International

Decision on future of Venezuela’s opposition ‘government’ postponed

| By AFP |

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Wednesday postponed to January 3 a decision on whether his “interim government” should be dissolved over its failure to dislodge President Nicolas Maduro from power.

The decision on Guaido’s future was set for Thursday, but the 39-year-old opposition figure announced the delay on Twitter.

“I assume (as president of the ‘interim government’) the deferral of the session in pursuit of the defense of the constitution and (to get) the necessary unity in favor of an agreement,” Guaido tweeted.

Almost four years ago, Guaido won the recognition of more than 50 nations as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela, after widely disputed elections that kept Maduro in power.

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But while the opposition holds the purse strings to some of Venezuela’s assets abroad, Guaido’s failure to find a strategy to oust Maduro has caused his public support to plummet.

His international backing has also weakened. The United States, the opposition’s most significant ally, has sought rapprochement with Maduro in the midst of the oil crisis caused by sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine.

Some Latin American countries — including Brazil, Colombia and Argentina — have also recently elected leftist leaders in a pink wave.

In Venezuela, some opposition factions did not want to delay the vote on Guaido’s future but acceded to requests to debate further, even as they warned that bickering weakened them.

“Let us exhaust the path of consensus,” said Juan Pablo Guanipa, member of Justice First, one of the four opposition parties proposing to put an end to the “interim government.”

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“If something favors the dictator Maduro, it is our fractures and our division,” he said.

Guanipa’s party, together with the Democratic Action, A New Time and Movement for Venezuela parties, said that they had not been consulted on postponing the session.

In order to decide the fate of the “interim government,” the 2015 parliament — currently with 104 members — must hold two votes.

Last Thursday, a first debate was held in which two proposals came up for a vote: one to end Guaido’s presidency as of January 5, which received 72 votes, and another that would extend it for another year, which had 23.

There were nine abstentions.

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Guaido’s Popular Will party says ending his “interim government” would allow Maduro to regain control of Venezuelan resources blocked abroad by sanctions.

The opposition plans to hold primaries in 2023 to elect a single candidate to face Maduro in the next presidential elections, scheduled for 2024. Guaido is among the possible candidates.

International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

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In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

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Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.