International
US sanctions Venezuelan officials for “falsely” proclaiming Maduro’s victory
The United States imposed sanctions on 16 Venezuelan officials, including members of the National Electoral Council (CNE), the Supreme Court of Justice and the National Assembly, for “falsely” proclaiming the victory of Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, in the presidential elections of July 28.
Among those sanctioned are the president of the Supreme Court, Caryslia Rodríguez, the secretary general of the CNE, Antonio José Meneses, and the vice president of the National Assembly, Pedro Infante Aparicio.
“Instead of respecting the will of the Venezuelan people expressed at the polls, Maduro and his representatives have falsely proclaimed their victory while repressing and intimidating the democratic opposition in an illegitimate attempt to cling to power,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
In total, the Treasury Department announced financial sanctions on 16 people “related to Maduro,” including members of the National Electoral Council, the Supreme Court of Justice and the National Assembly, whom it accuses of having “impeded a transparent electoral process and the publication of accurate electoral results.”
At the same time, the State Department banned the entry into the country of “officials aligned with Maduro who have undermined the electoral process in Venezuela and who are responsible for acts of repression.”
Almost 2,000 people with visa restrictions
With the measures announced today, to date there are more than 140 Venezuelan officials sanctioned by the US Treasury and about 2,000 people are subject to visa restrictions by the US State Department.
“The United States will continue to promote accountability by those who undermine democracy in Venezuela,” Blinken warned.
The CNE proclaimed Maduro’s re-election in the elections of July 28 without publishing the voting minutes, but the opposition claims the victory of its standard bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, who recently traveled to Spain and asked for asylum in that country.
Reaction of Venezuela
The Government of Venezuela described as a “new crime of aggression” the sanctions announced by the United States against 16 officials of the Caribbean country, including members of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Parliament, for “falsely” proclaiming President Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the July elections.
In a statement, the Venezuelan Executive rejected, in “the most energetic terms,” this “new crime of aggression committed by the Government of the United States of America against Venezuela, by imposing unilateral, illegitimate and illegal coercive measures on a group of state officials.”
For the Chavista government, the United States demonstrates, “once again, its total contempt for international law, the self-determination of the peoples and the democratic will of Venezuelans.”
“Little can be expected”
However, he continued, “little can be expected from the most hostile and bloodthirsty power that humanity has known, responsible for millions of murders in the world with genocidal partners and a history of indifference to the needs of its own citizens.”
With these “erroneously called sanctions, which have been shamefully promoted by the fascist extreme right,” as Chavismo usually refers to the opposition, “they break and violate the agreements signed in Qatar” between both American countries.
Guterres’ refection
The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, believes that the new sanctions of the US Government against 16 high-ranking officials of the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, whom he accuses of hindering the last elections, will not help find a way out of the political crisis in which the South American country is immersed.
“I don’t think they will help,” said Guterres spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, when asked about it in his daily press conference from the United Nations headquarters in New York.
He immediately added that in the UN general secretariat the “concern for respect for human rights” and for the “lack of transparency” still prevailing today after the presidential elections of July 28 in Venezuela continues.
Venezuela affirms that António Guterres is on the side of those who “illegly sanction”
In turn, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said that Guterres sides with those who “illegally sanction,” in relation to the new measures imposed by the United States, despite the fact that the Portuguese diplomat considered that these penalties do not help solve the crisis in the Caribbean country.
“The UN secretary general avoids condemning the application of unilateral coercive measures, he takes the side of those who sanction illegally, it is an affront to the mandate that the States have given him, all to defend the aggressors of Venezuela,” Gil said in a message published on Telegram.
The foreign minister indicated that Guterres, instead of showing solidarity with the “victims of the blockade and sanctions,” sides with the “liars and victimizers, of the fascists who violate rights and do not know the Venezuelan State.”
“(It is) urgent that the secretary general return to international legality, respects Venezuela and asserts the institutions of the system to which it is due,” he added.
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”
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.
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