International
NATO wraps up its main partners in the Indo-Pacific to exert pressure on China
The NATO summit in Washington has made clear the Alliance’s support in its main partners in the Indo-Pacific -Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand-, with whom it shares the interest of stopping China and North Korea as their relations with Russia increase the risk on the interests of the bloc.
NATO, born 75 years ago to provide security to the North Atlantic area in a context of cold war with the Soviet Union, has been strengthening its cooperation with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, known as the IP4 group, for years, but that relationship has intensified and its leaders participate significantly in a summit for the third consecutive year against the background of an increasingly militaryly powerful China.
The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, yesterday made some harsh statements against China for its “responsibility” in the war in Ukraine, today he expressed concern about the strengthened relationship between Russia and North Korea, which is the reason for “usual discussions” between the two groups.
Stoltenberg accused China yesterday of “steering up the Russian war economy” by supplying Moscow with technology and microchips used to attack Ukraine, something that Beijing described today as an “unfounded” denunciation of NATO, which seeks to “establish an imaginary enemy to justify its expansion and power.”
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, China has assumed an ambiguous and equidistant position with both parties and that adds to the growing tensions between the Asian country and NATO due to other factors such as Chinese military expansion, its economic influence and its relationship with Russia.
This morning, when receiving South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Stoltenberg emphasized the fear of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, strengthened after the agreement they signed last month and which, he suggested, could result in “support for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.”
The importance of the Indo-Pacific partners for the Alliance was also reflected in the meeting of their leaders on the sidelines of the summit with the host, US President Joe Biden, where they “viercally condemned” the “illicit” transfers of weapons from Pyongyang to Moscow.
The leaders of IP4 also participated in a session with the 32 heads of state and government of NATO, plus the European Union, focused on China’s role in the “Russian war economy.”
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, future head of European diplomacy, warned there that the cooperation or relationship between the allied countries and their partners in the Pacific with Beijing could be “very damaged if China continues to support Russia in this war.”
“In the context of an interconnected environment of threats, which is characterized by the deepening of the Russia-North Korea military partnership and China’s support for Russia’s industrial defensive base, NATO benefits from exchanging knowledge and experiences” with IP4, the White House explained in a note.
The first meeting of the Alliance with IP4 was in 2016 and was raised to the level of leaders at the Madrid summit in 2022, when NATO for the first time included China among its strategic priorities because Beijing’s ambitions and its “coercive policies,” he said, challenge its “interests, security and values.”
In addition, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States participate in the AUKUS military partnership since 2021, very focused on this first phase on the development of defense capabilities with submarines and technological development, with a clear focus of deterrence against Chinese expansionist ambitions in its area of influence in the South China Sea.
In the Washington summit statement on Wednesday, the allies reiterated that statement about China, included their concern about its partnership with Russia and warned that they face “hybrid, cyber, spatial threats” and “malicious activities of state and non-state actors.”
The Alliance is not aware that Beijing is supplying weapons directly to Russia, unlike North Korea or Iran, but considers that it sends it the technology and microelectronics necessary to create armaments, hence the hard turn in language over the Asian country.
International
Marco Rubio considered for Secretary of State in Trump administration, reports say
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American, is reportedly being considered by President-elect Donald Trump as the next U.S. Secretary of State, according to media outlets such as The New York Times and National Public Radio (NPR) last night.
However, The New York Times noted that Trump could still change his mind at the last minute, but he appeared to be leaning toward Rubio, whom he also considered as a running mate this year. Another potential candidate for Secretary of State is former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell.
The Secretary of State serves as the United States’ Foreign Minister and is typically seen as one of the most powerful officials in the U.S. government.
Rubio was elected to the Senate in 2010 and has established himself as a foreign policy hawk, particularly taking hardline positions on China and Iran. He has also been a strong critic of Cuba’s Castro regime, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega.
Senator Rubio has appeared quite close to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, whom he visited in El Salvador in March 2023. Following Bukele’s re-election in February, Rubio encouraged the Salvadoran president to lay the groundwork for prosperity in El Salvador, strengthen democratic institutions, and further curb China’s influence in the country.
International
Sheinbaum pledges support for mexican migrants amid U.S. border enforcement plans
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum assured on Monday that she will “always” defend Mexican migrants in the United States, following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of former official Tom Homan as “border czar,” responsible for overseeing “all deportations of illegal foreign nationals back to their countries of origin.”
“We will always defend Mexican men and women on the other side of the border, who are also essential to the U.S. economy,” Sheinbaum stated during a press conference at the National Palace.
When questioned by Mexican media about the appointment of former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan to oversee U.S. borders under the new administration, Sheinbaum said she would reach out to the president-elect’s team.
“We have data, and we’ll share the information, but it’s also important to establish contact, understand their intentions, and, as much as possible, work toward coordination,” she emphasized.
Her remarks come just hours after the newly elected head of the White House announced on his Truth Social platform that Homan will be in charge of “all borders” in the country, as well as the massive deportations Trump has promised.
International
Le procureur vénézuélien dénonce une campagne visant à présenter les “criminels” comme prisonniers politiques
Le procureur général du Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, a dénoncé lundi une campagne visant à montrer des “criminels” capturés dans le contexte de manifestations post-électorales en tant que prisonniers politiques, et a réitéré que dans le pays “il n’y a pas d’enfants détenus”, comme le dénonce l’opposition majoritaire.
Le chef du ministère public (MP, bureau du procureur) a assuré que, ces derniers jours, cette campagne s’est accrue, dans le but de “mal mettre, nuire et stigmatiser la démocratie vénézuélienne et ses autorités”, ainsi que de faire voir “ceux qui ont commis ces actes, qui sont détenus, comme s’ils étaient des héros”.
“Ces personnes ne sont pas des prisonniers politiques, ce ne sont pas des prisonniers d’opinion, ce sont des criminels qui se sont prêtés à des actions terroristes, criminelles, payées par les soi-disant commandits (…) et pour déclencher une guerre civile au Venezuela”, a déclaré Saab, en référence aux groupes d’organisation politique de l’opposition majoritaire.
En ce sens, il a qualifié d’”antiéthique” que “ces cas se présentent comme s’ils avaient un caractère politique”.
D’autre part, il a assuré qu’”il n’y a pas d’enfants arrêtés”, mais “des adolescents qui, malheureusement, ont avoué” que – a-t-il dit – “ont été utilisés” pour “provoquer ces actes de violence”.
Le procureur vénézuélien défend les forces de sécurité
Selon les chiffres officiels, les manifestations contre la réélection du président Nicolás Maduro lors des élections du 28 juillet ont fait 28 morts, dont deux militaires, et environ 1 000 blessés, pour lesquels plus de 2 400 personnes ont été arrêtées.
“Beaucoup d’entre eux ont reçu des coups de feu, des coups de couteau, des coups”, a déclaré le procureur, qui a assuré que, depuis lors, l’institution n’a pas reçu “une seule plainte” liant l’un de ces décès aux forces de sécurité de l’État, que le PUD accuse de répression.
Selon l’ONG Foro Penal, il y a 1 963 “prisonniers politiques” au Venezuela, dont 1 836 arrêtés après les élections présidentielles, dans lesquelles la principale coalition d’opposition – la Plateforme unitaire démocratique (PUD) affirme que son candidat, Edmundo González Urrutia, a gagné par une large marge.
Sur le total, 69 sont des mineurs âgés de 14 à 17 ans, selon l’organisation, qui affirme enregistrer “le plus grand nombre de prisonniers à des fins politiques connues au Venezuela, au moins au XXIe siècle”.
Les dirigeants de l’opposition et les ONG demandent quotidiennement, via les réseaux sociaux, la libération “immédiate” des détenus pour des raisons “politiques”, parmi lesquels les quelque 170 militants et militants de partis qui, dénoncent-ils, sont derrière les barreaux.
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