International

Nicolás Maduro asks for “respect for the popular will” after being proclaimed re-elected president of Venezuela

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in power since 2013, asked for “respect for the popular will” after being proclaimed as re-elected president, after elections in which he competed against nine contenders, including the standard-bearer of the majority opposition, Edmundo González Urrutia.

“That’s what I paint as president, I respect the Constitution, the public powers and the sovereign life of Venezuela, I respect the popular will (…) I will defend our law and our longing,” the president remarked before dozens of sympathizers who gathered near the presidential palace to listen to his victory speech.

He promised that, with this triumph, he will give “his entire life to carry out all the changes that this homeland needs,” which experienced an intense economic crisis between 2014 and 2021, from which it has begun to recover slightly.

Maduro assured that he will work in his third term “to rescue all the rights violated by the economic war,” alluding to the economic sanctions imposed by numerous countries in recent years, especially by the United States.
He considered that his re-election “is the triumph of peace, stability, the republican ideal, the ideas of equality.”

Around midnight on Sunday, the National Electoral Council (CNE), announced that Maduro was re-elected for a third consecutive term, in elections in which he obtained 51.20% of the votes (5,150,092 supporters).

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The president of the electoral body, Elvis Amoroso, who announced the data more than six hours after the closure of the centers, said that the result provided corresponds to the scrutiny of 80% of the votes cast in this Sunday’s elections, which had a massive influx of voters throughout the day.

According to the first report, the standard-bearer of the majority opposition, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained 4,445,978 votes, which represents 44.2% of the votes.

He assured that “in the next few hours” the CNE will publish on its website the details of the results, table by table, and will deliver to the 38 political parties that competed a digital report on the outcome of the contest.

Before providing the results, the president of the CNE assured that the data transmission system suffered an attack, to be investigated, which is why, he explained, the winner’s announcement took longer than expected, although he did not give more details about it.

During the campaign, Maduro already confirmed that he would win the elections, considering that he is the “only” capable of maintaining peace and prosperity in the country, on which numerous economic sanctions weigh, especially imposed by the United States, which are, according to the president, the culprits of the crisis in the Caribbean nation.

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From January 10, the date on which the new term begins, the president will face a third six-year term at the head of the country, governed by Chavismo for 25 years.

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.

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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.

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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.

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“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.