearance by the state have largely been people exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and participation “in matters of public interest.”
The majority of the disappeared, the report stated, are “members of the main opposition political party, as well as members of the Army.”
“As the country gears up for the presidential election in July 2024, enforced disappearances could have a chilling effect and hinder the people’s right to vote freely,” the U.N. Working Group’s experts said.
“These prolonged incommunicado detentions amount to enforced disappearances. They appear to follow a pattern whereby individuals are deprived of their liberty by State authorities, taken to recognized detention facilities and denied fundamental rights and protections such as contact with the outside world and access to legal assistance,” the experts continued.
In the past few months, the regime launched a fierce dissident crackdown known as “Bolivarian Fury.” Socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro has claimed that the crackdown is necessary to “dismantle” purported foreign conspiracies against him and other members of his authoritarian regime.
The crackdown has so far targeted more than a dozen members of Venezuela’s only mainstream center-right party, Vente Venezuela, and people close to opposition leader María Corina Machado, as well as other civilians and members of the military.
Among the best-known cases of forced disappearances by the Maduro regime is that of Venezuelan activist and lawyer Rocío San Miguel, who was arrested in February and has not been publicly seen since. The regime accused San Miguel of being involved in a dubious assassination plot against Maduro.
The U.N. Human Rights Office expressed concerns over San Miguel’s arrest — to which the Maduro regime responded by banishing the office’s stationed staff in Caracas.
Venezuela, US & Hezbollah
Quote:Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro accused former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami — a man actively wanted by U.S. authorities on drug trafficking charges — of working alongside the United States and the Venezuelan opposition to steal from Venezuela’s state coffers and to overthrow him since “at least 2018.”
Maduro’s accusations, levied on Monday evening in the latest episode of his weekly television show With Maduro Plus, came hours after Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab accused former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela James Story and several exiled opposition members of working with El Aissami to steal billions in Venezuelan public funds through a corruption scheme involving the state-owned PDVSA oil company.
Tareck El Aissami was one of the most powerful individuals in the Venezuelan socialist regime elite while a protegé of the late dictator Hugo Chávez. He has long stood accused of maintaining close ties with the Shiite jihadist organization Hezbollah, acting as a middleman and facilitator between Hezbollah and Maduro.
U.S. authorities accuse El Aissami of being a drug kingpin in the service of the regime. In 2017, the administration of former President Donald Trump identified El Aissami as a specially designated narcotics trafficker and imposed sanctions on him. Since 2020, the United States has had an active $10 million bounty in place for any information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
El Aissami has occupied several high-ranking positions in government in the last 20 years, including serving as Maduro’s vice president between 2017-2018 and as oil minister between 2020 and March 20, 2023. On that day, El Aissami was unceremoniously purged alongside his entire inner circle, accused of stealing billions of dollars in oil revenue from PDVSA in a case that the regime commonly refers to as “PDVSA-Crypto.”
Following his purge, El Aissami disappeared for more than a year. On April 9, 2024, he resurfaced in police custody, facing charges of treason, money laundering, and corruption. El Aissami appeared in photographs in handcuffs and a prison uniform.
Keep in mind that communist regimes love purges. Seriously.
Colombia on Israel
Quote:Colombian far-left President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday that he would cut diplomatic relations with Israel on Thursday over its “genocide” in Gaza.
The Colombian president made the announcement during a speech given as part of an official government event commemorating “International Workers’ Day” or “May Day,” a holiday celebrating the murderous ideology of communism.
Petro – who has nearly single-handedly eroded decades of goodwill between Colombia and Israel in the months following the October 7 Hamas atrocities – previously theatened to cut ties with Israel repeatedly, condemning Israel for executing self-defense actions against the jihadist terrorist group Hamas. Petro has referred to military operations against Hamas terrorists as a “genocide.”
“Here in front of you, the government of change, the President of the Republic, informs that tomorrow diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be broken for having a government, for having a president, a genocidal one!” Petro said.
He did not clarify if his “genocidal” accusation was directed towards Israeli President Isaac Herzog or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Israel, the prime minister holds more power than the largely ceremonial president.
“I believe that today humanity, all in the streets, by the millions, agrees with us and we with it,” Petro continued.
Hamas reportedly celebrated Petro’s decision in a statement issued on Wednesday, hailing it as a “victory” while calling for other Latin American countries to follow suit.
“We greatly appreciate the position of Colombian President Gustavo Petro which we consider a victory for the sacrifices of our people and their just cause,” Hamas said in a statement.
It's not unusual to see how well a former terrorist and an existing terrorist organization getting along quite well.
Missing Military Hardware in Colombia
Quote:Colombia’s far-left President Gustavo Petro denounced on Tuesday the disappearance of more than a million pieces of ammunition, explosives, and weapons from the inventories of two military bases in northern Colombia.
The missing ammunition and weaponry was detected as the result of an inspection carried out by the Colombian Army in the Tolemaida military base and the 10th Armored Brigade base in La Guajira.
Petro – who was accompanied by Defense Minister Iván Velásquez and Helder Giraldo, the Commander General of the Colombian Military Forces – attributed the disappearance of the military equipment to alleged trafficking networks linked to Colombian and foreign groups. He suggested that the equipment may have ended up in the possession of illegal armed groups and possibly in foreign conflicts such as that in Haiti, where violent gangs have left the country in a state of near-complete collapse.
“With ammunition alone, there are more than a million rounds of ammunition missing,” Petro said.
“The only way to explain this type of shortage is that for a long time there have been networks made up of people from the military and civilian forces dedicated to a massive arms trade using the legal weapons of the Colombian state,” he continued.
According to the Office of the Colombian President, the inspections to the Tolemaida base took place on February 12, while the inspection to the 10th Brigade’s base took place on April 1.
At the end of the inspections, the authorities found that roughly 1.9 million rounds of ammunition of varied calibers were missing, as well as roughly 20,500 grenades of varied types, 2 Spike Missiles, 37 Nimrod missiles, 550 RPG rockets, and other kinds of explosives.
Petro asserted that, in his opinion, the missing military weaponry went to Colombia’s armed groups, without mentioning any specific culprits. Petro also suggested that the missing items may have reached “foreign conflicts, the closest, that of Haiti, seven hours by speedboat from the La Guajira base,” as well as the international arms smuggling market.
Under Petro, the Colombian army can no longer safeguard its own ammunition and weaponry.
Argentina & China
Quote:Diana Mondino, the foreign minister of Argentina, concluded her first trip to China on Wednesday representing the libertarian government of President Javier Milei, declaring that Buenos Aires retains a “friendly” policy towards Beijing despite Milei’s campaign promises to distance his country from the Communist Party.
“No matter how Argentina’s internal political situation changes, its friendly policy toward China will not change,” Mondino reportedly told her Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during a meeting on Tuesday.
Mondino spent her four days in the country meeting with both regime-affiliated business leaders – including representatives from notorious regime corporations such as Huawei and Xiaomi – and Communist Party officials, reportedly seeking greater investment in Argentina. Argentina is currently experiencing the worst financial crisis of its history, a product of two decades of socialist rule prior to Milei’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.
Milei, an economist by trade, identifies as a libertarian and anarcho-capitalist who aggressively opposes communism and all forms of what he calls left-wing “collectivism.” On China, presidential candidate Milei declared the genocidal regime “murderous” and promised not to pursue ties with the country.
“I would not promote relations with communists – not with Cuba, not with Venezuela, not with North Korea, not with Nicaragua, not with China,” Milei said in an interview with Bloomberg News in August.
Mondino adopted a much more conciliary tone in Beijing, stating that Argentina would “pursue an open policy and welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Argentina,” according to the South China Morning Post. Mondino insisted that commitments made with China during prior socialist administrations would remain in vigor, including projects begun under China’s predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“Mondino noted that no matter how Argentina’s internal political situation changes, its friendly policy toward China will not change,” the Chinese state-run CGTN outlet reported. “Argentina adheres to the one-China principle and is willing to continue to promote cooperation in infrastructure construction, trade, investment, finance, tourism, space, Antarctica, ocean and environmental protection under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, she said.”
Haiti's New President
Quote:Haiti’s transitional council named former senate president Edgard Gardy Leblanc Fils as temporary president of the nation on Tuesday and tapped former youth minister Fritz Belizaire as interim prime minister.
Fils and Belizaire are scheduled to hold their offices until February 2026, when the security situation in Haiti will hopefully have been stabilized enough to hold nationwide elections.
Belizaire will take over from Michel Patrick Boisvert, the former finance minister named interim prime minister by de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry when he tendered his formal resignation last week.
Haiti has not had an elected leader since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021. Henry took over as the nation’s chief executive after the assassination and became deeply unpopular with the Haitian people, with many viewing him as a corrupt despot who would do anything to cling to power. He resisted holding elections and refused to resign until February, when street gangs plunged the country into bloody chaos while the prime minister was in Africa, effectively exiling him from the country.
Henry said he would not resign until a transitional council was established to create an interim government. After months of effort, the seven-member council (plus two non-voting observers) was finally sworn in on April 25 amid fresh outbreaks of street violence and death threats from gang leaders. Henry resigned the same day, without admitting he had ever done anything wrong.
Chile & Venezuela
Quote:The Chilean news channel Meganoticias reported this weekend that two members of Chile’s Investigative Police (PDI) had allegedly been working with a human trafficking cell of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of women.
The two officers, identified as Nicolás Ortega Castro and Sebastián Peredo Vera, were detained in March during a crackdown operation held by PDI’s Human Trafficking Brigade, which is known as Bitrap.
The Tren de Aragua is a multinational criminal organization originating in Aragua state, Venezuela, whose crimes had largely been contained until September, when socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro ordered a bizarre “raid” of the prison housing most of the gang’s leadership. The “raid” resulted in the disappearance of gang leader Héctor “the Child” Guerrero and several other high-ranking gangsters and preceded a boom in Tren de Aragua criminal activity across the Western Hemisphere, including in the United States.
The socialist regime in control of Venezuela has repeatedly insisted in the past two months – in the face of mounting evidence of a connection between Maduro and the Tren de Aragua – that the gang simply does not exist.
Chilean prosecutor Carolina Suazo – who charged the two men and other detainees with illicit association, human trafficking, money laundering, and bribery – told Meganoticias that Chilean officials were able to determine that Tren de Aragua received information from PDI based on the testimonies of victims of the human trafficking network, which “led to the initiation of a series of proceedings related to that information.”
According to Meganoticias’ report, Tren de Aragua’s human trafficking cell was made up of 13 people, some of whom are currently in custody and others at large with outstanding arrest warrants. The trafficking cell allegedly kept at least 100 sexual exploitation victims in the vicinity of Plaza de Armas, Santiago’s main square, and used some of the city’s historical buildings, where victims were “permanently monitored and controlled.”
The trafficking victims were allegedly recruited both inside of Chile and abroad by “taking advantage of their situation of vulnerability and, in some cases, also deceiving them in relation to the conditions of payment of the fine that they acquired with the accused.”
EUROPE
French Police
Quote:French police on Friday peacefully removed dozens of students from a building at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, who had gathered in support of Palestinians, echoing similar encampments and solidarity demonstrations across the United States.
Students waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in support of residents of Gaza, as Israel continues its offensive following the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack that triggered the Israeli-Hamas war.
The Sciences Po building had been occupied since Thursday evening. The university administration had closed the main buildings and moved classes online.
Pro-Palestinian students were planning to hold a protest later Friday in front of the Pantheon monument, near the elite Sorbonne University, to call for an end to Israel´s offensive in Gaza.
On Thursday, similar protests took place in some other universities across the country, including in Lille and Lyon.
The Prime Minister’s Office said police had been requested to remove students from 23 sites on French campuses on Thursday and “all were evacuated within a few hours.”
A police presence will be maintained near Sciences Po to prevent any further blockades, it said in a statement.
Last week, tensions broke out near the elite university, which counts President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal among its many famous alumni. Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators faced each other in a standoff in the street outside Sciences Po. Riot police stepped in to separate the groups.
The protest ended peacefully as pro-Palestinian students agreed to leave.
ASIA
Turkey on Israel
Quote:Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed reports on Friday that Ankara will ban all imports from and exports to Israel in support of the jihadist terror group Hamas.
“There was a trade volume of $9.5 billion between us,” Erdogan told reporters on Friday. “Ignoring this trade volume, we closed the door.”
Erdogan once again accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of unfairly targeting Palestinian civilians in the ongoing Israeli self-defense operation against Hamas, calling him “relentless” in comments on Friday. The Turkish president objects to the operation, intended to neutralize the group’s ability to invade and ravage Israel, on the grounds that the Israelis are allegedly targeting Palestinian civilians subjugated by Hamas. Netanyahu’s government approved the operation in response to the slaughter of an estimated 1,200 people, abduction of 2,500, and widespread torture, gang rape, and desecration of the corpses of Israelis during Hamas’s siege of Israel on October 7.
Erdogan was among the first world leaders to defend Hamas following the October 7 atrocities, repeatedly insisting that the group is “not a terrorist organization” and comparing Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
In his remarks on Friday, Erdogan condemned both Israel and “all Western countries” for opposing Hamas and allegedly “sparing no efforts to condemn the poverty-stricken Palestinians to death.”
Erdogan’s announcement followed the declaration by the Turkish Trade Ministry on Thursday that Ankara would suspend all import and export ties to Israel.
I'm not surprised to see how Turkey blames Israel for everything and even compares it with the Nazis. Communist parties have followed the same playbook that teaches them how to blame other groups for what they themselves are actually doing.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
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KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE