International
Venezuelan opposition asks for the “alarming situation” in Argentine residence in Caracas to be resolved
Venezuela’s largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), asked the international community on Friday to “join efforts” to achieve a “prompt solution” for the five anti-Chavistas taken in the residence of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas, who have been denouncing the “police siege” since November 2024.
Through a statement, the ConVzla Command – the PUD’s organization team – reiterated its call for safe-conducts to be granted “as soon as possible” and for refugees to be able to leave Venezuela.
The asylum seers in the Argentine Embassy are Magalli Meda, Claudia Macero, Omar González, Pedro Urruchurtu and Humberto Villalobos, all collaborators of the opposition leader María Corina Machado and accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of the alleged crimes of conspiracy and treason.
Until last December 19, former minister Fernando Martínez Mottola, who was an advisor to the PUD, also remained in asylum, and, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, presented himself “voluntarily” at the main headquarters of the institution in Caracas, to testify about “serious violent, conspiratorial and destabilizing facts organized” from the residence “after the celebration of the presidential elections” in July.
The coalition denounced that “every day the conditions” of the asylum seekers are aggravated, who – according to the bloc – have remained for 83 days without electricity service, after the state electricity company – details the communication – took the fuses from the residence.
“These five people today depend on an electric generator enabled for emergency cases, and whose use they ration to be able to guarantee the minimum necessary connectivity, in view of the repeated refusal to restore the electricity service,” said the PUD.
Added to this, the anti-Thavista alliance continued, “restrictions on access to essential services and products”, among which he mentioned “water, medicines and food”.
The entry of these products,” he added, “depends on the arbitrary orders of the regime’s repressive bodies, whose troops have also been besieged in the diplomatic compound since November 23.”
The PUD indicated that, in the last two weeks, the entry of tanker trucks that supply drinking water to the residence, which no longer “has water” has been “continuously” refused.
On the other hand, the bloc denounced a “permanent immordation” to “any person” who brings “any product or food to the embassy.”
“Not satisfied with not authorizing entry, they detain them for up to two hours and then return them, not without first threatening them. This makes it very difficult to provide and feasible the supply of inputs, given the risk it implies for those who dare to approach,” he said.
Faced with this situation, the alliance said that they have sent private communications to “several members of the accredited diplomatic corps” in Venezuela, but – he admitted – “there has been no success.”
“Today, we reiterate the invitation to these diplomats to check the state in which the asylum seekers are, denying the versions of the regime with which they intend to minimize the situation that, under their own orders, they have created,” insisted the PUD.
Brazil assumed the protection of the Argentine Embassy in August 2024, after the Administration of Nicolás Maduro expelled the diplomatic corps from that country, but a month later Venezuela revoked this authorization.
However, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry reported that it will remain with the “custody and defense of the interests” of Argentina until the southern country “designates another acceptable state” for the Maduro Administration, in order to carry out those functions.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
Central America
Nicaraguan Exiles to Mark 7th Anniversary of 2018 Protests with Global Commemorations
The Nicaraguan opposition in exile announced on Thursday that it will commemorate the seventh anniversary of the April 2018 protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, with events in Costa Rica, the United States, and several European countries.
The commemorative activities—which will call for justice for the victims, as well as freedom and democracy for Nicaragua—will include religious services, public forums, cultural fairs, and other public gatherings, according to official announcements.
In April 2018, thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets to protest controversial reforms to the social security system. The government’s violent response quickly turned the demonstrations into a broader call for the resignation of President Ortega, who is now 79 and has been in power since 2007.
The protests resulted in at least 355 deaths, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), although Nicaraguan organizations claim the toll is as high as 684. Ortega has acknowledged “more than 300” deaths and maintains the unrest was an attempted coup d’état.
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
UN complaint filed against Costa Rica over detention of migrant children
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
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
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
Central America4 days agoHonduran Police Offer $135K for Tips Leading to the Arrest of Romeo Vásquez
-
Central America3 days agoPetro questions Ecuador’s vote, cites reports of military control and arrests
-
International4 days agoMPV Denounces Electoral Blockade as Secretary-General is Disqualified for May Elections
-
International2 days agoArsenal stun Real Madrid at the Bernabéu to reach Champions League semifinals
-
International4 days agoMaduro Plans Major Workers’ March on May 1st to Defend Venezuela’s Freedom
-
International2 days agoBogotá residents line up for yellow fever vaccine amid national alert
-
International1 day agoDominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
-
Central America1 day ago
Nicaraguan Exiles to Mark 7th Anniversary of 2018 Protests with Global Commemorations
-
International2 days agoMexico refuses to restore ties with Ecuador while Noboa remains in office
-
International2 days agoDeSantis’ immigration crackdown sparks alarm in Venezuelan Communities in Doral
-
International3 days agoColombia: Search continues for missing limb of italian scientist found dismembered
-
International55 mins agoACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
-
Central America58 mins agoUN complaint filed against Costa Rica over detention of migrant children