International
Who will be Trump’s vice presidential candidate? He will announce it today
The Republican National Convention kicks off on Monday with the question of who will be chosen here as Donald Trump’s vice president, a role that has taken on greater relevance after the attempted assassination of the former president has reminded that this running mate could one day be forced to govern the country.
According to Fox News, Trump will make his decision, which he has kept secret and limited to three names, this Monday.
Saturday’s assassination attempt, in which the former president was wounded and one of his supporters killed, adds to the calculations the need for the chosen one to be capable of governing and not just represent a help in attracting votes and being a loyal “number two.”
The quality of loyalty has until now been essential for Trump, who believes that Mike Pence, who was his vice president between 2017 and 2021, betrayed him by refusing to block the transition of power after Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
One of the front-runners for the post is Ohio Sen. JD Vance, 39, who won his Senate seat in 2021 thanks to key support from Trump, whom he had criticized in years past.
A law graduate from Yale University and a Navy veteran, he rose to fame in 2016 thanks to the publication of his memoirs ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ about his childhood in a poor family and has become a young figurehead of the American right.
Trump recently denied a rumor that Vance was disqualified from the race for wearing a beard, as the former president does not like facial hair. “He looks good,” he said of him in an interview.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s dream of reaching the White House, after his failed attempt in 2016, could become a reality if he is chosen by Trump as his running mate.
But this son of Cuban immigrants faces a legal obstacle: the 12th Amendment of the Constitution prohibits presidential and vice presidential candidates on the same ticket from living in the same state, as is the case in Florida in the case of Trump (Palm Beach) and Rubio (Miami).
If the residency issue is resolved and Trump chooses him, the 53-year-old senator would become the first Hispanic on a U.S. presidential ticket.
On the plus side, ‘Little Marco’, as Trump called him before they became allies, is helped not only by his fluency in Spanish, but also by his role as a key point of reference for Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan exiles.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, 67, was little known nationally until he entered the Republican primary. He withdrew his candidacy to endorse Trump and has gradually become a stronger vice presidential contender.
Burgum is a billionaire businessman who began his career with a small software company that was eventually acquired by Microsoft for more than $1 billion.
On the downside, Trump has expressed suspicions about the governor’s strong support for abortion restrictions in North Dakota, an issue that the New York magnate fears will come back to haunt him in the November elections.
Tim Scott is the only black senator in the Republican Party. The grandson of a cotton worker in the American Deep South, he is often held up as an example of the American dream and initially ran for the presidential nomination himself.
The 58-year-old South Carolina representative, a staunch believer, never managed to get above 4 percent of the vote in the primary process and eventually gave up his aspirations, saying voters had made it clear to him that now was not the time.
Since then, his support for Trump has been clear. In January, he interrupted a speech by the former president to tell him that he loved him: “That’s why he’s a great politician,” he replied, and that if he were to elect him, Scott could be an ally in bringing the African-American community closer to his base.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
International
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
The Colombian government stated on Thursday that it would have no reason to reject a potential asylum request from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro should he leave office, as regional tensions persist over the deployment of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean since August.
“In the current climate of tension, negotiations are necessary, and if the United States demands a transition or political change, that is something to be assessed. If such a transition results in him (Maduro) needing to live elsewhere or seek protection, Colombia would have no reason to deny it,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio in an interview with Caracol Radio.
However, Villavicencio noted that it is unlikely Maduro would choose Colombia as a refuge. “I believe he would opt for someplace more distant and calmer,” she added.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also commented on Venezuela’s situation on Wednesday, arguing that the country needs a “democratic revolution” rather than “inefficient repression.” His remarks followed the recent detention and passport cancellation of Cardinal Baltazar Porras at the Caracas airport.
“The Maduro government must understand that responding to external aggression requires more than military preparations; it requires a democratic revolution. A country is defended with more democracy, not more inefficient repression,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter), in a rare public criticism of the Venezuelan leader.
Petro also called for a general amnesty for political opponents and reiterated his call for forming a broad transitional government to address Venezuela’s prolonged crisis.
Since September, U.S. military forces have destroyed more than 20 vessels allegedly carrying drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters near Venezuela and Colombia, resulting in over 80 deaths.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that attacks “inside Venezuela” will begin “soon,” while Maduro has urged Venezuelans to prepare for what he describes as an impending external aggression.
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
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