International
Eletrobras goes private with Bolsonaro bell ring
AFP
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rang the bell at the Sao Paulo stock exchange Tuesday to mark the start of trading in shares of newly privatized electricity company Eletrobras, the second-biggest stock offering worldwide this year.
The launch dilutes the Brazilian government’s stake in Eletrobras, Latin America’s biggest electricity company, from 72 percent to 45 percent.
It is part of Bolsonaro’s plans to privatize state-run companies en masse — a promise he has largely failed to deliver on nearing the end of his four-year term and facing an uphill battle to win reelection in October.
The share offering raised around 30 billion reais ($6 billion).
Economy Minister Paulo Guedes hailed it as a victory for private-sector efficiency.
“The biggest clean-energy generating company in the world is now free,” he said at the event.
“It’s like a child who left home at 18 and is going to go out and triumph. It no longer needs the protection of the state, which was becoming detrimental.”
Bolsonaro grinned and embraced Guedes as a hail of confetti fell, but did not speak at the event.
Guedes says Eletrobras needs to invest 16 billion reais a year to maintain its market share, but was previously only managing around three billion reais a year.
Critics worry the privatization could lead to higher bills for customers.
The event drew a small protest by dozens of demonstrators outside the stock exchange.
The Bolsonaro administration has also voiced interest recently in privatizing oil firm Petrobras, the biggest company in Brazil.
The state-run firm has drawn the far-right president’s ire with a series of recent price increases that are fueling high inflation.
International
Trump says Venezuela is ‘feeling the heat’ amid U.S. anti-drug operations in the Caribbean
President Donald Trump said he believes Venezuela is “feeling the heat” as his administration intensifies its military campaign against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean — operations that have resulted in the destruction of at least two boats over the past week.
While Trump has stated that the missions aim to curb the flow of narcotics into the United States, analysts and several lawmakers argue that the operations have a broader political goal: to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down.
“The Trump administration is likely trying to force Maduro to voluntarily relinquish power through a combination of diplomatic moves and now military action — or the threat of it,” said Brandon Buck, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, in an email to Fox News Digital. “Whether that amounts to ‘regime change’ or something else is largely a matter of semantics.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that it does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, describing him instead as the leader of a drug cartel. In August, Washington raised its bounty for information leading to Maduro’s capture to $50 million, calling him “one of the world’s most notorious drug traffickers.”
So far, U.S. officials have remained tight-lipped when questioned about potential plans targeting Maduro. On Wednesday, Trump declined to say whether the CIA had the authority to “eliminate” the Venezuelan leader.
International
U.S.-Colombia Tensions Escalate as Trump Ends Subsidies, Criticizes Petro
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday accused his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, of tolerating drug production and announced that the United States will end “large-scale payments and subsidies” to the South American nation.
The relationship between the two historically allied countries has reached a low point with the arrival of Trump in office and Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president in history, assuming power.
“As of today, these payments, or any other form of payment or subsidies, will no longer be made,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Petro is “strongly encouraging mass drug production.”
In response, Petro took to X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the U.S. president is “misled” by his advisors. He added, “I recommend Trump carefully read about Colombia and distinguish where the drug traffickers are and where the Democrats are.”
Last month, Washington revoked Colombia’s status as a key ally in the fight against narcotrafficking, a certification that had previously enabled the country to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid.
International
María Corina Machado: “Venezuela is closer than ever to regaining freedom”
Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado declared on Friday that Venezuela is facing “the most decisive moment in its contemporary history” and that the country is “closer than ever to regaining freedom and democracy.”
Her remarks were delivered via video message during the 81st General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Machado emphasized that the situation in Venezuela remains “extremely serious” due to censorship and repression imposed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime, particularly in a global context where “society is built on information.”
She warned that authoritarian governments manipulate public opinion through “psychological warfare” and disinformation, while shutting down media outlets and persecuting journalists.
“The only way to topple these regimes is through the constant, relentless, and unrestricted preaching of the truth. It is absolutely true that the truth will set us free,” she stated.
Trump says Venezuela is ‘feeling the heat’ amid U.S. anti-drug operations in the Caribbean
U.S.-Colombia Tensions Escalate as Trump Ends Subsidies, Criticizes Petro
María Corina Machado: “Venezuela is closer than ever to regaining freedom”
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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