International

Maduro says he is ready to sign an early support agreement for the electoral result

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, assured on Tuesday that he is ready to sign an agreement to support the results of the July 28 elections, in which he will seek a third consecutive term.

“Of 30 elections we have won 28, that’s why I agree with the proposal made (…) that all candidates sign an agreement to recognize the electoral bulletin that the National Electoral Council (CNE) reads on the night of July 28, saying the results and that no one is going to invent, to shout fraud,” the president said on his radio program ‘Suddenly’.

Maduro said that he is ready for the CNE authorities to summon him to sign and “commit the Bolivarian people to recognize the legal results of the Venezuelan electoral system.”

This Tuesday, the candidates for the Presidency of Venezuela expressed their positions, some of them antagonistic, on this proposal.

The idea, formulated last week by the ruling campaign command, was criticized by the candidate of the main opposition coalition, the Democratic United Platform (PUD), Edmundo González Urrutia.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

“Sign an agreement for what?, the first that has violated the agreements it signs is the Government, there we have the Barbados agreements that have been left in dead letter,” the former ambassador told journalists – at the end of a meeting with leaders in Caracas -, alluding to what was agreed with the Executive last October.

In that electoral guarantees document, the parties agreed that, among other entities, the European Union should send observers to the elections, something that will not happen because the electoral authorities revoked the invitation to the community bloc.

For his part, candidate José Brito considered that “in a normal country” there would be no need to sign agreements to recognize the results, since the elections are “transparent” and “majorities respect minorities.”

Meanwhile, legislator Luis Eduardo Martínez has reiterated that he is ready to sign this commitment and has assured that he is “waiting to be summoned” by the National Electoral Council (CNE) to sign that document.

More than 21.6 million Venezuelans are called to participate in these elections, scheduled for next July 28.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.