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Entitled “Reaffirming Reconciliation for Future Generations,” the presidential statement noted that the ceremony seeks to deepen the commitment to unity, healing, and nation-building, the Department informed.

Ramaphosa emphasized in his keynote address the importance of transforming spaces that once represented conflict into platforms for honest dialogue, justice, and a shared national identity.

As the Ministry of Sport, Arts, and Culture recalls, that location was the site of the Battle of the Blood River (Ncome) in 1838, lending the commemoration significant symbolism.

The confrontation, which took place 187 years ago between Zulu forces and Voortrekkers (settlers of Dutch origin), generated conflicting narratives in the country for over a century.

Since 1995, the democratic government has redefined the date as a day of unity and collective reflection.

jdt/iff/lam/mv

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According to the Polsat news agency, Bosak questioned Nawrocki’s assertion about “the loss of the element of cooperation” between the two nations. “I disagree with those words, because to lose something, you must first possess it,” the legislator noted.

According to Bosak, there was never a true partnership between Poland and Ukraine, and instead of cooperation, there was fierce rivalry.

Political analysts in Warsaw agree that tensions have grown since the new head of State criticized the lack of gratitude for Polish support after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, and the bilateral relationship has been affected by historical and economic disputes.

Nawrocki, speaking to the news portal Wirtualna Polska stressed that “relations cannot be considered cooperative while Kyiv ignores key issues for Poland,” such as the rights of Poles in Ukrainian territory.

Although Poland has been one of Ukraine’s closest European allies since 2022, differences have surfaced with the change of government in Warsaw.

The first official meeting between Nawrocki and Volodymyr Zelensky will take place on December 19 in the Polish capital.

jdt/arm/mem/ehl/amp

The post Poland denies alliance with Ukraine first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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According to preliminary information released by W Radio, the device was detonated on the road as the police motorcycle passed by, killing Sub-Lieutenants Jorge Leandro Gomez Ochoa, 36, and Rober Stiven Melo Londoño, 33.

The officers were taken to medical centers after the attack but did not survive, the news outlet reported.

The report added that authorities are conducting the necessary investigations to determine who is responsible for the incident, which occurred in the early hours of this morning near the María Isabel Urrutia Coliseum, in the southern part of the capital of Valle del Cauca.

jdt/arm/mem/ifs

The post Colombia: Explosive attack kills police officers in Cali first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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“President Xiomara Castro has requested the firm support of the Honduran people and the Libre Party (Liberty and Refoundation, the ruling party) in the face of intelligence reports indicating real threats of a possible coup d’état that seeks to destabilize the constitutional order,” Zelaya stated.

On his Twitter account, the former president, who was overthrown in 2009 by a military coup in collusion with the right-wing National and Liberal parties, indicated that these warnings necessitate maintaining democratic vigilance and peaceful citizen mobilization in defense of the institutions.

The Libre party leader also announced that next Thursday, Castro, in her capacity as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, will transfer command to the new Chief of the Joint Staff.

“This institutional act reaffirms the civilian, democratic, and constitutional leadership of the government and dismantles the coup attempts that aim for chaos and division,” emphasized the former president and husband of the first female president in Honduran history.

The general coordinator of the progressive group defended what he described as the president’s proven democratic commitment and her absolute respect for the principle of alternation in the presidency.

He demanded that coup-plotting political sectors and de facto powers refrain from interrupting or sabotaging her constitutional mandate, which, he emphasized, ends on January 27, 2026.

jdt/jha/edu

The post Honduras: Former President Zelaya confirms reports of possible coup first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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The death toll will continue to rise due to dozens of people still missing.

On Tuesday, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spokesman of the Kwilu province, David Obama, announced that authorities recovered 10 new bodies from the shipwreck on the Kwango River, which brings the total to 38 dead.

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The vessel was headed to Bandundu city with more than 700 sacks of corn, cassava, and charcoal. It had no official voyage registration, although it is estimated to have been carrying approximately 100 people.

The accident occurred on Sunday night near the village of Bolo, in the Bagata territory of Kwilu province. Initially, 28 bodies were recovered, but as rescue efforts continued, the total rose to 38 dead.

The death toll will continue to rise due to dozens of people still missing. The DRC government announced the closure of 240 illegal ports on rivers and lakes, used for transportation in a country with limited infrastructure and extensive rainforest.

#Burundi 🇧🇮 “Africa is under constant pressure from multiple global interests. To seize the continent’s vast resources, powerful nations fuel conflict and instability. They wage a shadow war invisible, yet ever-present, hidden behind diplomacy and false narratives. In this… pic.twitter.com/VenLvVbthJ

— Nadia MUGUNGA (@Nadia_MUGUNGA1) December 12, 2025

In April, a shipwreck on the Congo River left 148 dead after the vessel caught fire, and on September 11, 128 people died after a boat caught fire and sank in the west of the country. These incidents highlight the precarious state of transportation.

The vessels are often precarious, overloaded, and lack adequate signaling, which increases the risk of fatal accidents on the Congolese waterways.

Among the victims were several teachers traveling to Bandundu to collect their salaries. The cause of the accident remains unknown, while rescue teams continue working to recover missing bodies.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Africa: In the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 100 people died after the collapse of an artisanal copper mine in the town of Mulondo. Artisan miners' associations confirmed the death toll of 100 and reported dozens missing. pic.twitter.com/ZD0z8CP3pe

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) November 20, 2025

teleSUR: JP

Source: EFE – La Jornada

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President Sheinbaum is also monitoring Xiomara Castro’s complaints about a possible coup in Honduras.

On Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum made it clear that she does not agree with Maria Corina Machado, the far-right politician who is calling for foreign military intervention in Venezuela.

RELATED:

President Maduro Rejects Corina Machado’s Accusations Against the Venezuelan People

Sheinbaum said she cannot support political destabilization actions in any form because they run counter to the Mexican Constitution, which promotes self-determination of peoples and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

The Mexican president also clarified that while someone may seek international support to facilitate dialogue-based solutions to political disputes in a country, interventionism and foreign interference are not part of the historical stance of the Mexican state.

Sheinbaum also rejected a spurious comparison between Honduran President Xiomara Castro and far-right politician Machado, given that these two figures cannot be equated on the assumption that both are rejecting presidential elections in their respective countries.

“It is different. One of them is calling for foreign intervention. We, by conviction and by constitutional mandate, are against interventionism and interference,” Sheinbaum reiterated, emphasizing that she supports each people deciding its own destiny.

Previously, Sheinbaum had avoided speaking about Machado after she received the Nobel Peace Prize. When asked about that international recognition, Sheinbaum reiterated her position and Mexico’s willingness to continue defending the self-determination of peoples.

“The last time I said ‘no comment,’ and I continue to say ‘no comment’… Mexico will always defend the self-determination of peoples, noninvasion, noninterference and the decision of peoples to have the governments they decide to have,” Sheinbaum said conclusively.

Machado represents the smiling face of Washington’s regime-change machine, the polished spokesperson for sanctions, privatization, and foreign intervention dressed up as democracy. https://t.co/3ZYBcEOaUR pic.twitter.com/HymSNl6Qrm

— tim anderson (@timand2037) October 10, 2025

Regarding the Honduran political situation, the Mexican president said her administration is monitoring the complaints made by President Castro about a possible coup in her country. Sheinbaum also confirmed that her Foreign Relations Secretary is maintaining diplomatic communication on the issue.

These remarks come after Castro publicly denounced the existence of maneuvers aimed at destabilizing her administration following the Nov. 30 presidential elections, in which interference by U.S. President Donald Trump evidently favored one of the right-wing candidates.

On Monday, Castro said intelligence reports had determined that former President Juan Orlando Hernandez — a convicted drug trafficker sentenced to prison by a U.S. court but pardoned by Trump — was planning to return to Honduras to proclaim the winning candidate of the 2025 presidential elections.

“An aggression is underway aimed at breaking the constitutional and democratic order through a coup against my government,” the Honduran leader said, at a time when there is still no final official declaration of the election results.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolf Perez Esquivel, questioned the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado, an extremist who calls for a military invasion of her own. pic.twitter.com/GS3P7KANNd

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 15, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: EFE – La Jornada

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Tracking the Evolution of Consensus from the 1947 Partition to the Crisis of Gaza Governance in 2025.

Key United Nations resolutions on Palestine trace a clear, dramatic line: from the initial partition of a homeland and the sacred right of return for refugees, to the legal condemnation of a systematic occupation and its settlements, and finally, to intense struggles over Gaza’s immediate future and the final fate of Palestinian statehood.

RELATED:
ICC rejects Israel’s appeal to halt investigation into crimes in Palestine

Read together, these resolutions reveal a persistent, overwhelming international consensus on Palestinian self-determination, yet they simultaneously expose the profound limits of a UN system often held hostage by geopolitical power dynamics and vetoes.

For activists, journalists, and citizens committed to justice, understanding this powerful legal and diplomatic archive is crucial for tracking the fulfillment of the Two-State Solution principle.

🇺🇳 General Assembly adopted draft resolution “The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination” by a vote of 164 in favour to 8 against (Argentina, Israel, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, United States) with 9 abstentions. pic.twitter.com/FQcceYgF11

— UN Palestinian Rights Committee (@UNISPAL) December 16, 2025

The Foundational and Legal Framework

The foundational resolutions are not mere historical footnotes; they are the bedrock documents that established the core principles for resolving the conflict, focusing on partition, the human right of return, and the “land for peace” formula.

Our starting point is UNGA Resolution 181 (II), adopted on November 29, 1947. This is the fateful resolution that proposed the partition of British-mandate Palestine into two independent states—one Arab and one Jewish—while designating Jerusalem as an international corpus separatum.

Though the plan’s implementation was tragically cut short by the 1948 war and the displacement of the Nakba, Resolution 181 became the formal basis of the two-state solution narrative that, despite decades of colonization, still anchors diplomatic efforts today.

Just a year later, UNGA Resolution 194 (III) (December 11, 1948), addressed the humanitarian catastrophe: the plight of Palestinian refugees. This text enshrined the fundamental human right of Palestinian refugees—the families who were expelled or fled their homes during the 1948 war—to return to their homes and/or receive compensation.

This demand, known universally as the “Right of Return,” is far from symbolic; it is a central, non-negotiable point for the Palestinian people and remains the official mandate of UNRWA (the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees).

The 1967 Six-Day War shattered the post-1948 reality and generated the core legal formula for the peace process: UNSC Resolution 242 (November 22, 1967). Considered the most important Security Council resolution, 242 established the guiding principle of “land for peace.”

Its twin demands are clear: 1) The withdrawal of Israel from the territories occupied in the 1967 conflict, and 2) The cessation of all claims of belligerency and the recognition of the sovereignty and security of every state in the region.

Building upon this framework, UNSC Resolution 338 (October 22, 1973), adopted during the Yom Kippur War, reaffirmed 242 and ordered the parties to immediately begin negotiations to establish a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

“It’s a colonial approach”, says Karen Attiah, former Washington Post global opinions editor, on Trump’s so-called “peace” plan for Gaza.

🎧 Tune into the radio show: https://t.co/g30KZaBod4 pic.twitter.com/pBxLY4WS3P

— CODEPINK (@codepink) December 14, 2025

Condemnation of Occupation and Settlements

As the occupation deepened, the UN produced a second, crucial cluster of resolutions focused specifically on the illegality of the Israeli occupation and the systematic expansion of settlements, which the international community overwhelmingly views as the primary obstacle to peace.

1. UNSC Resolution 2334 (2016): The Anti-Settlement Consensus

This legally binding Security Council resolution delivered a sharp rebuke, reinforcing the international consensus against all settlement activities.

• Flagrant Violation: The resolution explicitly condemns Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. It emphatically reaffirms that the establishment of settlements lacks legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and a major obstacle to the two-state solution.
• Transcendence: The resolution’s adoption was a watershed moment because the United States chose to abstain (rather than exercising its veto), allowing the legally binding resolution to pass and effectively validating the international legal consensus that settlements are illegal.

2. UNGA Resolution A/RES/ES-10/26 (2024): Setting a Deadline for Occupation

Adopted during an Emergency Special Session, this resolution is emblematic for setting a specific, urgent timeframe for ending the occupation, leveraging the findings of the world’s highest judicial body.

• Deadline on Occupation: Adopted by an overwhelming majority, the resolution demands that Israel end its illegal presence and policies in the occupied Palestinian territories within 12 months.
• Reparations and ICJ Link: The text calls on Israel to cease all its illegal policies, including forced evictions, and demands reparations for the damage caused. Crucially, this resolution transforms the ICJ’s advisory opinion—which declared the Israeli occupation illegal—into a specific political deadline, raising the stakes considerably.

Recent Diplomatic and Geopolitical Milestones

These recent resolutions highlight the dramatic shifting diplomatic landscape, consolidating Palestine’s status and reflecting intense international pressure, especially regarding the governance of Gaza and the global demand for a ceasefire.

1. UNGA Resolution 67/19 (2012): Diplomatic Recognition and Statehood Status

• Historic Diplomatic Victory: Approved by 138 votes, this resolution was a major diplomatic breakthrough, elevating Palestine’s status at the UN from an “observer entity” to a “non-member observer State” (similar to the Vatican).
• Legal Personality: This consolidated Palestine’s international legal personality, enabling it to join international bodies like the International Criminal Court (ICC), thereby strengthening its capacity to pursue accountability for war crimes.

2. UNGA Resolution A/RES/ES-10/27 (2025): The Global Call for a Ceasefire in Gaza

Adopted by a large majority, this resolution reflects the powerful global moral and political consensus in the face of a devastating humanitarian crisis.

• Immediate Demands: It demands an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire and the immediate release of all hostages and prisoners, reflecting overwhelming international frustration with the Security Council’s paralysis.
• Ending the Blockade: It strongly condemns the unlawful denial of humanitarian access and demands that Israel immediately end the humanitarian blockade of Gaza, imposed since March 2025, to guarantee the unrestricted entry of large-scale aid.
• Accountability: The text powerfully recalls the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ in the genocide case against Israel, directly linking immediate humanitarian demands to longer-term accountability.

3. UNSC Resolution 2803 (2025): The Trump Plan and Gaza’s Transitional Governance

This is one of the most recent and controversial resolutions, adopted with 13 votes in favor and two abstentions (China and Russia). It reveals the geopolitical struggle over the future shape of the region.

• New Governance Structure: It endorses the “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict” (widely known as the Trump Plan). This framework establishes a Peace Council as a transitional administration for Gaza and authorizes the creation of an International Stabilization Force (ISF).
• Geopolitical Disruption: This resolution is emblematic of a disruptive geopolitical approach, with critics arguing it is a way to circumvent the traditional peace process and impose a new, external governance structure—a move viewed by many in the Global South as a form of neo-trusteeship that subordinates Palestinian self-determination to external security interests.

🇵🇸 🇪🇹 “We affirm our historic position on the right of the Palestinian people for self determination. As Ethiopia has pronounced in its position during the adoption of the resolutions on the two states result solution, the international community should join hands to end the… pic.twitter.com/Mata1GsnZQ

— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) September 25, 2025

The UN’s Role and the Path to Palestinian Self-Determination

The pattern of UN resolutions highlights an enduring international consensus: Palestinian self-determination and statehood are inalienable rights, and the occupation and settlements are illegal under international law.

In December 2025, the General Assembly adopted resolutions (A/RES/80/134 and A/RES/80/129) that once again forcefully demand Israel’s complete withdrawal and reaffirm the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, grounding this position in the ICJ’s ruling that declared the occupation illegal.

The broad, almost unanimous, voting majorities in the General Assembly underscore Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation on the world stage, often with only the United States and a handful of allies voting against.

While these resolutions are not always legally binding, they carry immense political and moral weight. They consolidate the legal case against the occupation and translate the ICJ’s findings into undeniable diplomatic pressure, insisting that lasting peace is inseparable from the realization of Palestinian rights.

This UN record is a strategic tool to expose the asymmetries of the international order and to insist that global consensus must finally translate into political will to end the occupation.

Sources: Al Jazeera – teleSUR – ONU – ACNUR – UNGA

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Belarus president insists on dialogue to address international issues.

In an interview with Newsmax, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko warned that a potential U.S. military aggression against Venezuela would turn into a “second Vietnam” for Washington.

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He is “absolutely convinced” that conflicts between Washington and Caracas can be resolved peacefully. The Belarusian president directly conveyed this message to the U.S. special envoy to Belarus, John Coale.

“I told him this would be a second Vietnam. A war will lead nowhere,” Lukashenko stated, arguing that military intervention would only cause the Venezuelan people to unite around their government, strengthening national resistance to foreign aggression.

He also questioned the accuracy of U.S. reports on the alleged drug trafficking from Venezuela and rejected any implication of President Nicolas Maduro’s involvement in such activities. “You don’t have facts, and neither do I. I don’t think that’s the case,” he emphasized.

Lukashenko insisted that global problems such as drug trafficking, irregular migration, and transnational crime cannot be solved through force. He called for the establishment of international cooperation mechanisms based on dialogue and shared responsibility.

“You cannot defeat drugs with missiles. You have to think, not fight,” he said, pointing out that these are global phenomena requiring joint solutions.

The Belarusian leader also highlighted that he maintains open communication channels with Washington and expressed his willingness to address the Venezuelan issue directly with President Donald Trump.

Valentin Rybakov, Belarus’ permanent representative to the United Nations, said Lukashenko was “very frank” with the U.S. delegation and warned that a war against Venezuela would not benefit the American people, the Venezuelan people, or the international community.

These remarks come amid a growing U.S. military escalation in the Caribbean, where the Pentagon has significantly increased the deployment of naval, air, and ground forces under the command of U.S. Southern Command (SouthCom).

Since August, Washington has sent warships with thousands of troops to areas near Venezuela, claiming the operation is aimed at fighting drug trafficking—a narrative that Caracas sees as a pretext to justify hostile actions and prepare for intervention to seize the country’s oil.

On November 29, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Venezuela’s airspace and its surroundings should be considered “completely closed.” Days later, on December 12, he announced the imminent launch of ground operations against cartels in Latin America. In response, the Venezuelan government reiterated that it would fully exercise its sovereignty, supported by international law.

From Caracas, Venezuelan authorities have denounced that the U.S. military buildup and the involvement of neighboring countries in logistical operations are part of a broader encirclement and pressure plan aimed at imposing regime change and controlling the country’s strategic resources.

For the Bolivarian government, these actions constitute a covert aggression that threatens regional peace in Latin America, an area historically declared as a “Zone of Peace.”

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolf Perez Esquivel, questioned the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado, an extremist who calls for a military invasion of her own. pic.twitter.com/GS3P7KANNd

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 15, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: RT – Newsmax

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Every day, President Claudia Sheinbaum gives a morning presidential press conference and Mexico Solidarity Media posts English language summaries, translated by Mexico Solidarity’s Pedro Gellert Frank. Previous press conference summaries are available here.

IMSS-Bienestar: progress in pharmaceutical supply

The director of the IMSS-Bienestar well-being program, Alejandro Svarch Pérez, reported that the Health Routes have enabled the delivery of more than 115 million units of medicines, with thousands of healthcare centers and hospitals now supplied. Pharmaceutical supply is guaranteed throughout 2025 and 2026. President Claudia Sheinbaum was emphatic, declaring that companies that failed to deliver medicines will not receive contracts in the future.

Housing for Well-Being: lotteries with social priorities

Sheinbaum explained that Conavi housing is aimed at those without access to the Infonavit or FOVISSSTE government housing agencies and that since demand exceeds supply, allocation will be carried out through public lotteries in different states.

The National Housing Commission (Conavi) reported that 444 families applied for 139 homes; 20% will be allocated for rental to young people, and 66 homes will be assigned directly to senior citizens or people with disabilities. From Puebla, the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development (SEDATU) noted that the target of 390,973 homes has already been reached and that more than 6,400 additional homes will be delivered in 2026.

Fentanyl: addressing the causes, not just the substance

Sheinbaum reported that Donald Trump’s executive decree and the legislative moves promoted in the United States regarding fentanyl are being analyzed. She stressed that Mexico’s approach is different, that the anti-drug strategy must focus on the social and health causes that give rise to consumption. She warned that if the root causes are not addressed, addiction can shift to any other drug.

Violence in the Mexico City Congress: dialogue must prevail

Regarding the violent incidents that took place yesterday in the capital’s Congress, the President stated that violence is not the way and that dialogue must always be prioritized. She recalled that when Morena was in the opposition, legislative protests were carried out without aggression and with respect.

Latin America and the advance of the far right

Referring to the victory of José Antonio Kast in Chile, Sheinbaum recalled that the country experienced one of the most atrocious periods of repression during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, led by the extreme right, which is now once again present on the political scene.

Influenza H3N2 alert and health protocols

Minister of Health David Kershenobich urged the population to get vaccinated in light of the global alert over H3N2 influenza. He indicated that only one case has been detected in Mexico, although it is rapidly spreading in the United States and Europe. He also announced the implementation of 10 national protocols to standardize care for chronic and acute illnesses.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera December 16

  December 16, 2025

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on pharmaceuticals supply, social housing lottery, CDMX Congress fiasco, Ultra-right victory in Chile and H3N2 alert.

• 

  Analysis

  Tariffs & Industrial Sabotage

  December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

  The government’s stated reasoning for anti-China tariffs rings hollow when considering the flood of cheap US imports destroying the Mexican countryside and production dominated by US corporations exploiting Mexican labour.

• 

  Analysis

  Salvador Zarco: The Train & A Life

  December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

  The locomotive mechanic, trade unionist and communist helped found the Railroad Workers Museum after fighting the neoliberal privatization of Mexico’s railways.

The post People’s Mañanera December 16 appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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In an urgent appeal to its members, the leadership of the Libre Party called for a peaceful mobilization this afternoon to the INFOP (National Institute for Professional Training) facilities. The objective is to demand that the National Electoral Council (CNE) immediately approve the challenge and conduct a full recount of the 19,167 tally sheets from the November 30 presidential election, thus supporting the request of dissident council member Jorge Aldana.

RELATED:

Honduras Election Interference: 6 Official Complaints Expose Trump’s “Brazen” Involvement

The call to action, disseminated through social media by the party’s general coordinator, Manuel Zelaya, and other leaders, arises as a direct response to the majority decision of the CNE plenary to conduct a “special recount” on only 1,081 tally sheets (5.6% of the total). This measure, proposed by council members Ana Paola Hall and Cossette López, has been described by council member Marlon Ochoa as “insufficient” and “flawed,” given the documented irregularities in more than 17,000 tally sheets.

Libre’s calls for action come amid a climate of high post-election tension, where both its candidate, Rixi Moncada, and Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party have denounced electoral fraud. The party rejects what it calls “shady maneuvers” and an “imposition,” demanding absolute transparency with one non-negotiable principle: “Open the ballot boxes. Recount every vote, tally sheet by tally sheet.”

With a peremptory deadline for the National Electoral Council (CNE) to declare an official winner by December 30, the pressure in the streets is adding to the institutional pressure. Libre presents the mobilization as a democratic exercise to defend, as it proclaims, the popular will against what it considers an impending “electoral coup.”

Opposition Liberal Party May Join the Protest

The protest could expand even further, given that Iroshka Elvir, wife of candidate Salvador Nasralla, has joined the call. Her call, made through her social media account, urges people to gather at the same place and time as the protest called by the Libre Party.

“We demand that the law and the will of the Honduran people be respected: vote by vote to ensure certainty in the election results,” stated Nasralla’s wife, who, according to the controversial Preliminary Electoral Results Transmission System (TREP), trailed the Trump-backed candidate, Nesry Asfura, by just over 40,000 votes.

Por la democracia de nuestro país:

Nos vemos hoy, 5:00 PM, portón de INFOP frente a Gasolinera Uno, bulevar Kennedy.

Exigimos que se respete la ley y la voluntad de los hondureños: voto por voto para tener certidumbre de los resultados electorales.

Nosotros tenemos los… pic.twitter.com/DZ5niNF5V4

— Iroshka Elvir Diputada (@IroshkaElvir) December 15, 2025

However, Roberto Contreras, president of the Liberal Party’s Central Executive Council, asserted that he did not call for the party’s members to take to the streets and asked Elvir to stop doing so, as she is not a spokesperson for the Liberal Party.

News in development….

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The Zionist state uses ‘renewable detention without charge’ to silence human rights defenders.

On Tuesday, the military court at Israel’s Ofer prison approved a six-month administrative detention order — without charges and renewable indefinitely — for prominent Palestinian activist Ayman Ghrayeb.

RELATED:

ICC rejects Israel’s appeal to halt investigation into crimes in Palestine

“The summary proceeding was conducted in secret and behind closed doors, denying Ghrayeb’s own lawyer access to any information about the accusations against him beyond a vague insinuation of incitement, and without disclosing any evidence to prove or refute the alleged charges,” according to a statement shared by Bilal, Ayman Ghrayeb’s brother.

The Palestinian activist has already served one month of the term while in custody. “We don’t know anything about Ayman right now,” Bilal said in a text message exchange, explaining that Israeli authorities have prevented his lawyer from visiting him in prison.

Ghrayeb is being held under administrative detention, a measure Israel applies to Palestinians detained in the West Bank, under which detainees can be held without trial, without formal charges and for an indefinite period in renewable six-month terms.

Today: activists protested in front of Ofer prison where many Palestinians are being held and tortured. The protestors demanded the release of activists Ayman Ghrayeb and all political prisoners. Ayman was kidnapped by the occupation forces and is being held in administrative… pic.twitter.com/NKIOhOTT5c

— Resistance Solidarity Network (@RSolidarityNet) December 14, 2025

As of late September, Israel was holding 3,474 Palestinians in prison under the “administrative detention” method, according to estimates by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.

Israeli occupation forces detained Ghrayeb on Nov. 17 in the village of Fasayil, in the Jordan Valley, east of the West Bank. He was in the village documenting violence by Israeli settlers in the area, an activity he regularly carries out in the Palestinian territory.

Human rights defenders said Israeli soldiers confiscated the phone and camera Ghrayeb uses to film settlers. One witness to the arrest said Ayman received a call from the Shin Bet before the detention, intimidating him over his activism.

Immediately after his arrest, Ghrayeb was held at the Israeli military base of Samra, in the Jordan Valley. Zionist soldiers kept him handcuffed, without access to food, and subjected him to beatings for three days. Initially, both the Israeli army and police denied that Ghrayeb was in their custody.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Middle East: Storm Byron battered the Gaza Strip, killing at least 14 people and injuring others as harsh winds and relentless rain struck buildings already weakened by Israeli bombardments and thousands of displaced families. pic.twitter.com/e3KGGCnPCW

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 16, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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This article by Luis Hernández Navarro originally appeared in the December 16, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

A railroad worker by choice, for Salvador Zarco Flores, “the train is poetry, it is life. It is history, it is everything.” A political prisoner of the 1968 student movement, upon his release from Lecumberri Prison in 1971, he attended a meeting at the UNAM Faculty of Philosophy, thanked his fellow prisoners for their solidarity in securing his freedom, and never returned to the classroom. Instead, he didn’t rest until he found work as a railroad worker.

Prison and work were his schools. Prison taught him many lessons about the good and bad of human nature. There, he says, we are all naked. He also discovered the “blessed value of manual labor.” The railroads and the working class allowed him to meet men who were generous beyond measure, to the point of saying “enough!” Dedicated men. Men who would give their lives for a cause. He found that proletarian solidarity is a matter of flesh and blood, not just ideas or books.

A great admirer of the Chinese Revolution and the Russian people, on his wedding night in Morelia, he went into a used bookstore and found O. Piatnitsky’s book, Breaking the Night: Memoirs and Revelations of a Bolshevik. He read it nonstop until dawn.

In 1967, while at university, he joined the Spartacus Communist League (LCE). He was first assigned to the oil workers’ branch and then reassigned to the railway workers’ branch. He was impressed by the union. The workers sheltered the activists, guided them so they wouldn’t get lost, and told them which path to take.

In the streets, during the 1968 protests, young people demanded the release of Demetrio Vallejo, leader of the 1958-59 workers’ uprising, who had been imprisoned for 11 years, four months, and one day. Vallejo, along with Ho Chi Minh and Emiliano Zapata, was a figure revered by the students. A detachment of railway workers, complete with banners, was present in Tlatelolco on October 2, 1968.

In prison, Jerónimo (that was his nom de guerre) began to study the history of the guild and fell in love with that brotherhood. “This is where I belong!” he told himself. In Lecumberri, he befriended the railroad worker Cayetano Horta, detained in Tlalnepantla, whom he called “my general.” He was in charge of cleaning the cellblock in exchange for financial assistance from the political prisoners.

Jerónimo began working for Ferronales on the tracks, first in Hidalgo and then in Veracruz. He, his wife at the time, and their two eldest children lived in a makeshift camp trailer, which included a bedroom, dining room, living room, bathroom, and kitchen. They cooked on makeshift wood-burning stoves. The track maintenance crews lived there, performing the heaviest and lowest-paid work outdoors. They were responsible for keeping the tracks in the best possible condition to ensure the safety of the trains. Their privacy was limited. Their private lives were almost entirely public.

He worked there for a year, until he joined the workshops, a key point for organizing the workers’ struggle. The workshop workers were the backbone of the union. When he and his family returned to the city, a man who was a natural leader of the crew told him: “I’m asking you to do something: send me a photo and some works by Mao Zedong.”

A locomotive mechanic and electrician, unyielding to the corrupt union bosses, he discreetly and naturally organized a reformist union movement from the ground up. He led Section 15 and the oversight committee, while also supporting the demands of local residents and promoting independent unionism in various factories, reading groups, and film clubs. Over time, Zarco and Demetrio Vallejo became close comrades in the Railroad Workers’ Union Movement.

In 1997, Salvador was laid off along with about a hundred other workers. An uneven resistance against the privatization of the railway system began. It was impossible to stop it. The sale of the industry stripped the country of strategic assets, placing them in the hands of foreigners and unscrupulous businessmen, and facilitated the destruction of the collective bargaining agreement, mass layoffs, the dismantling of the union, and the cancellation of services.

Faced with inevitable defeat, Salvador, along with a group of workers, focused on preserving the historical memory and culture of the railroad workers and the industrial heritage of the former state-owned company. Under his leadership, on May 1, 2006, the Railroad Workers Museum was inaugurated in the old La Villa station, near the Basilica of Guadalupe. They didn’t even have “a nail to display.” With the support of Teresa Márquez, the National Museum of Mexican Railroads loaned them a 601 locomotive and other pieces for their first exhibition about the many and varied trades of the railroad workers.

Gradually, the museum has built its own collection through donations, purchases, loans, and other arrangements. It has organized exceptional exhibitions such as From Nonoalco to Tlatelolco 1958-1968, dedicated to the railway workers’ struggle and the life of Demetrio Vallejo. Furthermore, the institution is a vibrant cultural center, an open space for other groups to carry out activities, such as the Teodoro Larrey Book Club.

The name of the book club has a long history. In 1900, in Puebla, a handful of railroad mechanics met in a room of a boarding house rented by Teodoro Larrey. There, the Mexican Mechanics Union was born, the first railway workers’ resistance organization. It sought to end the exploitation of Mexican workers. Salvador Zarco is a worthy heir to both Teodoro Larrey and Demetrio Vallejo. The formidable and effective work he has carried out in recent years at the helm of the museum and in the recovery of the historical and cultural heritage of the railroad workers deserves proper recognition.

• 

  Analysis

  Salvador Zarco: The Train & A Life

  December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

  The locomotive mechanic, trade unionist and communist helped found the Railroad Workers Museum after fighting the neoliberal privatization of Mexico’s railways.

• 

  Culture | News Briefs

  Cultural Promoters: Demand for Zaco’s Resignation at Railway Workers Museum is “Arbitrary”

  December 16, 2025

  The trade unionist was fired by Mexico City’s Ministry of Culture, who still have yet to recover sculptures of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara that were stolen by ultra-right wing mayor Alessandra de la Rojo Vega.

• 

  Analysis | Interviews

  Taibo II: Suppressing Self Criticism in 4th Transformation More Dangerous Than a Rupture

  December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

  In an interview, the writer and Morena founder emphasized the pursuit of unity at all costs can be counterproductive, as it hinders the purging of those who replicate the practices of “old politics.”

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Caracas accuses the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago of maintaining a hostile agenda against Venezuela since taking office and of being criminally complicit in US military massacres of civilians in the Caribbean.

The government of Venezuela announced the immediate termination of any contract, agreement, or negotiation for the supply of natural gas to Trinidad and Tobago following the direct complicity of that country’s government in the theft of Venezuelan oil carried out by the US administration on December 10 through the seizure of an oil tanker.

In an official statement dated December 15, 2025, in Caracas, the Venezuelan Executive reported that it has full knowledge of the participation of the Trinidadian government in this operation, described as an act of international piracy that constitutes a serious violation of international law, as well as of the principles of free navigation and free trade.

The document directly points to the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, whom it accuses of maintaining a hostile agenda against Venezuela since assuming office. Persad-Bissessar’s administration has presided over the installation of US military radar systems on Trinidadian territory with the aim of harassing and intercepting vessels transporting Venezuelan oil.

According to the statement, these actions have turned Trinidad and Tobago into an advanced US military platform in the Caribbean that is used to attack Venezuela and facilitate operations to strip it of its energy resources—what Caracas defines as an unequivocal act of vassalage.

In the face of this escalation of hostilities, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro recalled that Venezuela had already previously withdrawn from the Framework Agreement on Energy Cooperation signed between the two countries and that this new episode represents a definitive breaking point in the bilateral energy relationship.

The statement concludes with a political and sovereign warning, in which the Venezuelan State reaffirms that it will not allow any colonial entity or its allies to undermine its sovereignty, its right to development, or control over its strategic resources.

As such, the statement by Venezuela’s government clearly frames its decision within a doctrine of comprehensive defense against what Caracas considers a coordinated imperial offensive aimed at suffocating the country’s economy and energy resources.

Venezuela: President Maduro Calls US Seizure of Oil Tanker Act of Piracy, Reports Crew Forcibly Disappeared

(Telesur)

 Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/CB/SL

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This interview by Alejandro Páez Varela and Álvaro Delgado Gómez of author, Morena founder and head of Mexico’s parastatal publisher Fondo de Cultura Económica, Paco Ignacio Taibo II, originally appeared in the December 16, 2025 edition of Sin Embargo.

Mexico City. Paco Ignacio Taibo II, historian, founder of Morena and director of the Fondo de Cultura Económica , warned about the risks of minimizing and avoiding self-criticism within the Fourth Transformation movement, noting that this could be more damaging to the left than a possible internal division.

The writer reviewed the Latin American political landscape and, in an interview with Los Periodistas, a program on SinEmbargo Al Aire, stressed that the search for unity at all costs can be counterproductive.

Senator Pedro Haces (middle) with El Limones (right). Pedro Haces was in the news recently for attempting to re-start a parliamentary friendship group with israel that had been shut down earlier this year after protests.

“Many times the righteous decision not to cause a split, a division, not to leave cracks due to a lack of unity, becomes a negative phenomenon because it allows for errors within your own forces,” he stated, speaking about the presence of figures who have “entrenched” or “tied down” within Morena, such as Deputy Pedro Haces Barba, Ricardo Monreal’s right-hand man, linked to the financial operator of the criminal group.

Since last week, the capture of Edgar “N,” alias “El Limones,” a member of the Los Cabrera criminal group, has put Pedro Haces, who is also the national leader of the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees of Mexico (CATEM), in a difficult position. Haces has tried to distance himself from the extortionist leader, but his claims that he doesn’t know him have been refuted with photographs and videos of the two of them.

Taibo II explained that in recent sessions of Morena’s Advisory Council, it was agreed that the Commission of Honor and Justice should act ex officio in cases like this. “It was agreed that the Commission of Honor and Justice should de facto investigate any complaint generated where there has been… the commission should take its own hands and investigate it,” he emphasized.

Adrian Rubalcava, a fiscally incompetent former mayor of a borough with no subway, with no experience in public transportation, accused of ties to organized crime, from the right wing of Mexico’s political class, was appointed head of one of the world’s most important public transit systems earlier this year.

He explained that the objective of this action is “to distinguish between slander and reality,” so that the Commission can “ascertain whether these accusations are substantiated and conduct an examination,” without needing to wait for a formal complaint, since “this change in Morena’s behavior can be useful in the coming months, where a cleanup is undoubtedly necessary.”

For Taibo II, the problem of “lowering self-criticism and self-reflection is even more dangerous than the problem of unity.” In this sense, he explained the “Swiss cheese theory”: “If you leave an information vacuum, the right wing will fill it. Don’t worry. If there’s a hole in the cheese, they’ll fill it.” Therefore, he maintained that the response to the systematic slander of the right-wing media is not silence, but rather rigorous self-criticism.

One of the points of internal criticism that Paco Taibo II identified is the resurgence of practices associated with “old politics,” such as opacity regarding personal fortunes. “Morena was born with the aim of destroying the PRI’s method of mobilizing supporters. It wasn’t about mandatory coercion, pressure, blackmail…,” Taibo II recalled, but he warned that these methods “are being reproduced within our ranks again; they are a clear indicator that something is rotten.”

One of the figures who has resorted to this type of mobilization is Haces himself with the members of CATEM and, for example, Adrián Rubalcava, the former PRI member and aggressor of journalists who today directs the Collective Transportation System, the Metro, who has also mobilized his “dragons”.

Manuel Vázquez Arellano, Ayotzinapa survivor & MORENA deputy who confronted Pedro Haces’ over his israel friendship group also expressed concerns over a false unity with disreputable figures this past Monday.

“I sometimes find myself thinking, ‘I don’t trust this guy…’ What I can say is that he should clearly explain the relationship between his wealth, right? And his knowledge, and where it came from,” Taibo II stated. “Every member of Morena should have an ethical obligation to answer this question: How much do you spend, and where did you get it?”

Furthermore, he criticized the “aesthetics of the old power” visible in some paintings, which consists of the accumulation of money to accumulate political power and distribute employment, a “factory of distributing loyalty for employment” of the PRI right.

The director of the FCE also expressed his discontent with the dismissal of Salvador Zarco as director of the Railway Museum and a long-time supporter of the Vallejo faction, an act that “bothers him greatly” and which he considers an institutional error. However, he insisted that the main focus should be on internal reform.

“I ask myself the same two questions that someone who has been an activist for 50 years asks: I knew Salvador when he was underground, persecuted, starving to death at the hands of the corrupt union bosses of the railroad workers, witnessing the resurgence of Vallejo’s movement. When we came to power, in an act of justice, Salvador was sent to direct the railroad museum, which immediately fulfilled two functions. It served the purpose of a museum dedicated to the railroad, but also the defense of the heroic Vallejo movement, which at the time represented some of the best of this country,” he noted.

When social democratic governments, to call them something, implement neoliberal policies, the people hold them accountable by saying, ‘Neoliberal policies are done better by the right than by you.'”

Taibo II also addressed the adverse electoral landscape for the left in Latin America with the victory of the Pinochet supporter José Antonio Kast in Chile, a victory for the far right that adds to that of Javier Milei in Argentina; Daniel Noboa in Ecuador, Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, as well as the rise of José Jerí in Peru.

“When social democratic governments, to call them something, implement neoliberal policies, the people hold them accountable by saying, ‘Neoliberal policies are done better by the right than by you,'” he commented.

“ There are other factors that also have a degree of desperation observed from the outside. The Bolivian phenomenon of cannibalism—how do you analyze it? There came a point when the infighting among the different factions of the left was more intense than any criticism the right could generate. It’s not easy for the left to consolidate a proposal, make it the majority view, sustain it over time, and root it in the hearts of the majority of the population. In fact, in Mexico, what surprises us time and again is that the left continues to be a majority option in terms of public sentiment, and this is demonstrated constantly by opinion polls regarding Claudia Sheinbaum’s public image.”

• 

  Culture | News Briefs

  Cultural Promoters: Demand for Zaco’s Resignation at Railway Workers Museum is “Arbitrary”

  December 16, 2025

  The trade unionist was fired by Mexico City’s Ministry of Culture, who still have yet to recover sculptures of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara that were stolen by ultra-right wing mayor Alessandra de la Rojo Vega.

• 

  Analysis | Interviews

  Taibo II: Suppressing Self Criticism in 4th Transformation More Dangerous Than a Rupture

  December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

  In an interview, the writer and Morena founder emphasized the pursuit of unity at all costs can be counterproductive, as it hinders the purging of those who replicate the practices of “old politics.”

• 

  News Briefs

  Trump Classifies Fentanyl as Weapon of Mass Destruction

  December 16, 2025

  The US President also revived a military medal originally created to recognize US soldiers who fought against Pancho Villa’s forces, to be awarded to troops “defending” the border with Mexico.

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This article originally appeared in the December 13, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. A group of cultural promoters and social activists deemed the termination of Salvador Zarco Flores’s directorship of the Railway Workers Museum an “arbitrary act.” In a letter addressed to Clara Brugada, Head of Government of Mexico City, they requested that the former student activist and historic railway leader conclude his tenure after the museum’s 20th anniversary, which falls next May.

Last October, according to the letter, Zarco met with officials from the Mexico City Ministry of Culture, who asked for his resignation. He requested to conclude his term on May 1, 2026, so that he could “organize a grand festival to close a 20-year cycle” of the project he helped build with a group of railway workers.

The request was ignored, given that last Friday, December 5, the general director of Historical, Artistic and Cultural Heritage of local Culture “even asked her to sign her resignation.”

Zarco Flores became a railroad worker in 1974 and joined Demetrio Vallejo’s movement. He held union positions and was fired when then-President Ernesto Zedillo privatized the important means of transportation (La Jornada, 7/24/16).

In 2006, he was chosen to head the newly opened Railway Workers Museum, housed in the former La Villa station. The proposal came from Raquel Sosa, then Secretary of Culture for Mexico City, which has overseen the museum since its inception.

In August of last year, the National Museum of Mexican Railroads organized a tribute to him for his consistent career as a social leader, labor fighter and cultural promoter for more than 50 years (La Jornada, 8/26/24).

There Should be an Advisory Council

The agreement establishing the Railway Workers Museum, dated June 12, 2006, stipulates the need for an Advisory Council composed of seven members. The lack of this committee, which “requires the presence of two retired railway workers, and the possible absence of Maestro Zarco, could jeopardize the purpose for which the museum was created, which is to preserve and exhibit the struggle of railway workers and the labor movement in our country.”

The letter, released this week, states that to preserve the essence of the space, Zarco “has been in charge of convening and organizing, among other cultural activities, meetings with retired railway workers, in addition to establishing relationships with groups, collectives and other museums in the interior of the Mexican Republic, in order to preserve the memory and history of the railway struggle.

“At the initiative of Maestro Zarco, it has been an open space for other groups to hold courses, workshops, meetings, fairs, among other activities. The most emblematic case is the Teodoro Larrey Book Club (named in honor of the founder of the Mexican Mechanics Union, the predecessor of the Mexican Railway Workers Union).”

This initiative, in its 13 years of existence, has organized meetings, workshops and oral storytelling performances, in coordination with similar entities in the city, the rest of the country and other Latin American nations.

Teacher Salvador Zarco Flores is a symbol of resistance and dedication, since his militancy in the Spartacus Communist League.

The letter, signed by some 25 people from seven cultural groups, includes the demand that “everything possible be done to create the Advisory Council, in charge of ensuring that the commitment to preserving the historical memory and legacy left by the struggles of the railway workers continues,” a committee that “has not been created or convened.”

The museum has been under the sole responsibility of the General Sub-Directorate of Historical, Artistic and Cultural Heritage of the capital’s Culture, and as project coordinator leader, Zarco Flores, “who since his youth has been an example of struggle, constancy and perseverance.”

They also request that the current director be supported in publishing his memoirs as a worker, railway leader, and his experience leading the museum; likewise, that he be appointed a lifetime member of the advisory council.

Among the signatories is storyteller and journalist Hena Carolina Velázquez Vargas, who has led the Teodoro Larrey Book Club since its inception. She is the daughter of railway union leader Guillermo Velázquez, whose collection of union records was added to the museum’s holdings.

The text concludes: “We advocate that this space continue to pay tribute to the union that suffered one of the worst attacks by neoliberal governments when they handed over the National Railways of Mexico to private enterprise. With this, they lost their source of employment, but they became an example of struggle, dignity, and resistance, which has been a benchmark for the transformation of our country.”

• 

  Culture | News Briefs

  Cultural Promoters: Demand for Zaco’s Resignation at Railway Workers Museum is “Arbitrary”

  December 16, 2025

  The trade unionist was fired by Mexico City’s Ministry of Culture, who still have yet to recover sculptures of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara that were stolen by ultra-right wing mayor Alessandra de la Rojo Vega.

• 

  Analysis | Interviews

  Taibo II: Suppressing Self Criticism in 4th Transformation More Dangerous Than a Rupture

  December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

  In an interview, the writer and Morena founder emphasized the pursuit of unity at all costs can be counterproductive, as it hinders the purging of those who replicate the practices of “old politics.”

• 

  News Briefs

  Trump Classifies Fentanyl as Weapon of Mass Destruction

  December 16, 2025

  The US President also revived a military medal originally created to recognize US soldiers who fought against Pancho Villa’s forces, to be awarded to troops “defending” the border with Mexico.

The post Cultural Promoters: Demand for Zaco’s Resignation at Railway Workers Museum is “Arbitrary” appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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In the afternoon maximum temperatures will be between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius in the west and center, up to 31 degrees Celsius in the east.

At night, temperatures will be between 20 and 23 degrees Celsius, lower in inland locations to the west, says the report.

Specialists of the institution in their social networks explain that the cold front 7 will be installed on the western and central region and will maintain the probability of rain, which may be locally intense and cause flooding in areas with saturated soils.

The day will be windy from the east of the western province of Pinar del Rio to the center-south of the eastern Las Tunas, with bursts that can exceed 40 kilometers per hour.

The day will be slightly winter in areas of the interior and north coast of the west and center.

abo/mem/alb

The post The rains will continue in Cuba with a slight drop in temperatures first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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The report specified that more than 17 million people are suffering from food insecurity in Afghanistan, three million more than last year.

Despite this, the WFP has only received 12% of the funds needed to assist those most affected, the agency’s Director of Food Security, Jean-Martin Bauer, warned this Tuesday at a press conference held digitally from Rome.

The figures come from the latest report on food insecurity in Afghanistan by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

With the available funds, the WFP can only assist fewer than one million people per month, compared to the six million they aim to reach in the next six months, for which they would need $468 million (€398 million).

abo/arm/mem/rfc

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In the annual report presented this Tuesday in Chile, the UN agency indicated that the area continues in a dynamic of low growth, in an international context still uncertain, and under the impact of tariffs imposed by the United States.

At the level of subregions, GDP shows differences and for South America an index of 2.9 is estimated this year, which will fall to 2.4 in 2026.

In Central America, the expansion will be 2.6 in 2025 and 3.0 next year, while the Caribbean, excluding Guyana, will record a growth rate of 1.9 this year compared to 1.8 in 2026, the document said.

ECLAC warns that fiscal consolidation measures and debt interest payments limit the scope for more active policies.

On the other hand, labour markets continue to recover, but at a slower pace, employment is growing moderately, unemployment gaps between men and women persist, and informality remains high in most countries, restricting the impulse for consumption.

The survey shows that inflation is continuing on a downward trend, but investment remains subdued and productivity does not show signs of picking up.

In 2026 the region would accumulate four years of low growth, with an annual average of just 2.3 percent.

abo/jha/car

The post ECLAC maintains plan of 2.4 percent of the regional GDP increase first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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Besides maintaining 17 consecutive quarters of growth, Venezuela will have a GDP expansion of 6.5%.

On Tuesday, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) confirmed that regional gross domestic product growth will rise to 2.4% in 2025, slightly above the 2.3% recorded last year.

RELATED:

Venezuela Moves Towards Strengthening the Productive Economy and National Sovereignty

In its Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025, ECLAC highlighted that Venezuela will post the most significant economic expansion in the region.

More specifically, the countries with the highest GDP growth rates will be Venezuela (6.5%), Paraguay (5.5%), Argentina (4.3%) and Costa Rica (4%). They are followed by Guatemala (3.9%), Honduras (3.8%), Panama (3.8%), El Salvador (3.5%), Nicaragua (3.5%), Peru (3.2%) and Ecuador (3.2%).

Trailing, but still posting positive figures, are the Dominican Republic (2.9%), Colombia (2.6%), Chile (2.5%), Brazil (2.5%) and Uruguay (2.2%). On average, Caribbean islands are projected to grow 1.9% in 2025. The economies of Cuba (-1.5%) and Haiti (-2.3%), however, are expected to contract in 2025.

JUST IN: 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇻🇪 Sky News completely exposes Trump’s Venezuela false flag.

Literally no one is buying that it’s about drugs.
pic.twitter.com/9ft5MSj3th

— ADAM (@AdameMedia) December 14, 2025

Latin America, the world’s most unequal region, grew 6.9% in 2021 as a rebound from the pandemic collapse, but slowed to 3.7% in 2022 and closed 2023 with growth of 2.3%, the same figure recorded in 2024 and the same rate ECLAC projects for 2026.

Commenting on the latest economic outlook, ECLAC Secretary Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs said that while current Latin American per capita GDP is slightly higher than it was 10 years ago, the pace of poverty reduction and the trend toward lower informal employment have stalled. Job creation also remains weak.

“More ambitious productive development policies are needed, especially today under new conditions of geoeconomic rivalry, combined with macroeconomic policies that mobilize more resources for growth, innovation, economic diversification, productive transformation and the creation of quality jobs,” he said.

#Venezuela 🇻🇪 The Great Constituent Congress of the Working Class is taking place, where thousands of workers are discussing productivity and the defense of national sovereignty, among other issues. pic.twitter.com/yYjpWfDgTl

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 16, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: ECLAC – EFE

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Authorities recommend the use of masks for those with symptoms and reducing contact with vulnerable individuals.

On Monday, the Peruvian Health Ministry reported that two children in Lima had been confirmed as the first cases of influenza A H3N2 subclade K, which activated national surveillance and monitoring protocols.

RELATED:

California Health Authorities Confirm H5N1 Avian Influenza in Raw Milk Sample

A day after the declaration of a national epidemiological alert, Deputy Health Minister Leonardo Rojas confirmed that both cases involve children residing in the capital, home to a third of the population.

One of the influenza cases is a one-year-old child treated at the Villa El Salvador Emergency Hospital, and the other one is an eight-year-old child hospitalized at the Hipolito Unanue Hospital. Rojas stated that both patients were discharged without complications.

Cesar Munayco, the director of the National Center for Epidemiology, Prevention, and Disease Control (CDC Peru), explained that subclade K originated in the United States and Australia, and spread to 32 countries.

The influenza subclade K is a highly transmissible viral respiratory illness that provokes symptoms such as high fever, cough, severe body aches. It also poses a serious risk for older adults, pregnant women, young children, and people with chronic illnesses.

Nasty flu A season coming: H1N1 is a nasty virus but H3N2 has a new emerging subclade (K) that evades antibody based vaccine immunity. Your T cell immunity will help keep you out of the hospital. H5N1 is still out there & capable of making that leap to human to human transmission pic.twitter.com/NpmbUXcbJx

— SharonBC,Canada (@SharonBurnabyBC) November 28, 2025

Although Munayco indicated that the risk of an epidemic is low because Peru is entering summer, he urged the reinforcement of the vaccination campaign for children under five and the elderly.

Health authorities recommended handwashing, ventilation in homes, mask use for those with symptoms, and reducing contact with vulnerable individuals as preventive measures against respiratory infections.

National measures in Peru include epidemiological surveillance, laboratory testing, immunizations, and health promotion, which ensure a timely response to potential respiratory outbreaks in the country.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) called for strengthened vaccination in the Americas and emphasized that the genetic evolution of subclade K is part of natural viral variation. PAHO remarked on the importance of early diagnosis and the reporting of unusual respiratory events.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Ecuador and Peru pledged to work together to combat organized crime and illegal mining, particularly along their shared border. pic.twitter.com/sfl1lJNysm

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 16, 2025

teleSUR: JP

Source: EFE – DW

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The organization noted that adverse weather conditions are exacerbating the crisis in the territory and endangering displaced people living in the open and refugees among the ruins.

This week, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that people are dying from the cold and that assistance is being delayed because priority is being given to commercial goods as winter storms intensify.

According to the UN, an estimated 1.3 million people need aid and shelter, but humanitarian workers cannot meet the needs of Gazans, which are growing daily while the entry of supplies remains severely limited.

Tents, shelter materials, and other basic supplies remain blocked by Israel, despite having waited months to enter and potentially protecting hundreds of thousands of affected people, the multilateral agency indicated.

OCHA spokesperson Olga Cherevko explained that at entry points, humanitarian aid is often prioritized over commercial goods, causing long waits.

This is compounded by irregular crossing schedules, delays in loading and unloading, and restrictions on certain items considered “blocked.”

Furthermore, administrative requirements imposed on non-governmental organizations prevent some aid from even leaving warehouses, she added.

Cherevko warned that the risks of hypothermia are very high, especially for infants, and lamented the inability to deploy the full response capacity of aid teams on the ground.

abo/arm/mem/gas

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Cuban Tourism Counselor for Spain and Portugal, Niurka Perez Denis, announced this remark to Prensa Latina and added that another international sports icon, Cuban multi-champion and world high jump record holder, Javier Sotomayor, will also be participating.

“It will be an honor to have Mijain and Sotomayor at our stand, along with Isaac Delgado and his orchestra, who will contribute to the interest for Cuba at the most important Ibero-American tourism fair,” Perez Denis commented.

Lopez achieved a brilliant culmination to his career in Paris in 2024, where he was chosen, among an exclusive group of athletes, responsible for the symbolic extinguishing of the flame at the closing ceremony.

“They will be ambassadors of our culture, sports, and of course, representatives of different Cuban regions in the effort to provide updated information on the product portfolio for the 2025-2026 winter and summer seasons,” the Tourism counselor told Prensa Latina.

The fair will be opened on January 21 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Cuban Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia Granda, flanked by Mijain and Sotomayor.

abo/iff/lam/ft

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In his weekly address, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that, despite democratic progress, nearly half of the country’s children live in poverty and face abuse, neglect, and health problems.

The National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children (NSAAC) will be implemented through the fifth National Action Plan (2025-2030) and seeks to mobilize all sectors of society.

“The best way to ensure the future of our country is to invest in the health and well-being of its children,” the president stated. Although child poverty decreased from 69% in 2006 to 49% in 2023, children remain the most affected population group, with the highest rate compared to any other age group, the president added.

The new strategy identifies ten national priorities aligned with key developmental stages, focusing especially on adolescents and children with disabilities.

In his letter, Ramaphosa emphasized maternal and child malnutrition as a critical problem that undermines health, education, and long-term life prospects.

“We must break this domino effect,” he insisted.

abo/arm/mem/mv

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The rebels, who seized the city on December 10 amid international condemnation for violating the peace agreements, presented the decision as a confidence-building measure intended to support the Doha peace process, according to a statement.

“Given these events, and despite the persistent provocations and abuses by the DRC Armed Forces and their allies, the AFC/M23 has decided to initiate a unilateral confidence-building measure to give the Doha peace process every chance of success,” the statement said.

They added that the unilateral withdrawal from the city, which had served as the interim capital of South Kivu since last February, was in response to a request for US mediation.

On his social media account, AFC/M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka posted several videos of Uvira residents in the streets, demonstrating peacefully, presumably in support of the rebels.

The insurgents’ statement indicated that the withdrawal is conditional on security guarantees and urged the peace process guarantors to commit to the demilitarization of the city, the protection of the civilian population and infrastructure, and the monitoring of the ceasefire through the deployment of a neutral force.

They also warned that they would not allow this situation to be exploited to retake territory or attack populations sympathetic to the AFC/M23, nor would they allow armed groups hostile to Burundi or other countries to use the “liberated zones” as a rear base for actions that would damage good neighborly relations.

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According to SANA reports, an Israeli unit of three vehicles advanced towards the village of Bariqa and patrolled a section of the road connecting this town with Koudna in the south of the province.

The same source stated that similar assaults were carried out by Israeli forces in various areas north and south of Quneitra, where they set up temporary checkpoints, searched passers-by and obstructed movement.

The Syrian authorities denounce that these actions constitute violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and are part of what they describe as Israel’s aggressive policies in the governorates of Quneitra and Deraa.

Damascus reiterated its demand that Israel withdraw from the occupied territories and called on the international community to assume its responsibilities to put an end to these illegal practices.

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