International
Trump begins to design his first decrees and his possible team in the White House
The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has begun to shape the decrees he will sign on his first day in power, including one on immigration on the border with Mexico, and the team that will advise him in the White House and in his cabinet.
As reported this Thursday by The Washington Post and Politico newspapers, Trump’s campaign is already in transition mode after the US elections this Tuesday, in which he won a second term that will begin on January 20.
Closure of the border
Trump plans to enact on his “first day” two decrees to “close” the border with Mexico and promote oil drilling to lower prices, Jason Miller, advisor to the president-elect, told Politico.
The advisor did not give details about what this alleged “closure” of the border would imply, if it would mean closing the legal ports of entry or increasing security in that porous border area, which covers more than 3,000 kilometers.
That plan of the former US president between 2017 and 2021 has generated fears in the government of the current president, Joe Biden, that there may be a swege of migrants trying to enter the country through the southern border before the transition, NBC News network reports this Thursday.
Trump already announced this week that “on the first day” of his mandate he will threaten Mexico with tariffs of 25% on all its imports if not for the “arrival of criminals and drugs to the country”, something that could mean a violation of the T-MEC trade treaty.
Trump’s team has not specified what its decrees on energy matters will consist of either, but the former president’s commitment to fossil fuels has generated concern among advocates of a green transition to tackle the climate crisis.
Marco Rubio, among the candidates for secretary of state
Meanwhile, the campaign of the president-elect began this Wednesday to seriously debate possible names to form his government team, with Republican Senator Marco Rubio among the favorites to become Secretary of State, according to the Washington Post.
The Hispanic legislator for Florida, of Cuban origin, had a remarkable influence in politics towards Latin America during Trump’s first term, given his power in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and this year he was among the aspiring vice president in the Republican campaign.
Former director of national intelligence Rick Grenell, very close to Trump and who was ambassador to Germany between 2018 and 2020, and Senator Bill Hagerty, who was ambassador to Japan, also sound like possible heads of US diplomacy, according to Politico.
The influence of Elon Musk
For the position of Secretary of the Treasury, the names of billionaire investor John Paulson, known for having amassed a huge fortune by anticipating the 2008 financial crisis, and the current economic advisor to the president-elect, the investor Scott Bessent, indicates the Post.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton could become Secretary of Defense, while independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., known for his anti-vaccine stance, is expected to have a role related to health or regulation of medicines and food in the country.
Billionaire Elon Musk and television presenter Tucker Carlson spent the day with Trump in Mar-a-Lago (Florida) this Wednesday, so they could influence those first measures and the selection of their cabinet, for whose confirmation no obstacles are expected, thanks to the Republican majority in the Senate.
International
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.
“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.
“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.
Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
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