International

Mussolini’s granddaughter abandons Meloni for Forza Italia, “more moderate and centrist”

The granddaughter of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini who until now played in the far-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, Rachele, has left the formation of the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to move to the conservative Forza Italia (FI), more in line with its “moderate and centrist sensitivity”.

The most voted councilor in the City Council of Rome with FdI considers that Meloni’s formation has too extremist positions particularly on civil rights and feels more comfortable in the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi and now led by the Vice President of the Executive and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, revealed this Thursday the newspaper ‘Repubblica’.

“I thank FdI for having believed in me and having supported me during two candidacies, affection and esteem remain, but for me the time has come to turn the page and join a party that I feel closer to my moderate and centrist sensitivity,” Mussolini said succinctly to the Ansa agency after his decision was known.

The granddaughter of the ‘Duce’, twice elected councilor in the municipal elections in Rome, in the last as the most voted, maintains differences with the ultras of Meloni, as happened last August with the controversy surrounding the intersexual character of the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and that she described as “a denigrating campaign,” according to the newspaper.

Khleif won the gold medal at the Paris Games and, after the withdrawal of his Italian rival Angela Carini, Meloni, who said that confrontation was not done on equal terms.

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Rachele, daughter of Romano, the dictator’s fourth son, and half-sister of former MEP Alessandra, had also been against maintaining the tricolor flame in the past, one of the emblems of the Italian Social Movement, heir to her grandfather’s fascist party, as a symbol of the FdI.

Last June there was talk of his candidacy for the European elections, which finally did not materialize by his own decision. Then she assured, in the ‘Corriere dell’, that although she was proud of her last name after her father, a prominent jazz musician, “they would only have talked about my name and they would have said: ‘Meloni puts the granddaughter of the Duce as a candidate’”.

International

Marco Rubio warns Venezuela against military action against Guyana

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Venezuela on Thursday that a military attack on Guyana would be “a big mistake” and “a very bad day for them,” expressing his support for Georgetown in its territorial dispute with Caracas.

“It would be a very bad day for the Venezuelan regime if they attacked Guyana or ExxonMobil. It would be a very bad day, a very bad week for them, and it would not end well,” Rubio emphasized during a press conference in Georgetown alongside Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.

International

Ecuador oil spill worsens as containment dam collapses

The collapse of a containment dam holding back part of the 25,000+ barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline rupture nearly two weeks ago has worsened the environmental crisis in northwestern Ecuador, contaminating rivers and Pacific beaches.

The Ecuadorian government attributed the March 13 pipeline rupture—which led to the spill of 25,116 barrels of crude—to an act of sabotage. The spill affected three rivers and disrupted water supplies for several communities, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, due to heavy rains that have been falling since January, a containment dam on the Caple River collapsed. The Caple connects to other waterways in Esmeraldas Province, a coastal region bordering Colombia, state-owned Petroecuador said in a statement on Wednesday.

Seven containment barriers were installed in the Viche River, where crews worked to remove oil-contaminated debris. Additional absorbent materials were deployed in Caple, Viche, and Esmeraldas Rivers, which flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities are also working to protect a wildlife refuge home to more than 250 species, including otters, howler monkeys, armadillos, frigatebirds, and pelicans.

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“This has been a total disaster,” said Ronald Ruiz, a leader in the Cube community, where the dam was located. He explained that the harsh winter rains caused river levels to rise, bringing debris that broke the containment barriersthat were holding the accumulated oil for extraction.

International

Federal court blocks Trump’s use of Enemy Alien Act for deportations

A federal appeals court upheld the block on former President Donald Trump’s use of the Enemy Alien Act on Wednesday, preventing him from using the law to expedite deportations of alleged members of the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua.

With a 2-1 ruling, a panel from the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed previous decisions by two lower court judges, maintaining the legal standoff between the White House and the judiciary.

On March 14, Trump invoked the 1798 Enemy Alien Act, a law traditionally used during wartime, to deport hundreds of Venezuelans whom he accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that originated in Venezuelan prisons.

The centuries-old law grants the president the power to detain, restrict, and expel foreign nationals from a country engaged in a “declared war” or an “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States, following a public proclamation.