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Vatican Intrigue: Secret Letter Questions Pope

VATICAN CITY — A letter delivered to Pope Francis, reportedly signed by 13 Roman Catholic cardinals, questions whether the pontiff has organized the ongoing Synod on the Family in such a way that ensures "predetermined results on important controversial issues," Italian weekly magazine L'Espressohas reported.

The magazine's longtime Vatican correspondent Sandro Magister reported the exclusive story on the L'Espresso website late Monday, adding intrigue to the high-stakes meeting currently taking place and raising the specter of a mini-rebellion among some of the senior clerics who elected Francis two years ago.

The letter alludes to a "series of concerns" about procedural questions but may signal deeper worries about the Pope's eagerness to open debates on long-shut issues such as gay marriage and communion for divorced and remarried Catholics.

But several of the cardinals L'Espresso cited have either denied signing the letter or said the content is different than what has been reported. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi did not deny the existence of the letter.

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Geopolitics

Why The Latin American Far Left Can't Stop Cozying Up To Iran's Regime

Among the Islamic Republic of Iran's very few diplomatic friends are too many from Latin America's left, who are always happy to milk their cash-rich allies for all they are worth.

Image of Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, Romina Pérez Ramos.

Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, Romina Pérez Ramos.

Bolivia's embassy in Tehran/Facebook
Bahram Farrokhi

-OpEd-

The Latin American Left has an incurable anti-Yankee fever. It is a sickness seen in the baffling support given by the socialist regimes of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela or Bolivia to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which to many exemplifies clerical fascism. And all for a single, crass reason: together they hate the United States.

The Islamic Republic has so many of the traits the Left used to hate and fight in the 20th century: a religious (Islamic) vocation, medieval obscurantism, misogyny... Its kleptocratic economy has turned bog-standard class divisions into chasmic inequalities reminiscent of colonial times.

This support is, of course, cynical and in line with the mandates of realpolitik. The regional master in this regard is communist Cuba, which has peddled its anti-imperialist discourse for 60 years, even as it awaits another chance at détente with its ever wealthy neighbor.

I reflected on this on the back of recent remarks by Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, the 64-year-old Romina Pérez Ramos. She must be the busiest diplomat in Tehran right now, and not a day goes by without her going, appearing or speaking somewhere, with all the publicity she can expect from the regime's media.

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