International
Puerto Rican voters in the US do not forget the insult to Puerto Rico by casting their vote
Life in El Barrio, the traditional Puerto Rican neighborhood of New York, took place this Tuesday with businesses open and almost empty like their streets, unlike polling centers where the flow of voters did not stop, a large number of them ‘boricuas’ who, when casting their vote, did not forget the insult to their country that a Republican supporter made at a rally last October 27.
“That offended me, that’s not said,” Juan, 67, told EFE, accompanied by his brother William, 68, who, in a wheelchair and having trouble speaking, moved his head giving him the reason. (they referred to the qualifier of Puerto Rico as a “floating garbage island” pronounced by a comic ‘headline’ at a Trump rally in New York).
Both were born in Puerto Rico and today voted for the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, like many other residents of El Barrio, where no surprises are expected with the results, at least there.
However, voters interviewed by EFE expressed their concern about the country’s overall results in the face of an electoral race against Republican Donald Trump, which has been characterized by its very narrow margins.
Annoyance for comments
These were the second elections as a citizen for the Mexican Maricruz Eduardo, who said at the exit of the polling station that she supported Harris because she believes in the power of women. “I am one of them,” she said, “by raising four children alone in New York, with whom she emigrated only with a Mexican peso “that they gave me when she was going to come.”
Eduardo said she was upset with Trump’s comments against immigrants because, he recalled, she worked hard to get her children ahead as a seamstress and then as a caregiver at home. “I want women to win!” he said.
The presidential elections in centers visited by EFE in the Bronx and Harlem have attracted a large number of people, who alone or accompanied by relatives, in wheelchairs or with canes, came early to cast their vote.
“Many people have come, even people who had not voted before” although they are registered to vote, commented a worker from El Bronx.
In El Barrio it was no different. Congressman Adriano Espaillat also voted there, who attended with a delegation of Dominican legislators whom he invited to observe the process in the district he represents and that includes Harlem.
“I was surprised by the level of voting today because many already voted early. Hispanics have gone out to vote in large numbers,” he said, and assured that at the end of the election “there will be surprises.”
He expressed “optimistic” that in the seven ‘hinge’ states, which are key to the results, they end up leaning towards Harris.
Passions and divisions
Trump’s candidacy provokes passions among his followers and has divided even families, a community activist from Hispanic Harlem told EFE, who was outraged by the comments of the Republican comedian who called Puerto Rico an “garbage island” and who cannot understand “how a Puerto Rican can vote for Trump.
Margarita even spoke about Trump and the Republicans’ position of opposing abortion by recalling that she had to undergo one because her five-month-old fetus had died. “I had access to health services,” which not many women have in states where they have passed very restrictive anti-abortion laws that have already cost the lives of some women, she says.
While in Midtown, the head of a polling center, Michael Bushman, explained that unlike other years, today there have been fewer queues, since in the nine days of early voting “many people came.”
New York began allowing early voting in 2019.
“Before early voting existed, queues formed that went around the block, but since people have nine days to vote in advance, there are no queues. Today, there is a constant but fluid movement. Voters don’t have to wait an hour or two,” says Bushman.
In total, 1,089,328 residents of the city voted in advance, a number slightly lower than in the 2020 presidential elections, when more than 1.1 million people voted before election day.
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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