Latest news with #dictator
The Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
The Open star who learned to play golf with a broom handle can't go back to his homeland over threats to his life
JHONATTAN VEGAS revealed 'it is not safe for me and my family' to go back to his homeland… because of the country's dictator. Vegas, 40, was born in Venezuela where he learnt to play golf with a broom handle. 1 But when his father Carlos signed a petition against former president Hugo Chavez, who incidentally hated golf, the Vegas family faced persecution. And with the help of two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, Jhonattan made his escape to the USA in 2002 when he turned 18. Now, with Nicolas Maduro running Venezuela since Chavez's death in 2013, the country has been deemed guilty of systematic attacks on objectors by Amnesty International, with some 'disappearing'. So as much as Vegas wants his kids, nine and six, to see where he grew up in Maturin, he realises it is not worth the risk of kidnapping - or worse. The world No55 told The Times ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush: 'I had to get on a bus and ride ten hours to get to Caracas for my appointment. 'I think I'm the only person in Venezuela to get a visa in 24 hours, and part of it was down to the connection between Ben Crenshaw and President George W Bush. 'It's not safe politically, and not safe for me and my family. 'The country is run by a dictator government and I just read a case of an actor getting his passport cancelled and not being able to leave the country. 'Even though it's my country and I love it more than anything in the world, it's just a risk I'm not willing to take. 'My immediate family is in the US with me. A couple of things happened where their life was threatened. 'We just made a decision that it was time to leave everything behind because being safe is more important than all the material stuff. 'I'm not an activist but I've always been very outspoken and clear that what's happening is not right for people.' Vegas now lives in Houston, Texas. But Donald Trump has cracked down on Venezuelans travelling to the US as part of his new travel restrictions and immigration policies. Vegas added: 'I just feel sad for all those people who came into the US with a dream to succeed in life, like I did, and have everything taken away in the blink of an eye just because the president decided to go after them for no reason. 'The US is a country that was built by immigrants. I was welcomed and I'm thankful. 'I know there has to be order but at the same time, create a path for people who want to make the US better. 'That's why I haven't agreed with what the president has done. 'Immigrants don't deserve that type of treatment anywhere in the world.'
Washington Post
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
With Trump as ally, El Salvador's President ramps up crackdown on dissent
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Days before his arrest outside his daughter's house in the outskirts of San Salvador, constitutional lawyer Enrique Anaya called Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele a 'dictator' and a 'despot' on live TV. This week, lawyer Jaime Quintanilla stood outside a detention facility in El Salvador's capital with a box of food and clothes for his client, unsure if Anaya would ever be released.
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
The mum of an ISIS 'Beatle'. Shamima Begum. Gerry Adams. 5 Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists. The Attorney General's defenders say he had no choice but to represent these enemies of Britain. But are they right?: DAN HODGES
A couple of weeks ago the liberal human rights lawyer Philippe Sands appeared at the Cambridge Festival to promote his book recalling the case of late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's 1998 UK arrest. Opening his talk, Sands revealed to his audience how he had been asked to represent Pinochet, a sadistic torturer, in the impending court case. 'I explained to my wife, with some excitement, and she says to me, 'Will you do it?'' he recalled. 'Then she says to me, 'You can do it if you want to do it. But if you do it, I will divorce you tomorrow.''
CTV News
31-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz calls Trump ‘a weak, cruel man' at rally
Watch Walz spoke to a crowd today in South Carolina, telling the audience that Trump 'punches down at people' and referred to him as 'a dictator.'
Bloomberg
29-05-2025
- General
- Bloomberg
Now with Colorful Blocks, Tirana's Pyramid Represents a Changing Albania
CityLab Design A monument to Albania's former dictator, remade as a tourist-friendly community center, points to the western design influences reshaping the capital city. The top of the Piramida, as residents of Tirana call it, is a great place to see the skyline of Albania's capital. The soaring, communist-era ode to longtime dictator Enver Hoxha, who ruled the country for more than 40 years after World War II, offers clear views across downtown. From there, you can see the boxy silhouettes of the modernist apartment blocks built under his rule. Today those apartment buildings are overshadowed by stylized high-rises — and the monument itself has a new sheen, too.
