Ana Quintana, a young Cuban woman at The Heritage Foundation

(My new Babalu post)  

Ana Quintana's parents came from Cuba.  She was born in Miami and now a Research Associate, Latin America, at The Heritage Foundation:

 "Quintana holds a master of arts degree in global security studies and a bachelor’s degree in political science, both from Florida International University. She also received certificates in national security, Latin American and Caribbean studies. She was a scholar in the university’s Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship Studies.   

Fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese, Quintana studied in Minas Gerais, Brazil, on a scholarship sponsored by the Department of Defense.   

Before joining Heritage in 2013, she was a student trainee at Defense. She also held internships at Virginia-based International Relief and Development, where she worked on rule of law issues in Latin America, and at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where she worked on civilian-military cooperation."   

A few days ago, Ana wrote a very good article about the killing of Monica Spears, the beauty queen:   

"Venezuela is one of the most violent countries in South America. Since the commencement of Hugo Chavez’s 21st-century socialist movement in Venezuela, violence and crime have skyrocketed. The country now registers an average of 79 murders per 100,000. (Honduras, the murder capital of the world, has 91 murders per 100,000.) Chavez’s appointed successor, Nicolas Maduro, has done little to improve the situation. His proposed security plan, Patria Segura (“Secure Homeland”), is nothing more than a publicity stunt backed up by falsified statistics.    

While homicide and kidnapping rates are decreasing on a global average, those crimes continue to plague Latin America, with Mexico remaining the world leader. You’re more likely to be kidnapped in Venezuela than in Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, or Libya. Active war zones and countries overrun by terrorists are much safer than Maduro’s Venezuela."     

"Over the holiday, beauty queen Monica Spears and her husband were gunned down while visiting her home country of Venezuela. The couple was traveling with their five-year-old daughter when their car broke down. As they waited for help, armed robbers assaulted the family. While the child survived with only a minor gunshot wound to the leg, her parents were not as fortunate."

We spoke with Ana, and Fausta Wertz of Fausta's Blog, on today's show.  I hope that you follow Ana's work at The Heritage Foundation.

Here is the show:

Check Out Politics Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Silvio Canto Jr on BlogTalkRadio

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