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The statement notes that “in connection with the dismissal of the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, those holding positions as assistants and advisors, both permanent and external, were terminated.”

VAlthough the complete list of those dismissed was not provided, it is noted that Yermak’s external advisors also included Mikhail Podoliak, Daria Zarovnaya, Elina Elyanova, and Alexander Rodnyansky (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent).

The internal advisors were Alexander Bevz, Lilia Pashina, Victoria Romanova, and Tatiana Gaiduchenko. In total, the office has 10 advisors. Yermak had headed Zelensky’s office since February 2020. On November 17, 2025, it was reported that Yermak might be involved in large-scale corruption schemes.

Subsequently, deputies in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian unicameral parliament), including those from the ruling party, demanded his dismissal, but Zelensky refused and even appointed Yermak as head of the delegation in negotiations with the United States.

However, this did little to shield the head of the agency from investigation. On November 28, anti-corruption officials conducted searches related to Yermak, and that evening Zelensky dismissed him.

jdt/jav/mem/gfa

The post Advisor to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office is dismissed first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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The celebration, held at the Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Tribune, emphasized the daily heroism of teachers and the legacy of the 1961 Literacy Campaign, conceived and led by the historical leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro.

Also present were the Ministers of Education (MINED) and Higher Education, Naima Trujillo and Walter Baluja, respectively, as well as a group of teachers and professors from various institutions within the sector and others who support it.

Deputy Prime Minister Eduardo Martinez and the Minister of Education presented the Ministry of Education’s Special Award to a group of outstanding educators.

During the event, the legacy of the 1961 Literacy Campaign, conceived and led by the historical leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, was highlighted, and it was affirmed that keeping it alive is the main challenge for Cuban teachers today amidst the complex circumstances the country is facing.

On December 22, 1961, Cuba was proclaimed a Territory Free of Illiteracy, after a campaign that mobilized the entire nation. That achievement forever transformed the face of Cuban society and laid the foundations for an educational system that continues to be a symbol of justice and solidarity.

jdt/jav/mem/lld

The post Cuban president leads tribute for Teacher’s Day first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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‘I am upset particularly by his statements about making Greenland part of the U.S.,’ FM Rasmussen said.

On Monday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that he would summon U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Kenneth Howery for talks following U.S. President Donald Trump’s appointment of a special envoy to Greenland.

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Macron Reaffirms EU Support for Denmark’s Sovereignty

Previously, on Sunday, Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as the U.S. special envoy to Greenland, a move that has sparked strong diplomatic reactions in Copenhagen.

“I am upset, particularly by the envoy’s statements about making Greenland part of the United States. We find that completely unacceptable,” Rasmussen told Danish broadcaster TV 2.

Earlier in the day, Rasmussen said in a written statement that while the appointment underscores continued American interest in the Arctic island, “everyone, including the U.S., must show respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.”

"The future of Greenland lies in the hands of the Greenlanders."

This was the reaction from Germany's foreign ministry, following a post on X from the new US special envoy for Greenland, Jeff Landry. He said it was an honor to serve "to make Greenland a part of the US." pic.twitter.com/3efHzXDBpq

— DW Politics (@dw_politics) December 22, 2025

The controversy intensified after Landry, following his appointment, posted on social media platform X to thank Trump, saying it was an honor to serve in the role “to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”

At a press conference on Monday, EU Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni pointed out that Denmark’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, including over Greenland, must be preserved.

“Preserving the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, its sovereignty and the inviolability of its borders is essential for the European Union (EU),” EU Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni told a press conference, adding that the bloc’s stance is grounded in a long-standing position on the issue.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Denmark is considering following Australia’s footsteps after securing an agreement to ban social media access for anyone under 15 years old. pic.twitter.com/hqZ1SQcGPT

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 12, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

The military operation violated international law and unlawfully detained crew.

On Sunday, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP) harshly criticized the seizure of the Centuries, a Panama-flagged tanker carrying Venezuelan oil in the Caribbean Sea.

RELATED:

China Accuses U.S. of Violating International Law Over Seizure of Venezuelan Oil Tanker

In a joint statement, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and St. Lucia said the U.S. operation was carried out in international waters and included the unlawful deprivation of liberty of the vessel’s crew. The ALBA statement follows:

“The ALBA countries categorically condemn the theft and seizure of a second vessel transporting Venezuelan oil, carried out by U.S. government’s military personnel, who, acting as privateers, also unlawfully deprived its crew of their liberty.

This serious act of piracy committed in international waters violates the letter and the spirit of the United Nations Charter, the fundamental principles of international law, and the text of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation. It constitutes an unacceptable act of aggression against lawful commerce and the sovereignty of states.

🚨 Un détail qui change tout.

Le tanker CENTURIES, arraisonné par Washington il y a 48h,
✔️ appartient à des intérêts chinois
✔️ est immatriculé au Panama
✔️ dispose d’une licence valide début 2025
✔️ est opéré depuis Hong Kong

Et surtout :
❌ aucune sanction américaine,… pic.twitter.com/EjL30bDl07

— Camille Moscow 🇷🇺 🌿 ☦️ (@camille_moscow) December 22, 2025

The text reads, “One detail that changes everything. The Centuris oil tanker, seized by Washington 48 hours ago, is owned by Chinese interests, registered in Panama, has a license valid until early 2025, and operates from Hong Kong. And, most importantly, there are no US, European, or British sanctions against it. Conclusion: this is not law enforcement or a punitive measure. It is a pure and simple act of force.”

ALBA denounces that this act exposes a deliberate intention to plunder the natural resources of a sovereign country and sets an extremely serious precedent for the region and for the international system as a whole.

This is a neocolonial domination’s supremacist strategy aimed at forcibly imposing an anarchic order in which violence prevails, undermining international law and replacing rules with intimidation and dispossession.

ALBA expresses its full and active solidarity with the people and the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, supports the pursuit of all corresponding legal and diplomatic actions before the competent multilateral bodies, and demands the immediate cessation of these illegal practices, as well as the determination of responsibilities in accordance with international law.

The Bolivarian alliance warns that this reprehensible action is not only an affront to Venezuela, but also constitutes a direct act of aggression against all nations, by violating international law and breaching the principles that sustain peaceful coexistence among nations.”

During a high-level plenary meeting, Venezuela's permanent representative to the #UN, Samuel Moncada, reiterated that #Venezuela will defend its territorial sovereignty. pic.twitter.com/aG4okMavpi

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 18, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Source: ALBA-TCP

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Beijing condemns latest confiscation as unilateral intimidation amid rising pressure on Venezuela.

On Monday, China accused the United States of violating international law over a new arbitrary seizure of a vessel transporting Venezuelan oil.

RELATED:

Puerto Rican Group Rejects US Threats to Venezuela

“China firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and are not authorized by the United Nations Security Council,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian.

“China opposes any action that violates the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and undermines the sovereignty and security of other countries, and opposes all forms of unilateral intimidation.”

“Venezuela has the right to independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries. The international community understands and supports Venezuela’s position in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests,” Lin stressed.

🇺🇸🇨🇳🇻🇪 US Coast Guard special forces on the tanker CENTURIES off the coast of Venezuela

USA promise to tighten the blockade of Venezuela, emphasizing that the oil under sanctions is used to finance terrorism and drug trafficking.

The tanker, under the Panamanian flag, operated… pic.twitter.com/0bu4nvwEvQ

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) December 21, 2025

On Saturday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the seizure of the Panama-flagged tanker Centuries, which Washington considers a false-flag vessel and part of what it describes as Venezuela’s ghost fleet.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly insisted the ship was carrying oil from Venezuela’s state-run company PDVSA. Media reports, however, said the seized tanker is not on the U.S. blacklist.

On Dec. 10, Washington seized the sanctioned vessel Skipper and confiscated the crude it was carrying. Days later, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ban on the entry and exit of oil tankers sanctioned by the U.S. government, as part of the pressure campaign against Venezuela.

On several occasions, the Venezuelan government led by President Nicolas Maduro has rejected both seizures as “theft” and insisted it will take “all appropriate actions.”

Since Washington intensified pressure against Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea, China has condemned the actions, calling them “interference in the internal affairs” of the South American country.

During a high-level plenary meeting, Venezuela's permanent representative to the #UN, Samuel Moncada, reiterated that #Venezuela will defend its territorial sovereignty. pic.twitter.com/aG4okMavpi

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 18, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

The European Union completed the transfer of an entire thermal power plant from Lithuania to Ukraine.

On Monday, the European Commission disbursed a new €2.3 billion tranche in macrofinancial assistance to Ukraine and completed the transfer of a thermal power plant from Lithuania to the country to provide electricity to 1 million people.

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The €2.3 billion payment will allow the country to keep its administration and public services operating and represents the sixth installment of the €50 billion macrofinancial assistance package adopted by the bloc to fund Kiev between 2024 and 2027.

“It helps stabilize the state budget while enabling Kiev to move forward with ambitious structural reforms for its European integration,” the European Commission said of the payment, which brings total aid delivered to Ukraine under the program to €26.8 billion, or 70% of the total.

The disbursement was made after Brussels determined that Ukraine had implemented the agreed reforms in areas including public finance management, the judicial system, decentralization and regional policy, the agri-food sector, the management of critical raw materials and the green transition.

On learning they will now have a "loan" from the EU for their failing army, not from Russian assets but from EU Budgets-

"We don't care much about the source of this money"

Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the foreign policy committee of Ukraine pic.twitter.com/y5aTtwYtsj

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) December 19, 2025

“The EU is driving reforms that bring Ukraine closer to the EU while supporting its critical needs, including energy security in winter,” said Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos.

The European Commission also mentioned that the EU had completed the transfer of an entire thermal power plant from Lithuania to Ukraine, its largest coordinated logistics operation to date.

“This unprecedented transfer restores critical energy capacity and directly reinforces Ukraine’s national grids following Russia’s continued attacks on its infrastructure,” the Commission said, noting that equipment provided by the European Union has been crucial for carrying out emergency repairs.

According to the Commission, the plant will be able to supply electricity to about 1 million Ukrainians. It added that the 27 EU countries have already provided Kiev with support in this area, including 9,500 generators and 7,200 transformers, among other measures.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow to discuss the supply of Russian gas and oil, and to address the peace negotiations in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/03QV31TYne

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 1, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

President Diaz-Canel thanked the EAEU for its support against the U.S. blockade.

On Sunday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel highlighted the role of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as a pillar of multilateralism and cooperation and reiterated that Cuba wishes greater input in the organization.

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In his virtual intervention, he noted that Cuba marks five years as an EAEU observer state and emphasized that this relationship has opened a strategic chapter of integration and cooperation with promising prospects.

Diaz-Canel warned about global violations of the Charter of the United Nations and fundamental principles of international law. He also denounced unilateral coercive measures that seek to stifle economies and punish people.

The Cuban leader thanked the EAEU for its support of the resolution against the U.S. blockade, and recalled that most countries of the United Nations Assembly had widely condemned this policy.

En una reunión del Consejo Económico Supremo Euroasiático, máximo órgano de la Unión Económica Euroasiática (UEE), el presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel denunció el concepto estadounidense de “paz por la fuerza” y la campaña de agresión contra #Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/yzVGqu4nxF

— Director Atención Cliente Eléctrica Las Tunas (@JuanCarlos55811) December 22, 2025

The text reads, “At a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the highest body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel denounced the U.S. concept of ‘peace by force’ and the campaign of aggression against Venezuela.”

Diaz-Canel also referred to tensions in the Caribbean stemming from U.S. actions against Venezuela, which he linked to the new U.S. National Security Strategy and the “Trump corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine.

He denounced Washington’s attempt to impose the Western Hemisphere as its exclusive zone of influence, which promotes the concept of peace through force and is contrary to international law and the UN Charter.

The Cuban president reiterated that these actions violate the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a “Zone of Peace.” He added that the U.S. air and naval deployment in the Caribbean demonstrates the U.S. imperial and criminal purpose.

The United States government's threats against Venezuela and the military deployment in the #CaribbeanSea were condemned by Ernesto Soberon, the representative of #Cuba to the United Nations. pic.twitter.com/xIwQ4xYopD

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 18, 2025

teleSUR: JP

Source: Cubadebate

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

The Russian president highlights unity on global issues at St. Petersburg meeting.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia and the countries that make up the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) support the formation of a new multipolar world.

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“All CIS countries unanimously advocate the formation of a more just world order based on the universally accepted principles of international law, with the United Nations playing a central role,” Putin said at the opening of the group’s informal summit at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

He emphasized the importance of the nine member countries maintaining close or coinciding positions on the main regional and global issues.

Putin also highlighted cooperation among the countries in the fight against terrorism, extremism, organized crime, and drug trafficking. In that regard, he referred to existing CIS programs, including an anti-terrorism program in force through 2028 and a border defense program for the bloc through 2030.

'ALL CIS countries advocate for a JUST world order based on generally recognized principles of intl law' — Putin https://t.co/0aUcuFUGWv pic.twitter.com/kCa5Mxdr4u

— RT (@RT_com) December 22, 2025

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not attend the meeting because of his busy schedule. The Azerbaijani presidency, however, recalled that he did take part in the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting held in October in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, where he met with Putin.

Aliyev has not traveled to Russia since the scandal triggered a year ago by the downing, by Russian air defenses, of an Azerbaijan Airlines Azal plane flying from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny, an incident that killed 39 passengers.

Later on Monday, Putin is expected to meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who decided to freeze his country’s participation in the post-Soviet military alliance after criticizing Moscow for inaction during Armenia’s military clashes with Azerbaijan.

In addition to Ukraine and Georgia, which have permanently left the CIS, Moldova has also suspended its participation because of Russia’s military campaign in the neighboring country.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Russia: An apartment building was damaged after a nighttime drone attack in the province of Tver, less than 200 kilometers northwest of Moscow. pic.twitter.com/CfTYyz5KSl

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 15, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Ukrainian intelligence agents are among possible suspects.

On Monday, Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, said the head of operations of the Russian Army General Staff, Fanil Sarvarov, was killed by an explosive device planted under his car as he was driving on Yasenevo Street in Moscow.

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The blast occurred in a parking area about 150 meters (490 feet) from the home where the general lived. The explosion was caused by a magnetic mine attached to the underside of the vehicle. The general drove several hundred meters before the explosive device was triggered. Investigators are considering several versions of the killing, one of which places responsibility on Ukrainian intelligence services.

“The Investigative Committee’s Main Investigative Directorate has opened a criminal case for murder and the illegal trafficking of explosive substances,” Petrenko said, mentioning that investigators and forensic specialists from the committee’s central office have been dispatched to the scene.

“The examination of the scene is continuing. Investigators will carry out the necessary forensic tests, including forensic medical and explosives examinations. Witnesses are being questioned and security cameras are being reviewed,” she added.

CAR BLAST in Moscow LATEST:

– explosive device planted under the vehicle

– Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov KILLED

– criminal case initiated

– Ukrainian special forces allegedly behind attack https://t.co/yzArIkoQJg pic.twitter.com/OGr1aFwG0P

— RT (@RT_com) December 22, 2025

The Investigative Committee published a video on Telegram showing the damaged vehicle, in which traces of the victim’s blood can be seen. Sarvarov, born in 1969, was a graduate of the Kazan Higher Tank Academy, the Military Academy of Armored Forces and the Russian General Staff Military Academy.

In 2022, he was added to the Ukrainian website Mirotvorets, which lists what it calls “enemies of Ukraine.” Since the start of the war, Ukraine has claimed responsibility for several similar attacks that have killed, among others, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the operations command of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, and Lt. Gen. Igor Kirilov, head of Russia’s radiological, chemical and biological defense forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was immediately informed of what authorities described as a terrorist act, has criticized the intelligence services for failures in protecting senior military commanders.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Russia: An apartment building was damaged after a nighttime drone attack in the province of Tver, less than 200 kilometers northwest of Moscow. pic.twitter.com/CfTYyz5KSl

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 15, 2025

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

ASEAN foreign ministers will meet on Monday in Kuala Lumpur for a special session on the armed conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, after fighting along their shared border intensified in early December.

RELATED:

Thailand-Cambodia border clashes: 21 dead as Trump’s ceasefire vow crumbles amid fierce fighting

The meeting, hosted by Malaysia in its role as ASEAN’s rotating chair until the end of the year, will bring together Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and his Cambodian counterpart, Prak Sokhonn. Both countries are members of the regional bloc.

It will be the first face-to-face encounter between the two diplomats since clashes resumed at multiple points along the border, resulting in at least more than 50 deaths and displacing over half a million people.

Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, today met with H.E. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, on the sidelines of the Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the current situation between Cambodia and Thailand, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia… pic.twitter.com/eX9G9tSX2F

— ASEAN (@ASEAN) December 22, 2025

In a statement issued Sunday, Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the meeting will “consider the steps that ASEAN could take to support efforts toward possible de-escalation and cessation of hostilities in the interest of peace and stability” for both countries and the broader region.

The current round of violence began on December 7, with both sides accusing each other of triggering the escalation. The fighting has now lasted 16 days, exceeding the five-day episode recorded in July, which ended following mediation by several countries, including the United States.

Sihasak, who is already in Malaysia, said Thailand “is working toward a ceasefire” during a phone call last Friday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He outlined a set of conditions that Cambodia has rejected.

Fresh clashes erupt on Thai-Cambodia border as ASEAN convenes peace talks https://t.co/cxdvpnS8GE pic.twitter.com/Y3oI0q9UyQ

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 22, 2025

Ahead of the talks, Sokhonn said in a statement that “Cambodia will reaffirm its firm position to resolve differences and disputes through peaceful means, dialogue and diplomacy.”

Alongside Washington, China has also engaged in mediation efforts. Beijing’s special envoy for Asian Affairs, Deng Xijun, visited the region last week and met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and several ministers.

ASEAN to seek resolution to Thailand-Cambodia conflict with Malaysia meeting https://t.co/WfBvRqA1JC https://t.co/WfBvRqA1JC

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 22, 2025

Cambodia later thanked China for its efforts “to restore peace” between Bangkok and Phnom Penh. The two countries have a long-standing territorial dispute linked to border demarcations drawn in 1907, when Cambodia was part of French Indochina.

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Bolivia’s Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), the country’s largest labor federation, confirmed on Sunday that it will proceed with a nationwide strike on Monday against Supreme Decree 5503, which lifted fuel subsidies in place for more than 20 years, despite government agreements with other sectors aimed at averting the stoppage.

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COB executive leader Mario Argollo said the organization would not withdraw from the mobilizations and rejected reports of a supposed agreement with the government of President Rodrigo Paz to suspend the measures. In a video recorded alongside other union leaders, Argollo denied what he described as a “unilateral and hidden” pact with the Executive.

“We are not going to step back, we are not going to negotiate behind our people’s backs, we are not going to betray the trust placed in us to lead this reivindicative movement,” Argollo said.

He urged authorities to reconsider the decision. “We want to send this message to the central government: think, reflect on this arbitrary and dictatorial measure you have adopted, which at this moment has the Bolivian people on edge,” he added.

Bolivia: 60 buses full of mineworkers are heading towards the capital for the start of the indefinite general strike against austerity measures.

Many of them are carrying dynamite, normally a work tool but often used in protests. pic.twitter.com/LiWX9dbbfe

— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) December 22, 2025

Argollo argued that Decree 5503 benefits only “a privileged sector, business-oriented and bourgeois,” and called on different social sectors to join what he described as a non-political protest.

The strike was initially called on Friday by the Bolivian Confederation of Drivers, which announced a “general and indefinite” stoppage until the government annuls the decree. The COB and coca-growing campesino groups aligned with former president Evo Morales (2006–2019) later joined the call.

On Sunday, the government reported agreements with several sectors. Authorities signed deals with cargo transport unions in the central department of Cochabamba to open working groups on tax and customs issues, leading those groups to rule out participation in the protests. Economy Minister Gabriel Espinoza, who took part in the negotiations, said that overcoming Bolivia’s economic crisis requires work and that “no one is going to get out of this situation by blocking.”

Bolivia: 60 buses full of mineworkers are heading towards the capital for the start of the indefinite general strike against austerity measures.

Many of them are carrying dynamite, normally a work tool but often used in protests. pic.twitter.com/LiWX9dbbfe

— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) December 22, 2025

A day earlier, Public Works Minister Mauricio Zamora signed a separate agreement with heavy cargo transporters in the eastern department of Santa Cruz. In La Paz, President Paz met with gold miners and neighborhood councils, which also decided not to join the strike.

The president is scheduled to address the public on Sunday night through the state broadcaster Bolivia TV to explain the scope of the decree. Paz has said the measure “will not be changed” and represents a starting point for further economic adjustments through dialogue.

Issued last Wednesday, Decree 5503 set fuel prices at 6.96 bolivianos (about one US dollar) per liter of regular gasoline, 11 bolivianos (1.58 dollars) for premium gasoline, and 9.80 bolivianos (1.40 dollars) for diesel, among other rates. This represents increases of 86 percent for gasoline and 162 percent for diesel compared with subsidized prices that had been in effect for more than two decades.

Bolivia president removes fuel subsidies https://t.co/yXAdCF1rqs https://t.co/yXAdCF1rqs

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 18, 2025

The government says the subsidy had become unsustainable amid the country’s economic crisis. The decision is accompanied by additional measures, including an increase in the minimum wage from 2,750 to 3,300 bolivianos (from 395 to 474 dollars), higher student bonuses in the public education system, and increased pensions for older adults without social security contributions.

Authorities have reiterated they will not reverse the policy, arguing that maintaining the subsidy would require spending 3.5 billion dollars in 2026, equivalent to 6.4 percent of Bolivia’s gross domestic product.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Colombia’s largest FARC dissident group, the Central General Staff (EMC), announced a temporary suspension of offensive operations against state security forces during the Christmas and New Year period, citing the need for Colombian families to spend the holidays without fear of armed confrontation.

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In a statement issued on Sunday, the EMC said it had instructed its units nationwide to halt offensive military actions against the security forces from December 23, 2025, until January 7, 2026. “We have given the order to our units across the national territory to suspend offensive military operations against the public security forces from December 23, 2025, until January 7, 2026, with the aim that Colombian families can share these dates without the fears inherent to an armed confrontation,” the group stated.

The announcement coincided with a similar declaration by the National Liberation Army (ELN), which reported a unilateral ceasefire set to begin at midnight on December 24 and remain in place until the same hour on January 3, 2026.

#NoticiaW | Las disidencias del Estado Mayor Central (EMC), al mando de alias 'Iván Mordisco', anunciaron un cese al fuego contra la fuerza pública desde el 23 de diciembre de 2025 hasta el 7 de enero de 2026. pic.twitter.com/1jP6caRr0I

— W Radio Colombia (@WRadioColombia) December 22, 2025

Colombia’s Ombudsperson, Iris Marín, reacted to the ELN’s decision with what she described as “a certain relief, but also anguish,” warning that despite invocations of respect for the civilian population, recent actions by armed groups have caused harm to communities in several regions of the country.

Marín called for these gestures to be reflected in concrete measures, including the release of kidnapped individuals and a genuine reduction in armed confrontations. She also recalled that similar ceasefires announced in the past did not prevent renewed violence, such as mass displacement and widespread fear in areas like Catatumbo, in northeastern Colombia.

Colombia’s largest remaining rebel force has told civilians living under its authority to stay at home for three days while it stages military drills in response to burgeoning US threats https://t.co/JpywY5j84o pic.twitter.com/zhFu5080vT

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 13, 2025

Earlier on Sunday, the 33rd Front of the General Staff of Blocks and Fronts (EMBF), another FARC dissident group operating in Catatumbo, announced an indefinite halt to offensive actions against the security forces. The announcement was made through a video circulated by local media, whose authenticity could not be verified.

The ceasefire announcements come amid a persistent humanitarian crisis in several regions, particularly in Catatumbo, where clashes between the ELN and the 33rd Front of the EMBF have intensified since January, leaving nearly a hundred people dead and causing mass displacement, confinement, and other impacts on rural communities.

The EMC is led by Néstor Gregorio Vera, known as “Iván Mordisco,” the country’s most wanted man, for whom the government has offered a substantial reward. He is not currently involved in peace talks with the administration of President Gustavo Petro. By contrast, the government continues negotiations with other dissident groups, including the EMBF, with which it reached agreements in November to stop the recruitment of minors, promote access to land, and protect the environment under Petro’s “Total Peace” policy.

Despite the announced ceasefires, both the EMC and the ELN carried out violent attacks in recent days against police and army units in the departments of Cauca and Cesar. In Buenos Aires, Cauca, an EMC assault lasting more than seven hours left eight police officers injured and several buildings destroyed. In Aguachica, Cesar, the ELN killed seven soldiers and wounded 31 others in a drone attack on an army base.

Separately, fighters from another FARC dissident group opened fire on Sunday on the town of Suárez, in southwestern Colombia, the birthplace of Vice President Francia Márquez, while residents were participating in a sports event. The attack caused no casualties and was repelled by troops from the Army’s 13th Ground Operations Battalion, according to the Third Division.

“The immediate action of our units allowed us to protect the lives of citizens and contain the threat in this municipality in northern Cauca. The National Army maintains presence and operations in the area, with the purpose of preserving the tranquility of communities and countering the actions of illegal armed groups,” the Army said on X.

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A Puerto Rican nationalist organization has condemned United States threats and policies against Venezuela, expressing solidarity with the Venezuelan people and denouncing Washington’s intensified political, economic and military pressure on the country.

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In a statement released on Thursday, the Movimiento Ñin Negrón of Puerto Rico denounced what it described as “the crude actions of the empire and crimes against humanity” carried out by Washington against Caracas, actions it said are “perpetrated in the name of national security and the protection of the lives of US citizens.”

“Venezuela and Puerto Rico share the same soul,” the organization stated.

The group also condemned the escalation of US economic and military aggression against Venezuela under Washington’s interventionist foreign policy, pointing to what it described as the renewed application by US President Donald Trump of the Monroe Doctrine. According to the statement, hostile US actions and what it called Washington’s “lies” serve as pretexts “to disguise actions aimed at imposing a subservient regime” on Venezuela, with the objective of extracting and controlling “Venezuela’s vast wealth.”

Peace groups in Puerto Rico are opposing Trump's deployment of F35 warplanes to the island ready for an attack on Venezuela.

Puerto Rico's 127-years as a US colony is a foretaste of the disaster awaiting Venezuela if Trump imposes a compliant regime. See: https://t.co/n6QF2t5YNU pic.twitter.com/3Sm4fsh1uc

— Steve Howell (@FromSteveHowell) December 21, 2025

The statement further referenced comments by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has emphasized the defense of his country’s sovereignty, trade and natural resources in response to what were described as Washington’s war-driven actions.

“Inspired by the revolutionary vision raised as a project of vindication by Commander Hugo Chávez Frías, the people are organizing and preparing to defend, inch by inch, the geographical and ideological borders of the Bolivarian project,” the Movimiento Ñin Negrón said.

The organization added that the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean understand the need to stand alongside Venezuela, organizing and committing activists to denounce violence directed at the country. “We join in denouncing the United States and its vicious agenda of terror against Venezuela,” the statement said, adding, “with Venezuelan men and women we will cast our lot and walk together.”

US military aircraft are seen operating in Puerto Rico, as tensions with Venezuela increase. pic.twitter.com/ueCvrxVaQd

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) December 19, 2025

The statement follows an announcement by President Trump earlier this week that he had ordered “a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.” Since September, the United States has carried out dozens of operations in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific under what it describes as its anti-drug campaign, operations that have left many victims and resulted in at least 95 deaths.

Venezuelan authorities have repeatedly stated that Washington’s objective is regime change and the appropriation of the country’s strategic resources, including oil, gas and gold.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Panama has reported 25 dengue-related deaths and 15,098 confirmed cases so far in 2025, according to official figures released by the Ministry of Health up to epidemiological week 48, corresponding to the period from November 23 to 29.

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Health authorities stated that, as of November 29, a total of 1,474 patients required hospitalization, while 103 cases were classified as severe. The metropolitan area and the district of San Miguelito, both in the capital region, account for the highest concentration of infections, with 7,242 cases reported.

Fatalities linked to dengue have been recorded in nearly all regions of the country. The western province of Chiriquí, bordering Costa Rica, has registered the highest number of deaths, with five cases. It is followed by Bocas del Toro with four deaths, and the metropolitan area with three.

Las autoridades sanitarias de Panamá informan que se han registrado 25 muertes por dengue y 15.098 casos de la enfermedad hasta la semana epidemiológica 48 (del 23 al 29 de noviembre pasado).https://t.co/xv55lsCLby

— EFE Noticias (@EFEnoticias) December 21, 2025

The Ministry of Health reported that the national incidence rate during epidemiological week 48 stood at 330 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Official data also indicate that most infections have occurred among people aged between 10 and 49.

Health authorities have previously warned that the co-circulation of the four dengue serotypes in Panama, with a predominance of DEN-3 and DENV-4, “is the reason why the occurrence of severe and fatal cases increases.” The ministry has also stressed that dengue “is a serious and potentially fatal disease, transmitted through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.”

📍Panamá Oeste, La Chorrera | Como parte del mantenimiento de la infraestructura vial, se están realizando limpiezas profundas de drenajes pluviales para:
✅ Prevenir inundaciones.
✅ Evitar focos del mosquito del dengue.
✅ Mejorar la circulación del agua en las calles. pic.twitter.com/L7qFYM2grf

— Ministerio de Obras Públicas de Panamá (@MOPPma) December 20, 2025

According to Ministry of Health statistics, dengue cases increased by 94 percent by the end of 2024, while deaths reached 52 nationwide, nearly three times the number recorded in 2023, highlighting the continued public health burden posed by the disease.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

In our Donald-in-Wonderland world, the US is at war with Venezuela while still grasping for a public rationale. The horrific human toll is real – over a 100,000 fatalities from illegal sanctions and over a hundred from more recent “kinetic strikes.” Yet the officially stated justification for the US empire’s escalating offensive remains elusive.

The empire once spun its domination as “democracy promotion.” Accordingly, State Department stenographers such as The Washington Post framed the US-backed coup in Venezuela – which temporarily overthrew President Hugo Chávez – as an attempt to “restore a legitimate democracy.” The ink had barely dried on The New York Timeseditorial of April 13, 2002 – which legitimized that imperial “democratic” restoration – before the Venezuelan people spontaneously rose up and reinstated their elected president.

When the America Firsters captured the White House, Washington’s worn-out excuse of the “responsibility to protect,” so beloved by the Democrats, was banished from the realm along with any pretense of altruism. Not that the hegemon’s actions were ever driven by anything other than self-interest. The differences between the two wings of the imperial bird have always been more rhetorical than substantive.

Confronted by Venezuela’s continued resistance, the new Trump administration retained the policy of regime change but switched the pretext to narcotics interdiction. The Caribbean was cast as a battlefield in a renewed “war on drugs.” Yet with Trump’s pardon of convicted narco-trafficker and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández – among many other contradictions – the alibi was wearing thin.

Venezuelan oil tankers blockaded

The ever-mercurial US president flipped the narrative on December 16, announcing on Truth Social that the US would blockade Venezuelan oil tankers. He justified this straight-up act of war with the striking claim that Venezuela had stolen “our oil, our land, and other assets.”

For the record, Venezuela had nationalized its petroleum industry half a century ago. Foreign companies were compensated.

This presidential social media post followed an earlier one, issued two weeks prior, ordering the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela “closed in its entirety.” The US had also seized an oil tanker departing Venezuela, struck several alleged drug boats, and continued to build up naval forces in the region.

In response to the maritime threat, President Nicolás Maduro ordered the Venezuelan Navy to escort the tankers. The Pentagon was reportedly caught by surprise. China, Mexico, Brazil, BRICS, Turkey, along with international civil society, condemned the escalation. Russia warned the US not to make a “fatal mistake.”

The New York Times reported a “backfire” of nationalist resistance to US aggression among the opposition in Venezuela. Popular demonstrations in support of Venezuela erupted throughout the Americas in Argentina, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, and the US.

Trump’s phrasing about Venezuela’s resources is not incidental. It reveals an assumption that precedes and structures the policy itself: that Venezuelan sovereignty is conditional, subordinate to US claims, and revocable whenever it conflicts with Yankee economic or strategic interests. This marks a shift in emphasis, not in substance; drugs have receded from center stage, replaced by oil as the explicit casus belli.

The change is revealing. When Trump speaks of “our” oil and land, he collapses the distinction between corporate access, geopolitical leverage, and national entitlement. Venezuelan resources are no longer considered merely mismanaged or criminally exploited; they are portrayed as property wrongfully withheld from its rightful owner.

The day after his Truth Social post, Trump’s “most pointless prime-time presidential address ever delivered in American history” (in the words of rightwing blogger Matt Walsh) did not even mention the war on Venezuela. Earlier that same day, however, two House resolutions narrowly failed that would have restrained Trump from continuing strikes on small boats and from exercising war powers without congressional approval.

Speaking against the restraining resolutions, Rep. María Elvira Salazar – the equivalent of Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen and one of the far-right self-described “Crazy Cubans” in Congress – hailed the 1983 Grenada and 1989 Panama invasions as models. She approvingly noted both were perpetrated without congressional authorization and suggested Venezuela should be treated in the same way.

The votes showed that nearly half of Congress is critical – compared to 70% of the general public – but their failure also allows Trump to claim that Congress reviewed his warlike actions and effectively granted him a mandate to continue.

Non-international armed conflict

In this Trumpian Wonderland, a naval blockade with combat troops rappelling from helicopters to seize ships becomes merely a “non-international armed conflict” not involving an actual country. The enemy is not even an actual flesh and blood entity but a tactic– narco-terrorism.

Trump posted: “Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.” Yet FTOs are non-state actors lacking sovereign immunities conferred by either treaties or UN membership. Such terrorist labels are not descriptive instruments but strategic ones, designed to foreclose alternatives short of war.

In a feat of rhetorical alchemy, the White House designated fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction.” Trump accused Venezuela of flooding the US with the deadly synthetic narcotic, when his own Drug Enforcement Administration says the source is Mexico. This recalls a previous disastrous regime-change operation in Iraq, also predicated on lies about WMDs.

Like the Cheshire Cat, presidential chief of staff Susie Wiles emerges as the closest to a reliable narrator in a “we’re all mad here” regime. She reportedly said Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” openly acknowledging that US policy has always been about imperial domination.

The oil is a bonus for the hegemon. But even if Venezuela were resource-poor like Cuba and Nicaragua, it still would be targeted for exercising independent sovereignty.

Seen in that light, Trump’s claim that Venezuela stole “our” oil and land is less an error than a confession. It articulates a worldview in which US power defines legitimacy and resources located elsewhere are treated as imperial property by default. The blockade is not an aberration; it is the logical extension of a twisted belief that sovereignty belongs to whoever is strong enough to seize it. Trump is, in effect, demanding reparations for imperialists for the hardship of living in a world where other countries insist their resources belong to them.

Roger D. Harrisis a founding member of theVenezuela Solidarity Network and is active with the Task Force on the Americas and theSanctionsKill Campaign.

Source: Countercurrents

The post US Blockades Venezuela in a War Still Waiting for an Official Rationale appeared first on Venezuelanalysis.

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By Steve Lalla – Dec 20, 2025

A new book edited by Kyle Ferrana, China Changes Everything, bills itself as an anthology by “social justice activists, journalists, and commentators” and brings together chapters about the People’s Republic of China written by prominent left-wing analysts, including Arnold August, Roger Harris, Radhika Desai, Carlos Martinez, Gerald Horne, Lee Siu Hin, Margaret Kimberley, Danny Haiphong, KJ Noh, Sara Flounders, and many more.

The publication covers a comprehensive range of subjects in the ongoing “China debate” and includes chapters on such hot topics as China’s relation to Palestine and China’s foreign affairs policies, its banking and healthcare system, its transportation infrastructure and the rail and air infrastructure that China has helped to build in developing nations, its achievements in green technology and poverty alleviation, China’s military expenditures and aims, its role in the “space race,” its alleged genocide of the Uyghurs, and the status of Taiwan and Tibet, among others.

The first entry—written by Sara Flounders and titled “A Fundamental Difference: China—Socialist or Imperialist?”—dispels the widespread myth prevalent among Western thinkers (and even among Western Marxists) that China’s economy is essentially capitalist. Flounders contrasts China’s economic system with that of the US and demonstrates how it is the essential differences in their respective economic structures that have propelled China’s economic growth since its liberation in 1949: “In the United States, nearly all resources are privately owned by a handful of billionaires. Even public forests, waters, and raw minerals are ripe for exploitation for private profit. In China, the overwhelming bulk of resources—oil, gas, coal, gold, gems, rare earth minerals, and water are socially owned and used for the development of the whole society.”

This chapter sets the tone for the entire book. The collection of essays functions as a primer for an English-speaking, primarily US-based audience that will allow the reader to contrast the economics, culture, and politics that they are familiar with, on the one hand, with the economics, culture, and politics of the People’s Republic of China. As such, it does not provide a detailed look at what life is like in China for everyday Chinese people, from a Chinese perspective, but instead functions as a guide for Western observers who seek to compare the achievements of the People’s Republic of China with those of the “developed” nations of North America and Europe since World War 2.

Public health: China vs. USAMargaret Flowers’ essay on healthcare is titled “If China Can Provide Universal Healthcare, Why Can’t the United States?” The author compares the two healthcare systems and reflects how, in the US, “Hospitals are shuttering essential services such as obstetrics and pediatrics to open more lucrative specialty centers in orthopedics and cardiovascular interventions. Hospitals that don’t turn a profit, especially in rural communities and poor urban areas, are being closed down and either abandoned or converted into commercial spaces.” In contrast, a system that prioritizes public welfare instead of profit is able to provide superior, or at the very least, competitive services for only a fraction of the cost (China spends less than 3% of what the US spends per capita on healthcare).

“The Commonwealth Fund’s 2024 health insurance survey highlights some major failures of healthcare in the United States,” notes Flowers. “They found that only 56% of working-age adults had adequate health insurance. Of those who had health insurance without adequate coverage, 57% ‘avoided getting needed health care because of its cost,’ and 41% of these experienced a worsening of their health condition as a result. 44% of underinsured adults held medical or dental debt. In fact, in the US, medical illness is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy, and about three-fourths of those who go bankrupt had health insurance at the start of their illness.”

Data like this will provide ample ammunition for our conversations with the China-haters who virtually all of us in the West can count among our coworkers, friends, and family. The book continues with this line of thinking, succinctly contrasting the facts of life in the US, Europe, or Canada with those in the People’s Republic, and confirms that the glaring differences exist precisely because China has not followed the capitalist path of prioritizing corporate profit over basic public needs.

“Health outcomes have dramatically improved over the past 76 years” in China, Flowers recounts. “The average life expectancy in China was around 43.5 years in 1950, and rose to almost 78 years in 2024. Life expectancy rose by almost seven years between 2000 and 2021, while life expectancy in the United States fell during that same period.”

China and the climate crisisIn a case of projection that is typical of knowledge production in the imperial core, the ubiquitous anti-China smear campaign portrays the People’s Republic as a fortress of smokestacks belching fumes of melting coal and plastic into the air, polluting at levels never seen in human history and ruining the environment for everyone. However, it is fairly common knowledge that China ratified both the Kyoto and Paris accords of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), while the US has never committed itself to either agreement.

In its section on green development, China Changes Everything provides ample details regarding China’s commitment to clean energy and sustainable development. China’s achievements in this realm are driven by the nation’s socialist principles and made possible through centralized planning.

Lyn Neeley, in a chapter entitled “China Outpaces the World in Energy Production and Green Technology,” recalls that China has produced “70% of the world’s electric vehicles (EVs) and 98% of the world’s electric buses”—although we’ll never see them on the road in North America. Because of state aid for green technology, the country produces electric cars at a fraction of their cost in the US, Europe, or Canada (a theme that is repeated throughout comparisons of costs for healthcare, housing, education, infrastructure, the military, etc.).

“Chinese EVs are cheaper and more advanced than EVs made anywhere else,” writes Neeley. “A Chinese EV now costs less than [USD] $10,000 because of the efficient manufacturing processes and an increase in the amount of government subsidies for EVs from [USD] $76.7 million in 2018 to [USD] $809 million in 2023.” Neeley notes that China produces over 80% of the world’s solar panels, is the world’s leading producer of hydroelectric power, accounts for up to 70% of the global wind turbine market, and in 2024 filed more than half of the world’s patents for clean energy.

China and Palestine
Danny Haiphong—in an essay titled “Is China’s Foreign Policy ‘Good Enough’?”—Danny Haiphong reflects on another criticism frequently leveled at China, particularly in the wake of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 which approved the US plan for the occupation of Palestine by a UN International Stabilization Force. China did not exercise its capacity to veto this resolution and abstained from the vote, giving rise to a common criticism of China heard in the West, even among purported leftists: that China has not done enough to aid the Palestinian cause.

Haiphong helps to put things in perspective: while the US and its vassal states carry out a livestreamed genocide, providing arms and diplomatic cover to the Zionist regime, “China has used its influence at the United Nations to not only condemn Israel’s brutality and call for an immediate ceasefire, but also to uphold the right of the Palestinian people to armed resistance. In 2024, China hosted a historic summit in Beijing that convened all major Palestinian political organizations with the aim of forging unity toward the establishment of a future Palestinian state.”

When the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China is compared to that of the United States and its vassals in the imperial core, the differences are stark. “The horrors in Gaza are not of China’s making,” recalls Haiphong. “The US accounts for 70 percent of Israel’s arms imports, and wields a political and diplomatic shield over Israel that is arguably more powerful than that provided to any of its other so-called ‘allies’ around the world. The blame for Gaza’s plight rests at the feet of the US, the West, and of course, Israel. Moving attention away from this is as unhelpful as it is dangerous. Makers of US foreign policy have shown the world time and time again that they are willing to go to any length to protect what they see as their most important military asset in the region. Any unilateral action taken against Israel will be met with serious consequences. While the US empire is in marked decline and unable to arrest the development of a rising China and Global South, it has proven more than capable of spreading chaos and instability. The US and Israel would undoubtedly move to cut China off from the entire region if it were to carry out a boycott of Israel on its own, and the genocide would continue, but under even more hostile global conditions than currently exist. This isn’t to say that a boycott isn’t correct in principle, but to put the onus of responsibility for leading such a boycott on China, a developing country that is itself the target of US sanctions, moves the goalposts away from the US empire.” One only has to look at the economic blockade and recent US bombing of Iran to see how the US might treat China were it to go further in its support for Palestine.

China Explains Its Abstention in UN Gaza Vote

The book is a must for those who seek facts about the economic, political, and cultural development of China since 1949, particularly in comparison to that of the United States and particularly regarding the most hotly debated issues. China Changes Everything provides a wealth of information and constitutes a useful manual for those who seek to dispel the myths about China that are propagated in the imperial core.

Most of us are familiar with these often contradictory claims: “China is not socialist,” “China is capitalist,” “China is imperialist,” “China is the worst polluter,” “China is not a democracy,” “China is a Communist dictatorship,” “China only cares about its own development,” “China is a settler colonial Han supremacist nation,” “China is imprisoning dependent nations in debt traps,” “China is exploiting Africa and Latin America,” and finally, “the People’s Republic is not revolutionary.” In doing so, the book outlines a realistic vision for our future and provides hope for those in the West who are often disillusioned with all social and political projects.

OT/SL/JRE

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

The Government of Venezuela reported this Sunday the departure from its country of a ship of the US company Chevron loaded with Venezuelan crude oil according to an announcement the executive vice president and minister of hydrocarbons, Delcy Rodriguez.

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Rodríguez announced on his Telegram channel the departure of the Canopus Voyager ship “with Venezuelan oil bound for the United States,” in “strict adherence to the regulations and in compliance with the commitments undertaken” by his nation’s oil industry.

The launch of the Canopus Voyager comes amid an active strategy of piracy by the US government, which deployed a military fleet in the Caribbean that has confiscated two tankers in the Caribbean Sea and today performs an “active pursuit” to intercept a third.

Chevron operates in Venezuela in association with the state-owned PDVSA thanks to a license from the Department of the Treasury that exempts it from the sanctions imposed on Venezuelan crude oil.

“Venezuela has always been and will continue to be respectful of national and international legality. Nothing and no one will stop our country on its path of progress and victory!” added Rodríguez, who shared a video showing the ship.

The Venezuelan government maintains that these actions strengthen energy cooperation and guarantee the continuity of hydrocarbon production and export under conditions of mutual respect.

The Government of Venezuela denounced the theft and hijacking of a Venezuelan private oil vessel, as well as the forced disappearance of its crew, accusing US military personnel of perpetrating these acts in international waters.

The Venezuelan vice president described the action as an act of piracy, in the context of a US aggression to appropriate the country’s oil and other resources. The Venezuelan government considers this incident a violation of international conventions and the Charter of the United Nations.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

The US intensified its aggressive harassment of Venezuelan shipping on Sunday by pursuing yet another tanker, escalating Washington's siege on Venezuela's critical oil industry amid unproven accusations.

From Presstv via This RSS Feed.

Former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Keith Rowley denounced that the current head of government Persad-Bissessar is trying to turn the country into a “vassal state” of the United States and that sovereignty and national pride are “being undermined”.

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The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, has criticized Caricom for not aligning with the United States and supporting Venezuela, reflecting its own political and logistical support to the US military deployment and hostility towards Venezuela.

Rowley said he was deeply disappointed by the way the country is being run. “In all the years that I have lived during the entire life of this nation, 1962 to the present, I have never seen a more unpatriotic and recklessly incompetent leader than Kamla Persad-Bissessar. I have also never witnessed a more offensive statement about ourselves and our sovereign rights to agree or disagree on matters of concern to us and our wider interests and responsibilities.”

#TRINIDAD: Former Prime Minister Keith Rowley has issued a statement criticising Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, her government, and recent positions on foreign relations, regional engagement and national sovereignty. pic.twitter.com/9vJWrDkPAK

— CaribbeanNewsNetwork (@caribbeannewsuk) December 21, 2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bicndm6Ta/

The former prime minister, who accused Persad-Bissessar of acting without transparency or respect for national dignity, noted that during his tenure Trinidad and Tobago “always projected itself internationally as a safe and independent state.”

“For the Prime Minister and her hapless government to reduce us to a vassal state, taking secret instructions from another country and issuing dire warnings that we should “behave ourselves” lest we offend the United States and lose our access to US visas is to have torn up our Constitution and declared that the very idea of our existence as a nation is not worthy of defence or vision,” Rowley stressed.

The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago stated that her government is not aligned with the political ideologies or foreign, economic and security policies of any other member of Caricom. This statement comes in a context where Trinidad and Tobago, along with Guyana, stands out from other CARICOM members for its support of the Trump administration’s policy against Venezuela.

Caricom is composed of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar criticized the unity of Caricom, arguing that it operates in a dysfunctional way and harms the inhabitants of the Caribbean, while Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda responded by defending Caricom as a reliable partner in economy and security, Highlighting their shared history and the strength of uniting small states.

The Caricom Heads of Government Conference Office had expressed concern about the restrictions, and in contrast, Persad-Bissessar warned that Port of Spain was not part of that declaration, also calling for a “measured” response, because the U.S. is within its right to “exercise power” to “promote its interests.”

In this regard, and in view of the statements by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Browne stressed that “respectful dialogue with international partners is not subservience, and regional consultations are not disloyalty.”

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

President Nicolás Maduro sent a message of hope to Venezuelans on Saturday, vowing that “no one will spoil the 2025 Christmas season” as millions poured into the streets for traditional shopping and festivities.

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“We can never fail the humble, fighting people who receive the blessings of the Child Jesus,” Maduro said in a video released on social media. “Between parrandas on every corner and the battles we wage for our rights, democracy and peace, we will celebrate these holidays that no one will tarnish.”

The president’s pledge came only 24 hours after Caracas denounced the U.S. military seizure of a private oil tanker in international waters, an act Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez branded “piracy” that included the forced disappearance of the crew.

President Maduro reiterated that Venezuela will file formal complaints before the U.N. Security Council and other international bodies, insisting that “international law will prevail and the perpetrators will be held accountable.”

Despite the stand-off, central Caracas buzzed with Christmas lights, toy markets and drum-led parrandas, underscoring what Maduro called the “dual soul” of the nation: festive culture merged with permanent mobilization to defend sovereignty.

“This is a noble, libertarian people,” he stressed, while predicting “a prosperous 2026 for every Venezuelan family” powered by the country’s 14 development engines and a sovereign hydrocarbons industry.

Authorities say public transport, subsidized food markets and expanded bonus payments will keep holiday crowds moving safely through New Year’s, sending the message that external pressure will not interrupt Venezuela’s traditions or its economic recovery.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

The special count of the general elections on 30 November to review 2,792 electoral records with inconsistencies resumed this Sunday at local 11:00 (17:00 GMT), according to the website of the National Electoral Council (CNE), after an interruption of several hours.

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Towards 12:00 local time (18:00 GMT), with the resumption of special counting, the conservative National Party presidential candidate, Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura, who is supported by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, continued to lead with 1,371,957 votes (40.29%).

Salvador Nasralla, candidate of the also conservative Liberal Party, was in second place with 1,347,162 (39.56%), and the official candidate Rixi Moncada, who asked for the total annulment of the elections, in third place with 651,578 votes (19.13%), with 99.87% of the votes cast.

#Política | Tras una breve interrupción provocada por altercados en el Centro Logístico Electoral (CLE), el Consejo Nacional Electoral retomó este domingo el recuento de votos. Esta etapa, que se puso en marcha el pasado jueves tras un retraso inicial de cinco días, enfrenta… pic.twitter.com/sJLXYseZqA

— UNE TV (@unetv_hn) December 21, 2025

Honduran political organizations reported threats by members of the armed forces against members of the verification boards.

According to the ruling Free Party, the military threatened to arrest members of the boards if they sent zero minutes or if there were interruptions in the special ballot, even though their role is limited to ensuring the security of the electoral process.

The military cannot coerce polling station workers or attempt to influence the results through threats, when their role is to protect them from such actions.

“The vote is defended with the law, not with fear. Elections are guaranteed with transparency, not with intimidation, and democracy is not locked up, silenced, or intimidated, it is respected,” declared one of the members of the board.

Marlon Ochoa, advisor to the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Honduras, announced that he will contest the results of the elections on 30 November, alleging fraud.

Ochoa justified his decision by arguing that the electoral process was interfered with and protected by the United States, which he considers a violation of Honduran sovereignty and popular will.

The Honduran official refuses to sign a “fraudulent” declaration on the election results, arguing that he represents the Honduran people and not external interests. Criticizes U.S. sanctions and pronouncements as interference, reaffirming that the election of the president is up to the Honduran people.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

The Ministry of Health in the Palestinian enclave reported this Sunday that 62% of primary care medications are unavailable, and the limited supplies do not cover the needs of patients in the Gaza Strip.

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A total of 288,208 patients are at risk of serious relapses, including strokes and heart attacks, the Gazan Health Ministry added.

The List of Essential Medicines, considered by the Ministry of Health for its report, is an internationally recognized list published by the World Health Organization (WHO). It identifies the most important medicines to meet the priority health needs of the population.

Director of Pharmaceutical Care at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Alaa Helles, says there is a severe shortage of vital medications in Gaza. The highest it has been in two years. Israel is not allowing medicine into Gaza. pic.twitter.com/VuySKCAtkf

— Samira Mohyeddin سمیرا (@SMohyeddin) December 21, 2025

“The health system in the Gaza Strip is in a serious state of unprecedented deterioration after two years of war and a total blockade. This has led to a drastic decrease in its capacity to provide diagnostic and treatment services, along with a severe shortage of medicines,” a statement said.

70% of oncology service medications are also unavailable; laboratory tests and supplies for blood banks only cover 59%; and there is a 38% deficit in emergency and intensive care services, which could deprive 200,000 patients of emergency care, according to the ministry.

“Cardiac catheterization and open-heart surgery services have been completely suspended, as 100% of the necessary medications and medical supplies are unavailable,” the ministry added.

On the other hand, regarding medical evacuations in Gaza, the WHO reported weeks ago that 10,645 were carried out since the beginning of the conflict (October 2023), but only in the period between July 2024 and the end of last November, more than 1,000 patients died while waiting to be taken out of the Strip for treatment.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

By Atul Chandra  –  Dec 18, 2025

As Bangladesh marks the victory of its 1971 liberation, the secular, socialist foundations of the nation’s birth are under assault by the convergence of US geopolitical interests with religious fundamentalism.

On December 16, 1971, Lieutenant General A.A.K. Niazi signed the instrument of surrender in Dhaka, marking the birth of Bangladesh and the defeat of a genocidal military campaign that had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Fifty-four years later, as Bangladesh prepares to observe Victory Day, the foundational principles of that liberation: nationalism, secularism, socialism and democracy, stand in ruins. The statues of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman have been torn down. The party that led the liberation struggle has been banned. Its leader and former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has been sentenced to death in absentia. And the political forces that collaborated with the Pakistani military in 1971, most notably Jamaat-e-Islami, are once again ascendant in national politics. What we are witnessing is not merely a change of government but an attempted erasure of Bangladesh’s founding identity, orchestrated through the convergence of US imperial interests and domestic religious fundamentalism.

The compact of 1971
The Bangladesh Liberation War was never simply about territorial separation from Pakistan. It represented a decisive rejection of the two-nation theory that had partitioned the subcontinent along religious lines in 1947. The Bangla Bhasha Movement of 1952, which provided the cultural foundation for Bengali nationalism, asserted that linguistic and cultural identity, not religious affiliation, would define the political community. When Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League won the 1970 elections and was denied power by the Pakistani military establishment, the liberation struggle that followed crystallized around four constitutional pillars: nationalism, secularism, socialism, and democracy.

The 1972 Constitution gave institutional expression to these principles. Article 12 specifically mandated the elimination of communalism, prohibited granting political status to any religion, and forbade the abuse of religion for political purposes. This was not an abstract commitment to Western-style secularism but a direct response to the lived experience of genocide. The Pakistani military’s campaign of mass murder, rape, and destruction had been actively supported by religion-based parties, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami, whose members organized collaborationist militias such as the Razakar, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams. These forces participated in the systematic targeting of Bengali nationalists, Hindu minorities, and intellectuals. The constitutional ban on religion-based politics emerged organically from the liberation movement’s determination that such atrocities would never recur.

The assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975, along with most of his family, inaugurated a systematic dismantling of this founding compact. General Ziaur Rahman’s military regime replaced “secularism” with “Absolute Trust and Faith in the Almighty Allah” through the 1977 constitutional amendment and lifted the ban on religion-based political parties. Jamaat-e-Islami, whose leaders had fled to Pakistan after 1971, returned to political life. The declaration of Islam as the state religion in 1988 completed the constitutional counter-revolution. Yet even through these reversals, the memory of 1971 and the institutional framework of the Awami League preserved a contested space for secular nationalism. The war crimes trials initiated under Sheikh Hasina’s government between 2010 and 2016, which resulted in the conviction and execution of several Jamaat leaders for their role in the 1971 genocide, represented the most significant attempt to reckon with this history and defend the liberation’s legacy.

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The geopolitics of regime change
The events of August 2024 must be understood within the broader context of great power competition in the Indo-Pacific. Bangladesh occupies a position of exceptional strategic significance. Situated at the confluence of South and Southeast Asia, with a coastline on the Bay of Bengal through which approximately one quarter of global maritime trade passes, it represents what US strategic planners have identified as a crucial node in the architecture of China containment. The US Indo-Pacific Strategy, operationalized through the Quad alliance and a network of military partnerships, requires cooperative governments throughout the region. Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina, with its extensive economic ties to China through the Belt and Road Initiative and its refusal to provide military facilities to the United States, particularly on St. Martin’s Island, represented an obstacle to this strategy.

Sheikh Hasina herself claimed, in statements reported by Indian media, that a “country of white-skinned people” was attempting to destabilize her government because she refused to compromise Bangladesh’s sovereignty. The chronology is suggestive. In May 2024, US officials visited Dhaka to discuss the Indo-Pacific Strategy. Within weeks, protests that had begun over civil service job quotas transformed into a broader movement demanding Hasina’s resignation. By August 5, she had fled the country. The speed with which the United States embraced the interim government under Muhammad Yunus, including a USD 202 million USAID package and President Biden’s meeting with Yunus at the UN General Assembly in September, indicates a level of prior coordination that demands scrutiny.

Chinese analysts have been explicit about their concerns. Scholars at Chinese research institutions have noted that Bangladesh’s geopolitical position makes it a potential “gamechanger” in South Asian politics if the United States succeeds in reshaping its political orientation. The interim government’s early diplomatic overtures to Washington, combined with its cooling of relations with India, suggest that these concerns are well-founded. The pattern is familiar from Pakistan, where Imran Khan has alleged US involvement in his 2022 ouster, and from numerous other instances across the Global South where governments pursuing independent foreign policies have faced destabilization.

The fundamentalist vehicle
The domestic instrument for this realignment has been the rehabilitation of religious fundamentalist forces. The interim government’s lifting of the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, imposed under anti-terrorism legislation, has enabled a party whose leaders were convicted of genocide to re-enter political life. The growing influence of Hefazat-e-Islam, which had previously mobilized against secular bloggers and successfully pressured for the removal of a Lady Justice statue from the Supreme Court premises in 2017, signals a broader shift in the political climate. The destruction of Mujibur Rahman’s statues and the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in August 2024 was not random vandalism but symbolic annihilation of the secular nationalist legacy.

The consequences for religious minorities have been severe. According to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, over 2,000 incidents of communal violence occurred in the weeks following Hasina’s ouster, including attacks on temples and the destruction of Hindu-owned properties. A UN report documented 2,924 attacks against religious minority communities in July 2024. The arrest of ISKCON priest Chinmoy Das in late 2024 provoked international concern. These are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a systematic unravelling of the pluralist social fabric that the 1972 Constitution sought to protect.

The 2026 elections, scheduled for February 12, will be conducted with the Awami League banned and its leader sentenced to death. The death sentence handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal on November 17, 2025, was delivered in absentia, without Hasina being represented by counsel of her choosing. Human Rights Watch said that the proceedings are failing to meet international fair trial standards. Whatever one’s assessment of Hasina’s governance record, the exclusion of the country’s largest political party from electoral competition makes a mockery of democratic principles. The Awami League’s characterization of the upcoming polls as elections “held for appearance, power decided in advance” contains more than rhetorical force.

On the occasion of Bangladesh’s Victory Day, the question confronting Bangladesh is whether the liberation of 1971 will survive the forces now arrayed against it. The secular, sovereign nation that emerged from the sacrifice of millions is being dismantled by a coalition of imperial interests seeking a strategic advantage in the Indo-Pacific and domestic fundamentalist forces seeking to complete the counter-revolution begun in 1975. The destruction of Bangabandhu’s memory is not incidental to this project but central to it. For what is being erased is not merely a political leader but the very idea of Bangladesh as a nation defined by linguistic and cultural identity rather than religious affiliation.

The struggle over Bangladesh is ultimately a struggle over whether the Global South can chart independent paths of development or must submit to the strategic imperatives of declining imperial powers. The forces that opposed Bangladesh’s birth in 1971, that collaborated in genocide, that have spent five decades working to undo the liberation’s progressive content, are today closer to victory than at any point since independence. Whether they succeed will depend not only on the resilience of secular and democratic forces within Bangladesh but on the solidarity of progressive movements across the region and the world. The liberation is not yet complete. It may never be complete. But on December 16, it is under siege as never before.

Atul Chandra is the co-coordinator of the Asia Desk at the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

(People’s Dispatch)

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The ELN Christmas ceasefire 2025 offers respite for Colombians amid denunciations of U.S. naval aggression and regional militarization in the Caribbean.

Related: 10-Year Colombia Defense Budget 2025 Plan: $12.7 Billion to Counter Armed Violence and Restore State Presence

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In a significant gesture of seasonal goodwill, Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) has declared a unilateral Christmas ceasefire across the country, effective from 12:00 a.m. on December 24, 2025, through 12:00 a.m. on January 3, 2026. The insurgent group announced the pause in hostilities via an official communiqué, extending a message of peace to the Colombian people and reaffirming its longstanding tradition of halting military operations during the holiday season.

“This ceasefire is a gift of tranquility to the Colombian people during this sacred time of family, reflection, and hope,” the ELN stated, emphasizing that the measure aims to allow communities—especially in rural and conflict-affected regions—to celebrate without fear of violence.

The announcement comes amid heightened tensions in Colombia’s northern departments, where the ELN recently carried out a series of attacks on military bases and police stations in Cesar and Norte de Santander. These actions, the group explained, were a direct response to what it describes as an escalating U.S.-led military offensive in the Caribbean, which it claims threatens the sovereignty of nations across Latin America.

ELN Christmas Ceasefire 2025: A Pause for Peace Amid Imperial Aggression

While offering peace for the holidays, the ELN used its communiqué to denounce the presence of U.S. naval forces in the Caribbean Sea, which it accuses of conducting “acts of piracy” against civilian vessels. According to the group, U.S. warships have sunk more than 30 boats and caused loss of life in international waters near Colombia under the guise of counter-narcotics operations—a claim echoing recent statements by the Venezuelan and Cuban governments.

“The recent surge in armed actions, including our 72-hour armed stoppage, is a necessary response to the warlike aggression promoted by Washington,” the ELN declared. “We will not stand idly by while foreign powers seek to control our seas, plunder our resources, and dictate the fate of our peoples.”

The group explicitly rejected the deployment of U.S. troops in the region, framing it as part of a broader imperial strategy to dominate the Global South. In 2025, this strategy has intensified, with the U.S. Southern Command expanding naval patrols, establishing temporary bases on Caribbean islands, and coordinating joint exercises with regional allies—moves that critics argue violate the spirit of the CELAC “Zone of Peace” declaration.

Read the Organization of American States’ latest report on peace efforts in Colombia

Despite ongoing peace negotiations between the ELN and the government of President Gustavo Petro—widely regarded as the most promising dialogues in decades—the conflict remains volatile. Just days before the ceasefire announcement, a clash in a rural area of Colombia left four soldiers dead, underscoring the fragility of the current truce framework.

Yet the ELN’s decision to honor the Christmas pause reflects its commitment to humanitarian principles, even amid distrust. Historically, the group has respected holiday ceasefires, using them not only as acts of goodwill but also as opportunities to engage in internal reflection and community dialogue. This year’s gesture carries added weight, coming at a time when U.S. policy appears increasingly interventionist.

Explore UN Office on Colombia’s support for humanitarian ceasefires and peace implementation

For many Colombians, especially in Indigenous and Afro-Colombian territories where state presence is minimal and armed groups exert influence, such pauses are lifelines—windows of safety to travel, trade, and reunite with loved ones. Civil society organizations have welcomed the ELN’s announcement and called on all armed actors, including state forces, to reciprocate the restraint.

Geopolitical Context: Latin America’s Sovereignty Under Maritime Siege

The ELN Christmas ceasefire 2025 must be understood within a wider regional crisis: the militarization of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts by external powers, primarily the United States. Under the banner of “counternarcotics” and “security cooperation,” Washington has intensified naval operations near Colombia, Venezuela, and Central America—often without the explicit consent of host governments.

This posture, critics argue, revives the Monroe Doctrine in modern guise, asserting U.S. dominance over what it deems its “sphere of influence.” The consequences are severe: civilian vessels are boarded, fishermen are detained, and maritime trade routes are surveilled—creating a climate of fear that particularly affects small-scale fishers and coastal communities.

Moreover, the timing is critical. As Colombia advances its “Total Peace” policy under President Petro—a strategy seeking simultaneous negotiations with all remaining armed groups—external interference risks derailing domestic progress. The ELN’s linkage of its armed actions to U.S. naval conduct suggests that regional peace cannot be achieved without confronting imperial overreach.

Globally, this dynamic reflects a growing rift between the Global North and South. While Western institutions frame military deployments as “stability operations,” many Global South nations view them as neo-colonial intrusions that undermine self-determination. In Latin America, where memories of CIA-backed coups and banana wars remain vivid, such deployments trigger deep historical trauma.

Review the CELAC Havana Declaration on Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace

For Colombia—a nation scarred by six decades of internal conflict—the path to peace is both internal and geopolitical. The ELN’s ceasefire offers a moment of respite, but lasting tranquility requires more than goodwill; it demands respect for sovereignty, demilitarization of seas, and an end to foreign intervention.

As church bells ring across the Andes and families gather in villages from Chocó to La Guajira, the ELN’s message is clear: peace is possible, but only if empire steps back.

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Venezuela Christmas 2025 resistance blends festive joy with steadfast defense of sovereignty after U.S. naval seizure of an oil tanker sparks national outrage.

Related: Venezuela Rejects US Theft of New Ship With Venezuelan Crude Oil

On December 21, 2025, as Christmas lights shimmered across plazas and parrandas echoed through neighborhood streets, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro delivered a message that captured the spirit of the season—and the soul of a nation under siege. In a heartfelt audiovisual address, he celebrated the joy, resilience, and unbreakable dignity of the Venezuelan people during the holidays, even as Venezuela faces renewed aggression from foreign powers.

“No one will tarnish the Christmas of the Venezuelan people,” Maduro declared, standing before images of families shopping, children laughing, and communities singing traditional aguinaldos. “This is a noble and liberty-loving people who receive this season under the blessing of the Child Jesus—and we will never, ever fail them.”

His words came just one day after Venezuela’s government denounced a brazen act of maritime piracy: the U.S. military’s seizure of a Venezuelan-flagged oil tanker in international waters on December 20. According to official reports, U.S. forces boarded the vessel, confiscated its crude cargo, and forcibly disappeared the entire crew—an act Vice President Delcy Rodríguez labeled “state-sponsored piracy” aimed at looting Venezuela’s strategic hydrocarbon reserves.

Yet despite this provocation, the streets of Caracas, Maracaibo, and Valencia pulsed with life. Markets bustled. Musicians played. Families prepared hallacas and pan de jamón. For Maduro, this festive normalcy in the face of external threat is not denial—it is defiance.

“It’s not the first time we’ve had a Christmas where we must share the street struggle—the fight for our rights, for democracy, for peace—alongside parrandas from corner to corner,” he said. “Between song and battle, between victory and vigilance, we will celebrate these Christmas days that no one will darken for the Venezuelan people.”

Venezuela Christmas 2025 Resistance: Joy as an Act of Sovereignty

The Venezuela Christmas 2025 resistance is defined by this dual reality: celebration and struggle, faith and fortitude, tradition and political consciousness. Far from being contradictory, these elements fuse into a distinctly Bolivarian form of cultural resistance—one that refuses to let imperial coercion dictate the rhythm of daily life.

President Maduro emphasized that Venezuela’s 14 economic “engines of development,” including a revitalized national oil industry, are ensuring economic independence even under blockade. “We are building prosperity from within,” he affirmed, pointing to growth in agriculture, mining, and local manufacturing that has reduced dependence on imports during the holiday season.

Read Venezuela’s Ministry of Communication report on economic recovery and holiday supply chains

This self-reliance is critical. For over two decades, Venezuela has endured unilateral U.S. sanctions that have frozen over $30 billion in state assets, restricted access to global financial systems, and deliberately targeted food and medicine imports. Yet in 2025, shelves are stocked, public transport runs, and communities gather—not thanks to foreign aid, but through collective organization and state-led social programs.

The Christmas spirit, in this context, becomes a political statement. Lighting a farol, sharing a tamal, or singing a gaita is not escapism—it is an assertion that life, culture, and joy persist even when empire seeks to suffocate them.

Explore UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan’s 2025 report on the humanitarian impact of sanctions on Venezuela

Vice President Rodríguez confirmed that Venezuela will pursue legal action at the United Nations Security Council and other international bodies to condemn the tanker seizure as a violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Geneva Conventions. “This was not law enforcement—it was piracy,” she stated. “And piracy will not go unpunished.”

Geopolitical Context: Christmas Under Siege in a Multipolar World

The Venezuela Christmas 2025 resistance unfolds against a backdrop of escalating U.S. militarization in the Caribbean. The recent oil tanker seizure—celebrated by former President Donald Trump as a “massive win”—is part of a broader strategy to strangle Venezuela’s economy and provoke regime change through extralegal means.

This tactic mirrors historical patterns: from gunboat diplomacy in the 19th century to CIA-backed coups in the 20th, the U.S. has long treated Latin America as its domain. But today’s Venezuela is not alone. It stands within a growing Global South alliance—including Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and nations across Africa and Asia—that rejects unilateral coercion and champions sovereign development.

Regionally, the incident has drawn sharp condemnation. The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is expected to convene an emergency session, while the ALBA-TCP bloc has pledged full solidarity. Even traditionally neutral governments, such as Spain under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, have questioned the legality of U.S. naval interdictions in international waters.

Review CELAC’s 2014 “Zone of Peace” declaration and its relevance to current U.S. naval operations

Globally, the event highlights the fragility of the rules-based international order—which powerful states invoke when convenient and ignore when inconvenient. If a nation can be stripped of its oil on the high seas without evidence, trial, or recourse, then sovereignty becomes a privilege, not a right.

For the Venezuelan people, however, sovereignty is non-negotiable. As Maduro reminded the nation: “We walk the path of Bolívar—of balance, freedom, and justice.” This path is not walked in silence, but in song; not in fear, but in parranda.

And so, as church bells ring and fireworks light the night sky, Venezuela’s Christmas 2025 is more than a holiday—it is a living testament to resistance. A people under siege choose joy. A nation targeted by empire chooses peace. And in doing so, they declare to the world: our humanity cannot be blockaded.

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