Celebrate Columbus Day for Spreading Christianity and Western Civilization to the New World

As I do every year, I post on Columbus Day (October 12, the anniversary of the Discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492 on behalf of Spain) or on the legal federal and state holiday that commemorate the discovery and explain why it is worthy to celebrate the greatest event in human history. I have explained that Columbus’ scientific discovery of a western an oceanic route to the New World from the Old World, which was based on his keen observations that led him to theorize correctly that a large land mass inhabited by Asiatic people existed much closer to Europe than thought, among other scientific discoveries he made, meet the definition of a discovery (an uncovering), even though others had arrived first, namely the Indigenous Americans who came across the land bridge from Asia during the Ice Age. I have noted how Columbus’ great navigational skills, unlike the discoveries by other Europeans before him of the Americas, bridged the two worlds permanently by lifting the cover of the Atlantic Ocean that had hidden the two Hemispheres of the world from each other for millions of years. I have observed how some nativist bigots in America, like the Ku Klux Klan, who hate Southern Europeans and Catholics, had sought to minimize the achievement of Columbus by promoting the Leif Ericson legend and that Columbus Day was thus intended as a day to appreciate the contributions of immigrants and refugees to America. But this year, with a controversy among Latin American leaders about the legacy of Columbus, I note the Genoese navigator brought Christianity and Western European Civilization to the Western Hemisphere. Although some of the Indigenous Americans had already been civilized and had remarkable accomplishments, and others not civilized, they all lacked knowledge of God and the Judeo-Christian beliefs of a rational universe created by God and of equality among all human beings created in His likeness. These beliefs were developed through Western Civilization, which itself was influenced by Greco-Roman civilization, forming the basis for modern science, liberty and representative government, among other contributions to mankind. These beliefs led Columbus and the Spanish to save Indigenous American tribes from victimization by other Indigenous tribes from the most vicious cannibalism or massive human sacrifice ever known in the world by abolishing these atrocious practices, among other terrible practices in the Americas before European contact, including slavery and genocide. Despite atrocities and abuses committed by some of the Western Europeans themselves against some of the Indigenous Americans, the contributions of Christianity and Western Civilization ought not to be minimized and cannot reasonably be dismissed based particularly upon multiculturalist ideas that themselves were brought from the West. It is worthy to appreciate the cultures of Indigenous Peoples, but not necessary or appropriate to acknowledge their contributions by exaggerating their accomplishments or ignoring their culture’s faults, or by denigrating the Faith and the cultural contributions of Westerners, no matter the human faults of the purveyors of Christianity and Western Civilization, as many on the Left do who do not appreciate Christianity or Western Civilization. To celebrate Columbus Day is not only to celebrate the rejoining of the two Hemispheres and the reuniting of the separated members of the human family who inhabited them, but nothing less than to celebrate the spread of the Good News of Christ and the ideals and benefits of Western Civilization, which has brought great improvements to the entire world.

Foreign Digest: Venezuela, Nicaragua, Hungary, Georgia, Gaza and Syria

Venezuela: The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a conservative former legislator who was barred from public office by the Socialist dictatorship, won the Vaclav Havel award. The award is named for the Czech playwright who was a dissident under Communism during the Cold War. Meanwhile, the Carter Center published its analysis of the results of the presidential election in June, in which it found that the candidate Machado backed, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a center-right former diplomat, was elected by a 2:1 margin of votes. The Center and United Nations observers were the only international observers allowed in the South American State during the elections for a six-year term. Both have condemned the election as failing to meet the standards for being free and fair. The Carter Center’s results match the documentation from most precincts in Venezuela that proved a decisive win for Gonzalez, but the pro-regime electoral commission declined to publish the results and the regime-favoring supreme court upheld its decision. Gonzalez has been driven into exile and Machado into hiding as the Socialists, who took power 25 years ago through elections and have become increasingly authoritarian, persecute the opposition and have been violently breaking up peaceful protests. Nicaragua: United Nations report found that political detainees in Nicaragua have been tortured in various ways by the Marxist Sandinista regime of longtime dictator Daniel Ortega. Dozens of political prisoners remain incarcerated after over a hundred were sent into exile. The Sandinistas seized power militarily in 1979 and ruled tyrannically under Ortega until they were forced by a counterrevolution backed by the United States and other international pressure to allow elections in 1990, which they lost. Ortega was elected President of Nicaragua in 2007 with a promise not to become dictatorial again, but he has broken that promise by persecuting opposition candidates, repressing non-governmental organizations, and using violence against peaceful protestors. Hungary: The European Union’s European Commission has recently referred EU member Hungary to the EU’s Court of Justice for the 2023 Hungarian “sovereignty” law that targets individuals or organizations that receive foreign funding. The EU President has expressed concern about Hungary’s deepening ties with the imperialist Russian Federation and Communist China, which create a risk to the EU’s security. Hungary was denied funds by the EU, which has labeled the Hungarian President, who rules by decree, an “elected autocrat.” A United States Republican Senate delegation to Hungary last week expressed similar concern about the Hungarian Government’s backsliding from liberty and representative government and its close relations with Russia and China. The delegation’s exhortations to the Hungarian President to change his policies reflect the Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s condemnation of Hungary’s drift toward autocracy and toward enemies of the West, which is contrary to American interests. The Majority Leader has strongly criticized the isolationist and “nationalist” Trumpist wing of the GOP versus Reagan Republicanism, which favored U.S. global leadership to defend American security, independence, and freedom. Georgia: There will be parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 26. The increasingly pro-Russian and illiberal ruling party is competing versus the pro-European pro-freedom opposition. Most Georgians favor their State joining the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the defensive pact led by the U.S. Georgia has applied for membership in both organizations and enshrined joining them in its constitution. The ruling party says it also favors membership, but its support for a Russian-style “foreign agents” law has alienated it from the West and the EU. The Russian Federation invaded the former Soviet Republic in the South Caucuses in 2008, seizing two breakaway territories in which it set up puppet governments that declared their independence that is only recognized by Russia and a handful of its allies. Russian forces then encroached further onto Georgian territory, instead of withdrawing. Gaza and Syria: The United States led a joint operation with Iraq and Jordan that was conducted in Gaza to free an Iraqi Yazidi who had been kidnapped 10 years ago as an 11-year-old girl by Islamic State terrorists. She had been held in captivity ever since, until her captor was recently killed in the ongoing war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists that rule the self-governing territory and use it as a base for attacks on Israel. She was able to signal for help, but remained trapped in Gaza. The Islamic State, the off-shoot of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, killed thousands of Yazidis, who have a different faith from Islam, and kidnapped thousands of others, many of whom were sold into sexual slavery or recruited as child soldiers. Although a few thousand Yazidis have been freed or rescued, thousands more remain unaccounted for, with most of them presumed dead. The I.S. had taken over large swathes of Syria and northern Iraq and declared a caliphate, until an American led international coalition was invited by Iraq in 2014 to destroy the Islamists, which was successful in killing its leader and deprive it of all its territory, but pockets remain and there are I.S. affiliates around the Islamic world. Meanwhile, the U.S. conducted more airstrikes against Islamist State targets in Syria.

Rise of Pertussis Cases in America, Especially in Pennsylvania

Federal and state officials have been reporting in increase in cases of pertussis “whooping cough” cases in America since the end of restrictions against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid19). The rise of the contagious, debilitating and even deadly disease, which affects children and older adults the most, is particularly acute in Pennsylvania, where the number of cases has increased more than tenfold (from around 200 to 2,000) over last year. Respiratory illnesses decreased during the physical distancing and mask-wearing of the Covid19 Pandemic, but have gradually returned to pre-pandemic levels, or even higher. The increase in vaccine hesitancy is a contributing factor for some contagious diseases, as I have posted about in regard to measles and other preventable diseases that had nearly been eradicated in America and Europe, but that now have been circulating in greater numbers. There is increased hesitancy to vaccinate because of unscientific ideological beliefs from the far left to the far right and among libertarians about the safety of vaccines, which have been proved to be far safer than the diseases they prevent or at least mitigate the severity of and are the most effective defense against those diseases. Vaccines have eradicated the deadly disease of smallpox and have nearly eradicated the debilitating disease of polio, for example. Disinformation about vaccines has been effectively spread by the Russian Federation to weaken the West in a form of biological warfare. Because not everyone can be vaccinated because of various immunity problems, those who cannot be vaccinated rely on “herd immunity” from the vast majority of those who do. When the proportion of a population that is vaccinated decreases below a certain threshold, the contagious disease starts to spread again. It is consistent with conservative principles to be responsible for not only our own health as individuals, but that of our families and communities.

Foreign Digest: Venezuela, Georgia, France and Iraq

Venezuela: A United Nations mission reported a climate of terror and the use of torture by the Socialist Venezuelan dictatorship. The European Union recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzales Urrutia, a center-right former diplomatic who obtained a large majority of the votes in the elections two months ago. As I have posted, the Socialist regime declared the dictator the winner and refused to publish the precinct tallies, many of which the opposition had obtained copies of. The United States and a growing number of States around Latin America and the West have recognized Gonzales as the victor, and other States are at least not recognizing the dictator’s re-election. There were protests yesterday in more than 460 cities in Venezuela and around the world to mark two months from the election Georgia: The United States and European allies have imposed sanctions on the leaders of Georgia who are responsible for the Russian-modeled “foreign agents” law I have posted about that can be used as a tool against dissent, as in the Russian Federation. Georgia, a former Soviet Republic in the Caucuses, was invaded by Russia in 2008. Russia set up two puppet states in breakaway areas and encroached further on Georgian territory. The current Georgian Government has moved closer to Russia, despite its official goal of joining the European Union. France: The President of France appointed a Gaullist conservative former cabinet minister and diplomat as Prime Minister earlier this month. The members of the new Premier’s Cabinet are mostly centrists (especially from the party of the powerful President), some on the center-right (including three members of the Prime Minister’s Republican Party, the main conservative party) and one minister from the center-left. The centrist President of the Fifth Republic, who rules through his Prime Minister, has two years remaining in his term. The Head of State had called snap parliamentary elections for July, in which the far-right nationalists made gains, but the center, the left and the center-right surpassed early expectations and blocked the nationalists from winning a majority of votes and seats. The French President thus succeeded in keeping the extreme far right and far left from power. France’s new center-right Prime Minister will have to be approved by the French Parliament by winning a vote of confidence. Iraq: Iraq and the United States negotiated an agreement whereby the remaining American troops will withdraw by 2025, except for some bases. The U.S. forces were invited by Iraq in 2014 to combat the Islamic State terrorist organization, the successor to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which later broke with al-Qaeda and declared its own caliphate in northern Iraq and Syria after U.S.-led Coalition forces had withdrawn after remaining to support the Iraqi Government after the Liberation of Iraq in 2003 from the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. The international coalition led by the U.S. stripped the Islamic State of all its territory, although some militants remain in the region, and there are IS affiliates around the Islamic World. The 2,500 Americans in Iraq serve in more of an advisory than combat role, although they conduct joint raids with the Iraqis, as I recently posted. The U.S. troops also have engaged with Iranian-backed militias in both Iraq and Syria. Because the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq prefers that the American troops remain, the U.S. will maintain some bases in that area to support the Kurds against the Islamist militants.

Latest Developments and Revelations on Russian Interference in American Politics and Elections

I had posted last week about the latest Russian Federation interference in American politics and elections, including once again in favor of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy. Since then, there have been additional developments and revelations in Russia’s broader “active measures” campaign that provide more insight about how Russia conducts its campaign, about which I provide additional conservative analysis in this post. Leftists Who Spread Russian Propaganda Convicted of Conspiring to Act as Unregistered Russian Agents: Four left-wing activists for Blacks, including the founder of the African People’s Socialist Party, were convicted in federal court in Florida of conspiring to act as unregistered Russian agents. I had posted about their charges. The Floridians knowingly accepted money from the Russian Federation government to spread pro-Russian and anti-American views from 2015-2022, including about the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and even local election interference. Two Russian intelligence officers were indicted, but remain at large and were not tried in abstentia. Russia interferes in American politics to promote views favorable to itself, divide Americans, undermine their belief in their ideals, undermine their belief in the truth and in elections, and to support candidates favorable to it or oppose candidates unfavorable to it. It engages in these “active measures” both overtly through propaganda and disinformation from Russian state-controlled media and covertly through posing as media outlets or journalists, impersonating Americans on the Internet, or working through witting or unwitting Americans on the far left or the isolationist far right. Russian State-Controlled Media Outlet Acts as an Intelligence Agency: The United States imposed sanctions on the parent companies of a particular Russian state-controlled media outlet that not only openly publicizes Russian propaganda to destabilize countries and influence elections around the world, but acts as a covert cyber intelligence entity, instead of only as a media outlet. It even conducts fundraising for materiel for Russian troops in Ukraine. Russia uses a web of front companies to hide the media outlet as the source behind other outlets, not only to get around bans of the company by Western European States, but also to conceal its Russian source in America and around the globe. The U.S. did not ban Russian state-controlled media outlets, but required they register as foreign media outlets. Russian tactics are typically creating fake news outlets or hiring professional journalists and feeding them with content to promote, or even bribing journalists to promote Russian propaganda and disinformation. For example, I had posted earlier this month about a Trumpist right-wing media outlet in America through which the Russians spent $10 million to promote disinformation and propaganda, which led to criminal charges against Russians. The Trumpist “conservative” journalists claim they did not realize that the source of the funding of the content they were promoting was the Russian Federation, even though it matched Russian propaganda, perhaps because Trumpists and Russians share beliefs and amplify each other. It is shocking to many true conservatives that Trumpists and other isolationists or “America First” nationalists, agree with or even admire Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who intends to restore the Soviet Union, or at least deny or minimize or acquiesce to his interference in American politics that undermines American independence, sovereignty and self-determination. That they participate in a hostile foreign power’s “active measures” campaign by promoting his views in the same way that leftists like the ones convicted in Florida do because they share similar views, proves they are neither the patriots, nor the conservatives they pretend to be. It should cause them to reconsider their views and to prove their American loyalty by completely rejecting Putin and his interference in American politics and elections.

Foreign Digest: Venezuela, Russia and Iran

Venezuela: The Venezuelan Socialist dictatorship deliberately drove the opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a conservative former diplomat, into exile with their campaign of repression and persecution, their siege of the Argentine Embassy and their revocation of Brazil’s management of Argentina’s diplomatic and consular affairs. They coordinated the safe passage of Gonzalez to Spain through a Socialist former Spanish Prime Minister. The lower house of the Spanish Parliament recognized Gonzalez as the President-elect of Venezuela. There has been growing international pressure for the Socialists to cede power or at least to publicize the details of their claimed election victory in July for another 6-year term, while the opposition has proof from the precincts that prove it had won a resounding victory after 25 years of Socialist rule. The Socialists were elected and then became increasingly authoritarian and have kept power by not tolerating free and fair elections. The United States mediated a deal between the regime and the opposition for free and fair elections, which the Socialists violated. The U.S., which recognizes Gonzales as President-elect of the South American State has re-imposed sanctions and has also imposed sanctions on Venezuelan Supreme Court officials who put their loyalty to the dictator above the Venezuelan Constitution. Russia: The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner condemned the Russian Federation’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that routinely plunge the Ukrainian people into darkness and cold. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, seizing part of its territory and backing Russian-speaking separatists, before launching a full-scale invasion in 2022, despite Russian recognition of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Russian aggression against the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine is part of the goal of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, to restore the Soviet Union. Iran: United States and the European Union imposed more sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran for supplying missiles to Russia. Iran, the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism, foments revolution around the Islamic world, particularly among fellow Shi’ites. It is part of what I refer to as the “Axis of Rogues,” like Communist North Koea, which also supplies Russia with missiles.

The 23rd Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America

Today, we commemorate those who were killed or injured 23 years ago today in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America, which were the deadliest acts of terrorism in world history. Islamist al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked civilian airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon (the U.S. Defense Department) in Virginia while another jet that crashed into Pennsylvania after the passengers attempted to take back control from the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people were massacred in the attacks. Al-Qaeda was based in Afghanistan, where they had been provided safe haven by the Islamist Taliban regime that ruled most of the Central Asian State at the time until they were overthrown by the U.S., its Afghan and other allies in 2002 for refusing to turn over the terrorist organization to justice in what became the first battle in the ongoing War on Terrorism. The U.S. captured the mastermind of the attacks and others responsible for its planning. The Secretary of Defense rejected a plea deal this summer by the September 11 mastermind of the and two fellow al-Qaeda Islamist terrorists who were subject to a United States military tribunal at the American base at Guantanamo, Cuba. They offered to plead guilty, in exchange for life imprisonment and not the death penalty, after the Biden Administration had rejected the terrorists’ preconditions. But although some surviving family members wanted the closure that the plea would have brought after 23 years, the deal was not popular, as it precluded the death penalty. A trial would be difficult because of evidentiary rules and a reluctance by the Government to reveal intelligence sources and methods. Nonetheless, the plea offer provides a degree of proof of the responsibility of al-Qaeda for the attacks. Al-Qaeda’s leaders have been killed, as have many members and many othered captured, but the Sunni terrorist organization and their offshoot, the Islamic State, remain a global threat and continue to engage in violent jihad, as they had before September 11, but they have not been able to commit any attack close to its scale. After the disastrous premature Trump-Biden withdrawal of a relatively small force of American troops in an advisory role from Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have returned to power and again provide a haven to the terrorists who remain loyal to the Taliban mullah. The U.S. and allies continue to fight against Islamist terrorists in certain parts of the Islamic world, while improved intelligence sharing, law enforcement and financial control methods have continued to be used effectively against the enemy. But vigilance against all terrorists and hostile militants remains essential.

A Russian State Pro-Trump Media Campaign Is Exposed as the Latest Interference in American Politics and Elections

The United States criminally charged Russian employees of state-backed media with money laundering and violating a federal requirement for foreign agents to register as part of a conspiracy to disseminate propaganda through pro-Trump right-wing media to divide Americans, oppose American resistance to Russian aggression against Ukraine, and influence the American elections in favor of Donald Trump. The Russian state influence campaign was conducted while hiding its hostile foreign power funding source. Ten million dollars was furnished to the Trumpist media outlet that employed influencers popular on social media and had the Republican National Committee Chairman, Lara Trump, who is Donald’s daughter in law, and prominent Republican candidates for office as guests. The Trumpist outlet folded after the announcement of the charges. A Russian-American 2016 Trump campaign advisor was also charged with working on behalf of the sanctioned Russian state media company and accepting a million dollars in laundered money, as well as for other work on behalf of sanctioned Russian oligarchs. Along with the charges from the U.S. Justice Department, the Departments of State and Treasury imposed visa restrictions and sanctions on numerous individuals and entities, respectively, in a joint response to election interference by the Russian Federation. Treasury also sanctioned Russian intelligence officers for cyber hacking, stealing and releasing stolen information. The U.S. also seized many Internet domains used by the Russians. The revelations that the Russians were behind the pro-Trump media campaign highlight how the isolationist Trump and his supporters and the Russians amplify each other’s talking points. As I have posted, Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, the ex-Soviet intelligence officer trying to restore the Soviet Union, backed Trump in the Republican presidential primaries and general elections in 2016 and 2020 and is doing so again, despite its denials, according to U.S. intelligence officials. The real estate tycoon Trump defrauded the voters in 2016 by falsely claiming that he was no longer conducting business with the Russians. He solicited Russian interference on his behalf in the general election, which his campaign then accepted and coordinated its messaging with the release of information stolen by the Russians and released through their cut-out Wikileaks, while the campaign benefited from a “sweeping and systematic” Russian active measures campaign on Trump’s behalf, in the words of the Republican special counsel, which were validated by the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as by the charges and sanctions against some of the Russians by the Trump Administration itself. As President, Trump declined to criticize Putin, publicly cast doubt on the intelligence agency findings that Putin had backed him, obstructed the special counsel’s probe, and acted on the hostile foreign power’s behalf when he could. Since leaving office, Trump has opposed defensive aid for Ukraine against Russian aggression. He and his supporters have denied, minimized or accepted interference in American politics by a hostile foreign power, but now that the success of the Russians is being copied by other hostile foreign powers, they are starting to be affected by the compromise of American independence they supported when it was expedient to them.

The 2024 Republican Party Platform No Longer Supports Statehood for Puerto Rico

I had posted in July and August about the weakening of the Republican Party’s Platform on the right to life because of the wishes of its nominee, Donald Trump, but there was another noteworthy change. The GOP Platform also dropped its longtime support for statehood for Puerto Rico. The status of the territory, which is currently a commonwealth, has long been the major political issue on the Caribbean island. Although the three million residents of Puerto Rico are United States citizens, only the citizens of States and the Federal District of Columbia may vote for presidential and vice presidential Electors, and only States are fully represented in Congress with voting Representatives and Senators, as the residents of territories do not pay federal taxes. But millions of Puerto Ricans who reside in America are eligible to vote in the State or District of their residence in federal and state elections. Congress may approve legislation for another plebiscite for Puerto Rican residents to decide whether to become a State, remain as a commonwealth, enter into free association with the U.S., or become independent. Puerto Rican voting in American will be looking for direction from either of the two major political parties, now that the Republicans have opened the door for the Democrats to gain support from this issue.

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to Co-Chair the 250th American Independence Celebration

Former United States Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama co-chairing the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence in 2026. Through their joint bipartisan leadership of the anniversary celebration, the conservative Republican Bush and liberal Democratic Obama hope to unify Americans who have been extremely divided in recent years because of ideological differences and disinformation from hostile foreign powers that weakens America by undermining their beliefs in its founding principles of equality, liberty and representative government, and by exacerbating the divisions. Bush and Obama will have the opportunity to remind Americans of their shared, fundamental values.

Foreign Digest: Iraq and Syria, Nicaragua, Venezuela and France

Iraq and Syria: United States and Iraq conducted a joint raid in Iraq last week against a cell of the Islamic State terrorist organization. U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces, the main opposition militia that is backed by the U.S., captured in Syria an Islamic State leader who had led a raid on a prison that had freed other I.S. terrorists. The I.S. is an offshoot of al-Qaeda, the Sunni Islamist terrorist organization that was responsible for the deadliest acts of terrorism in world history, the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America. The I.S. had seized large swaths of Iraq after the withdrawal of the U.S.-led international coalition that had overthrown the tyrannical terrorist-sponsoring Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein, and Syria, after the start of the ongoing rebellion against the Syrian Baathist tyrant, Bashar Assad. The U.S. has led another international coalition that has deprived the I.S. of its territory and continues to target the Islamist terrorists for destruction. Nicaragua: The United Nations High Commissioner for human rights reports a serious worsening of the human rights situation in Nicaragua since last year, citing particularly a growing number of reports of torture and rape of detainees. The Central American State is led by a Marxist Sandinista, Daniel Ortega who had been a dictator since seizing power in a revolution in 1979, was voted out of office after being pressured to allow free and fair elections in 1990, and was elected back into office as President in 2007 and then breaking his promise not to rule as a dictator again. United States last week was able to obtain the release of well over a hundred political prisoners who then arrived in Guatemala on their way to being resettled in America Venezuela: The Socialist dictatorship of Venezuela issued an arrest warrant for the opposition’s winning presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a conservative former diplomat who won the election in July in a landslide, but whose victory the regime refuses to recognize. Seven Latin American States denounced the warrant in a joint statement. The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, also denounced and appealed to the intervention of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The Colombian Parliament approved a motion unanimously to refer the Socialist dictator to the ICC. Uruguay announced that it will file a complaint this week and Argentina asked the ICC for arrest warrants for the Socialist dictator and other key regime leaders. With the threats and persecution, Gonzalez sought asylum in the Spanish Embassy and was granted safe conduct to Spain, where he will continue to increase international pressure against the Socialist regime. The Venezuelan dictator meanwhile moved the observation of Christmas to October 1. The Catholic bishops of Venezuela objected to the move and condemned the state repression and persecution in general, especially the detention of political prisoners, including minors, without due process, and the repression of the opposition. The Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America issued a devastating report on the violations of liberty and representative government. The United States had mediated an agreement between the regime and the opposition for free and fair elections, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, but with the Socialist dictatorship’s gross violations of free and fair elections, according to international observers, the U.S. has begun to reimpose sanctions and is recognizing Gonzalez as the President-elect of the South American State. France: The President of France asked a conservative former Member of Parliament and European Union negotiator late last week to serve as Prime Minister and form a government. In the French parliamentary elections two months ago, the anti-migrant far right and the left made gains of votes and seats at the expense of the ruling centrist coalition formed by the President, who has two more years in his term. But the centrists and the center-right won enough seats to keep the not only the nationalist far right, but the far left, which was part of the leftist bloc that won the most seats, from gaining a majority and being able to govern on their own. The Head of State is a powerful figure in the Fifth French Republic and governs through his premier. France is a great power ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Foreign Digest: Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Haiti, Argentina and Italy

Cuba: The United Nations agency for ongoing forms of slavery has issued a report that Communist Cuba engages in forced labor, even for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Nicaragua: The Marxist Sandinista dictator of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, has banned more non-governmental organizations. The latest bans of charities, evangelical Christian churches brings the total to over 5,600, including civil, religious and business organizations. Nicaragua seizes the organizations’ assets. Venezuela: Venezuelans took to the streets last week to mark one month since the presidential election for a six-year term in which the results obtained by the center-right candidate of the united opposition easily won, but which the Socialist-regime declared its leader reelected, without publicizing the precinct tabulations. There is growing international pressure against the Socialist dictator to release the results or to step aside and allow a transition to representative government. The United States recognizes the opposition candidate, former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, as the president-elect, as do many Latin American and European States. The Socialists came to power 25 years ago and became increasingly authoritarian to remain in power. The U.S. mediated a deal between the opposition and the regime to allow free and fair elections, in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions, but the Socialists violated it and failed to follow the standards for a free and fair election, according to the few international observers allowed in the South American State. Venezuela is an ally of Communist Cuba, imperialist Russia and Islamist Iran. Meanwhile, the U.S. has restarted its humanitarian program for refugees who had already arrived from Communist Cuba, Marxist Nicaragua, Socialist Venezuela, and crime-ridden Haiti with greater screening measures implemented against fraudulent claims of asylum. Argentina and Italy: Argentina has arrested and will extradite to Italy a Red Brigades fugitive who has been wanted since 1980 after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for a kidnapping three years before. Argentina revoked the amnesty granted the Marxist militant in 2004. The Red Brigades were the main contributor to Italy’s “Years of Lead” from the 1970s to the 1980s of militant violence. Militants from the extreme left and right were given safe harbor by various leftist-led States in Europe and Latin America. Italy has been actively seeking their arrest and extradition, with some success in recent years.

Foreign Digest: Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ukraine, Estonia and Syria

Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela: The Freedom House issued a report last week on how authoritarian regimes around the world restrict the freedom of movement of their own citizens as a form of repression of dissent: No Way In or Out: Authoritarian Controls on the Freedom of Movement | Freedom House The report highlights particularly such repression by Communist Cuba, Marxist Nicaragua and Socialist Venezuela, which try to prevent dissidents from leaving their countries and punishing exiles. Meanwhile, the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights condemned the closure of many more non-governmental organizations in Nicaragua. Thousands of civil, business, education, charity and religious NGOs have been closed, as I have posted. Now the long-time Sandinista Nicaraguan tyrant is taxing donations to church and religious organizations. He has particularly repressed the Catholic Church. The United States and several Latin American States across the political spectrum rejected last week’s ruling by Venezuela’s Supreme Court certifying the presidential election results late last month for another six-year term in favor of the Socialist dictator as lacking impartiality and credibility and shall not recognize his victory, but instead that of the united opposition candidate, the center-right former diplomatic, Edmundo Gonzales Urrutia. The Organization of American States, several European States and the European Union expressed similar opinions. The United Nations also rejected the ruling. Spain and Mexico are calling for the full reporting of the results, which the Socialist regime claimed was prevented by a cyberattack, an argument relied upon by the dictatorship-supporting Venezuelan high court. The Carter Center, which said there was no evidence of any cyberattack, and the U.N. were the only international observers allowed for the elections. Both found the elections beneath the standard for being free and fair and the U.N. has stated that the Venezuelan Supreme Court is not independent and impartial. Gonzalez has called for an international audit of the results. The number of political prisoners in the South American State has increased many-fold. There have been thousands of arrests and dozens of deaths as the Socialist dictatorship does not tolerate freedom of peaceful assembly. It was announced yesterday that the rector of the regime-loyal Venezuelan electoral council, which had certified the election results in favor of the dictator without publicizing the totals from each precinct, had defected beforehand. He had criticized the unilateral decisions of its leader and the arrests of opposition leaders. The opposition had obtained the documentation from most precincts that clearly showed an overwhelming opposition victory. Ukraine and Estonia: The Ukrainian parliament has banned the Ukrainian Russian Orthodox Church because its ties to the pro-Kremlin Moscow Patriarchate are a portal for Russian Federation influence. The Russian Federation has engaged in aggression against the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine, as Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence agent, is attempting to restore the Soviet Empire, which he has done with the enthusiastic support of the Russian Orthodox Patriarch. As I had posted, the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church had become autocephalic like most other national churches, with the support of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople, a move opposed which Russia, which is trying to deny Ukrainian cultural identity. Similarly, the Estonian Russian Orthodox Church is now separating itself from the Russian Patriarchate to form the self-governing Estonian Orthodox Church, in communion with the Constantinople Patriarchate. Meanwhile, Ukraine observed its independence day yesterday, while it has resisted Russian aggression for a decade and a full-scale invasion for over two and a half years, with support from the United States and many allies in Europe and around the world. Syria: The United States killed a leader of an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, in a victory in the ongoing War on Terrorism. The U.S. has continued to target Islamist terrorists in Syria, such as al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the Islamic State. The former committed the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America that killed nearly 3,000 people, which is the most in world history.

The Philippines Has Agreed to Host a United States Visa Processing Center for Afghan Allies; Update Re: Afghanistan

Filipino-American Agreement for a U.S. Visa Processing Center for Afghan Allies: The Philippines has agreed to host a visa-processing center for a few hundred Afghan refugees who had worked for the United States while the U.S. and its allies had backed the Afghan Government against the Islamist Taliban regime that had harbored the al-Qaeda Islamist terrorists. Al-Qaeda was responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on American that killed nearly 3,000 people, which was the deadliest act of terrorism in world history. The U.S. led an international coalition, together with Afghan allies, to overthrow the Taliban and attack al-Qaeda, and then supported Afghanistan’s government against the Islamists, but after the disastrous Trump-Biden premature withdrawal from Afghanistan that I have posted about, the Taliban returned to power and many Afghans became refugees. Thousands of Afghans who worked for the American have been scattered around the world wherever they could find asylum with their Afghan-issued passports. The Afghans who will undergo visa processing in the Philippines have already passed security and medical checks. After they receive their visas in a few months, they will be resettled in America, where they will join 161,000 other Afghans the U.S. was able to rescue before the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, and then resettled them in America. The Taliban targets Afghans who worked for the U.S. for persecution and murder. Instead of protecting the Afghan allies of the U.S., Trump undermined American security by implementing duplicate processes in the security checks and then cutting the budget and staff to process the visa requests. The Philippines, which was granted independence by the U.S. in 1945 after it had been liberated from Spain during the Spanish-American War and again from the Japanese Empire during the Second World War, had taken in refugees from Communist Vietnam and Jews from the Holocaust. Filipino-American relations have improved since populist President Rodrigo Duterte “the Filipino Trump” left office and amidst growing assertiveness by Communist China of territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. Update on Afghanistan: Meanwhile, Afghan National Resistance Front (NRF), which is the successor to the U.S.-backed Afghan allies committed to liberty, representative government and respect for all ethnicities, is sending a petition signed by more than a quarter million Afghans to the U.S. Congress, urging it to pause humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to ensure none of it falls into the hands of the Taliban, as over 10% of the $2.8 billion in American aid has. The NRF is also asking that their leader testify before Congress about the increased presence in Afghanistan of al-Qaeda, which is intertwined with the Taliban.

Islamist Iranian Attempted Interference in American Elections Is Reminiscent of Russia’s Successful Interference for Donald Trump

The Islamic Republic of Iran hacked into the presidential campaign of Republican nominee Donald Trump and stole information and leaked it to major American professional media outlets, which have not published the information, and attempted to hack the campaigns of Democratic President Joseph Biden and Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamla Harris, according to United States intelligence agencies. The agencies last week reported that Iran, like the Russian Federation, attempts to divide Americans and influence elections. The Trump campaign complained of the Iranian cyberattacks and stated that Americans, not foreigners, should be deciding the outcome of U.S. elections, which is right, but inconsistent with their acceptance of Russian interference on behalf of Trump, both during the Republican nomination in 2016 and the 2016 and 2020 general elections, which I have posted about. In 2016, Russia hacked into the Democratic National Committee, stole information and publicized it through its cut-out, Wikileaks, during the general election campaign, which was then widely reported by the professional media, with the Trump campaign, of which it had received advanced notice, coordinating its messaging with Wikileaks’ serial publications. Trump then openly invited Russia to search for information on the Democratic presidential nominee, which it started to do within minutes. A Republican special counsel and the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee both confirmed the Trump campaign’s acceptance of Russian interference that had been determined by the U.S. intelligence agencies, in addition to the overt and covert Russian interference in American politics, including election interference on Trump’s behalf in both the primary and general elections in 2016. Trump then denied Russian interference in the election on his behalf and his supporters minimized it, hiding behind the special counsel’s rejection of the use of the word collusion because it is not a criminal term and thus not relevant to his criminal investigation, despite the Trump campaign’s welcoming of Russian interference and its more than one hundred unreported contacts with Russians during the campaign and that the special counsel found there was obstruction of his criminal probe, including by Trump, for which he recommended Congress impeach him. Trump had deceived the voters by fraudulently claiming he was not trying to engage in business with Russia during the campaign. Americans should reject foreign interference in their politics, especially covert election interference by hostile, authoritarian regimes like Islamist Iran and imperialist Russia, and stand for their independence.

Follow-up Thoughts on Donald Trump’s Weakening of the Republican Platform on the Right to Life

I had posted last month about how Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had weakened the GOP’s Platform on the right to life, which no longer includes a call for a constitutional amendment to defend this most basic human right, among other changes: Donald Trump Dilutes the Republican Platform's Pro-Life Language, https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2024/07/donald-trump-dilutes-republican.html. But I wanted to place the dilution of the platform language within the larger context of Trump’s inconsistency, in which he sometimes opposes protecting — or is even hostile to — innocent human life. When he held the presidency, Trump’s nativist policies prevented refugees fleeing for their lives or liberty from seeking asylum in America or sent refugees who had made it to United States soil legally to their deaths through deportation. Trump pardoned a war criminal who had been convicted in a military court for murdering innocent civilians. He praised the policy of the populist President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, “the Filipino Trump,” of calling for citizens to kill other citizens whom they suspected of being drug dealers, which, in practice, led to the murder of innocent people. And those are only the examples of Trump’s hostility to innocent human life that he was able to implement, unlike, for example, his campaign statement that the family members of terrorists be murdered, or any of the other illegal and immoral proposals his former staff say he routinely would make, but which they were able to avoid having to carry out. There are additional examples of his inhumanity or callous disregard for life. The demagogic Trump deported migrants who had been judged to be in America illegally, but who were not a threat, even when their deportation would lead to their certain deaths, instead of making a reasonable exception to protect human lives, but he granted asylum to a family from Germany, which is a free country. Another example is Trump’s ban on travel from predominately Muslim States barred entry even to organ donors. While the liberal Democratic Party is pro-abortion, the Republican Party, though at least somewhat anti-abortion, is failing to contrast itself with a consistently pro-human life platform or presidential and vice presidential ticket. As I have posted before, the association of the pro-life movement with the misogynistic authoritarian Trump undermines the pro-life message of respect for life for love of all human beings and for liberty.

Foreign Digest: Belarus and Venezuela

Belarus: The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada issued a joint statement last week calling for Belarus to release over 1,400 political prisoners, criticizing its dictatorship for corruption and disrespect for representative government, and expressing solidarity with the Belarusian people in advocating for liberty The statement was issued on the fourth anniversary of the fraudulent 2020 elections, in which the Belarusian dictator claimed victory for another five-year term. The statement also threatened more sanctions both for suppressing freedom and representative government and for Belarusian military support for the Russian Federation’s aggression against neighboring Ukraine. Russian troops invaded Ukraine from Belarus, which, like Ukraine is a former Soviet Republic. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin is an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union. The U.S. announced targeted sanctions on certain Belarusians for military support of Russian aggression. Venezuela: United Nations observers late last week condemned Venezuela’s presidential elections for a five-year term earlier this month as not meeting the standard for being free and fair to represent the will of the voters. Along with the Carter Foundation, who I had posted also found the elections not to be free and fair, they were the only international observers allowed in the South American State. Also late last week, the Organization of American States overwhelmingly approved a resolution on the Venezuelan elections sponsored by the United States and several allies calling for respect for human rights and the popular will and the impartial verification of the electoral results that guarantees transparency, credibility and legitimacy in the electoral process. As I have posted, the Socialists have ruled Venezuela for 25 years after being elected and then becoming increasingly authoritarian. The united opposition, led by center-right candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a former diplomat, had obtained documentary proof from 80% of polling places of a landslide victory, but the regime claimed a narrow win without providing the tabulations of each polling place, which has led to international doubts of the Socialists’ claim of victory or even recognition of the opposition leader as the President-elect. The Socialist dictatorship, which had already held many political prisoners, during the campaign barred from office and arrested opposition leaders, prosecuted vendors that served the opposition campaign, and did not allow equal access to state-controlled media, as well as vandalizing local opposition offices, among other intimidation and harassment, thereby violating a U.S.-brokered agreement to allow presidential elections in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. The opposition staged mass protests this weekend in 380 cities across Venezuela, Latin America and five continents, including in America as international pressure. Anti-American Socialist Venezuela is an ally of Communist Cuba, imperialist Russia and Islamist terrorist Iran.

Update: Pro-Impeachment Conservative Republican U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse Will Advance to the General Election Versus a Trumpist

United States Representative Dan Newhouse, a Republican of Washington, received one of the two nominations in the non-partisan primary for re-election, along with a Trumpist Republican who was one of two Republican candidates in the primary endorsed by Donald Trump. The longtime conservative Congressman is one of two remaining GOP House members out of 10 who voted to impeach Trump for leading an insurrection against Congress, which was certifying the votes of the Electoral College, based on his lies that his Electors had won the 2020 presidential election. It was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in American history, as was the votes of the Senate for conviction by 7 Republican Senators, although the result was short of the required two-thirds majority. Several of the pro-impeachment GOP members of both chambers had opted not to seek re-election, but while several of the Republican Senators who voted to convict Trump are still serving their six-year terms, the only other pro-impeachment Representative beside Newhouse is David Valadao of California, who was not challenged in the GOP primary. In Washington’s “jungle” primary, in which candidates of any party compete, the two candidates who receive the most votes will be on the ballot for the General Election in November. Because the district has many more Republicans, the result was not surprising. Newhouse will rely on Democrats, independents and third-party members, including many moderates or conservatives who fled the party because of Trump and Trumpism, to win re-election.

American and Western Hostages and Russian Dissidents Were Freed in a Multi-State Prisoner Exchange for Admitted Russian Criminal Agents

A multi-State prisoner exchange last week involving 24 people, including Americans and citizens of 6 foreign States, freed multiple American and Western hostages in exchange for Russian criminals. The exchange involved the United States, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway on the one side and Russia and Belarus on the other. It was the largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Two American citizens, including a reporter for a conservative newspaper and a former U.S. Marine, who had been falsely accused of espionage and one Russian-American journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the U.S. international news services were released, as were several Russian political prisoners. Two of the dissidents I had posted about, namely opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Russian-Briton who is a U.S. resident who had twice been poisoned by Russia, and Oleg Orlov, the founder of a Nobel Prize-winning human rights organization were freed, as were several associates of the late opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison earlier this year where he had been maltreated before the exchange could be made. Several of the dissidents and the Russian-American journalist had been persecuted for opposing the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Exchanged for the hostages and dissidents were Russian cyber attackers, spies, and a murderer convicted in Germany in 2021 for killing a Chechen-Russian exile on the orders of the Russian government. After having denied it, Russia admitted the criminals were its intelligence agents. The deal mediated by Turkey a member of the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Such prisoner exchanges with despotic regimes are common, in which a dictatorship takes foreigners hostage and falsely accuses them of crimes and exchanges them for its agents who were duly convicted of crimes in free States, but not usually on such a scale or ever with this many States involved. These exchanges, which sometimes are not of equal numbers, often encourage dictators to kidnap more hostages to protect their spies and criminal agents. But this exchange was different, not only because Russia had to admit its agents commit cyberattacks and attack and kill people on foreign soil, but because several prominent Russian dissidents had to be released along with the foreign hostages, which spared them from the same fate as Navalny. Although they are no longer in Russia, they can continue to raise international awareness about Russian tyranny and corruption from abroad and try to unite the fragmented Russian opposition to ex-Soviet intelligence officer, Vladimir Putin, the tyrant who was elected to office and then took away Russians liberty and who does not permit free and fair elections, or they could even secretly return to Russia to continue their work for freedom for Russia at the risk of imprisonment and death, like Navalny did.

The Congressional Budget Office: Immigration Will Add Trillions of Dollars in Economic Growth

Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan research arm of the United States Congress, issued a study in which it calculated that immigration will add $8.9 trillion to the American gross domestic product (the total value of goods and services produced) in the next decade. The economic growth generates tax revenue that, in turn, boosts the federal budget. I had posted last month that the bipartisan Federal Reserve, the central bank of the U.S. led by a Trump appointee, had issued a report finding that immigration was boosting the American economy without adding to inflation. Study after study from different ideological perspectives have demonstrated both that immigration is an economic and fiscal benefit and that migrants commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans. But ignorant and bigoted nativists, fomented by the demagoguery of Donald Trump, continue to make false claims otherwise to scare fellow Americans to oppose immigration. Regardless of the financial aspect, the Founders believed that America should be a refuge for those seeking liberty. Republicans and conservatives like President Ronald Reagan have long believed in the benefit of immigrants and especially refugees seeking asylum from persecution, to American because of their greater appreciation of liberty and were proud that people risk their lives to come to America, in contrast to having to risk their lives to flee tyrannies.

Venezuelan Presidential Election Update: More International Calls for Transparency and Recognition of the Election of the Center-Right Candidate

As more evidence emerges, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the center-right opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a former diplomat, easily won the Venezuelan presidential election last week, despite the Socialist regime’s declaration that the dictatorial President had been reelected to a third six-year term and its many violations of the electoral process, including repression of opposition leaders. The Carter Center, one of the few international observers permitted by the Socialist regime, also denounced the lack of transparency. The expert election observers reported that they could not verify the re-election of the Venezuelan dictator, observing the elections did not conform to democratic standards at any stage or even to Venezuelan law. The Venezuelan opposition to the Socialist dictatorship is confident it can prove that its candidate won more than twice as many votes as the dictator because it had access to the documented results from over 80% of the polling places. Protests have broken out across Venezuela. The Socialist regime responded with its usual deadly repression and mass arrests. The regime has even indicted the popular opposition leader, whom it had banned from holding office, and declared the opposition’s attempt to prove that it won the election a “coup” backed by foreigners. Under international pressure, the Socialist dictator agreed to ask the Venezuelan Supreme Court to audit the election results, but like the national election body, the high court is also stacked with regime loyalists. The United Nations Secretary General called for transparency in the vote-counting process in the South American State. The Organization of American States, of which the United States is one of the 35 members, declared that the results of the Venezuelan presidential elections cannot be trusted and should not be recognized without documentary support for the Socialist dictator’s victory, as declared by the national election commission. The OAS, citing repression by the Venezuelan regime, documented abuses and illegalities in this and the previous election in 2018 and observed that the electoral commission was biased toward the incumbent and at its service in denying the will of the Venezuelan people. The Group of Seven industrial powers, which includes the U.S., Canada, Japan and four Western European States, also called for transparency in the election tabulation process and for restraint in respect for elective representative government. The U.S., several Latin American States across the political spectrum, and other Western States expressed doubts about the election result, but as more evidence emerged from the polling place records, the U.S. and several Latin American States have now has expressed certainty that Gonzalez won the most votes. The U.S., which had mediated a deal in which the elections would take place, has threatened to re-impose sanctions it had temporarily lifted for the elections having been scheduled because the conduct of the elections violated the agreement for free and fair elections. Venezuela expelled all the diplomats from eight Latin American States across the political spectrum that had questioned the legitimacy of the Socialist election victory. Brazil had to take custody of some of their embassies, including Argentina’s, where some Venezuelan opposition leaders had sought asylum, for which Argentina expressed gratitude. The Socialists have ruled for 25 years since taking power through an election and then becoming increasingly authoritarian, causing many millions of Venezuelans to flee in the largest mass exodus in history, including to America, which is placing a strain on other South American States. The anti-American Socialists have encouraged socialist revolution in Latin America and have established close relations with Communist Cuba, imperialist Russia and Islamist and terrorist Iran.

Foreign Digest: Hungary, Georgia, and Lebanon

Hungary: Hungary announced last week that it is making it easier for Russians to acquire visas. The European Union expressed concern that it opens the door to espionage, especially considering the visa-free travel within the EU. Russian Federation agents have also attacked and even killed exiles in Europe and have been conducting sabotage against European States opposed to Russian aggression against Ukraine. As I have been posting, Hungary is led by a far-right anti-migrant autocratic President who is pro-Russian. Georgia: Georgia The United States suspended aid to Georgia last week over its foreign agents law that criminalizes professional media and non-governmental organizations that receive a certain percentage of funds from abroad. The unpopular law is modeled on one in Russia that has been used to repress opponents of the tyrannical Russian regime. The former Soviet Republic of Georgia was invaded by Russia in 2008 and still maintains troops there, but the current Georgian Government has been moving closer to the Russian orbit, contrary to the wishes of Georgians. Lebanon: Lebanon Israel killed the longtime military leader of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Lebanese terrorist organization in an attack in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon last week. He was the most wanted terrorist in the world and had murdered many, including Americans in Lebanon in 1983. His killing is a significant victory against terrorism and militant Islamism.

Anti-Trump Conservative Republican United States Representative Dan Newhouse of Washington Is Facing Trumpist GOP Primary Challengers

Dan Newhouse, a conservative Republican United States Representative from Washington is one of two remaining GOP members of the House who voted to impeach Donald Trump for insurrection in 2021. Ten Republican House members impeached Trump and 7 GOP Senators voted to convict him after Trump incited a violent mob to attack the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the congressional certification of the votes of the Electoral College for his opponent, based on false and disproven allegations of election fraud in the 2020 General Election for the Electors for President and Vice President. The votes were the most bipartisan in the history of presidential impeachments. The pro-life and pro-right to keep and bear arms Newhouse was the only pro-impeachment Republican House member to seek reelection and survive a Trumpist primary challenge in 2022. This year, the longtime Congressman is facing two Trumpist challengers on Tuesday August, 6 in the Republican Primary Election, including one endorsed by Trump. As I have been posting, the demagogic, disloyal and unfit Trump, who has non-conservative views and authoritarian tendencies, is a cancer on the conservative movement and a mortal threat to the Republican Party. He and his supporters must be defeated at every opportunity in GOP primary elections, as well as in general elections, and Trumpism (populist protectionism, isolationism, and nativism) must be completely vanquished for there to be any restoration of the party and advancement of true conservative principles.

The Center-Right Opposition Won the Venezuelan Presidential Election

The united opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a former diplomat, easily won the Venezuelan presidential election yesterday with 65-70% of the vote, according to two exit polls and the tabulations from the opposition at 40% of polling places to which it had access. The previously little-known center-right candidate, who was a last-minute stand-in for the popular conservative candidate the ruling Socialists had barred from office, overwhelmingly won in every State in Venezuela, despite the oppression from the dictatorship that I have been posting about that rendered the elections for a six-year term not free and fair, and the rejection by the Socialists of most international observers. The anti-American Socialists have ruled for 25 years after being elected and then becoming increasingly authoritarian. Venezuela has suffered tyranny, corruption, crime, poverty, inflation, and energy shortages. Millions have fled the South American State, including to America. The national election council, controlled by the President, declared the incumbent the winner with just over 51.% of the vote, but without publicizing the particular results. In my last post, I had said that the opposition would win a free and fair election, but that it was doubtful the Socialist dictatorship would accept the results and cede power. The opposition has declared Gonzalez the president-elect and even some Latin American States led by the center-left have joined those on the right side of the spectrum in questioning how the results could possibly reflect the will of the Venezuelan people. States ruled by the far left and tyrants who do not permit free elections themselves have recognized the Socialists as the winners, despite the lack of transparency, which the United States and its Western allies also doubt. The U.S., which had mediated the deal in which the elections would take place and eased some economic sanctions for it having been scheduled, stands by the Venezuelan people and offers assistance in providing some protection for members of the Socialist regime to escape prosecution for human rights violations in exchange for giving up power. The dictatorship had violated the agreement in many ways in repressing the opposition, which creatively found means to work around it. The Socialist dictator had threatneed a “bloodbath” if he lost. The popular opposition is encouraging the Venezuelan military to uphold the true results of the election. The U.S. and much of the international community will continue to pressure the Venezuelan regime to be transparent in publicizing the results, and are otherwise not likely recognize the Socialist dictator as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela and will use sanctions as leverage to force him to accept the will of the Venezuelan people and give up power.

Foreign Digest: Hungary, Syria, Communist China and North Korea

Hungary: The European Union Commission’s annual report on the rule of law found that there has been no progress in Hungary on corruption, bribery, conflicts of interest, lobbying, political party and campaign funding, the independence of the media, and allowing a secure place for civic organizations. The EU report also cited uncertainty for businesses because of state intervention into the free market. The EU had frozen funds to Hungary for its infractions. Some EU funds had been unfrozen only because of changes to the Hungarian judicial system. Hungary delayed defensive aid to Ukraine to defend against Russian aggression and the self-described “illiberal” Hungarian President, Viktor Orban, whom the EU identified as autocratic and who is ruling by decree, engaged as rotating EU Commission President in a visit to Russia that appeared to be appeasement, thereby provoking a boycott of informal meetings held by Orban or hosted in Hungary by the other EU Commission members. Orban also visited on his appeasement tour Donald Trump, who admires the anti-migrant Orban and who opposes American aid to Ukraine because of his favorable relationship with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, the ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union. Trump’s chosen running mate is also an admirer of the authoritarian Orban. The center-right European People’s Party, an EU parliamentary group, had suspended Orban’s party, which later withdrew to join a nationalist group. A center-right party has emerged as the leading opponent to Orban, who has ruled for 14 years, in the 2025 presidential elections. Syria: United Nations last week condemned the tyrannical Syrian regime of Bashar Assad for gross human rights violations. Syria has been in civil war since Syrians revolted against the dictatorship in 2011. Several hundred thousand people have been killed and millions fled. The Assad regime, backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist ally, Hezbollah, as well as the Russian Federation, have targeted civilian areas with bombings, including with chemical weapons. Communist China and North Korea: United States last week sanctioned Chinese citizens for supporting Communist North Korea’s missile and space program. The U.S. also charged last week in abstentia a North Korean military intelligence officer for leading cyberattacks in 2021 that targeted hospitals, thereby interrupting patient care, for which ransom was received, as well as the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, military bases and defense and energy companies, including in South Korea and the Republic of China (Taiwan) and even Communist China, even though it is an ally of North Korea. Secret defense capabilities were exposed. The ransom, which was laundered by the officer through Communist China to fund more attacks, was recovered. Although the arrest of the suspect is unlikely, the charges will enable economic sanctions to be imposed that will make it harder for North Korea to collect ransoms from hospitals again. Today, the U.S. announced the establishment of a joint military command in Japan to respond more quickly than from the current American headquarters in Hawaii, to any invasion of Taiwan by Communist China or South Korea by Communist North Korea.