International
The “trainer Walz”, a candidate for vice president who was untunged
The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has gone through a vortex in these four months: from being an unknown at the national level to becoming a critic of the viral Donald Trump, and shortly after blurring with the passage of the campaign until he was relegated to a stereotypical role, that of the eternal sixty-year-old white who covers American politics.
Walz has been in politics for almost 20 years but until recently he was practically unknown, a simple man who appeared at the campaign events with a flannel shirt and hiking boots and who represents the familiar man of the rural Midwest.
The vice presidential candidate, accused by Trump of being a radical leftist, has been celebrated by US progressivism for approving aid for families with children, promoting affordable housing and guaranteeing the right to abortion, after the Supreme Court eliminated protections against termination of pregnancy at the federal level.
Kamala Harris’ unusual selection placed this governor and former congressman at the center of the campaign, who emphasized his past as a high school soccer teacher and coach, although his profile blurred over the days.
Walz appeared in an interview with Harris on CNN in August gravitating on Kamala Harris’ shoulder without contributing much and in the only debate against his Republican vice-presidential rival, Senator JD Vance, he appeared doubtful, not very assertive and his profile was moving from the center of attention.
The career of ‘Coach Walz’
‘Coach Walz’ or ‘coach Walz’ has become the first name of this governor who combines several qualities difficult to find in a single politician: he is a former soldier, a simple man from the crucial Midwest, a teacher, a father who has gone viral for his father things and a politician favored by the most progressive factions of the Democratic Party.
At 60 years old, Walz lacks one thing: he is the first candidate of a Democratic presidential formula who has not studied Law since 1980 and who, on the contrary, has spent much of his professional life as a simple teacher, teaching geography, history or sport in a way that marked many of the students who went through his classes.
Walz was born in a rural community in Nebraska and enlisted in the National Guard as a plain soldier to be able to pay for his higher education, a path to the educational improvement used by the middle class in the United States.
The governor was a school teacher where he met his wife, Gwen Whipple, with whom he later moved to Minnesota to continue his work in a high school as a geography teacher and American football coach, he managed to get his team to win the 1999 state championship.
During his years as an educator, Walz taught in China and with his wife organized study trips for teenagers to the Asian country, a cultural exchange experience that could serve him if he ends up reaching the White House, despite the fact that this closeness was criticized by the Republicans.
Harris’s campaign and Governor Walz
In 2006, he ran for a seat in Congress and managed to renew the trust of his constituents for 12 years, in which he was a member of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture and Veterans Affairs.
Walz would seem destined to win and in 2018 he was elected governor of Minnesota, a state that has voted Democratic in the last general elections, but whose rural population is mostly republican and conservative. In 2022, he was re-elected for another four years.
The governor is an unusual politician also because of his presence on social networks, in which, for example, he gives advice on the fuses of his vehicle and then continues: “I give you another pro advice: go out and vote.”
Walz, nicknamed by some as the ‘Father of America’, has been able to promote on his networks his profile as an affable father and joker and to be a member of the “boomer” generation he was able to find without a large communication team an effective message against Donald Trump and could be a key squire for Harris to attract more voters in the blue belt of Wisconsin and Michigan.
Harris chose him because in the selection meetings there was a special “chemistry” between them, according to sources from his team.
Republicans have tried to discredit his profile by claiming that he left his position in the National Guard shortly before his unit was sent to Iraq (something that coincided with the beginning of his first campaign to be a congressman) or by exaggerating that he was in the Tiananmen massacre in 1989.
International
At Least Eight Dead and 19 Injured in Deadly Bus Crash in Veracruz, Mexico
A tragic bus accident in the eastern state of Veracruz left at least eight people dead and 19 others injured on Wednesday afternoon, according to local authorities.
The vehicle was traveling through the town of Zontecomatlán when it crashed near a ravine, state Civil Protection officials reported late Wednesday night. “Regrettably, the prosecutor’s office has confirmed eight fatalities,” the agency stated in an official release.
Emergency Response and Medical Care Rescue teams worked into the night to assist the survivors. The 19 injured passengers were stabilized at the scene before being transported to hospitals in the nearby municipalities of Chicontepec and Huayacocotla. While the identities of the victims have not yet been released, Mexican press reports indicate the bus was en route from Mexico City to Chicontepec.
A Recurring Issue on Mexican Highways Road accidents involving long-haul passenger buses and freight transport are a frequent occurrence in Mexico. Experts often cite excessive speed, mechanical failure, or driver fatigue as the primary catalysts for these tragedies.
This latest incident follows another major disaster in late November, where 10 people were killed and 20 injured in a similar bus crash in the western state of Michoacán. The recurring nature of these accidents continues to spark national debate regarding the enforcement of stricter safety regulations for commercial transport units.
International
Jair Bolsonaro Hospitalized for Inguinal Hernia Surgery While Serving Sentence for Attempted Coup
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup, underwent surgery this Thursday for an inguinal hernia. The procedure took place at the DF Star Hospital in Brasilia, according to his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro.
The 70-year-old former leader left prison on Wednesday for the first time since his incarceration in late November to prepare for the operation. “My love has just gone to the surgical center,” Michelle Bolsonaro posted on Instagram, where she has been documenting her accompaniment during his hospitalization.
Surgical Expectations and Health History Medical professionals treating the far-right ex-president (2019-2022) anticipate the operation will last approximately four hours. His recovery period in the hospital is expected to extend between five and seven days.
Dr. Claudio Birolini explained on Wednesday that while the surgery is standardized, it remains complex due to the patient’s history. Bolsonaro continues to suffer from the long-term effects of a 2018 campaign rally stabbing, an injury that required several major abdominal surgeries in the years following the attack.
“There is no such thing as a simple surgery. However, this is a scheduled and standardized procedure, so we expect it to be carried out without major complications,” Dr. Birolini stated.
Potential Additional Procedures Following the hernia repair, the medical team will evaluate whether Bolsonaro can undergo a second procedure: an anesthetic block of the phrenic nerve. This nerve controls the diaphragm, and the intervention would aim to resolve a chronic case of recurrent hiccups that has plagued the former president for years.
Bolsonaro remains under heavy security at the medical facility as he serves his lengthy sentence related to the events surrounding the January 2023 institutional crisis in Brazil.
International
Trump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
President Donald Trump issued an executive order this Monday for the immediate construction of two new warships that will bear his name. These vessels will be the pioneers of what he described as the “Golden Fleet,” a future generation of “Trump-class” battleships that he claimed would be “100 times more powerful” than those currently in service.
The announcement took place at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The President indicated that following the initial two ships, the administration aims to commission up to 25 additional vessels. He is scheduled to meet with Florida-based contractors next week to expedite production, criticizing existing defense firms for failing to deliver results efficiently.
This naval expansion is a cornerstone of Trump’s goal to revitalized the American shipbuilding industry and address the strategic gap between the U.S. and competitors like China.
The move comes amid heightened geopolitical tension. Just last week, Trump ordered the seizure of all sanctioned tankers involved with Venezuela’s “ghost fleet” to cripple the country’s crude oil industry. Since December 10, the U.S. military—deployed in the Caribbean under the guise of counter-narcotics operations—has already detained two tankers linked to Venezuelan oil transport.
At Least Eight Dead and 19 Injured in Deadly Bus Crash in Veracruz, Mexico
Jair Bolsonaro Hospitalized for Inguinal Hernia Surgery While Serving Sentence for Attempted Coup
Trump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
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