International
Venezuela’s Maduro replaces oil company chief
January 6th | By AFP |
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday replaced a cousin of his predecessor Hugo Chavez as head of state oil company PDVSA with engineer and military officer Pedro Rafael Tellechea.
The change comes as Venezuela, once an oil-exporting giant, seeks to regain some of its former glory and play a bigger role in a market rattled by the war in Ukraine.
Tellechea, head of the Pequiven petrochemical company, “will consolidate the momentum of the national oil industry,” Maduro wrote on Twitter.
Outgoing PDVSA head Asdrubal Chavez, at the helm since April 2020, “will soon have new responsibilities,” he added.
Venezuela was once one of the world’s largest oil producers, with output of more than three million barrels per day in 2008.
Production plummeted over time to about 300,000 barrels per day due to a combination of poor management and lacking investment, but has recently risen again to about 700,000 barrels per day.
Maduro blames US sanctions for the decline, but most experts say it predates the punitive measures against a president whose 2018 reelection was dismissed as fraudulent by dozens of countries.
Washington insisted this week it still did not consider Maduro to be Venezuela’s legitimate president.
But in March last year, shortly after the start of the Ukraine war, the Biden administration sent a delegation to meet Maduro and in November gave the green light for US oil giant Chevron to resume operations in Venezuela.
Tellechea had led a successful offensive of the Maduro government to reclaim control in Colombia of petrochemical company Monomeros, a subsidiary of Pequiven.
Colombia’s former president Ivan Duque had entrusted control of Monomeros to Juan Guaido, who the US and dozens of other countries had viewed as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Maduro clung on to power and ties between the neighbors, suspended under Duque, have been reset under Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first-ever leftist president.
Maduro also announced that Yvan Gil Pinto, deputy foreign minister for Europe, would take over as foreign minister from Carlos Faria, in the post since May 2022.
International
Floods in Central Vietnam leave 28 dead, thousands displaced
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in central Vietnam has risen to 28, with six people reported missing and 43 injured, local newspaper VnExpress reported Friday night.
More than 22,100 homes remain flooded, primarily in the cities of Hue and Da Nang. Floods and landslides have destroyed or swept away 91 houses and damaged another 181, the report added.
Around 245,000 households are still without electricity, particularly in Da Nang, where over 225,000 homes are affected.
Additionally, 80 stretches of national highways are blocked or disrupted due to landslides. Authorities expect the flooding to continue for another day or two in the region.
International
FBI foils ISIS-Inspired attack in Michigan, arrests five teens
Kash Patel did not provide further details, but police sources told CBS News that the potential attack was “inspired” by the Islamic State (ISIS).
“This morning, the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested several individuals in Michigan who were allegedly planning a violent attack during the Halloween weekend,” Patel wrote on X.
“Thanks to swift action and close coordination with our local partners, a possible terrorist act was prevented before it could be carried out,” he added.
CBS reported that five people between the ages of 16 and 20 were arrested on Friday. At least one of them was reportedly acquainted with a former member of the Michigan National Guard, who was arrested in May for plotting an ISIS-inspired attack on a U.S. military facility in the Detroit suburbs.
International
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressed concerns over China’s growing military activity near Taiwan during a meeting on Friday with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was a constructive and positive meeting,” Hegseth wrote on X. “I emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and raised U.S. concerns about China’s actions around Taiwan,” the self-governed island that Beijing claims and does not rule out invading.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea. According to Trump, Taiwan was not discussed during their talks.
“The United States does not seek conflict and will continue to firmly defend its interests, ensuring it maintains the capability to do so in the region,” Hegseth added in his message.
Friday’s encounter followed a September 9 video call between Hegseth and Dong. Their previously planned meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore was canceled due to Dong’s absence from the event.
Trump’s sit-down with Xi — their first since 2019 — resulted in some trade agreements but avoided addressing the issue of Taiwan, a long-standing source of tension between the world’s two largest powers.
Trump has taken a more ambiguous stance on Taiwan’s future compared with former President Joe Biden, who repeatedly stated that Washington would support Taipei if China launched an invasion. The Republican president has also criticized Taiwan for “stealing” the U.S. semiconductor industry.
Floods in Central Vietnam leave 28 dead, thousands displaced
FBI foils ISIS-Inspired attack in Michigan, arrests five teens
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
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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