International
Trump’s annexation threats return to Canada at the end of the 19th century
At the end of the 19th century, Canada was saved from being annexed by the United States thanks, in large part, to Spain. With Donald Trump in the White House, the threat is repeated and Canadians wonder what will happen now.
After winning the presidential election in November 2024, Trump made it clear that as soon as he reached the White House he would impose 25% tariffs on Canada.
Alarmed by the possibility of taxes that would devastate the Canadian economy, which allocates up to 70% of its exports to the neighboring country, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Mar-a-Lago, Florida, to have dinner with the then president-elect and try to defuse the threat.
During that dinner in November 2024, Trump told Trudeau that if Canada wanted to avoid tariffs, the country would have to become the 51st state of the United States.
Since then, the Republican has repeated his interest in the annexation of Canada, even using “economic force” to bend his neighbor and ally.
The last time was last Thursday when in the Oval Office, Trump insinuated that Canada as a failed country, unable to defend itself against the threats of Russia or China.
“I think Canada is going to be a very serious candidate to be our 51st state,” Trump explained.
The idea of the US annexing Canada is not new. But for more than a century it had practically disappeared from Washington’s political vocabulary.
After snatching much of its territory from Mexico (from Texas to California) in the first half of the 19th century, in the second half, especially after the end of its civil war in 1865, the United States regularly repeated the idea of taking over the British colonies of North America, what today is Canada.
By then, the United Kingdom considered these colonies a political, economic and military burden. And in a quiet way he had practically decided that his defense was not worth it in case the United States decided to appropriate them.
Paradoxically, as Andrew Johnston, professor of History at Carleton University of Ottawa, pointed out to EFE, it was the American attempts to annex the British colonies that forced their unification in 1867 in the Canadian Confederation.
“The US’ desire to absorb Canada was what actually pushed the British Empire and the inhabitants here to organize themselves into independent colonies and later into an independent nation,” he explained.
The creation of Canada that year, and the expansion of the new country to the west (until 1871 the province of British Columbia was not incorporated into the Confederation), did not stop the American expansionist desires.
This required a change of mentality in Washington. And Spain.
As the authors Gwynne Dyer and Tina Viljoen point out in their book ‘The Defense of Canada’ by the late nineteenth century, the United States had become a more industrial country.
“The old impulse for territorial expansion was ceasing to be a central issue in American life and the new imperialism that soon replaced it was almost no threat to Canada: what Washington now wanted were overseas colonies as the European empires had,” the two authors point out.
So in April 1898, with William McKinley in the Presidency, the United States declared war on Spain and before the end of that year, Washington had its overseas possessions: Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam.
Precisely McKinley is Trump’s idol, who has described him as “the king of tariffs”, for being the main driver of the legislation that at the end of the 19th century imposed tariffs of 50% on imports of goods into the United States.
That parallelism between Trump and McKinley does not escape Professor Johnston. “What Trump is expressing is something that I think has always been present in the minds of Americans, particularly after the revolution: that they have a historical mission,” he said.
But Johnston also believes that as in 1867, when the longings for annexation of the United States forced the creation of Canada, Trump’s threats will provoke another cathartic moment that has already begun with the renewed patriotism that the Canadian population has been demonstrating in recent months.
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
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