International
The most ranking Hispanic legislator in the US appeals to Latinos to recover Congress
Democrat Pete Aguilar has been the highest-ranking Hispanic legislator in the US Congress since 2023. A position that he says he takes as an honor and from which he works so that his party snatts control of the House from the Republicans with the support of the vote of that community: “Trump chooses division, we chooses collaboration,” he tells EFE.
On November 5, Americans will not only vote for their future president, but also for the renewal of the Lower House, where he presides over the Democratic caucus, and a third of the Senate, in which his formation holds control.
“These are the most important elections we have seen in the last 50 or 60 years. This is our opportunity to get up as a community and ensure that we go forward and not backward. I will do everything in my power to make sure that I do my part,” explains the Californian legislator in an interview in his office.
Legislator says that Latinos play a key role in the US.
The Democrats need to snatch four seats from the Republicans to regain the Lower House. At the presidential level, the fight is fought between Vice President Kamala Harris and former Conservative President Donald Trump (2017-2021).
And in that fight, Latinos play a key role: their number of voters has gone from 27 million in 2016 to the current 36, but in this time their support for Democratic candidates has been significantly reduced, so we must not take their support for granted.
“The Latino community is not monolithic. We need to understand that they are different, that the first generation can be different from those of the fourth. We have the responsibility to ensure that we communicate effectively and culturally competently to mobilize our voters,” he says.
His strategy, he says, bets on talking about the benefits already achieved and those that could continue to be achieved when the majority is obtained: from discounts on the price of health services to an increase in economic opportunities.
A mandate marked by the blockade
The current division in Congress, with a Republican Lower House and a Democratic Senate, has been characterized by a constant blocking of legislative projects. The rival bench, Aguilar maintains, “is not concerned about a government that works for the people, but about voting no and making Trump happy.”
Among Republican voters, the economy, immigration and violent crime are the main concerns. Health care and Supreme Court appointments prevail among Democrats, according to the non-partisan organization Pew Research Center.
For the legislator they are not opposite priorities. “They are all important. Now, the way in which candidates talk about them is very different. Trump chooses division and we choose collaboration and not chaos, but I have the feeling that the economy will be a driving force in these elections and we must underline what we have done to help it.”
Aguilar, born in California and with Mexican roots, admits that the reform of the immigration system is another pending issue. “It’s broken and needs to be fixed. I think the Latino community understands the difference between border security and immigration,” he says.
“As president, Harris will work with Congress to address this issue,” says the legislator, confident that the candidate is committed to giving opportunities for immigrants to succeed in the United States.
The current Administration, however, has not been exempt from criticism for imposing measures that restrict the right to asylum on the border with Mexico.
Republicans don’t offer solutions
The 45-year-old legislator urges not to believe the republican rhetoric: “They are more concerned with writing down points politically than with offering solutions. (…) We have to make it very clear that it is important to have a strong border.”
And from the experience given by his position as number three of the Democrats in the Lower House and as a member of the parliamentary committee that investigated Trump for his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, he also warns of the need not to lower his guard in these future elections.
“I’m afraid I’m going to do the same and we must take precautions to be prepared.” At the moment Harris remains in the lead in voting intentions and gets Trump 2.6 percentage points, according to the average of polls of the FiveThirtyEight website.
The United States could have its first female president. Will there be a Latino in the White House? “I know there will be,” says Aguilar, who assures that he does not aspire to that position. “We need to benefit from our diversity and only then, when people see themselves in those positions of power, will the country have faith in what we do.”
International
The Pentagon confirms that a fleet of drones flew over one of its bases for days
The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that a swarm of drones flew over Langley Air Force Base for days in December 2023, but stressed that none of those devices was perceived as a threat.
Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh admitted at a press conference that there were “incursions” and that the number of drones that flew over those facilities located in the state of Virginia “fluctuated.”
“They didn’t seem to show a hostile intention. It’s something we’ve been attentive to,” he said.
The Pentagon confirms flights
The Wall Street Journal reported these flights this weekend and specified that they extended for 17 days and that they usually took place between 45 minutes and an hour after sunset.
The newspaper recalled that federal law prohibits the armed forces from neutralizing those devices near US bases if they do not pose an imminent threat. According to his report, US officers did not believe, however, that they were led by fans given the complexity of the operation.
Missions were canceled
The newspaper added that Langley’s personnel canceled night training missions worried about possible collisions with the drones and that the F-22 fighters were moved to another base. The last appearance of these drones occurred on December 23.
The Pentagon deputy spokeswoman stressed that the commanders of any base have the authority to protect their forces and infrastructure, pointed out that such air raids in US territory require coordination with other agencies and said she did not know where these aircraft started.
International
Venezuela rejects “pamphlet” of the UN Mission that denounces crimes against humanity
The Government of Venezuela called this Tuesday a “pamphlet” the report of the Independent International Mission of the United Nations (UN), in which alleged crimes against humanity committed by the country’s authorities in the July 28 elections, in which Nicolás Maduro was proclaimed president re-elected, are denounced.
In a statement, Venezuela’s representation before the UN in Geneva “energetically rejected the pamphlet published by the shameful mission,” for being “a novel document” and “a fanciful script,” without responding to the remarks contained in the report.
“That mercenary mission has never set foot in Venezuela. However, it has wasted more than six million dollars on political propaganda in favor of the Venezuelan fascist right,” the letter says.
Venezuela also asserted that the mission uses a methodology and sources of information “widely questionable due to its lack of rigor,” since it takes “as certain stories of social networks and long-line media.”
Security forces in the protests in Venezuela
In a 158-page report covering the period from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024, the mission accuses security forces and pro-government armed civilian groups of murders, enforced disappearances, acts of torture and sexual and gender-based violence.
The security forces were “massively involved” in human rights violations, such as arbitrary detentions, excessive use of force to repress protests, or cruel and degrading treatment, the document indicates, pointing to the civil intelligence services (SEBIN) and military (DGCIM), as well as the Bolivarian National Guard and the National Police.
He also assures that “the statements of the highest authorities of the State, especially after July 28, incited repression and contributed to generating a climate of hostility and violence.”
Once Maduro was announced as the winner, the majority opposition denounced fraud and assured that its standard bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the Presidency, a claim that has the support of several countries.
International
Hezbula attributes the launch of 50 rockets from Lebanon to northern Israel
The Israeli Army reported that in the early hours of Wednesday, 50 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory heading to northern Israel, something that was later attributed to the Shiite group Hezbulá.
According to the Israeli Army, the rockets were directed towards the Safed area, in the north of the territory, so minutes before alarms sounded to alert the population.
“Some of the projectiles were intercepted and projectiles were identified that fell in the area,” the Israeli authorities said on their Telegram channel.
So far, reports of victims in the area are unknown.
For its part, the Lebanese Shii group Hizbulá attributed the attack, indicating that it is retaliation for the Israeli invasion.
“In support of our resistant Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, in support of their brave and honorable resistance, in defense of Lebanon (…), the fighters of the Islamic Resistance bombed the occupied city of Safed at 1:40 a.m. on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 with a large rave of rockets,” they indicated in the Telegram of the Islamic Resistance and that they also collected local media.
“Right to defend”
On Tuesday, the deputy secretary general of Hizbulla, Naim Qassem, said that the group can attack “any point” of Israel as part of its “right to defend itself”, after the Israelis launched a massive bombing campaign against Lebanon in late September.
Since Israel launched its ground offensive in southern Lebanon in the early hours of October 1, at least 14 Israeli soldiers have died in attacks around the northern border: 10 in combat in the south of the country, and another 4 in Israeli territory. 3 civilians have also died in Israel, in attacks by Hezbulah.
In Lebanon, more than 2,100 people have died and another 10,000 have been injured, most of them during the strong escalation of the past two weeks.
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