International

Cuban President denounces the impact of the U.S. blockade

Photo: Estudios Revolución

October 18 |

According to the Cuban president, “the excessive migratory flows are situations that have occurred cyclically and are always related to when the U.S. government tightens the situation”.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced on Monday the impacts on the population and migration, as well as the extraterritoriality of the U.S. blockade against the island.

In an interview with Cuban state television, the Cuban president blamed what he called an increased migration due to the complex economic crisis that the country is going through on the policy of maximum pressure from the US government which induces an “illegal, unsafe and disorderly” irregular flow.

According to the Cuban president, “the excessive migratory flows are situations that have occurred cyclically and always have to do with the U.S. government’s tense situation”, he stressed.

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Díaz-Canel criticized the U.S. Government’s strategy of making the new non-state sector an enemy of the Cuban Government and exemplified: “now when a group, with the best intentions, went to an event in the United States that was supposed to be a business event, a commercial event, an exchange event, not political, and they politicized it, and some of them had a terrorist at a dinner”. In that sense, he wondered “Who politicized that, the MSMEs, those from Cuba, the Cuban government? The United States politicized it”.

In his speech, the Cuban president explained that “with Trump’s measures which, among others, were also aimed at creating an unfavorable situation to seek a social outburst”, consular services in Cuba were cancelled.

He denounced that the U.S. government “has taken other measures to close off our income from tourism, such as now recently the automatic visa, the visa for European citizens: if they visit Cuba they take away the visa with which they have facilities to enter the United States.”

The Cuban president emphasized that the relations between Cuba and the United States are “relations with a tremendous asymmetry and where they are marked, above all, on the part of the Government of the United States towards Cuba as a policy of maximum pressure, as a policy of genocide, as a policy of strangulation, and it causes all those things”.

Likewise, the Cuban president wondered “When is the United States going to have to answer for the violation of human rights that constitutes the genocidal blockade it has applied for more than 60 years to Cuba?”

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International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.