International

MAGA Movement accompanies Donald Trump to vote in Palm Beach

Dozens of supporters of former president (2017-2021) and Republican candidate Donald Trump met this Tuesday at the voting center of the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, in Palm Beach (Florida, USA), to support him and accompany him to vote in the place.

“I am here because I am a faithful follower of Donald Trump, he is a leader who can say no more, because we need a leader for the economy and people,” Juan David Rubio, a Colombian-American resident in the area, who spent hours waiting for the arrival of the former president, told EFE.

Rubio is one of the hundreds of followers of the White House aspirant who is part of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, which in Spanish means ‘Let’s Make the United States Great Again’, and who were encouraged to accompany Trump at the time of casting his vote for the Presidency.

Dressed in a black T-shirt on which Trump’s photo is printed on the words “Never Surrender”, Rubio repeated the rhetoric of Trump’s campaign about how the Democrats have destroyed the country, without giving further details.

The support of the MAGA movement to Trump

For her part, the Cuban Xiomara Claudio, who had a cap and posters in support of the Republican, explained that she was there “to support our President Trump because he is the only one who will protect this country. Not Kamala Harris (in reference to the vice president and Democratic candidate).”

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giulliani also arrived at the place, assuring the press that if the Republican loses the elections it is “because the Democratic Party is the most corrupt in the history of the United States.”

Trump’s supporters of the MAGA movement spent hours standing, enduring the sun and intermittent rain, hoping to see their candidate.

In the early hours of the morning, the line in front of the polling center was extended for several blocks, with people waiting to cast their vote, in what is considered a crucial day.

The only political activists not related to the Trump movement were some women who promoted the right to abortion in Florida, a point that will be decided in a referendum included in the ballot, in which seats for the Senate, members of the House of Representatives, school district leaders and judges are also chosen.

Trump is “very confident” in victory

Numerous media, including EFE, installed their equipment in the community center with a playground, soccer fields and classrooms for neighbors, a gym and a cafeteria.

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

The former president arrived at the place with his wife, Melania Trump, and cast the vote shortly after 11:40 local time (16:40 GMT)

“We are doing very well in Georgia (‘hinge’ state) and everywhere,” Trump told the media at the voting center of this city where his luxurious Mar-a-Lago complex is located.

Trump said that he is “very confident” in the victory, which, according to him, will not even be by a very narrow margin, to ensure that this has been “the best” of the three electoral campaigns he has starred in.

However, he complained about the probable delay in calculating the election results.

However, Trump did not go out to greet his supporters. Once it was known that he would not do it, the members of the MAGA movement left the place and its surroundings, although they promised to meet around the Palm Beach County Convention Center, where the campaign will see the vote count and followers of the tycoon have already begun to arrive.

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

Strict security measures

The streets adjacent to the voting center and the convention center were closed from the day before, as well as those surrounding the former president’s house, in a measure that had already been implemented following previous incidents such as the arrest of a man with a gun near the golf course last July.

The city has been heavily guarded. “We have no reason to think that something could happen, but the community must know that we are always attentive in case anything happens, and we are ready to act, if necessary,” the local police spokesman, Captain Will Rothrock, told the press when talking about the operation.

He added that the Palm Beach County Police Department closely monitors security during the election process, in coordination with other state and federal security agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service.

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.

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

“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.