International
Sheinbaum launches presidential campaign with border tour amidst US-Mexico tension
Claudia Sheinbaum, the presidential candidate for Mexico’s ruling party, will embark on her first campaign tour this Saturday along Mexico’s northern border amidst escalating migratory tensions with the United States.
Sheinbaum has chosen Ciudad Juárez, bordering the US city of El Paso, Texas, as her first stop outside of Mexico City, mirroring current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s campaign strategy in 2018.
The candidate will hold a rally on Saturday at 4:00 PM local time (23:00 GMT) at the Benito Juárez monument in the border city, the same venue where López Obrador launched his campaign six years ago.
This visit holds significance as just on Thursday, US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the incumbent, were at the Texas-Mexico border pledging to tighten border security and control migration.
Ciudad Juárez has become the epicenter of Mexico’s current migration crisis.
Moreover, in the past two years, it has emerged as a major employment hub within the phenomenon of nearshoring.
It’s also considered one of the top 10 most violent cities in the country and the city with the highest number of femicides, the killing of women for gender-related reasons.
Brighite Granados, leader of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena) in the state of Chihuahua, told the media that it was Sheinbaum herself who chose Juárez as the location for her first campaign event.
“This is very important because, if you remember, on April 10, 2018, Andrés Manuel also began his campaign in Ciudad Juárez,” she said.
Movement Approval
The candidate already visited the same venue on July 22 during the conclusion of her pre-campaign, where she gathered thousands of supporters.
“Juárez is a bastion of Morena for the country, due to the high approval that our movement has in Ciudad Juárez, we are very happy because Dr. Sheinbaum decided that this would be the first state in her campaign,” Granados said.
Before the rally, at 1:00 PM local time (20:00 GMT), the candidate will meet with a group of entrepreneurs at a local restaurant, as mentioned by some invitees.
Presidential campaigns leading up to the June 2 elections officially commence this Friday, when Morena’s candidate has scheduled an event in the Zócalo of Mexico City, the largest public square in the country.
“For Chihuahua, Dr. Sheinbaum’s visit means a lot, as after leading a massive event in the Zócalo of Mexico City, where she will formally kick off her campaign, she will travel to Ciudad Juárez, where our homeland begins,” stated Carlos Castillo, Morena’s national delegate in Chihuahua.
International
Suspect Armed With Shotgun and Knives Detained at White House Correspondents Dinner
U.S. authorities confirmed Saturday that the suspect who stormed into the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner while President Donald Trump was attending acted alone, adding that there is no ongoing threat to the public following the incident, which left one Secret Service agent injured.
Acting Metropolitan Police Department chief Jeff Carroll said during a press conference that the suspect was carrying “a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives” when he attempted to pass through a Secret Service security checkpoint inside the hotel lobby at approximately 8:36 p.m. local time.
“At this point, everything indicates that this was a lone actor, a lone gunman,” Carroll stated, adding that investigators have found no preliminary evidence suggesting the involvement of additional suspects.
During the exchange of gunfire inside the hotel corridors, the suspect was not struck by bullets but was subdued by law enforcement officers and later transported to a hospital for medical evaluation.
A member of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division was shot during the incident, though the bullet was stopped by the officer’s ballistic vest, preventing serious injuries. The agent was taken to a hospital and is reportedly “in good spirits,” according to Carroll.
The shooting prompted the immediate evacuation of President Trump, Melania Trump, and several senior officials attending the event after multiple gunshots were heard outside the hotel’s main ballroom.
International
U.S. allows Venezuela to fund Maduro and Cilia Flores’ legal defense
Until now, the U.S. administration had blocked the Venezuelan government from covering the legal fees of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is also jailed and facing drug trafficking charges, due to international sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
The couple’s legal team had relied on that argument in an attempt to have the indictment dismissed, claiming that preventing a defendant from accessing counsel of their choice violates rights guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department will now allow “defense attorneys to receive payments from the Government of Venezuela under certain conditions,” New York prosecutor Jay Clayton wrote in a letter dated Friday to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case.
According to the letter, the funds must have become available after March 5, 2026, and cannot come from Venezuelan oil sales regulated in the United States.
Since Maduro’s removal from power in early January, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has served as Venezuela’s interim leader.
The United States effectively controls Venezuelan crude exports, with revenues deposited into special accounts supervised by Washington.
Court documents filed on Friday show that the defense acknowledged the sanctions exemption and, for now, withdrew its motion seeking dismissal of the charges.
International
U.S. Sanctions Network Linked to Fentanyl Trafficking Across India, Guatemala and Mexico
The United States Department of State announced sanctions on Thursday against 23 individuals and companies allegedly linked to an international fentanyl production and smuggling network operating in India, Guatemala and Mexico.
According to the State Department, the network supplied precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel, which the United States has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Washington declared fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, a weapon of mass destruction last year due to its role in the ongoing overdose crisis in the United States.
“By targeting the entire supply chain — from chemical suppliers in Asia to logistical intermediaries in Central America and cartel-linked networks in Mexico — the Trump Administration is dismantling networks that destabilize governance across our hemisphere and threaten U.S. security,” the State Department said.
In a separate statement, the Office of Foreign Assets Control detailed sanctions against three Indian chemical and pharmaceutical companies: Sutaria, Agrat and SR Chemicals, along with a sales executive accused of supplying precursor chemicals to contacts in Guatemala and Mexico.
In Guatemala, authorities sanctioned J and C Import and Central Logística de Servicios, as well as intermediary Jaime Augusto Barrientos.
The OFAC also designated several intermediaries and import companies operating in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
As part of the investigation, U.S. authorities identified Ramiro Baltazar Félix as a member of Los Mayos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Alejandro Reynoso, accused of operating clandestine drug laboratories in Guadalajara.
Suspect Armed With Shotgun and Knives Detained at White House Correspondents Dinner
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