Latest news with #Palacios
India Gazette
a day ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
EAM Jaishankar calls on Paraguay President Santiago Pena Palacios
New Delhi [India], June 2 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Monday, called on the visiting President Santiago Pena Palacios of Paraguay, who is on his first State visit to India. In a post on X, Jaishankar highlighted the potential for enhanced cooperation between the two countries. 'Pleased to call on President Palacios of Paraguay at the start of his State Visit to India. Appreciate his positive sentiments and guidance for enhancing cooperation in many domains. Confident that his talks with PM Modi today will open new avenues for India's engagement with Paraguay and the South America region,' Jaishankar said in a post on X. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with President Santiago Pena Palacios of Paraguay at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Earlier in the day, President Palacios paid a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, laying a wreath at the memorial. The visit is part of his three-day state visit to India, which will conclude on June 4. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took to X to post, 'Honouring the values of peace & non-violence. President Santiago Pena Palacios of Paraguay paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat today.'President Palacios arrived in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India and was accorded a ceremonial welcome along with a Guard of Honour at Palam Air Force Station. The President was warmly received by Minister of State Harsh Vardhan Malhotra, highlighting the strong bilateral ties between the two countries. Sharing an update on X, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal welcomed President Santiago Pena Palacios on his arrival in the national capital. Jaiswal posted, 'Bienvenido, President @SantiPenap! President @SantiPenap of Paraguay has arrived in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India, to a ceremonial welcome & Guard of Honour. Warmly received by MoS Harsh Malhotra @hdmalhotra at the airport. This visit will provide an opportunity to strengthen the relationship.' The MEA emphasised that President Pena's visit, scheduled from June 2 to June 4, aims to deepen and broaden India-Paraguay ties across political, economic, and cultural spheres. At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Paraguayan President will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials, and business representatives. During the visit, President Pena is set to hold high-level talks with Prime Minister Modi and other senior leaders to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations. Prime Minister Modi will host a lunch in his honour, while President Droupadi Murmu is expected to meet him and host a banquet. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar is also scheduled to call on the visiting dignitary. President Pena will also travel to Mumbai to engage with state political leadership, business and industry representatives, startups, innovators, and technology leaders. The State Visit provides an opportunity to comprehensively review bilateral ties and discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest. India and Paraguay have enjoyed warm and friendly relations since establishing diplomatic ties on September 13, 1961. Cooperation between the two countries spans trade, agriculture, health, pharmaceuticals, and information technology sectors. Paraguay is an important trading partner for India in Latin America, with several Indian companies active in Paraguay's automobile and pharmaceutical sectors. Paraguayan companies, mainly through joint ventures, also have a presence in India, strengthening economic ties. Both nations share common views on international issues, including United Nations reforms, climate change, renewable energy, and combating terrorism. (ANI)
News18
2 days ago
- Politics
- News18
PM Modi Meets Paraguay President Santiago Pena Palacios At Hyderabad House
Last Updated: President Palacios arrived in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India and was accorded a ceremonial welcome along with a Guard of Honour at Palam Air Force Station. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with President Santiago Pena Palacios of Paraguay at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Monday. Earlier in the day, President Palacios paid a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, laying a wreath at the memorial. The visit is part of his three-day state visit to India, which will conclude on June 4. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) shared the moment on X, stating, 'Honouring the values of peace & non-violence. President Santiago Pena Palacios of Paraguay paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat today." President Palacios arrived in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India and was accorded a ceremonial welcome along with a Guard of Honour at Palam Air Force Station. The President was warmly received by Minister of State Harsh Vardhan Malhotra, highlighting the strong bilateral ties between the two countries. Sharing an update on X, Randhir Jaiswal from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) welcomed President Santiago Pena Palacios of Paraguay as he arrived in New Delhi for his first State Visit to India. In his tweet, Jaiswal wrote, 'Bienvenido, President @SantiPenap! President @SantiPenap of Paraguay has arrived in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India, to a ceremonial welcome & Guard of Honour. Warmly received by MoS Harsh Malhotra @hdmalhotra at the airport. This visit will provide an opportunity to strengthen the relationship." The MEA emphasised that President Pena's visit, scheduled from June 2 to June 4, aims to deepen and broaden India-Paraguay ties across political, economic, and cultural spheres. At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Paraguayan President will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials, and business representatives. Following the Delhi visit, President Pena will travel to Mumbai to engage with state political leadership, business and industry representatives, startups, innovators, and technology leaders. The State Visit provides an opportunity to comprehensively review bilateral ties and discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest. India and Paraguay have enjoyed warm and friendly relations since establishing diplomatic ties on September 13, 1961. Cooperation between the two countries spans trade, agriculture, health, pharmaceuticals, and information technology sectors. Paraguay is an important trading partner for India in Latin America, with several Indian companies active in Paraguay's automobile and pharmaceutical sectors. Paraguayan companies, mainly through joint ventures, also have a presence in India, strengthening economic ties. Both nations share common views on international issues, including United Nations reforms, climate change, renewable energy, and combating terrorism. First Published: June 02, 2025, 14:38 IST
Miami Herald
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Héctor Palacios, founder of an opposition movement in Cuba, dies in Miami
Héctor Palacios Ruiz, a prominent former political prisoner and one of the first dissidents who broke with Fidel Castro's revolution to create an opposition movement in Cuba, died in Miami on Saturday. He was 82. For years, Palacios had battled cancer and several other illnesses – including several strokes and heart disease – stemming from his time in prison due to his political activities in Cuba, including months of isolation in a tiny walled-up cell, relatives said. He was one of the 75 well-known dissidents who were incarcerated during a government crackdown in 2003 known as the Black Spring, accused of treason. He was sentenced to 25 years, but was released in 2007 due to mounting international concern for his poor health. At a time when publicly opposing the Cuban government was perceived as quixotic and dangerous by most of the population, Palacios, along with other prominent figures like the late Oswaldo Paya, the late Vladimiro Roca, and Martha Beatriz Roque, embarked on what would be decades of trying to foster an opposition movement inside the island. 'Palacios is part of the original group of founders of the civic and political opposition in Cuba, with an immense level of prominence,' said opposition leader Manuel Cuesta Morúa from Havana. 'For several years, he was president of the Democratic Solidarity Party, the largest Liberal-leaning party in the country, with representation in almost every province. For a long time, he played an important role in [opposition] projects such as Concilio Cubano in 1995 and Todos Unidos in 1999, and, along with Oswaldo Payá, he was one of the driving forces behind the signature collection for the Varela Project.' After leaving the Communist Party and his position as director of a state music agency in the late 1980s, Palacios headed the Democratic Solidarity Party and was one of the leaders organizing Concilio Cubano, Cuban Council, a coalition of about 140 dissident groups and human rights organizations that showed Cuban authorities that opposition was gaining momentum. Along with the 'Homeland is For All' declaration penned by Roca, Roque and the Varela Project, the plebiscite initiative spearheaded by Payá, Concilio Cubano was one of the most serious efforts by Cuban dissidents to coalesce early on around a platform of political goals, including a general amnesty for all political prisoners, free and direct elections and economic freedoms. But the government arrested many participants, including Palacios ahead of their planned big gathering on Feb. 24, 1996. That day, the Cuban government shot down two civilian U.S. planes flown by members of Miami-based Brothers to the Rescue that flew that day from South Florida. Palacios said the Concilio leadership attempted to have the gathering later that year, but he was arrested in November and then again in January 1997. He was imprisoned while awaiting trial for charges of contempt of the authorities. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for criticizing Castro – using the word 'crazy' to describe him – in an interview with a foreign media outlet. He was released early, thanks to the mediation of Pope Jean-Paul II, who visited Cuba in January 1998. Palacio's efforts faced the same challenges that members of the opposition in Cuba experience today: how to unify dissident groups, connect them to the broader population, build alliances with exile organizations and navigate shifting U.S. policies, all in an effort to mount a successful opposition to the six-decade communist rule on the island. Palacios served as the secretary of Todos Unidos, All United, a coalition of dissident groups created in 1999. A sociologist, he also founded the independent Center for Social Studies and turned his Vedado apartment into a library where activists were exposed to the political writings and other books by Czech dissident and late President Vaclav Havel, Morúa said. None of those organizations were allowed to function legally, as the Cuban government bans independent civic or political organizations, and state security agents were at times able to infiltrate them. An affable six-foot tall 'guajiro' — Cuban slang for peasant — 'he was a full time activist. You could count on him at any time,' said Juan Adolfo Fernandez, one of the 75 dissidents imprisoned in 2003 who knew Palacios well. María Elena Alpizar, an independent journalist and one of the founders of the Ladies in White movement, a group of female relatives of political prisoners, called him 'a great anti-communist Cuban patriot,' in a publication lamenting his death. But he also took positions that made him unpopular at times and created controversy among peers and exiles in Miami, such as supporting President Barack Obama´s policy of engagement with Cuba. 'We must engage in dialogue; this policy of isolation is what the Cuban government wants,' he wrote in a letter he sent to Obama. He also told U.S. legislators that the amount of U.S. foreign aid reaching dissidents on the island was minimal. He met with then-Senator Obama during a campaign stop in Miami in 2008, after Cuban authorities let him travel to seek medical treatment in Spain. Palacios told the Miami Herald at the time that he welcomed Obama's ideas to ease travel and remittances to Cuba, which he advocated for in a congressional hearing that same year. 'What Obama intends to do about Cuba includes many things that I share,' Palacios said. 'This is not the moment to fence in the people of Cuba. This is the moment to open the doors so Cubans and Americans can go there. We cannot subject the people of Cuba, after 50 years of war, to one more war and we cannot continue killing each other. Changes in Cuba are taking place and people have not realized this. Fidel Castro is no longer there but the people are and the people are stronger than ever.'' Palacios resisted pressure by the Cuban government to go into exile and returned to the island after having received medical treatment in Spain and after visits to Miami and European countries, where he advocated for the release of political prisoners and democratic change on the island. He told el Nuevo Herald at the time: 'I'm returning to Cuba first because I'm Cuban, and second because I've earned the right. I've fought and suffered enough for my homeland.' He continued his opposition work and remained a spoken critic of the Raúl Castro government, warning that the Cuban ruler couldn't bring meaningful reforms to the island. After a life under constant surveillance and harassment by Cuban state security, he finally went into exile in 2014. He became a U.S. citizen and lived a quiet life in Miami, his liberal views at times unpopular among Cuban exiles who have increasingly aligned with the Republican Party and its hawkish Cuba policies. 'Palacios advocated for more avenues for exchange and more opportunities between Cuba and the United States as a way to foster a democratic transition, especially a peaceful one,' Morúa said. 'Once the idea of doubling, tightening, and increasing sanctions and making them more radical began to gain much more traction, this led to his losing media coverage in the United States and presence among others in Miami who advocate for this same approach.' In 2014, Palacios told el Nuevo Herald that the dissident movement's main challenge remained the same: forging a broader 'connection with the Cuban people, the only one who can change the situation on the island. Until those people have faith in the opposition, and at the same time, the opposition educates them for change, it won't happen.' Born in a humble family of farmers in El Escambray, the mountainous enclave in central Cuba, he wanted his ashes scattered there in a free Cuba, his relatives say. He is survived by his three children, Frank, Héctor Mario and Odalys Palacios, and two grandchildren.
Chicago Tribune
17-05-2025
- Climate
- Chicago Tribune
Column: White Sox are making the Cubs look great by self-destructing in the City Series
The day after the big dust storm had everyone in Chicago scratching their heads, the sun returned to Wrigley Field on Saturday, just in time for Game 2 of the City Series. But that didn't mean the unpredictable winds of Wrigley made the ballpark any easier, as White Sox manager Will Venable tried to explain to his players before the series. 'We prepare them for it and we talk about it and then you just have to go out and experience it and figure out how to make plays,' Venable said before the game. 'The wind is going to do different things. The sun is always changing. It's really up to the player to figure it out sometimes.' But the Sox did not figure it out, leading to a 7-3 loss to the Cubs before a raucous crowd of 40,134. It could've been worse, but the Cubs left 14 men on base to keep the game from getting completely out of hand, as it did Friday in their 13-3 win, which also was aided by some Sox misplays. The wind was blowing out to right at 21 mph, which is just another day at the office for the Cubs. Pete Crow-Armstrong was able to solve it in the third inning, making a running backhanded grab at the ivy to rob Joshua Palacios. But Palacios was unable to do likewise in right field in the sixth. Trailing 5-3 with two on after a two-out throwing error by Lenyn Sosa, Palacios misjudged a Vidal Bruján fly ball and watched it bounce over his head and into the basket for a ground-rule RBI double. 'Wrigley can play a bunch of different ways,' Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. 'It's been well covered. It can be a great run-scoring environment, or not so much. Our mentality has been that it's to our advantage regardless.' Added Venable: 'It happened (Friday), it happened again today. It's part of playing here and it cost us again. Just one of those things where you've got to battle, do everything you can and hope you're able to make plays.' Watching Palacios misplay fly balls in right the last two days makes Kyle Tucker's defense in his first season playing right at Wrigley that much more impressive. 'Good baseball player, that's all there really is to say,' shortstop Dansby Swanson said of Tucker. 'Trusts in his ability and it's impressive to watch on a daily basis.' Game 2 photos: Cubs beat White Sox 7-3 in City Series at Wrigley FieldSwanson's solo home run off Sean Burke in the fifth and two-run singles by Miguel Amaya and Crow-Armstrong in the second led the Cubs. Swanson reached base four times, scored three runs and stole a base, continuing to rebound from his early-season slump that dropped his average below .200. Starter Matthew Boyd allowed three runs over six innings with eight strikeouts and no walks, his 17th straight game allowing three or fewer earned runs. He also has 23 strikeouts and no walks over his last three starts. Boyd brought his two young sons into the postgame news conference and asked them what they thought about the game. 'Good,' they both replied. 'Short but sweet,' Boyd said. That pretty much summed up the state of the Cubs. Sox pitchers, meanwhile, issued 11 walks, including two intentional. It's not a recipe for success, especially with a young pitching staff that has little margin for error. So the Cubs won their record seventh straight game of the City Series, dating to 2023, and tied the all-time series 74-74. Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes, who has broadcast every one of the 148 games, told me Saturday that the crosstown rivalry almost always lives up to the hype. As someone who has covered them all, from the inaugural game in 1997 in which Sox star Frank Thomas and Cub Brian McRae stood around the batting cage beforehand and debated whose fans were drunker, I can attest the City Series always has been the gift that keeps on giving. But Round 1 of this year's two series has yet to meet its usual lofty standards. There have been no controversies. No extracurricular grandstanding after home runs. No nail-biters. And no Ozzie Guillen on the premises to tell tall tales about the Wrigley Field rats. Chicago Sports Network, the Sox's network that employs Guillen, declined to send its pre- and postgame crew to the ballpark for the first two games, perhaps to save on gas fare and mileage. The CHSN crew didn't miss much by not being in the ballpark. The Sox fell to 14-32, and any momentum from back-to-back series wins over the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds evaporated. The Cubs improved to 4-1 to start their 21-game stretch against sub-.500 teams. The tough schedule early on seems to have helped the comfort level now that they're facing the lesser lights like the Marlins and Sox. 'Everybody in this league is obviously in this league for a reason,' Swanson said, repeating the age-old mantra of good teams that beat up on bad teams. Whatever. The lesson we've learned so far from the first two games of the City Series? This is not a good Sox team. Short but not so sweet.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Real Madrid eye two Bundesliga midfielders as Xabi Alonso prepares to take over
Marca reports that two Bundesliga stars may soon be following Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. The Spanish tabloid reports that Xabi may wish to take one of his Werkself regulars, Exequiel Palacios, to his new station. VfB Stuttgart midfielder is also apparently on Real's list. Palacios nearly moved to Real in 2019. The deal reportedly fell through after a failed medical. The now 34-times-capped Argentine international joined Germany's red company team in January 2020 instead. Advertisement After five seasons spent representing Leverkusen, Palacios has pumped up his estimated market value from €22m to €40m. Palacios last extended his contract in September 2023. His current deal runs through 2028. Those details likely make Palacios a much easier swoop for the La Liga club. Palacios is both affordable and overdue for a pay raise. Stiller, on the other hand, currently struggles with injury issues and is thought to have a complicated release clause in his current contract that doesn't take effect until 2026. Stuttgart reported a summer price tag for Stiller is no less than €60m. Real may nevertheless be willing to meet this after witnessing the German international turn in a strong performance at the Bernabeu in the Champions League this season. GGFN | Peter Weis
