South America News

The Daily Signal reports on South America with conservative analysis of regional politics, socialist movements, economic crises, cartel violence, Chinese influence, Brazilian elections, Argentine reforms, Colombian conflicts, and U.S. policy toward this critical hemisphere neighbor.
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  • This California College Welcomes Propagandists for Venezuelan Socialism

    A women-only college in California continues to host Venezuelan propagandists, with two government officials scheduled to speak Tuesday for the failed socialist regime. Scripps College in Claremont, California, invited Venezuelan Consul Generals Jesus Chucho Garcia and Antonio Cordero to address “coups and imperial wars,” “African solidarities,” and Venezuela’s plan to create a “new society rooted in…
    Rob Shimshock
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  • Tillerson’s Efforts to Prevent Foreign Adversaries From Expanding in Latin America Are Wise

    Secretary of State Rex Tillerson just wrapped up a multinational journey of Latin America and, by all accounts, the trip was a resounding success. Oddly enough, what continues to make headlines is not the successful visits to leaders in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and Jamaica. Nor are the headlines about the Mexican foreign minister, Luis…
    Ana Quintana
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  • International Court Pushes Gay Marriage on 20 Latin American Nations

    The Inter-American Court of Human Rights called last week for the recognition of same-sex marriage and of proclaimed “gender identity” as a protected category for nondiscrimination under the American Convention on Human Rights. Although the decision is not binding, 20 countries throughout the Americas have accepted the jurisdiction of the court, and will now be…
    Michelle Riestra
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  • The New York Times Left Socialism’s Role Out of Its Report on Venezuela’s Devastation

    Kudos to The New York Times—yes, The New York Times—for running an excellent, detailed story on the mass starvation and economic catastrophe taking place in Venezuela. As the Times notes, Venezuela has the largest known oil reserves in the world, yet is going through a starvation crisis exacerbated and hidden by its own government. Common…
    Jarrett Stepman
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  • Latin America Should Not Tolerate Cuba’s Aggression Toward US Diplomats

    Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently announced that he would expel two-thirds of Cuba’s diplomats stationed at their embassy in Washington, D.C. This move comes after the U.S. scaled down the number of diplomats stationed in Havana as a result U.S. diplomats being injured by sonic attacks there. Starting 10 months ago, a mysterious sonar…
    Ana Quintana
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  • Trump’s Decision to Ban Venezuelan Government Officials Was Long Overdue

    The president took long-needed action on Sunday when he put in place travel restrictions on a number of high-profile Venezuelan officials. As part of ban, which targets eight countries, these representatives and their relatives will no longer be allowed to obtain U.S. tourism or business visas. This move should not be interpreted as a ban…
    Ana Quintana
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  • Desperate for Cash, Venezuela Gives Putin Control of Oil Assets

    Venezuela is handing over unprecedented control of its state-owned oil assets to longtime financial backer Russia in an effort to stave off insolvency and economic collapse. Battered by civil unrest that threatens to become a total political meltdown, the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro has offered an ownership stake in up to nine of Venezuela’s most…
    Will Racke
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  • Underreported: Meet 2 Political Prisoners From Socialist Venezuela

    In recent months, Venezuela has spiraled into a full-blown humanitarian and political crisis. Politicians with criminal backgrounds run the country, employing violence and arresting peaceful, anti-government protesters. In The Daily Signal’s feature series, “Underreported,” we interview Francisco Marquez, an ex-political prisoner who now lives in the United States, and Wuilly Arteaga, who recently was thrown…
    Kelsey Bolar
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  • Venezuela’s Socialist Leader Asks for UN Meeting With Trump as His Nation Crumbles

    Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he is ready to meet with President Donald Trump, just days after Washington hit the ruling socialist regime with sanctions. Speaking Thursday to the newly installed National Constituent Assembly, an all-powerful legislative body packed with Maduro loyalists, the socialist leader called on Venezuela’s foreign minister to arrange a phone call or face-to-face…
    Will Racke
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  • This Young Violinist Inspired Venezuelans to Stand for Freedom. Now He’s Rotting in Prison.

    One of the stories coming out of Venezuela that has simultaneously saddened and inspired has been that of Wuilly Arteaga, a talented young violinist who grew up in the poorest part of Valencia, Venezuela's third largest city. Wuilly taught himself violin and won a place in one of Venezuela's youth orchestras that are part of…
    Paul Coyer
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  • The World Must Turn Back Venezuela’s Growing Dictatorship

    Venezuela has succumbed to dictatorship. It’s going to take a concerted international effort to reverse this ugly development. On July 30, socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro held a fraudulent and highly unpopular election. As a result, all 545 seats of a new “Constituent Assembly” are being filled with candidates hand-picked by Maduro’s National Socialist Party. The…
    Ana Quintana
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  • Socialism Has Destroyed Venezuela

    Friedrich Hayek famously observed that socialist central planning puts countries on the road to serfdom. The latest dead end on that highway to hell—already littered with the human victims of past failed attempts in places like Cuba and the old Soviet Union—is in Caracas, Venezuela. That is where, last weekend, President Nicolás Maduro and the…
    James M. Roberts
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  • I Grew Up in Chavez’s Socialist Venezuela. Here’s What I Think About the Current Crisis.

    Venezuela’s air is thick with tear gas and its streets are stained with the blood of its youth. The South American nation has been reduced to a battlefield as government forces brutally pummel protestors. For the past 50 days, Venezuelans throughout the country have taken to the streets in anti-government uprisings. With approval ratings in…
    Ricardo Pita
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  • This May Be Venezuela’s Tiananmen Square Moment

    Venezuela is no stranger to protests, but the recent uprisings have rocked the country and stirred questions about the nation’s future. This past week, the “mother of all protests” has seen upward of 2 million Venezuelans take to the streets demanding an end to the notoriously corrupt Maduro regime. Beginning on what would be the 207th…
    Ana Quintana
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  • Corrupt Venezuelan Regime Failing to Quell Humanitarian Crisis

    Not too long ago, oil reserves and natural resources made Venezuela the richest country in South America. Now, President Nicolas Maduro’s corrupt socialist policies have left the country in ruins. Unsurprisingly, Maduro has become very unpopular, earning an approval rating hovering around less than 20 percent nationwide. It’s a well-earned failing mark. Maduro has recently…
    Gabriela Anciola
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  • Trump Is Right to Support Venezuela’s Opposition

    Lilian Tintori understands the Venezuelan regime for what it is: corrupt, criminal, and evil. Her husband, Leopoldo López, was stripped of his political rights when President Hugo Chávez saw the potential and dangerous competition that he posed. Eventually this led to Leopoldo’s investigation and his current imprisonment, which has been ongoing for three years now….
    Jackson Ventrella
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  • Venezuela’s Crisis Is the Latest Example of Why Socialism Doesn’t Work

    It seems the “Socialism of the 21th Century” is really no different from socialism from the past. Venezuela’s current tragedy, simultaneously culminating in food shortages, a crime epidemic, and an energy collapse, is the latest example of why centralized planning economy does not work—and how it is indistinguishable from tyranny. In the South American country,…
    Gabriel de Arruda Castro
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  • The Bizarre Reality of Venezuela’s Energy Crisis

    Venezuela is facing an electricity shortage so severe that President Nicolas Maduro extended the national Easter holiday by decree to decrease demand for it. The government is effectively shutting down the country for five days with the hopes of staving off an impending infrastructural collapse. That’s right: The country with the largest proven oil reserves in…
    Ricardo Pita
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  • Venezuelans Fighting for Economic Freedom

    A broad coalition of anti-government parties in Venezuela announced a plan this month to oust President Nicolás Maduro. The plan includes constitutionally legal mechanisms to shorten the president’s term, a recall referendum, and public protests demanding Maduro’s resignation. Hand-picked by Hugo Chávez, Maduro is now the face of executive branch corruption in Venezuela. Now recent…
    Tori K. Smith
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  • Venezuela Staves Off Default in Advance of Dec. 6 Election

    Legislative and municipal elections this weekend might give Venezuelans a chance to get out from under the oppressive reign of corruption and criminality that have been the hallmarks of the government of President Nicolás Maduro. But don’t hold your breath. Maduro has warned that he will not “surrender the revolution” to an opposition victory, and…
    James M. Roberts
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