International
Record registration of Latino voters after Harris’ arrival in the presidential race
A record number of eligible Latinos have registered to vote after the arrival of Vice President Kamala Harris to the race for the White House, especially young and female voters, in states considered key to winning the November election, which may tip the balance towards the Democratic candidate.
The organization Voto Latino announced at a press conference that it has exceeded the voter registration goal in five key states: Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina by registering 112,035 Latino voters so far this year.
María Teresa Kumar, director of Voto Latino, said that the voter registration of her organization increased by 200% and attributed the unusual increase to the arrival of Harris in the race for the Presidency in the United States.
“All this enthusiasm began to gather and accumulate around July 21, when President Joe Biden decided to step aside and nominate and support Vice President Kamala Harris,” the activist said.
Of the total (112,035) registered this year by the organization, 67,092 voters registered after July 21, an unprecedented figure in the 20 years in which the organization has promoted voter participation.
Kumar also highlighted the increase achieved with respect to previous elections. And it is that, for the 2016 election, the Latino Vote campaign in favor of Hillary Clinton managed to register 2,252 Hispanic voters in July of that year.
In the same month, but in 2020, 25,156 Latino voters were registered in favor of President Joe Biden, almost half of the 50,111 who registered between July 21 and July 31 of this year, supported by Harris.
Even the mood of voters since Harris entered has exceeded that awakened by the candidacy of former President Barack Obama (2009-2017).
Ameer Patel, a researcher at Voto Latino, said that since the vice president landed in the presidential race, there has been a “disproportionate amount” of young voters and especially young Latinas who registered to vote.
Of the 67,092 voters registered after July 21, 55% are voters between 18 and 29 years old and 86% are between 18 and 39 years old. Of the total, 69.7% are women.
The enthusiasm of the new voters is not only motivated by the fight for women’s reproductive rights. In fact, the first issue that concerns the voters consulted by Voto Latino is the economy, better wages and income control.
The second issue is the rights to abortion, followed by gun control and security in educational institutions.
In that sense, Kumar highlighted the campaigns advanced by women in South Texas in favor of Harris and his formula, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, with a wake-up call about school shootings, something that was not seen in 2020.
It is precisely in Texas where the most new Latino voters have registered Voto after the arrival of Harris with 17,000 registered voters, followed by Florida with 13,600, Georgia (11,500), North Carolina (7,500) and Arizona (4,500).
Kumar stressed the importance of these votes especially in states where President Joe Biden won by just over 10,000 votes, such as Georgia and Arizona.
“Harris has been stealing votes from Donald Trump in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada, key states in this battlefield,” the activist said.
He added that the vice president is not only attractive to independent voters but also to Republicans, a clear disadvantage for former President Trump.
More than 36 million eligible Latinos will be able to vote this year. But of them, only 26 million are registered to vote, and only 16 million voted in the last presidential elections.
Activists’ efforts have focused on encouraging 20 million Latinos who could pay, but they don’t.
Kumar insisted that there is an incredible opportunity to strengthen the political voice of the Hispanic community, which although it is not monolithic has mostly opted for the Democrats.
The message was delivered right in celebration of National Voter Registration Day.
International
President of Mexico concludes his government with 12,319 members of organized crime arrested
The Government of the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, (2018-2024) will conclude this month with a total of 12,319 members of organized crime arrested, almost 2,600 drug trafficking laboratories destroyed and the 19% drop in the monthly number of homicides, its latest Security Report said on Tuesday.
In the six-year period, the federal authorities arrested 94,240 criminals, including 12,319 organized crime and 8,509 “priority targets”, such as Rafael Caro Quintero, alias El narco de narcos, and Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, said Rosa Icela Rodríguez, the Secretary of Security.
As a sign of the fight against drug trafficking, Rodríguez announced in the morning conference of the National Palace the destruction of 2,593 clandestine laboratories for the production of synthetic drugs during the last six years.
The Mexican agents, he detailed, confiscated more than 95,000 kilograms of chemicals and more than 44,000 kilograms of drugs.
Of this amount, he highlighted the seizure of 795 tons of marijuana, 205 tons of cocaine, 775 tons of methamphetamine, 1,616 kilograms of heroin and 1,338 kilograms of opium gum, as well as the destruction of 11,000 hectares of marijuana, 66,000 of poppy and 70 of coca leaves.
He also reported a record confiscation of 8,000 kilograms of fentanyl, a synthetic drug that has been the priority of the United States Government, which in 2021 signed with Mexico the Bicentennial Understanding to combat violence and drug trafficking.
Despite the data, the head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) said that López Obrador abandoned the logic of the ‘war against drugs’ declared by former President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012).
“Mr. President, thank you for teaching us the culture of peace, above war,” Rodríguez said.
The Secretary of Security insisted that the López Obrador Administration, who took office on December 1, 2018, reduced the monthly incidence of homicides by 19%, by reporting 2,546 in July compared to the historical maximum of 3,074 in July 2018, in the final phase of the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018).
But preliminary data that she exhibited on September 3 showed that the López Obrador government will conclude with a record accumulated of at least 193,612 homicides from 2019 to 2024, an increase of 23.16% compared to the 157,198 committed from 2013 to 2018 under Peña Nieto.
The head of the SSPC also reported a drop in the monthly incidence of crimes such as kidnapping (-77% to 37 per month), femicide (-41.6% to 63 per month), and total theft (-30.2% to 45,719 per month).
As one of López Obrador’s main achievements, the secretary cited a reduction during her administration of more than 15 points in the perception of insecurity, up to 59.4% of the population, one of the lowest measurements of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), an autonomous body.
“This means that more and more people consider it safe to live in their city, it is also important to consider that this consistent downward trend, during a period of 22 quarters is something that is practically not observed in any country in the world,” Rodríguez said.
According to Inegi data, the secretary also explained that between 2018 and 2022 in 17 entities the crime victim rate and the percentage of poverty fell, while in the first half of 2024 the number of households of victims of theft or extortion fell by 12.7% compared to 2018.
He also highlighted that the government institution in which the population trusts the most is the federal government, with a record of 59.1% that expressed its confidence in 2023, compared to 25.5% in 2017, according to Inegi.
“The way of governing in Mexico has had a positive impact on the population. They are great advances of the transformation movement, led by President López Obrador, a solid basis for the new Government of the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum,” he concluded.
International
Ukraine allocates 10.8 billion euros more to its Army until the end of the year
The Ukrainian Supreme Rada (Parliament) approved this Wednesday to allocate 500 billion more grivnas (about 10.8 billion euros) to cover the financing needs of the Army until the end of the year, according to Ukrainian deputies on their social networks.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal had previously explained that the original budget for 2024 would not be enough, since it had been calculated taking into account that the war would end this summer.
Ukraine devotes 100% of its taxes at the national level to military and defense expenses, and covers the financing of public services and other civilian expenses thanks to international aid.
As Shmigal explained at the time, each soldier costs the Ukrainian State an average of 32,000 dollars a year.
The budget rectification approved this Wednesday should be financed with the issuance of debt and with the increase in taxes such as the one applied to tobacco or fuel, as explained by the president of the Committee on the Budget of the Parliament, Roksolana Pidlasa.
The Ukrainian Parliament approved on Tuesday in first reading (so it will require a second vote to be adopted) a tax increase that affects the so-called war rate, which taxes taxpayers to finance the Army and goes from 1.5 to 5%.
The new legislation also raises taxes on several tax segments and introduces changes in taxation for banks and companies.
International
Manipulated ‘you’ searches’ and a fake message: what is known about the explosions in Lebanon
A new shipment of search devices used by members of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbulá, originally manipulated before arriving in Lebanon, and a false message that detonated them remotely are the most likely hypotheses of the chain of explosions that this Tuesday caused at least twelve deaths in an operation attributed to Israel.
According to various sources, and in the absence of knowing the exact details, including who was the author of that cyber attack that from Lebanon is attributed to Israel, the Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications, Johnny Corn, assures that the devices that exploded were part of a shipment that “recently” arrived” in Lebanon.
He states that “maybe it was activated remotely,” although he does not yet know how, and indicates that, according to preliminary information, “the batteries of the people seekers heated up.”
It may, therefore, that even some people threw away those devices before they exploded.
This is what is known so far about this unusual and sophisticated operation:
Since the simultaneous attack, which injured thousands of people, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, and which affected members of the Shii armed formation in Syria, there have been numerous hypotheses about how this attack could have occurred.
The most likely, and that some experts are already pointing out, such as the military analyst and independent politician, Elijah J. Magnier, is that an explosive trap was placed inside the devices, which “were not imported directly to Lebanon, but were stopped in a nearby country for three months, where Israel implanted the explosive.”
In what would be a sophisticated infiltration in the supply chain of these devices, Israel would have placed the explosives in that batch of devices, in total about 3,000, according to several US media, including The New York Times, always citing anonymous sources.
These explosives would have been implanted next to the battery of each of the mensaphones, which is why there was an overheating prior to the explosion, to which a mechanism was added to detonate them remotely.
That mechanism was a false message, which supposedly came from the dome of Hezbulá, and that when punctured activated the explosives.
Before the detonation, according to the sources, the device was programmed to beep for several seconds.
This type of attacks on supply chains is a concern in the field of cybersecurity due to the potential ‘hacks’ that may occur in the development phases, although these actions are normally limited to software and not to hardware, since for the latter it is required to have accessed the device during the assembly line.
Several computer experts consulted by EFE support the theory that, for these explosions to occur, the devices would have to have been manipulated at origin or destination, pointing out that the manufacturers of the components of these mensaphones are the ones who should respond to this.
And they have done so, since according to the New York Times, Hizbulá commissioned the devices from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo.
However, the Asian company denied in a statement having manufactured these devices and indicated that the person responsible for producing them is a company called ‘BAC’, which is based in Budapest.
Regarding the AR-924 ‘person-seeker’ that would have been used in the explosions, the Taiwanese company reiterates that it is a model “produced and sold” by BAC.
“We only provide the authorization of the registered trademark and we are not involved in the design or manufacture of this product. We always adhere to the relevant regulations and maintain a transparent and compliant cooperation with our partners,” the statement concluded.
The Shiite group uses among its members this kind of devices as a means of communication to avoid being geolocated by Israel, which usually carries out selective murders against members of Hezbullah, among other factions present in Lebanon and Syria.
Mensaphones, which became obsolete with the arrival of the mobile phone, are low-tech wireless devices that basically receive alphanumeric and bidirectional messages, with the ability to send and receive short messages.
President of Mexico concludes his government with 12,319 members of organized crime arrested
Ukraine allocates 10.8 billion euros more to its Army until the end of the year
Manipulated ‘you’ searches’ and a fake message: what is known about the explosions in Lebanon
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International17 hours agoUkraine strikes with its drones one of the biggest blows of the war to the Russian arsenal
-
Central America4 days agoU.S. Secretary of State Blinken congratulates El Salvador on 203 years of independence
-
International2 days agoPetro considers that the ELN attack in Arauca “closes a peace process with blood”
-
International2 days agoDemocrats pressure Donald Trump with a vote in the Senate on in vitro fertilization
-
International4 days agoWittenberg University in Springfield takes extreme precautions after threats of shooting
-
International16 hours agoUkraine allocates 10.8 billion euros more to its Army until the end of the year
-
International3 days agoFour injured in russian school hammer attack by 13-year-old student
-
International2 days agoThe US promises “not to spare resources” investigations into the assassination attempt against Trump
-
International2 days agoBlinken promises González Urrutia and Machado that he will defend “democracy” in Venezuela
-
International2 days agoThe Government of Ecuador decrees a curfew in six provinces during a national blackout
-
International3 days agoEl Salvador’s Independence celebrated with flag displays in New York and Qatar
-
International16 hours agoThe death toll in the Gaza war exceeds 41,270, adding about twenty victims in the last few hours
-
International2 days agoThe Venezuelan Parliament presents a draft agreement on the rupture of relations with Spain
-
Central America3 days agoEl Salvador bonds surge following president Bukele’s fiscal announcement
-
International2 days agoHarris expresses confidence in the Secret Service and criticizes Trump’s anti-migrant rhetoric
-
Central America3 days agoMurdered Environmentalist Juan López Laid to Rest in Honduras Amid Mourning and Outrage
-
International16 hours agoPresident of Mexico concludes his government with 12,319 members of organized crime arrested
-
International16 hours agoManipulated ‘you’ searches’ and a fake message: what is known about the explosions in Lebanon
-
International16 hours agoHezbulá announces a “specific” reprisal to the “Israeli massacre” against its militiamen in Lebanon