Sin categoría
Opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia calls for fair treatment amidst political persecution claims
Edmundo González Urrutia, a rival of Nicolás Maduro in his disputed re-election, called on Wednesday for the Attorney General to avoid a “political persecution” given that the judiciary is accused of serving the Chavismo regime.
The 75-year-old opposition figure has been in hiding for the past month. He claims to have won the election in which Maduro was declared for a third consecutive term, an election that has led to a severe crisis with Colombia and Brazil leading efforts to find a peaceful solution.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro are expected to meet with Maduro “probably” on Wednesday, shortly after expressing their “deep concern” over the arrest warrant against González.
The prosecution is investigating González for alleged “disobedience of laws,” “conspiracy,” “usurpation of functions,” and “sabotage,” focusing on a website managed by the opposition led by María Corina Machado, which published over 80% of the voting records, claiming it serves as proof of a landslide victory for their candidate.
It is unclear whether charges have been formally brought against him. His lawyer, José Vicente Haro, has not been able to access the case file but went to the prosecutor’s office in an attempt to halt the process against his client. Haro submitted a legal document explaining González’s absence from three summonses issued by the office, which led to the arrest request.
“I was told that the correspondence (…) could not be received because they did not have the proper authorization,” Haro explained to reporters after the proceedings.
“This is the kind of situation that prevented Mr. Edmundo González Urrutia from attending the summons he was issued,” Haro continued. “There is a situation of defenselessness, an inability to guarantee his right to defense, to due process.” “What would have happened if Mr. Edmundo González Urrutia had shown up?”
Opposition figures and legal experts agree that the Venezuelan judiciary operates in service of the ruling Chavismo.
Sin categoría
Trump files $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times
U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times, which denounced the legal move on Tuesday as an attempt to silence the press.
In this new stage of his presidency, the 79-year-old Republican leader has escalated his long-standing hostility toward traditional media, repeatedly attacking critical journalists, limiting their access, or taking them to court.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Florida, seeks $15 billion in damages, along with additional punitive compensation “in an amount to be determined at trial.”
The New York Times had reported last week that Trump threatened legal action over articles concerning a birthday letter allegedly sent by him to financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The letter featured a typed message inside the outline of a nude woman. Trump denies that the accompanying signature is his.
“For too long, The New York Times has been allowed to lie, defame, and slander me freely — and that ends NOW!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Sin categoría
Maduro warns Venezuela would enter armed struggle if attacked by foreign forces
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated on Friday that if his country were attacked, it would enter a phase of armed struggle, amid his claims of “threats” from the United States, which is conducting a military deployment in Caribbean waters near Venezuela’s coast under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
Maduro emphasized that Venezuela is currently in the non-armed phase, which he described as political, communicational, and institutional, but added that if the country were somehow aggressed, it would move to a planned, organized armed struggle involving the entire population, whether the threat is local, regional, or national.
“We would enter a stage of armed struggle, in defense of peace, territorial integrity, sovereignty, and our people,” Maduro said during an event activating citizen militias, broadcast on state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
He also noted that Venezuela is currently in a phase of readiness and preparation to defend the country and will proceed to the deployment of defensive capacities, including training and retraining of the entire Venezuelan population.
Maduro described the Venezuelan people as pacifist yet warrior-like, asserting that “no one will enslave us, neither today nor ever.”
Sin categoría
USCIS gains law enforcement powers: Agents now authorized to investigate and arrest immigration violators
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), traditionally responsible for handling naturalizations, visas, residence permits, and work authorizations, is now expanding its role to include law enforcement powers, according to a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Under the new directive, specially designated USCIS agents are now authorized to investigate, arrest, and bring to justice individuals who violate U.S. immigration laws. Previously, USCIS primarily managed administrative and bureaucratic processes, while enforcement responsibilities were handled by agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Illegal immigration has been a central issue under President Donald Trump’s administration, with DHS reporting that over 300,000 migrants have been arrested in the first six months of his presidency. However, the number of people who have crossed U.S. borders illegally in recent years remains controversial, with experts estimating between 8 to 10 million individuals.
The policy shift also comes amid heightened legal battles over immigration enforcement. Recently, a federal judge blocked the deportation of minors to Guatemala, who were moments away from boarding a flight. Trump’s aggressive measures, including large-scale raids in cities like Los Angeles, have faced multiple judicial challenges, some upheld and others overturned at various federal levels, including the Supreme Court.
According to the DHS statement, the expanded authority allows USCIS to “manage investigations from start to finish rather than referring cases to ICE,” aiming to reduce backlogs and combat fraud within the immigration system.
USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow will have the power to appoint and train special agents under the order signed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, ensuring that the agency can effectively execute its newly granted enforcement responsibilities.
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