International
Robert Fico, Slovak Prime Minister, in serious condition after being shot
Slovakia is shocked by the attempted assassination of the prime minister, the populist Robert Fico, who is in a “critical” state after receiving several shots when he approached to greet a group of citizens in the town of Handlova, in the center of the country.
“He has been shot multiple times and currently his life is in danger,” says Fico’s Facebook account, which indicates that he was transferred by helicopter to the town of Banská Bystrica, about 65 kilometers from Handlová, where the attack took place.
The attack occurred at 13.00 GMT, after a council of ministers in the town of about 17,000 inhabitants, when Fico went to greet dozens of neighbors who were next to the Casa de la Cultural – where the government meeting was held – and who were behind a fence.
At that moment, when he had the politician very close, a 71-year-old man pulled out a gun and fired four or five times at Fico. The aggressor, who was arrested after the shooting, has a gun license and had previously shouted to Fico: “Robo (Robert), come closer.”
One of the bullets hit the politician in the abdominal cavity, although some witnesses claimed that he was hit on the sternum.
The prime minister was evacuated by his local bodyguards and transferred by helicopter to the hospital of Banská Bystrica, the regional capital. A statement from the Government points out that his condition is critical and that “the next few hours will be decisive.”
According to the Minister of Defense, Robert Kaliniak, the Prime Minister of Slovakia “fights for his life” in a “very complicated” operation at the Roosevelt Hospital in Banská Bystrica.
“His condition is extremely serious,” Kalinak added in an appearance before the press in which he indicated that the intervention lasted for three and a half hours.
Kalinak described the intervention as “very complicated” and added: “We all pray that the good constitution of the prime minister and modern medicine will do their job.”
Fico suffered a “polytrauma”, which affects two or more organs or that produces at least one wound that endangers the patient’s life, after being shot five times, and the politician continues to “fight for his life,” according to the head of Defense.
The police have identified the aggressor as Juraj C., from Levice, a city in the southwest of the country, and with a weapons license.
According to the Slovak press, the alleged attacker was a member of a literary club and in the past had worked as a security guard in a shopping center.
Eight years ago he announced on the internet that he was collecting signatures to create a political party called the Movement against Violence. “Violence is often a reaction of people, as a form of expression of discontent with the situation. We can be dissatisfied, but not violent!” he wrote then.
The acting president, Zuzana Caputová, strongly condemned the attack and called for calm and a stop to the rhetoric of hatred in the country, deeply polarized between supporters and opponents of the Government, formed by left-wing and far-right nationalists.
“I’m shocked. We are all shocked by the horrible attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. A physical attack on the prime minister is first and foremost an attack on a person, but also an attack on democracy,” the president said.
“Any kind of violence is absolutely unacceptable. The rhetoric of hatred that we witness in society leads to acts of hatred. Please, let’s stop her!” he added.
Parliament suspended its sessions until May 21 and increased security measures.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, condemned on Wednesday the “vile attack” against the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, who was shot today.
“I strongly condemn the vile attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. These acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with Prime Minister Fico and his family,” Von der Leyen published on social network X.
The president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, was also “horrified and outraged by the attack” against the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, and expressed Spain’s support for the politician, his family and that European country “in these extremely difficult times.”
“Nothing can justify violence,” Sánchez added in a message on the social network X published in Spanish and English.
“I am deeply moved by the news of the attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. I strongly condemn this horrible act of violence. Our thoughts are with Prime Minister Fico, his family and the Slovak people,” said the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, on the social network X.
The head of the Slovenian government has also expressed his dismay at the attack. “I am dismayed by what has happened in Slovakia. I strongly condemn the attack on my Slovak colleague Fico and wish him a speedy recovery,” Robert Golob wrote on the X network.
The prime ministers of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, and Ireland, Simon Harris, were “impacted” after learning of the attack against their Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico.
“Impressed to hear this horrible news. All our thoughts are with Prime Minister Fico and his family,” Sunak wrote on his account on the social network X, a message that was reposted by the country’s head of Foreign Affairs, David Cameron.
Meloni expressed on behalf of the Italian Government the “strongest condemnation of all forms of violence and attack on the fundamental principles of democracy and freedom.”
Likewise, Russian President Vladimir Putin has also described the attack as a “horrible crime.”
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
International
Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?
This week, you may have noticed that everything—from historical photos and classic movie scenes to internet memes and recent political moments—has been reimagined on social media as Studio Ghibli-style portraits. The trend quickly went viral thanks to ChatGPT and the latest update of OpenAI’s chatbot, released on Tuesday, March 25.
The newest addition to GPT-4o has allowed users to replicate the distinctive artistic style of the legendary Japanese filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away). “Today is a great day on the internet,” one user declared while sharing popular memes in Ghibli format.
While the trend has captivated users worldwide, it has also highlighted ethical concerns about AI tools trained on copyrighted creative works—and what this means for the livelihoods of human artists.
Not that this concerns OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which has actively encouraged the “Ghiblification”experiments. Its CEO, Sam Altman, even changed his profile picture on the social media platform X to a Ghibli-style portrait.
Miyazaki, now 84 years old, is known for his hand-drawn animation approach and whimsical storytelling. He has long expressed skepticism about AI’s role in animation. His past remarks on AI-generated animation have resurfaced and gone viral again, particularly when he once said he was “utterly disgusted” by an AI demonstration.
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