International
Lula presents a plan to support black youth with a strong anti-racist discourse
The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, presented a plan to support black youth with a strong speech against racism, which he described as a “scount” that must be fought in the country and in the world.
“We have to put an end to that structural racism that offends, beats and kills,” and with “the reality that, every day, black people are victims of multiple violations of rights” that “can no longer be accepted,” he declared in front of hundreds of young people.
“It is necessary to understand that, when we see a black person, we are not seeing a color, we are seeing a human being who has feelings, desires, who wants to live with dignity and who must be respected,” he said.
According to Lula, “at all times, somewhere in Brazil there is a person suffering verbal or physical aggression only because of the color of their skin, or being the victim of a stray bullet, who almost always finds a black body” in some poor community in the country.
“We cannot believe that this is normal and we cannot be apathetic in the face of that extermination,” the president said, reiterating his desire for Brazil to “be a country with more social justice, less inequality, and without any type of discrimination.”
He also maintained that racism is a “worldwide” problem and cited the case of soccer player Vini Júnior, of whom he said that despite being “one of the most important in the world and playing in a club of the most important in the world,” such as Real Madrid, he is insulted by the color of his skin.
He added that this happens in Spain, “a country considered rich, civilized, but in which the issue of racism still seems not to have come out of the head of a white society, which has the fixed idea that the supremacy of everything is white and that black is a second-class citizen.”
At the ceremony, Lula announced new programs to support black youth, which include various actions to promote greater inclusion, focused on the areas of education, health, culture, sport and security, among many others.
According to official data, black citizens of Brazil are the majority among the poorest and among the prison population, as well as having difficulties with access to employment and education.
They are also the biggest victims of violence, to the point that they represent about 79% of the people killed every year in the country.
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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