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
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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