International

Milei, willing to convince other countries to adopt sanctions against Venezuela

“I would have no problem” in adopting diplomatic sanctions against Venezuela, the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, said in an interview with CNN, who would even be willing to convince other countries to support that same measure.

“Yes, I would be willing to do it, because the carnage that is Venezuela is truly unheard of; the same as the prison island of Cuba,” said the Argentine head of state during an interview with journalist Andrés Oppenheimer, whose first part was broadcast in full this Sunday.

“Then there are other cases that are on the way, such as the case of Colombia, with Mr. (Gustavo) Petro. Well, you can’t expect much from someone who was a terrorist killer, a communist,” Milei added in a part of that interview that was already anticipated last Wednesday.

As a result of those statements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia issued a statement reporting that the expulsion of diplomats from the Embassy of Argentina in that country was ordered.

“The expressions of the Argentine president have deteriorated the confidence of our nation, in addition to offending the dignity of President Petro, who was democratically elected,” said the Colombian Foreign Ministry, which communicated its decision to the Argentine diplomatic representation through “institutional channels.”

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Last Monday, the governments of Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay issued a joint statement in which they expressed their “serious concern” about the allegations of the Venezuelan opposition about the obstacles to registering their candidate.

Buenos Aires’ support for that statement represents “a step forward,” according to Milei, because “the previous Government (presided over by the Peronist Alberto Fernández) would not have condemned any of those dictatorships,” he said.

Asked about the critical opinions of him of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the ruling and favorite candidate in the polls, Claudia Sheinbaum, the Argentine president responded: “It is a compliment that an ignorant like López Obrador speaks ill of me, exalts me.”

And he added: “It is a problem of Mexicans if they choose socialists (…), I feel sorry for the one who has to suffer a socialist regime.”

Regarding an eventual trip of Pope Francis to Argentina, Javier Milei considered that “we should not be pressuring him,” and pointed out that it is a decision that is up to the Supreme Pontiff.

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“I offered to accompany him and be by his side, I would almost tell him like a human cane (…), but he is the one who must make that decision to face so much physical burden,” he added.

After asserting that “the left in its different versions is the cancer of humanity,” Milei considered that, in fact, the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, and the Brazilian, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, were democratically elected, but added that “every day they advance more on individuals towards more collectivist solutions.”

The Argentine ruler maintained that the desire he conveyed to former United States president Donald Trump (2017 -2021) to return to the White House “in protocol terms does not count,” because it took place in a casual meeting during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held a month ago in Maryland (USA).

“I am more affioy to the ideas of the Republican Party (…), it is true and that is known, but my priority is to be an ally of the United States. That is, my international allies are the United States and Israel and I am absolutely consistent in that,” he emphasized.

Regarding the criticisms of the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Chile that Israel’s military response to the terrorist attack in Hamas is a genocide, Milei said: “I find it condemnable that they make such condemnations.”

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“Israel received a brutal attack and this kind of thing requires exemplary responses. And in fact, Israel is doing everything he is doing within the rules of the game. In other words, Israel is not committing a single excess,” he concluded.

International

Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.

Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.

However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.

International

Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.

“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.

The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.

His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”

International

Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?

This week, you may have noticed that everything—from historical photos and classic movie scenes to internet memes and recent political moments—has been reimagined on social media as Studio Ghibli-style portraits. The trend quickly went viral thanks to ChatGPT and the latest update of OpenAI’s chatbot, released on Tuesday, March 25.

The newest addition to GPT-4o has allowed users to replicate the distinctive artistic style of the legendary Japanese filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away). “Today is a great day on the internet,” one user declared while sharing popular memes in Ghibli format.

While the trend has captivated users worldwide, it has also highlighted ethical concerns about AI tools trained on copyrighted creative works—and what this means for the livelihoods of human artists.

Not that this concerns OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which has actively encouraged the “Ghiblification”experiments. Its CEO, Sam Altman, even changed his profile picture on the social media platform X to a Ghibli-style portrait.

Miyazaki, now 84 years old, is known for his hand-drawn animation approach and whimsical storytelling. He has long expressed skepticism about AI’s role in animation. His past remarks on AI-generated animation have resurfaced and gone viral again, particularly when he once said he was “utterly disgusted” by an AI demonstration.