International
Leaders of the Latin American left warn Maduro on the eve of the elections
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, has received on the eve of this Sunday’s elections a series of warnings from prominent Latin American left-wing rulers, such as the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Colombian Gustavo Petro and the Chilean Gabriel Boric, in addition to the Honduran Xiomara Castro, while the Bolivian Luis Arce has been more lukewarm, and the Cuban Miguel Díaz-Canel and the Nicaraguan Daniel Ortega have shown their full support.
Maduro, for his part, described these elections as a decisive moment for Venezuela, in which the choice will be between “war or peace, democracy or fascism.” During his campaign, he emphasized that the future of the country for the next 50 years depends on these elections.
“On July 28, if they do not want Venezuela to fall into a bloodbath, in a fratricidal civil war produced by the fascists, let’s guarantee the greatest success, the greatest victory in the electoral history of our people,” the Chavista leader proclaimed on July 17 during an electoral event in Caracas.
However, the Venezuelan president received criticism from various sectors of the Latin American left that reflect a shared concern about the direction and policies implemented by his Government.
The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expressed his concern about the statements of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, about the possibility of violence if he loses the presidential elections of July 28, 2024.
Lula considered these statements as dangerous and unacceptable, stressing that “democratic processes require those who lose the elections to accept the results peacefully” and insisted on the need for international observers to guarantee the transparency of the electoral process.
“I was frightened by Maduro’s statements that if he loses the elections there will be a bloodbath,” he said; “who loses the elections takes a bath of votes, not blood,” said Lula, who added that “Maduro has to learn: when you win, you stay; when you lose, you leave.”
This position represents a change in Lula’s attitude towards Maduro, since historically he was more cautious in his criticisms.
Meanwhile, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, criticized the disqualification of María Corina Machado as a candidate for the presidency of Venezuela, a measure he described as an “anti-democratic coup.”
Petro expressed his concern about the affectation of political rights, making a parallel with his own experience of disqualification when he was mayor of Bogotá, and warned that administrative sanctions, such as the one applied to Machado, are a violation of political rights and emphasized the importance of protecting these rights in all their fullness, both in Venezuela and in Colombia.
“The right to choose is not only individual. It is from society and today this discussion is very well evident in the events of Venezuela to Mrs. María Corina (Machado) and others previously: they were disqualified from participating in electoral campaigns by administrative authorities,” he said.
The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, supported Lula’s statements: “You can’t threaten from any point of view with blood baths. What the leaders and the candidates receive are baths of votes and those baths of votes represent popular sovereignty, which must be respected,” he emphasized.
The Boric Administration also expressed concerns about the conditions for free and fair elections in Venezuela. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Alberto van Klaveren, said that the conditions for a free election are currently not met, highlighting the importance of democratic principles and human rights in electoral processes.
In the midst of the international scrutiny of the electoral process and concerns about the deprivation of the right to vote, especially among Venezuelans abroad, Van Klaveren emphasized the need for the international community to facilitate democratic conditions in Venezuela.
For her part, the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, expressed her support for the presidential elections in Venezuela by sending a mission of observers to ensure that the process is “free, fair, independent and transparent.”
In this same line of moderation regarding the situation in Venezuela, the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, also showed his support for Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan electoral process, underlining the importance of the self-determination of Latin American peoples and rejecting foreign intervention.
“We support the right of the Venezuelan people to decide their future without external interference. The elections of July 28 are an opportunity to reaffirm their sovereignty and move towards stability.” In addition, he emphasized the need for the elections to take place in an atmosphere of peace and respect.
For his part, Miguel Díaz-Canel, president of Cuba, expressed his full support for Nicolás Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution, underlining the historic friendship and joint struggle between Cuba and Venezuela.
“We feel… that this is also a special occasion to express the full support and invariable solidarity of our people, State and Government to the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution, the civic-military union of its people and the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro,” he proclaimed.
In the same vein, the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, gave his support to Nicolás Maduro and criticized foreign interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs, qualifying them as attempts at destabilization.
“Maduro has shown exemplary courage and resistance in the face of external aggressions. The elections of July 28 are a crucial step for Venezuela’s sovereignty and must be respected by the international community.”
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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