International
Orbán will meet again with Trump at his Florida residence, after meeting Putin
The Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, will meet this Thursday with former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) in his private club in Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, after the NATO summit in Washington and just a week after the first met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US media report.
The meeting in Mar-a-Lago, the third they will hold, has not been officially confirmed, but specialized media such as Politico cite unidentified sources that confirm the possible meeting between the two leaders.
Trump has been a strong supporter of Orbán, and the meeting comes after others that the Hungarian leader has held this month, including one with Putin who took many by surprise.
Different NATO countries today expressed their dissagreement about Orbán’s recent trips to Moscow and Beijing, coinciding with the beginning of his country’s presidency in the Council of the European Union, trips in which he has tried to negotiate peace in the war in Ukraine.
During the allied summit that concludes in Washington, Orbán has been seen on different occasions isolated from the informal conversations between the leaders, or also during his participation in the gala dinner offered on Wednesday night at the White House by US President Joe Biden.
At the meeting last March in Mar-a-Lago, both leaders analyzed the mechanisms to restore peace in Europe and end the war in Ukraine, a military conflict that, according to Orbán in the past, would not have erupted if Trump had followed in the White House.
A few days after assuming the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1, Orbán, the member of the community club closest to the Kremlin Government, has visited Kiev, Moscow, Beijing and Washington in what he has described as a “peace mission” for the war in Ukraine.
Orbán and Trump have maintained a good relationship for years and the first time they met was in August 2022, at a Republican golf club in the state of New Jersey.
The Hungarian Prime Minister was the only head of government of the European Union who supported Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections, as well as during the trials initiated against the now Republican presidential candidate last year.
The Republican pre-candidate for the presidential elections is an admirer of Orbán, whom he describes as “the toughest politician in Europe.”
In turn, the Hungarian Prime Minister criticizes that the trials against Trump apply a “communist method” while he considers the Republican candidate as the only person who can save the West and humanity in general.
On March 1, Orbán said in a forum in Turkey that Trump’s eventual return to power, after the presidential elections next November, is a necessary condition to end the war in Ukraine.
And he pointed out that former President Trump could also have avoided an escalation in the Gaza war, because “without the United States it is impossible to make peace in the Middle East.”
EFE has tried to confirm the alleged meeting with Orbán’s entourage, but has not obtained a response.
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
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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