The Global Liberty Alliance Podcast with Jason Poblete

Rocky is currently working with Folds of Honor, a non-profit that provides educational scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service members. The organization was founded by Major Dan Rooney in 2007, following his return from his second tour in Iraq as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. Please consider supporting this worthwhile cause. Follow this link!

• How Miami companies are secretly fueling the dramatic growth of Cuba’s private businesses, The Miami Herald (Jun. 23, 2023).
• The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law, Jason Poblete, Global Liberty Alliance and FIU (Nov. 2022).

Jason Poblete is joined by our friend in Central America, businesswoman, former vice presidential candidate, and fellow liberty warrior Betty Marroquin to discuss a wide range of issues, including Communist China meddling in the region, the upcoming Guatemala elections and the sanctioning of the Guatemala Attorney General by the Biden administration (GLA interviewed Guatemala Attorney Porras on a prior podcast that you can listen to by following this link).

In August 2020, we ⁠recorded a podcast⁠ with a Nicaragua priest about religious persecution in Nicaragua, especially toward Catholics and other Christians. Close to three years later, the situation is not surprisingly any better; it's worse. Biden administration officials recently announced the release of over 200 political prisoners in Nicaragua. A well-known Nicaraguan Catholic Bishop was also released, but he decided to stay in jail. Why?

This podcast explores and discusses these issues with Roberto Bendaña from Texas. A Nicaraguan American, Roberto is persona non grata in Nicaragua and is not allowed to visit his ancestral homeland because of his staunch defense of liberty and fundamental rights. Roberto, a businessman and political activist, seeks solutions to help both nations chart a new way forward without Sandinista rule.

Further Reading

• 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nicaragua
• Nicaragua in Political Limbo, America Can Help, Jason Poblete's substack (Apr. 2, 2022)
• "Inestabilidad democrática en Nicaragua no ayuda a nadie en el hemisferio," La Prensa newspaper (Dec. 21, 2017).

In a November 15, 2022, podcast with the Fakhoury Foundation, the Fakhoury family from New Hampshire shared how they set out over two years ago to find out what happened to Amer Fakhoury, who died as a result of injuries that he sustained while in the custody of Lebanon's corrupt security services or Lebanon's equivalent of our CIA and FBI wrapped up in one. Be sure to listen to that show! In this episode, two of Amer's daughters, Guila and Zoya, provide an update and discuss current events with GLA's Jason Poblete beyond the story and how events in Lebanon may be impacting their accountability efforts. 

Further Reading

• House Foreign Affairs Committee Charman Mike McCaul (R-Tex.) Demands Answers From USAID on Alarming Failure to Address $110K Grant to Terrorist-Linked Nonprofit (Jan. 27, 2023).
• Amid standoff in Beirut blast probe, US national released, The Washington Post (Jan. 26, 2023).
• Amid Historic Crisis, Has a New Hope Emerged in Lebanon?, US Institute for Peace (Jun. 23, 2022).

Go Deeper

• Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God (Amazon).
• Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah's War Against America (Amazon).

Montes was sentenced to 25 years for spying for the Cuban Intelligence Service while she worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency. On January 6, 2023, Montes was in the headlines again because she had been released and had reportedly returned to Puerto Rico to live with her sister.  Mr. Lapp has worked on many other national security cases. 

In October 2021, Pete founded PJ Lapp Consulting, LLC, where he now focuses his vast knowledge and experience in counterintelligence and insider risk (IR); He is a widely recognized expert and thought leader in the area of IR. You can learn more about his practice by visiting his website. 

Further Reading

• Pre-Order Pete's book, "Queen of Cuba: An FBI Agent's Insider Account of the Spy Who Evaded Detection for 17 Years" (Oct. 2023).
• "Just 10 days after the attacks of 9/11, the FBI arrested a 44-year-old woman named Ana Belen Montes," (FBI).
• Review of the Actions Taken to Deter, Detect and Investigate the Espionage Activities of Ana Belen Montes (U) Office of the Inspector General, Department of Defense (Jun. 16, 2005).

In this episode, Jason Poblete talks with Michela Wrong, an award-winning British journalist and author who has had a rich career that has taken her from the fashion runways of Paris and later as a foreign correspondent in Africa for Reuters, the BBC, and the Financial Times. She was awarded the 2010 James Cameron prize for journalism “that combined moral vision and professional integrity.”

As she details on her website, her fifth book, “Do Not Disturb,” published in 2021, is a damning portrait of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, from its days as a united band of rebel fighters to today’s era, in which killer squads are dispatched across the world to silence exiled former insiders. The book has prompted a vitriolic backlash on Rwanda’s government-controlled social media, and President Paul Kagame has denounced the author on national television as a foreign agent.

Jason and Michela talk about several aspects of international justice. They also discuss the case of eight Rwandan men tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; 4 were acquitted, while the other 4 served their sentences. They are now in legal limbo as they seek to be reunited with loved ones.  In addition, they also talk about unfinished accountability efforts related to the Rwandan genocide. 

Be sure to check out her latest book on the Rwanda genocide, link below, Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad." “A withering assault on the murderous Rwandan regime of Paul Kagame, and a melancholy love song to the lost dreams of the nations of Africa’s Great Lakes. Michela Wrong proves once again that she is an intrepid and highly professional researcher of the subject she knows best. It’s a major accomplishment, very driven, very impassioned.” ―JOHN LE CARRÉ, best-selling author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Further Reading

• "Where the international justice system fails; As war crimes investigators gather evidence in Ukraine, Michela Wrong looks at how the uncertain fate of eight Rwandan men reveals failures in the international justice system," Prospect (Dec. 8. 2022).
• "Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad," Michela Wrong (March 30, 2021).
• "I Didn't Do It for You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation," Michela Wrong (June 6, 2006). 

• Xi Van Fleet, Education Freedom Ambassador, profile International Women's Forum.

He was one of the first signatories of Charter 77 in defense of human rights and served as spokesman for the dissident human rights group.  Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members included a wide range of civil society leaders at the time, including Martin and the future President of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel. Their work and that of other civil society leaders supported by the U.S. laid a foundation for President Ronald Reagan's push to end the Cold War. 

Palouš went on to have a rewarding career in international law and foreign affairs, including being elected to the Czechoslovakian Federal Assembly and a member of its Foreign Affairs Committee. Later he served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the newly formed Czech Republic and was then asked by President Václav Havel to travel to Washington, D.C. as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to the United States from September 2002 to November 2005. Dr. Palouš was designated as Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, where he served in New York from 2006 through 2010.

On November 19, 2022, Palouš said in an op-ed that ran in the Miami Herald that he disagreed with the view held by many in the Cuban diaspora that there "cannot be any dialogue with the current Cuban government as long as it pursues policies of systematic violations of human rights and imprisons and persecutes the members of Cuban democratic opposition." He also said, "I’ve always defended human rights and the bravery of those who oppose the Cuban regime, and I’ve had the mettle to act on my convictions as a dissident." What keeps these two communities apart? And why should the American taxpayer care about this?

Further Reading

• Publications and other resources for Martin Palouš
• "The Road to Freedom Grounded in the Rule of Law," a paper published by the FIU School of International and Public Affairs, Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy, prepared in collaboration with the Global Liberty Alliance (2022).
• La Patria es de Todos - The Nation Belongs to All of Us (1997).
• Jason Poblete and Jamie Suchlicki, “When Should the U.S. Change Policy Toward Cuba,” Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami, Cuba Brief, August 13, 2007

At times, we are called to do the most extraordinary things at the most challenging moments in life. That is the story of one American family in New Hampshire, the Fakhoury family. In August 2020, the Fakhoury family said goodbye to their beloved, Amer, who died as a result of injuries that he sustained while in the custody of Lebanon's corrupt security services or Lebanon's equivalent of our CIA and FBI wrapped up in one.

During the course of the last two years, the family has set out to find out what happened to Amer, and start their justice journey to ensure that this never happens again to Americans or US nationals who travel abroad to Lebanon or to other nations. The Fakhoury family started a foundation, filed a lawsuit in the District Court of the District of Columbia, and has engaged in other advocacy efforts including with Congress.

Last week the Global Liberty Alliance co-signed an open letter with the Fakhoury Foundation urging U.S. officials to fully enforce the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act in the matter of Amer Fakhoury. 

Further Reading

• The Fakhoury Foundation
• Link to the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act 
• GLA statement; GLA co-signed a letter with the Fakhoury Foundation (Nov. 10, 2022)
• US Treasury, Guidance on Hostages and Wrongfully Detained U.S. Nationals Sanctions 

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If you want to help defend the fundamental rights of Americans, free enterprise, and the rule of law, consider donating to the Global Liberty Alliance. GLA is also accepting Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Follow this link to learn more! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. 

• US foreign assistance to Paraguay (link)
• Paraguay country information (State Department)
• Red Ciudadana por la Niñez y la Adolescencia (foundation link)
• "El pacto de Princeton, una alianza para la miseria y el sometimiento," Valeria Insfran, El Instituto de Investigación Social Solidaridad
• GLA Podcast with Guatemala Attorney General
• GLA Podcast with the President of Guatemala  
• Designation of Former Paraguayan President Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara for Involvement in Significant Corruption, State Department (Jul. 22, 2022)

Schönenbach is the chairwoman of two non-profit associations: Veto! For the rule of law e. V. www.veto-rechtsstaat.de and Women for Freedom e. V.  www.frauenfuerfreiheit.de and is a columnist for the German Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag. Read her bio on LinkedIn.

In addition to the recent uprising in Iran, Jason and Rebecca discuss how the Iranian regime's long-term game plan of religious extremism impacts in the greater Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.  With the support of autocratic states such as China and Russia, Iran seeks to destabilize democracies including the United States and Europe in order to create a new global order.

Last week Gazelle told The Jerusalem Post and other international news outlets that the Iranian regime's lawyer said a "death sentence is certain" in her dad's case. The upcoming session before the regime's kangaroo court system, the Revolutionary Court, makes it the sixth hearing of Jimmy's "sham trial." The death sentence will be announced soon and could be carried out immediately. There is no rule of law in Iran. Iran tried to assassinate Jimmy in California in 2009 in a plot that the FBI foiled. 

The Biden administration recently announced an international emergency concerning Iran and hostage-taking; however, no other information was released about the status of efforts to bring US nationals home from Iran. The Biden administration is also seeking to reverse the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Iran deal, a deal that condoned hostage-taking. The GLA and other NGOs, including hostage advocacy groups and former hostages, have recommended that all US nationals be freed before sitting down for any talks with Iran. 

Unfortunately US, German, and other stakeholders continue to negotiate with the state sponsors of terrorism in Iran, and there has been no progress on hostages. GLA believes the Iranian regime targeted Mr. Sharmahd in retribution for US policy against Iran. Under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, the US must help secure the release of Jimmy and other US nationals held hostage in Iran.

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If you want to do more to support efforts to defend the fundamental rights of Americans, free enterprise, and the rule of law, consider donating to the Global Liberty Alliance. GLA is also accepting Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Follow this link to learn more. 

Further Reading

• August 2021 Podcast with Gazelle Sharmahd
• "California man faces execution in Iran for being a journalist," Fox News (July 19, 2022).
• For more details on Jimmy's case, visit the Global Liberty Alliance Jimmy Sharmahd page.
• 'Death sentence certain,' for German-Iranian journalist," Jerusalem Post (July 23, 2022).
• "Iran regime hostage survivor urges ‘do not travel’ to Iran," Jerusalem Post (July 11, 2022).

In March, we spoke with Ms. Katherine Swidan, mother of Mr. Mark Swidan, an American unlawfully imprisoned in Communist China for nearly ten years. A lot has happened in Mark's matter since Global Liberty Alliance President Jason Poblete spoke with Ms. Swidan. Katherine lives in Luling, Texas, a town of about 6,000 people along the San Marcos River. Katherine talks about the latest in her son's case and how recent policy updates may or may not impact efforts to bring Mark home. Jason also talks about recent developments related to the Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act of 2020 and the Executive Order released this week.

Further Reading

• GLA Letter to the City of Riverside, California, to sever its Sister City relationships with China (April 28, 2002)
• Text of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act of 2020 
• March Podcast with Katherine Swidan (Mar. 29, 2022)

• Learn more about the International Christian Concern at persecution.org.
• U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Hearing, Refugees Fleeing Religious Persecution (Feb. 10, 2021).
• Office of International Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State.
• USCIRF Factsheet on the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

In March, in another exclusive GLA podcast, Jason spoke with Guatemala Attorney General Porras about alleged corruption allegations against her by the US government that led to her being sanctioned. If someone was trying to destroy her re-appointment chances, the joke is on them. She was re-appointed by the President. President Giammattei has a clear vision of where he wants to take his nation and, perhaps, become a thoughtful and focused voice for the region. The US and Guatemala need to work closely, not at odds, and it appears certain Biden administration officials are allowing ideological disagreements to get in the way of good policy for America and the Americas.

On this podcast, GLA President and Counsel Jason Poblete continue to unmask the many issues stewing in this important Central American nation. President Giammattei stressed the importance of working with American partners, building markets, defending property rights, and the right to life, combating transnational crime, pushing back on China meddling in the Americas, and even reforming the inter-American system (he's making news on this last point, be sure to listen!). 

Further Reading

• US Relations With Guatemala, Bilateral Relations Fact Sheet, US Department of State
• President Alejandro Giammattei, Presidency of Guatemala website (foreign government website).

Without probable cause, the Chinese police stormed Mark's hotel room in Dongguan Municipality, Guangdong Province. The police claimed that they had found drugs on his driver and translator.  All were taken into custody.  No drugs were found on Mr. Swidan or in his room, but the driver and translator blamed Mark.  The Chinese police also took him into custody on suspicion of trafficking and manufacturing methamphetamine.  You can learn more about the case at the California-based Dui Hua foundation website. 

Sentenced to death by the Chinese kangaroo court system, on February 5, 2020, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has concluded that Mr. Swidan has been arbitrarily detained by the Chinese authorities in violation of international law. WGAD has urged his immediate release with compensation and other reparations.  Inexplicably, the U.S. government has failed to raise the profile of this case with Chinese officials. There was a unique opportunity to do so before the Beijing Olympics, yet nothing happened.  Mark is not the only American unlawfully detained in the Chinese gulag prison system. 

Further Reading

• Mark Swidan's Go Fund Me page
• Texas businessman in slave labor in China's 'black box' jail system for past nine years, The Washington Examiner (Feb. 17, 2022).

Please consider donating and supporting matters such as these. The Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are fully deductible as charitable contributions for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Your monetary gift is an investment in the cause of liberty. With your investment, you can help support GLA’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness about the importance of fundamental individual rights, free markets, and the rule of law. You can also support human rights advocates defend victims and advance the cause of justice.  LEARN MORE.

Last week in an exclusive interview with Guatemala Attorney General María Consuelo Porras, Jason Poblete and the Attorney General discussed why she thought the United States had imposed sanctions earlier this on her and other Guatemalans.  You can listen to that podcast by following this link.  The first podcast was recorded in Spanish with Attorney General Porras, so we decided to record another podcast with colleagues in Guatemala who are on the frontlines of freedom battles.  On this podcast, we dig deeper and speak with two leading conservative thought leaders in Guatemala, Dr. José Luis González Dubón, a constitutional lawyer and practitioner, and former Vice Presidential candidate and business, Ms. Betty Marroquin.  Editor at Large Steve Hecht is a businessman, writer, and film producer, born and raised in New York.

Further Reading

• "Derecho, justicia y libertad," a talk by Dr. José Luis González Dubón at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín (Jan. 26, 2010). 
• Impunity Observer
• (discussed in the podcast) "International Anti-Impunity Missions in Guatemala and Honduras: What Lessons for El Salvador?," Open Society Foundation-sponsored paper (June 2019).
• (discussed in the podcast) UN Agenda 2030. 

On January 27, 2020,  US Attorney General William P. Barr met with Guatemala Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras Argueta.  That meeting was a follow-up dialogue to the May 2019 Third Ministerial of the Northern Triangle Attorneys General in El Salvador.  Dr. Porras has been a long-time rule of law defender who has worked closely with various US agencies including the DEA, the Justice Department, and the State Department. How is it that one year and seven months later, Secretary of State Tony Blinken imposes sanctions on Attorney General Porras for allegedly "obstructed investigations into acts of corruption by interfering with criminal investigations"? It makes no sense.  We start to unpack this legal issue and a follow-up show is coming in English, next week, to further assess the potentially unlawful use of U.S. economic sanctions.

Further Reading

• Readout of U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr’s Meeting with Guatemala Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras Argueta, US Department of Justice (Jan. 27, 2020).
• Guatemalan Attorney General Visits Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Department of Justice (Feb. 11, 2020).
• The United States Announces Actions Against Seven Central American Officials for Undermining Democracy and Obstructing Investigations into Acts of Corruption (Sep. 20, 2021).
• Blinken Blindsides an Ally in Guatemala, The Wall Street Journal (Sep. 26, 2021).

In this episode, Jason speaks with the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) president and gun rights advocate Phillip Van Cleave.  A former law enforcement officer from Texas, Phillip has been defending gun owner rights in Virginia since the 1990s. The Virginia Citizens Defense League is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental human right of all Virginians to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I Section 13 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Further Reading

• Video of the Virginia House of Delegates Member (1/17/2022).
• Virginia self-defense cases. 
• Open Carry is legal in Virginia in most places with or without a Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP). Concealed Carry requires, with a few exceptions, a CHP. However, some restrictions may apply. Virginia carry information. 
• A primer on gun safety (via HandGunLaws.us).

As we wind down 2021, Jason talks with Venezuelan Human Rights Activist Alessa Polga. Alessa is Venezuelan by birth but currently camped out in Ontario, Canada, making Venezuela's liberty her mission. Venezuela is one of the world's leading oil producers; however, Alessa told the Toronto Star in 2017, "our natural disaster is our government." In addition to discussing the plight of the Venezuelan people, Jason and Alessa take a stab at unpacking the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, human rights, and why what the United States calls the opposition is just opposition in name only.

• “Guatemalan Attorney General: US State Department Impedes Rule of Law,” Impunity Observer’s exclusive interview with Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras (Oct. 26, 2021).
• Consuelo Porras dice que sanciones que recibió no son del Gobierno de EE. UU. sino del Departamento de Estado, y esto le responde Washington, Presna Libre (Oct. 28, 2021).
• "How the U.S. Finances Revolution," Wall Street Journal (Oct. 31, 2021)
• Guatemala’s Justice System Is at a Breaking Point, Americas Quarterly (Apr. 20, 2021).
• “Western Hemisphere, Beyond “Drugs and Thugs,” GLA Podcast with Dr. J Michael Waller (Jun. 15, 2021).
• Why Not to Work with Corrupt People to Fight Corruption in Guatemala, with former Vice Presidential candidate and businesswoman Betty Marroquín (Mar. 23, 2021).

Dimis reminds us that elected officials work for the people, not the other way around. Unfortunately, the Loudon County Virginia school board has yet to learn that less but with elections right around the corner, they soon will. Please support Dimis and their efforts; be sure to visit his website, www.realimmigrantcorner.com where two Iranian immigrants to the U.S. share their life experiences and success. 

Further Reading

• Loudoun County Superintendent Not Planning to Resign After More Details Emerge in Alleged Rape Coverup, The Virginia Star (Oct. 22, 2021).
• Loudoun County Dad Smeared As ‘Domestic Terrorist’ Says School Covered Up Daughter’s Rape By Boy In Girls’ Bathroom, The Federalist (Oct. 13, 2021).
• Virginia Urges Slavery Lessons for Kindergarteners, Washington Free Beacon (Jul. 19, 2020).

• Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation
• Rights Groups Condemn Rwandan Court Conviction of Paul Rusesabagina, Voice of America (Sep. 22, 2021).

• Amer Fakhoury Foundation
• Senator Jeanne Shaheen's (D-New Hampshire) press release announcing the release of Amer Fakhoury from captivity in Lebanon (March 19, 2020).
• Amer Fakhoury Foundation's "September 12 - A Day of Remembrance," via YouTube. (September 11, 2021).

On this podcast lawyer and GLA President Jason Poblete speaks with Dr. Gregory H. Stanton is the founding president and chairman of Genocide Watch.From 2010 to 2019, he was a research professor in genocide studies and prevention at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia, USA. From 2003 to 2009, he was the James Farmer Professor in Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dr. Stanton founded Genocide Watch in 1999. He was the founder (1981) and director of the Cambodian Genocide Project and is currently the founder (1999) and chair of the Alliance Against Genocide, the world’s first anti-genocide coalition. 

From 2007-2009, he was the president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Genocide Watch exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder. In addition, genocide Watch seeks to raise awareness and influence public policy concerning potential and actual genocide. Genocide Watch uses predictive models such as Dr. Gregory Stanton’s “The Ten Stages of Genocide” to analyze high-risk situations for education, policy analysis, and advocacy.

Further Reading

• Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (United Nations).
• The Ten Stages of Genocide
• Customary International Humanitarian Database (Int'l Committee of the Red Cross).

The first publicly verifiable Bitcoin transaction involving someone from civil society in Cuba was registered more than five years ago. The person who helped make this possible is a Cuban-American Bitcoiner and liberty maximalist, Fernando Villar. Fernando is the founder of BitcoinCuba. BitcoinCuba's mission is to educate Cuban civil society on using Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. This is the first of what we hope will be several podcasts on Bitcoin and its potential to help unleash the forces of liberty in some of the politically darkest corners of our planet including 90 miles away in socialist Cuba. 

PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING GLA PROGRAMS IN PLACES SUCH AS CUBA WITH CRYPTO DONATIONS via The Giving Block: https://thegivingblock.com/donate/global-liberty-alliance/ 

Further Reading

• Start Here -->  Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. 
• Government of Cuba Says It Will Recognize, Regulate Cryptocurrencies, Decrypt (Aug. 27, 2021).
• The U.S. settles with BitPay for apparent sanctions breaches, Reuters (Feb. 19, 2021).
• BitcoinCuba Introduces Bitcoin to Cuba, NewsBTC (July 2015).
• Cuba's Historic Ascendance to the Bitcoin World, XB Teller (July 15, 2015).
• US Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control - Guidance on Cuba

In February, we spoke with Ms. Gazelle Sharmahd, the daughter of Mr. Jamshid Sharmahd. As his friends and family call him, Jimmy is a U.S. Legal Permanent resident based with his family in California. A year ago this month, Jimmy was on his way back home to the United States from a business trip when he was kidnapped in the United Arab Emirates and taken hostage by the Iranian regime. A registered nurse working on the COVID pandemic's frontlines, Gazelle is one of her father's strongest advocates for his release. Gazelle updates listeners about her dad's situation on this show and urges stakeholders to help secure Jimmy's release from Iranian captivity. We also speak with his son, Shayan Sharmahdsaid, who works daily to bring his dad home. 

Further Reading

• "German Appeasement Of Khamenei Endangers Iranians And The World," Iran International (Aug. 11, 2021).
• ‘Don’t be kept silent, we have to speak up’: Son of kidnapped dissident calls for Iran to free his father, UK Independent (Jul. 16, 2021).
• "America needs a 21st-century hostage policy - opinion," The Jerusalem Post (Jul. 11, 2021).
• "HRW demands Iran release California resident from prison," The Jerusalem Post (Jul. 4, 2021).

Professor Mahallati is a Professor of Religion at the Department of Religion, Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in the Middle East and North African Studies of Oberlin College. In an Open Letter To Amnesty International on Oberlin College’s Appointment of Mahallati families urged Amnesty and other NGOs to "hold Mahallati accountable for his grave misdeeds on behalf of the Iranian regime.  Anything less shows an inexplicable indifference to the mass murders and lies detailed in Amnesty’s report" that included Mahallati for his role in covering up the 1988 Massacres while he served at the United Nations.

Further Reading

• Oberlin College: Take action against Professor Mahallati, Jewish News Syndicate, (June 15, 2021).
• After [Jerusalem] 'Post' article, college reviews antisemitism of ex-Iran envoy prof, The Jerusalem Post (May 6, 2021).

In this episode, Jason Poblete talks with Dr. Danielle Gilbert, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Military & Strategic Studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Dr. Gilbert received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the George Washington University in Washington, DC, where she also served as a Ph.D. candidate-in-residence with the Institute of Security and Conflict Studies. 

Her research on the causes and consequences of violence has been supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the United States Institute of Peace, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Cosmos Club Foundation, the Bridging the Gap Project, the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, the Les Aspin ’60 Summer Fellowship, and the Georg W. Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy at Yale. Before beginning her doctoral work, she served four years on Capitol Hill, including as a Senior Legislative Assistant and Appropriations Associate, and worked as a policy advisor on presidential and congressional campaigns.

Jason and Dani talk about a wide range of issues in her field and hone on in recent developments in U.S. hostage policy. 

Dr. J Michael Waller is Senior Analyst for Strategy at the Center for Security Policy. His areas of concentration include propaganda, political warfare, psychological warfare, and subversion. He is the former Walter and Leonore Annenberg Professor of International Communication at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school in Washington, DC. A former instructor with the Naval Postgraduate School, he is an instructor/lecturer at the John F Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg.

Dr. Waller holds a Ph.D. in international security affairs from the University Professors Program at Boston University. He received his military training as an insurgent with the Nicaraguan contras. He was a co-founder of the Blue Team on China in the 1990s. For 13 years he was the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Professor of International Communication at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC, where he designed and taught the world’s only graduate program on public diplomacy and political warfare and was part of the team that developed the first civilian Master’s degree program in Washington DC for US Army officers in lieu of attending the US Army War College.

He is President of Georgetown Research, a political risk and private intelligence company in Washington, DC. He is a frequent guest instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg. His doctoral dissertation, written in 1993 and published as Secret Empire: The KGB In Russia Today (Westview, 1994), foresaw the rise of a KGB officer to seize political control of Russia. He is author or editor of books relating to intelligence, political warfare, public diplomacy, terrorism, and subversion. See his page on Academia.edu.

He has written for the Daily Beast, Daily Caller, The Federalist, Forbes, Insight, Investor’s Business Daily, Kyiv Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Real Clear Politics, USA Today, the Washington Examiner, the Washington Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

In February U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), joined by 25 of their Senate colleagues from both political parties, strongly urged President Joe Biden to reverse the Trump administration's decision to officially recognize the Kingdom of Morocco’s illegitimate claims of sovereignty over Western Sahara. In the letter that was released to the public, the Senators asked the Biden administration to recommit America to its longstanding policy of a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara. 

To discuss this recent development in the Western Sahara matter, Jason will speak with Bill Flecther Jr., a human rights activist and supporter of self-determination for the Sahrawi. This is our second podcast on Western Sahara; the first was with Katlyn Thomas, an attorney, and international law expert who served on the MINURSO mission in the Sahara. In addition to discussing the most recent developments, Jason (on the right) and Bill (on the left) discuss how politically and ideologically diverse coalitions come together every now and then to advance common goals in complex matters. 

Fletcher is a long-time human rights activist dating to his teen years. Upon graduating from college he went to work as a welder in a shipyard, thereby entering the labor movement. Over the years he has been active in workplace and community struggles as well as electoral campaigns. He has worked for several labor unions in addition to serving as a senior staff person in the national AFL-CIO. A former president of TransAfrica Forum; a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies; and in the leadership of several other projects. Fletcher is the co-author (with Peter Agard) of “The Indispensable Ally: Black Workers and the Formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1934-1941”; the co-author (with Dr. Fernando Gapasin) of “Solidarity Divided: The crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice“; and the author of “‘They’re Bankrupting Us’ – And Twenty other myths about unions.” Fletcher is a syndicated columnist and a regular media commentator on television, radio, and the Web.

Further Reading

• Senator Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Senate Leahy (D-Vermont) joined by 25 of their Senate colleagues from both political parties, urge President Biden to reverse course on Western Sahara (letter).
• How the Western Sahara Became the Key to North Africa; And why Morocco’s apparent victory there will change regional politics, Foreign Policy (Dec. 18, 2020).
• Why the Fight Over Western Sahara is Heating Up Again, Bloomberg (Mar. 17, 2021).
• Trump’s recognition of Western Sahara is a serious blow to diplomacy and international law, former Secretary of State James Baker (Dec. 17, 2020).
• Morocco escalates row with Spain over Western Sahara, Reuters (May 27, 2021).

• ISIS Militants Charged With Deaths Of Americans In Syria, including Jim Foley, US Dept. of Justice (Oct. 7, 2020).
• The James W Foley Foundation
• Jamshid Sharmahd, A Dissident Held Hostage in Iran (Global Liberty Alliance).
• Alina Lopez, An American Unlawfully Imprisoned in Cuba (Global Liberty Alliance).

The persecution of Christians worldwide is at an all-time high. In this podcast episode, Jason Poblete addresses the crisis with Faith McDonnell, who has been on the frontlines of religious freedom advocacy since the 1970s. Faith is currently the Director of Advocacy at Katartismos Global, a 501(c)(3) organization that equips the Church for mission and ministry. From 1993 until 2021, Faith served as the Director of Religious Liberty Programs and of the Church Alliance for a New Sudan at the Institute on Religion and Democracy. 

Faith writes and speaks on the subject of the persecuted Church and has organized rallies and vigils for Sudan in front of the White House, the State Department, the Canadian Embassy, and the Sudanese Embassy. She has drafted legislation on religious persecution for the Episcopal Church and for the United States Congress. In June 2007, her book, Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’.s Children, was published by Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Further Reading

• Annual Report, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
• Religious Liberty Is Under Assault, Even in the United States—Interview with Faith McDonnell, The Epoch Times (Dec. 31, 2020)
• International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA)
• Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016

Wolf represented Virginia's 10th Congressional District from 1981 until 2015. Wolf entered politics in 1968, at the age of 29, when he became a legislative assistant to Edward Biester, the Republican congressman from Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district. From 1971 to 1975, Wolf served as an assistant to Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton. Wolf has traveled extensively to places around the world where people are suffering, including five times to Sudan since 1989. He has advocated for relief from the Darfur genocide and other cases of genocide. He has also convened conferences in his district to address human rights issues around the world. Wolf has vocally criticized the human rights record of China and has championed human rights for religious minorities and other believers the world over. You can read more about Wolf's remarkable career here.

Further Reading

• Prisoner of Conscience: One Man's Crusade for Global Human and Religious Rights, Frank Wolf (Amazon).
• "Fired for Liking a Tweet on Tibet, US Worker Feels China’s Reach," Voice of America (Mar. 31, 2018).
• "Stop the Christian Genocide in Nigeria," Frank Wolf and Toufic Baaklini, National Catholic Register (Feb. 26, 2020).
• Christian Persecution at All-Time High, Say Experts at Alexandria Conference," Arlington Catholic Herald (Sept. 16, 2020).

In this podcast, Jason speaks with Ms. Hollie McKay, journalist, foreign policy expert, and war crimes investigator. Formerly with Fox News, Hollie is currently a national bureau correspondent covering national and international news from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, and Myanmar. Her most recent book, Only Cry for the Living: Memos From Inside the ISIS Battlefield is a chilling yet sobering and inspiring collection of stories that exposes the evil of ISIS and why it sought to wage terror on civilians in a desperate attempt to create an antiquated caliphate. As Jason and Hollie discuss in the podcast, to stare down evil is a reminder of how difficult life can be, but also a lot of good can come from this process, as Hollie captures in her writings.

Further Reading

• Only Cry for the Living: Memos From Inside the ISIS Battlefield, Hollie McKay (Amazon)
• Articles by Hollie McKay

• Guatemalan Law
• Judicial Crisis: Guatemalan Constitutional Crisis Part 2, a podcast with Betty Marroquin
• Guatemala at Crossroad with Appointments to Constitutional Court, Impunity Observer (Mar. 22, 2021).
• The Odebrecht Scandal

In this episode, GLA President Jason Poblete speaks with Dr. Radosveta Vassileva, an international lawyer speaking out against corruption in Bulgaria, and other human rights activists working to strengthen the rule of law. Radosveta has raised awareness of the rampant corruption and inadmissible human rights violations in Bulgaria. She describes her opinion that the EU Commission has abdicated its obligations and must do more to advance the rule of law. Radosveta's family has been subjected to unprecedented abuse by Bulgaria’s government. 

Last week, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in a joint bipartisan statement that if requested, the United States will "[a]ssist Bulgaria in tackling corruption, restoring an independent media, and promoting the rule of law. The steps Bulgaria takes to address these issues will only serve to strengthen our relationship further." Jason and Radosveta discuss how U.S. economic sanctions, such as the Global Magnistsky law, can help support reform efforts in Bulgaria and other countries where the rule of law is under assault. Radosveta has been working on applying Global Magnistsky sanctions against corrupt Bulgarian officials. 

Further Reading 

• State Department fact sheet on Bulgaria.  
• Bulgaria, An Overview, Congressional Research Service (Jan. 13, 2021). 
• EU parliament chastises Bulgaria for rule of law deficiencies, Reuters (Oct. 8, 2020). 
• Bulgaria Expels Two Russian Diplomats Accused of Spying, The Epoch Times (Sept. 23, 2020). 
• Trump Meets With Bulgarian Prime Minister to Expand Strategic Partnership in Defense, Energy, and Trade, The Epoch Times (Nov. 26, 2019).

• U.S. Funding to the United Nations System: Overview and Selected Policy Issues, Congressional Research Service (Mar. 10, 2020). 
• Leaked Emails Confirm UN Gave Names of Dissidents to CCP, Epoch Times (Feb. 25, 2021).
• Members of Congress Demand Accountability at the United Nations (whistleblower, UN, WIPO), Congressional Record (Feb. 29, 2016).
• The United Nations: Urgent Problems that Need Congressional Action, 112th Cong., hearing transcript (Jan. 25, 2011).

Jamshid's recent abduction was not the first time the Iranians have intimidated or harassed this family. In 2011, as CNN reported, Iran attempted to assassinate him on U.S. soil, a plot foiled by the FBI. Despite the challenges, Gazelle shares with Jason how their family has persevered and remains singularly focused on liberating Jamshid from Iranian captivity. 

Iran has been using hostage-taking and kidnapping as a tool of state since the 1980s. There are currently several Americans held hostage in Iranian prisons, as well as many other foreigners such as Jamshid. What is particularly disturbing about this case is that several foreign governments may have been involved, facilitated, or allowed Iranian agents to kidnap a dissident. Jamshid had not traveled to Iran, he was on his way back to the United States after a business trip and had traveled through Germany and the UAE en route to California. 

Further reading

• Free Jamshid Sharmahd & GoFundMe campaign
• Free our kidnapped father, Jamshid Sharmahd, from the Islamic Regime of Iran (Change.Org Petition).
• Why Is Iran Kidnapping and Executing Dissidents? (New York Times, Jan 12, 2021).
• How to Stop Iran From Terrorizing Dissidents Abroad (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 30. 2020)

- Dr. Andy S. Gomez Bio 

- Social Challenges Facing Cuba, book by Dr. Andy Gomez (2014)

Last year Laura and her team in Miami took on a very difficult case involving a Cuban dissident who was expelled from Cuba for his political beliefs. The Global Liberty Alliance supported the effort on behalf of Ramón Arboláez.  You can read more about this case here: Cuban dissident, denied entry to the U.S., waits in a Mexican border town as cancer spreads.

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Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Indiana law requiring healthcare providers to properly dispose of fetal remains and not treat unborn children as medical waste. "This Court has already acknowledged that a State has a "legitimate interest in proper disposal of fetal remains." Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc., 139 S. Ct. 1780, 1782 (2019).

In addition to Indiana, other states with fetal disposition laws include Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Georgia has had a law on the books for several years that regulates the disposal of fetal tissue. Last year, state legislators in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin introduced legislation to amend state laws on fetal remains.  Similar efforts are under review in Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, and right here in Virginia. 

In 2016, HB 970 was introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates that, had it been enacted, would have required hospitals and health care providers who provide abortion services to dispose of fetal remains by burial or cremation. In a future episode, we will further explore some of these laws and why the laws in a majority of U.S. states treat stillborn or miscarried babies as medical waste. We will also speak with other fundamental rights advocates to change that so that parents know their rights and the rights and dignity of our youngest clients are defended.

Further Reading

• A Mom's Peace 

• Defense Forum Foundation, Free Western Sahara
• Floor speech by Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.)
• Stealing the Sahara, Sam T. K. Neel (Amazon) 
• The Legal Issues Involved In The Western Sahara Dispute, The Principle of Self-Determination and the Legal Claims of Morocco; New York City Bar (link opens a PDF file, June 2012)
• UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)

Licensed to practice law in several U.S. states and Spain, María is an international business law expert who also is committed to defending and strengthening individual fundamental rights, free markets, and the rule of law. María is currently with the Kivaki Law Firm in South Florida, where she advises foreign investors and entrepreneurs.  

María also teaches courses on comparative business law in Spain and Mexico and has written several articles on Financial Consumer Protection and Banking Law in Spain, Portugal, and Brazil. She has worked at the United Nations and is trained to represent matters before the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium.

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Neuer is from Montreal, Canada. He holds a BA in intellectual history and political science from Concordia University, a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Laws from the McGill University Faculty of Law, which he graduated in 1997, and a Master of Laws in comparative constitutional law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Neuer served as a law clerk to the Supreme Court of Israel and a Graduate Fellow at the Shalem Center think tank.

In 2007, Hillel Neuer’s banned U.N. speech became the most viewed and written-about NGO speech in the history of the United Nations. News reports described it as a “stunning rebuke of the U.N. Human Rights Council” and “a diplomatic moment to remember.” Why was Hillel called the 'most hated man at the United Nations'? Be sure to listen! 

Further Reading

• UN Watch, Bio

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• Robert Amsterdam's personal website 
• Amsterdam & Partners, LLP

Ask GLA a Question

• Want to ask GLA a question about this or another episode? Record it! Use the following Anchor Podcast link.