International

Venezuela and St. Lucia sign cooperation agreement

Photo: @PresidencialVen

October 8 |

The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J. Pierre, on an official visit to the South American country, signed on Friday three documents to strengthen strategic relations, which will allow progress in the construction of a new region.

The signing of the documents took place after the president received the Saint Lucian premier at the Miraflores Palace, who has had a busy work agenda since his arrival in Venezuela in the morning.

“I think it is important to explain to our people how we are moving forward in the construction of a new Latin America, a new Caribbean, a new region, based on a fundamental principle: mutual respect, love among peoples, active solidarity, cooperation for mutual benefit, win-win”, said the Venezuelan president.

In this sense, he explained that the documents signed on this day include a Road Map for the Development of Cooperation between both countries, in areas such as education, tourism, fishing, food sovereignty, air transportation, infrastructure, among others.

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“In the conversation we had for more than an hour, we have reached great agreements on all these issues”, the Venezuelan President stressed, and assured that a concrete action plan has been established to promote the roadmap that will allow for shared food production in Saint Lucia and Venezuela and to increase trade.

Likewise, an agreement on air services and a Joint Declaration were signed between the Venezuelan president and the premier of Saint Lucia, ratifying the ties of brotherhood and cooperation between the countries they represent.

According to the Venezuelan dignitary, the Air Services Agreement, which will be active as from next November, will allow “opening air operations and connecting Saint Lucia with Venezuela, Venezuela with Saint Lucia”.

In this regard, the Head of State said he was “sure that these flights will be very successful and will increase the exchange of our peoples for tourism and to strengthen relations”.

With respect to the Joint Declaration, President Maduro indicated that with it both governments ratify “the principles of self-determination of the peoples, of Latin America and the Caribbean as a territory of the principles of cooperation, solidarity, brotherhood, mutual benefit, progressive and upward development of relations, the founding principles of our peoples”.

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“We have proposed to turn the cooperative relationship of joint work and brotherhood of Saint Lucia and Venezuela into a model to follow for relations with the entire Caribbean and with other peoples, a relationship that is brilliant, that gives concrete results, that raises the quality of life of our people,” the Venezuelan dignitary emphasized.

For his part, the premier of Saint Lucia rejected and described as unjust the coercive and unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States (U.S.) against Venezuela.

“We consider that any sanction applied to a country, due to its political system, is unjust. We also believe that sanctions are very painful for countries, and as we have requested on several occasions, we have demanded that the sanctions applied to the people of Venezuela be lifted,” he said.

Philip J. Pierre assured that both governments will work to strengthen bilateral relations, and underlined his hope that “Venezuela will be liberated so that it can develop its people and, by extension, its friends within the Caribbean Community (Caricom)”.

The premier of Saint Lucia arrived in Caracas (capital of Venezuela) in the morning hours, and was received by Foreign Minister Yván Gil. Throughout the day he has had a busy work agenda, which has included meetings with senior leaders of the Venezuelan Government.

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Bilateral relations between Venezuela and Saint Lucia began in 1979, and since then they have shared similar ideals regarding freedom and self-determination of the peoples.

International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.