International
Colombia’s president names ex-guerrilla as intel chief
AFP
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has named a former guerrilla comrade as the conflict-wracked South American country’s intelligence chief, according to an official decree published Monday.
Manuel Alberto Casanova, who like Petro was a member of the long-disbanded M-19 urban guerrilla movement, becomes the first civilian to hold the position as general manager of the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI).
The radical leftist M-19 was active between 1974 and 1990, when it signed a peace deal with the government and became a political party.
Casanova took on the role of head of security for the new party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance.
An almost unknown on the political landscape, Casanova was in charge of spying and financing in the M-19 guerrilla group, local press say.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Casanova has a degree in philosophy and also studied public administration. He has worked as a consultant on social projects and most recently worked for a coffee exporting company.
The DNI reports directly to the president and oversees all intelligence operations. It was created in 2011 to replace the scandal-tainted Administrative Security Department (DAS).
“It’s worrying. (Casanova) is someone with no experience in intelligence management,” Jose Vicente Carreno, a legislator for the right-wing opposition Democratic Center party, told W Radio.
He said it would “demotivate the public security forces.”
For the pro-government senator and human rights activist Gloria Florez, the appointment shows a clear change of direction.
“In the old DAS we were the victims of an infamous persecution, of set-ups for which several people are still in prison. What we want is to give a different direction to state intelligence,” she told W Radio.
The latest appointment follows a complete overhaul of the military and police chiefs since Petro’s election in June as his country’s first ever left-wing president, something which has caused suspicion within the ranks of the security forces.
Around 30 army generals and police chiefs have left their posts.
Petro, who has said he wants to break from the old policy of an “enemy within” that has underscored six decades of internal conflict, wants to transform the security forces.
He has said he wants from them “the reduction of violence and criminality, and a substantial increase in respect for human rights and public liberties.”
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.
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