International
United States: “Maduro has deprived the results they announced of credibility”
The U.S. Government said on Monday that the announcement of the results of Sunday’s elections in Venezuela, which were won by President Nicolás Maduro, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), had no credibility and called on local authorities to publish the minutes.
“By declaring a winner without the detailed minutes by district to support it, the representatives of (Nicolás) Maduro have deprived of any credibility the alleged election results they announced,” a senior US official said in a call with journalists.
“We have serious concerns that this result does not reflect the will or votes of the Venezuelan people,” he added.
The US representatives in the call did not want to address the possibility of imposing sanctions or other measures, although they said that they have “a number of options” and that it will depend on “what decisions the CNE takes in the coming days, in relation to the publication of the data.”
The White House announced earlier that it will postpone decision-making on Venezuela, including the possibility of imposing new sanctions, until all the voting minutes of the elections are published.
Joe Biden’s Administration has “serious concerns that the announced results do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people,” White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said at a telephone press conference.
The spokesman considered that it is “absolutely essential that each vote is counted in a fair and transparent manner, that electoral officials immediately share the information with the opposition and independent observers, and that the electoral authorities publish the complete and detailed minutes of the votes.”
“We will hold on to our pronouncement until that happens. We and the rest of the international community are observing and will respond accordingly,” he said.
According to the National Electoral Council (CNE), the Chavista leader obtained 51.20% of the votes (5,150,092 votes), compared to 44.2% of the votes of the majority opposition champion, Edmundo González Urrutia (4,445,978 votes), who denounced an electoral fraud.
The governments of China, Russia and Iran have congratulated the Venezuelan leader on the electoral victory while leaders of Europe and other Western countries have asked for transparency in the count.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on an official visit to Tokyo, was “seriously concerned” about the validity of the announced results and questioned that they reflect the “volunity” of the voters.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction