International

Guterres calls for “total transparency” in the election results in Venezuela

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, on Monday, asked for “total transparency” about the results of Sunday’s presidential elections in Venezuela, and trusted that the disputes “will be resolved peacefully.”

In addition, he encouraged the authorities in Venezuela to “publish the results and the breakdown by polling stations in due time.”

According to the National Electoral Council of Venezuela, which proclaimed President Nicolás Maduro in power since 2013, with 51.2% of the votes (5,150,092 ballots), while the candidate of the main opposition coalition, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained 4,445,978, which accounts for 44.2% of the votes.

After the results were known, González Urrutia, whose main waner is the anti-chavista leader María Corina Machado, denounced that “all the rules were violated” to the point that “most of the minutes have not yet been delivered.”

The UN Secretary-General limited himself to “talling note of the announcement” of the CNE, but also “the concerns of some political actors and members of the international community,” alluding to the positions of the United States. The United States, the EU, numerous Latin American countries and Spain, among others, who have expressed their doubts about the results of the elections.

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Guterres urged the electoral authorities in Venezuela to “carry out their work independently and without interference,” in order to “guarantee the free expression of the will” of Venezuelans.

In any case, he said he was confident that the electoral disputes “be focused and resolved peacefully,” while calling for moderation “all Venezuelan political leaders and their followers.”

As for the presence of the panel of UN experts invited by the Government to monitor the elections, and whose conclusions are not public, but reserved for the secretary general, Dujarric said that they will stay a few more days in Venezuela and will return to New York in the course of this week.

International

Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.

“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.

“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.

Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.

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.”