All posts tagged: Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition forced to register unknown candidate for July vote

Venezuelan opposition forced to register unknown candidate for July vote

Venezuela’s main opposition coalition said Tuesday it had managed to register a proxy candidate to face off against President Nicolas Maduro in the country’s July elections – but not the one it wanted. Issued on: 27/03/2024 – 00:45 2 min With popular leader Maria Corina Machado banned from public office, the plan had been to register another stand-in candidate, 80-year-old university professor Corina Yoris. But the coalition found itself blocked from doing so by the time the deadline struck at midnight on Monday. The National Electoral Council (CNE) on Tuesday released the surprise name of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a political scientist and former ambassador, as the candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD). The coalition said in a statement that his candidacy was “provisional … given the clear impossibility of registering the chosen candidate so far.” The United States and Brazil were among several nations that expressed alarm after the coalition was unable to register Yoris. Regime ‘chose’ candidates Maduro, 61, is seeking to extend his turbulent decade in power with a third six-year term, …

India Suspends Venezuela Oil Purchases Fearing U.S. Sanctions Return, Stops Accepting Russian Oil Tankers

India Suspends Venezuela Oil Purchases Fearing U.S. Sanctions Return, Stops Accepting Russian Oil Tankers

Is India starting to get cold feet about breaching US sanctions? On Tuesday, Indian state and private refiners suspended purchases of crude from Venezuela as the U.S. sanctions waiver on Venezuela’s oil exports expires on April 18 and could lead to complications if not renewed, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar. As OilPrice adds, private refiner Reliance Industries, which is India’s largest buyer of Venezuelan crude grade Merey, looks to avoid complications with cargoes if the U.S. were to re-impose the sanctions that were temporarily lifted for six months in the middle of October 2023. As the deadline for the waiver expiry nears, state refiner Indian Oil Corporation has also halted buying Venezuelan crude. At the end of last year, the U.S. introduced a temporary sanctions relief from October 2023 to April 2024, which now allows the production, lifting, sale, and exportation of oil or gas from Venezuela, and the provision of related goods and services, as well as payment of invoices for goods or services related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela. As a result, …

Venezuelan Opposition Presidential Candidate Machado Names Substitute While Fighting Ban

Venezuelan Opposition Presidential Candidate Machado Names Substitute While Fighting Ban

CARACAS, Venezuela —  Venezuelan opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado on Friday named a substitute to her presidential bid while she fights a government ban on her running for office. The announcement comes as Machado faces increasing political repression from the government of President Nicolas Maduro as well as pressure from foreign leaders and fellow government opponents to abandon her candidacy. Machado made the announcement two days after authorities arrested two of her campaign staffers and issued warrants for seven more, accusing them of links to an alleged anti-government plot. She told reporters that college professor Corina Yoris will be registered as an opposition faction’s presidential candidate ahead of a Monday deadline. The presidential election is set for July 28. Substitute opposition presidential candidate Corina Yoris exits a press conference accompanied by opposition leader opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 22, 2024. “Today is a great day and we have taken a big step, a great step, for the electoral victory in which we will defeat Nicolas Maduro,” Machado said from her campaign …

Faced with an election ban, Venezuela opposition leader names alternate | Elections News

Faced with an election ban, Venezuela opposition leader names alternate | Elections News

Opposition leader María Corina Machado named professor Corina Yoris as her replacement in the 2024 presidential race. Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader in Venezuela’s upcoming presidential election, has thrown her support behind an alternate candidate as she continues to face a ban from running for office. She named the 80-year-old historian and professor Corina Yoris to be her replacement in the July 28 race. The announcement came on Friday, as the administration of President Nicolas Maduro received international condemnation for its alleged pressure campaign against Machado. Earlier in the day, the United States Department of State issued a statement condemning the arrests of individuals close to Machado, including two members of her campaign: Dignora Hernandez and Henry Alviarez. “The decision by Maduro and his representatives to detain two members of the leading opposition candidate’s campaign and issue warrants for seven others represents a disturbing escalation of repression against Venezuela’s opposition parties,” spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. “We continue to call for the immediate release of all political prisoners.” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro …

Venezuelan opposition leader names successor after two close aides arrested | Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader names successor after two close aides arrested | Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has named her replacement to take on President Nicolás Maduro in the country’s presidential election in July, after the arrest of two of Machado’s close aides. The naming of Corina Yoris, 80, as the opposition’s candidate comes after Venezuela’s attorney general announced the detention of two of Machado’s closest allies earlier this week and also said arrest warrants had been issued for seven other people, including rumoured Machado replacement, Magalli Meda. The decision all but marks Machado’s withdrawal from the election, planned for 28 July, after she was barred from holding public office – a ruling that was upheld by Venezuela’s highest court – even after winning a landslide 93% in an opposition primary last October. The arrests of Machado allies, Henry Alviarez and Dignora Hernández, caused international outcry,. “The decision by Maduro and his representatives to detain two members of the leading opposition candidate’s campaign and issue warrants for seven others represents a disturbing escalation of repression,” US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Friday. Source link

House passes bill to bar data brokers from selling personal information to U.S. adversaries

House passes bill to bar data brokers from selling personal information to U.S. adversaries

Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee speaks during the hearing with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images WASHINGTON — Bipartisan leaders of a House committee examining interstate and foreign commerce on Wednesday praised the passage of a bill aimed at keeping Americans’ private data out of the hands of U.S. adversaries. The current list of countries designated as “foreign adversaries” by the United States includes China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Russia and the Maduro government in Venezuela. “Today’s overwhelming vote sends a clear message that we will not allow our adversaries to undermine American national security and individual privacy by purchasing people’s personally identifiable sensitive information from data brokers,” Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said in a joint statement. Rodgers and Pallone, the respective chair and ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the bill to …

Colombia partly suspends truce with EMC armed rebel faction

Colombia partly suspends truce with EMC armed rebel faction

Colombia on Sunday suspended a truce with the armed rebel faction the Central General Staff (EMC) in three different parts of the country, citing violence including an attack on an Indigenous group that left one woman dead. Issued on: 18/03/2024 – 04:34 1 min The EMC — dissident guerillas who broke off from the rebel FARC group when it signed a peace pact with the government in 2016 — opened talks with President Gustavo Petro’s administration last year. Since his election in 2022, leftist Petro has sought to put an end to six decades of conflict between the country’s security forces, guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs. However, his “total peace” process has faced multiple setbacks with the guerrillas, who are linked to drug trafficking and are accused by rights groups of taking advantage of various ceasefires to expand their influence, seize more territory and recruit new members.  Sunday’s announcement came after the EMC’s “non-compliance with the ceasefire,” and would see the military resume “offensive actions” against them in the departments of Narino, Cauca and Valle del …

EU election needs to bring out the best of Europe — not the worst – POLITICO

EU election needs to bring out the best of Europe — not the worst – POLITICO

Thus, the EU must opt for impactful solutions that are proven to work. One of these is a breakthrough, a simplified approach to tackling childhood acute malnutrition using Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food — over 90 percent effective in saving lives and 20 percent more cost-effective. The IRC has recently launched a new effort, the Movement Against Malnutrition, to promote this approach, and it’s calling for the EU to help lead by setting ambitious global targets and championing the use of simplified treatment to tackle the malnutrition crisis. Third, asylum and migration. In the absence of a fair and effective Continent-wide system that works for both states and those on the move, the EU has been left to rely on fragile deals with third countries. The aim here has been to stop people reaching European shores, but those fleeing conflict, climate change and economic crisis will continue to arrive — this is a strength not a weakness, reflecting wealth and stability. We also have evidence that this approach doesn’t work and puts vulnerable people at greater risk, as smugglers …

Italy name three newcomers in squad for Venezuela, Ecuador friendlies

Italy name three newcomers in squad for Venezuela, Ecuador friendlies

Italy have included Torino defender Raoul Bellanova, Hellas Verona midfielder Michael Folorunsho and Udinese forward Lorenzo Lucca for the first time in a 28-man squad for next week’s friendlies against Venezuela and Ecuador in the United States. However, coach Luciano Spalletti has left out forwards Gianluca Scammacca and Ciro Immobile, while winger Domenico Berardi is missing after suffering a leg injury this month. European champions Italy are preparing for Euro 2024 in Germany where they face Spain, Albania and Croatia in Group B. They will play Venezuela on Thursday at Inter Miami’s Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and three days later meet Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Italy squad: Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris St Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham Hotspur) Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Inter Milan), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham) Midfielders: Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Giacomo Bonaventura (Fiorentina), Michael Folorunsho (Verona), Davide …

Maduro selected as Venezuela’s ruling party candidate for July elections

Maduro selected as Venezuela’s ruling party candidate for July elections

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been selected to seek a third, successive term in July 28 elections, a senior ruling party official said Monday.  Issued on: 12/03/2024 – 02:57 2 min A vote by the PSUV party concluded that Maduro would be its presidential candidate, said Diosdado Cabello, considered the number 2 in the ruling movement which was founded by the late Hugo Chavez and has been in power for 25 years. Maduro, 61, has not made any announcement himself, but has been widely expected to seek reelection in a vote from which his main opposition challenger has been barred from running. “We will continue to travel throughout our country in the construction of more and more force and citizen organisation to achieve electoral victory this year,” Maduro said in his weekly television program after Cabello’s announcement on X, to which he made no reference.  A formal PSUV announcement had been scheduled for March 15, but that appears to be a mere formality now. Maduro’s re-election to a six-year term in 2018 — widely considered fraudulent — was not recognized by …