There is good reason to believe that Nicolas Maduro is not the legitimate president of Venezuela. Nonetheless Maduro was sworn into office on April 19 as Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor after winning a tight presidential contest days before. In the April 14 election, Maduro claimed a narrow majority—235,000 votes out …
President Obama’s decision not to send any significant member of his Administration to attend the funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in London was a regrettable decision that did disservice to the U.S.–U.K. Special Relationship. The decision not to send a senior Administration official such as Vice President …
The situation encountered by Heritage analysts on the ground in Venezuela last week was of a country that has been looted and is falling apart—literally and figuratively. The once thriving nightlife of downtown Caracas is but a distant memory. These days the streets are deserted, surrendered to gangsters and narcotraffickers. …
A group of populist Latin American states—led by Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela—hopes to reduce the role of an international human rights commission and watchdog. These radical states aim to weaken the commission because it goes against their political ambitions, as it entails scrutiny and judgments of human rights violations by …
As some Venezuelans mourn the death of populist President Hugo Chávez, their northern neighbors in the Caribbean Basin shouldn’t shed a tear. In 2005, members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) sold out on free markets for the price of Chávez’s oil diplomacy by signing up for PetroCaribe, a financing agreement …
Today, Venezuela will hold the official state funeral for Hugo Chávez. Already, ceremonies in honor of El Comandante are well underway. On Wednesday, a caravan carried Chávez’s body along a seven-hour-long procession through the streets of Caracas. The flag-draped coffin was laid in state at the military academy where he …
A gaggle of democratic states gathered in Santiago, Chile, in late January handed over leadership of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Nations to Cuba for the coming year. The whitewash of Cuba’s abominable human rights and personal freedom record was quickly noted. The Santiago conclave started what has …
If cancer revokes President Hugo Chavez’s mandate for indefinite rule in Venezuela, it will leave leadership of the radical-left, anti-liberty Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) in Latin America up for grabs. New faces will inevitably emerge. Chavez’s vice president, the uncharismatic Nicolas Maduro, will most likely runVenezuela in the near future, backed …
On January 21, German authorities at Dusseldorf Airport discovered a check for 300 million bolivars (about $70 million) in the luggage of Tahmasb Mazaheri, Iran’s former central bank chief from 2007 to 2008, as he arrived from Turkey. The check was drawn from the Bank of Venezuela. When asked about …
