International

Venezuela shows evidence of fraud in primary event

Photo: @Asamblea_Ven

October 27 |

The president of the National Assembly (AN) of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, met in Caracas with representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in the country and exposed details of the agreements assumed by the National Government and a sector of the opposition to contextualize the evidence of the fraudulent primary event that took place last October 22.

He referred that recently the National Government signed in the capital of Barbados with representatives of the oppositions two agreements: one related to the political and electoral conditions, with a view to the presidential election of 2024, and the other which expressed the firm intention to defend the territorial integrity of Venezuela and to defend the Venezuelan patrimony and assets that are abroad.

He pointed out that the first of them seeks that the results of that election be shared by all and that they may be fair, verifiable and supported by the goodness and strengths of the national electoral system, considered one of the most reliable, efficient and fast in the world. All this was embodied in this agreement, he emphasized.

He reminded that it is a robust and reliable automated system, and throughout it there are 18 audits (including the inspection by experts of the machines, the software, the electoral registry, the machine set to zero on the day of the elections and the voting records, among many others).

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He explained that in one of its paragraphs, the agreement on the elections makes it clear that these conditions will be applied to the rest of the electoral processes to be carried out in the country.

He emphasized that political parties in Venezuela are subject to public scrutiny and to the provisions of the Constitution and electoral laws, such as the Organic Law of Electoral Processes, the Comptrollership Law and others. He made clear that these parties “are not secret brotherhoods, they are not private companies, they are not anonymous companies” and must adhere to the mandate of the law.

In addition to these standards, during the signing of the agreements it was defined that the National Electoral Council (CNE) is the only entity legally vested in the country to summon, organize and carry out elections of any kind and thus avoid any irregularity.

He added that on two occasions the NEC communicated with the organizations with political purposes which conform the so called Unitary Platform and on both occasions this sector refused to allow the NEC to organize the election.

He questioned the refusal of this sector to use the voting centers and tables, the electronic machines and all the support usually provided by the CNE. He assured that this could only be explained because a fraud of incalculable proportions had been organized.

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He denounced that there were no voting centers and people did not know where to go to vote. Very few were known to exist and with very vague coordinates. On the other hand, 30 percent of the voting centers were inside private residences.

He commented that then began to appear denunciations of candidates and resignations of members of the boards of this primary event in the states, among them the vice-president of the national commission of the event, who claimed the participation of the CNE in this process.

She said that the resignations of candidates prevented the election from being participatory. How can an election be competitive if there is only one candidate left with possibilities, since two others resigned, she asked. He assured that what happened on Sunday, October 22 cannot be considered an election. It does not have any quality or verifiability.

He commented that another candidate explained that there were no voting centers, it was not known who the witnesses were and the audited electoral material had not arrived, among other irregularities. He said that weeks before the primary event, a private company called Súmate -owned by María Corina Machado- hijacked the primary event and, for example, created mega voting centers -with 6,000, 10,000 voters, for example- which prevented thousands of voters from voting.

He affirmed that 25 percent of the 5,000 voting tables were never installed. He emphasized that the objective of all this was to create agglomeration and irritation among his own followers, in addition to trying to mediatically implant an opinion matrix favorable to anxiety and to politically annihilate the parties that signed the agreements in Barbados.

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There is no election if you cannot present medium or minimally reliable results, said Rodriguez.

International

Police investigate deaths of Rob Reiner and wife as apparent homicide

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is investigating the deaths of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reinerand his wife as an “apparent homicide,” amid a wave of tributes to the director of classics such as When Harry Met Sally.

According to U.S. media reports on Sunday, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles mansion with what appeared to be stab wounds.

Several political figures shared messages of condolence following the reported deaths of the director of A Few Good Menand his wife.

While the LAPD did not officially confirm the identities of the victims, it stated that homicide detectives were dispatched to the Reiner residence.

“At this time, no additional details are available and the investigation into an apparent homicide is ongoing,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.

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LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that no arrests have been made and that no individuals are currently being questioned as suspects.

“I’m not going to confirm whether anyone is being questioned at this moment or not. We are going to try to speak with as many family members as we can,” Hamilton said.

CNN reported that a family spokesperson confirmed the deaths of Reiner and his wife.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harrisissued statements expressing their condolences.

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International

U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty

The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.

The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.

Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.

“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.

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The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.

Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.

Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.

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International

Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus

Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.

“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.

At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.

After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.