International
María Corina Machado rejected the proposal for new elections and a coalition government
The leader of the Venezuelan opposition, María Corina Machado, rejected on Thursday Brazil’sproposal to hold new elections or form a coalition government, and insisted that the results that gave Nicolás Maduro the winner in the presidential elections are fraudulent.
“The elections took place and Venezuelan society expressed itself in very adverse conditions, where there was fraud and we still managed to win,” Machado responded at a virtual press conference with media in Argentina and Chile, among which was EFE.
“We must respect the voice of the people, we must respect sovereignty,” Machado emphasized and asked: “Would you accept that another election is called in your respective countries?”
“If this is a decision that is going to be made at a table, so that they did it in the first place?” he added.
Machado also stressed that “elections are defined by the votes, not by the dome agreements.”
The National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Maduro the winner, but Machado insisted on Thursday on “the monumental victory” of the opponent Edmundo González Urrutia with 7.3 million votes -almost 84% of the minutes-, against the 3.3 million votes that he said Maduro obtained.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, suggested on Thursday two possible solutions to the post-election crisis in Venezuela: the formation of a coalition government that integrates members of Chavismo and the opposition or the holding of new elections.
This last initiative was supported by his American peer, Joe Biden, but was rejected by the Government of Mexico, while the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, suggested for Venezuela a “national front” like the one that existed in his country in the twentieth century, in which liberals and conservatives took turns power as a “transitional” step towards a “definitive solution” to the crisis.
“He’s going to a second election, and if he doesn’t like the results, will he go to a third, fourth, fifth, until Maduro likes the results? Would you accept that in your country?” Machado wondered.
“Unknowing” the elections of June 28 “is a lack of respect for the Venezuelans who have given everything. Popular sovereignty is respected. The elections have already happened,” he said.
Regarding the idea of a coalition government, he asked to “be very careful” because he differentiated the examples in other countries where the parties have “political differences” but “have been democratic or have not been involved in criminal cases,” from what happens in Venezuela.
Machado recalled that his group offers “incentives and safeguards” to the ruling party members who want to approach their ranks to achieve a democratic transition in the face of an assumption of González Urrutia on January 10, to whom he promises that there will be no “persecution” or “revenge.”
“We are willing,” but “the regime has so far refused” to negotiate the transition, he said.
After the elections in Venezuela, the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico began contacts to find a solution to the crisis, a mediation effort that has, among others, the support of the United States.
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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