International
Edmundo González Urrutia’s team says that the anti-chavista will attend Trump’s investiture
The team of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, who claims his victory in his country’s presidential elections last July, reported this Thursday that the anti-Chavista will attend the investiture of the elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, on January 20.
In a statement, the opposition team said that the US Government, which it considers a “great ally of the Venezuelan democratic cause,” has invited “the legitimate president of Venezuela, Edmundo González Urrutia, to the inauguration” of the Republican.
In that sense, the former anti-Chavista ambassador, recognized by Washington as the winner of the Venezuelan presidential elections, “has confirmed his attendance, and will move this weekend” to the US capital, where he plans to “meet with other members of the new Administration.”
González Urrutia, quoted in the text, assures that he will take advantage of “all spaces to defend the will of Venezuelans,” and celebrated that “every day” there are “more international allies who join this fight” in his country.
Trump, who last week called González Urrutia “president-elect” and described him and former anti-Chavista deputy María Corina Machado as “freedom fighters”, will begin the investiture acts with a reception, on January 18, on his golf course on the outskirts of Washington that will feature the launch of fireworks, his team reported on Monday.
The inauguration will take place, as set by the Constitution, on January 20, the day on which the Republican will star in several events.
The Republican, who already ruled the United States between 2017 and 2021, will swear in at noon on the stairs of the Capitol and, later, sign the first presidential decrees in the same building.
According to The New York Times, Trump has raised more than 170 million dollars for the events of his inauguration, a record amount driven by donations from large companies such as Amazon and Meta.
Internacionales
Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site
A mass grave was discovered in a residential area under construction in the municipality of Zapopan, part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco.
“After analyzing the recovered remains, they correspond to 34 individuals,” said a state official during a press conference. Jalisco has one of the highest numbers of missing persons in Mexico, largely due to the activity of drug cartels.
As of May 31, official data shows that Jalisco has recorded 15,683 missing persons, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Authorities attribute most of these cases to criminal organizations, which often bury or cremate their victims clandestinely.
“The construction company notified us at the end of February after discovering some remains,” explained the official, González, adding that excavation efforts have been ongoing since then.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in the region and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has accused CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel of being the main sources of fentanyl trafficking, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S.
Mexico has accumulated more than 127,000 missing persons, most of them since 2006, when the federal government launched a heavily criticized military-led anti-drug offensive.
International
U.S. targets families of sanctioned drug traffickers with new Visa restrictions
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday a new visa restriction policy targeting the family members and close associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking, as part of efforts to combat the spread of fentanyl.
Overdoses from this synthetic opioid remain the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 44. According to official sources, more than 220 overdose deaths are reported daily in 2024, and over 40% of Americans know someone who has died from opioid-related causes.
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy (…) which will apply to close family members and personal or business associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking,” Rubio said in a statement.
International
White House claims challenged as most ICE arrests in LA involve non-criminals
Nearly seven out of ten people arrested during immigration raids in Los Angeles from June 1 to June 10 had no criminal record, contradicting White House claims that the raids targeted “criminals,” according to an analysis published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times.
Around 722 individuals were detained in the Los Angeles metropolitan area during the first ten days of June, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated the raids, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project of the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that 69% of those arrested during this period had no criminal record, and 58% had never been charged with any crime.
These figures contradict the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which said in a statement Tuesday that since June 6, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an operation “to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin warned that the arrests are part of President Donald Trump’s promise to secure the border by deporting criminals, including drug traffickers in Los Angeles, without providing further details.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass criticized last week in a CNN interview that although the White House said it would target violent criminals, the raids had focused on workers.
“This wasn’t a drug den, it was a Home Depot,” Bass said, questioning the locations where raids were conducted.
Activists have also denounced the raids for targeting vulnerable workers who are easy to detain.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that the average age of those arrested was 38, mostly men. Nearly 48% were Mexican, 16% Guatemalan, and 8% Salvadoran.
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Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site
U.S. targets families of sanctioned drug traffickers with new Visa restrictions
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