International
The Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires declares Nicolás Maduro persona “non grata”
The Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires, the legislative body of the Argentine capital, approved a resolution that declares “persona non grata” to the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. This is “because of the serious human rights violations against Venezuelan citizens in their country.”
The resolution, which was promoted by legislators Claudio Romero and Emmanuel Ferrario, of the conservative Republican Proposal (Pro), was processed “at the request of the Venezuelan diaspora in Argentina.” Likewise, it counted on the vote in favor of the majority of the members of the chamber, according to a statement from the institution, made up of sixty deputies.
However, the legislators of the Left Front abstained and the Union for the Homeland (kirchnerist) legislators voted against.
“In the City of Buenos Aires we are not going to tolerate dictators, people who come to violate human rights, people who make atrocities in their country in the name of a revolution that does not exist, people who use torture as a method of government,” said legislator Romero.
Elisa Trotta, general secretary of the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy (FADD, an organization created in 2020), welcomed the decision adopted by the Buenos Aires Legislature, considering that it represents a strong message of support for the more than 220,000 Venezuelans “who have had to escape from their country and settle in Argentina.”
“Autocrats, like Maduro, must know that their crimes will not go unpunished and that the world is not their backyard to walk around with their hands stained with blood,” added Trotta, an Argentine Venezuelan diplomat.
The resolution was approved 45 days before the presidential elections that will take place in the Caribbean country.
“Venezuelans are in the streets, accompanying the national liberation movement led by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González (anti-Chavist opponents),” added Trotta, who declared that “the world is watching and will not allow the will of citizens to be expressed at the polls on July 28 to be stolen.”
Six citizens opposed to the Government of Venezuela have been in asylum since March 26 in the residence of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas.
On May 30, the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino, demanded from Venezuela “the immediate issuance of safe-conducts,” in compliance with the 1954 Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum, so that this group can leave 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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