International
Joy and worry for Venezuelans as US shuts land border
AFP | Paula Ramon
Jose was reunited with his wife and four-year-old child in the United States minutes after Washington shut its southern border to Venezuelans. But his happiness was short-lived.
His adult son, currently battling through the treacherous Darien Gap jungle that straddles Colombia and Panama, will likely be turned away from the United States — if he even makes it that far.
“Last night I was happier than a child at Christmas,” he told AFP by telephone on Thursday.
“But when I saw the news I immediately called my son and asked him not to continue his journey.”
AFP has changed the names of migrants interviewed for this story because of their vulnerable status, or the risk of retribution from human traffickers.
Humanitarian program
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced that Venezuelans entering the United States by land will be returned to Mexico, in line with almost all other migrants without visas coming over the border.
Until now they have been granted exceptions because of Washington’s distrust of the hard-left regime in Caracas, which it says punishes political opponents.
Instead, the United States will allow 24,000 Venezuelans to apply for entry under a humanitarian program, similar to a scheme that has welcomed tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country.
The program — launched a month ahead of elections — is a bid by President Joe Biden’s administration to chart a path between Democratic demands for helping desperate migrants and Republican calls to stem what they paint as a “tide” of illegal migration.
In the year to September, border authorities encountered more than 155,000 Venezuelans, more than triple the previous year.
Most, like Jose, arrive in Texas.
He set foot on US soil on Sunday after wading across the chest-deep waters of the Rio Grande river near Eagle Pass.
“It was nothing compared to what I had to do to get here,” he said as he stood in the baking Texas sun, his clothes wet and his shoes muddy.
In his backpack were the few clothes he still owned.
“The others I left on the road.”
Crisis
Millions of Venezuelans have left the country in recent years, fleeing a political and economic crisis under authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro.
Many have traveled to nearby Latin American countries but an increasing number are heading for the United States — despite the distance and the danger.
Videos on TikTok — a main source of news for Venezuelans — show columns of people with backpacks making their way through dense vegetation.
Stories of rapes, robberies, murders and bribery are common among those who make it.
Jose’s seven-country journey took him a month.
After reuniting with his wife and young child, he thought things were finally coming together, with his 22-year-old son setting off from Caracas to join him.
Then the US government changed the rules.
“I am very sad, and so is he, because we were all going to be together finally,” he says.
“It would give me a lot of pain if he makes such a big effort and they send him back to Mexico, where the people are very good but the immigration agents and the police mistreat us a lot.”
Jose says his time in Mexico was the hardest part of the trip.
“In the jungle they put a bracelet on you to distinguish those who pay from those who don’t. Those who don’t pay are mistreated.
“In Mexico, the coyote tells you it’s $500, but if you tell him ‘I have $200,’ he accepts it.
“But a Mexican cop will tell you it’s $500 and if you don’t give it to him, he’ll beat you or rob you.”
Maria, who also arrived in Eagle Pass on Sunday, was reunited with her boyfriend in Georgia on Wednesday.
“I was lucky, but the Mexican agents took my friends and beat them. They detained them for two weeks, and released them somewhere else. Now they won’t be able to get into the US,” she says.
Maria’s boyfriend is overjoyed that she made it to the United States, where he hopes she will be able to get treatment for a chronic illness.
But he frets over what will happen now to his three sisters, who are somewhere deep in the Darien Gap.
“I do nothing but think, I’m happy because Maria is finally here, but I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said.
International
Elon Musk’s comments on UK abuse scandal spark government response
A prominent British politician addressed Elon Musk’s recent criticism on Friday regarding the government’s handling of a historic child abuse scandal.
In recent days, Musk shared and reacted to posts on his social media platform X, condemning the UK government’s decision to reject a public inquiry into the child abuse scandal in Oldham, a town in northern England.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting dismissed Musk’s comments as “wrong and certainly misinformed” but extended an invitation to the tech mogul to collaborate with the government in combating child sexual exploitation.
The UK government argued that Oldham should follow the example of other cities by commissioning its own investigation into historical abuse. A 2022 report on safeguarding measures in Oldham between 2011 and 2014 highlighted failures by local agencies to protect children but found no evidence of a cover-up. The report noted “legitimate concerns” about far-right groups exploiting the high-profile convictions of predominantly Pakistani offenders across the country.
Musk has also criticized UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of failing to bring justice to what many describe as “grooming gangs” during his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013. On Friday, Musk referred to the scandals as a “massive crime against humanity.”
Speaking to ITV News, Streeting emphasized the government’s commitment to tackling child sexual exploitation. He welcomed Musk’s potential involvement, stating, “Some of the criticisms Elon Musk has made, I think, are wrong and certainly misinformed. But we are ready to work with him. With his social network, he has a significant role to play in helping the UK and other countries address this serious issue. If he wants to roll up his sleeves and work with us, we’d gladly welcome him.”
Musk’s apparent interest in UK politics has grown since the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the July 2024 elections, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.
International
Von der Leyen’s health forces two-week break amid severe pneumonia
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is battling “severe pneumonia” and has canceled her engagements for the next two weeks, her office announced on Friday.
Spokesperson Stefan De Keersmaeker confirmed that von der Leyen’s schedule has been cleared of meetings in Lisbon and Poland, the latter of which recently assumed the rotating presidency of the 27-nation European Union.
“She is dealing with severe pneumonia,” De Keersmaeker stated in a brief communiqué, providing no further details about her condition or how she contracted the illness.
The 66-year-old recently began her second five-year term leading the EU’s powerful executive branch.
International
Algerian influencer detained in France for alleged calls to attack
French police detained an Algerian social media influencer in the port city of Brest on Friday, accused of urging his followers to carry out attacks in France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced.
The arrest comes as France prepares to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the deadly January 2015 attacks in Paris targeting the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.
On January 7, 2015, two French-born Al-Qaeda extremists stormed the Charlie Hebdo newsroom, killing 12 people, including the editor-in-chief, cartoonists, and a police officer nearby. In the following days, an associate aligned with ISIS killed a police officer and later attacked a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris, murdering four hostages. All three attackers were killed in police shootouts.
Retailleau stated on social media platform X that the detained influencer, who used the alias “Zazouyoussef,” had “called on his community to commit attacks in France.”
Elon Musk’s comments on UK abuse scandal spark government response
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