Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

April 16, 2015 By Fausta

Cuba off Sponsors of Terrorism list; how’s that working so far?

Two items:
Obama Says Cuba Doesn’t Sponsor Terrorism. So What Are All These Hijackers and Bomb-Makers Doing There?
The White House says that Cuba has nothing to do with terrorism. But Havana is like a Star Wars cantina of Cold War radicals—including some of the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists.

Cuba was originally placed on the terrorism list in 1982, as punishment for its support of communist insurgencies in places ranging from Nicaragua to Angola. In recent years, it shared a place on that list with just Iran, Sudan, and Syria. (The Bush administration controversially removed North Korea in 2008.) There are some 70 American fugitives from justice living in Cuba today, though not all are terrorists. And while Cuban soldiers may no longer be fighting American-backed proxies in Southern Africa, Cuba remains something of a Star Wars cantina of violent Cold War-era radicals.

In addition to JoAnne Chesimard AKA Assata Shakur, William Morales and Charlie Hill,

It is not only American terrorists who find safe haven in Cuba. Over a dozen members of the State Department-listed Basque terrorist group ETA reside on the island, though the Cuban government has repatriated several members back to Spain. Last month, however, the Spanish government requested that the United States try to persuade Cuba to extradite two ETA leaders; it’s difficult to see how that will ever happen now that Washington has surrendered even more leverage to Havana by removing it from the State Department list. Cuba also shelters a number of insurgents associated with the FARC, a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization long at war with the Colombian government.

Which brings us to the second item,
Day After Obama Removes Cuba from Terror Sponsor List, Terror Group Sponsored by Cuba Kills 10
Cuba has been harboring FARC terrorists for years. This morning, FARC murdered 10 Colombian soldiers.

Reaping the fruit of “smart diplomacy,” early on.

————————————–

But wait! There’s more!

A 2014 report by the Washington-based Center for a Secure Free Society alleges that Cuban state security had assisted Venezuelan officials with passport technology information to help provide new identities to nearly 200 individuals from the Middle East.

All of this will look like small potatoes once Obama gives Guantanamo to Cuba.

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Filed Under: Barack Obama, Communism, Cuba, ETA, FARC, terrorism, terrorism. Latin America Tagged With: Charlie Hill, Fausta' blog, o JoAnne Chesimard AKA Assata Shakur, William Morales

May 20, 2010 By Fausta

Chavez’s support of the ETA & FARC

Juan Forero, reporting at the WaPo:
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez allegedly helped Colombian, Spanish militants forge ties

Now, based on documents and witness testimony, Chávez is facing fresh accusations that his government has gone well beyond assisting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Documents seized from two subversive groups, along with information provided by former Colombian guerrillas, suggest that Venezuela facilitated training sessions here between the FARC and ETA, a separatist group in Spain that uses assassinations and bombings in its effort to win independence for the northern Basque region.

The evidence led Judge Eloy Velasco of the National Court in Madrid to level charges of terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder in March against a Chávez government official, Arturo Cubillas, and a dozen members of the FARC and ETA. Spanish authorities want Venezuela to extradite those accused, but so far the Chávez government has not responded to Velasco’s international warrant.

The latest revelations, largely based on information collected by Spanish investigators in Colombia, Venezuela and France, prompted Arturo Valenzuela, the State Department’s assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, to declare in a congressional hearing in March that the Obama administration is “extremely concerned” by the allegations.

With Chávez hamstrung by harsh economic conditions, some in the U.S. Congress worry that the Venezuelan president could increasingly radicalize and forge closer links with subversive organizations or nations such as Iran, Sudan and Belarus.

He’s been doing that for a while, but I digress.

The evidence comes from the Raul Reyes laptops, but there are also witnesses:

Two former FARC guerrillas who disarmed and now live freely in Colombia said in interviews that they saw ETA operatives in FARC camps outside Machiques in 2008.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity because they fear retribution for having cooperated with Colombian authorities, the former rebels described how Venezuelan military officers accompanied ETA operatives to the camps. The training, the rebels said, included how to build rockets and car bombs.

Also on Venezuela, at The Economist,
Venezuela economy: War on “speculators”

I’ll be talking about this in today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern.

Prior post:
Chavez, ETA, & the FARC’s plot to kill Uribe: 15 Minutes on Latin America

20410
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Filed Under: Alvaro Uribe, Blog Talk Radio, Colombia, Communism, ETA, FARC, Hugo Chavez, Spain, terrorism, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog

March 16, 2010 By Fausta

A Spanish noose around Chavez’s neck?

Alvaro Vargas Llosa thinks so,
The Spanish Noose Around Chavez’s Neck

An investigation triggered by the contents of computer files captured during a raid on a guerrilla camp in Ecuador has now suggested a Venezuelan link between the ETA terrorist organization in Spain and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. A Spanish court’s decision to indict 13 Spaniards and Colombians as a result of that investigation should shame those who questioned the validity of the computer files at the time of the raid. Among those indicted is Arturo Cubillas Fontan, an ETA member employed by Venezuela’s Ministry of Agriculture and married to Goizeber Odriozola, the chief of staff of Hugo Chavez. Cubillas, believed to be the main contact between the FARC and ETA, is accused in the indictment of coordinating the training of ETA members in urban guerrilla warfare. The indictment also alleges that the FARC sought logistical help from ETA in Madrid in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

The Spanish investigation got under way thanks to evidence obtained by Colombia after the 2008 raid on the camp controlled by Raul Reyes, a key FARC commander. Colombian troops found 17,000 files and 37,000 documents in three satellite computers, two external hard disks and three memory sticks. Once Dipol, the Colombian secret service, studied the content, Interpol was brought in to authenticate the files and confirm that Colombia had not tampered with them. Colombia then discreetly shared relevant parts with the countries named in the files.

What was disclosed in the media was only part of a gold mine of information about the structure, the funding and the international connections of the Colombian terrorists.

How damning is the information?

And yet the evidence was overwhelming. Among other witnesses, Bertrand de la Grange, an authoritative investigative journalist, gained access to the files—which had survived the attack because they were held in metallic suitcases. His first reports were published in Mexico’s Letras Libres and then picked up around the world. They explained the “five rings” of the FARC’s structure, including “Ring 3,” which operated out of Venezuela with Chavez’s help, and “Ring 5,” which spread its tentacles to 15 countries, among them Spain. The author concluded that there was “a network of international complicity of unsuspected dimensions.”

I asked de la Grange how decisive the information in the computer files was for Spain’s National Court’s investigation. “It was the main evidence,” he told me. “Those files had already led to the arrest of Remedios Garcia for aiding FARC in Spain and helped dismantle several networks of support for FARC in Europe.”

What does Chavez have to say? Absolutely nothing. He won’t respond to this very serious case because he finds the subject very stupid.

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Filed Under: Communism, ETA, FARC, Hugo Chavez, Spain, terrorism Tagged With: Fausta's blog

March 8, 2010 By Fausta

The back on schedule Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerWelcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

LATIN AMERICA
Latin American summitry
In ever-closer union, divided we stand

Latin American literature
Writing after the “boom”: Saying farewell to Latin America’s literary giants

Why Bigger Quake Sows Less Damage
Scientists Say Recent Temblors Are Unrelated; Underwater Topography May Explain Where Tsunami Wreaked Havoc

Clinton seeks to mend Latin America ties on tour

Racial Classifications in Latin America


Aponte: A Loyalty Risk for Ambassador?

ARGENTINA
Remarks With Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
Hillary Rodham Clinton

Falklands Fallacy

Argentina warns BHP not to drill for Falklands oil
BHP, the Anglo-Australian mining giant, has been warned it will face sanctions in Argentina if it pushes ahead with oil exploration offshore Falklands.


‘We must educate the Argentines’
Born in Buenos Aires before moving to the Falklands, Maria Strange is furious at her homeland’s ‘silly’ obsession with the islands.

BRAZIL
The gun-toting boys from Brazil who rule Rio’s ‘Corner of Fear’

Paris Too Sexy for Brazilian Beer Drinkers

CHILE
Call Me Shallow But This Just Makes. My. Day.

8.8-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Chile

Chile earthquake: Easter Island evacuation as tsunami brings disaster to Pacific islands
A devastating earthquake in Chile has triggered a tsunami which is radiating across the Pacific and has already caused serious damage on the islands said to have inspired Robinson Crusoe.

Terremoto en Chile: Catastro online de caminos y viviendas

Earthquakes and Freedom: Chile vs. Haiti

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s Uribe to Retire, Opening Path for Santos

Colombia’s president
Third time, unlucky: The courts block Álvaro Uribe from seeking a third term as Colombia’s president

The man behind Colombia’s miracle

CUBA
Viva Zapata
A Cuban dissident is murdered while Latin leaders schmooze with Castro.

Dissident’s death will put Cuba on the spot

Cuba’s Doctor Abuse

Green Madness

Zapata Lives!

Death of Cuban Dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo

Death of dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo leads to clampdown in Cuba

ECUADOR
Judicial misconduct

EL SALVADOR
Foreign Aid and Salvadoran Corruption
The World Bank should audit former President Tony Saca.

HONDURAS
The good coup

MEXICO
No finish in sight for ‘virtual’ border fence

Cancun secrets

Via Babalu, Felipe Calderon’s meeting with Castro,

PUERTO RICO
EDITORIAL: Puerto Rican run
The deck is stacked for statehood

TURKS & CAICOS
Turks & Caicos former premier blasts British, calls for immediate elections

VENEZUELA
ETA, FARC, Chavez relation revealed in Spain

Spain to intensify investigations into ETA in Venezuela
Judge Eloy Velasco accused Arturo Cubillas Fontán of serving as a link between Basque separatist group ETA and the Colombian guerrilla

ETA,FARC ACCUSED OF COOPERATION WITH VENEZUELAN HELP

Venezuelan Government hires Cubans to build computer systems Venezuelans are much more capable at

The Falklands conflict: tin-pot tyrant Hugo Chavez roars like a mouse against the British lion


Venezuela: ‘it’s the new Zimbabwe’!

Chávez “salió del aire” brevemente durante rueda de prensa por fallo eléctrico

Political Discrimination in Venezuela

Why does violent crime keep worsening in Venezuela?

The week’s podcasts and posts:
El Salvador and foreign aid: 15 Minutes on Latin America
A-jad the truther, and his friends
Chavez, ETA, & the FARC’s plot to kill Uribe: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Laughing at Britain’s expense
Haiti, Chile, Iran, and democratic seismology
Botoxics
How Milton Friedman saved Chile
Cuba’s doctor abuse: 15 Minutes on Latin America
8.8 Earthquake Strikes Chile, and a personal request UPDATED WITH LIVE VIDEO
Chavez blackout fail
The Falklands, continued: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Wonders never cease: OAS report rebukes Venezuela on human rights
The Falklands Oil Dispute

At Real Clear World:
Argentina’s Angle

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Filed Under: Argentina, Brazil, Caribbean, Carnival of Latin America, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, ETA, FARC, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela Tagged With: Cristina Fernandez, Fausta's blog, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Turks & Caicos

March 4, 2010 By Fausta

Chavez, ETA, & the FARC’s plot to kill Uribe: 15 Minutes on Latin America

In today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern,

Venezuela plotted to kill Colombia president, Spain judge says
A Spanish judge on Monday charged that Venezuela plotted to kill Colombia President Álvaro Uribe, collaborating with rebel groups ETA and FARC to kill other political officials as well.

Venezuela Plotted to Kill Rival, Spain Says

Hugo Chávez ‘terrorist link’ sparks diplomatic row between Spain and Venezuela
A Spanish judge has accused the Venezuelan government of involvement with the Basque terrorist group Eta

Venezuela’s Chavez: Friend Of Terrorists

Chávez Dismisses Spanish Claim of Rebel Links

Chávez: «Es una ofensiva orquestada por España y EE.UU.», translated here, Hugo Chavez Calls Terrorism Indictment a U.S.-Spanish Plot

Venezuela Won’t Help With Spain ETA, FARC Probe

The story in headlines, yet, ignored by American mainstream media.

UPDATE
Welcome, Power Line and Hot Air readers.

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Filed Under: Alvaro Uribe, Blog Talk Radio, Colombia, Communism, ETA, FARC, Hugo Chavez, podcasts, Spain, terrorism, terrorism. Latin America, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog

March 8, 2008 By Fausta

A brief post on tomorrow’s Spanish general election

Two days before the general election, ETA murders a former councilman.

Spanish Pundit: ETA killed Isaias Carrasco, former councilman for the Socialists, by shooting him point-blank in front of his family. Spanish Pundit has lots of links at her post.

Iberian Notes explains,

Carrasco had just gotten into his car to go to work at 1:30 PM when the ETA gunman fired five shots at him through the windshield, hitting him in the chest with two and in the neck with one. His wife and daughter heard the gunfire and rushed outside as Carrasco got out of his car, stumbled halfway across the street, and fell, still conscious. The gunman, who was tall, wearing a fake beard, and dressed in black, ran to a silver Seat Cordoba in which a getaway driver was waiting, and they escaped. Carrasco died in the hospital less than an hour later.

Carrasco had lost his city council seat in the last municipal election, and had decided to give up his police bodyguard at the end of last year. Most politically active anti-ETA Basques, especially those who hold public office, need official bodyguards.

The mayor of Mondragón, known in Basque as Arrasate, belongs to the ETA-front party ANV; when she arrived at the hospital, Carrasco’s wife told her to get lost.

Gates of Vienna has a Letter from Spain: The E.T.A Steps in Spanish Elections:

Let us remember the first rule of Spanish politics: the result of Spanish national elections is determined by the vote of the “volatile left” a group of two million voters that vote for the PSOE, but only when they want to avoid a government by the right. If they vote, the PSOE will get a majority in Parliament and then the government, if they do not, the PP may manage to get the government. This attack will decide this people to vote; therefore it will benefit the PSOE. Moreover, it is also the interest of the ETA to keep the PSOE in government. El Pais (our NYT) has already called their readers to the voting stations in its headlines today.

Read the rest: their prognosis is not positive.

Iberian Notes states that the lastest survey shows the PSOE (Zapatero’s party) ahead of the PP 43.0% -39.0%.

I’ll post on the results tomorrow evening.

UPDATE
Spanish socialists claim victory . Gateway Pundit has roundup.

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Filed Under: ETA, Spain, terrorism

January 12, 2007 By Fausta

Video of the Barajas Airport explosion at Barcepundit

Astonishing images from a security camera at Barajas airport, from Barcepundit, who has more here, here, and here.
Go to his blog and scroll down for prior posts.

————————————-

Look who’s coming to visit
Iranian President to visit Caracas, Venezuela. He’s coming over for the weekend, and then will visit his other little buddies in Ecuador and Nicaragua.
————————————-

El Cafe Cubano encourages us to fast every friday for all political prisoners
Don’t miss El Cafe Cubano Blog Talk Radio.
————————————-

Today’s round-up
Jules Critteden has Top 10 Things You Can Do to Keep Guantanamo Open

Laurie Byrd encourages celebs to Replace pity with true support

The Surge Towards Passage Of Conyers’ “End Racial Profiling Act”

Gloves come off? Or limited war on a grander scale?

Pres. Bush led the ceremony honoring Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham

Not quite suitable for work: Ace and Dan are having a Tigger cat fight

Speaking of Dan, if you were wondering about Nancy’s “first 100 hours”, which already came and went, Dan has the scoop on how Dems count.

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Filed Under: Democrats, ETA, Iraq, politics, Spain, terrorism

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