On November 30, 2024, Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas died in a Cuban prison, officially attributed to asphyxiation from hanging. However, Manuel’s body and his clothes bore signs of torture, including muddy footprints and urine-soaked pants. In the video that… Read More
A few days ago in Madrid, I had the opportunity to meet with two independent Cuban journalists. They were in the city to offer a firsthand account of the grim realities on the island. As our conversation began, one of… Read More
Every November, the free world recognizes Victims of Communism Day, remembering the dreadful consequences that followed the Bolshevik takeover of Russia on November 17, 1917. Communism’s grisly crimes are vast and well-documented, and there is no single country with more victims… Read More
Recently at a conference in Madrid, Elisa Trotta, former ambassador of the Venezuelan government in exile in Argentina, said something incredibly poignant: “In Venezuela, time is measured in victims.” It was an expression of pain, one that describes life under the… Read More
Venezuela’s authoritarian regime continues to escalate its human rights abuses, with one of the most disturbing trends being the detention and torture of women and children. As the regime clings to power, it systematically targets vulnerable populations, transforming them into… Read More
This month Cuba plunged into darkness—literally. But was this energy grid catastrophe truly a sudden blackout, or has the communist country been in the dark for much longer? Millions of Cubans have been without power for weeks as the worst… Read More
October 27 is International Religious Freedom Day, a testimony to the inestimable worth of our first freedoms. It is also a reminder of how many people around the world, especially under Marxist regimes, cannot freely live out their fundamental human… Read More
Supporters of global religious freedom were relieved to see that Congress overwhelmingly passed and President Joe Biden signed the reauthorization of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., commented that USCIRF “remains a vital tool in defending… Read More
VOC Academic Council member F. Flagg Taylor writes for The Dispatch on the the 50th anniversary of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s “The Gulag Archipelago” a monumental work of history, politics, and literature. Read Taylor’s piece below: Can there be a duty to… Read More
VOC Senior Fellow David Smolansky was quoted by the Washington Post Editorial Board on Maduro’s crimes in Venezuela. As the Editorial Board writes, “Nearly a year ago, the Biden administration saw an opening for democracy in Venezuela, easing some sanctions… Read More