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.

Minimum wage laws do harm in the short run and in the long run. People acquire lots of valuable human capital in their first jobs. The longer those first jobs are pushed out of reach, the longer it takes low-skill workers to develop crucial capacities that can put them on a promising career path.

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"

The U.S. military faces a readiness crisis - one confronting not just its people and end-strength cuts - but pushing equipment to the breaking point. Across all services, long-standing readiness problems are worsening and breakdowns are happening more frequently.

Doctors treating Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez for cancer told him weeks ago that he has only a 50 percent chance of living another 18 months. Members of Chávez's inner circle are scrambling now to ensure a succession of power to the leader's older brother, Adán.

Obama's fundraising strategy does not depend on a small number of big donors but on 1.7 million voters, who will follow him through the fall campaign.

Underestimated at home and in Washington, Hugo Chávez laid the foundations of a strategic relationship with Beijing soon after his election over a decade ago, intending to find an alternative market for Venezuelan oil so he could gradually end dependence on sales to the United States.