International
Bolsonaro scores key endorsements for Brazil runoff
AFP
Far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro received several key endorsements Tuesday for Brazil’s presidential runoff election, including from influential corruption buster Sergio Moro, his one-time justice minister, who had quit his administration in protest in 2020.
Bolsonaro and his leftist challenger, ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, are both aggressively chasing endorsements for their October 30 showdown, after the incumbent finished a closer-than-expected runner-up in Sunday’s first-round election.
“Lula is not an option,” Moro, the ex-judge who led the massive “Car Wash” graft investigation, wrote on Twitter.
“His government was stained by the corruption of democracy,” he said. “I declare my support for Bolsonaro in the second round.”
Moro is famous as the judge who jailed Lula, the biggest name felled in “Car Wash,” which uncovered a sprawling web of corruption that stole billions from state-run oil company Petrobras.
Moro resigned his judgeship to become Bolsonaro’s justice minister in 2019, but quit the following year, accusing the president of interfering in police investigations that targeted his inner circle.
The resignation was hugely damaging for Bolsonaro, who had run on an anti-corruption platform.
But the president said all that was now “water under the bridge.”
“From here on, it’s a new relationship,” he said. “There are no scores to settle.”
Brazil’s Supreme Court annulled Lula’s controversial corruption convictions last year, ruling Moro was biased in the case.
Moro tried to make a presidential run himself this year, but failed to garner enough support and opted instead for the Senate, winning a seat for the southern state of Parana.
Bolsonaro also got endorsements from the governors of Brazil’s second- and third-biggest states, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro — newly re-elected Romeu Zema and Claudio Castro, respectively.
He also scored one from outgoing Governor Rodrigo Garcia of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous and wealthiest state, who lost his own re-election bid.
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Brazilian President and re-election candidate Jair Bolsonaro speaks to the press at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on October 4, 2022. - Brazil's bitterly divisive presidential election will be decided in a runoff on October 30 as incumbent Jair Bolsonaro beat first-round expectations to finish a closer-than-expected second to front-runner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the October 2 first round. (Photo by EVARISTO SA / AFP)
International
Mexican authorities bust Meth Lab and seize tons of drugs and chemicals in multiple states
Mexican authorities dismantled a clandestine laboratory containing 2.5 tons of methamphetamine in the southeastern state of Chiapas, seized a warehouse with more than four tons of chemical precursors in Guerrero (south), and intercepted a trailer in Tijuana attempting to cross into the United States with 2.7 tons of drugs.
Omar García Harfuch, head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), reported on Saturday via social media that agents from the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), along with representatives from the Defense Secretariat, Navy (Semar), National Guard (GN), and SSPC, disabled the methamphetamine production lab in Chiapas and confiscated 2.5 tons of the drug.
A statement specified that the agents secured 2.5 tons of methamphetamine, barrels containing substances used to manufacture synthetic drugs, a firearm, and four trucks. In another operation in Guerrero, authorities located over four tons of chemical substances.
The discovery took place on a property in the community of Margarita Maza, Juárez, used to store materials for synthetic drug production. Sufficient evidence was collected and presented to a control judge who authorized the intervention of the property.
In Chiapas, authorities also seized more than 300 barrels and containers with chemicals for making synthetic drugs, as well as various metal containers and devices.
International
Maduro gains support from Venezuelan Assembly amid U.S. drug trafficking accusations
The National Assembly of Venezuela expressed its support this Saturday for President Nicolás Maduro, condemning the United States’ increase in the reward offered for his capture as an “act of aggression.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday that Washington had doubled the reward to $50 million for Maduro’s capture, labeling him as one of the “world’s largest drug traffickers.”
“We reject the absurd and desperate actions announced by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, which are clearly illegal and lack any real basis, beyond being a delirious attempt of aggression against the president (…) and against our rebellious and brave people,” said the Assembly leader, Jorge Rodríguez, while reading a letter he said was unanimously approved by the deputies.
“It is precisely President Nicolás Maduro (…) the protector of the strong democracy that shelters us and the leader who firmly upholds the rule of law and justice,” Rodríguez continued. He is also Venezuela’s chief negotiator in talks with Washington.
Bondi accused Maduro of using “terrorist organizations like the Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa cartel, and the Cartel of the Suns to introduce lethal drugs and violence” into the United States.
“In 25 years of revolution, we have resisted and advanced despite constant imperialist aggressions. They have not succeeded, and will not succeed, with crude sanctions, criminal blockades, or senseless threats in diverting the noble path the Venezuelan people charted in the free elections of July 28, 2024, in which Nicolás Maduro was elected President of the Republic,” the statement read.
The Venezuelan opposition alleges fraud in those elections and claims victory, and as a result, has boycotted the 2025 legislative, regional, and municipal elections.
International
U.S. doubles bounty on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to $50 million
In February, the United States designated eight Latin American criminal organizations as “global terrorist” groups, including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, and the MS-13 gang. In July, it added the Cartel of the Suns to the list — a group Washington claims is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Last Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, raising it from $25 million to $50 million, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on social media platform X.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that labeling the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization allows for a strategic shift in dealing with the Venezuelan regime, as it is now also considered a direct threat to U.S. national security, according to El Espectador.
In an interview with The World Over on EWTN, Rubio said the designation enables the U.S. to “use intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, or any other element of American power to go after them.” He stressed this is no longer just a law enforcement matter, but a national security operation.
When asked at the White House whether he believes it is worth sending the military to combat Latin American drug cartels, Trump responded:
“Latin America has many cartels, a lot of drug trafficking, so, you know, we want to protect our country. We have to protect it.”
Mexican authorities bust Meth Lab and seize tons of drugs and chemicals in multiple states
Maduro gains support from Venezuelan Assembly amid U.S. drug trafficking accusations
U.S. doubles bounty on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to $50 million
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