This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCARACAS, Venezuela — The sun had risen over the Caribbean Sea when Frank González spotted "the stain" — an oil slick on the water that stretched for miles.“The sea looked like butter, because of the thickness of the water,” said González, a fisherman who saw the spill this month while working off the coast of Venezuela’s Falcón state. “It was painful to see.”Venezuela’s once powerful oil industry is , with years of mismanagement, corruption, falling prices and a U.S. embargo imposed last year bringing aging infrastructure...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCARACAS, Venezuela — The sun had risen over the Caribbean Sea when Frank González spotted "the stain" — an oil slick on the water that stretched for miles.“The sea looked like butter, because of the thickness of the water,” said González, a fisherman who saw the spill this month while working off the coast of Venezuela’s Falcón state. “It was painful to see.”Venezuela’s once powerful oil industry is , with years of mismanagement, corruption, falling prices and a U.S. embargo imposed last year bringing aging infrastructure...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareFor the men in the Colombian safe house, the arrival of the muscular American felt like deliverance.Defectors from Venezuela’s police and military, they had been rounded up from flophouses and streetside encampments for a secret mission to liberate their homeland from the socialist government of autocratic . They were holed up in a sweltering smuggler’s town near the Venezuelan frontier late last spring when Jordan Goudreau — a square-jawed former Green Beret who ran a strategic-services firm in Florida — stepped out of a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareFor the men in the Colombian safe house, the arrival of the muscular American felt like deliverance.Defectors from Venezuela’s police and military, they had been rounded up from flophouses and streetside encampments for a secret mission to liberate their homeland from the socialist government of autocratic . They were holed up in a sweltering smuggler’s town near the Venezuelan frontier late last spring when Jordan Goudreau — a square-jawed former Green Beret who ran a strategic-services firm in Florida — stepped out of a...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolás Maduro said his government had captured two American “mercenaries” Monday in a murky operation allegedly intended to infiltrate Venezuela, incite rebellion and apprehend its leaders, adding a fresh complication to escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas. The socialist leader said the plan was to kill him.In a lengthy speech Monday night, Maduro decried an ongoing “terrorist” assault on Venezuela that he said had led him to dispatch 25,000 reservists to the coasts. He...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolás Maduro said his government had captured two American “mercenaries” Monday in a murky operation allegedly intended to infiltrate Venezuela, incite rebellion and apprehend its leaders, adding a fresh complication to escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas. The socialist leader said the plan was to kill him.In a lengthy speech Monday night, Maduro decried an ongoing “terrorist” assault on Venezuela that he said had led him to dispatch 25,000 reservists to the coasts. He...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift Share[]When officials in his home state began giving food boxes to families hit by Colombia’s coronavirus lockdown, lawmaker Ricardo Quintero was struck by the exorbitant prices being paid to the vendors. So he armed himself with pictures of the coffee, pasta and other goods and went down to his local grocery store.There, he bought the same products for roughly half the supposedly bulk-rate prices being paid by the government of Cesar state. The comparison shopping prompted one of what is now 14 coronavirus-related criminal...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift Share[]When officials in his home state began giving food boxes to families hit by Colombia’s coronavirus lockdown, lawmaker Ricardo Quintero was struck by the exorbitant prices being paid to the vendors. So he armed himself with pictures of the coffee, pasta and other goods and went down to his local grocery store.There, he bought the same products for roughly half the supposedly bulk-rate prices being paid by the government of Cesar state. The comparison shopping prompted one of what is now 14 coronavirus-related criminal...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareLA PAZ, Bolivia — The knock at Orestes Sotomayor's door on the outskirts of this high-altitude metropolis came just as he was about to leave for work. The 35-year-old publisher of the Resistance, a left-leaning online news outlet, answered to find a group of plainclothes police officers eager to speak with him about a "cybercrime."He accompanied them to the station, where he was informed that he, in fact, was the cybercriminal they sought. The charge: sedition against the state, for running news stories critical of...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareLA PAZ, Bolivia — The knock at Orestes Sotomayor's door on the outskirts of this high-altitude metropolis came just as he was about to leave for work. The 35-year-old publisher of the Resistance, a left-leaning online news outlet, answered to find a group of plainclothes police officers eager to speak with him about a "cybercrime."He accompanied them to the station, where he was informed that he, in fact, was the cybercriminal they sought. The charge: sedition against the state, for running news stories critical of...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareHe was their lodestar, the man who brought fringe populists from Hungary to Brazil in from the diplomatic cold, elevating their science-dismissing, migrant-scapegoating, nationalistic message from the balcony of its greatest perch: the White House.But with President Trump’s narrow election defeat, the globe’s right-wing autocrats and nationalistic movements face a new challenge: how to navigate a world where the most powerful man on Earth is no longer in their corner.Few are predicting an end to global Trumpism, the...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareHe was their lodestar, the man who brought fringe populists from Hungary to Brazil in from the diplomatic cold, elevating their science-dismissing, migrant-scapegoating, nationalistic message from the balcony of its greatest perch: the White House.But with President Trump’s narrow election defeat, the globe’s right-wing autocrats and nationalistic movements face a new challenge: how to navigate a world where the most powerful man on Earth is no longer in their corner.Few are predicting an end to global Trumpism, the...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLA PAZ, Bolivia — Exit polls issued early Monday showed Bolivia's socialists taking a seemingly insurmountable lead in the country's bitterly fought presidential election, a result that, if confirmed by the official tally, would amount to a massive popular rebuke of the right-wing forces that drove the left from power a year ago.Sunday’s was a do-over of last year’s contest. That vote ended with longtime socialist President Evo Morales fleeing into exile as opponents alleged and supporters Morales, banned from running...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareLA PAZ, Bolivia — Exit polls issued early Monday showed Bolivia's socialists taking a seemingly insurmountable lead in the country's bitterly fought presidential election, a result that, if confirmed by the official tally, would amount to a massive popular rebuke of the right-wing forces that drove the left from power a year ago.Sunday’s was a do-over of last year’s contest. That vote ended with longtime socialist President Evo Morales fleeing into exile as opponents alleged and supporters Morales, banned from running...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's claimed Monday that it had dismantled a covert operation to blow up power plants and oil facilities to destabilize the socialist state, saying it had detained eight plotters including an American traveling with heavy arms, explosives, surveillance footage and cash.In a nationally televised address, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said active members of the Venezuelan military had aided the American, identified by authorities as Matthew John Heath. Saab said that Heath had a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's claimed Monday that it had dismantled a covert operation to blow up power plants and oil facilities to destabilize the socialist state, saying it had detained eight plotters including an American traveling with heavy arms, explosives, surveillance footage and cash.In a nationally televised address, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said active members of the Venezuelan military had aided the American, identified by authorities as Matthew John Heath. Saab said that Heath had a...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCARACAS, Venezuela — The president announced the "medical breakthrough" with a pitch that could school a QVC presenter.Neutralize the coronavirus without a single side effect! No needle? No problem! Just a few drops of the magic liquid under the tongue every four hours and it’s goodbye, lockdown; hello, good health.“From Venezuela to the world,” Nicolás Maduro declared in a national address, unveiling two shimmering vials of Carvativir.Venezuelan medical professionals now say that Maduro’s “miracle drops” — which he...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareCARACAS, Venezuela — The president announced the "medical breakthrough" with a pitch that could school a QVC presenter.Neutralize the coronavirus without a single side effect! No needle? No problem! Just a few drops of the magic liquid under the tongue every four hours and it’s goodbye, lockdown; hello, good health.“From Venezuela to the world,” Nicolás Maduro declared in a national address, unveiling two shimmering vials of Carvativir.Venezuelan medical professionals now say that Maduro’s “miracle drops” — which he...WW…

Add to list On my list SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Costa Rica built Latin America’s model society, enacting universal health care and spending its way to one of the Western Hemisphere’s highest literacy rates. Now, it’s reeling from the financially crushing side effects of the coronavirus, as cratering revenue and crisis spending force a reckoning over a massive pile of government debt. The pandemic is hurtling heavily leveraged nations into an economic danger zone, threatening to bankrupt the worst-affected. Costa Rica, a country known for zip-lining tourists and American retirees, is...…Add to list On my list SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Costa Rica built Latin America’s model society, enacting universal health care and spending its way to one of the Western Hemisphere’s highest literacy rates. Now, it’s reeling from the financially crushing side effects of the coronavirus, as cratering revenue and crisis spending force a reckoning over a massive pile of government debt. The pandemic is hurtling heavily leveraged nations into an economic danger zone, threatening to bankrupt the worst-affected. Costa Rica, a country known for zip-lining tourists and American retirees, is...WW…