International

Javier Milei: “Argentina will not recognize another fraud” in Venezuela

The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, announced in the early hours of Monday that his country “will not recognize another fraud” in Venezuela and added that the citizens of that country “chose to end the communist dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.”

“The data announce a crushing victory for the opposition and the world waits for it to recognize the defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence and death,” the ultraliberal ruler said in a message published on his social network account X.

“Argentina will not recognize another fraud, and hopes that the Armed Forces (of Venezuela) this time will defend democracy and popular will,” the president posted without the official results of the National Electoral Council (CNE) being known.

Also the Argentine chancellor, Diana Mondino, used that social network to ask the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, to “RECOGNIZE THE DEFEAT (sic).”

“The difference in votes against the Chavista dictatorship is overwhelming. They lost in all states by more than 35%. There is no fraud or violence that hides reality,” posted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship.

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Mondino and other members of the Milei Executive, such as the Ministers of Defense, Luis Petri, and Security, Patricia Bullrich, went during election day to accompany the Venezuelans residing in Argentina who concentrated around the embassy of that country in Buenos Aires.

Argentina is one of the countries that, according to the Government of Venezuela, would integrate an “intervention operation” of several Latin American countries against their presidential elections.

“Venezuela denounces and warns the world about an intervention operation against the electoral process, our right to free self-determination and the sovereignty of our homeland, on the part of a group of foreign governments and powers,” according to a statement, which also points to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic.

Likewise, the Venezuelan Executive accused former governors Iván Duque and Andrés Pastrana of Colombia, Mauricio Macri, of Argentina; and Óscar Arias, of Costa Rica, as well as US senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, whom he called “far-right hitmen politicians specialized in destabilizing governments in Latin America,” of being part of this alleged operation.

According to Nicolás Maduro’s Administration, “they intend to distort what has been expressed” this Sunday “in peace and with a civic spirit” in the Caribbean country, when millions of Venezuelans went out to vote for one of the ten candidates for the Presidency, including the current head of state, who is looking for a second re-election.

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Venezuela awaits a statement from the National Electoral Council (CNE) on the results of the elections, in which Maduro seeks his re-election and in which the standard-bearer of the main opposition coalition – the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) -, Edmundo González Urrutia, also competed.

Nicolás Maduro said today to his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei: “Cowardly big, you can’t stand me a round!”

“No to the fascist Nazi of Milei!” proclaimed Maduro, to whom the CNE granted 51.2% of the votes compared to 44.2% of the opponent Edmundo González Urrutia.

While Maduro, re-releaded for a third six-year presidential killing, called the Argentine president a “vendepatrias”, the hundreds of Chavista followers who acclaimed the Bolivarian leader shouted “Milei, garbage, you are the dictatorship!”

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International

Fire at substation triggers major blackout in San Francisco

The U.S. city of San Francisco was plunged into darkness Saturday night after a power outage left about 130,000 customers without electricity, although the utility company said service was restored to most users within hours.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) said in a statement posted on X that nearly 90,000 homes had their power restored by 9:00 p.m. local time (05:00 GMT on Sunday), while the remaining 40,000 customers were expected to have service restored overnight.

Large areas of the city, a major technology hub with a population of around 800,000, were affected by the blackout, which disrupted public transportation and left traffic lights out of service during the busy weekend before Christmas, a crucial period for retail businesses.

“I know it’s been a difficult day,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a video posted on social media from the city’s emergency operations center. “There has been progress, but for those still without power, we want to make sure they are safe and checking in on their neighbors,” he added.

Lurie said police officers and firefighters advised residents to stay home as much as possible. He also noted that officers and traffic inspectors were deployed to manage intersections where traffic lights were not functioning.

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The mayor confirmed that the outage was caused by a fire at an electrical substation. Parts of the city were also covered in fog, further complicating conditions during the incident.

As a result of the blackout, many businesses were forced to close despite it being the weekend before Christmas. The sudden drop in shopper traffic ahead of the holiday is “devastating” for retailers, the manager of home goods store Black & Gold told the San Francisco Chronicle.

International

Cristina Kirchner recovering after appendicitis surgery in Buenos Aires

Former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner underwent surgery on Saturday after being diagnosed with appendicitis and is recovering “without complications,” according to a medical report released by the Otamendi Sanatorium.

Kirchner was admitted to the Buenos Aires medical center on Saturday after experiencing abdominal pain. Doctors performed a laparoscopic procedure that confirmed a diagnosis of “appendicitis with localized peritonitis,” the statement said, adding that her post-operative recovery has been progressing without complications.

The former president was transferred to the clinic with judicial authorization from her apartment in Buenos Aires, where she is serving a six-year sentence under house arrest for corruption.

International

Argentina detects first local cases of Influenza A (H3N2) Subclade K

Argentina’s National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes (ANLIS) “Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán” has confirmed the detection of three cases of influenza A (H3N2) corresponding to subclade K in the country. These are the first locally recorded cases of this variant, which has become predominant in several countries in the Northern Hemisphere in recent months and is associated with higher transmissibility.

The cases were identified through the National Network of Laboratories and Sentinel Units and confirmed by the National Reference Laboratory of INEI-ANLIS using genomic sequencing techniques. According to health authorities, the cases involve two adolescents from the province of Santa Cruz, detected as part of the Ambulatory Monitoring Strategy for Acute Respiratory Infections, and a child who had been hospitalized in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.

In all three cases, patients experienced mild illness and recovered without complications. Officials did not specify whether any of the affected individuals had a recent travel history.

The jurisdictions involved have already launched the corresponding epidemiological investigations and are responsible for ensuring timely medical care for the detected cases. According to the latest integrated surveillance report, the circulation of influenza and other respiratory viruses in Argentina remains within expected levels for this time of year.