International
Cuban President denounces the impact of the U.S. blockade

October 18 |
According to the Cuban president, “the excessive migratory flows are situations that have occurred cyclically and are always related to when the U.S. government tightens the situation”.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced on Monday the impacts on the population and migration, as well as the extraterritoriality of the U.S. blockade against the island.
In an interview with Cuban state television, the Cuban president blamed what he called an increased migration due to the complex economic crisis that the country is going through on the policy of maximum pressure from the US government which induces an “illegal, unsafe and disorderly” irregular flow.
According to the Cuban president, “the excessive migratory flows are situations that have occurred cyclically and always have to do with the U.S. government’s tense situation”, he stressed.
Díaz-Canel criticized the U.S. Government’s strategy of making the new non-state sector an enemy of the Cuban Government and exemplified: “now when a group, with the best intentions, went to an event in the United States that was supposed to be a business event, a commercial event, an exchange event, not political, and they politicized it, and some of them had a terrorist at a dinner”. In that sense, he wondered “Who politicized that, the MSMEs, those from Cuba, the Cuban government? The United States politicized it”.
In his speech, the Cuban president explained that “with Trump’s measures which, among others, were also aimed at creating an unfavorable situation to seek a social outburst”, consular services in Cuba were cancelled.
He denounced that the U.S. government “has taken other measures to close off our income from tourism, such as now recently the automatic visa, the visa for European citizens: if they visit Cuba they take away the visa with which they have facilities to enter the United States.”
The Cuban president emphasized that the relations between Cuba and the United States are “relations with a tremendous asymmetry and where they are marked, above all, on the part of the Government of the United States towards Cuba as a policy of maximum pressure, as a policy of genocide, as a policy of strangulation, and it causes all those things”.
Likewise, the Cuban president wondered “When is the United States going to have to answer for the violation of human rights that constitutes the genocidal blockade it has applied for more than 60 years to Cuba?”
International
Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.
The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.
The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).
“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.
Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”
International
Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.
Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.
A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”
According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.
International
Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.
Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.
“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.
“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.
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