A Great Escape From Venezuela
If you're looking for some good news in the world these days—and who isn't?—consider the U.S.-coordinated rescue this week of four hostages held by Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. It's an embarrassment to the regime, and a win for the Trump Administration, which took risks that Joe Biden shrank from.
Five members of Venezuela's democratic opposition—Magalli Meda, Omar González, Pedro Urruchurtu, Claudia Macero, and Humberto Villalobos—had been working for the presidential campaign of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado last year when the regime tried to arrest them. On March 20, 2024, they took refuge in the Argentine embassy and requested safe passage out of the country under international law. The regime refused.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
18 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Residents Clash With Sao Paulo Plan to Transform Favela
A major plan to revamp Campos Eliseos in central Sao Paulo has led to clashes between the government and residents who say they're being forcibly removed from the neighborhood's Favela do Moinho, where many have lived for decades. The $970 million initiative includes consolidating government buildings in the neighborhood and removing the notorious drug-use area known as Cracolandia in an effort to spur new investment. While the government housing company claims residents agreed to voluntarily relocate and that it is offering them financial aid to find new homes in and around the area, tensions remain. Many locals are skeptical about whether this latest attempt to transform the neighborhood will succeed where previous efforts have failed, or just displace existing inhabitants, Carolina Pulice reports. Today on CityLab:
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Clashes break out in Togo's capital as protesters call for the president's resignation
LOME, Togo (AP) — Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces in several parts of Togo's capital Lomé on Thursday, as President Faure Gnassingbé faced increasing pressure from critics over recent changes in the constitution that could effectively keep him in power indefinitely. A heavy police presence could be seen throughout the capital, where many businesses remained closed. Hundreds of protesters set up concrete block barricades in several neighborhoods of Lomé, with some burning tires and throwing projectiles at security forces. Military jeeps were deployed as reinforcements in some areas. Police dispersed dozens of protesters with tear gas and arrested around 10 people in the Bè neighborhood, a stronghold of the opposition. Civil society groups and social media influencers had called for protests on June 26, 27, and 28, after the government's clampdown on protests early this month. A coalition of political groups known as 'Hands Off My Constitution' said in a Facebook post on Wednesday it 'strongly urges Faure Gnassingbé to immediately and unconditionally release all of the roughly one hundred political prisoners, and to take urgent measures to restore purchasing power to the population. It called for an 'unprecedented peaceful demonstration.' Togo's leader Faure Gnassingbé, who has ruled since 2005 after the death of his father, was in May sworn in as President of the Council of Ministers. The powerful role has not official term limits and he is eligible to be re-elected by parliament indefinitely. Opposition politicians have denounced the move as a 'constitutional coup.' Demonstrations are rare in Togo because they have been banned in the country since 2022 following a deadly attack at Lome's main market. But the latest change in government structure has been widely criticized in a region threatened by rampant coups and other threats to democracy.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Brazil's Lula challenged by 1st decree rejection in Congress in decades
SAO PAULO — Brazil's Congress on Wednesday nullified a presidential decree for the first time in decades, rejecting a move by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to hike a financial transactions tax and signaling flagging support for his left-of-center administration. Lula's allies had only 98 votes against 383 in the lower house to keep the tax increase on some transactions, including foreign exchange and credit cards. Two hours later, senators also defeated the decree.
