International

Chavez brother renounces governorship in vote dispute

AFP

The older brother of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez on Tuesday renounced the governorship of western Barinas state, a stronghold of the family, after losing reelection to an opposition candidate who was subsequently disqualified.

Argenis Chavez, 63, had lost the November 21 vote to Freddy Superlano, receiving 37.21 percent of ballots cast compared to his rival’s 37.6 percent according to projections of the CNE election body.

But on Monday, Venezuela’s highest court annulled the victory of Superlano, an ally of opposition leader Juan Guaido who is recognized by the United States and some 50 other governments as Venezuela’s true president over incumbent Nicolas Maduro, whose 2018 re-election is disputed.

Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won 19 gubernatorial races in the November 21 vote — the first in which the opposition participated since 2017.

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Barinas was alone among Venezuela’s 23 states not to have its election outcome confirmed by election authorities.

The court, accused of government bias by the opposition, ruled Monday in favor of the country’s public finances watchdog which had sought a declaration of Superlano’s “ineligibility” as an election candidate.

It said he should be disqualified due to “administrative and criminal investigations” into accusations of corruption.

The court ordered new elections to be held on January 9, without Superlano, in the state governed by the Chavez family and the PSUV since 1998.

The ex-president’s father, Hugo de los Reyes Chavez was governor from 1998 to 2008 followed by Hugo Chavez’s brother Adan — now Venezuela’s ambassador to Cuba — and then Argenis from 2017.

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Announcing his resignation Tuesday, Chavez did not specify whether he will contest the January 9 election.

On Sunday, Maduro lashed out at EU observers, whom he called “enemies” and “spies”, for saying the November 21 election for governors and mayors had been marred by irregularities.

The EU mission had noted a “lack of adherence to the rule of law” and expressed doubts over the “equality of conditions, the balance and the transparency of the elections.”

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.

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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.

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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.