International
Nicolás Maduro reaffirms his intention to be sworn in as re-elected president of Venezuela in 2025
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, reaffirmed on Tuesday that on January 10, 2025 he will attend the headquarters of the National Assembly (Parliament) to be sworn in as re-elected head of state, after his controversial triumph in the presidential elections of July 28, a result questioned by many countries.
In an event with the military, Maduro said that he has received an invitation from the board of directors of the Parliament, controlled by Chavismo, to go to take an oath on the date that the Constitution establishes as mandatory and that marks the beginning of the new presidential six-year term.
“I publicly confirm that I have received the invitation letter, that I will formally attend the fulfillment of the constitutional oath (…) before whom the victorious candidate is sworn in once promulgated” by the National Electoral Council (CNE), said the Chavista leader.
At the swearing-in of the new heads of the Armed Forces, Maduro remarked that his project is “deep, direct, popular, socialist democracy,” which seeks to “serve the great interests of the nation.”
Maduro and the Supreme
Maduro’s statements come after the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) rejected in the last four days two requests for review of the sentence that validated the official result of the elections, which was reported as fraudulent by the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD).
According to the coalition, its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the Presidency by a wide margin, a claim that has the support of numerous countries, some of which recognize the anti-Chavista – exiled in Spain since September 8 – as elected president of Venezuela.
Despite the fact that dozens of countries do not recognize Maduro as the winner of the elections, for not showing evidence of his victory with disaggregated minutes or results, all the institutions of the State – in the hands of Chavismo – have expressed unrestricted support for his triumph and denounce that the PUD and foreign powers are trying to carry out a coup d’état in the country.
International
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
A 65-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested at a border checkpoint in Croatia after attempting to enter the country in his car with a deceased woman sitting as a passenger, police announced on Tuesday.
The man was detained in a routine check in late November in Gunja, a border area separating Bosnia from Croatia, the police told AFP. Suspicious because they saw “no consciousness or movement” from the passenger, Croatian officers called a doctor, who confirmed the death of the 83-year-old woman, also Austrian, according to her identification.
The woman’s relationship to the suspect is unknown. She had died in Bosnia, and the man intended to repatriate her body to Austria to “avoid the formalities related to transporting a corpse,” according to the police. Croatian media reported that the man was her legal guardian.
Once her death was confirmed, a funeral service took charge of the body.
International
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Colombian authorities arrested two nationals accused of the illegal trafficking of migrants to the United States and of endangering lives due to the disappearance of a boat with 40 people aboard, U.S. Department of Justice officials reported on Tuesday.
Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, 52, and Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 40, both Colombian citizens, were arrested on December 13 in Colombia at the request of the United States for their alleged involvement in a “transnational human trafficking operation,” the department said in a statement.
According to the charges, the detainees were transporting migrants to San Andrés Island in the Caribbean, where they would then be taken by boat to Nicaragua. The goal was to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
The accused are said to have advised the migrants on how to reach San Andrés Island, where they personally received them, arranged accommodations, and “took them to the boats that transported them to Nicaragua so they could enter the United States illegally,” the statement reads.
“These defendants put several migrants on the boat that disappeared off the coast of Nicaragua in 2023,” said Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, as cited in the statement.
Both men are “directly and personally responsible for the illicit trafficking of migrants on that vessel,” according to the indictment dated October 23.
International
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Two soldiers were killed and five others were injured by the explosion of homemade landmines planted by a criminal group in a mountainous area of the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), the Secretary of Defense reported on Tuesday.
The attack occurred on Monday morning in the municipality of Cotija, a border area between Michoacán and the state of Jalisco, when the military was conducting a reconnaissance mission after receiving information about an armed camp in the area, explained Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla.
“At that moment, an improvised explosive device detonated. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives, and five others were injured,” the military leader detailed. The affected soldiers were airlifted to hospitals in the region by a military helicopter, while the rest of the team continued with the reconnaissance of the area.
Trevilla stated that before the explosion, the military unit had located the dismembered bodies of three people, and upon continuing the mission, they confirmed the camp was abandoned.
Asked about the individuals responsible for placing the explosives, the general suggested they could be criminals linked to the local group Cárteles Unidos, which operates in Michoacán and uses these tactics in their territorial dispute with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country.
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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