On April 14, some 14.8 million Venezuelans went to the polls to select a new president to replace Hugo Chavez, who died on March 5. By the narrowest of margins—reportedly fewer than 235,000 votes—it appears that Nicolas Maduro, candidate of Chavez’s United Socialist Party (PSUV), defeated opposition leader Henrique Capriles …
As Cypriots come to grips with this week’s agreement to bail out its banks, Russian policymakers need to think about why their citizens are involved in this crisis. Around 40 percent of Cyprus bank deposits belong to Russian individuals or businesses, and accounts with more than 100,000 euros now face …
There is more the President could do during his Middle East trip to improve the stability in the region: He should promote economic freedom. The Middle East and North Africa are two regions where countries lack the institutions to protect private property rights. In his recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, …
Despite billions of dollars in unused loan authority remaining under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office, negative publicity surrounding the loan guarantee programs (which offer taxpayer dollars to government-approved companies) has tampered with applications, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. More than $51 billion in …
Although Hugo Chavez just died last week in Caracas, economic freedom predeceased him in Venezuela by at least a decade. When Chavez took power in 1999, the Venezuelan economy was rated at 54 points out of 100, according to The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal’s annual Index of Economic Freedom. This …
Republic of Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, in his February 17 speech commemorating the 5th anniversary of the country’s independence, expressed pride in his country’s visible accomplishments, but noted appropriately his awareness that “we need to do much more.” Indeed. Despite notable reforms since independence, the foundations of economic freedom …
The recently launched “Americas Barometer,” by Vanderbilt University’s Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), includes important insights about day-to-day corruption burdening citizens in every country in the Western Hemisphere, including the U.S. and Canada. According to a LAPOP poll, one in five people report that they had to pay at …
Speaking in Miami in May 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama outlined his proposed Cuba policy: “My policy toward Cuba will be guided by one word: Libertad [Liberty]. And the road to freedom for all Cubans must begin with justice for Cuba’s political prisoners, the rights of free speech, a free …
America’s labor unions have amassed quite a federal rap sheet in 2012. According to the Justice Department, union officials nationwide have been arrested for or convicted of embezzlement, extortion, bribery, racketeering, money laundering, fraud, and witness tampering so far this year. Below are summaries of criminal actions taken against union …
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that included language—called the Magnitsky Act—that for the first time punishes Russian officials implicated in serious human rights abuses. The bill was passed by an overwhelming majority—365 to 43—demonstrating strong bipartisan support. The Senate will vote on the Magnitsky Act and …
