Porter Goss has resigned as CIA director. The former 16 year Florida Congressman took over the agency in Sept. 2004. In a joint announcement with President Bush, the Goss stated he would step down, no exact reason was given.
This is very unfortunate. Goss, who was a CIA clandestine officer, was a good friend of the Cuban people. He worked on various issues regarding Cuba, Fidel and Che during his time as a CIA officer and truly understood the problems in Cuba. I fear that once he finally got comfortable in his position now he is leaving. This is a great travesty!
Friday, May 05, 2006
Cinco de Mayo
Today is Cinco de Mayo. ... This Mexican celebration honors the Battle of Puebla (La Battala de Puebla ) . In 1862 the French army was the most powerful military force in the world. The French wanted to invade Mexico, but a small group of Mexican peasant, fought against the French and were victorious.
A little known fact is that La Battala de Puebla inadvertently helped the Union win the Civil War.
When the South succeeded from the Union they needed a government to recognize them. The English won't do it, as they had outlawed slavery. Yet the south made some agreements with the French, Emperor Napoleon was a sympathizer, and though the French did not openly recognize them, they made other agreements to help the South ..... Due to another situation, the French invade Mexico (even placing a king in Mexico - Maximillano). After invading Mexico they would continue through the North American continent North and help the South win the war against the North.
because the Mexican peasants prevailed, we now have a free country.
(the story is a bit more complicated then that but read more about Abraham Lincoln and Benito Juarez grate friendship)
More proof can be seen of this
A little known fact is that La Battala de Puebla inadvertently helped the Union win the Civil War.
When the South succeeded from the Union they needed a government to recognize them. The English won't do it, as they had outlawed slavery. Yet the south made some agreements with the French, Emperor Napoleon was a sympathizer, and though the French did not openly recognize them, they made other agreements to help the South ..... Due to another situation, the French invade Mexico (even placing a king in Mexico - Maximillano). After invading Mexico they would continue through the North American continent North and help the South win the war against the North.
because the Mexican peasants prevailed, we now have a free country.
(the story is a bit more complicated then that but read more about Abraham Lincoln and Benito Juarez grate friendship)
More proof can be seen of this
Chairman Concerned about Bolivia
Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN) expressed grave concern on the recent events occuring in Bolivia....
CHAIRMAN BURTON EXPRESSES DEEP CONCERN OVER THE FORCED NATIONALIZATION OF BOLIVIA'S NATURAL-GAS SECTOR BY PRESIDENT EVO MORALES
-CALLS ON PRESIDENT MORALES TO RE-EVALUATE HIS DECISION-
(Washington, D.C.) - Today, Congressman Dan Burton [R-IN-05], Chairman of the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere expressed his deep concern over the forced nationalization of Bolivia's natural-gas sector by President Evo Morales:
"Yesterday, following a trade mission to Communist Cuba where he signed a free trade agreement with Cuba and Venezuela, the newly-elected president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, announced the forced nationalization of Bolivia's natural-gas sector and ordered the Bolivian army to evict foreign companies from Bolivia's largest natural-gas fields."
"This Castro-Chavez inspired move heralds a troubling leftist slide towards state control and a hardening of nationalist social and economic policies in Bolivia, South America's poorest country. I strongly urge President Morales to re-evaluate his decision."
"Not only will forced nationalization hurt Bolivia's relations with its friends and neighbors, such as Brazil, but it could also have a negative impact on U.S. - Bolivia relations. Nationalization sends the wrong signal at the wrong time. Instead of fearing foreign investment and development aid, President Morales should welcome international companies into Bolivia and seek their assistance."
"I remain committed to improving U.S. - Bolivia relations in my capacity as Chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, and I am more than willing to work with President Morales and the people of Bolivia, so we can enhance and promote our mutual interests."
"However, in order to do so, I strongly urge President Morales to re-evaluate his forced nationalization decision, or I fear he risks further isolating Bolivia and its people."
International Venezuelan Council for Democracy (IVCD) is a non-profit organization comprised by Coordinators of multiple Venezuelan organizations around the world, working to strengthen Venezuelan Democracy in defense of human, political, and civil rights, committed to safeguard democratic values and institutions, promoting citizen participation, openness and accountability in government in accordance to the principles established and agreed upon in the Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS). IVCD is a civil and independent organization with no affiliation to political parties. P.O.Box 24 Erie, CO 80516 Phone 1-888-291-2093 E-mail ivcd@ivcdteam.org . president@ivcdteam.org . http://www.ivcdteam.org . http://www.blog.ivcdteam.org
IVCD
PO Box 24
Erie, CO 80516
1-888-291-2093
CHAIRMAN BURTON EXPRESSES DEEP CONCERN OVER THE FORCED NATIONALIZATION OF BOLIVIA'S NATURAL-GAS SECTOR BY PRESIDENT EVO MORALES
-CALLS ON PRESIDENT MORALES TO RE-EVALUATE HIS DECISION-
(Washington, D.C.) - Today, Congressman Dan Burton [R-IN-05], Chairman of the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere expressed his deep concern over the forced nationalization of Bolivia's natural-gas sector by President Evo Morales:
"Yesterday, following a trade mission to Communist Cuba where he signed a free trade agreement with Cuba and Venezuela, the newly-elected president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, announced the forced nationalization of Bolivia's natural-gas sector and ordered the Bolivian army to evict foreign companies from Bolivia's largest natural-gas fields."
"This Castro-Chavez inspired move heralds a troubling leftist slide towards state control and a hardening of nationalist social and economic policies in Bolivia, South America's poorest country. I strongly urge President Morales to re-evaluate his decision."
"Not only will forced nationalization hurt Bolivia's relations with its friends and neighbors, such as Brazil, but it could also have a negative impact on U.S. - Bolivia relations. Nationalization sends the wrong signal at the wrong time. Instead of fearing foreign investment and development aid, President Morales should welcome international companies into Bolivia and seek their assistance."
"I remain committed to improving U.S. - Bolivia relations in my capacity as Chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, and I am more than willing to work with President Morales and the people of Bolivia, so we can enhance and promote our mutual interests."
"However, in order to do so, I strongly urge President Morales to re-evaluate his forced nationalization decision, or I fear he risks further isolating Bolivia and its people."
International Venezuelan Council for Democracy (IVCD) is a non-profit organization comprised by Coordinators of multiple Venezuelan organizations around the world, working to strengthen Venezuelan Democracy in defense of human, political, and civil rights, committed to safeguard democratic values and institutions, promoting citizen participation, openness and accountability in government in accordance to the principles established and agreed upon in the Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS). IVCD is a civil and independent organization with no affiliation to political parties. P.O.Box 24 Erie, CO 80516 Phone 1-888-291-2093 E-mail ivcd@ivcdteam.org . president@ivcdteam.org . http://www.ivcdteam.org . http://www.blog.ivcdteam.org
IVCD
PO Box 24
Erie, CO 80516
1-888-291-2093
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Living In DC and hating Socialist
Over the last few days I have been looking for a new place to live. I currently live up in upper DC close to Maryland. While the neighborhood is great and the rent is amazing, my roommate and I want something more local (downtown) and private (less roommates).
I am not sure what is up with DC lately but I've been meeting alot of crazy, Che loving, socialists.
Take today for instance. I went to go look at a house in the transitional neighborhood of Colombia Heights. The ad made the place look great. It was 4 blocks from the Metro (subway). A nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath private home with a little backyard. I thought it would be great. I called to make an appointment with the current tenant and she seemed very nice.
Early this morning I met her to see the house. She seemed friendly but not what I was expecting. She was a small-framed, thin, fair-skinned gringita apparently still in her work out clothes. Bikes were piled outside on the front porch and I scrambled through them to get into the house. As we began to examine the location there was anti-Bush propaganda, socialist posters, Signs for the black Panthers and a pop-art rendition of Che Guevera a'-la' Andy Warhol. I figured me telling her I had an event in the White House later in the day wouldn't score me any points.
Somehow I managed to bite my tongue as the house looked great. Part of me figured I can just get it sanitized later and hope any negative socialist tendencies will leave with the tenants. And then the girl showing me the house raised her arm to brush her hair out of her face. For a second I wondered if I was in some French film or was it that all Che loving socialist women find it empowering to not shave their armpits. (clearly I don't know any personally.) I tried not to make a face ( I can be VERY expressive). I managed to keep myself from looking down and noticing if the same fate was given to her legs.
We chatted more for a bit and she gave me an application form, printed on what she called scrap paper. The paper was the reverse side of some school paper, she is majoring as a social worker. I tucked the paper in my bag. Trying not to read it too much. I thanked her for her time and left the location.
I quickly read the "scrap paper" (aka school project). It was enough to make me a little sick. If she googles me up, for sure I will have no chance at the house. Me a pro-Bush, anti-communist, socialist hating capitalist.
For your pleasure here is a small blurb of the paper:
"Title: Building Socialism, Fighting Racism"
"I worked with the international Socialist Organization (ISO) to fight racism in Washington D.C., and to build a socialist movement that will be able to fight against all forms of oppression.... My work consisted of logistical community organizing of protest and demonstrations, flyering, weekly tabling, mobilizing contact, fundraising, and chairing ISO meetings. I prepared a talk and discussion on the Communist Manifesto .... ""
It goes on but as you can imagine I ran away screaming in my head...... poor idealistic little white girl who thinks all the worlds problems can be solved in a constantly failing experiment....
Long Live A Free Cuba!!!! Long Live Capitalism!!!
Oh yeah, i am still looking for a place to live.....
I am not sure what is up with DC lately but I've been meeting alot of crazy, Che loving, socialists.
Take today for instance. I went to go look at a house in the transitional neighborhood of Colombia Heights. The ad made the place look great. It was 4 blocks from the Metro (subway). A nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath private home with a little backyard. I thought it would be great. I called to make an appointment with the current tenant and she seemed very nice.
Early this morning I met her to see the house. She seemed friendly but not what I was expecting. She was a small-framed, thin, fair-skinned gringita apparently still in her work out clothes. Bikes were piled outside on the front porch and I scrambled through them to get into the house. As we began to examine the location there was anti-Bush propaganda, socialist posters, Signs for the black Panthers and a pop-art rendition of Che Guevera a'-la' Andy Warhol. I figured me telling her I had an event in the White House later in the day wouldn't score me any points.
Somehow I managed to bite my tongue as the house looked great. Part of me figured I can just get it sanitized later and hope any negative socialist tendencies will leave with the tenants. And then the girl showing me the house raised her arm to brush her hair out of her face. For a second I wondered if I was in some French film or was it that all Che loving socialist women find it empowering to not shave their armpits. (clearly I don't know any personally.) I tried not to make a face ( I can be VERY expressive). I managed to keep myself from looking down and noticing if the same fate was given to her legs.
We chatted more for a bit and she gave me an application form, printed on what she called scrap paper. The paper was the reverse side of some school paper, she is majoring as a social worker. I tucked the paper in my bag. Trying not to read it too much. I thanked her for her time and left the location.
I quickly read the "scrap paper" (aka school project). It was enough to make me a little sick. If she googles me up, for sure I will have no chance at the house. Me a pro-Bush, anti-communist, socialist hating capitalist.
For your pleasure here is a small blurb of the paper:
"Title: Building Socialism, Fighting Racism"
"I worked with the international Socialist Organization (ISO) to fight racism in Washington D.C., and to build a socialist movement that will be able to fight against all forms of oppression.... My work consisted of logistical community organizing of protest and demonstrations, flyering, weekly tabling, mobilizing contact, fundraising, and chairing ISO meetings. I prepared a talk and discussion on the Communist Manifesto .... ""
It goes on but as you can imagine I ran away screaming in my head...... poor idealistic little white girl who thinks all the worlds problems can be solved in a constantly failing experiment....
Long Live A Free Cuba!!!! Long Live Capitalism!!!
Oh yeah, i am still looking for a place to live.....
Oh how I love those Australians!!
If you missed here is a great article on the Wikipedia controversy!!! I've always love Australians. My cousin married one last year and they are great people and know Castro stinks. (also there is a semi-large Cuban community there, mostly by the last name Rodriguez.. yeah we are everywhere).....
Cuba entry in Wikipedia stirs controversy
BY PABLO BACHELET
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - One editor complained that Havana sympathizers were transforming a scholarly enterprise into "their own private Fidel Castro fan page." A user was tossed out after threatening to sue another for libel.
The fuss is over the Cuba entry in Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia created, edited and administered entirely by volunteers with the aim of becoming a Web-based knowledge repository for humanity.
But the Cuba entry, like those on President Bush and abortion, has been snared in intense political divisions over everything from the impact of U.S. sanctions on the communist-ruled island to whether it should have a separate section on its human rights record. Russia and North Korea do not.
There have been so many dueling edits - 30 entries on April 27 alone - that the article has been placed off-limits to first-time or unregistered users. The article has notices alerting readers that the neutrality of four sections is under dispute.
A central tenet of Wikipedia is that articles must be written in a neutral point of view. But, as the debate on the talk page attached to the Cuba article demonstrates, neutrality is often in the eye of the beholder.
The debate over Cuba turned intense after Adam Carr, who identifies himself as having a Ph.D. in history from the University of Melbourne in Australia and a gay rights activist, introduced this sentence high in the article: "Cuba is a socialist republic, in which the Communist Party of Cuba is the sole legal political party, and is the only state in the western hemisphere that is not a democracy."
Read the full story and controversy
Cuba entry in Wikipedia stirs controversy
BY PABLO BACHELET
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - One editor complained that Havana sympathizers were transforming a scholarly enterprise into "their own private Fidel Castro fan page." A user was tossed out after threatening to sue another for libel.
The fuss is over the Cuba entry in Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia created, edited and administered entirely by volunteers with the aim of becoming a Web-based knowledge repository for humanity.
But the Cuba entry, like those on President Bush and abortion, has been snared in intense political divisions over everything from the impact of U.S. sanctions on the communist-ruled island to whether it should have a separate section on its human rights record. Russia and North Korea do not.
There have been so many dueling edits - 30 entries on April 27 alone - that the article has been placed off-limits to first-time or unregistered users. The article has notices alerting readers that the neutrality of four sections is under dispute.
A central tenet of Wikipedia is that articles must be written in a neutral point of view. But, as the debate on the talk page attached to the Cuba article demonstrates, neutrality is often in the eye of the beholder.
The debate over Cuba turned intense after Adam Carr, who identifies himself as having a Ph.D. in history from the University of Melbourne in Australia and a gay rights activist, introduced this sentence high in the article: "Cuba is a socialist republic, in which the Communist Party of Cuba is the sole legal political party, and is the only state in the western hemisphere that is not a democracy."
Read the full story and controversy
Monday, May 01, 2006
White House Correspondents Dinner
The White House Correspondents Dinner provided a few laughs for President Bush.. Check it out at http://www.c-span.org/.... You'll find the 2 Bushs 52 min into the dinner (but some funny clips are found through out the event... enjoy)......
Latin Leftists Forge Cooperation
Shouldn't be news to some of you but just in case here is an article talking about the trade agreements with the leftiest governements in Latin America (Cuba, Venezuala and Bolivia). Fidel keeps training Chavez.... and trying to stengthen thier power in the region...
Latin Leftists Forge Cooperation
Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba up the ante in challenging U.S. influence
Alex Argote (alexphil)
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=288997&rel_no=1
Published on 2006-05-01 16:34 (KST)
Three leftist Latin American leaders recently inked an accord on Saturday which promises to strengthen their countries' economic and political ties against the macho posturing of the United States.
The trio -- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Cuba's Fidel Castro, and Evo Morales of Bolivia -- met in Havana late last week to discuss the future of their respective nations and of South America as a whole.
At the conclusion of their summit, the three decided to reject the American form of free trade and formulate a socialist version of regional economic and political cooperation. Dubbed as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, the pact was ostensibly created as a counterweight to the U.S.-backed FTAA -- the Free Trade Area of the Americas -- and the Andean community bloc. By forming a strong trade alliance with Cuba and Bolivia, Chavez hopes to dilute the heavy North American influence and control in the region.
In the deal, Cuba promised to send physicians to Bolivia to offer medical help to indigents and educators to assist in literacy campaigns. Venezuela will send fuel to the nation and wrap up a US$100 million fund for development projects, as well as an additional $30 million for social support programs. Also, to alleviate Bolivia's agricultural market woes, Venezuela and Cuba agreed to buy the nation's soybean products after Bolivia was left in the cold with the signing of a free trade pact between Washington and Columbia.
Morales reportedly said, "In Cuba and Venezuela, we find unconditional solidarity." He added, "They are the best allies in changing Bolivia."
Garbed in his trademark olive-green uniform, Castro, who will turn 80 in August, said he was most happy in sharing the spotlight with younger leaders with the same mindset and principles.
The Cuban strongman led a brutal revolution in the late 1950s against the capitalist regime of Fulgencio Batista. Years later, the CIA launched an ill-fated counterrevolution and invasion by several hundred Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs.
A former military officer, Chavez led a failed coup d'etat in 1992. Undaunted, he changed tactics in ascending to the top job and founded the leftist Fifth Republic Movement, which greatly helped in propelling him to power in the presidential elections of 1998. Reelected in 2000, Chavez launched his pet organization, the enormous Bolivarian Missions, to fight malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, poverty, and other social problems. He also railed and acted against the imperialist Washington consensus by propping up alternative models of economic programs and called on Third World countries to develop their own economic forums and cooperation that will be fair to every one involved.
Increasingly vocal against American domination of South American affairs, Chavez earned the ire of Washington, and he strongly believed that the United States orchestrated the 2002 coup against him and the recall referendum to remove him from the presidency. Having survived both attempts on his political star, Chavez now firmly believes that the CIA is now plotting an elaborate, complex military plan to remove him from the picture.
In the meantime, Chavez is almost frantically working to shore up his defenses and regional support by encouraging the rise of ideologically friendly politicians in neighboring countries, particularly Bolivia, Peru, and Nicaragua.
According to Gary Hufbauer, an economist at the Institute for International Economics, "The agreement is a clever mixture of politics and commerce, and weighted toward the politics."
Being the world's fifth largest oil-exporter and a major gas supplier to the United States, Venezuela is quite awash with greenbacks and thus can afford to challenge the West. By seriously backing Peruvian candidate Ollanta Humala and encouraging the political rebirth of leftist Daniel Ortega in the Nicaraguan scene, Chavez is slowly, deliberately nurturing a socialist bloc in Latin America, which may be the ultimate political solution to oppressive Western control over the southern hemisphere.
Latin Leftists Forge Cooperation
Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba up the ante in challenging U.S. influence
Alex Argote (alexphil)
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=288997&rel_no=1
Published on 2006-05-01 16:34 (KST)
Three leftist Latin American leaders recently inked an accord on Saturday which promises to strengthen their countries' economic and political ties against the macho posturing of the United States.
The trio -- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Cuba's Fidel Castro, and Evo Morales of Bolivia -- met in Havana late last week to discuss the future of their respective nations and of South America as a whole.
At the conclusion of their summit, the three decided to reject the American form of free trade and formulate a socialist version of regional economic and political cooperation. Dubbed as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, the pact was ostensibly created as a counterweight to the U.S.-backed FTAA -- the Free Trade Area of the Americas -- and the Andean community bloc. By forming a strong trade alliance with Cuba and Bolivia, Chavez hopes to dilute the heavy North American influence and control in the region.
In the deal, Cuba promised to send physicians to Bolivia to offer medical help to indigents and educators to assist in literacy campaigns. Venezuela will send fuel to the nation and wrap up a US$100 million fund for development projects, as well as an additional $30 million for social support programs. Also, to alleviate Bolivia's agricultural market woes, Venezuela and Cuba agreed to buy the nation's soybean products after Bolivia was left in the cold with the signing of a free trade pact between Washington and Columbia.
Morales reportedly said, "In Cuba and Venezuela, we find unconditional solidarity." He added, "They are the best allies in changing Bolivia."
Garbed in his trademark olive-green uniform, Castro, who will turn 80 in August, said he was most happy in sharing the spotlight with younger leaders with the same mindset and principles.
The Cuban strongman led a brutal revolution in the late 1950s against the capitalist regime of Fulgencio Batista. Years later, the CIA launched an ill-fated counterrevolution and invasion by several hundred Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs.
A former military officer, Chavez led a failed coup d'etat in 1992. Undaunted, he changed tactics in ascending to the top job and founded the leftist Fifth Republic Movement, which greatly helped in propelling him to power in the presidential elections of 1998. Reelected in 2000, Chavez launched his pet organization, the enormous Bolivarian Missions, to fight malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, poverty, and other social problems. He also railed and acted against the imperialist Washington consensus by propping up alternative models of economic programs and called on Third World countries to develop their own economic forums and cooperation that will be fair to every one involved.
Increasingly vocal against American domination of South American affairs, Chavez earned the ire of Washington, and he strongly believed that the United States orchestrated the 2002 coup against him and the recall referendum to remove him from the presidency. Having survived both attempts on his political star, Chavez now firmly believes that the CIA is now plotting an elaborate, complex military plan to remove him from the picture.
In the meantime, Chavez is almost frantically working to shore up his defenses and regional support by encouraging the rise of ideologically friendly politicians in neighboring countries, particularly Bolivia, Peru, and Nicaragua.
According to Gary Hufbauer, an economist at the Institute for International Economics, "The agreement is a clever mixture of politics and commerce, and weighted toward the politics."
Being the world's fifth largest oil-exporter and a major gas supplier to the United States, Venezuela is quite awash with greenbacks and thus can afford to challenge the West. By seriously backing Peruvian candidate Ollanta Humala and encouraging the political rebirth of leftist Daniel Ortega in the Nicaraguan scene, Chavez is slowly, deliberately nurturing a socialist bloc in Latin America, which may be the ultimate political solution to oppressive Western control over the southern hemisphere.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
What Killed the Immigration Bill? -
In my continued effort to bring the truth to the light on immigration, I bring you this article published in the San Diego Union Tribune. No matter where you stand on the immigration issue we must all agree not passing immigration reform and border security legislation is just WRONG!!!! Not only do we leave our country without stronger national security, allowing hundreds to come into the country undetected each day, we endanger our economic well being, we also leave millions living in the shadows and increase the deep divides in this nation. (In future post I will show you some of the lovely hate mail I have been receiving.)
Read on, no matter what your position, you should be OUTRAGED that democrats would prefer to bow to party politics and political maneuvering then face the issues in this country...
Immigration bill trashed
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
by Ruben Navarrette
The San Diego Union Tribune
Who killed immigration reform? The autopsy shows it was Senate Democrats.
It's tempting to put a pox on both parties. But it wouldn't be fair. Republicans were tireless in search of comprehensive, and bipartisan, reform.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., joined with U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to draft the guest-worker legislation, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., made that legislation central to what his committee sent to the full Senate. U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., were vocal in their support. Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., offered a helpful compromise. And Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., showed leadership by reaching out to the other side.
Democratic villain
Too bad you can't say the same for Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who was the villain
in this drama.
Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin-American Citizens, told me he tried to impress upon Reid's office that it was important to get immigration reform done.
"Apparently, it fell on deaf ears," Flores said.
Reid claims it was GOP hard-liners who killed reform by running roughshod over Frist.
Baloney. The hard-liners had -- by all accounts -- no more than 30 votes, including those of conservative Democrats. On the other side, you had -- according to McCain -- as many as 70 votes.
A deal was at hand that would have offered legal status to some illegal immigrants. It would have made the GOP seem more Latino-friendly, but it would also have infuriated organized labor, which opposes something that was in the mix: guest workers.
After the Senate Judiciary Committee put out a guest-worker bill, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney issued a statement saying: "Guest-workers programs are a bad idea and harm all workers."
That did it. Senate Democrats sided with labor and sold out Latinos. The deal came undone because Reid refused to allow the legislation to go through the amendment process. Republicans had come up with as many as 400 amendments but whittled the list to 20. Reid agreed to proceed with debate on just three.
Calculated outcome
It was a masterstroke by Democrats. Labor is happy. And while Latinos are angry, there's always the chance that Democrats can fool them into channeling that anger toward Republicans.
Remarkably, it's working. At a protest in Washington Monday, one Latina held up a sign that read: "The GOP is losing my Latino vote." At another protest in Dallas, someone handed out registration leaflets urging demonstrators to vote Democratic.
Some Latino leaders don't think it'll be that easy. Cecilia Munoz, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, told me: "I don't believe that it's wise for Democrats to come to our community and ask for votes by saying: "Hey, we kept an immigration bill from going forward.' People understand when they're being used."
Even so, it looks like Reid and the Democrats orchestrated the perfect deception. Trouble is, they left fingerprints.
The Washington Post said in an editorial: "Democrats -- whether their motive was partisan advantage or legitimate fear of a bad bill emerging from conference with the House -- are the ones who refused, in the end, to proceed with debate on amendments, which is, after all, how legislation gets made."
Frank Sharry, the executive director of the liberal National Immigration Forum, said in a statement: "We cannot escape the conclusion that the Democratic Senate leadership was more interested in keeping the immigration issue alive in the run-up to midterm elections than in enacting immigration reform legislation."
And Kennedy told The Associated Press: "Politics got ahead of policy on this." He then refused, according to the article, to defend Reid's performance. The story noted that, "Outside the Senate, several Democratic strategists concluded that the best politics was to allow the bill to die."
The moral: Marches and Mexican flags don't equal power. Labor uses millions of dollars in political contributions to take care of Democrats, and so Democrats take care of labor.
After the bill died, Democrats rubbed salt in the wound by insisting that Latinos had no choice but to stay on the liberal hacienda. Susan Estrich, who served as campaign manager for Michael Dukakis in 1988, told Fox News that Republicans had blown their chance to win Latino votes and predicted that Latino support would help Democrats win both houses of Congress.
You see, in a twist on the famous words of one of their icons, Democrats no longer ask what they can do for Latinos, only what Latinos can do for them.
Read on, no matter what your position, you should be OUTRAGED that democrats would prefer to bow to party politics and political maneuvering then face the issues in this country...
Immigration bill trashed
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
by Ruben Navarrette
The San Diego Union Tribune
Who killed immigration reform? The autopsy shows it was Senate Democrats.
It's tempting to put a pox on both parties. But it wouldn't be fair. Republicans were tireless in search of comprehensive, and bipartisan, reform.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., joined with U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to draft the guest-worker legislation, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., made that legislation central to what his committee sent to the full Senate. U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., were vocal in their support. Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., offered a helpful compromise. And Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., showed leadership by reaching out to the other side.
Democratic villain
Too bad you can't say the same for Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who was the villain
in this drama.
Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin-American Citizens, told me he tried to impress upon Reid's office that it was important to get immigration reform done.
"Apparently, it fell on deaf ears," Flores said.
Reid claims it was GOP hard-liners who killed reform by running roughshod over Frist.
Baloney. The hard-liners had -- by all accounts -- no more than 30 votes, including those of conservative Democrats. On the other side, you had -- according to McCain -- as many as 70 votes.
A deal was at hand that would have offered legal status to some illegal immigrants. It would have made the GOP seem more Latino-friendly, but it would also have infuriated organized labor, which opposes something that was in the mix: guest workers.
After the Senate Judiciary Committee put out a guest-worker bill, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney issued a statement saying: "Guest-workers programs are a bad idea and harm all workers."
That did it. Senate Democrats sided with labor and sold out Latinos. The deal came undone because Reid refused to allow the legislation to go through the amendment process. Republicans had come up with as many as 400 amendments but whittled the list to 20. Reid agreed to proceed with debate on just three.
Calculated outcome
It was a masterstroke by Democrats. Labor is happy. And while Latinos are angry, there's always the chance that Democrats can fool them into channeling that anger toward Republicans.
Remarkably, it's working. At a protest in Washington Monday, one Latina held up a sign that read: "The GOP is losing my Latino vote." At another protest in Dallas, someone handed out registration leaflets urging demonstrators to vote Democratic.
Some Latino leaders don't think it'll be that easy. Cecilia Munoz, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, told me: "I don't believe that it's wise for Democrats to come to our community and ask for votes by saying: "Hey, we kept an immigration bill from going forward.' People understand when they're being used."
Even so, it looks like Reid and the Democrats orchestrated the perfect deception. Trouble is, they left fingerprints.
The Washington Post said in an editorial: "Democrats -- whether their motive was partisan advantage or legitimate fear of a bad bill emerging from conference with the House -- are the ones who refused, in the end, to proceed with debate on amendments, which is, after all, how legislation gets made."
Frank Sharry, the executive director of the liberal National Immigration Forum, said in a statement: "We cannot escape the conclusion that the Democratic Senate leadership was more interested in keeping the immigration issue alive in the run-up to midterm elections than in enacting immigration reform legislation."
And Kennedy told The Associated Press: "Politics got ahead of policy on this." He then refused, according to the article, to defend Reid's performance. The story noted that, "Outside the Senate, several Democratic strategists concluded that the best politics was to allow the bill to die."
The moral: Marches and Mexican flags don't equal power. Labor uses millions of dollars in political contributions to take care of Democrats, and so Democrats take care of labor.
After the bill died, Democrats rubbed salt in the wound by insisting that Latinos had no choice but to stay on the liberal hacienda. Susan Estrich, who served as campaign manager for Michael Dukakis in 1988, told Fox News that Republicans had blown their chance to win Latino votes and predicted that Latino support would help Democrats win both houses of Congress.
You see, in a twist on the famous words of one of their icons, Democrats no longer ask what they can do for Latinos, only what Latinos can do for them.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Cuban Food In DC
umm Babalu made me hungry for Cuban food... being away from home in "gringo-landia" (as my family calls anything not Miami in the USA) it sometimes makes you really, really homesick for Mami's home cooking. Here are some Latin restaurants that include some Cuban comidita, they might not be the perfect, but it brings you a little closer to Cuban heaven...
- Banana Café & Piano Bar * 500 8th Street SE 20003 * 202-543-5906 * Capitol Hill (under a new chef, they make awesome sandwiches and a great stuffed yuca. The Miami Members of Congress love this place).
- Havana Café * 1825 First Street NW 20006 * 202-293-5303
- Cuban Corner Restaurant * 825 Hungerford Dr., Rockville, MD* 301-279-0310 (considered the best place for Cuban food in the Washington DC area)
- Cubano's * 1201 Fidler Lane, Silver Spring, MD * 301-563-4020 (owned by Cuban/Venezuelans, most dishes are great, others need a more authentic Cuban touch.)
- Lauriol Plaza * 1835 18th St. NW, Washington, DC * 202-387-0035 * Dupont Circle (owned by a fellow Cuban patriot. Most of the dishes are Mexican/Spanish but their Masitas de Puerco are amazing!!)
- Yuca * 1800 M Street NW, Washington DC * Farragut (nuevo-Cuban)
- Ceiba * 701 14th St NW, Washington, DC * (high class Nuevo-Cuban and Latin menu, very nice)
- Gua-Rapo * 2039 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209 * Phone: 703-528-6500 (dinner only, Latin, middle-eastern and Nuevo Cuban food)
- South Beach Restaurant & Bar * 7904 Woodmont Ave, Bethesda, MD
- Caribbean Grill * 5183 Lee Hwy, Arlington * 703 241 8947 (Cuban sandwiches and picaditos)
I left one out on purpose - Don’t go to Havana Village in Adams Morgan. Not only does it have a big Che picture (crap) the Cuban Interests Section people hang out there, and we all know they suck.
Most of the time if I really want Cuban food I just go home and make it myself. If you are ever in town let me know, i might make you some of my famous arrozz con pollo.
America can be a nation of immigrantsand a nation of laws
America can be a nation of immigrantsand a nation of laws
by Jack Kemp *
"My dear fellow immigrants," with these words President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent greetings to the annual convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution, after the organization banned the great black contralto, Marian Anderson, from singing at their Constitution Hall in 1939 simply because of the color of her skin.
Marian Anderson chose the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver her concert just days later, appropriately ending the concert with "God Bless America." Turning hate and ignorance into love and brotherhood is what marked the works of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Marian Anderson at the site of our American memorial to the Great Emancipator.
You ask, what's that to do with the immigration debate raging these past two weeks in Washington, D.C., and on talk radio all over America?
Well, to begin with, the voices of Roosevelt and Lincoln, preaching and practicing the American motto of "E pluribus unum," are all but absent these days, except for a few of those talking about fixing our broken borders and disabled immigration policies in humane, compassionate and progressive ways.
As President George W. Bush recently reminded us, America can still be a nation of immigrants while remaining a nation of laws if we treat people in the way we would want to be treated and find the right way of enforcement.
The most troubling aspect of this debate is the meanness of spirit toward immigrants, particularly those of Latino or Hispanic heritage. But, it's nothing new, as the Irish, Poles, Germans, Italians, Asians and others were treated the same decades and decades ago.
According to Michael Barone's "The New Americans," a closer look at the Great Migration of the 19th century reveals striking parallels to the current circumstances of the American immigration. The examples of two groups often cited by modern day advocates of restricting immigration - the Irish and the Italians - are particularly instructive.
During the last half of the 1800s and into the 20th century, more than 4 million Irish men, women and children immigrated to the United States. Fleeing the potato famine of the 1840s and seeking economic opportunity, Irish immigrants settled in urban areas starting in the Northeast and eventually spreading across the country. Many of these early immigrants did not speak English. One estimate held that at least one-third of them spoke little English.
What worries me first as an American and second as a partisan Republican from the Lincoln wing of our party, is the Republican Party. The House of Representatives is in danger of doing to itself in 2006, what it did in California in 1996 with Proposition 187 - turning into an anti-immigration party in a rather ugly way.
The House version of immigration reform would be a prescription for electoral and political disaster, not unlike what happened to our party in the presidential election of 1964, when Barry Goldwater, our nominee for president, voted against the Civil Rights Act.
The talk of 700 miles of walls, fences, federal troops, coupled with sending 11.5 million men, women and children back to their "home" countries is the equivalent of "police state" tactics advocated by the likes of Lou Dobbs and others who are not true leaders in the footsteps of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
Yes, we must control our borders with more and smarter technology, specially trained border security agents, and better enforcement in the private workplace. Yet, we shouldn't be surprised if immigrants don't respect our laws if our immigration laws aren't respected or even enforced.
We must pass an immigration reform package that not only works, but is reasonable, respected and responsible.
I believe the Senate Judiciary Committee bill recognizes the realties of a "guest worker" program that provides our country with the workers we need, while requiring workers and employers to operate with transparency.
The Senate bill also creates a path to permanent citizenship that will, no doubt, be labeled by critics as "amnesty," when far from it, it includes enforceable penalties and makes punishment fit the crime. Those who commit felonies should be deported, but most of our so called "illegals" are in America for freedom, family and faith in our "dream" of equal opportunity.
And by the way, the federal law that caps highly skilled H1B workers at 65,000 a year, down from 195,000 in 2003, has led to a "brain drain" from the U.S. to Canada. This is counterproductive and counterintuitive to a 21st century, high-tech, globalized economy.
As I wrote in 2004, "Looking to the fall campaign season, I am hopeful that other Republicans will stand against anti-immigrant policies, stand up for free trade and stand behind wealth creation for the little guy by allowing workers to put a significant part of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts, where they can acquire assets, property and the capital necessary to launch their version of the American Dream.
* Jack Kemp is Founder and Chairman of Kemp Partners and a contributing columnist to Townhall.com.
by Jack Kemp *
"My dear fellow immigrants," with these words President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent greetings to the annual convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution, after the organization banned the great black contralto, Marian Anderson, from singing at their Constitution Hall in 1939 simply because of the color of her skin.
Marian Anderson chose the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver her concert just days later, appropriately ending the concert with "God Bless America." Turning hate and ignorance into love and brotherhood is what marked the works of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Marian Anderson at the site of our American memorial to the Great Emancipator.
You ask, what's that to do with the immigration debate raging these past two weeks in Washington, D.C., and on talk radio all over America?
Well, to begin with, the voices of Roosevelt and Lincoln, preaching and practicing the American motto of "E pluribus unum," are all but absent these days, except for a few of those talking about fixing our broken borders and disabled immigration policies in humane, compassionate and progressive ways.
As President George W. Bush recently reminded us, America can still be a nation of immigrants while remaining a nation of laws if we treat people in the way we would want to be treated and find the right way of enforcement.
The most troubling aspect of this debate is the meanness of spirit toward immigrants, particularly those of Latino or Hispanic heritage. But, it's nothing new, as the Irish, Poles, Germans, Italians, Asians and others were treated the same decades and decades ago.
According to Michael Barone's "The New Americans," a closer look at the Great Migration of the 19th century reveals striking parallels to the current circumstances of the American immigration. The examples of two groups often cited by modern day advocates of restricting immigration - the Irish and the Italians - are particularly instructive.
During the last half of the 1800s and into the 20th century, more than 4 million Irish men, women and children immigrated to the United States. Fleeing the potato famine of the 1840s and seeking economic opportunity, Irish immigrants settled in urban areas starting in the Northeast and eventually spreading across the country. Many of these early immigrants did not speak English. One estimate held that at least one-third of them spoke little English.
What worries me first as an American and second as a partisan Republican from the Lincoln wing of our party, is the Republican Party. The House of Representatives is in danger of doing to itself in 2006, what it did in California in 1996 with Proposition 187 - turning into an anti-immigration party in a rather ugly way.
The House version of immigration reform would be a prescription for electoral and political disaster, not unlike what happened to our party in the presidential election of 1964, when Barry Goldwater, our nominee for president, voted against the Civil Rights Act.
The talk of 700 miles of walls, fences, federal troops, coupled with sending 11.5 million men, women and children back to their "home" countries is the equivalent of "police state" tactics advocated by the likes of Lou Dobbs and others who are not true leaders in the footsteps of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
Yes, we must control our borders with more and smarter technology, specially trained border security agents, and better enforcement in the private workplace. Yet, we shouldn't be surprised if immigrants don't respect our laws if our immigration laws aren't respected or even enforced.
We must pass an immigration reform package that not only works, but is reasonable, respected and responsible.
I believe the Senate Judiciary Committee bill recognizes the realties of a "guest worker" program that provides our country with the workers we need, while requiring workers and employers to operate with transparency.
The Senate bill also creates a path to permanent citizenship that will, no doubt, be labeled by critics as "amnesty," when far from it, it includes enforceable penalties and makes punishment fit the crime. Those who commit felonies should be deported, but most of our so called "illegals" are in America for freedom, family and faith in our "dream" of equal opportunity.
And by the way, the federal law that caps highly skilled H1B workers at 65,000 a year, down from 195,000 in 2003, has led to a "brain drain" from the U.S. to Canada. This is counterproductive and counterintuitive to a 21st century, high-tech, globalized economy.
As I wrote in 2004, "Looking to the fall campaign season, I am hopeful that other Republicans will stand against anti-immigrant policies, stand up for free trade and stand behind wealth creation for the little guy by allowing workers to put a significant part of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts, where they can acquire assets, property and the capital necessary to launch their version of the American Dream.
* Jack Kemp is Founder and Chairman of Kemp Partners and a contributing columnist to Townhall.com.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Demand Comprehensive Immigration Reform
For the last few weeks I have been bombarded in the immigration reform debate.
I advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. I believe this is the only way to truly deal with the immigration debate. I also believe
1) America’s immigration system is broken
2) The US needs to protect our borders
3) We need stricter interior enforcement and harsher rules on employers who hire illegal.
4) A program to push undocumented people out of the shadows.
5) I believe in stopping illegal immigration, not stopping immigration. New immigrants are necessary for our thriving economy.
Because of this I support comprehensive immigration reform. The United States needs to protect our borders and crackdown on employers. By forcing them to follow the law, the demand for employment will go down.
The reason the current immigration laws haven’t worked is because the laws go against the natural laws of supply and demand. It’s a reality of history, if a law goes against supply and demand, that law will not work.
1 million of the 2.5 million new jobs created in the U.S. in 2004 went to immigrants, mostly Hispanics. 1 in every 7 workers in the U.S. in 2004 was born elsewhere – 40 percent of these are Mexican. Possibly 6-7 million are here illegally.
Currently the United States is at about 4% unemployment. That means that America is practically fully employed. The economy has continuously increased for more then a dozen quarters. States with high immigrant populations have higher GDPs then many third world nations. States like Texas, California, Florida and New York are constantly outdoing themselves in production and economic growth.
In a study done by UCLA, each and every undocumented worker had a gross economic contribution of $45,000 in California during the 1990s
While we can not reward illegal behavior with a full blanket amnesty, which is the wrong message. We can provide programs and new laws that pushes these people out of the shadows.
Yet Immigrants are not a drain on the economy. Immigrant workers help continue the cycle of job creation and growth essential for America’s economy Illegal immigrant workers pay about $7 billion each year in taxes – including $2.7 billion into Social Security, which they will never be able to collect.
We need a program to push them out of the shadows because millions are being exploited and living in poverty. By providing program that allows them to come out of the shadows they can better provide for their families and contribute to the communities they are currently living in.
While some skeptics want illegals out of the country because they think they take away jobs from Americans, that is not true. The CATO institute has shown that immigrants do not take jobs away from Americans – instead, they fill segments in the job market where most Americans are either over- or under-qualified. Immigrants act as a safety valve for the U.S. labor market, allowing the supply of workers to increase relatively quickly to meet rising demand.
Deporting illegal immigrants is not only economically unintelligent (the US already spends $56 million deporting people back to their home) but physically impossible. It would take busses stacked back to back from Anchorage, Alaska to San Diego, California to send them all back. On top of the additional monies needed for law enforcement to find them. Why spend so much money on a large group of people who have no criminal offense.
Instead go after terrorist, drug dealers or real criminals. Spend all that money on enforcing the border, build strong virtual walls. God. No one is against immigration reform or border security, we just want a sound policy that is in order to the American principles and tradition.
I advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. I believe this is the only way to truly deal with the immigration debate. I also believe
1) America’s immigration system is broken
2) The US needs to protect our borders
3) We need stricter interior enforcement and harsher rules on employers who hire illegal.
4) A program to push undocumented people out of the shadows.
5) I believe in stopping illegal immigration, not stopping immigration. New immigrants are necessary for our thriving economy.
Because of this I support comprehensive immigration reform. The United States needs to protect our borders and crackdown on employers. By forcing them to follow the law, the demand for employment will go down.
The reason the current immigration laws haven’t worked is because the laws go against the natural laws of supply and demand. It’s a reality of history, if a law goes against supply and demand, that law will not work.
1 million of the 2.5 million new jobs created in the U.S. in 2004 went to immigrants, mostly Hispanics. 1 in every 7 workers in the U.S. in 2004 was born elsewhere – 40 percent of these are Mexican. Possibly 6-7 million are here illegally.
Currently the United States is at about 4% unemployment. That means that America is practically fully employed. The economy has continuously increased for more then a dozen quarters. States with high immigrant populations have higher GDPs then many third world nations. States like Texas, California, Florida and New York are constantly outdoing themselves in production and economic growth.
In a study done by UCLA, each and every undocumented worker had a gross economic contribution of $45,000 in California during the 1990s
While we can not reward illegal behavior with a full blanket amnesty, which is the wrong message. We can provide programs and new laws that pushes these people out of the shadows.
Yet Immigrants are not a drain on the economy. Immigrant workers help continue the cycle of job creation and growth essential for America’s economy Illegal immigrant workers pay about $7 billion each year in taxes – including $2.7 billion into Social Security, which they will never be able to collect.
We need a program to push them out of the shadows because millions are being exploited and living in poverty. By providing program that allows them to come out of the shadows they can better provide for their families and contribute to the communities they are currently living in.
While some skeptics want illegals out of the country because they think they take away jobs from Americans, that is not true. The CATO institute has shown that immigrants do not take jobs away from Americans – instead, they fill segments in the job market where most Americans are either over- or under-qualified. Immigrants act as a safety valve for the U.S. labor market, allowing the supply of workers to increase relatively quickly to meet rising demand.
Deporting illegal immigrants is not only economically unintelligent (the US already spends $56 million deporting people back to their home) but physically impossible. It would take busses stacked back to back from Anchorage, Alaska to San Diego, California to send them all back. On top of the additional monies needed for law enforcement to find them. Why spend so much money on a large group of people who have no criminal offense.
Instead go after terrorist, drug dealers or real criminals. Spend all that money on enforcing the border, build strong virtual walls. God. No one is against immigration reform or border security, we just want a sound policy that is in order to the American principles and tradition.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Chavez continue to show his true colors
From Cubas to Venezuelans and the rest of the world.... we told you so!!.... Chavez is just a fidelito Junior and is going to continue screwing people over, first is France and Italy, tomorrow it may be you....
Chavez Governement Seizes 2 Foreign-Run Oil Fields
- Pres. Hugo Chavez has tightened his grip on Venezuela's energy resources following through on threats to punish international companies that resist government control of the nation's oil fields. Venezuela sized two oil fields from Frace's Ttoal SA and Italy's ENi SpA after the companies failed to comply with a government demand that operations be turned over to the states oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA or PDVSA, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Monday (Washington Post)
Venezuela: The Sickly Stench of Corruption
The Economist
As a supporter of Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, in the country's National Assembly, Luis Velásquez Alvaray was the author of a law to pad the supreme court with a built-in government majority—and give himself a seat on it. He is now embroiled in an epic exchange of corruption claims that go to the heart of the Chávez administration. Accused of taking kickbacks of $4m for a new judiciary building, he has retorted that drug traffickers are running military intelligence, that the brother of Jesse Chacón, the interior minister, is illegally lobbying for a bank, and that the minister is a pawn of organised crime. Such is the rot that the “Palace of Justice should be blown up”, he says.
Both Mr Velásquez and Mr Chacón deny wrongdoing and claim to have tapes incriminating the other. Mr Chacón still has the president's backing. But the allegations come as no surprise to Venezuelans on either side of their country's bitter political divide.
Mr Chávez claims moral superiority for his “socialist revolution” over “savage neo-liberal” capitalism. He was first elected in 1998 on an anti-corruption platform. In power, he has revealed a taste for designer suits and Cartier watches. He has placed several members of his family in government jobs. Such foibles apart, there is no evidence that he is personally corrupt. But he has repeatedly said that corruption and bureaucracy are his revolution's greatest foes. Eustoquio Contreras, a chavista on the parliamentary audit committee, says bluntly that if the government does not put a stop to corruption, “corruption will put a stop to the government.”
Venezuela has long been notorious for corruption. But in the past, at least the opposition held the job of auditor-general and often that of attorney-general, while the judiciary was bipartisan. Mr Chávez has grasped all the powers of state into his own hands, and eliminated all independent oversight of his government. The opposition argues that the inevitable result of this is graft on an increased scale.
Last year, Transparency International, a Berlin-based group, placed Venezuela a lowly 130th out of 159 countries in its annual survey of perceptions of corruption. It was one of a dozen countries where more than half of respondents said this had “greatly” increased. The government's response was tetchy. José Vicente Rangel, the vice-president and once an anti-corruption campaigner, claimed that the group charges countries a “tariff” for their position on the corruption table.
Under Mr Chávez, no prominent official has been jailed for embezzlement. That may now change. A small but emblematic case involves the grandly titled Ezequiel Zamora Agroindustrial Sugar Complex in Sabaneta, Mr Chávez's sleepy hometown in the state of Barinas, where his father is governor. Officially touted as “the most modern sugar mill in South America”, it is now a monument to a different kind of sweetener: the $1.5m in bribes, kickbacks and commissions that have delayed its opening were exposed in parliamentary hearings in February (after a newspaper broke the story).
Mr Chávez, a former army officer, presides over a regime which is as much military as civilian. An engineering regiment was told to build the sugar complex. It contracted out some of the work and charged a 10% commission on all contracts, many of which went to companies belonging to friends and relatives of the regiment's officers. Many of these companies did no work at all. The regiment's commander paid for a $25,000 pick-up truck for his brother with a cheque from the mill.
The project's director, Antonio Albarrán, told parliament that although he had known about the kickbacks since early 2004, he kept quiet because “we were in the middle of campaigning” (to defeat a recall referendum against the president). By the end of 2004, Mr Chávez had been told, but chose to maintain the policy of secrecy, opting to deal with it as a matter of military discipline. He also promoted Mr Albarrán, making him agriculture minister in January 2005. Several suspects are under arrest, but Mr Albarrán, though no longer a minister, is not.
In half a dozen previous cases under the Chávez government, military officers have been accused by parliamentary committees, the auditor-general and others of embezzlement or misuse of public funds totalling hundreds of millions of dollars. None has yet been charged. Several still hold government jobs.
Civilians have not been immune to temptation. Mr Contreras cites half a dozen cases where the government's agricultural-development fund gave cheap credits to fake co-operatives, or which covered much more farm land than the village in question possessed.
Does the sugar-mill case presage a serious crackdown? Opponents note that a presidential election is due in December. At issue will be whether or not a massive increase in public spending, funded by high oil prices, is translating into better public services—or whether, as the opposition claims, much of the money is being skimmed off. A few show trials of scapegoats would be politically useful.
What needs to be established is whether such cases are the exception or the rule, and whether they involve petty pilfering or grand larcency against the state and, as Mr Velásquez claims, massive bribery of its agents. The only way to get an answer would be through the fearless application of the rule of law. There is little sign of that. Dalila Solórzano, a former police officer, was hounded out of the force for pursuing a case against the head of the investigative police. “We've been in this struggle since 2002,” she says, “and no one has done anything. They talk a lot of rubbish because it's an election year, but the political will doesn't exist.”
Source: The Economist
Chavez Governement Seizes 2 Foreign-Run Oil Fields
- Pres. Hugo Chavez has tightened his grip on Venezuela's energy resources following through on threats to punish international companies that resist government control of the nation's oil fields. Venezuela sized two oil fields from Frace's Ttoal SA and Italy's ENi SpA after the companies failed to comply with a government demand that operations be turned over to the states oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA or PDVSA, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Monday (Washington Post)
Venezuela: The Sickly Stench of Corruption
The Economist
As a supporter of Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, in the country's National Assembly, Luis Velásquez Alvaray was the author of a law to pad the supreme court with a built-in government majority—and give himself a seat on it. He is now embroiled in an epic exchange of corruption claims that go to the heart of the Chávez administration. Accused of taking kickbacks of $4m for a new judiciary building, he has retorted that drug traffickers are running military intelligence, that the brother of Jesse Chacón, the interior minister, is illegally lobbying for a bank, and that the minister is a pawn of organised crime. Such is the rot that the “Palace of Justice should be blown up”, he says.
Both Mr Velásquez and Mr Chacón deny wrongdoing and claim to have tapes incriminating the other. Mr Chacón still has the president's backing. But the allegations come as no surprise to Venezuelans on either side of their country's bitter political divide.
Mr Chávez claims moral superiority for his “socialist revolution” over “savage neo-liberal” capitalism. He was first elected in 1998 on an anti-corruption platform. In power, he has revealed a taste for designer suits and Cartier watches. He has placed several members of his family in government jobs. Such foibles apart, there is no evidence that he is personally corrupt. But he has repeatedly said that corruption and bureaucracy are his revolution's greatest foes. Eustoquio Contreras, a chavista on the parliamentary audit committee, says bluntly that if the government does not put a stop to corruption, “corruption will put a stop to the government.”
Venezuela has long been notorious for corruption. But in the past, at least the opposition held the job of auditor-general and often that of attorney-general, while the judiciary was bipartisan. Mr Chávez has grasped all the powers of state into his own hands, and eliminated all independent oversight of his government. The opposition argues that the inevitable result of this is graft on an increased scale.
Last year, Transparency International, a Berlin-based group, placed Venezuela a lowly 130th out of 159 countries in its annual survey of perceptions of corruption. It was one of a dozen countries where more than half of respondents said this had “greatly” increased. The government's response was tetchy. José Vicente Rangel, the vice-president and once an anti-corruption campaigner, claimed that the group charges countries a “tariff” for their position on the corruption table.
Under Mr Chávez, no prominent official has been jailed for embezzlement. That may now change. A small but emblematic case involves the grandly titled Ezequiel Zamora Agroindustrial Sugar Complex in Sabaneta, Mr Chávez's sleepy hometown in the state of Barinas, where his father is governor. Officially touted as “the most modern sugar mill in South America”, it is now a monument to a different kind of sweetener: the $1.5m in bribes, kickbacks and commissions that have delayed its opening were exposed in parliamentary hearings in February (after a newspaper broke the story).
Mr Chávez, a former army officer, presides over a regime which is as much military as civilian. An engineering regiment was told to build the sugar complex. It contracted out some of the work and charged a 10% commission on all contracts, many of which went to companies belonging to friends and relatives of the regiment's officers. Many of these companies did no work at all. The regiment's commander paid for a $25,000 pick-up truck for his brother with a cheque from the mill.
The project's director, Antonio Albarrán, told parliament that although he had known about the kickbacks since early 2004, he kept quiet because “we were in the middle of campaigning” (to defeat a recall referendum against the president). By the end of 2004, Mr Chávez had been told, but chose to maintain the policy of secrecy, opting to deal with it as a matter of military discipline. He also promoted Mr Albarrán, making him agriculture minister in January 2005. Several suspects are under arrest, but Mr Albarrán, though no longer a minister, is not.
In half a dozen previous cases under the Chávez government, military officers have been accused by parliamentary committees, the auditor-general and others of embezzlement or misuse of public funds totalling hundreds of millions of dollars. None has yet been charged. Several still hold government jobs.
Civilians have not been immune to temptation. Mr Contreras cites half a dozen cases where the government's agricultural-development fund gave cheap credits to fake co-operatives, or which covered much more farm land than the village in question possessed.
Does the sugar-mill case presage a serious crackdown? Opponents note that a presidential election is due in December. At issue will be whether or not a massive increase in public spending, funded by high oil prices, is translating into better public services—or whether, as the opposition claims, much of the money is being skimmed off. A few show trials of scapegoats would be politically useful.
What needs to be established is whether such cases are the exception or the rule, and whether they involve petty pilfering or grand larcency against the state and, as Mr Velásquez claims, massive bribery of its agents. The only way to get an answer would be through the fearless application of the rule of law. There is little sign of that. Dalila Solórzano, a former police officer, was hounded out of the force for pursuing a case against the head of the investigative police. “We've been in this struggle since 2002,” she says, “and no one has done anything. They talk a lot of rubbish because it's an election year, but the political will doesn't exist.”
Source: The Economist
Monday, March 27, 2006
Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez
Today the blog world is supporting Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez--- read other post at http://www.babalublog.com/
Help Fariñas Hernandez!!!!
Help Fariñas Hernandez!!!!
STATEMENT BY CONGRESSMAN LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART REGARDING "MR. MAS' LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH"
The following is a press release from Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart in response to Jose Mas-Santos letter to President Bush............
Miami, FL - Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) issued the following statement today with regard to the "letter to President Bush" that Mr. Jorge Mas Santos and his organization are paying to have published in various newspapers:
"My phone number is in the telephone book and they would have saved themselves some confusion if they had called me.
I have never said that I would support unilateral changes to the Helms-Burton law, nor that I would accept a provisional government led by any of the Castro brothers.
I have fought intensely throughout the years against any changes to the Helms-Burton law and will continue to do so, including many much smaller changes than those.
Perhaps it would have been useful if they had called me, for they are taking as fact incorrect assertions in the press that have distorted my positions.
Precisely the reason for which I insist upon the return of sovereignty to the Cuban people through multiparty elections, is so that no transitional government that continues the dictatorship can be acceptable, led either by the Castro brothers, Alarcón, Colomé Ibarra, Ramiro Valdés, etc. To me there is no difference between any of them. None of them has nor would have any legitimacy. The only legitimate government would be one that is the result of free and multiparty elections.
I do not disagree with the positions on Helms-Burton in this letter by Mr. Mas. What is unfortunate is that he insinuates that our community is divided, when it is not. He could have prevented that insinuation with a simple telephone call. The saddest part of this is that Mr. Mas and his group spend large amounts of money to divide our community instead of trying to help us fight the dictatorship."
###
Miami, FL - Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) issued the following statement today with regard to the "letter to President Bush" that Mr. Jorge Mas Santos and his organization are paying to have published in various newspapers:
"My phone number is in the telephone book and they would have saved themselves some confusion if they had called me.
I have never said that I would support unilateral changes to the Helms-Burton law, nor that I would accept a provisional government led by any of the Castro brothers.
I have fought intensely throughout the years against any changes to the Helms-Burton law and will continue to do so, including many much smaller changes than those.
Perhaps it would have been useful if they had called me, for they are taking as fact incorrect assertions in the press that have distorted my positions.
Precisely the reason for which I insist upon the return of sovereignty to the Cuban people through multiparty elections, is so that no transitional government that continues the dictatorship can be acceptable, led either by the Castro brothers, Alarcón, Colomé Ibarra, Ramiro Valdés, etc. To me there is no difference between any of them. None of them has nor would have any legitimacy. The only legitimate government would be one that is the result of free and multiparty elections.
I do not disagree with the positions on Helms-Burton in this letter by Mr. Mas. What is unfortunate is that he insinuates that our community is divided, when it is not. He could have prevented that insinuation with a simple telephone call. The saddest part of this is that Mr. Mas and his group spend large amounts of money to divide our community instead of trying to help us fight the dictatorship."
###
Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez
This week Congress will debate the Online Freedom of Speech Act, sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).
It's a bit ironic that while Members in Congress fight on our freedom to blog, others are dying because they want to access the internet.
Today as we speak, a man sits in Cuba, holding on to his last moments on life. His name is Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez, an independent journalist and a freedom fighter who believes in the freedom of information. Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez has gone without food or water for 57 days!!
For years he has been attacked by the socialist government. Now he is on a hunger strike to show the world that freedom is not free and Cuba is not what Fidel makes it out to be.
Cuba is a place where a free thought is a dirty secret, and an independent soul is just as bad a death sentence. Cuba is a place where "happiness" only exisits in moments and the brutality of life are sometimes too much of a harsh reality for many to bear.
Please stand by Fariñas. Write or call your Congressman tell them about Fariñas needs freedom to explore the internet as well.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
FIU Gets Med School!!
Today is a VERY proud day to be a FIU (Florida International Univeristy) alumni.
The University just got approved to open a medical school!! Woohoo.... not only does this give access to thousands of students that want to pursue a degree in medicine but do not have the incomes to afford private institutions in the area, but it makes FIU so much better...
YEAH to all my gold panthers out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The University just got approved to open a medical school!! Woohoo.... not only does this give access to thousands of students that want to pursue a degree in medicine but do not have the incomes to afford private institutions in the area, but it makes FIU so much better...
YEAH to all my gold panthers out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Matt Drudge
On today's Drudge Report, front and center is a huge picture of Fidel Castro with the tag line reading: Former aide spills the dirt on Fidel Castro...
The Drudge Report maybe one the most read news bloggs in the country. EVERYONE reads it.
The tag line links to a good story about Fidel's ex body guard. The body guard, Fernandez, who appears regularly on Oscar Haza and channel 41 in Miami, talked about some Cuban realities like:
"What happened was, the course he took with the revolution was wrong. It has dissolved into this unstoppable, insatiable corruption without limits, a vast lie. The people are in misery. Cuba's people have been enslaved as cheap labor for foreign businessmen.''
The article appeared in today's Miami Herald (link below). Hopefully more people will learn the horrible truth about Cuba!!.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/14163977.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
The Drudge Report maybe one the most read news bloggs in the country. EVERYONE reads it.
The tag line links to a good story about Fidel's ex body guard. The body guard, Fernandez, who appears regularly on Oscar Haza and channel 41 in Miami, talked about some Cuban realities like:
"What happened was, the course he took with the revolution was wrong. It has dissolved into this unstoppable, insatiable corruption without limits, a vast lie. The people are in misery. Cuba's people have been enslaved as cheap labor for foreign businessmen.''
The article appeared in today's Miami Herald (link below). Hopefully more people will learn the horrible truth about Cuba!!.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/14163977.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Thank You!
Just wanted to take a moment and thank all of those who have been so kind. Thank you for your prayers and your thoughts. God bless you.
Monday, March 20, 2006
A prayer for our fallen Patriots
I have been away from blogging for a while, though I often found reasons to add my two cents to the virtual debate, my heart wasn’t in it. The reason because one of my greatest inspirations, and a wonderful Cuban patriot died recently, she was (is) my grandmother.
Last month the world lost a beautiful soul who radiated with life and love. Who taught her children, grand children and great grandchildren to be strong, independent, compassionate and to love a country they had never seen. Her stories made the brilliant tropical island come alive in our heads, and her food made it come alive to our senses.
In her youth my grandma flew planes over la Bahia de Nipe. She got to meet Amelia Earheart. She drove cars and won countless dance competitions. She ran a few businesses (in Cuba and the U.S). Cuban President Prio said she was “La estampa de la mujer Cubana.” A quote she was most found of, as you can imagine. She wrote poetry and short stories and often appeared on Spanish radio talking about Cuba. She raised a family while her husband was taken political prisoner in Cuba for 14 years.
For the last few weeks I have been overwhelmed with the possibility of her death, staying with her at the hospital and praying for a miracle. She passed after two weeks of being gravely ill. (the hospital care did not help!!) I know she is a much happier place now, at the side of the Lord, joined with my grandfather and family. Yet, my family here on earth will never be the same, as my grandmother was the light of our lives and the glue that kept us together.
She taught us to be proud Cubans. I can remember countless times reciting Jose Marti, being soaked with colognia de violeta and Mirta de Perales products, learning how to cook Cuban food and memorizing the history of our proud Caribbean island.
I often laugh that I am the typical Carmensita of “Que Pasa USA?”.And my grandmother was just like her abuela. She chaperoned me and made me always speak Spanish but wanted to be hip with her few English phrases. Like telling my “amigitos” things like “gate-oda-he” which really meant “get out of here.” Till her final days she joked around, danced and love to be silly while being the perfect portrait of a lady.
Not only am I torn with the reality that I will never see her again or hear her comforting voice. Not only do I pain over the fact I will I never receive her advice again. What I abhor the most, what hurts me the most, is the reality that she is another Cuban patriot who will never see a free Cuba.
Day after day members of our Cuban-American community die in exile, never seeing the native home they left behind so many years ago.
During her funeral services the Deacon leading us in prayer told us to pray for our Cuban brother and sisters, and to pray for a free Cuba. He also asked us to pray for the countless of families who have been separated by this revolution. The Deacon reminded that as much as we grieve over her death that we were lucky to have her. So many unfortunate families are never reunited.
I guess we are one of the lucky ones. Most of us at one point made it to the U.S. I was lucky to have her in my life. I was lucky to have such an inspiring and trailblazing woman in my life. I was lucky I could say goodbye and be there at her funeral surrounded by my family. But oh how I miss her.
Vaya con Dios querida abuelita. Te quiero con todo mi corazón.
Today try to pray for all of those families separated by the Cuban dictator. Pray for their peaceful reunification.
Last month the world lost a beautiful soul who radiated with life and love. Who taught her children, grand children and great grandchildren to be strong, independent, compassionate and to love a country they had never seen. Her stories made the brilliant tropical island come alive in our heads, and her food made it come alive to our senses.
In her youth my grandma flew planes over la Bahia de Nipe. She got to meet Amelia Earheart. She drove cars and won countless dance competitions. She ran a few businesses (in Cuba and the U.S). Cuban President Prio said she was “La estampa de la mujer Cubana.” A quote she was most found of, as you can imagine. She wrote poetry and short stories and often appeared on Spanish radio talking about Cuba. She raised a family while her husband was taken political prisoner in Cuba for 14 years.
For the last few weeks I have been overwhelmed with the possibility of her death, staying with her at the hospital and praying for a miracle. She passed after two weeks of being gravely ill. (the hospital care did not help!!) I know she is a much happier place now, at the side of the Lord, joined with my grandfather and family. Yet, my family here on earth will never be the same, as my grandmother was the light of our lives and the glue that kept us together.
She taught us to be proud Cubans. I can remember countless times reciting Jose Marti, being soaked with colognia de violeta and Mirta de Perales products, learning how to cook Cuban food and memorizing the history of our proud Caribbean island.
I often laugh that I am the typical Carmensita of “Que Pasa USA?”.And my grandmother was just like her abuela. She chaperoned me and made me always speak Spanish but wanted to be hip with her few English phrases. Like telling my “amigitos” things like “gate-oda-he” which really meant “get out of here.” Till her final days she joked around, danced and love to be silly while being the perfect portrait of a lady.
Not only am I torn with the reality that I will never see her again or hear her comforting voice. Not only do I pain over the fact I will I never receive her advice again. What I abhor the most, what hurts me the most, is the reality that she is another Cuban patriot who will never see a free Cuba.
Day after day members of our Cuban-American community die in exile, never seeing the native home they left behind so many years ago.
During her funeral services the Deacon leading us in prayer told us to pray for our Cuban brother and sisters, and to pray for a free Cuba. He also asked us to pray for the countless of families who have been separated by this revolution. The Deacon reminded that as much as we grieve over her death that we were lucky to have her. So many unfortunate families are never reunited.
I guess we are one of the lucky ones. Most of us at one point made it to the U.S. I was lucky to have her in my life. I was lucky to have such an inspiring and trailblazing woman in my life. I was lucky I could say goodbye and be there at her funeral surrounded by my family. But oh how I miss her.
Vaya con Dios querida abuelita. Te quiero con todo mi corazón.
Today try to pray for all of those families separated by the Cuban dictator. Pray for their peaceful reunification.
'7 Mile Bridge' Cubans To get Immigration Papers
According to Miami CBS News 4 the 14 Cubans who reached land by landing on the 7 mile bridge ave been approved entry into the U.S.!!! (It's about time!! But the sad reality is what are the chances that castro allows the 14 to leave the island? It is a very sad reality that we must all face....)
Full story below
(CBS4 News) MIAMI --The Cubans denied entry to the US because they landed on a pier of the old 7-mile Bridge instead of on actual US soil are on step closer to returning to the land the were trying to reach.
A federal judge has approved an agreement granting the 14 Cuban migrants entry into the United States.The 14 Cubans, all of whom were repatriated to their homeland after decisions by the US Coast Guard and US Immigration officials, will be given proper immigration papers within ten days of the judge's approval of the agreement.
In return, the US government will drop its planned appeal of the judge's ruling that the Cubans had legitimately reached American shores at the bridge and that they had been illegally returned to Cuba.
The agreement also requires that the judge vacate his previous order against the U-S government, removing a potential legal precedent for lawyers to use against federal officials in future Cuban immigration controversies.
There are still no guarantees that Cuba will let the group leave the island. The Cubans thought they reached their destination in January when their boat landed at an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys. Federal lawyers had argued that the bridge did not count as dry land because sections of the bridge are missing and it no longer connects to U-S soil. The U-S "wet foot/dry foot" policy calls for most Cubans who reach U-S soil to be allowed to stay, while those intercepted at sea are generally returned to Cuba.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Full story below
(CBS4 News) MIAMI --The Cubans denied entry to the US because they landed on a pier of the old 7-mile Bridge instead of on actual US soil are on step closer to returning to the land the were trying to reach.
A federal judge has approved an agreement granting the 14 Cuban migrants entry into the United States.The 14 Cubans, all of whom were repatriated to their homeland after decisions by the US Coast Guard and US Immigration officials, will be given proper immigration papers within ten days of the judge's approval of the agreement.
In return, the US government will drop its planned appeal of the judge's ruling that the Cubans had legitimately reached American shores at the bridge and that they had been illegally returned to Cuba.
The agreement also requires that the judge vacate his previous order against the U-S government, removing a potential legal precedent for lawyers to use against federal officials in future Cuban immigration controversies.
There are still no guarantees that Cuba will let the group leave the island. The Cubans thought they reached their destination in January when their boat landed at an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys. Federal lawyers had argued that the bridge did not count as dry land because sections of the bridge are missing and it no longer connects to U-S soil. The U-S "wet foot/dry foot" policy calls for most Cubans who reach U-S soil to be allowed to stay, while those intercepted at sea are generally returned to Cuba.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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