International
Former candidate Márquez asks the Supreme Court of Venezuela for an investigation of the electoral body
Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Márquez asked the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Friday for an investigation for “conspiracy” of the National Electoral Council (CNE), which ratified President Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the July 28 presidential elections, a result questioned inside and outside the country.
“We accuse (…) the rectors of a serious crime, which is a conspiracy to destroy the bases of the republic, based on an alleged check (which affected – according to the CNE – the transmission of the results of the elections),” said Márquez, who made this request through a document that he consigned to the TSJ.
The former candidate expressed his “conviction” that the “five main rectors of the CNE are committing a criminal offense (…) by violating the popular sovereignty contained in the suffrage.”
Likewise, he asked for “counting the votes”, since “it is not enough” to publish the results, something that the CNE has not yet done.
“In the face of that immense doubt (…), I demand that the court generate a vote-by-vote count, order the CNE, or that the court do so. That he orders to bring all the boxes, all the electoral ballot boxes, because there it is (…) the vote of the Venezuelans to check what has happened,” Márquez said.
He recalled that, in 2013, the opponent Henrique Capriles asked the CNE to “open all the boxes” after losing the Presidency to Maduro, and the electoral institution allowed it.
Márquez said that next week he will go to the Prosecutor’s Office to request “an investigation” to “determine if there is a criminal offense” in the “way the CNE has behaved.”
“The CNE is jailed, but the cyber system is not under check, it is politically under a check,” said the opponent, who criticized that, after almost two weeks of the elections, the electoral entity has not published the disaggregated results, but “it can take them, supposedly, to the Electoral Chamber.”
This Thursday, Márquez attended an appearance before the TSJ, after this institution accepted a contentious appeal introduced by Maduro to “certify” the electoral results.
However, the opponent said that he was “surprised” by an audience that was “emputy,” since he was not asked any questions or allowed to “establish any type of verbal communication.”
“I was not asked for (the) minutes, I was not asked for anything. Everything was very strange, I confess it. And when I left I realized that the media had been put in a place, to which I did not have access. That’s why the press conference,” he reported.
He said that the contentious appeal “does not exist” and the “procedure they are using either.”
“We asked the (Electoral) Chamber to restore justice in this case. The president cannot exercise this type of resource and we make it clear in the document. We also made it clear (…) that the TSJ should never have accepted that document to the president. It is inadmissible because of all the vices it has (…). The Electoral Chamber is not acting in accordance with our Constitution and the laws,” he said.
International
Chile enters runoff campaign with Kast leading and Jara seeking a last-minute comeback
Chile’s presidential runoff campaign for the December 14 election kicked off this Sunday, with far-right candidate José Antonio Kast entering the race as the clear favorite in the polls, while left-wing contender Jeannette Jara faces an uphill scenario, hoping for a comeback that some experts describe as “a miracle.”
The final polls released in Chile—published before the mandatory blackout on survey dissemination—give Kast, an ultraconservative former lawmaker running for president for the third time, a lead of between 12 and 16 points. His opponent, the communist former minister in Gabriel Boric’s current administration, is weighed down not only by the government’s low approval ratings but also by a fragmented electorate.
Although Jeannette Jara received the most votes in the first round with 26.9%, her lack of alliances beyond the left makes it difficult for her to expand her support. Kast, who secured 23.9%, has already brought key figures on board: ultralibertarian Johannes Kaiser (13.9%) and traditional right-wing leader Evelyn Matthei (12.4%), both now backing his candidacy.
Analysts note that although Kast’s support base consolidates more than 50% of the electorate, it does not guarantee an automatic transfer of votes. Populist economist Franco Parisi, who placed third with 19.7%, emerges as the major wildcard. His party, the People’s Party (PDG), is set to decide this Sunday through an internal consultation whether to endorse one of the two finalists.
International
Trump says asylum decision freeze will remain in place “for a long time”
U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that the suspension of decisions on asylum applications—implemented as part of his order to “halt” immigration from third-world countries following Wednesday’s shooting in Washington—will remain in effect “for a long time.”
The president declined to specify how long the freeze, imposed last Friday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would last. The suspension affects individuals waiting for an asylum ruling from that agency, though it does not apply to cases handled by U.S. immigration courts.
The delay is part of a series of measures enacted by the Trump Administration after a shooting on Wednesday in which an Afghan national allegedly opened fire on the National Guard in Washington, D.C., killing one officer and leaving another in critical condition.
Trump has ordered a permanent halt to immigration from 19 countries classified as “third-world.” He also indicated on Sunday that “possibly” more nations could be added to the list.
“These are countries with high crime rates. They are countries that do not function well… that are not known for success, and frankly, we don’t need people from those places coming into our country and telling us what to do,” Trump said, adding: “We don’t want those people.”
USCIS had already announced on Thursday a “rigorous review” of green cards held by migrants from 19 “countries of concern,” including Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti.
International
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deploy military as deadly asian floods kill over 1,000
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel on Monday to assist victims of the devastating floods that have killed more than a thousand people across Asia in recent days.
A series of weather events last week triggered prolonged torrential rains across Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, southern Thailand, and northern Malaysia. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said Monday in North Sumatra that “the priority now is to deliver the necessary aid as quickly as possible.”
“There are several isolated villages that, with God’s help, we will be able to reach,” he added. Subianto also stated that the government had deployed helicopters and aircraft to support relief operations.
Floods and landslides have claimed 502 lives in Indonesia, with a similar number still missing.
This marks the highest death toll from a natural disaster in Indonesia since 2018, when an earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 2,000 people.
The government has sent three military ships carrying aid and two hospital vessels to the hardest-hit regions, where many roads remain impassable.
In the village of Sungai Nyalo, located about 100 kilometers from Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, floodwaters had receded by Sunday, leaving homes, vehicles, and crops coated in thick mud.
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