International
Maduro urges ‘normalizing’ ties with Colombia
AFP
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called Wednesday for the normalization of trade and diplomatic relations with Colombia, which have been nonexistent since 2019 when the government refused to recognize him as Venezuela’s leader.
“Colombia and Venezuela have to solve our problems in peace, we have to… normalize commercial, productive, economic relations,” Maduro said in a speech on state television. “We have to normalize consular relations, diplomatic relations.”
The leftist leader welcomed a proposal approved Tuesday by Colombia’s Senate to create a federal commission between the two countries to work on normalizing commercial and diplomatic ties.
But Maduro also said that Colombians in Venezuela do not have consular assistance because President Ivan Duque’s government “does not give them consular access.”
Duque, however, said he would not recognize Maduro’s government.
“As long as I am the president of Colombia… we are not going to recognize him,” he said during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“To recognize him would be giving up on the values that our country has historically defended. It would be a capitulation in the face of the misery that a whole people has had to live through because of the disgrace” of Maduro’s government, he said.
Almost two million Venezuelans have migrated to Colombia in recent years, fleeing a severe economic crisis in their home country.
Caracas had unilaterally closed its land borders with Colombia in February 2019 amid a power struggle between Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido — who claims to be his country’s interim leader.
Guaido received support from around 60 countries, including the European Union, United States and Colombia.
Venezuela’s government had also broken off diplomatic ties with Colombia due to Bogota’s recognition of Guaido.
The neighbors share a border of some 2,200 kilometers (1,370 miles).
Bogota has repeatedly accused the Venezuelan government of harboring FARC and ELN fighters, a claim Caracas denies.
Maduro, for his part, points the finger at Duque over alleged coup and assassination plots in his country.
But Venezuela announced on October 4 it was reopening the borders between the two countries.
In the midst of what he called a “turning of the page,” Maduro invited Colombian businessmen to resume investments in his country, which is embroiled in its worst economic and social crisis in recent history, with hyperinflation and seven consecutive years of recession.
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
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