International

Thousands of followers of Evo Morales enter La Paz and demand his authorization as a candidate

The march led by the former president of Bolivia and official leader, Evo Morales (2006-2019), arrived this Monday in La Paz, after thousands of his followers joined him in the city of El Alto, to demand that he be qualified as a candidate for the 2025 elections, despite having a constitutional ban.

Morales, followed by miners and indigenous sectors in the front row, entered the city headquarters of the Government through the main highway that connects both cities on his seventh day of a walk that began on September 17 from the town of Caracollo, in the Andean region of Oruro, and that President Luis Arce described as a “coup d’état” against him.

The day before, there were some clashes in El Alto, between Morales’ followers and sectors that defend Arce, which left at least a dozen injured, according to the report of the Ministry of Health.

Freddy Mamani, a pro-government deputy related to Morales, reported that the demonstrators led by the former president will concentrate at the entrance of La Paz, near the highway, where they will read several petitions they have for the Arce Government.

“We are not going to threaten anyone, we are not going to enter Murillo Square, we are going to concentrate here where it will be a party to defend Bolivia,” he said in a statement on Radio Kawsachun Coca, half related to Morales.

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President Arce sent several public invitations to Morales to hold a dialogue, however the former president said he did not receive any invitation.

Morales’ followers maintain that it is a march to “save the homeland” in the face of problems such as the shortage of dollars and fuel and the increase in the price of some basic products, and they also demand that the resolutions of a congress of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) held last year – not recognized by the Electoral Court – in which they defined Morales’ candidacy be respected.

The Arce Government considers that the march promoted by Morales is a “coup d’état” that intends to remove him from power so that the head of the Senate, Andrónico Rodríguez, who is related to the former governor, assumes the Presidency of the country.

Morales and Arce have been separated since the end of 2021 due to differences in the State Administration that were deepened in the face of the need to renew the national leadership of the MAS, still in the hands of the former president, something on which the factions loyal to both have not been able to agree.

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International

Florida judge sets 2027 trial in Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against BBC

A federal judge in Florida has scheduled February 2027 for the trial in the lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump against the BBC, in which he is seeking $10 billion in damages for defamation.

Trump accuses the British broadcaster of airing a misleading edit of a speech he delivered on January 6, 2021, which, he says, made it appear that he explicitly urged his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

The president filed the suit in December in federal court in Florida, alleging defamation and violations of a law governing business practices when the program was broadcast ahead of the 2024 election.

Trump is seeking $5 billion in damages for each of the two claims.

Lawyers for the BBC unsuccessfully asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Trump had not suffered a “legally recognizable harm,” since the investigative program Panorama, which included the edited footage, aired outside the United States.

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International

Head-of-state diplomacy key to guiding China–U.S. ties, Beijing says

Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China–United States relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday during a regular press briefing, when asked about high-level exchanges between the two sides.

Lin added that in a recent phone call, U.S. President Donald Trump once again expressed his intention to visit China in April, while Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated his invitation.

Both sides remain in communication regarding the matter, the spokesperson said.

Lin noted that the essence of China–U.S. economic and trade ties lies in mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.

“Both parties should work together to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, injecting greater certainty and stability into China–U.S. economic and trade cooperation, as well as into the global economy,” he said.

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International

Trump administration to end special immigration operation in Minnesota

The administration of Donald Trump is bringing to a close its special operation targeting illegal immigration in the northern state of Minnesota, border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday, following weeks of unrest and the fatal shootings of two activists by federal agents.

Thousands of federal officers had been deployed to Minnesota in December to carry out large-scale raids against undocumented immigrants.

The operations triggered strong reactions from residents and advocacy groups, leading to daily confrontations and the deaths of two people who were shot by federal agents.

“I proposed, and President Trump agreed, that this special operation should end in Minnesota,” Homan said during a press conference in the state capital, Minneapolis.

“A significant drawdown began this week and will continue into next week,” he added.

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Homan indicated that similar enforcement efforts could be launched in other cities.

“Next week we will redeploy the agents currently here back to their home stations or to other parts of the country where they are needed. But we will continue to enforce immigration laws,” he said.