RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25

Conspicuous by its absence in much of the mainstream news coverage of Venezuela’s political crisis is the word “socialism.” Yes, every sensible observer agrees that Latin America’s once-richest country, sitting atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves, is an economic basket case, a humanitarian disaster, and a dictatorship whose demise cannot come soon enough.

But … socialist? Perish the thought.

Or so goes a line of argument that insists socialism’s good name shouldn’t be tarred by the results of experience. On Venezuela, what you’re likelier to read is that the crisis is the product of corruption, cronyism, populism, authoritarianism, resource-dependency, U.S. sanctions and trickery, even the residues of capitalism itself. Just don’t mention the S-word because, you know, it’s working really well in Denmark.

Curiously, that’s not how the Venezuelan regime’s admirers used to speak of “21st century socialism,” as it was dubbed by Hugo Chávez. The late Venezuelan president, said Britain’s Jeremy Corbyn, “showed us there is a different and a better way of doing things. It’s called socialism, it’s called social justice, and it’s something that Venezuela has made a big step toward.” Noam Chomsky was similarly enthusiastic when he praised Chávez in 2009. “What’s so exciting about at last visiting Venezuela,” the linguist said, is that “I can see how a better world is being created and can speak to the person who’s inspired it.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13542/iran-kidnapping-hostages

This international breach of justice should be a lesson to the UK and other governments: It does not matter if the mullahs reach out their hands out in peace; the Islamist regime of Iran will continue to harm innocent victims on a daily basis.

In response to the snub, the British government should consider bringing to a halt its appeasement policies toward the ruling mullahs. The more they are appeased, the more emboldened and empowered they become to continue violating human rights.

It must be made clear to Iran that, apart from its unacceptable nuclear and ballistic missile build up, the UK — and every country — will also not stand for the capture, torture and imprisonment of the innocent. If the British government speaks in actions rather than words, perhaps these captives could be free to resume the life they deserve again, and the world could be free of a major nuclear threat.

“Sometimes when I come back from the visit with Gabriella, after saying goodbye to her, I feel as if I cannot live without her, I want to go back and hold her. She kisses me so hard. It is hard to say goodbye to her. She blows kisses all the way as she goes up the stairs, and everyone stands there watching.” These are the words of a grieving British mother, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, held in prison in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as she describes saying goodbye to her child.

http://www.israelhayom.com/2019/01/25/czech-lawmakers-adopt-common-definition-of-anti-semitism/

Anti-Semitism in the Czech Republic is at a relatively low level, according to The Associated Press.

Although the definition by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is not binding, Czech lawmaker says it could help authorities deal with hate crimes • The definition has already been adopted by a number of European parliaments and Israel.

The Czech Parliament’s lower house on Friday adopted a resolution that recognizes a common international definition of anti-Semitism.

Although the definition by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is not binding, lower house speaker Radek Vondráček says it could help authorities deal with hate crimes.

The 2016 definition says anti-Semitism is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” It includes attacks against Jewish religious and community institutions, Jews and non-Jews and their property that are attacked for anti-Semitic reasons.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/25/trio-family-members-jailed-having-terrorist-propaganda/

Three members of the same family have been jailed for terror offences after police foiled a jewellery raid they believe was intended to fund Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

Asma Aweys, 30, her partner Abdulaziz Abu Munye, 27, and her brother Ahmed Aweys, 33, were all arrested when police investigating a burglary plot found terrorist propaganda on their mobile devices.

In one message, Aweys, a mother-of-two from Edmonton in north London, labelled Ariana Grande as “the devil” in relation to the Manchester bombing and described the Westminster terror attack as the “decree of Allah.”

Aweys was also found to have three copies of the English language IS magazine Rumiyah on her phone last April.

Articles in the publications offered advice such as how to “inflict misery and destruction on the enemies of Allah” through methods including vehicle attacks.
Ahmed Aweys was arrested following an investigation into a jewellery heist plot
Ahmed Aweys was arrested following an investigation into a jewellery heist plot

Tips on the best way to injure people using knives, including which type of blade is most effective, were also contained in the magazines.

There was also information about how to make Molotov cocktails and napalm to be used in arson attacks.

Munye, who lived with Aweys also sent a a 58-minute IS propaganda video, called Flames Of War 2, to his brother in law.

https://amgreatness.com/2019/01/24/desperate-embrace

Europe’s most powerful personages on Tuesday signed a treaty for the “unification,” of Western Europe’s biggest countries. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel inked the deal at Aachen/Aix la Chapelle. It was there in the chapel that Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer had knelt at Holy Mass to celebrate the signing of the 1963 Franco-German treaty of cooperation that sealed their peoples’ vow of friendship and cooperation. In the ensuing half century, it produced just that. France and Germany became the core of the Common Market and then of the European Union.

Today’s treaty, its pretensions notwithstanding, is between regimes that are overwhelmingly occupied trying, with decreasing success, to fend off domestic challenges to their legitimacy. The treaty is a desperate attempt by France and Germany to change the subject from their internal struggles. Nevertheless, the treaty cannot but have major and deleterious effects on intra-European relations as well as on relations between Europe and the United States.

In 1963, de Gaulle and Adenauer had hoped for even greater coordination in foreign and defense policy as well but, under U.S. diplomatic pressure, the German Bundestag added a clause to the treaty’s ratification that privileged the Federal Republic’s defense relationship with America. By contrast, the 2019 treaty’s main thrust is to sever that clause. The two countries will act “as a single unit with regard to relations with third countries.”

Lest there be any doubt, the final sentence reads: “The admission of the Federal Republic of Germany as a permanent member of of the United Nations Security Council [where it would share France’s seat] is a priority of Franco-German diplomacy.”

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272672/venezuela-edge-precipice-joseph-klein

Venezuela, an oil-rich country that was once amongst the most prosperous countries in the Latin American region, is now in a state of economic and political chaos. Venezuela’s socialist leaders – first, Hugo Chávez and then his successor, Nicolas Maduro – have turned the country into an economic basket case because of their gross mismanagement, corruption and destructive economic policies. The inflation rate could reach an unheard of 10 million percent in 2019. There is a humanitarian crisis of monumental proportions, with the country’s population suffering from severe hunger and a health crisis. Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country. Amidst all this chaos, Maduro was sworn in as president for a second term two weeks ago following an “election” last year that many inside and outside of the country believe was rigged.

Many Venezuelans have had enough of Maduro’s dictatorship. As a result, he is now being forced to square off with a potentially formidable opposition leader who is popular with the Venezuelan people and is gaining international support. Juan Guaido, the new leader of the democratically elected opposition-controlled National Assembly, has declared himself to be the interim president until new national elections can be held.

Mr. Guaido claims that he is acting under the authority of the country’s constitution. Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in the streets on his behalf. The Trump administration officially recognized Mr. Guaido as the legitimate interim president. President Trump tweeted on Wednesday the following expression of support: “The citizens of Venezuela have suffered for too long at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Today, I have officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela.” The Trump administration made it clear that all options remain on the table if Maduro clamps down too hard on the opposition.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13620/france-germany-european-army

“Populism and nationalism are increasing in all our countries. For the first time, a country — Great Britain — is leaving the European Union. Worldwide, multilateralism is under pressure….” – German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Converging this much with Germany is an abandonment of sovereignty — a betrayal. If we had not alerted the public, this text would have been signed on the sly. The text provides in particular for the need to legislate in the event of obstacles to Franco-German cooperation…. I do not want more convergence with Berlin, be it in social or security matters, or in closer consultation in the UN Security Council.” – Marine Le Pen, Le Temps.

“Emmanuel Macron is calling for a grand debate to involve citizens in the public life of our country. At the same time, however, the President of the Republic negotiated a treaty on the sly even though it concerns conditions essential to the exercise of our national sovereignty. Neither the French people, nor the Parliament, nor the Constitutional Council were consulted… For many reasons, this treaty undermines our national sovereignty.” – Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of the party Debout La France! (Stand Up, France!).

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have signed a new Franco-German friendship treaty aimed at reinvigorating the European Union, which has been buffeted by the European debt crisis, mass migration and Brexit — as well as innumerable conflicting interests and priorities among its 28 member states.

France and Germany, the self-appointed guardians of European integration, have said that the new treaty is a response to the growing influence of populists in Austria, Britain, France, Italy, Hungary, Poland and other European countries who are seeking to slow, and even reverse, European integration by recouping national sovereignty from the European Union and transferring those powers back to national capitals.

The continental showdown, which threatens to split the European Union down the middle between Eurosceptic nationalists and Europhile globalists, will heat up in coming weeks, ahead of elections for the European Parliament in late May 2019.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuba-out-of-venezuela-11548376414

International support for a return to democracy in Venezuela has been growing since Juan Guaidó took the oath of interim president on Wednesday. The crucial but underreported question now is whether dictator Nicolás Maduro’s protectors in Cuba and Russia will intervene to stop this democratic uprising.

The Venezuelan military holds the key to whether Mr. Maduro will step down peacefully. Common sense and reporting in the country suggest that a good part of the army is ready to side with the Venezuelan people. The rank and file have families who are also suffering the privation caused by nearly two decades of socialist rule.

Yet Cuba controls Mr. Maduro’s personal security detail and has built a counterintelligence network around the high command. Venezuela’s 1,000 or so flag officers operate in silos and are spied on by minders. An officer who sides with the opposition is putting his life and perhaps his family at risk. The head of the armed forces expressed support for Mr. Maduro on Thursday, but the real test may come if soldiers are ordered to fire on protesters or Venezuelans trying to protect Mr. Guaidó.

Nations that want better for Venezuela should focus as much on Havana as Caracas. If civilized countries want to end the starvation and mass migration of Venezuelans, they have to convince the Cuban regime to back off. That means targeting Havana with diplomatic pressure, as well as sanctions such as travel restrictions and frozen bank accounts.