International
An anti-Revista candidate sees “desperation” as his biggest rival in the municipal elections
The opposition candidate for Mayor of Caracas Jorge Barragán assured, in an interview with EFE, that his main contender in next Sunday’s municipal elections in Venezuela is “desperance”, which, he considers, has been installed in the electorate due to distrust in the vote.
“Our main rival is not the (ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela) PSUV itself, our main rival is hopelessness. It’s getting up every day thinking that things are not going to change and that they (Chavismo) have already won,” said this 27-year-old.
Backed by the Alianza del Lápiz party, Barragán aspires to occupy the position held since 2021 by the admiral and former minister Carmen Meléndez, a charter of Chavismo for re-election, whose management he especially criticizes what he describes as the deterioration of public services, in particular the lack of water and garbage collection.
A native of Táchira, a state in the west of the country bordering Colombia, this opponent considers that change should not come from a “break” by force as, he says, proposed by some anti-Chavista sectors that call for abstention after the 2024 presidential elections, in which Nicolás Maduro was proclaimed the winner despite opposition’s allegations of “fraud”.
“I believe that the way is transition, and the transition is achieved through voting. The breakup has not worked in these 25 years that we have been living this political process,” he added.
Barragán, who began his career in the student movement at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), where he studied International Studies, is confident of winning the mayor’s office and explains that for this he has focused on taking his message to the streets of the capital.
Among its main proposals are the creation of a training center in technological trades aimed at young people, the development of a telemedicine application to improve access to health, a program of investment incentives through tax exemptions and the organization of the informal economy, which he prefers to call the “entrepreneurial sector”.
This young man wants to “turn Caracas into an educational city and example of Latin America,” he proposes to modernize it, “that people feel proud” of the capital “for the ideas, for the form and management,” as well as for coexistence and values.
For this he hopes to have the support of professionals from all over the country and the “human capital” of different political formations such as Unión y Cambio, promoted by the opponents Henrique Capriles and Tomás Guanipa -elected deputies to Parliament last May -, or Un Nuevo Tiempo, headed by figures such as former governor Manuel Rosales and Stalin González, who also got a chair for the legislative period 2026-2031.
As a politician, he distances himself from the “authoritarian” leaderships in the world and says he is inspired by leaders of Venezuelan history, such as former President Isaías Medina Angarita, also from Táchira.
International
Lutnick: TikTok will ‘go dark’ without agreement to sever chinese ties
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned on Thursday that TikTok “will go dark” if no agreement is reached with Chinese authorities by September 17 regarding the creation of a new company to operate the app in the United States, as required by the Trump administration.
In an interview with CNBC, Lutnick reiterated that Washington’s proposal allows ByteDance—the Chinese parent company of TikTok—to retain a “small stake” in the newly created U.S.-based entity, which is necessary for the app to remain accessible to American users.
For national security reasons, the U.S. government insists that TikTok must be operated by an entity entirely separate from its Chinese parent.
“If the Chinese don’t approve it, TikTok will go dark,” Lutnick warned, referring to the deadline set by Washington back in April. He emphasized, “The deal is in their hands now.”
International
Global media outlets urge Israel to allow press access to Gaza amid growing hunger crisis
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and three major international news agencies—Associated Press (AP), Reuters, and Agence France-Presse (AFP)—jointly called for press access to Gaza and raised serious concerns about hunger threatening their local staff.
“We once again urge Israeli authorities to allow journalists to freely enter and exit Gaza. It is essential that the local population receives sufficient food supplies,” the four news organizations stated in a joint communiqué.
The statement emphasized that the remaining independent journalists in the Gaza Strip, along with their families, are increasingly struggling to meet basic food needs—just like the rest of the population.
These journalists, the agencies stressed, “have been the eyes and ears of the world” in the Palestinian enclave, yet are enduring the same “dramatic conditions” they are reporting on. “We are deeply concerned,” the organizations noted, warning that beyond the hardships of covering a war, “hunger now threatens their survival.”
The joint appeal follows a statement issued on Monday by AFP’s internal journalist association, which described the situation of their Gaza-based staff as “unbearable,” warning that some are “starving to death.”
“We have lost journalists in conflict, we have had wounded and imprisoned colleagues, but none of us remembers watching a colleague die of hunger. We refuse to watch them die,” the AFP association said, adding that their efforts to evacuate staff from the territory—completely sealed off by Israel—have failed.
Central America
El Salvador reaffirms housing as a human right at UN high-level dialogue
El Salvador’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Egriselda López, emphasized the country’s national housing approach during the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) High-Level Dialogue on Adequate Housing.
“My country is firmly committed to ensuring the human right to adequate housing as a cornerstone of our social, economic, and urban development,” López stated.
“Under the leadership of our president, Nayib Bukele, we have made significant progress, including an investment of $1.1 billion, which has allowed thousands of families to access dignified housing, with a strong focus on social interest projects,” she added.
The ambassador noted that over 120,000 families have benefited from housing loans, land tenure legalization, resettlement programs, and urban improvement initiatives.
López also highlighted the launch of the Casa Mujer and Casa Joven programs, spearheaded by the Social Housing Fund (FSV), which aim to make it easier for Salvadorans to access credit and purchase a home anywhere in the country.
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