Headlines

Mr. Guaidó is leading the efforts
to remove Nicolás Maduro from power,
acting as provisional President,
elected by the Venezuelan National Assembly.–

To end the Maduro regime with the minimum of bloodshed, we need the support of pro-democratic governments, institutions and individuals the world over." – Juan Guaidó.

Received from Caracas, Venezuela – On Jan. 23, 61 years after the vicious dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez was ousted, Venezuelans once again gathered for a day of democratic celebration.

Pérez Jiménez was fraudulently elected by a Constituent Assembly in 1953. His term of office was scheduled to expire in 1958. But rather than calling for free and transparent presidential elections, he was undemocratically re-elected after holding a plebiscite on his administration late in 1957. Following widespread protests and a rupture within the military establishment, the dictator left the country and Venezuela regained its freedom on Jan. 23, 1958.

Once again we face the challenge of restoring our democracy and rebuilding the country, this time amid a humanitarian crisis and the illegal retention of the presidency by Nicolás Maduro. There are severe medicine and food shortages, essential infrastructure and health systems have collapsed, a growing number of children are suffering from malnutrition, and previously eradicated illnesses have re-emerged.

We have one of the highest homicide rates in the world, which is aggravated by the government’s brutal crackdown on protesters. This tragedy has prompted the largest exodus in Latin American history, with three million Venezuelans now living abroad.

I would like to be clear about the situation in Venezuela: Mr. Maduro’s re-election on May 20, 2018, was illegitimate, as has since been acknowledged by a large part of the international community. His original six-year term was set to end on Jan. 10. By continuing to stay in office, Nicolás Maduro is usurping the presidency.

Vista Alegre, Cuba. Ene.21.– “Don’t take away our products...", "They’re starving us..." "This is the government of Diaz-Canel!!!” … so shouted indignantly the neighbors and passerbyers when government and police forces tried to confiscate their loads of food, fruits and vegetables to a forklift truck in the district of Vista Alegre.

The impunity of the henchmen in the streets is over as the street vendors dump their products to the ground rather than have them expropriated.

This news on the one hand provides new evidence that Cubans are no longer impassive in the face of such abuses that affect everyone. On the other, Diaz-Canel, instead of taking steps to alleviate the food crisis, worsens it by responding with more repression and bureaucratic controls to a situation that calls for a profound restructuring of the economy and society.

China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves.

Beijing, Jan.20.– The U.S. Navy's top officer says he urged China to follow international rules at sea to avoid confrontations and insisted that ships should be able to pass safely though the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

With the far right rising, centre-right parties agree to keep the Social Democrat in power, for now ...  

Stockholm, Jan.18.– In most democracies, one side needs at least a plurality of the votes to form a government. Not so in Sweden, a polite country with a system of “negative parliamentarianism”: a candidate can become prime minister so long as an absolute majority of the Riksdag, the country’s parliament, does not explicitly object.

The result can resemble a family that keeps ordering the same unloved pizza because it cannot agree on anything else. On January 18th, 153 MPs voted against a second term for Stefan Lofven (pictured, right), the Social Democrat who has served as prime minister since 2014. Just 115 backed him, but 77 abstained, meaning Mr Lofven will continue nonetheless.