International
Maduro urges ‘normalizing’ ties with Colombia
AFP
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called Wednesday for the normalization of trade and diplomatic relations with Colombia, which have been nonexistent since 2019 when the government refused to recognize him as Venezuela’s leader.
“Colombia and Venezuela have to solve our problems in peace, we have to… normalize commercial, productive, economic relations,” Maduro said in a speech on state television. “We have to normalize consular relations, diplomatic relations.”
The leftist leader welcomed a proposal approved Tuesday by Colombia’s Senate to create a federal commission between the two countries to work on normalizing commercial and diplomatic ties.
But Maduro also said that Colombians in Venezuela do not have consular assistance because President Ivan Duque’s government “does not give them consular access.”
Duque, however, said he would not recognize Maduro’s government.
“As long as I am the president of Colombia… we are not going to recognize him,” he said during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“To recognize him would be giving up on the values that our country has historically defended. It would be a capitulation in the face of the misery that a whole people has had to live through because of the disgrace” of Maduro’s government, he said.
Almost two million Venezuelans have migrated to Colombia in recent years, fleeing a severe economic crisis in their home country.
Caracas had unilaterally closed its land borders with Colombia in February 2019 amid a power struggle between Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido — who claims to be his country’s interim leader.
Guaido received support from around 60 countries, including the European Union, United States and Colombia.
Venezuela’s government had also broken off diplomatic ties with Colombia due to Bogota’s recognition of Guaido.
The neighbors share a border of some 2,200 kilometers (1,370 miles).
Bogota has repeatedly accused the Venezuelan government of harboring FARC and ELN fighters, a claim Caracas denies.
Maduro, for his part, points the finger at Duque over alleged coup and assassination plots in his country.
But Venezuela announced on October 4 it was reopening the borders between the two countries.
In the midst of what he called a “turning of the page,” Maduro invited Colombian businessmen to resume investments in his country, which is embroiled in its worst economic and social crisis in recent history, with hyperinflation and seven consecutive years of recession.
International
Judge declares Donald Trump not guilty in Stormy Daniels case
Judge Juan Merchan acquitted U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the case involving former porn actress Stormy Daniels.
“At this moment, I am issuing this verdict to cover all 34 charges,” Merchan stated. The judge also wished Trump good luck in his second term as president.
Trump will now become the first criminal president.
Merchan declined to impose any punishment. This decision strengthens Trump’s acquittal and clears the way for his return to the White House without the threat of prison or a fine.
“Never before has this court faced such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Judge Merchan said.
International
Canada imposes sanctions on 14 venezuelan officials for human rights violations
Canada imposed sanctions on 14 high-ranking officials of the Venezuelan “regime” this Friday, including prominent members of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM), for their involvement in human rights violations in Venezuela.
Among those sanctioned are DGCIM prosecutors Dinorah Yoselin Bustamante Puerta and Farik Karin Salcedo Mora; the director of criminal investigations at the agency, Asdrubal José Brito Hernandez, as well as its former deputy director, Rafael Ramón Blanco Marrero.
The sanctions also target several members of the Bolivarian National Guard: its general commander, Elio Ramón Estrada Paredes; the commander of the capital region, Johan Alexander Hernández Lárez, and lieutenant colonel, Alexander Enrique Granko Arteaga.
Other individuals sanctioned include the director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Alexis José Rodríguez Cabello, and his deputy director, Miguel Antonio Muñoz Palacios; Brigadier General of the Bolivarian National Police, Rubén Darío Santiago Servigna, and Domingo Antonio Hernández Lárez, commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.
International
María Corina Machado urges Edmundo González Urrutia not to return to Venezuela for his safety
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Friday that she asked Edmundo González Urrutia, former candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), not to return to Venezuela to avoid putting himself at risk.
In a video message, Machado explained that the opposition evaluated the situation and concluded that González Urrutia would be in danger if he tried to enter Venezuela as he had planned.
González Urrutia, who claims to have won the July 28 elections with the support of more than 85% of the official voting records, had announced that he would return to Venezuela on January 10 to assume the presidency.
Earlier, Nicolás Maduro, who was declared the winner of those elections, took the oath of office for a third term.
Judge declares Donald Trump not guilty in Stormy Daniels case
Canada imposes sanctions on 14 venezuelan officials for human rights violations
María Corina Machado urges Edmundo González Urrutia not to return to Venezuela for his safety
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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