International
The Venezuelan Prosecutor rejects the use of the concept of “forced disappearance” instead of “arrest”
The Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, rejected on Wednesday the indiscriminate use of the concept of “forced disappearance” when there is an arrest of opponents or activists accused of crimes, in which cases – he assured – the State acts in accordance with the rights.
“I find it disgusting that every time the Venezuelan State acts, the international media that look like public facades of conspiracy plans make the figure of forced disappearance appear,” Saab said, referring to the arrest of Whillfer Piña and Renzo Flores, members of the opposition political organization La Causa R.
On Tuesday, Saab reported that these two members of the opposition political organization Causa R were arrested in the town of Maturín (northeast), for the crimes of conspiracy and threats of slaughter against President Nicolas Maduro
Saab explained that the crimes of the detainees Whillfer José Piña Azuaje and Renzo Estibenz Flores, are part of a chain of acts that began in May 2023 and have lasted over time to the present day.
On the other hand, Saab rejected that international organizations, “instead of defending human rights, intend to protect those who want to attack the country.”
“To those who seem that arresting these subjects for threatening the life of the president is an excessive measure, I remind you of the long history of arrests and convictions in the United States for threats against the different presidents of that country,” said the prosecutor, who recalled the successive attempts to attack Maduro, such as on August 4, 2018, for which drones were used.
The official insisted that the State will continue to defend the country’s peace and will avoid, whenever possible, acts of this nature.
Among the evidence found by the authorities, there is the publication of a threat in the Whatsapp state of Piña, which says that “in Maturín (where the Venezuelan president traveled this Monday) it will be the death of Nicolás Maduro.”
On the phone where the WhatsApp was hosted, seized for analysis, a conversation was discovered between Piña and Renzo Flores. In this, groups of armed hooded men are mentioned to carry out the planned operation with other individuals, whose names do not appear in the text.
The prosecutor detailed that, during the interrogation, Renzo Flores stated that he met Piña about 8 months ago. The latter had mentioned to him a plan that he was organizing with former comrades of the Military Academy. It consisted of recruiting 50 soldiers to take one so
The two subjects will be presented to an anti-terrorism court this Wednesday afternoon, accused of conspiracy, association and attempted assassination.
The arrest and subsequent presentation of Flores and Piña before the courts denies, de facto, that there was a forced disappearance, as stated on Tuesday by the opposition Democratic Unitary Platform and Causa R.
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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