International
Electoral abstention, the route to which the majority opposition in Venezuela clung again
The majority opposition of Venezuela resumed the route of abstention by deciding not to participate in the regional and legislative elections of last May 25, as it did 20 years ago, when it withdrew from the contest to elect deputies, although this time in a scenario in which it questions the legitimacy of President Nicolás Maduro.
“When the adversary withdraws from the field, from the field, one advances and takes the ground and exercises it,” Maduro said after the votes a week ago, in which only a group of opponents participated who ignored the guideline of the anti-Chavista majority, sheltered by the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), headed by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia.
Maduro brought up what happened in 2005, when, he said, the opposition called for “total abstention.”
“And well,” added the Chavista leader, “they gave us the National Assembly (AN, Parliament) and the National Assembly 2005-2010 was the most fruitful there was.”
20 years ago, Chavismo took the 167 seats of Parliament before the complete withdrawal of the main opposition parties, which expressed distrust in the voting system.
This time, the PUD refused to attend these elections by denouncing fraud in the presidential elections of July last year, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed the victory of the president, of which the disaggregated results have not yet been disseminated. The anti-chavismo insists that the winner was its candidate, González Urrutia.
Machado and González Urrutia see the abstention of May 25 as an “act of dignity”.
The former deputy considered the abstention as a fourth “victory” of the opposition, after the 2023 primaries, of which she described as “crushing” the election of González Urrutia as – she said – “president” in 2024 and of the so-called ‘Operation Guacamaya’, in allusion to the departure from the country this month of five anti-Chavistas who were refugees, since March last year, in the residence of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas.
Despite the majority call, an opposition group detached itself from the PUD and ran in the May 25 votes, in which it achieved 11 deputies to Parliament compared to 253 of 285 with which the ruling party remained.
In this regard, the political scientist and deputy director of the Gumilla Center, Piero Trepiccione, told EFE that the 2005-2025 scenarios are “very different.”
“At that time, the forces that politically supported those in power in Venezuela had a lot of popular support, they controlled Venezuelan public opinion, they had superior support, even 60%, the polarization environment was much greater, more tense, harder,” he described.
In his opinion, the country was in the process of consolidating the “hyper-leadership” of then-President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013) and the opposition “was trying to understand that dynamic, those new power dynamics that emerged in the country from 1999, with the electoral victory of Hugo Chávez”.
“Of course,” said this expert, “that it was a decision that (with) time proved to be a mistake, because it was effectively not possible to obtain a minimum participation that would have been important at that time and that would have served as a tribune for the necessary institutional counterweights.”
And that wasn’t the only time. Anti-Chavism also withdrew from the 2018 presidential elections and the 2020 parliamentary elections, with which the ruling party regained the majority of the House after having lost it in 2015.
For the five-year period 2026-2031, Chavismo ensured, in addition to the parliamentary majority, 23 of 24 governors in the country.
Trepiccione considers that the majority anti-Chavism has, in terms of leadership, a “great reference” in the figure of Machado, but “it has again fallen into a rather serious process of fragmentation and dispersion.”
Therefore, he believes that a process of reorganization, restructuring and reunion is necessary “in terms of recovering positioning in the territory” and taking advantage of “those great expectations that there are in the country”.
“If the opposition manages to articulate forces, realign itself with that desire for change, give political directionality to that desire for change; without a doubt, it can quickly become an important counterweight in the political process that is being lived in the country,” he added.
The political scientist clarifies that the discussion must go beyond an election. “Here the issue is how to unify a strategy, how to build a joint strategy and how not to fall into the provocation of fragmentation,” he reflected.
International
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressed concerns over China’s growing military activity near Taiwan during a meeting on Friday with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was a constructive and positive meeting,” Hegseth wrote on X. “I emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and raised U.S. concerns about China’s actions around Taiwan,” the self-governed island that Beijing claims and does not rule out invading.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea. According to Trump, Taiwan was not discussed during their talks.
“The United States does not seek conflict and will continue to firmly defend its interests, ensuring it maintains the capability to do so in the region,” Hegseth added in his message.
Friday’s encounter followed a September 9 video call between Hegseth and Dong. Their previously planned meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore was canceled due to Dong’s absence from the event.
Trump’s sit-down with Xi — their first since 2019 — resulted in some trade agreements but avoided addressing the issue of Taiwan, a long-standing source of tension between the world’s two largest powers.
Trump has taken a more ambiguous stance on Taiwan’s future compared with former President Joe Biden, who repeatedly stated that Washington would support Taipei if China launched an invasion. The Republican president has also criticized Taiwan for “stealing” the U.S. semiconductor industry.
International
U.S. considering airstrikes on military sites in Venezuela, reports say
The United States may soon carry out airstrikes on military facilities inside Venezuela as part of an escalating offensive against Nicolás Maduro’s regime, according to reports Friday from the Miami Herald and The Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the Trump administration.
Airstrikes could take place “within days or even hours,” the Herald reported. The Journal noted that while the option is under serious consideration, President Donald Trump has not yet made a final decision on authorizing strikes on Venezuelan soil.
Potential targets allegedly include military-controlled ports and airports used in drug trafficking operations, such as naval installations and airstrips, officials told the Journal.
The Herald also quoted a source saying that “Maduro’s time is running out”, suggesting that more than one Venezuelan general may be ready to detain and hand him over. However, officials declined to confirm whether the Venezuelan leader would be among the military targets.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to block the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, following nearly two months of airstrikes against vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Those operations have destroyed 15 boats and left 61 people dead and three survivors since September 1.
“We are finally waging a war against the cartels — a war like they’ve never seen before — and we are going to win that battle. We are already winning at sea,” Trump told U.S. troops during a speech in Japan.
The reports on possible airstrikes come on the same day the United Nations accused the U.S. of violating international law with its maritime operations, saying those killed at sea may have been victims of extrajudicial executions.
International
Pope Leo XIV revives Global Compact on Education to confront cultural crisis
Pope Leo XIV announced on Friday that he will revive and update the Global Compact on Education, an initiative launched by the late Pope Francis aimed at deeply transforming global culture through education.
The announcement was made during an audience in St. Peter’s Square, held on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Educational World, which this week gathers more than 20,000 participants from 124 countries in Rome.
During his address, the pontiff — who is of U.S. origin and Peruvian nationality — emphasized the importance of restoring the value of educators and reinforcing the principles that support the pact.
“We must be careful: damaging the social and cultural role of educators means mortgaging our own future,” he warned before thousands in attendance. “A crisis in the transmission of knowledge leads to a crisis of hope.”
The Global Compact on Education, launched by Pope Francis, seeks an integral and long-term cultural transformation. It is structured around five pillars: dignity and human rights; fraternity and cooperation; technology and integral ecology; education for peace and citizenship; and culture and religions. To date, the initiative has been joined by over 553 schools and nearly 410,000 students, according to Catholic Schools data.
Pope Leo XIV also expressed concern over the widespread inner fragility affecting both students and teachers — many of whom feel overwhelmed by bureaucratic burdens.
He additionally addressed the role of artificial intelligence in education, warning that it may worsen emotional isolation among learners: “It can further isolate students who are already isolated, giving them the illusion that they do not need others — or worse, the feeling that they are unworthy of them,” he said.
U.S. warns China over Taiwan during high-level defense talks in Kuala Lumpur
U.S. considering airstrikes on military sites in Venezuela, reports say
Pope Leo XIV revives Global Compact on Education to confront cultural crisis
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