Latin American Publications!

The Sri Lankan digital newspaper also condemned in a recent article the repeated statements by high-ranking officials of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, regarding the alleged success of the criminal airstrike on Venezuela, which could push Cuba to the brink.

It noted that the US rhetoric toward Havana has intensified in the last few weeks.

The Lanka Leader denounced the United States for maintaining a broad economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba for more than 60 years and the unjust inclusion of the Caribbean nation in Washington’s State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list.

The publication also highlighted President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s response to the current threats from the White House to his nation, where he affirmed that Washington lacked the moral authority to impose an agreement on Havana.

Diaz-Canel said Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation, and it will not tolerate being told what to do.

jdt/iff/oda/lrd

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“Let us raise our fists in a sign of eternal respect!” for those who “with their supreme sacrifice, showed the courage of those who do not fear to confront the enemy,” the members of this association, representing the Italian people who support the Cuban Revolution, stated in this release of condolence.

“With profound sorrow and immense admiration, we express our deepest condolences for the death of 32 heroic Cuban internationalists during the criminal attack perpetrated by the United States government on the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” on January 3.

“Their death has not been in vain: it is a beacon illuminating the path of the anti-imperialist struggle,” and “internationalism, the glorious result of the Cuban Revolution”.

And added that “we reiterate our unwavering solidarity,” states ANAIC, founded in 1961, which has thousands of members, grouped into hundreds of circles distributed throughout Italy.

“Honor and eternal glory to the fallen,” they express, and assure that “other combatants will take their place, continuing the battle for sovereignty and justice,” faithful to the principles embodied in the revolutionary slogan “Homeland or Death! We shall overcome!,” the message concludes.

jdt/iff/oda/ort

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The Palestinian Center for Prisoner Studies criticized the use of this controversial law in a statement. Human rights groups reject it because it allows authorities to withhold evidence against detainees while they remain imprisoned for extended periods without being charged, tried, or convicted.

The statement specified that the figure includes both new orders and renewals for additional periods.

Israel practices a policy of collective punishment against Palestinians by detaining thousands of them without knowing the charges and based solely on suspicions, doubts, and security reports, the Center emphasized.

The Center’s director, Riyad Al-Ashqar, stated that since the beginning of the current cycle of violence on October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have intensified this measure against Palestinians in a very dangerous and unprecedented manner.

The researcher detailed that currently some 3,400 Palestinians, including 80 minors, are locked up under that regulation, which represents 35 percent of the total of 9,500.

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An official statement noted that “Cuban collaborators who were injured during the recent acts of violence against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Moros, his wife, lawmaker Cilia Flores, and the people of that sister nation arrived in Cuban soil,” accompanied by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

A high-level commission led by members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) welcomed the internationalists at the airport.

The text states, “The people and the leadership of the Revolution conveyed to all of them the recognition of their courage in the face of imperialist actions.”

Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) Minister, Army Corps Generals Alvaro Lopez Miera, and Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas, “conveyed to them the greetings, recognition, and affection of the entire nation for their courage and fortitude in the face of imperialist aggression and for refusing to be defeated by threats,” the statement adds.

The return of these compatriots represents the unity between both nations, built on the example of Commander Hugo Chavez and the Historical Leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, and forged in the struggle for peace, sovereignty, and the dignity of Our America, the statement underscored.

jdt/iff/mem/raj

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The US officially starts selling its first shipment of Venezuelan oil.

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This interview by Alejandro Páez Varela and Álvaro Delgado Gómez originally appeared in the January 14, 2026 edition of Sin Embargo. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those ofMexico Solidarity Mediaor theMexico Solidarity Project*.*

**Mexico City.**Enrique Dussel Peters, coordinator of the China-Mexico Studies Center at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), stated that our country must strengthen its trade ties with the Asian giant to expand its strategic links with other countries and not depend solely on the United States.

In an interview with Alejandro Páez and Álvaro Delgado on the program Los Periodistas, which is broadcast on SinEmbargo Al Aire, Dussel Peters pointed out that the discussion about strengthening ties with China should no longer be theoretical, but urgent and concrete.

“What’s at stake is how strategic or profound our relationship with the United States will be—will it be our only one, or do we have the capacity to create a space with a certain degree of independence with third countries, specifically the People’s Republic of China? What’s at stake is what we’re going to do in the coming decades in our relationship, not only in terms of tariffs, but also technology.”

The researcher stressed that China does not intend to compete head-on with the historical relationship between Mexico and the United States, but rather to coexist with it.

“China fully understands that Mexico has a priority relationship with the United States, and China fully understands that Mexico’s relationship with the United States is different from what it might be with Brazil, Argentina, or Colombia. China is not raising its hand and trying to claim it wants to be first or most important in the relationship; that would be naive. China does not intend to do that.”

Enrique Dussel Peters with Ambassador Jesús Seade Kuri at the Embassy of Mexico in China.

Enrique Dussel stated that the main problem lies not in Beijing or Washington, but at home. In his view, the national political and economic elite has failed to assume its responsibility to design a strategy toward China and Asia.

“There are two issues that we haven’t fully grasped in Mexico. One, the elites in Mexico—political parties, the legislature, and such important institutions as the Presidency, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economy itself—all these elites have failed to fulfill their responsibilities regarding China.”

The specialist noted that this omission translates into the absence of parliamentary debate, a lack of diagnoses, and improvised policies.

“It has been 12 years since the main institution between Mexico and China met, which exemplifies that neither the Mexican nor the Chinese side has cared about the bilateral relationship.”

My fear is that if there isn’t a genuine interest from the elites in holding bilateral meetings, there will always be excuses not to. It requires an effort from both sides [and] there must be a willingness on Mexico’s part to resume this relationship.

Dussel stressed that a shift in the relationship with China is essential, not just reactivating bilateral channels. Furthermore, he warned that without political will, the relationship will remain marginal and episodic, dominated by crises and trade disputes.

“The goal is to rebuild the relationship as soon as possible in a proactive manner, with some monitoring and evaluation of issues that have arisen historically, and looking ahead. My fear is that if there isn’t a genuine interest from the elites in holding bilateral meetings, there will always be excuses not to. It requires an effort from both sides; there are no sole responsibilities here. If both sides don’t make an effort to rebuild the relationship, it won’t happen. There must be a willingness on Mexico’s part to resume this relationship.”

Despite China being the world’s second largest economy and Mexico’s second largest trading partner, Dussel indicated that the issue barely exists in public discussion.

“No effort has been made regarding the world’s largest economy and our second largest trading partner, the People’s Republic of China. We have simply forgotten about the issue, and it seems as if it is not a topic at all. We don’t want to talk about it or discuss it in the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate.”

Finally, he argued that the lack of debate prevents the design of state policies and leaves the relationship at the mercy of corporate inertia. If nothing changes, he warned, Mexico will remain in the same situation in a couple of years.

“If we don’t take the initiative as soon as possible, we’ll be talking about the same thing in January 2027, and guess what? Nothing will have happened.” In contrast, he points to the Canadian example: “Canada shows us that they have room for this dialogue.” That case, he affirms, demonstrates that it is possible to maintain a close relationship with the United States and, at the same time, build serious and stable channels with China.

• 

  Analysis

  If Mexico distances itself further from China, it will be left alone against the US: Enrique Dussel

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  In his view, Mexico’s national political and economic elite has failed to assume its responsibility to design a strategy toward China and Asia.

• 

  Analysis | Uncategorized

  The US War on Latin America & The Caribbean

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  When the world can watch a genocide unfold in real time, when the empire brazenly kidnaps a head of state, when multilateral institutions only muster mealy-mouthed statements in response, it becomes undeniable that only the people save the people.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera January 14

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on the fight for peace & sovereignty, social housing projects, 2026 USMCA Review, and yes, there is an antidote for scorpion stings.

The post If Mexico distances itself further from China, it will be left alone against the US: Enrique Dussel appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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By Alan MacLeod  –  Jan 9, 2026

While it has undoubtedly shocked the world, the Trump administration’s abduction of President Nicolás Maduro fits into a long history of United States kidnapping of foreign leaders.

On January 3, U.S. Special Forces entered Venezuela by air, captured Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, killing around 80 people in the process. They were flown to the United States, where Maduro was put on trial on spurious drug trafficking and possession of firearms charges.

Despite President Trump himself declaring that “kidnapping” was an appropriate term for what happened, corporate media around the world have refrained from using the obvious word for what transpired, preferring to use “capturing” or “seizing.” These terms reframe the incident and cast doubt on its illegality, helping to manufacture public consent for a grave breach of international law. Indeed, managers at the BBC sent out a memo to its staff, instructing them in no uncertain terms to “avoid using ‘kidnapped’” when reporting on the news.

Targeting VenezuelaMaduro is not the first Venezuelan official Washington has helped kidnap. In 2002, the Bush administration planned and executed a coup d’état that briefly ousted Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, from power.

The U.S. government had been organizing and financing the ringleaders of the coup for months, flying the key players back and forth to Washington, D.C. for meetings with top officials. On the day of the coup, American Ambassador Charles Shapiro was at the mansion of local media magnate, Gustavo Cisneros, the headquarters of the coup.

Two U.S. warships entered Venezuelan waters, moving towards the remote island of La Orchila, where Chavez was helicoptered to. Chavez himself stated that senior American personnel were present with him during his abduction. Unsurprisingly, the Bush administration immediately endorsed the proceedings, describing them as a return to democracy.

Chavez was only saved the same fate as Maduro after millions of Venezuelans flocked into the streets, demanding a return of their president. Their actions spurred loyal military units who retook the presidential palace, and the project fell apart. After the coup, the United States quadrupled its funding to the coup leaders (including Maria Corina Machado) through vehicles such as USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy.

A further kidnapping of a Venezuelan official occurred in June 2020, when the United States downed the plane of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab. Saab was in Cabo Verde at the time, traveling back from a diplomatic mission to Iran, where he has been helping break American sanctions. He was only released in 2023, after Venezuela negotiated a prisoner swap which included a number of CIA agents captured in Venezuela in the act of carrying out terror attacks against the country’s infrastructure.

Venezuela’s Acting President Rodríguez Announces Cabinet Changes, Meets With European Officials

Backyard BulliesThe actions against Maduro come exactly 36 years to the day after the United States abducted Panamanian president, Manuel Noriega. Like Maduro, Noriega was charged with narcotics offenses. Unlike Maduro, however, there is little doubt of his guilt, as he was on the CIA payroll when these crimes took place.

The U.S. invaded Panama with 27,000 troops in December 1989, and shot their way to the presidential palace, killing hundreds of Panamanians in the process. Noriega surrendered to the Americans on January 3, 1990, and spent the rest of his life in prison. He died in 2017.

Panama itself was carved out of Colombia by the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, so that the United States could directly control the Panama Canal, that was in the process of construction at the time. Likewise, Haiti has consistently suffered at the hands of direct U.S. intervention. The United States invaded the island nation in 1915, occupying it for 19 years, before installing a series of brutal dictatorships that repressed the population.

A glimmer of light in a long dark history occurred in 1990, when the country’s first democratic election brought populist priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to power. Aristide beat U.S.-backed candidate Marc Bazin (a former World Bank official) in a 68% to 14% landslide. The U.S. refused to accept the results, and worked to depose Aristide, and Bazin eventually became president anyway.

Remarkably, Aristide’s political career was not over, and he was elected again in 2000. He refused to accept Haiti’s role as a source of cheap labor for the U.S., and insisted on trying to build a just, equitable, and prosperous country.

Once again, this put him on a crash course with Washington, who, in February 2004, organized a coup against him. U.S. personnel invaded Haiti and surrounded the presidential palace, abducting Aristide and plunging the country into another period of dictatorship, from which it has not emerged.

“During the night of 28 February, there was a coup d’état. One could say that it was terrorism disguised as diplomacy,” Aristide said, noting that heavily armed “foreign white men” pointed their guns at him, forced him to resign, and whisked him away to an enforced exile in the Central African Republic and South Africa.

During his ouster, Aristide was frantically attempting to contact Hugo Chavez for help. Chavez, however, was at a conference, and not checking his phone. “I feel incredibly upset. He was trying to ring me, and we were busy with the conference. By the time I got the message, it was too late. He’d already been sent off to South Africa, and I regret it,” Chavez said, noting that he would have attempted to help Aristide survive his kidnapping.

In 2013, the United States downed the presidential plane of Bolivia’s Evo Morales over Austria, and demanded to board the aircraft, leading to a tense standoff that Vice-President Álvaro García Linera described as Morales being “kidnapped by imperialism.”

Morales was on his way back from Moscow, and U.S. officials believed that whistleblower Edward Snowden was aboard the jet. Thus, rather than potentially allow Snowden to escape to freedom, Washington decided to spark a major diplomatic incident. Morales was later allowed to return to his home country. Snowden was not on board.

The same fate, however, will not befall American officials, thanks to a little-known act passed into law in 2002 by the Bush administration. The Hague Invasion Act stipulates that if any American official or military serviceman is ever detained abroad by the International Criminal Court, the United States will invade the Netherlands (its NATO ally) in order to prevent them from facing trial.

**Who’s Next?**Maduro’s kidnapping may prove to be only the first in a succession of aggressive American actions planned by the Trump/Rubio State Department. After he condemned U.S. actions against Venezuela, Trump warned that Colombian president, Gustavo Petro is “next” in line for regime change. “Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he’s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you,” he stated, adding that a military operation against Petro “sounds good” to him. In recent days, Trump has also noted that Cuba looks “ready to fall,” and that the United States intends to annex Greenland.

Thus, while the United States actions in kidnapping a foreign head of state and placing him on trial on dubious charges may have shocked the world, it fits in with a long history of American imperial actions designed to remove leaders and movements that do not serve Washington’s agenda. And it may be only the first of many to come.

(MintPress News)

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Caracas, January 14, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Two Venezuela-bound China-flagged oil supertankers have made U-turns in the Atlantic amidst a US-imposed naval blockade against the Caribbean country.

According to Reuters, the very large crude carriers (VLCC) Xingye and Thousand Sunny were headed Venezuela to load crude cargoes. The ships, which had made several trips to Venezuela in recent years, were anchored for weeks before turning back. China was the main destination of Venezuelan crude in recent years, with part of the cargoes used to offset debt.

The aborted shipments came in the wake of the Trump administration’s claims to take control of Venezuelan oil sales. US forces bombed Caracas and surrounding areas on January 3 and kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.

Since December, the US has also seized five oil tankers for allegedly carrying Venezuelan crude as its navy set up a blockade aimed at strangling Venezuela’s most important revenue source and strong-arming the government.

US officials have reportedly filed “dozens” of court warrants to seize tankers allegedly involved in transporting Venezuelan oil.

Senior Trump administration officials, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have claimed that revenues from Venezuelan oil sales will be deposited in accounts run by the US government.

The agreement is set to begin with 30-50 million barrels that Venezuela had in storage as a result of the naval blockade, though White House officials have claimed it will extend for an indefinite period. Washington issued an executive order last week shielding Venezuelan oil proceeds in US accounts from creditors.

US President Donald Trump held a meeting with Western oil executives on Friday, urging investment in Venezuela’s oil sector and vowing that corporations will “deal” with the US directly, rather than Venezuelan authorities. Energy companies have been reluctant to pledge any major commitments to Venezuela.

Commodities traders Vitol and Trafigura have received licenses to transport Venezuelan crude and have reportedly begun moving it to Caribbean storage hubs ahead of exports to final destinations. According to reports, the two firms have transported a combined 4.8 million barrels of Venezuela’s Merey 16 blend and have offered them to customers in the US, India and China with an $8.50 discount per barrel compared to ICE Brent.

US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have claimed that US-controlled Venezuelan oil revenues will only be used for imports from US manufacturers, including inputs for the energy sector and the electric grid. Vitol is set to deliver 460,000 barrels of US-sourced naphtha to Venezuela in the coming days, as reported by Argus Media. Caracas requires diluents such as naphtha to turn its extra-heavy crude into exportable blends, and the first Trump administration imposed sanctions on their purchase from US suppliers in 2019.

The Venezuelan government has not commented on the specifics of the new arrangement for oil sales. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said the country remains committed to “diversified economic and geopolitical relations.” Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has confirmed “negotiations” to ship crude cargoes to the US.

For its part, Russia’s Roszarubezhneft stated that it will not relinquish its assets in Venezuela. The state-owned company is a minority partner in multiple joint ventures with PDVSA, including crude upgrader Petromonagas. Roszarubezhneft took over from Rosneft after the latter was hit with US secondary sanctions in 2020.

Venezuela’s oil industry has been under US unilateral coercive measures since 2017. The US Treasury Department has targeted the oil sector with financial sanctions, an export embargo, secondary sanctions, and a bevy of other measures that aimed to choke off Venezuela’s most important income source.

Washington’s recent naval blockade likewise had an immediate impact on production as PDVSA began to run out of storage space, including offshore. The latest OPEC monthly report recorded Venezuela’s December output at 896,000 barrels per day (bpd), as measured by secondary sources. The figure is 60,000 bpd lower than the previous month’s.

For its part, PDVSA reported a smaller decline, from 1.14 to 1.12 million bpd. Direct and secondary data have slightly differed over the years due to disagreements over the inclusion of natural gas liquids and condensates.

The Venezuelan state oil company has begun reactivating wells that were shut down as a consequence of the US blockade, according to Reuters.

The post Chinese Supertankers Turn Back as US Moves Ahead to Extort Venezuelan Crude appeared first on Venezuelanalysis.

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The first bombs have fallen. The US war on Latin America and the Caribbean has begun, and only the organized peoples of this hemisphere will save us from the US’s genocidal empire.

International law won’t protect us, marching won’t be enough. The invasion of Venezuela and the subsequent kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3 is a watershed moment: either we get organized, or we’ll perish.

This isn’t about Donald Trump; he’s only a more vulgar expression of the imperialist logic underpinning our world system. Since the criminal kidnapping of Maduro, the White House has already threatened Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico.

Here in Mexico, we need to abandon this notion that peaceful coexistence with US imperialism is possible — a clash is coming.

This is imperialism manifest, and they’re coming for all of us Latin Americans. It isn’t a question of what they want to do; that much is clear — dominate the entire hemisphere. Rather, it’s a question of what we will do to stop them.

The US displayed its overwhelming power and technology that fateful morning when it attacked Venezuela, a crime of crimes. But the US isn’t invincible. When the sounds of bombs rang out, the organized peoples of Venezuela didn’t cower; they ran to get their guns. That the US didn’t attempt to occupy the country is a testament to the armed, organized working class in Venezuela the Pentagon fears.

When the world can watch a genocide unfold in real time, when the empire brazenly kidnaps a head of state, when multilateral institutions only muster mealy-mouthed statements in response, it becomes undeniable that only the people save the people. The Palestinian armed resistance understands this, President Maduro understands this, and it’s time the peoples of this hemisphere understand this too.

Here in Mexico, we need to abandon this notion that peaceful coexistence with US imperialism is possible — a clash is coming. The late Hugo Chávez learned this lesson early on.

“The Venezuelan oligarchy and the American empire will never accept us; they will always be plotting schemes to try to remove us from power, unless we change and surrender to them. But that is not going to happen here. Here we say: Homeland, Socialism, or Death!”

Hugo Chavez, 11-04-2007

José Luis Granados Ceja is a journalist and political analyst based in Mexico City. He is co-host of the Mexican public television show Sin Muros, and currently covers Latin America for Drop Site News, and writes a monthly opinion column for the Mexico Solidarity Project and also co-hosts the weekly podcast, Soberanía.

• 

  Analysis | Uncategorized

  The US War on Latin America & The Caribbean

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  When the world can watch a genocide unfold in real time, when the empire brazenly kidnaps a head of state, when multilateral institutions only muster mealy-mouthed statements in response, it becomes undeniable that only the people save the people.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera January 14

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on the fight for peace & sovereignty, social housing projects, 2026 USMCA Review, and yes, there is an antidote for scorpion stings.

• 

  News Briefs

  Record Corn Imports for Third Year in a Row

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  Mexico’s food sovereignty is being rapidly eroded thanks to the dumping of heavily subsidized US corn and the USMCA, which is an erroneously named “trade” agreement to subjugate, not develop, the Mexican nation.

The post The US War on Latin America & The Caribbean appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning stated that the position was created to deepen exchanges and cooperation between Beijing and member countries.

Mao indicated that Yan has extensive diplomatic experience and knowledge of SCO affairs and will therefore maintain close coordination with his counterparts in the SCO member states.

The spokesperson affirmed that the new representative will work to implement the consensus reached by the leaders, strengthen institutional development, and promote regional cooperation.

Mao noted that these efforts aim to contribute to security, stability, and shared development, as well as to building a closer community with a shared future within the organization.

abo/iff/mem/idm

The post China appoints special representative on SCO affairs first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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By Matías Bosch Carcuro – Jan 11, 2026

It’s not that the “rules-based world order” has collapsed. No one who remembers Patrice Lumumba’s kidnapping and subsequent acid dissolution in the Congo in 1961 can believe that such an “order” ever existed beyond a myth. What can be said with certainty today is that there has been a full-throttle acceleration.

This wasn’t about democracy or drug trafficking. The support for electoral fraud by Noboa in Ecuador and Asfura in Honduras, the backing of Bukele’s dictatorship in El Salvador, the pardon of narco-dictator Juan Orlando Hernández—who placed more than 400 tons of cocaine “right under the noses of the gringos,” as he declared in court—the direct intervention in Argentina’s parliamentary elections to ensure Milei’s victory, all while 80% of the cocaine flows into the U.S. via the Pacific and land borders, make it clear this was never about the “liberation” of countries, popular sovereignty, ballot counting, credible elections, or controlling illicit drug trafficking.

This wasn’t about democracy or drug trafficking. The support for electoral fraud by Noboa in Ecuador and Asfura in Honduras, the backing of Bukele’s dictatorship in El Salvador, the pardon of narco-dictator Juan Orlando Hernández—who placed more than 400 tons of cocaine “right under the noses of the gringos,” as he declared in court—the direct intervention in Argentina’s parliamentary elections to ensure Milei’s victory, all while 80% of the cocaine flows into the U.S. via the Pacific and land borders, make it clear this was never about the “liberation” of countries, popular sovereignty, ballot counting, credible elections, or controlling illicit drug trafficking.

Trump announced that the U.S. would “run Venezuela” and put its infrastructure to work producing oil—even to sell it to China or Russia. The data speaks for itself: by 2023, the United States was already importing about 9 million barrels of crude oil per day, almost half from Canada, and its dependence on heavy crude reached 60% by 2024. Venezuela holds the world’s largest oil reserves—more than 300 billion barrels—with 80% primarily sold to China. Under the pretext of recovering “stolen” infrastructure and technology, they aim to secure a reliable oil source to offset dependence and become the supplier to the world’s main competitor.

‘Don’t play games’
If Trump escaped conviction for the Capitol storming in January 2021 thanks to the immunity granted by the presidency, on January 3 history repeated itself, with congressmen posting heatedly about how all legality had been violated to authorize an act of war that the Executive cannot carry out on its own.

“Don’t play games,” Marco Rubio said repeatedly, warning live on air that the threat remains in place for anyone who stands in their way of not handing over what they demand, be it Colombia, Mexico, or any of the Caribbean countries they currently use as bases of operation under subservient governments. Meanwhile, María Corina Machado, the “opposition leader” and self-important Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was publicly vilified, just as Trump and Vance did to Zelensky in the Oval Office in February 2025, warning her that her “peace” was in exchange for surrender, land, and resources, and that next time she should dress better.

It’s not that the “rules-based world order” has been broken. No one who recalls Lumumba’s fate—or the phantom “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq—can believe such an “order” ever truly existed. What we see today is a full-throttle acceleration.

‘Home region’
If the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 barred decadent European powers from the Americas, and the Roosevelt Corollary of 1904 legitimized U.S. economic and military intervention to protect its interests, then 121 years later, the Trump Corollary enshrines what Luciano Anzelini calls “informal imperialism”: Latin America is not merely a zone of influence—it is territory where the U.S. admits no competitors.

Trump called it his “home region,” the closest thing to the Nazi concept of “Lebensraum”—the “living space” that fascism claimed as racially legitimate. Here, Southern Command can now deploy, extort, and threaten governments without UN or Congressional approval—and, officially, will “reward and encourage the region’s governments, political parties, and movements broadly aligned with our principles and strategy,” per the 2025 National Security Strategy.

The praise for Kast and Milei—one promising an “Emergency Government,” the other vowing to “drive the final nail into the coffin of Kirchnerism”—as their “good guys” in the Southern Cone reflects this logic: the Venezuela invasion seeks direct possession and administration of its riches, undisguised, alongside a broader offensive to install the far-right international across every corner of the region—with the most fanatical, functional, and servile factions in power.

Step by step, the goal has been territorial and economic dominance—and the reversal of nearly three decades of transformative governments and popular resistance to neoliberalism and plunder. The January 3 action struck precisely where, in 1998, the wave of regional transformation began—ultimately leading to progressive rule across much of Latin America.

Celebrate the punisher
The obscenity spilled onto screens with the “celebration” of Caracas bombed and Nicolás Maduro and his wife kidnapped. Never in Latin American history have so-called “opposition leaders against tyranny” openly clamored for foreign invasion as the path to “freedom”—let alone offered their nation’s riches in public. Nor have “democratic” allies—politicians, journalists, intellectuals, or public figures—so eagerly framed themselves as part of an epic moment, even under the flimsy guise of “there was no other way.” Something this brazen only occurs when fascism triumphs.

Never before have exiled communities celebrated a foreign power bombing their capital as if it were a World Cup victory. On the contrary, the Venezuelan diaspora—regardless of their views on the government—has every reason to condemn the interference of the Obama, Biden, and Trump administrations (I and II) in Venezuela’s economy and politics.

According to a CEPR report (2025), between 2012 and 2020 Venezuela suffered a 71% collapse in GDP per capita—the largest peacetime economic contraction in modern history, equivalent to three Great Depressions. More than half of this decline stems directly from U.S. sanctions, worsened by falling oil prices. In this context, 4.1 million of the 7 million Venezuelans who emigrated did so as a direct result of these measures under the “maximum pressure” strategy.

An earlier study by Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachs (2019) showed that sanctions imposed since August 2017 reduced caloric intake, increased illness and death, and deepened depression and hyperinflation—fueling mass exodus. The authors estimate these policies contributed to over 40,000 deaths between 2017 and 2018, amounting to systematic harm that fits the definition of “collective punishment”—prohibited by the Geneva and Hague Conventions and contrary to both international law and U.S. legislation.

Caesar Crossed the Rubicon; So Did Trump

The wait
Far from condemning this illegal collective punishment, media portrayals highlight the most right-wing segment of Venezuelan migrants—those supportive of foreign intervention—and quickly showcase their celebrations. The utility of this crisis is clear: for a decade, no Latin American election—and even contests in Spain and the U.S.—has gone unmarked by “the Venezuela threat,” with mass migration enabling radical right-wing rhetoric that would otherwise lack foundation.

What will become of María Corina Machado’s call for Venezuelans to await her orders—”we need you mobilized”? Will they take to the streets to “celebrate” and enact regime change as urged, or remain anxious about the next bombing? Are violent protests being primed for a “final assault,” echoing Baghdad in 2003?
Meanwhile, this Sunday—with Maduro reportedly kidnapped by the DEA in Brooklyn and citizens protesting in Times Square—a veteran doctor wrote to me from Caracas: “Yesterday, the master of the North uttered words that take your breath away—words that seek to erase our existence and turn it into a chapter of his history. When Trump mentions Venezuela, he speaks of plunder; he doesn’t come to ask permission—he comes to decree ownership not only of our land, rivers, and seas, but of our very existence. For him, we are not a people, let alone dignified beings; we are simply a space to be exploited. The magnitude of what he said yesterday is horrifying. Difficult times lie ahead. We must prepare not only to survive—but to resist with dignity.”

(Diario Red)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JB/SH

From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

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.

Mexico’s Approach to World Politics: Sovereignty, Peace, and Global Responsibility

President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that the world is experiencing a growing dispute for control of resources, and maintained that Mexico must continue to fight for the peace and sovereignty of nations, as mandated by its Constitution and the UN Charter.

Sheinbaum emphasized that the only way out of conflicts is through the collective defense of sovereignty and peace, and affirmed that Mexico is an important actor on the global stage.

SEDATU 2025: Housing, Deeds, and Credit

The Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development (SEDATU) reported that 393,686 homes have been assigned in 2025, distributed through 470 projects in 31 states, benefiting 1.4 million people. In addition, 270,000 property deeds were delivered (for 970,000 beneficiaries) and credit conditions were improved for 4.8 million loan holders. For 2026, the goal is 400,000 homes, with land reserves already available for 900,000 units.

Housing for Wellbeing: Priority for Low Income families

The President emphasized that the program is aimed at families earning between 1 and 2 times the minimum wage, with access for both those enrolled in the government housing agency (Infonavit) and those not enrolled (Conavi), focusing on sectors of the population historically excluded from the formal housing market.

CONAVI and FOVISSSTE: Construction and Social Justice

The National Housing Commission (CONAVI) projects 86,000 new homes and 100,000 home improvements, with a rental program for young people. It has 381 lots and over 82,000 homes in various stages of development. Meanwhile, the FOVISSSTE housing agency closed 2025 with 845,000 active loans, has benefited 247,000 families, and is advancing its social justice program, with a of 100,000 new homes before the close of the current presidential administration in 2030.

Public Education Competing in the World

Sheinbaum congratulated Valeria Palacios Cruz, a National College of Technical Professional Education (CONALEP) graduate, for winning the HP Foundation’s World Education Medal, thanks to social and environmental proposals developed with artificial intelligence. The President highlighted the role of public education in the country’s transformation.

USMCA: Integration and Mutual Benefit

The President explained that the USMCA benefits Mexico and the United States, based on decades of economic integration. Sheinbaum noted that U.S. companies are the most interested in maintaining the trade agreement, and indicated that for every job created in Mexico, three are generated in the U.S. Ahead of the 2026 USMCA review, she stressed that trade relations will continue, with possible adjustments, and that a united North America is key to competing with China.

Lie Detector: Disinformation Debunked

• It is not true that health services collapsed in Nayarit.
• It is not true that there is no antidote for scorpion stings.
• It is not true that Farmacias del Bienestar pharmacies in San Ignacio de Loyola, Metepec, lack pharmaceuticals.
• It is not true that in 2015 a higher budget was allocated to security than in 2026.
• It is not true that telephone line registration is unconstitutional or a tool for spying.
• It is not true that the Federal Electricity Commission “hinders or threatens” companies.
• It is not true that there is a new economic support program for people from 30 to 64 years of age.
• It is not true that a supposed “Women’s Wellbeing Bonus” will be delivered.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera January 14

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on the fight for peace & sovereignty, social housing projects, 2026 USMCA Review, and yes, there is an antidote for scorpion stings.

• 

  News Briefs

  Record Corn Imports for Third Year in a Row

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  Mexico’s food sovereignty is being rapidly eroded thanks to the dumping of heavily subsidized US corn and the USMCA, which is an erroneously named “trade” agreement to subjugate, not develop, the Mexican nation.

• 

  Analysis

  A Renewed Opportunity for Indigenous Justice in Mexico

  January 14, 2026

  It is crucial to move from rhetoric to action and initiate a genuine transformative process that begins at the federal level and extends across the board to state and local governments, which are directly responsible for ensuring compliance.

The post People’s Mañanera January 14 appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

The Russian state-owned company Roszarubezhneft, the primary manager of Moscow’s oil assets in Venezuela, issued an official statement reaffirming its commitment to remaining in the country and advancing its operations.

The corporation emphasized that it will maintain strict compliance with its contractual obligations in close coordination with its international partners. This stance aims to ensure operational continuity and the stability of previously established agreements within the framework of its activities in the country.

Regarding its operational strategy, the company will focus on the sustainable development of joint oil production projects with the Venezuelan side. The statement also underscores the importance of strengthening the infrastructure associated with these initiatives.

Additionally, Roszarubezhneft noted that its work plan includes an effective response to emerging challenges. The company seeks to expand industrial and technological cooperation based on principles of equality, mutual respect for property rights, and investment protection.

This statement follows recent events beginning on January 3, which included military actions against Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as well as the reported kidnapping and transfer of Venezuela’s constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, to U.S. territory to face legal proceedings on alleged drug trafficking charges.

Trump Cannot Reach Consensus on Venezuela With US Oil Corporations While Helping PDVSA Recover an Oil Tanker

Despite this scenario, and in accordance with the interpretative authority granted by Article 335 of the Constitution, which guarantees institutional continuity and the integral defense of the nation, Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as Acting President of Venezuela on January 5.

During her swearing-in ceremony, presided over by National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodríguez, the Acting President reaffirmed her commitment to preserving Venezuela as a free, sovereign, and independent nation.

She further asserted that the absolute unity of the Revolution constitutes the cornerstone of the current struggle, emphasizing that the country possesses a “moral and historical superiority” that inspires national resistance.

(Telesur)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JB/SH

From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

Caracas, January 13, 2026 (YVKE Mundial) – The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP) issued an official statement this Tuesday expressing its strongest support for the people and Government of the Republic of Cuba, led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and Army General Raúl Castro Ruz. The regional bloc reaffirmed the legitimate right of the Caribbean nation to exercise its sovereignty, independence, and self-determination, rejecting any attempt at external interference that threatens its political and social project.

In the document, the Alliance underscores that the Charter of the United Nations is the fundamental pillar of peaceful coexistence, highlighting universal principles such as the sovereign equality of states and the absolute prohibition of the threat or use of force. ALBA-TCP praised the historical trajectory of Cuban foreign policy, emphasizing its commitment to multilateralism and its unwavering dedication to solidarity—particularly with countries of the Global South. The statement comes amid heightened regional tensions following the January 3 military aggression against Venezuela, during which the sacrifice of Cuban personnel carrying out official missions once again solidified the bonds of brotherhood between the two peoples.

Trump Now Threatens Cuba, Venezuela Responds

Finally, the multilateral organization urged the international community to maintain its firm support for Cuba, reiterating its demand for the lifting of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States. ALBA-TCP reaffirmed that respect for political independence and the peaceful resolution of disputes are the only paths to guaranteeing stability and cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean, asserting that Cuba’s dignity stands as a symbol of resistance for the entire region.

(YVKE Mundial)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JB/SH

From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

This article by Braulio Carbajal originally appeared in the January 14, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. In 2025, Mexico broke its record for corn imports, both yellow and white, for the third consecutive year, with a volume of 24,590,000 tons, 4.1 percent more than the 23,630,000 tons of 2024, according to the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA).

Mexican corn producers face a war on two-fronts: against the dumping of US corn, which receives over $5b USD annually in subsidies; and against the low-balling of domestic monopolies such as Grupo Minsa, owned by President Sheinbaum’s economic advisor Altagracia Gómez Sierra. Grupo Minsa is a monopoly enriched by FOBAPROA bank bailout money and the proceeds of dubious privatizations over the neoliberal period.

According to information that the agency shared with this media outlet, of the total purchased – mainly from the United States – 900,000 tons were white corn, used in the masa and tortilla chain, an increase of 350 percent compared to the 200,000 tons of the previous year.

Despite the notable increase, white corn purchases did not break records, as 1.5 million tons were imported in 2011; 1.4 million in 2012; 900,000 tons in 2015; and 1.1 million in 2016 and 2018.

Although Mexico is the ninth largest agri-food producer in the world and the fourteenth largest exporter, it is the largest importer of yellow and white corn.

Historically, the country had been almost self-sufficient in white corn production; however, imports have skyrocketed due to the increasing competitiveness of imported grain, especially from the United States, at a lower price.

“The global oversupply and depressed international prices, especially for corn from the United States, continue to drive higher import volumes at lower costs, which benefits the industry but puts pressure on domestic production,” explained Juan Carlos Anaya, general director of the GCMA.

In 2025, the United States had a record corn harvest, which lowered the international price of the grain. Furthermore, the peso appreciated sharply against the dollar, making imports cheaper, and, according to Anaya, the domestic market is stagnant due to a lack of profitability for national producers.

Regarding yellow corn, used as animal feed and to manufacture derivative products, Julio Berdegué, Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, explained last November that the increase in imports is due to a greater demand for animal protein, which he attributed to the increase in the minimum wage since part of the population has risen out of poverty.

• 

  News Briefs

  Record Corn Imports for Third Year in a Row

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  Mexico’s food sovereignty is being rapidly eroded thanks to the dumping of heavily subsidized US corn and the USMCA, which is an erroneously named “trade” agreement to subjugate, not develop, the Mexican nation.

• 

  Analysis

  A Renewed Opportunity for Indigenous Justice in Mexico

  January 14, 2026

  It is crucial to move from rhetoric to action and initiate a genuine transformative process that begins at the federal level and extends across the board to state and local governments, which are directly responsible for ensuring compliance.

• 

  Soberanía

  Mexico Tells Trump ‘Not in our Hemisphere’ Soberanía 91

  January 14, 2026

  A large anti-imperialist march in Mexico City, US diplomatic pressure on Mexico, US funding CIA-linked contractors involved in Mexican labor, and Losers & Haters.

The post Record Corn Imports for Third Year in a Row appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

The port of Eilat (Umm al-Rashrash) in the southernmost tip of the Occupied Territories has seen its revenues fall to “nearly zero” due to Yemeni pro-Palestine operations disrupting Red Sea shipping lines, Israeli media report.

On Monday, January 12, Israeli paper Yediot Ahronoth reported that the port was now “almost completely paralyzed,” with dockworkers arriving daily to empty berths as commercial vessels failed to reach the port.

“The port’s revenues, which previously reached about $74 million a year, have dropped to almost zero,” it wrote.

The operational crisis dates back to November 2023, when the Yemeni Armed Forces seized a vessel bound for the port.

The seizure came as part of operations that the servicemen and Yemen’s popular resistance Ansarallah movement had begun launching in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who had come under a war of genocide by the Israeli regime.

Since then, shipping traffic has failed to recover, amid the attacks that would target Israeli ships as well as vessels travelling to or from ports in the occupied territories, the outlets wrote.

The disruption marked a sharp reversal for the port, which used to handle large volumes of cargo.

Before the disruptions, Eilat was experiencing significant growth. In October 2024 alone, the port reportedly handled around 150,000 vehicles. At the time, Israeli officials even considered expanding its role to support Mediterranean ports such as occupied Haifa and Ashdod, which were facing threats from retaliatory rockets fired by Gaza’s Hamas resistance movement.

However, the outlets said Yemen’s intervention in support of Palestinians “changed everything,” effectively halting activity in Eilat.

Batya Zafarani, the port’s vice president of finance, told Yediot Ahronoth that the situation deteriorated rapidly after the November 19, 2023 seizure of the ship, which was en route to the port.

“Two companies, NYK and ZIM, that work with us, stopped sending ships here,” Zafarani said. “For months, we thought it would be okay” and the regime “would help.”

Israeli ‘Predator’ Smartphone Spyware Exposed

Port officials have repeatedly called on the Zionist regime to intervene, but say no effective support has materialized.

In July 2025, Eilat’s CEO Gideon Golber warned in comments to The Times of Israel that the port’s closure would represent an unprecedented blow.

“The closure of a strategic seaport…would be a huge international success for the Houthis (Ansarallah) that none of our enemies have ever achieved,” Golber said at the time.

Also on Monday, Avi Hormaru, chairman of the port and CEO of the Nakash Group, an investment body, said the regime had abandoned the port, adding that those launching the retaliatory strikes were now “deciding” whether Tel Aviv could operate the port or not.

“We don’t manage the Red Sea,” he added, citing the repercussions of the solidarity strikes that had prompted ships seeking to reach the territories to sail around southern Africa at great cost for the regime’s economy.

(PressTV)

From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

By John Perry  –  Jan 13, 2025

Donald Trump’s attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its head of state have overshadowed his less brazen but possibly more effective regime-change operation in Honduras. No one can be sure if the National Party’s Nasry ‘Tito” Asfura really won the presidential election on 30 November, but he was Trump’s endorsed candidate and will almost certainly assume office on 27 January.

Since 2021 Honduras has had a left-wing government, headed by the Libre party’s Xiomara Castro. She revitalised a neglected public health service, reduced poverty and curbed gang violence. But presidential power in Honduras is heavily constrained. There is a local story of child being asked who governs the country and replying: ‘The president, the head of the army and the US ambassador.’ Castro’s husband, Manuel Zelaya, elected president in 2005, was ousted in a coup in 2009, led by an army general and with the US embassy’s tacit support.

The left was fraudulently denied power in elections in 2013 and 2017, allowing Juan Orlando Hernández, endorsed by the US, to run Honduras as a narco-state. In 2021, however, Castro’s majority was overwhelming. Unlike Hernández, she has respected the constitutional limit of one term in office.

The Libre candidate, former minister Rixi Moncada, led several opinion polls earlier in the year. When Trump’s “armada” entered the Caribbean in late August, however, Moncada’s two right-wing opponents, Asfura and the Liberal Party’s Salvador Nasralla, claimed that “Honduras would be next” if Moncada, whom they falsely portrayed as a “communist,” became president.

Hondurans’ limited faith in their electoral system was further damaged in late October, with the disclosure of a possible plot to repeat what happened in 2017, when a premature announcement of the US-backed candidate’s victory was immediately endorsed by the US embassy. On 9 November, a trial run of the new electronic voting system partially failed.

For most of November, polls indicated that Moncada’s main challenger was Nasralla, with Asfura trailing a poor third. Four days before the vote, however, Trump denounced not only Moncada but also Nasralla (whom he called a “borderline communist”), warning that “narcoterrorists” would run Honduras if either was elected. He then suggested that the US would continue to supply aid to Honduras only if Asfura won. Unverified reports appeared on social media threatening the 1.3 million households which rely on remittances from relatives in the US that their December payments would be blocked if Asfura lost.

Two days before the polls, Trump pardoned Hernández, who had been extradited when his term ended and was serving a 45-year prison sentence for trafficking cocaine to the US while publicly presenting himself as an ally in the “war on drugs.” The pardon could have backfired but instead proved to be an astute boost to Asfura’s campaign, since many of his supporters still idolise Hernández.

Honduras: A Coup Under the Christmas Tree

By election night, Moncada was trailing in the polls behind both right-wingers. In early voting returns, Nasralla had the advantage over Asfura. There was a break in announcing the results. When the count resumed, Asfura had taken the lead. Trump stepped in again, accusing officials of trying to change the outcome and warning of “hell to pay” if the numbers changed in Nasralla’s favour.

Interruptions and delays in the count stretched over days and then weeks. When Libre claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place, its representative on the electoral council was sidelined by the other two parties and then personally sanctioned by Washington. The election result was eventually declared more than three weeks later, on 24 December, as Hondurans were celebrating Christmas. Asfura was declared the winner by fewer than 27,000 votes. The army gave its backing to the electoral council’s decision.

Up to 130,000 votes, however, were still to be counted: enough to change the outcome of the election. The Honduran Congress met a few days ago and instructed the electoral council to carry out a complete recount, threatening to do the job itself if necessary. Before it met, a homemade bomb was thrown at a National Party lawmaker, injuring her as she entered the congressional building. The US embassy has threatened “grave consequences” if Asfura’s victory is overturned.

Electoral observers from the Organisation of American States and the European Union disapproved of the delays but found no evidence of fraud. On Trump’s interference they were silent. Xiomara Castro has written to the US president requesting a meeting to discuss what happened. It seems unlikely that she will get one.

(London Review of Books)

From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

This article by Erick Augusto Vargas Noria originally appeared in the December 2025 edition ofMemoria: Revista de Crítica Militante. We thank Memoria for permission to reprint the article and encourage you to supportMemoriaand theCenter for Studies of the Labor and Socialist Movement. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those ofMexico Solidarity Mediaor theMexico Solidarity Project*.*

The Mexican Revolution represented the clearest expression of popular protest against the deep social inequalities that prevailed under a system dominated by military, economic, religious, and local elites.

In this context, the Revolution placed at the center of national life a historically repressed, humiliated, and segregated group: the Indigenous population. It is no coincidence that the demand for “Tierra y Libertad” became a battle cry to end decades of injustice and abuses against the poorest communities in the country. In this sense, Emiliano Zapata, then as now, remains the symbol of the struggle against oppression and tyranny exercised from positions of power.

Throughout our history, the construction of the Mexican state has had luminous moments, such as the Cárdenas era, which successfully channeled the demands of the working class, peasantry, and the general population. That was a golden age in which significant progress was made in various areas, including land redistribution.

However, with regard to Indigenous justice, although significant steps have been taken, there is still a long and winding road ahead, not to mention the resistance that persists to this day.

Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN with Hugo Aguilar Ortiz at 1996 peace talks in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.

In this context, the arrival of Hugo Aguilar—a lawyer of Indigenous origin—to the presidency of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), along with justices elected by popular vote, constitutes a historic event. It represents the deepening of a process that began before 2018, was consolidated in 2024, and, in 2025, reaches its peak with a renewed judicial system.

The challenge is significant: one need only look at the degree of decay and backwardness inherited from the previous Court. Even so, expectations for the new justices are extremely high, although time to demonstrate results is limited. The task is to transform a system accustomed to privilege, favoritism, and corruption.

Regarding Indigenous issues, there are key points that must be discussed within a broad, pluralistic, inclusive, cross-cutting, historical, and profoundly human framework. Among these, the following stand out:

1. Recognition of Multicultural Richness

Indigenous communities are living organisms that, from their very roots, preserve festivals, traditions, rituals, customs, languages, and their own ways of understanding the world. To legislate or administer justice without considering this multicultural richness would mean ignoring the essence of our peoples.

2. Territory as a Legitimate Inheritance

For Indigenous communities, territory is a space to which they belong and which they claim as their legitimate inheritance, long before the arrival of the Spanish Crown. The dispossession and massacres suffered for centuries remain open wounds, now embodied in the voraciousness of corporations and businesses. In this regard, the State’s historical debt is enormous, and the judicial system must assume a central role in its redress.

As Carina García points out: “The cases litigated by indigenous communities in defense of collective rights are generally of two types: against companies and against the Mexican State, through its institutions; the latter, for non-compliance with services, for example, water, health and education” (2025).

3. Respect for the Environment & Sustainability

From the Indigenous worldview, Mother Earth is part of a whole, encompassing vegetation, fauna, and all living beings. There was a profound respect for the natural environment. Respecting the environment and territory today means halting the extractive economic model and, in some cities, curbing the ambitions of real estate developers. At stake here is not only the sustainability of Indigenous communities but also the very preservation of civilization. It is essential that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) address the defiance of local governments.

4. Preservation of Cultural Heritage

The preservation of archaeological sites, an essential part of our heritage, requires public policies that include the communities themselves in their protection. The legacy of our past—ceremonial centers, pyramids, sculptures, codices, ecosystems—must be promoted, yes, but above all, protected.

These points open the discussion to two issues of great relevance in recent decades: autonomy and the full exercise of the rights of Indigenous peoples.

President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken the first steps. Today, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) and the Congress of the Union have the historical and material conditions to achieve what Zapata, the Flores Magón brothers, Revueltas, Cárdenas, and many others championed: that our Indigenous communities never again be forgotten or marginalized from major national decisions. It is crucial to move from rhetoric to action and initiate a genuine transformative process that begins at the federal level and extends across the board to state and local governments, which are directly responsible for ensuring compliance with the law.

As Tomás López, president of the Indigenous Professional Center for Consulting, Defense, and Translation (CEPIADET), points out: of all the cases processed in the country, 80% fall under the jurisdiction of state judicial authorities, while only 20% reach the Federal Judiciary (PJF). This demonstrates the enormous responsibility of local governments in handling this volume of cases.

For her part, academic Ortiz Quintero highlights the importance of the 2024 constitutional reform, which recognizes Indigenous peoples as collective subjects of rights, with legal personality, their own patrimony, and legal pluralism. This progress is crucial not only for the recognition itself, but also because it grants communities the possibility of filing injunctions and other legal remedies, such as constitutional disputes.

Example of Cases Pending Resolution by the SCJN in Indigenous Matters

| Record | Type | Subject | |

|

|

| | 344/2025 | Amparo in review 536/2022 | Establish clear criteria for interpreting the rights to autonomy, self-determination, and self-government of peoples and communities in accordance with ILO Convention 169. Legal recognition of community governments. Obligation of the authorities to guarantee social, economic, cultural, and political institutions. (Chiapas) | | 324/2025 | Amparo in review 277/2024 | The lack of consultation with an indigenous community regarding the issuance of construction permits for a housing development, and the failure to determine the scope of the legal rights of individuals belonging to Indigenous communities. (Oaxaca) | | 1856/2025VIAJ | Several | It discusses the recognition of the rights and culture of indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities, as well as the participation of traditional community and independent government in development. | | 1485/2025 | Several | In the State of Mexico, it concerns a motion from the local Congress to harmonize the local Constitution with the reform of Article 2 of the Magna Carta regarding Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities. | | 32/2025 | Direct appeal 460/2022 | Criminal proceedings for violent crimes. Application of the protocol for justice officials in cases involving the rights of persons with disabilities; assistance from an expert interpreter in the Nahuatl language and a lawyer specializing in their language and culture must be provided. |

This brief overview is just a glimpse of the enormous challenge facing the new Supreme Court justices. It is now up to society to take a more active role and demand compliance with what is already enshrined in the Constitution.

The arrival of Hugo Aguilar, who has Indigenous roots, does not mean that everything will change overnight. However, it is an unmistakable sign of the changing times we are living through. We trust that this new Court will bring the administration of justice closer to the people of Mexico.

• 

  Analysis

  A Renewed Opportunity for Indigenous Justice in Mexico

  January 14, 2026

  It is crucial to move from rhetoric to action and initiate a genuine transformative process that begins at the federal level and extends across the board to state and local governments, which are directly responsible for ensuring compliance.

• 

  Soberanía

  Mexico Tells Trump ‘Not in our Hemisphere’ Soberanía 91

  January 14, 2026

  A large anti-imperialist march in Mexico City, US diplomatic pressure on Mexico, US funding CIA-linked contractors involved in Mexican labor, and Losers & Haters.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexican Government to Invest Billions in Safe Pathways Illumination Program

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  The street lighting program matches illumination with sidewalk improvements and murals to bring security and a sense of community to previously dim and neglected urban areas.

The post A Renewed Opportunity for Indigenous Justice in Mexico appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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During a meeting with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, where they addressed the deteriorating security situation in eastern DRC, its consequences, and the threats to the civilian population, Van de Perre reiterated that MONUSCO supports the defense of the Congolese full sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity.

Held in the African Union City on Tuesday, the meeting also analyzed the effective implementation of the immediate and unconditional ceasefire demanded by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2773, according to a statement released by MONUSCO on its X profile on Wednesday.

The mission, which had begun its withdrawal from the DRC in 2024 at the country’s request, halted its withdrawal due to the deteriorating security situation in eastern Congo, and its mandate was renewed in December for another year.

The strategic priorities of this extension are contributing to the protection of the civilian population in its area of deployment, achieving the objectives set out in Resolution 2773 of 2025, consolidating peace, and stabilizing and strengthening state institutions in the DRC.

abo/iff/mem/kmg

The post DRC: MONUSCO reaffirms commitment to peace efforts first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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In episode 91 of Soberanía, hosts José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth unpack the political response in Mexico following the U.S. attack on Venezuela.

The show starts with an on-the-ground report from the large anti-imperialist march in Mexico City, analyzing the turnout, the diverse participants, and the powerful message of regional solidarity against U.S. aggression. The conversation then shifts to the shifting diplomatic pressures from Washington, breaking down the contradictory “good cop, bad cop” dynamic emerging between Marco Rubio and Donald Trump in their dealings with President Sheinbaum’s administration.

Finally, the hosts delve into an investigative report exposing how U.S. government funds, funneled through CIA-linked contractors, are being used to interfere in Mexican labor unions under the guise of enforcing trade agreements. Plus a Losers and Haters segment on stupid headlines from bad writers.

Empower Soberanía’s Anti-Imperialist Reporting

• 

  Soberanía

  Mexico Tells Trump ‘Not in our Hemisphere’ Soberanía 91

  January 14, 2026

  A large anti-imperialist march in Mexico City, US diplomatic pressure on Mexico, US funding CIA-linked contractors involved in Mexican labor, and Losers & Haters.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexican Government to Invest Billions in Safe Pathways Illumination Program

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  The street lighting program matches illumination with sidewalk improvements and murals to bring security and a sense of community to previously dim and neglected urban areas.

• 

  Analysis

  Hegemony Without Occupation: Mexican Elites Facing the United States

  January 13, 2026January 13, 2026

  The crucial question is not whether Mexico has competent elites, but whether those elites are willing to stop managing subordination as if it were a virtue.

The post Mexico Tells Trump ‘Not in our Hemisphere’ Soberanía 91 appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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The Pakistani Ministry of Economic Affairs stated the Japanese government made a financial contribution of 18.62 million dollars that will be channeled through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), The Nation underscored.

The initiative aims to strengthen children’s healthcare services in the region.

As part of the project, the Multan Children’s Hospital and the Institute of Child Health (ICH) will be modernized with state-of-the-art medical equipment and improved healthcare infrastructure.

Hameer Karim, Secretary of Economic Affairs, thanked Japan at the signing ceremony for its continued assistance and assured that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure the effective implementation of the project.

The newspaper noted that Ambassador Akamatsu Shuichi reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to working closely with Pakistan to improve healthcare services and strengthen bilateral relations.

abo/iff/mem/lrd

The post Pakistan and Japan sign agreement to improve child facilities first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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According to statements made Wednesday by the spokeswoman to Radio Sputnik, the EU openly supports anti-government actions in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Zakharova noted that while imposing sanctions against Tehran, the EU simultaneously calls for freedom of expression and respect for freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

“What kind of cynicism does one have to possess—and it is, in reality, a frontal and open attack—to reach such conclusions?” the Russian diplomat said.

She emphasized that this EU policy constitutes, in effect, open support for anti-government actions and, essentially, a rebellion.

Zakharova emphasized that the West is dismantling international legal frameworks by exerting this illegal pressure on Iran.

abo/arm/mem/gfa

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According to the source, at least 10 military aircraft landed at the base in the last 72 hours, including cargo planes from Belgium, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Poland, as well as two refueling tankers.

The Rzeszów base has served as NATO’s main center for transporting military equipment to Ukraine, and a similar facility is planned for Romania to decentralize and secure the flow of supplies.

Local military analysts believe the movement could indicate accelerated logistical preparations or the start of a new phase of supplies, amid growing pressure on Ukrainian communication lines following recent Russian attacks on infrastructure in the Odesa region.

The air mobilization in Rzeszow suggests the alliance is seeking to maintain a constant flow of supplies by air given the vulnerability of land routes, although this option is more expensive and has a lower volumetric capacity.

abo/arm/mem/amp

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This article originally appeared in the January 13, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. The investment for the “Safe Paths: Walk Free, Walk Safe” project will be 1.622 billion pesos between 2025 and 2026, reported the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT).

In a statement, it explained that these are illuminated and monitored paths that will be created along 562 kilometers in 23 municipalities in the State of Mexico, Michoacán and Sonora, to guarantee conditions of safety, accessibility and gender equality in strategic public spaces.

The Ministry indicated that these are priority projects of the current administration, which began to be developed in 2025 in Sonora and the State of Mexico; in 2026 they will continue in the State of Mexico and in Michoacán as part of the Michoacán Plan for Peace and Justice, with federal, state and municipal resources.

According to the Undersecretariat of Communications and Transportation, responsible for the work, safe trails were implemented in the municipality of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, during 2025, with an investment of 100 million pesos in 40 kilometers.

Also, as part of the Eastern State of Mexico Plan, during that period 200 kilometers of safe trails were also built in the municipalities of Chalco, Chicoloapan, Chimalhuacán, Ecatepec, Ixtapaluca, Nezahualcóyotl, La Paz, Texcoco, Tlalnepantla and Valle de Chalco, with an investment of 600 million pesos.

Finishing a mural in Chimalhuacán

The goal for this year is to add a length of 300 km in the State of Mexico with an investment of 900 million pesos (to reach 500 km and 1,500 million pesos of investment).

Meanwhile, in Michoacán, as part of the Michoacán Plan for Peace and Justice, the program will be implemented in the municipalities of Coeneo and Tzintzuntzan, with an investment of 22 million pesos for 22 km.

According to estimates, the 11 Safe Routes implemented in 2025, 10 in the State of Mexico and one in Sonora, benefit more than 6 million 400 thousand inhabitants between both regions: 6 million 216.3 thousand in the State of Mexico and around 200 thousand inhabitants of Sonora.

The project includes LED lighting, the adaptation and improvement of sidewalks, as well as the creation of artistic murals to generate a positive identity in the spaces.

With the installation of the “Safe Paths: Walk Free Walk Safe”, the Government of Mexico aims to provide greater security, mainly for women, and guarantee secure transit for all.

• 

  Soberanía

  Mexico Tells Trump ‘Not in our Hemisphere’ Soberanía 91

  January 14, 2026

  A large anti-imperialist march in Mexico City, US diplomatic pressure on Mexico, US funding CIA-linked contractors involved in Mexican labor, and Losers & Haters.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexican Government to Invest Billions in Safe Pathways Illumination Program

  January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

  The street lighting program matches illumination with sidewalk improvements and murals to bring security and a sense of community to previously dim and neglected urban areas.

• 

  Analysis

  Hegemony Without Occupation: Mexican Elites Facing the United States

  January 13, 2026January 13, 2026

  The crucial question is not whether Mexico has competent elites, but whether those elites are willing to stop managing subordination as if it were a virtue.

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According to a statement released Wednesday by the military on its official Telegram channel, as a result of active and decisive actions, units of the Northern Troops Group occupied the town of Komarovka in the Sumi region, which borders Russia’s Kursk region.

The Ministry added that in the last 24 hours, enemy losses along the group’s line of operations reached 190 soldiers.

These casualties are in addition to up to 440 casualties on the Central Group’s line of operations, more than 300 on the Eastern Group’s, up to 200 on the Western Group’s, up to 125 on the Southern Group’s, and more than 55 caused by the Dnieper Group.

During the day, Ukrainian troops also suffered significant material losses: two tanks, 26 armored fighting vehicles, one Czech Vampire rocket launcher, 95 cars, 11 artillery pieces, one AN/TPQ-50 radar, five electronic warfare stations, one counter-battery station, and 14 ammunition and military equipment depots.

Furthermore, seven guided bombs, six HIMARS missiles, and 260 drones were shot down, according to the Ministry of Defense report.

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