by Susan Ferrechio
by Fred Lucas
{investigativeproject.org} ~ The Palestinian Authority (PA) transferred over $135 million to imprisoned terrorists in 2018, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reports... Based on open-source information and the PA's own budget, PMW broke down PA terror payments into various categories. More than $62 million was sent to terrorists while they were in jail, while almost $48 million was paid to released prisoners. Roughly $26 million was used to pay for other terrorist-related salaries and additional benefits. PA security personnel jailed for terrorism charges continue to receive higher salaries from a different budget than other prisoners, which underestimates the overall figure of payments transferred to jailed terrorists. Payments are a function of the severity of the attack and prison sentence. The more brutal the attack or murder, the more money a Palestinian prisoner receives. Prisoners with previous arrests receive more money as well. These figures do not include other forms of PA support to Palestinian terrorists, such as salaries to the families of "martyrs" of dead terrorists. Israel's Knesset passed legislation last July to impose structured sanctions targeting the PA for on its financial incentives program, which promotes violence against Israelis. The PMW report was sent to Israel's Ministry of Defense to help the government with their annual assessment of the PA's terror payments...Dry up the Foreign Aid program.
This action was a long time coming, as we have long noted the inevitable collapse of Venezuela after Hugo Chavez aggressively implemented a socialist takeover of what was at the time South America’s wealthiest country. And since Chavez’s death it has only gotten worse. As Daniel DePetris of the Washington Examiner observes, “Venezuela under Maduro’s leadership has fallen apart at the seams. Inflation surpassed 1 million percent at the end of last year (not a typo!), a figure that makes former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe look like an economic genius. Most of Venezuela’s population is in poverty, roaming the streets for dumpsters in the hope that food may be mixed in with the rubbish. The situation has gotten so bleak that 3 million Venezuelans have fled to Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador — better to start over in a new country than stay in Venezuela and starve to death. Medicine is in extremely short supply, the murder rate was the highest in the world in 2017, and many of the crimes that have been committed are the direct result of the Latin American country’s sorry excuse for an economy.”
President Donald Trump was quick to announce his support for Guaido, stating, “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 U.S. joins at least 13 other nations, most of which are in South America, in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Obviously, dictator Maduro sees things differently, and he responded to Trump’s announcement by cutting diplomatic ties with the U.S. and ordering our diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours. This sets up an interesting showdown, since the U.S. no longer recognizes Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president. Sen. Marco Rubio was quick to raise the issue, declaring, “U.S. diplomats in [Venezuela] should present their credentials to President [Guaido]. Maduro has no authority to expel anyone. And trust me on this one, if Maduro is stupid enough to test [Trump] by harming any U.S. diplomat, the consequences would be swift & severe.”
Trump’s action puts pressure on Maduro. However, Maduro still has the support of his military, as every dictator does. He installed loyalists to control the military while at the same time revoking citizens’ right to bear arms so that he has control of all the guns. How long will Guaido be able to stay out of Maduro’s prisons? Is Venezuela headed toward civil war? Time will soon tell, but for the sake of Venezuelans we hope for a peaceful transition of power. ~The Patriot Post
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60753?mailing_id=4033&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4033&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_conten
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