When an imperious bully like Fidel Castro starts to fear, his instinct is to try to sow fear among his enemies. Today, with his student and benefactor, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, dying of cancer, what the Cuban dictator fears most is that his bankrupt regime in Havana is about to lose billions in critical aid and oil.

Venezuela's impeached supreme court justice, Judge Eladio Aponte-Aponte describes a judicial system that is systematically corrupted by Chávista cronies and military leaders who have made billions of dollars trafficking in cocaine and laundering the proceeds of an international criminal syndicate.

The following is an English translation of El Nacional's interview with AEI fellow Roger Noriega, who told the Venezuelan newpaper that its government is deeply involved in the drug trade but he has "never heard of a witness who is in a better position to bear witness to the criminal activities of dozens of officials in the highest levels of that government."

Talks begin tomorrow between the P5 + 1 (the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany) and Iran. Today, the P5+1 group is having a prep meeting. Talks with Iran are destined to fail, not because I want them to, but because every piece is in place for failure:

Iran is actively engaged in Latin America, building a clandestine network that presents a danger to US security and interests.

If a narco-state or violent crackdown emerges in Venezuela, the White House will no longer be able to avert its attention from the mess or to ‘lead from behind.'

The Venezuelan opposition is waiting for a showdown in presidential elections set for Oct. 7, but a corrupt Chavista cadre has already seized the advantage and will seek to hold on to power by any means necessary.

A Spanish translation of Ambassador Noreiga's "Sinister forces at work in Venezeula power struggle"