International

Colombia will not send an observation mission for the presidential elections in Venezuela

The Colombian Government will not send an electoral observation mission to the presidential elections of Venezuela on July 28, as it does not have enough time to structure it, the Foreign Minister of Colombia, Luis Gilberto Murillo, reported on Thursday.

“We obviously intended to be able to send some technical observers. We had conversations with the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) to do so; however, due to the time, it was not possible to structure an observation with the technical characteristics required by the MOE,” Murillo explained to journalists.

Venezuelans are called to elect president in the elections to be held on July 28, for which they must be registered in the Electoral Registry.

Foreign Minister Murillo explained that “some Colombian personalities will be in that observation (…) in this we want to keep a lot of prudence, zero protagonism and also be able to contribute to what is within our reach on the part of the Government, the authorities and the Venezuelan people.”

He also said that the Colombian Government wants “this process to go well for the benefit of Venezuelans and also for the region where Colombia has a brotherhood with Venezuela and a closeness that is important to maintain it in good health.”

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Regarding the elections in Venezuela, Murillo indicated that he has been talking with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil, as well as with other countries in the region.

“We had talks with Foreign Minister Mauro Viera of Brazil yesterday (Wednesday) on the subject, also with Minister (Josep) Borrell” of the European Union (EU), he said.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela annulled last Tuesday the invitation to the EU to send an observation mission for the presidential elections due to the ratification of sanctions by the community bloc to members of the Government and the ruling party.

The presidential race in Venezuela has accelerated, less than two months before the elections, with Chavismo and opposition in the streets, making a proselytizing that does not stop, despite the changing reality that is conditioning the political environment and the confidence of the electorate.

President Nicolás Maduro and former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia are the clear contenders of this battle, in which eight other candidates compete who do not stand out in the voting intentions collected by the pollsters.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

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.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

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.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

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.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

“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.