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2023, a year of domestic and foreign policy challenges for the White House

Photo: AP

December 31 |

The third year of Democrat Joe Biden’s administration in the United States was marked by challenges, both in the domestic arena and in foreign policy.

Intense negotiations with the Republican caucus in Congress, summits, a surprise visit to war-torn Kiev, strained relations with China and Russia and growing turmoil in the Middle East were some of the milestones of 2023 for the White House, which also featured colorful moments in a year that serves as a prelude to the crucial 2024 where the US will decide who will be the next president.

In February, during his trip to Europe to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Joe Biden surprised the world with a visit to Kiev, kept secret until the last moment.

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The images of Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, walking as anti-aircraft sirens blared were memorable. It was the first time in modern history that a U.S. president had traveled to a country at war without a U.S. military presence. With this, the Democratic president showed that he was serious about “unwavering support” for Ukraine vis-à-vis Russia.

The controversial immigration issue, the economy and foreign policy were among the central themes of Biden’s second State of the Union address since he became president.

The Democratic leader emphasized the need to pass the immigration reform he proposed before Congress and called for unity in the face of the economic challenge posed by the war in Ukraine, while praising his administration’s achievements in managing inflation, fuel prices, wage stability and job growth.

The division in Congress, with the Senate in the hands of Democrats and a polarized House with a slight Republican majority, has led to differences with the Democratic administration, which has translated into resistance to legislation and packages presented by Biden before lawmakers.

The far-right wing of the Republican Party has been a thorn in the President’s side. The battle to reach an agreement to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt, postponed until January 2025, was followed by the negotiation to keep the government open – postponed until the beginning of 2024 -, and now the refusal of Republicans to approve an emergency package with funds for Ukraine and Israel if immigration policy is not tightened, particularly on the southern border.

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Just before the year-end recess, the House voted and approved formally initiating an investigation to determine a possible impeachment of Biden. The investigation will be aimed at determining whether the President and his son Hunter Biden colluded to benefit from Biden’s contracts with foreign companies during Biden’s time as Vice President.

In April, President Joe Biden announced that he would run for re-election in 2024, clearing up doubts as to whether the Democratic leader would return to fight for the White House or leave the way open to other aspirants of his party.

Age is one of the most sensitive issues facing the 81-year-old veteran politician. In his campaign, Biden has focused on highlighting the achievements of his first term, his career as a legislator and more recently, he has insisted that he is the best alternative to his predecessor Donald Trump, going so far as to point out that he would not have thought of running again had it not been for the “threat to democracy” that a second Trump term would mean.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visits to Washington served as material evidence of the Biden administration’s backing for Kiev in its war against Russia. Zelenskyy made two trips to the U.S. in 2023, both in the space of three months and coinciding with discussions in Congress on aid to the Ukrainian cause.

Zelenskyy has been received at the White House three times since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. The first visit this year was in September, following his participation in the United Nations General Assembly. The second was in December, returning from Zelenskyy’s first trip to Latin America after the start of the war. In total, Biden and Zelenskyy have met in person seven times during the U.S. president’s administration.

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In a historic moment in 2023, seven Latin American heads of state arrived in Washington to meet with President Joe Biden at the first edition of the Leaders’ Summit of the Partnership for Economic Prosperity of the Americas.

Biden and his counterparts from Costa Rica, Uruguay, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Canada and Barbados, announced new joint strategies that will guarantee the investment of millions of dollars in sustainable projects, human capital formation and migration solutions for the region.

In addition, Biden announced a new investment platform that will channel “billions of dollars into building sustainable infrastructure”, organized by the US government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Echoes of Israel’s all-out war against Hamas in Gaza following the surprise attacks of October 7 have reached the other side of the world. The US, Tel Aviv’s main ally, was quick to show its support for the Israeli forces, although more than a month after the start of the campaign against the militant group, the discourse has changed.

From irresolute support, the Biden administration maintains its position that Israel has the right to defend itself but has now called on the Israeli government to be more precise in its attacks. According to the health ministry in Gaza, bombings against Hamas have already killed more than 18,000 Palestinians and displaced thousands in the enclave, home to some 2.3 million people.

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International pressure weighs on Tel Aviv, while at home, President Joe Biden faces criticism from his Muslim voters, one year before the 2024 presidential election.

It was not all high-level meetings and negotiations at the White House. In 2023, the presidential residence celebrated the nation’s top traditions and opened its gardens for Americans to tour the history and of the iconic mansion in both spring and fall.

From the traditional Thanksgiving two-turkey pardoning ceremony, holiday decorations, the lighting of the National Christmas Tree to an ice skating rink for children of public servants, front-line military workers and school children, the White House also wanted to mark festive moments in the year.

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International

Former President Alberto Fujimori, admitted to a hospital for probable tumor in the tongue

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, 85, was admitted to a clinic in Lima and will be operated on for a probable tumor at the base of the tongue, his daughter Keiko Fujimori reported on Monday.

The former president (1990-2000), who received a humanitarian pardon in 2017 and was released at the end of last year, has received cancer treatment for an injury to the oral area in the past and has had recurrent medical attention for the same reason.

Precisely, his medical record was the reason for former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to grant him the pardon before he served 25 years of sentence for crimes against humanity.

Last night, on behalf of his family, his daughter and former presidential candidate reported on his account on the social network X that his father was admitted to the Delgado Clinic in Lima to prepare him and perform a surgical intervention related to his tongue injury.

He added that the medical report literally specifies that Fujimori has “an Ambulatory Presumptive Diagnosis of malignant tumor at the base of the tongue with probable right cervical metastases.”

In this sense, the also leader of the Fuerza Popular party announced that they will carry out an examination under general anesthesia and biopsy in the operating room for their father.

“The objective of this intervention is to perform a biopsy that allows us to confirm the exact nature of that disease. The results of the biopsy will still take several days,” he said.

He stated that his father and his family trust that he will be able to “overcome and recover” and thanked the prayers of those who appreciate his father.

In recent weeks, the images shared on social networks show the former president walking through the streets of Lima with people in his care and receiving in a good mood the greetings of his supporters.

Likewise, Fujimori opened a YouTube channel where he reviews his management by the government and in the last of his deliveries, last Friday, he denied that he had transported drugs on the presidential plane, as it emerges from a judicial process that recently expelled his children, and asked his followers not to be “poononed” by his “enemies.”

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International

Police enter La Sorbonne to expel dozens of pro-Palestinian students

The riot police entered the Sorbonne University of Paris, the most emblematic in France, to expel dozens of pro-Palestinian students who had settled in the main courtyard of the building next to the Pantheon to protest the Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.

The police intervention, which took place without incidents and without the reporting of arrests, at least at first, happened after another blockade on Friday by about 200 university students from another prestigious university center, Sciences Po in Paris, also in protest against what they called “the genocide suffered by the Palestinian people.”

The Sorbonne, created in the 13th century, is an emblem of the university and French culture through which famous figures (Pierre and Marie Curie, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Louis Pasteur or Victor Hugo, among others) have passed as students or professors and was one of the main centers of the revolution of May 1968.

Jacques, a Sciences Po student who went to the Sorbonne on Monday in solidarity with the protest of his colleagues there, told EFE that the mobilization was a response “to the genocide that Israel is committing, with the complicity of (Joe) Biden and (Emmanuel) Macron.”

“We are going to close ranks against repression,” said the university student, alluding to police pressure in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations and the investigation for apology of open terrorism against a prominent left-wing leader, Mathilde Panot, for a controversial statement published after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The young man denied that there is a political manipulation of these mobilizations by Panot’s party, the Unsubmissive France (LFI), the main leftist formation in the Assembly.

“We are the young people who direct the protests. Whoever says otherwise is wrong. The majority are not affiliated with a specific party,” added Jacques, who promised to “continue with the mobilizations,” as at Columbia University, in the United States.

In addition to Panot, the Franco-Palestinian jurist Rima Hassan, a candidate for the European elections, has also been summoned by the police for advocacy of terrorism.

The controversial statement of the head of the LFI in the Assembly described the Hamas action of October 7 as “an offensive by Palestinian forces” and was paralleled with “the intensification of the Israeli occupation policy” in the Palestinian territories.

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International

Desertions in the Russian Army in Ukraine are growing, according to Kiev’s military intelligence

The number of desertions is growing in the ranks of the Russian Army in occupied Ukraine, according to information published on Monday by Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR).

“The desertions increase among the armed formations of the southern military district of the Russian occupation army,” reads the GUR note. “In total, more than 18,000 Russian soldiers have voluntarily left their military units in this district,” the text adds.

The territories occupied by Russia in the Ukrainian regions of Crimea, Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporiyia and Kherson are included in the Southern Military District of Russia.

According to Kiev’s military intelligence, about 12,000 of these deserters belonged to the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Armed Forces, which participates in hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

Information recently published by the Russian dissident media Mediazona estimated the total number of convictions for desertion handed down by Russian courts at 7,400, since the partial mobilization decreed by the Kremlin in September 2022.

They also alluded to the “record” number of Russians who evade military service and are asking for asylum in Western countries.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian General Staff today reported massive Russian casualties and losses in the last 24 hours, after a week of Russian advances in Donetsk that has led the Army to recognize that the situation has worsened on the east front.

According to the last military report, Russia suffered more than 1,300 casualties during the last day, a figure substantially higher than those reported in previous days.

In addition, Kiev claims to have destroyed 37 Russian artillery systems in the last 24 hours.

Today, the “most complicated situation” for Ukraine occurs in the areas of Pokrovsk and Kurajiv, northwest and southwest respectively of Avdivka, which was occupied by Russia last February.

Ukrainian troops in this area have delayed their defensive line in the face of constant Russian attacks.

The head of the Army, Oleksandr Sirski, has highlighted the intensity of the fighting in the Khasiv Yar area, a town located about ten kilometers west of the occupied Bajmut, which is, according to Kiev, a Russian priority objective.

Despite these advances, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, assured on Monday from Riyadh that the war against Ukraine launched two years ago by Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “strategic debacle” for Russia.

“The last thing I’m going to say about it is that if you take a step back and analyze it, I think this aggression by Russia has been a strategic debacle for Russia,” said the head of American diplomacy at the special session of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which ends today in Riyadh.

For Blinken, “as a whole, Russia is weaker economically. He is weaker militarily, given the destruction of so many of his forces. And it is weaker diplomatically in much of the world, not in everything, but in a large part.”

In this sense, the Secretary of State pointed to China as a country that is not supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia, but is providing “incalculable support” to its defense industry, through the sale of microelectronic products, machine tools and optics.

Blinken acknowledged that the increase in Russia’s production capacities is something that Europe is “deeply concerned about turning against it” once the war in Ukraine is over.

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