International
Venezuelan President receives diplomat Alex Saab after his release from prison

December 21 |
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro received on Wednesday diplomat Alex Saab, who was released after more than 1,280 days kidnapped in the United States (US).
The meeting is held at the Miraflores Palace, seat of the Government, in Caracas (capital), after the diplomat arrived in the country at the International Airport of Maiquetía Simón Bolívar, in the state of La Guaira, being received by the first combatant and deputy of the National Assembly, Cilia Flores, along with the diplomat’s wife, Camila Fabri, and other family members.
After receiving the diplomat, the President declared that “the only truth is that Alex Saab’s only crime was to overcome criminal sanctions, to look for medicines in times of pandemic”.
“I want to welcome this brave man, patriot, who resisted 1,280 days, 40 months, the most adverse conditions, the most painful, of kidnapping, filthy jails, physical torture, psychological torture, threats, lies; and after 1,280 days of kidnapping, the truth has triumphed, justice has triumphed”, he highlighted.
The Head of State said that he knew that “this day had to come, and this day has arrived”; he also thanked the efforts made by the President of the National Assembly (AN), Jorge Rodríguez, as well as the Governor of Miranda State, Héctor Rodríguez, “who have led this whole process that has allowed this exchange today with the Government of the United States of America, and the safe, alive and free rescue of Alex Saab Morán”.
“All the medicines that you were looking for Alex, arrived to the people; all the vaccines, arrived to the people. While you were kidnapped and tortured in Cape Verde, infamous Cape Verde, all those vaccines and medicines arrived. When that tremendous crisis due to the blockade, all the gasoline that you got in the world, arrived; all the food for the CLAP, arrived while you were kidnapped, Alex. All this arrived for a dignified people”, the President emphasized.
President Maduro also thanked “the negotiation part, Dr. Gerardo Blyde, and all the negotiation commission of the Barbados table, because they have also been part of the Barbados agreements and of this exchange that has taken place today”.
“I would like to thank in a very special way the Emir of Qatar, the State of Qatar, the Government of Qatar, because it has been a brilliant facilitator, of exquisite diplomacy for the rapprochement, for the dialogues, for the signing of the agreements, and for the partial fulfillment of the signed agreements (…) I am very grateful to all those who have contributed for this agreement to be fulfilled, for this positive step to be taken, for this exchange to take place”, he declared.
The President indicated to his US counterpart, Joe Biden, as well as to the politicians of that country, that “here is Venezuela standing up, with its own model, independent, sovereign, we will be nobody’s colony”. Likewise, he explained that they had previously talked with former President Donald Trump for the release of Saab, “we almost had it ready, what happened is that he lost the elections and there was a change of government, then we had to start all over again, but with Donald Trump we already had an agreement ready”.
On his part, diplomat Saab stated that “life is a constant miracle and today the miracle of freedom, the miracle of justice, has come true”, and thanked those who supported him during his kidnapping.
Thanks to the people of Venezuela. I am proud to serve the people of Venezuela and to serve this Government, a humane Government, a loyal Government, a Government that does not abandon and a Government that, like me, never gives up.
Previously, the Venezuelan Government informed in a communiqué, published by the Vice President of Communication, Culture and Tourism, Freddy Ñáñez, in which it is emphasized that “the people receive him with pride after having suffered three and a half years of illegal detention under cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, violating his human rights and the Vienna Convention that confers diplomatic immunity”.
At the time, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry denounced the arbitrary detention of diplomat Saab in Cape Verde, on June 12, 2020, and his illegal transfer to the U.S., on October 16, 2021.
“At the time of his illegal capture, Saab was traveling to Iran as a diplomatic agent of the Venezuelan State, in order to facilitate the acquisition of food in view of the impact of the Unilateral Coercive Measures (MCU) against the Local Supply and Production Committees (Clap), a mechanism of articulation with the communities that distributes food to more than 7 million families,” the Foreign Ministry explained.
International
China shows at the UN its “condemnation” of Israel for the “violation of Iran’s sovereignty”

The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, showed the “condemnation” of his country against the “violation of the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Iran” after the air attack launched by Israel against multiple targets in that country, the official newspaper Diario del Pueblo reports this Saturday.
That media echoes Fu’s speech to the UN Security Council on Friday, in which he demanded that Israel “immediately stop all its military actions.”
“China (…) opposes the expansion of conflicts, and is deeply concerned about the serious consequences that may arise from Israel’s actions. The intensification of regional tensions does not interest any of the parties involved,” said the Chinese emissary.
Beijing called on Tel Aviv and Tehran to “resolve their disputes through political and diplomatic means, and maintain peace and stability at the regional level jointly.”
In Fu’s view, the Israeli attack will have a “negative impact” on the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program: “China has always been committed to the peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and consultations, and opposes the use of force, illegal unilateral sanctions and armed attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities.”
This Friday, China had already expressed its willingness to “play a constructive role” to curb the escalation of tensions and facilitate conciliation, in line with its traditional position of active neutrality in the region’s conflicts.
The Israeli attack, which according to Tehran caused dozens of deaths, including senior military commanders and at least six nuclear scientists, targeted key facilities such as the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Numerous civilian casualties were also reported.
Israel justified the offensive by claiming that the Iranian regime is secretly developing a program to manufacture nuclear weapons.
For his part, Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, promised a “severe response” and assured that the attack would reveal the “evil nature” of Israel.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed concern about the bombing, at a time when Iran and the US The United States is holding talks about the Iranian nuclear program.
International
Donald Trump’s government pauses its program of indiscriminate raides against migrants

The government of US President Donald Trump has decided to pause its campaign of discretionary roundings against migrants in certain areas due to its apparent concern about the growing unpopularity of these methods, according to The New York Times newspaper on Friday.
According to an email to which the newspaper has had access and the confirmation of US officials, the Executive has ordered the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) to pause the beatings that affect the agricultural industry and the hospitality industry.
The spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed in a statement that “the president’s instructions” will be obeyed and the portfolio will also continue to “work to get the worst illegal foreign criminals out of the streets of the United States.”
The decision points out that this campaign of discretionary arrests to try to deport large-scale immigrants is harming industries and electoral constituencies whose support Trump wants to retain for next year’s legislative elections.
The new instructions were transmitted to ICE in an email sent last Thursday asking that “all investigations/law enforcement operations be suspended in work centers in the agricultural sector (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and hotels.”
These new guidelines come in turn after more than a week of intense protests in Los Angeles against this immigration policy and that Trump himself admitted that the raids seem to be affecting the agricultural sector, which in states like California, where beatings have intensified, depend almost exclusively on immigrant labor.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has implemented an aggressive policy of hard hand against immigration and as a sample of his Cabinet officials recently held a meeting with the ICE leadership to order them to carry out 3,000 arrests a day, a mandate that seems to be behind the intensification of the raids.
International
Trump says he knew “everything” about the attack on Iran and assures that the dialogue remains open

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington “known everything” about the Israeli attack on Iran and that the dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear program “is not dead.”
“We knew everything and I tried to avoid Iran all this humiliation and death. I tried hard to avoid it because I would have loved to see an agreement,” Trump said in an interview with Reuters.
The US president insisted on what he wrote today about the attack on social networks, where he said he gave an ultimatum of 60 days to Tehran to reach an agreement.
“We knew practically everything. We knew enough to give Iran 60 days to reach an agreement and today it is already 61 days,” he explained in the interview, in which he said he did not know what the current situation of the Iranian nuclear program is after the attack launched by Israel, which also ended the lives of key military leaders of the Persian country.
Regarding the dialogue between the US and Iran about the nuclear program of the ayatollahs, Trump assured that “he is not dead”, that “an agreement is still possible” and also recalled that on Sunday a sixth round of dialogue is scheduled in Muscat (Oman) that they consider is now in the air.
“We have a meeting with them on Sunday. Now, I’m not sure if that meeting will take place, but we have a meeting with them on Sunday,” he said.
The United States and Iran have held five rounds of talks on the Iranian nuclear program since April, with Washington demanding that Tehran discard its capabilities both to manufacture an atomic bomb and to enrich uranium, something that the ayatollahs considered unacceptable.
Both Israel and Trump himself had warned of possible preventive attacks on the Persian country due to this refusal by Iran.
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