International
Venezuelan opposition in Argentine embassy urges Brazil to expedite safe passage
Venezuelan opposition figures who are seeking asylum at the Argentine embassy in Caracas and have denounced harassment by Venezuelan security forces urged Brazil, which is guarding the embassy, to accelerate efforts to secure safe passage for them to leave the country.
Having spent nine months in asylum at the diplomatic mission and with less than a month before the planned presidential inauguration in Venezuela on January 10, Pedro Urruchurtu, who was the coordinator of International Relations for opposition leader María Corina Machado during the campaign, called on Brazil to “urgently intensify efforts and coordination with the region, understanding that this situation could clearly worsen.”
Brazil agreed to guard the Argentine embassy in August, after the Venezuelan government expelled Argentine diplomatic personnel following President Javier Milei’s statements that he would not recognize another “fraud” in Venezuela after the controversial July 28 elections.
The Venezuelan electoral body declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the elections without presenting electoral records, while the opposition claims that their candidate, Edmundo González, who is in asylum in Spain, won with a significant lead based on more than 80% of the voting records they say they collected that day.
In a press conference via teleconference, Urruchurtu mentioned that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “is a democrat, who has expressed his concern about the situation in Venezuela,” and while the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes the importance of maintaining state-to-state relations, “this situation is an emergency.”
Since late March, Urruchurtu, Magally Meda, Omar González, Claudia Macero, Humberto Villalobos, and Fernando Martínez Mottola, political leaders or campaign collaborators of Machado, entered the Argentine embassy in Caracas after the Venezuelan prosecutor’s office issued a detention order against them for alleged violent acts intended to destabilize Maduro’s government.
The opposition leader stated that it was not only the long duration of their stay at the embassy, but also that “we are experiencing an unprecedented siege in the last decade of the opposition’s struggle in Venezuela.”
“We will have been without electricity for three weeks, and we cannot go out to get water, medicine, or light,” said Meda, who added that the situation “has been very exhausting, especially in the early mornings when they show up with hoods on,” which she described as “psychological harassment.”
For his part, Omar González referred to the constant presence of armed men, whom he claimed they have seen aiming assault rifles with telescopic sights and laser pointers, hidden in the vegetation of nearby residences. They determined the type of weaponry through photographs, he said.
“We are six completely unarmed civilians,” Urruchurtu said.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
International
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Venezuela has announced the closure of its embassy in Norway, just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Venezuelan diplomatic mission provided no explanation for its decision on Monday.
“It is regrettable,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will continue to work in that direction.” The ministry also emphasized that the Nobel Committee operates entirely independently from the Norwegian government.
In its announcement, the Nobel Committee stated that Machado met the criteria established by Alfred Nobel, “embodying the hope for a different future, where the fundamental rights of Venezuelans are heard.”
International
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
Thousands of military personnel and civilians in Mexico worked tirelessly on Tuesday to clear roads blocked by the torrential rains of recent days, which have left more than 300 communities cut off across central and eastern regions of the country. Authorities also launched mass fumigation efforts in several affected areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever.
The official death toll remains at 64, though dozens of people are still missing. President Claudia Sheinbaumacknowledged that the government does not yet know the full situation in many of the isolated villages, which range in population from 500 to 1,000 inhabitants.
“The reopening of roads is one of the greatest urgencies,” Sheinbaum said. “It’s essential to guarantee air bridges, food supplies, clean water, and a proper census of the isolated communities so we can determine the condition of every person living there.”
Private construction companies are also assisting the effort with heavy machinery and technical support to help reopen highways and reconnect rural areas.
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
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