International
Anti-chavista candidate promises a Venezuela with a president who “does not insult” if he wins the elections

The presidential candidate of the main anti-Chavista bloc, Edmundo González Urrutia, promised this Saturday that, in case of winning the elections of July 28, a president who will not insult his political adversaries will govern in Venezuela.
“Let’s imagine for a moment the coming country: a country in which the president does not insult or see his adversaries as enemies,” the former ambassador said in front of hundreds of supporters in the state of Aragua, where he held his first mass act since he assumed the candidacy, representing the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD).
He also pointed out that in that Venezuela governed by him “there will be electricity” and “there will be water,” in reference to the constant electrical and drinking water supply failures that are recorded almost daily throughout the country.
“A country in which health is not sick and education educates, a country without political prisoners (…), in which our airports and borders will be filled with our children returning home,” he said.
He also assured, “to those who still believe in the Government,” that he guarantees “an alternation in peace in which all political forces will be able to exercise their rights within the framework of the Constitution.”
“To the National Armed Forces, you play a fundamental role in the safety of all, I will be the guarantor of your institutionality,” the anti-Chavista continued in his brief speech, which he read pausing among the applause of his followers.
The PUD candidate, during his speech, remarked that Chavismo will not take away the “hope” of political change from Venezuelans, something that – he considered – “today lives thanks to the primaries of October 22 that recognized the brave struggle of María Corina Machado.”
“I never thought of looking for a popularly elected position, but, at this crossroads (…), we made the family decision to take a step forward for Venezuela and that step must all be taken to conquer and take care of our votes on July 28,” he stressed.
González Urrutia asked the international community to accompany “closely” the elections of next July 28, since he believes that they will be decisive in terms of the behavior of the migratory flow.
“To the international community, (I ask) to accompany us closely in this process because it will be decisive to reduce migration and make Venezuela a reliable partner,” said the former ambassador in front of hundreds of supporters in the state of Aragua, in the first mass act he has led since he assumed the candidacy.
Nearly 7.8 million Venezuelans have left their country in the last decade, mainly to Latin American countries, due to the economic and socio-political crisis, according to data from several governments and United Nations (UN) agencies.
González Urrutia was chosen as a candidate of the PUD in view of the disqualification that prevents former liberal deputy María Corina Machado from competing for public positions, despite having been elected in primaries as the contender of the largest opposition bloc.
At this Saturday’s event, Machado presented the former ambassador as “the next president of Venezuela” and asked his supporters to support this option with votes on July 28, when Nicolás Maduro, in power since 2013, will seek his second consecutive re-election.
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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