International
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon continues to decline and falls another 31% in the last year
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 30.6% between August 2023 and July 2024, after another 22.3% in the previous period, the Government reported on Wednesday.
The area affected by the deforestation was 6,288 square kilometers, the lowest result in nine years and a reduction compared to the 9,001 square kilometers destroyed in the previous period, according to the most accurate measurement of deforestation released annually by the National Institute of Space Research.
Retreat in the felling in the Amazon
If the last two results are added, which mainly correspond to the mandate of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a 45.7% decline was recorded in looting and 7,900 square kilometers of jungle were saved.
In the Cerrado, as the rich tropical savannah located in central Brazil is known, deforestation was reduced by 25.7% in the last year and the area that was affected was 8,174 square kilometers.
This is the first fall after five years of increases in an ecosystem that lives under the constant pressure of the agricultural sector.
With the reduction in looting in both the Amazon and in the Cerrado, the Executive estimates that in the last two years there has been a decrease in greenhouse emissions of 400 million tons of CO2 compared to the previous period.
Government hard hand
The Government attributed the fall in deforestation to the hard hand exercised in the application of environmental standards, with a 98% increase in sanctions and embargoes imposed by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment on offenders.
At the same time, in the last two years with Lula as president, indigenous lands were expanded by 8,100 square kilometers and conservation areas by 3,030 square kilometers.
These actions contrast with the lax environmental policy of former far-right Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), who opposed the creation of new indigenous reserves and natural parks and emptied the bodies responsible for the application of the rules.
The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, pointed during the presentation of the results to the “immense effort” and the “integrated” work undertaken by federal authorities and security forces to combat deforestation.
The Government also improved this year the resolution of satellite images used to monitor looting and incorporated radar technology, which allows tracking the territory when the sky is covered with clouds.
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.
Marco Rubio considered for Secretary of State in Trump administration, reports say
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