International

The EU warns of “a serious crisis” in Venezuela if the results are not verified

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has again demanded the publication of Venezuela’s electoral records and has warned that, in case Nicolás Maduro insists on saying that he has won without being able to verify it, this country “may enter a serious crisis.”

“If Maduro insists on saying that he has won and does not want to understand that, for the international community, without verification there is no assumption of results, Venezuela can enter a serious crisis. We are all trying to prevent this from happening,” said Borrell, who appeared before the media on Monday on the occasion of the course ‘Quo Vadis Europa?’ that he directs this week at the Menéndez Pelayo International University in Santander.

The head of European diplomacy sees “clear” that Maduro “refuses to show the minutes.” “I should have done it, it’s had time,” he added.

And he has abounded in the fact that “if there is no verification of the results, the results cannot be accepted.”

“I know that Maduro has dedicated very affectionate words to me, it is not the first time, but I have to insist on the same thing: If the results cannot be verified, they cannot be accepted and, at the moment, they are not verifiable. Well, rather, they are through the information provided by the opposition,” he said, alluding to the fact that the Venezuelan opposition has managed to gather “80% or more” of the minutes and give a result “radically different from the one that Maduro proclaims.”

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In addition, Borrell has called the “pin of sarcasm” that Maduro has appealed to the Supreme Court of Venezuela to “defend him.” “I don’t know what he is going to issue as a sentence because his function is not to count the electoral results,” he said.

The high representative has called to wait to see what happens in the coming days, although he has added that there are more than 2,000 people arrested and “the repression is accentuated,” and he trusts that the international community will maintain its demand to verify the results.

Asked about the negotiations, he explained that they are still ongoing and, “even some Latin American country has proposed repeating elections and sharing power between the Government and the opposition.” “I don’t know how to do that, but nothing will be done, surely, until the Court speaks,” he said.

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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.”