International
The blackouts mark the electoral campaign in Puerto Rico
The tension of Puerto Ricans over the frequent blackouts, for which they blame the electricity company LUMA Energy, has marked the electoral campaign for the November 5 elections in Puerto Rico, forcing the candidates for governor to position themselves.
The candidates for the governorship – Juan Dalmau, of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP); Jesús Manuel Ortiz, of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD); Jenniffer González, of the New Progressive Party (PNP); and Javier Jiménez, of Proyecto Dignidad (PD) – have promised to cancel the contract with LUMA, although offering different solutions.
Puerto Rico’s electricity grid has been very fragile for decades, but many complain that the arrival in 2021 of LUMA, in charge of the transmission and distribution of energy, has not improved service and has meant an increase in the electricity bill.
Various proposals for change in Puerto Rico
In this context, the candidate for the alliance between the PIP and the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC), said in a televised debate of the candidates for governorship that Puerto Rico cannot be “economically competent if LUMA continues.”
Dalmau, if he wins the elections, proposes “a new energy governance model that is not in private hands.”
“LUMA did not arrive in Puerto Rico out of nowhere, it came because of the bankruptcy to which the Popular Party and the PNP took us,” he said in one of his interventions in the debate.
For her part, the PNP candidate promised during a party assembly at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico that, in the case of obtaining victory in the elections, she will take out LUMA Energy.
LUMA “is leaving”
“I tell him that LUMA is leaving. But we are going to do it by appointing a tsar who collects the information, who coordinates with federal and state agencies to look for second operators, so that when they leave we are not left without electricity, so that there is a transition and it costs less to the people,” González said.
In addition, in the debate of the candidates, she remarked that she brought to “Puerto Rico the largest amount of federal funds in history” and intends to “put them to run starting with the electricity system.”
As for Ortiz, he advocated in a recent forum of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Puerto Rico to cancel the contract and replace LUMA with a “depoliticized and regionalized” system.
“If it’s a private company, let it be a private company. If it is a public sector, let it be a public sector,” he said.
Clamor for a “resilient” electrical system
These promises are, in the opinion of LUMA Energy’s director of External Affairs, José Pérez, “political distractions at a specific time.”
“I reaffirm that we are not leaving,” he stressed in a recent interview with EFE.
Pérez explained that the company is carrying out “the possibly largest electrical transformation in the world” and that the island’s network will take “about three years to be resilient.”
This reconstruction comes after the devastation of the network by the passage of Hurricane Maria in 2017 and years of inefficient management of the previous administration of the Electric Power Authority (AEE), which ended in a bankruptcy of 10 billion dollars.
Natalia Santiago, vice president of Únete, one of the organizations that have called demonstrations against LUMA, reminded EFE that many citizens, especially with respiratory problems, “died because their equipment could not be connected,” as happened to her mother.
To the cry of ‘They privatize energy and steal it from us every day’, ‘energy, we claim it because it is a human right’ or ‘Puerto Rico is not for sale’, citizens have demanded in various protests a change in the electricity system, pressuring politicians in the face of the elections.
International
Colombian president Gustavo Petro warns against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela
Colombian President Gustavo Petro defended his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. administration labeled him as the leader of the “Cartel of the Suns” and authorized the Pentagon to use military force against drug cartels, which could lead to an intervention on Venezuelan soil to combat these criminal groups. Petro stated that any military operation without the approval of Colombia or Venezuela would represent an “aggression.”
Petro responded over the weekend following reports on Friday from U.S. media about President Donald Trump’s order to confront designated global terrorist organizations such as the Cartel of the Suns, the Sinaloa Cartel, and the Tren de Aragua, including operations on foreign soil. Furthermore, the U.S. State Department increased the reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture from $25 million to $50 million.
“I publicly convey my order given as commander of the Colombian armed forces. Colombia and Venezuela are one people, one flag, one history. Any military operation without the approval of the brother countries is an aggression against Latin America and the Caribbean. It is fundamentally contradictory to our principle of freedom. ‘Freedom or death,’ Bolívar shouted, and the people revolted,” Petro posted on his social media, clearly expressing his disagreement with potential U.S. military intervention in Venezuela.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview on The World Over program on Friday that controlling these terrorist groups is decisive. He added that, for the U.S., these gangs are no longer just local street gangs but well-organized criminal enterprises spreading from Mexico, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
“We cannot continue treating these guys as local street gangs. They have weapons like terrorists, in some cases they have armies. They control territories in many cases. These cartels extend from Maduro’s regime in Venezuela, which is not a legitimate government,” Rubio told the audience.
International
U.S. offers $5 million reward for arrest of haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier
The United States announced on Tuesday a $5 million reward for the arrest of Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier, accused of violating U.S. sanctions. Haiti, the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean, is engulfed in a political crisis and a wave of armed gang violence, which an international security mission led by Kenya is trying to end.
Cherizier, 48, and Bazile Richardson have been formally charged with attempting to transfer funds from the United States to Haiti to finance gang activities, the Department of Justice reported.
“There is a good reason to offer a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier’s arrest,” said federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro at a press conference.
“He is a gang leader responsible for atrocious human rights violations, including violence against U.S. citizens in Haiti,” she added.
Cherizier has been subject to U.S. Treasury sanctions since 2020 and UN sanctions since 2022.
International
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to meet Guatemalan leader Bernardo Arévalo next friday
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Monday that she will hold her first bilateral meeting with her Guatemalan counterpart, Bernardo Arévalo, next Friday.
During her press conference at the National Palace, Sheinbaum detailed that the August 15 meeting will include a brief visit to Guatemala, followed by a trilateral meeting with Belize’s Prime Minister, Juan Antonio Briceño, in Calakmul, Campeche, in southeastern Mexico.
Sheinbaum explained that the meeting was proposed by Arévalo during a phone call last Friday, in which the Guatemalan president invited her to visit Guatemala.
The agenda will begin on Thursday night when Sheinbaum travels to Chetumal to lead her morning press conference on Friday.
Afterwards, she will travel to Guatemala for the bilateral meeting with Arévalo, then return to Calakmul to meet Belize’s Prime Minister Briceño for a trilateral meeting with Arévalo.
Later, Sheinbaum will hold a bilateral meeting with the Belizean leader.
The president announced that many agreements will be announced during the meetings with the southern border countries but avoided providing details to keep them as a surprise for that day.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro warns against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela
U.S. offers $5 million reward for arrest of haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier
Honduras condemns U.S. reward against Nicolás Maduro as baseless attacks
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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