International
Nicolás Maduro says that “the truth has triumphed” in Venezuela and begins a “new stage”
The leader of Chavismo, Nicolás Maduro, who was sworn in for a third consecutive term in Venezuela, said this Sunday that “the truth has triumphed” and that a “new stage” begins in the country, where the political crisis increased after his questioned inauguration on Friday, when the largest opposition coalition denounced the consummation of a “coup d’état”.
However, he said that the South American nation is “in peace, in democracy” and “in full exercise” of its sovereignty, after “the Venezuelan people” – he said – have “triumphed in perfect popular-military-police fusion.”
“Peace, stability, the Constitution, democracy and truth have triumphed, and Nicolás Maduro Moros is president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, sworn in for the period 2025-2031,” he said on Telegram.
In addition, he assured that the country will “build the peace of the righteous” and “the new democracy”, which, he added, will be “revolutionary”.
Maduro was proclaimed winner of the presidential elections of last July 28 by the National Electoral Council (CNE), controlled by Chavismo, based on results that are still unknown in a broken way, despite the fact that the official schedule approved for the celebration of these votes contemplated their publication.
The main opposition alliance – the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – accused Maduro of consummating a “coup d’état”, by assuring that its leader, former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia, was the winner of those elections, which he supports with 85.18% of the voting records that he claims to have gathered thanks to witnesses and table members.
Much of the international community also rejects Maduro’s controversial third term, including the United States, the European Union (EU) and Latin American countries, such as Peru and Paraguay, which denied legitimacy to the Chavista inauguration.
For his part, González Urrutia, who claims to be the winner of the elections, said on Friday that he is “very close” to his country, “ready for safe entry,” and stressed that Maduro “has violated the Constitution and the sovereign will of Venezuelans expressed on July 28” and “proclaims himself dictator.”
International
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday (April 19, 2025) in major cities like New York and Washington, as well as in small communities across the United States, in a second wave of demonstrations against President Donald Trump. The crowds denounced what they view as growing threats to the country’s democratic ideals.
In New York City, demonstrators of all ages rallied in front of the Public Library near Trump Tower, holding signs accusing the president of undermining democratic institutions and judicial independence.
Many protesters also criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policies, including mass deportations and raids targeting undocumented migrants.
“Democracy is in grave danger,” said Kathy Valyi, 73, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She told AFP that the stories her parents shared about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany “are happening here now.”
In Washington, demonstrators voiced concern over what they see as Trump’s disregard for long-standing constitutional norms, such as the right to due process.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
UN complaint filed against Costa Rica over detention of migrant children
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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