International
Nobel Prize winner Óscar Arias: Maduro leads a “narco-state” and it is difficult for him to surrender power
The former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Óscar Arias, said in an interview with EFE that the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, leads a “dictatorship” and a “narco-state,” so he considers it difficult for him to hand over power.
“I feel very sad but it hasn’t been something I wouldn’t have imagined. It’s not a surprise. I anticipated it because the dictators do not know how to move away from the presidential chair and, in addition, there is something very peculiar about the Government of Venezuela, and that is that it is a narco-state,” Arias said.
The 1987 Nobel Peace Prize assured that the elections of last July 28 in Venezuela were “a farce” in which Maduro “stole” the triumph and the Venezuelan people do not “deserve” that.
“The Venezuelan people deserve the government to be handed over to the winner but, unfortunately, I am very skeptical. It is not easy for a narco-state, knowing that they are going to rot in a dungeon, to hand over power,” Arias said.
The president of Costa Rica, who ruled between 1986 and 1990 and between 2006 and 2010, considered that it is “difficult” for Maduro to leave power, but that he still hopes that the situation may change because “putting Venezuela to produce is impossible with a dictatorship like the one that Maduro has.”
“Unfortunately what is going to happen with six more years of Maduro is that that people, already miserable, suffering from hunger, are going to become more and more impoverished. It is impossible, with that ideology that the Chavistas have, to be able to take out (before) that country, think about foreign investment, domestic investment, that they can diversify the economy, end inflation,” he said.
Arias, 83 years old, regretted that Mexico, Colombia and Brazil have not been so blunt when referring to the Venezuelan elections, although he clarified that it may be understandable if their intention is to be mediators.
“I thought that Mexico, Colombia and Brazil were going to tell Maduro: ‘your choice was a robbery, you stole the election of the Venezuelan people disrespecting the will of that people expressed at the polls, you committed a fraud that cannot be hidden’, but I was wrong, they didn’t do that. I understand that if the role is to mediate, they don’t have to be so blunt,” he said.
Arias assured that in advance all the polls gave as the winner the opponent Edmundo González, supported by the leader María Corina Machado, in a context in which there is “a very great discontent” with the Maduro Government and Chavismo, in general.
“The rulers of Venezuela, (Hugo) Chávez (already deceased) and Maduro have done a lot of damage. In Venezuela, killing a person is called homicide, but starving an entire people is called Chavismo and that’s what has happened. The best example is that more than 7 million Venezuelans have left (emigrated),” he said.
The Government of Venezuela denounced on Thursday to ambassadors that the electoral records released by anti-chavism are false and intend to “ignore the results” of the presidential elections, in which the electoral body ratified Nicolás Maduro as the winner, a victory questioned inside and outside the country.
For its part, the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), disclosed on a website “83.5%” of the electoral acts that, they insist, demonstrate the triumph of its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, something that the Government of Venezuela rejects when considering that they are “forged documents.”
The Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office announced last Wednesday an investigation for “conspiracy” and other crimes on the website where the majority opposition disclosed the minutes of the presidential elections.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) has not published the minutes that certify Maduro’s victory, as indicated by the legal regulations, and left in the hands of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) the process of “certification” of the official result, at the request of the president.
Former President Arias said that “for a long time” there are no independent institutions in Venezuela, since they all respond to Maduro’s orders.
International
Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
Luigi Mangione admitted Friday to fatally shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest health insurance group in the United States, during an appearance before a federal judge.
The case shocked the U.S. business community and dates back to December 2024, when Mangione opened fire on Thompson, 50, on a Manhattan street. Prosecutors have described the attack as being motivated by Mangione’s opposition to the U.S. health insurance system.
“On the morning of December 4, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said as he pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge related to his pursuit of the executive.
Mangione, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, and prosecutors have indicated that they will seek a life sentence.
In addition to the federal charges related to stalking Thompson, Mangione also faces a murder case brought by the state of New York.
Following his guilty plea in federal court, Mangione’s defense asked a state court to dismiss the state charges, arguing that prosecuting him again for the same conduct would violate protections against double jeopardy.
“We have just filed our motion in state court to explain why the charges should be dismissed under New York’s protections against double jeopardy,” Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Friday.
Both the federal and state cases could result in a life sentence. Two other federal charges that initially carried the possibility of the death penalty were dismissed by a judge earlier this year.
International
ICE Plan to Equip Agents With Electric Shock Gloves Raises Abuse Concerns
Plans to equip U.S. immigration agents with gloves capable of delivering electric shocks are raising concerns over potential abuses by a law enforcement agency that critics accuse of using excessive force and providing inadequate training to its personnel.
The plan involves the potential purchase of electric-shock gloves for agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency primarily responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost criticized the proposal on X, arguing that the agency has already faced accusations of excessive force during immigration enforcement operations.
“As if assaulting and shooting people in the streets wasn’t enough,” Frost wrote. He also criticized the reported $20 million potential expenditure on the devices and called for greater restrictions on ICE.
The agency has faced growing scrutiny following a series of deadly shootings during immigration enforcement operations. Among the incidents were the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in January who were participating in protests against the agency.
Critics have focused on the tactics used by ICE agents when detaining immigrants, as well as allegations that training standards for newly recruited personnel have been lowered.
According to a procurement plan first reported by the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, could spend between $10 million and $20 million on the devices.
The gloves are described by the agency as tools intended for “distraction and de-escalation,” rather than lethal weapons. The system, known as GLOVE, stands for “Generated Low-Output Voltage Emitter.”
The device is manufactured by Compliant Technologies, a Kentucky-based company that describes its products as advanced non-lethal tools designed to protect and assist law enforcement and other personnel.
The proposal comes amid an intensifying national debate over ICE’s enforcement methods and the use of force during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
International
Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.
The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.
Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.
In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.
Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.
The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.
Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.
Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.
The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.
Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
ICE Plan to Equip Agents With Electric Shock Gloves Raises Abuse Concerns
Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
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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