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According to the statement, Putin will attend a forum in Ashgabat dedicated to the International Year of Peace and Trust, the International Day of Neutrality, and the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s permanent neutrality.

The Russian president will also hold several bilateral meetings. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented earlier that Putin is scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The International Year of Peace and Trust was proclaimed during the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the initiative of Turkmenistan.

The corresponding resolution received the support of 86 countries. The initiative seeks to strengthen dialogue and cooperation among nations.

Turkmenistan is a country with neutral status enshrined in its constitution. This status was first recognized internationally in 1995.

In 2017, at Ashgabat’s urging, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming December 12 as the International Day of Neutrality.

jav/otf/gfa

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According to the text, the Prosecutor’s Office also requested, as a precautionary measure, three months of preventive detention in the Qalahuma prison, in the department of La Paz.

“Given that this is a crime of public order, the application of the extreme precautionary measure of preventive detention is requested (…) for a period of three months in the Qalahuma reintegration center,” states the indictment document.

The former president was included in the investigation after the Public Prosecutor’s Office expanded its inquiries, and, considering that there are procedural risks, requested the extreme measure.

It argued that initial investigation is still underway, and therefore, the temporary imprisonment aims to guarantee the former president’s presence in all pending proceedings.

BThe text also refers to the alleged existence of elements that could hinder the investigation if Arce faces this process while free.

The prosecution intends to support its request at a hearing on precautionary measures, in which the judicial authorities will decide whether the former head of state will be sent to Qalahuma prison.

jdt/jav/otf/jpm

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New Republic leader Fabricio Alvarado confirmed that, in addition to the legislators who opposed the measure in the first vote in September, six members of his party will vote against it again on December 16, while the pro-government deputies of Representative Pilar Cisneros will add another eight, the newspaper CR.Hoy.com reported.

The remaining members of Congress who would reject the removal of immunity in the aforementioned congressional session on the issue are those from the United Social Christian Party (PUSC): Horacio Alvarado, Carlos Andres Robles, Melina Ajoy, Maria Marta Carballo, and Leslye Bojorges, according to the newspaper.

The legislative scenario that day – the newspaper notes – would be similar to that of September 22nd, when the legislature rejected the Prosecutor’s request to lift Chaves’s immunity by a vote of 34 to 21.

This request came in response to a criminal accusation against Chaves, when, as is expected next Tuesday, 38 votes were required for his removal.

According to CR Hoy.com, the total would still be insufficient, reaching only 34 votes, even with the combined votes of the 17 from the National Liberation Party, the Broad Front, the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), the Progressive Liberal Party, independents, and the Social Democratic Progress Party.

jdt/jav/rc/apb

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The head of government noted that an agreement was signed in early 2025 allowing companies from EAEU member states to list their securities on stock exchanges in any EAEU member state, and that a program for developing stock exchange operations was approved in August.

“There are already concrete results. The proportion of national currencies in transactions within the Union has reached 93 percent,” Mishustin said at the expanded meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

Furthermore, the proportion of national currencies in transactions between Russian companies and businesspeople from EAEU member states exceeded 98 percent, the Russian head of government specified.

We are ending the year with respectable preliminary results in key indicators, such as the Union’s gross domestic product, industrial production, agriculture, construction, and retail sales, Mishustin noted.

The EAEU countries are creating the conditions to improve the quality of life of their citizens and strengthen national economies, and the development of Eurasian integration is bringing undeniable benefits to all participants in the Union, the high-ranking official continued.

“We respect each state’s right to its own development model and take into account the interests of all participants. I hope that future work, as now, will be based on these principles,” Mishustin concluded.

jdt/jav/otf/gfa

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The Ecuadorian Executive’s Secretariat of Communication reported on two activities on the visiting president’s agenda. The first will be the laying of a floral offering at the monument to the heroes of August 10 in Plaza Grande, followed by a press conference in the afternoon.

According to the authorization granted by the Peruvian Congress, Jeri will participate in the Binational Cabinet meeting, although the Ecuadorian government has not yet confirmed the presence of Peruvian President Daniel Noboa, who was on an international tour.

Ministerial teams from both nations are expected to attend the integration and cooperation mechanism established between these neighboring countries, a model that Ecuador also practices with Colombia.

Following the meeting, representatives from both countries will sign the Quito Presidential Declaration and adopt the Action Plan that will guide their joint work in 2025-2026, with commitments in infrastructure, border development, security and defense, trade, tourism, energy, the environment, and social issues.

The last bilateral meeting was in 2024 in Lima, where Noboa met with then-President Dina Boluarte and they signed 49 commitments to strengthen the relationship and improve the quality of life in border communities.

jdt/jav/rc/avr

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In statements broadcast from La Guaira state, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez revealed that she had a telephone conversation with the IMO’s Executive Secretary, Arsenio Dominguez, to whom she conveyed a formal complaint regarding the oil tanker attacked in the Caribbean Sea by U.S. troops.

Rodriguez stated that the Bolivarian Republic is doing what must be done in these cases, which is “to appeal to international law to defend our natural resources.”

She considered the illegal action by the United States Armed Forces on December 10 to be intended to “harm the nation’s maritime oil trade” and labeled the incident a blatant theft that exposes the true intention of the aggression against Venezuela.

“The real truth is that they want our oil, and they want it without paying,” declared the Venezuelan Minister of Hydrocarbons.

She emphasized that the exorbitant and excessive U.S. military deployment, with ships, planes, a nuclear submarine, and thousands of troops, has now been revealed as an operation to disrupt economic and commercial activity in the region and ultimately steal Venezuela’s natural resources.

jdt/jav/rc/jcd

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Angolan Foreign Minister Tete Antonio and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty signed the documents, which included the Verbal Record of the first session of the Bilateral Commission, held yesterday in Luanda.

Antonio considered these agreements a key step for bilateral cooperation between the two countries, which should be further strengthened following the Commission’s work.

The ministers held a working meeting where they reviewed the state of relations and expressed their full satisfaction with the continued strengthening of collaboration in the priority areas of politics, economics, trade, energy, agriculture, and training.

According g to a statement by the Angolan Foreign Ministry, the first session of the Angola-Egypt Bilateral Commission was highlighted as a significant milestone in consolidating ties of friendship and solidarity, and the two sides reiterated their commitment to working to transform the excellent political relations into concrete results.

jav/otf/kmg

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Storm Byron has destroyed tens of thousands of refugee shelters across Gaza, compounding a worsening humanitarian crisis amid continued Israeli restrictions on aid and reconstruction.

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Authorities in Gaza reported that more than 22,000 tents in refugee camps were completely destroyed after days of heavy rain and strong winds. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Government Information Office in Gaza, said the current circumstances are “critical,” noting that severe weather has damaged tens of thousands of additional tents and ruined essential supplies such as insulating covers and blankets.

Al-Thawabta explained that storm Byron flooded shelters and submerged the surrounding camp areas in mud, leaving nearly 1.5 million displaced people living in deteriorated conditions. He also warned of collapsing temporary accommodation centers and contamination in water networks, which has hampered access to medical care and forced the closure of ten mobile health units.

Storm Byron hits Gaza as nearly 1.5 million Palestinians shelter in flood-prone camps with little protection. Aid groups say Israel’s restrictions on vital shelter materials have left families exposed. Al Jazeera's @vpietromarchi explains ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/JhZk11zZye

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 12, 2025

Officials estimate that Gaza urgently needs about 300,000 new tents, though only 20,000 have been delivered so far. The harsh weather has already caused fatalities, including the death of eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Yazar, who died from extreme cold and heavy rain linked to the polar storm striking the enclave.

UNRWA stated that flooded streets and water-soaked shelters are worsening conditions for displaced families. The disaster unfolds amid continued Israeli military attacks that have destroyed critical infrastructure and while restrictions on humanitarian access remain in place.

Hazem Qasem, spokesperson for HAMAS, described the situation as a “real catastrophe.” He said that what Gaza is experiencing “requires collective responsibility; we need concrete actions, not just statements.” Qasem stressed that the longstanding blockade continues to hinder reconstruction efforts essential to protecting displaced families from severe weather.

He urged mediators and ceasefire guarantors to exert meaningful pressure on Israel to allow immediate rebuilding, and called on Arab and majority-Muslim countries to take “serious and effective measures” in response to the crisis.

📌Weather authorities reported that Storm Byron caused severe storms and flooding in the city of #Gaza, with tents under water and citizens trapped by heavy rains.

🔴Protection teams said that the makeshift tents set up to cope with the destruction caused by Israeli attacks are… pic.twitter.com/emf5eHo7cP

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 11, 2025

Local authorities reported that heavy rainfall began before dawn on Wednesday, inundating thousands of tents in several parts of the enclave. Under the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, 2025, Israel was required to open border crossings and allow unrestricted entry of food, fuel and humanitarian supplies.

However, Israel has repeatedly ignored these commitments, keeping most crossings closed and permitting only limited deliveries into a territory devastated by nearly two years of war.

With storm damage mounting and essential reconstruction still blocked, Gaza’s displaced families remain exposed to dangerous weather conditions and deepening humanitarian risks.

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Venezuela’s National Assembly approved a law that would allow the country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), presenting the move as an expression of solidarity with Palestine and a response to what legislators describe as the court’s persistent inaction.

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Storm Damage and Blocked Aid Deepen Gaza’s Humanitarian Emergency

The Assembly passed the *Law for Palestine and Humanity, Repealing the Rome Statute* in a second discussion on Thursday. The measure removes Venezuela’s legal commitment to the Rome Statute, creating the conditions for a formal withdrawal from the ICC.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said the decision reflects the position of the Venezuelan people and their support for Palestinians. He stated that Palestinians have endured “the most horrific genocide, the crime against humanity that this planet has ever known over the past 80 years.” Rodríguez argued that the law signals Venezuela’s stance in the face of what he described as prolonged suffering in Palestine.

Venezuela seeks withdrawal from International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute https://t.co/CtLWmOJtWn pic.twitter.com/zjv2jRrpgK

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 12, 2025

He also said the measure exposes “to the world the uselessness and the servility of an institution [the ICC] that should serve to protect peoples and only serves the designs of U.S. imperialism.”

Rodríguez defended the proposal to leave the ICC, saying the court has failed to act regarding what he called the disregard of international norms by the United States and Israel. He explained that once the repeal of the Rome Statute is formalized, President Nicolás Maduro would then be able to decide whether to withdraw from the ICC. If that decision is taken, the withdrawal would become effective one year after notifying the ICC Secretary General.

Venezuela has repeatedly expressed support for Palestinians since the beginning of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, consistently describing the situation in the enclave as genocide.

Venezuela's national assembly on Thursday unanimously voted to repeal a law which ratified the Rome Statute, paving the way for the country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating human rights abuses in the country.

— CGTN America (@cgtnamerica) December 11, 2025

The approval of the law positions the Venezuelan government to reassess its relationship with the ICC while reaffirming its political alignment with the Palestinian cause.

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The United Nations has urged the United States to remove newly tightened restrictions on Iranian diplomats in New York, following a formal complaint from Tehran that the measures violate international law and obstruct the work of its mission.

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UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq reaffirmed that the United States, as host of the organization’s headquarters, is legally bound to ensure that accredited diplomats can perform their duties without interference. He made the remarks after receiving an official letter from Iran protesting the escalation of restrictions imposed by Washington.

Haq noted that the measures—which limit the mobility of Iranian diplomats and restrict access to bank accounts and routine purchases—are inconsistent with U.S. obligations under the Vienna Convention and the UN Headquarters Agreement. He underscored the UN’s long-standing position, stating, “Our view regarding all countries, not just Iran, is that we want to ensure that the host country allows its diplomats, once accredited here, to freely carry out their functions.”

UN says US must lift restrictions on Iranian diplomats https://t.co/Gavp8fBrwl

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) December 12, 2025

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the restrictions, describing them as unlawful pressure against its delegation and part of a broader campaign aimed at undermining its diplomatic work. Tehran argued that such limits raise doubts about the suitability of the United States to host the UN headquarters and called on Secretary-General António Guterres to intervene.

According to the ministry, the measures reflect a “maximum pressure” approach and are intended to obstruct the legitimate activities of its mission. It noted that the U.S. State Department’s decision to restrict the work of three members of the delegation violates binding international commitments.

Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the US government's new restrictions on its diplomatic mission at the UN, asserting that such measures are deliberately designed to disrupt the lawful duties of Iranian diplomats.

Follow Press TV on Telegram: https://t.co/LWoNSpkJSh pic.twitter.com/NY7RU1BnTt

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) December 11, 2025

The dispute follows a complaint filed in September, when Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeed Iravani, protested mobility restrictions applied to President Masud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other senior officials during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.

Haq’s intervention highlights the organization’s role in upholding international norms and stresses that bilateral tensions must not interfere with the functioning of the multilateral system. For Iran, UN support is key to challenging what it views as an abuse of host-country authority by the United States.

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Iran condemns the US Navy’s attack on a commercial vessel carrying Venezuelan oil off the coast of the South American country as an “act of state piracy,” warning about the consequences of such coercive measures.

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro dismissed claims linking his government to drug-trafficking and insecurity, asserting that Venezuela has strong public safety and is being targeted for its natural resources. He made the remarks during a meeting with community representatives in the Caracas neighborhood of Pinto Salinas.

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The head of state repeated accusations that several opposition leaders — Juan Guaidó, David Smolansky, Carlos Vecchio, Leopoldo López and María Corina Machado — “created a network of human trafficking” and that this network moved “a recognized group of criminals” through the Darién route toward the United States. He argued that these individuals were part of the Tren de Aragua group, which, according to him, the Venezuelan state dismantled “with the law and the Constitution in hand.”

Defending the government’s security record, he said Venezuela “enjoys great security in its cities and towns.” He attributed this to the intelligence, counterintelligence and police services, which he described as “one of the best in the world, professional at a university level and with very dedicated and patriotic people.” He pointed to the national “quadrants of peace” strategy as central to that approach, asserting: “All those fables, all those fake news fall on their own.”

Addressing allegations of drug-trafficking, the president cited reports from the DEA, the United Nations, the European Union and the World Customs Organization, which he said demonstrate that Venezuela is “irrelevant in production and trafficking of drugs.” He contrasted Venezuela with neighboring Colombia, claiming past Colombian administrations had “created a narco-state” with extensive coca cultivation. “In Venezuela there is not a single hectare of coca leaf and not a single hectare of marijuana,” he stated. According to Maduro, Venezuelan authorities intercept “more than 70%” of the cocaine attempting to cross from Colombia and aim to reach “100%” next year.

The Venezuelan leader also directed accusations at Ecuador’s commercial sector, claiming drug shipments to the United States and Europe pass through ports linked to private companies there. “Seventy percent of the cocaine leaves from the ports of the personal and family company of Daniel Novoa. That is the truth,” he said.

The president framed international pressure on Venezuela as driven by interest in the country’s vast oil reserves. “If Venezuela did not have the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela would not exist for the multimillionaires and supremacists of the United States,” he said, and reaffirmed that under Venezuelan law, “everything beneath the earth… belongs to the sovereign people of Venezuela by constitutional mandate.”

President Maduro urged Venezuelan communicators to strengthen international outreach, particularly in the United States and allied nations, saying the global audience “believes in our truth.” he argued that recent political discourse reveals the underlying motive for foreign pressure: “It is for oil. No blood for oil.”

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This article originally appeared in the December 11, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Beijing. China’s Ministry of Commerce called the tariff measures approved by Mexico on Wednesday erroneous and expressed hope that the country would rectify them.

“China has always opposed all unilateral tariff increases and hopes that Mexico will promptly rectify these erroneous practices of unilateralism and protectionism. To safeguard the interests of relevant Chinese industries, the Ministry of Commerce initiated an investigation into trade and investment barriers related to Mexico at the end of September, in accordance with the law, and this investigation is currently underway,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated.

The spokesman indicated that the proposal approved yesterday introduces some adjustments to the September version, “with moderate reductions in the proposed tariff rates for certain products such as auto parts, light consumer goods, textiles and clothing,” but noted that “these measures will continue to substantially harm the interests of the affected trading partners, including China.”

On December 10, the Mexican Chamber of Deputies approved amendments to the General Import and Export Tax Law, establishing tariffs of up to 35 percent by 2026 on thousands of products, including automobiles, auto parts, textiles, clothing, plastics, and steel from China, South Korea, India, and other Asian nations that do not have free trade agreements with Mexico. The reform aims to raise nearly $52 billion in tariffs on these imports.

The government argues that the tariffs aim to strengthen domestic production and address trade imbalances with China.

According to forecasts, the tariff increase will serve as a basis for the future review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) scheduled for 2026.

The United States demands that Canada and Mexico prevent the use of free trade in North America as an export base for China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and other countries.

“China welcomes countries resolving their trade differences through economic and trade agreements, but no agreement should be conditioned on affecting the development of global trade or harming China’s legitimate interests. We hope Mexico will pay close attention to this matter and act prudently,” the spokesperson commented.

• 

  News Briefs

  China Calls on Mexico to Reconsider Tariffs on its Products

  December 11, 2025December 11, 2025

  Under Article 32.10 of the USMCA, Mexico can only pursue a free trade agreement with a non-market economy like the People’s Republic of China if the US government approves.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Strategy to Continue Handing Water Over to US is Unsustainable, Warns Expert

  December 11, 2025December 11, 2025

  The Director of the Permanent Forum on Binational Waters asserted that Mexico must renegotiate the 1944 Treaty, otherwise it will not be able to guarantee deliveries.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Tariff Hikes on China Will Cause Major Disruptions for Key Mexican Industries

  December 11, 2025

  Manufacturers reliant on Chinese inputs warned of rising costs, and lawmakers, including some from Morena, sought to avoid a dispute with a nation many consider crucial to Mexico’s trade diversification.

The post China Calls on Mexico to Reconsider Tariffs on its Products appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela filed a formal complaint with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), headquartered in London, regarding the recent attack on an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude in the Caribbean Sea, which constitutes a violation of freedom of navigation and trade.

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During a visit to La Guaira State, Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez reported on Thursday that she had communicated with the Executive Secretary of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Arsenio Domínguez, with the aim of formally and legally addressing this serious situation.

Rodríguez described the incident as a blatant robbery and stated that the action exposes the true interests of the United States in its ongoing aggression against Venezuela.

She also emphasized that there are international conventions that protect freedom of navigation against illicit acts that threaten it, such as the attack on an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude. Rodríguez stated that the disproportionate military deployment in the Caribbean Sea, with aircraft carriers and destroyers, appears to be an operation to disrupt the region’s economic and commercial activity, as well as to blatantly steal Venezuela’s natural resources.

Vice President Rodríguez affirmed that Venezuela is doing what must be done: “Appeal to the law, to international legality, and defend its natural resources.”

The Vice President emphasized that the illegal action by the US seeks to harm maritime oil trade.

This Thursday, the 6th edition of the La Guaira Emprende Fair was inaugurated, a space that promotes local talent and strengthens the Entrepreneurial Engine in the region.

More than 200 entrepreneurs are participating in this event, which is taking place on the Eastern Coastal Strip, where creativity, innovation, and the productive efforts of the people of La Guaira converge.

From December 11 to 25, this fair will offer the public a variety of gastronomic products, concerts, and cultural activities to enjoy during this holiday season.

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced on Thursday the military assault, hijacking, and theft of an oil tanker by the United States north of Trinidad and Tobago, as the vessel “entered the Atlantic.” The president described this act as the beginning of a “new era of criminal naval piracy against the entire Caribbean.”

“It was an act of piracy against a merchant, commercial, civilian, and private vessel,” the head of state stated, adding that “the ship was private, civilian, and carrying 1.9 million barrels of oil that they bought from Venezuela.”

During a visit to the Amalivaca Socialist Commune in the Pinto Salinas sector of the El Recreo parish in Caracas, Maduro asserted that with this incident, the United States “has slipped,” revealing that the true interest behind the action is the seizure of Venezuelan oil. “It is the oil they want to steal, and Venezuela will protect its oil,” the president emphasized.

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In this regard, the president stated that “if Venezuela did not have the largest oil reserves in the world, Venezuela would not exist for the billionaires and supremacists of the United States.”

Likewise, the Venezuelan head of state expressed his deep concern for the ship’s crew, noting that the sailors are being “held hostage” and that their current whereabouts are unknown. The statement underscores the gravity of the situation, which, in President Maduro’s words, threatens Venezuelan sovereignty and regional maritime security.

“The destiny of the United States and Venezuela must be one of respect, friendship, and cooperation,” the president emphasized while greeting the international delegations present. He also called on the American people to “win peace, tie the hands of the warmongers, and defeat the plans for a senseless war” in South America. In this regard, he delivered a message in English in which he exclaimed, “No blood for oil! Not war for oil!”

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry condemned “what constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the President of the United States, who confessed to the hijacking of an oil tanker.”

The Foreign Ministry recalled that this is not the first time he has admitted this, stating that “during his 2024 campaign, he openly affirmed that his objective has always been to seize Venezuelan oil without paying anything in return, making it clear that the policy of aggression against our country is part of a deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources.”

The Venezuelan National Assembly expressed its criticism of the robbery of the Venezuelan corporation #CITGO Petroleum by the U.S. government and leaders of the national fascist far-right. On Tuesday, the Plenary resolved to request that the National Executive that the… pic.twitter.com/uW30ySV6pe

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 2, 2025

It also denounced that this new criminal act adds to the theft of Citgo, an important asset of the strategic patrimony of all Venezuelans, seized through fraudulent judicial mechanisms and outside the bounds of any legal framework.

He maintained that in these circumstances, “the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. It is not migration. It is not drug trafficking. It is not democracy. It is not human rights. It has always been about our natural wealth, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.”

#Caribbean | The United States Department of War abandons all pretenses and turns to full-fledged piracy, all while the U.S. House of Representatives passes an almost $1 trillion war budget. pic.twitter.com/ug0FfLIF6N

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 11, 2025

The statement reiterates the call to all Venezuelans to remain steadfast in defense of the homeland and urges the international community “to reject this vandalistic, illegal, and unprecedented aggression that they seek to normalize as a tool of pressure and plunder.”

The Bolivarian Government reaffirms that it will appeal to all existing international bodies to denounce “this grave international crime” and will defend “with absolute determination its sovereignty, its natural resources, and its national dignity.”

Venezuela – the statement concludes – “will not allow any foreign power to attempt to deprive the Venezuelan people of what belongs to them by historical and constitutional right.”

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Amid the rubble of the Islamic University of Gaza City, Ahmed Totah approached his first classroom with a mixture of fear and hope. The campus was badly damaged, but the 19-year-old was finally beginning the university education he had dreamed of.

“I never imagined this moment would come so quickly,” he said, clutching his backpack. “Especially after two years of war and the near collapse of life in Gaza.”

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Totah graduated from high school in July with a 93% average. He called it unexpected. Years of airstrikes and disruptions had forced him to study by the light of a phone or a candle.

“I studied while feeling like everything around me was crumbling,” he said. “Every night I told myself: We can lose everything, but we mustn’t lose our education.”

Even with his grades, going to university had felt almost impossible. Classes had been canceled, and most of the campus buildings were in ruins. She finally enrolled in the information technology program she had always dreamed of. But her first steps on campus were overwhelming.

Universities in Gaza are reopening.
With heavily damaged campuses and scarce resources, students are coping, and holding on to hope https://t.co/G5g5uqO1Yt #MideastStories pic.twitter.com/patQaVBKwd

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) December 11, 2025

Destruction was everywhere, and piles of rubble made the university barely recognizable compared to what it had been.

Still, she said, simply being there gives her a sense of hope she didn’t have just a few months ago. “It may not be what it used to be,” she said, “but it’s still the only place where I can believe in the future. Just sitting in a classroom gives me the energy to keep going.”

Hiba Abu Nada, 21, returned to her history studies after a two-year hiatus. She had enrolled in 2023, but spent the conflict studying online, worried that she might finish her degree without ever having set foot in a classroom.

For her, walking into a classroom for the first time was a poignant moment. It proved that education could continue despite the war.

“Looking around at the empty seats and damaged walls, I realized that coming back wasn’t just about studying,” she said. “It was proof that the future isn’t over and that we can rebuild our lives.”

Totah and Abu Nada are among the thousands of students returning to in-person classes in Gaza. The badly damaged Islamic University has reopened its doors after two years.

Palestinian students sit in the campus of Islamic University, in Gaza City. Photo: Xinhua

Before the war, Gaza had seven universities and eleven colleges. The conflict has caused heavy losses: at least 1,111 university students and 193 academics and professors have died, including Sufian Tayeh, rector of the Islamic University.

Despite this, the university has reopened to first-year students in programs requiring hands-on learning: medicine, engineering, sciences, nursing, information technology, and law.

Bassam al-Saqqa, the university’s vice president, stated that the reopening is part of a phased plan to restore academic life, focusing on courses that cannot be taught online.

A teacher gives a lesson at Islamic University, in Gaza City. Photo: Xinhua

The challenges are enormous. Buildings, laboratories, electricity, and internet infrastructure are severely damaged. Shortages of materials are slowing reconstruction and delaying a full reopening.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

China’s new policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean confirms the Asian giant’s commitment to elevating the relationship to a “new level” through projects encompassing trade, clean energy, telecommunications, finance, health, agriculture, education, and active multilateralism, in stark contrast to the “Trump corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, revealed over the weekend.

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According to ECLAC, trade between China and Latin America reached US$495 billion in 2023, while cumulative direct investment exceeds US$160 billion over two decades, with more than 3,500 Chinese companies currently operating in the region.

China is currently the main trading partner of Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay, and the second largest in all of Latin America. The official document from Beijing reaffirms that this relationship will be deepened based on mutual respect, shared benefits, and the rejection of all forms of interference.

In areas such as telecommunications, energy, and public works, China’s presence is already decisive. Companies like Huawei and ZTE are involved in deploying communication networks in more than twenty countries, while Chinese energy investment in 2024 represented 57% of Beijing’s total overseas investment, primarily in solar and wind projects in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, and the Caribbean.

Added to this is the consolidation of strategic infrastructure such as railways, transoceanic corridors, ports, and logistics projects that connect regional trade with Asia.

Beijing also maintains cooperation in science, health, and technology, with joint laboratories in Brazil and Chile, and has supplied more than 410 million doses of vaccines during the pandemic.

El presidente de #Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel dio una entrevista a la agencia china. En la conversación habló de algunos elementos de la Revolución China que pudieran servir de ejemplo e inspiración para Latinoamérica y el Caribe. pic.twitter.com/kdqXIDEXzA

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) October 9, 2025

China emphasizes that its policy toward Latin America is guided by non-intervention, respect for sovereignty, the defense of multilateralism, and the rejection of unilateral sanctions, especially against Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

It also highlights the promotion of political dialogue and the strengthening of Latin American and Caribbean organizations such as CELAC, which it recognizes as playing an increasingly important role in shaping a more balanced international order.

The verified progress of China’s anti-hegemonic plan in the region is palpable, especially in the commercial, financial, and diplomatic spheres.

Este año es el 10° aniversario del funcionamiento oficial del Foro China-CELAC. La cuarta reunión ministerial del foro será en Beijing el 13 de mayo y el presidente, Xi Jinping, asistirá a la ceremonia de apertura y pronunciará un discurso
Conoce más en: https://t.co/uzRJtNC9a7 pic.twitter.com/jfFYWvWmaX

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) May 15, 2025

In several countries, the weight of the Chinese market has reduced historical dependence on trade with the United States. Brazil, Peru, and Chile export more than a third of their national production to China, while Uruguay is making progress in negotiations for a free trade agreement.

At the same time, Chinese banks have granted more than US$137 billion in loans since 2005, without requiring structural reforms or adjustment programs.

Strategic infrastructure also reflects this momentum: China participates in more than 70 energy projects, manages or modernizes 26 ports in the region, and contributes to more than 40 railway projects, including Uruguay’s Central Railway and the metro systems of Chile and Mexico.

Cooperation also includes logistical, policing, and technology programs applied to civil security, as well as maritime exchange and surveillance agreements to strengthen national capacities.

#ENVIDEO | #Brasil 🇧🇷 rechazó la presencia militar de #EEUU 🇺🇸 en América Latina. #Irán 🇮🇷 pidió un frente contra sanciones. #China 🇨🇳 respaldó una salida política en #Ucrania 🇺🇦. #Rusia 🇷🇺 denunció el chantaje de Washington pic.twitter.com/poKC3LezJD

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) September 11, 2025

In the diplomatic arena, China maintains comprehensive strategic partnerships with Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Cuba, which have expanded political, technological, and financial coordination.

With this new roadmap, Beijing positions Latin America and the Caribbean within a transforming global landscape, where multipolarity, regional integration, and South-South cooperation are central to overcoming the logic of tutelage and domination that has historically plagued the hemisphere. For China, the region is not an arena of competition but a strategic partner for a model of peaceful and sovereign development.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Israel’s far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says he has received “a hundred calls” from doctors willing to carry out death sentences on Palestinian prisoners in defiance of the Israeli doctors’ union’s ethical ban.

Addressing members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Monday, Ben-Gvir claimed that since doctors were barred from taking part in any executions ordered by the regime, he had “received a hundred calls from doctors saying, ‘Itamar, just tell me when.’”

He made the remarks during a hearing on a bill that seeks to legitimize the execution of Palestinian prisoners who have long faced torture and death in Israeli prisons.

During the hearing, Ben-Gvir was wearing a yellow noose-shaped pin alongside other members of his Jewish Power Party (Otzma Yehudit).

Ben Gvir and friends wearing a noose to signal their support for executing detainees, clearly designed to look like a yellow hostage ribbon at first glance. That’s heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu on the right, who oversees the ethnic cleansing of Sebastia. pic.twitter.com/93Z8WxmOBx

— jasper nathaniel (@infinite_jaz) December 8, 2025

The hawkish minister said the noose symbolized “one of the options by which the law will enforce a death penalty for terrorists.” He added that “of course, there is the option of the gallows, the electric chair, and there is also the option of lethal injection.”

The Knesset passed the first reading of the legislation in early November, with 39 votes in favor and 16 against in the 120-seat chamber. The bill requires two more readings before becoming law.

The Israeli Medical Association said at the time that its doctors are not allowed to administer death penalties ordered by the regime, as that would force them to go back on their oath as doctors.

“Our knowledge must not be used for purposes that do not promote health and welfare,” a representative of the group said.

The draft bill, introduced by Ben-Gvir’s party, has been widely condemned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and human rights organizations.

‘Slow Killing’ – Cancer-Stricken Palestinian Prisoner Walid Daqqa Dies in Israeli Prison

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned the vote, with Palestinian National Council Speaker Rawhi Fattouh calling the draft legislation “a political, legal, and humanitarian crime.”

The PA foreign ministry also described it as “a new form of escalating Israeli extremism and criminality against the Palestinian people.”

Palestinian human rights groups warn that the bill’s “most alarming aspect” is the possibility that it could be applied retroactively, paving the way for “collective death sentences” targeting hundreds of Palestinians currently held in Israeli detention centers.

Ben-Gvir has long pushed for a death penalty law, arguing that it would deter operations similar to Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against Israel on October 7, 2023.

Thousands of Palestinians, including children, are arbitrarily being held in Israel’s prisons and detention sites, where torture is widespread. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights has documented testimonies from 100 former prisoners held between October 2023 and 2024, concluding that torture was systematic across all Israeli prison facilities.

A newly released report says that at least 110 Palestinians died in Israeli custody between January 2023 and June 2025, most of them in hospitals after being transferred from detention facilities.

According to the report by the Israeli outlet Walla, evidence of torture and abuse has sharply increased since Ben-Gvir assumed control of the prison system in 2023.

(PressTV)

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

By Mohammed Al Faraj – Dec 8, 2025

One year after Syria’s government fell, the promised liberation has given way to dispossession. While Washington and Tel Aviv celebrate the dismantling of an independent military model and the severing of the Axis of Resistance, Syria’s people face massacres, economic strangulation, and a government more concerned with courting Israeli approval than building sovereignty.

On the morning of 8 December 2024, a pivotal shift unfolded in our region: the Syrian state collapsed after a 14-year war led by the United States. Veiled behind false concern for democracy and human rights, Washington’s agenda for the country was clear. It aimed to dismantle Syria’s independent model that challenged US regional dominance for years, and clear the way for expanded Israeli influence over the region.

Eliminating Syrian sovereignty
On 31 March 1986, the CIA produced a document that projected the future of Israel and outlined potential threats to it. The document surfaced publicly in 2011. Among other things, it states that the growing capabilities of the Syrian Arab Army pose a danger to the Israeli occupation — particularly if this buildup coincided with the rise of any “radical” governments in Jordan and/or Egypt.

Accordingly, Israel’s rapid strike on Syrian Army assets in the immediate aftermath of Assad’s fall was hardly unexpected, with Israeli tanks even violating the 1974 ceasefire line. The Israeli occupation sought to erase the remnants of the Syrian military model, which had maintained a deterrent balance for decades despite the difficulties of upgrading its arsenal after the Soviet Union’s collapse at the end of the millennium.

Israeli occupation forces reported carrying out 480 raids in the first two days following the fall of the Assad government, hitting airports, aircraft, air defence batteries, tanks, and weapons production facilities. Throughout the year, the strikes continued, bringing the total to 1,000 air operations since the state collapsed.

If all these attacks are viewed alongside the strict conditions Israel is attempting to impose on Syria — demilitarising the south, enforcing rigorous monitoring of new military acquisitions, and establishing a no-fly zone stretching from Damascus to the border — it becomes clear that the US-Israeli objective is to eliminate Syria’s established and independent military model, regardless of who governs the country.

The previous government pursued policies that challenged the Israeli occupation and refused to sign a peace agreement. Yet Israel’s long-term strategy rests on continually weakening surrounding states and preserving its qualitative military edge. When Henry Kissinger asked Israeli officials why they refused to give Anwar Sadat what he wanted — despite his lack of hostility toward them — their response was that they were preparing for the possibility of another Jamal Abdel Nasser emerging one day. The Israeli occupation adopts the same strategic logic toward Syria today, even as the actors, roles, and ideological orientations differ.

**Syria’**s economy under permanent siege
Under the former government, Syria’s economic model was typical of those that fall under Washington’s crosshairs. It was marked by protective policies that shielded national industries. It adhered to central economic planning inherited from its alliance with the Soviet Union, even though the state had, in its later years, adopted policies that undermined its domestic economy — especially through expanded economic ties with Turkey and the advance of privatisation.

After Assad’s fall, media narratives highlighted the fragile economy inherited by the new governing groups, asserting that they were left with an economy in collapse. While figures and statistics support this claim, such conditions are typical of a country that endured a 14-year war. Broadening the timeline, it becomes clear that Syria’s economy had actually tripled in size before the conflict (2000–2011), with GDP rising from $19 billion to $67 billion. The war years, combined with US sanctions, drove it sharply downward, returning it to levels comparable to — or worse than — those of 2000.

On 13 May 2025, Trump announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Media outlets celebrated the move. Yet six months later — specifically after Ahmad al-Sharaa (al-Jolani) visited Washington — it became evident that this sanctions relief was designed as a measure renewed every six months. As a result, the Syrian economy remains suspended by the noose of sanctions, permitted limited breathing room through aid but deprived of long-term investment prospects.

Less than two months after taking power, the new governing groups in Syria declared their intent to privatise factories and ports. In doing so, they aligned themselves with the US vision of dismantling the longstanding model of a “resistance economy” that had characterised Syria for decades.

“Human rights” disappear into the background
Despite “human rights” being the most prominent headline in the mainstream media against continued rule by Assad’s Ba’ath Party, it has become less important since he was deposed — a period marked by grave violations against the Syrian people. Reports issued by US Congress this year show that Washington’s interests are still centred on the same framework — counterterrorism, weapons of mass destruction, US military bases, the regional security system. “Human rights” is listed last.

The US did not oppose the human rights violations or the policies of power monopolisation that took place throughout the year, including:

1. Establishing a transitional government copied from the previous “Idlib government” model.
2. Holding a National Dialogue Conference that excluded the broadest segment of Syrians.
3. The massacres that occurred in the Syrian coast against Alawites and in Suweida against Druze.
4. Arbitrary detention of Syrians and systematic killings with an absence of accountability.
5. Cases of kidnapping of Syrian women.

In November alone, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the killing of 41 Syrians, 23 of which were classified as due to sectarian affiliation, distributed across diverse geographical areas: the Damascus countryside, Homs, Aleppo, Hama, Idlib, Daraa, and Deir Ezzor.

The first year of the new ruling groups has demonstrated their inability to manage internal Syrian affairs or navigate complex regional dynamics:

1. Building a civil state in Syria has become difficult under a faction with a deep terrorist history and a sectarian foundation. Even if the new ruling groups publicly claim to have shifted their approach to managing all social components, field reports have shown the involvement of Defence Ministry personnel in massacres on the Syrian coast and in Suweida.
2. The terms of the agreement between al-Sharaa (al-Jolani) and Mazloum Abdi — the military commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northern Syria — have not produced tangible outcomes. The atmosphere remains tense and distrustful. After witnessing the massacres in the coast and Suweida, Kurdish communities in the north have clung to their weapons even more firmly, and there is no indication that they will lower their demands regarding decentralisation or the federalisation of the new Syrian army in a manner that meets the expectations of the Kurdish component. This unfolds alongside competing regional agendas: Turkey is alarmed by an armed Kurdish enclave in Syria supported by the United States and the Israeli occupation, while partition aligns with Israel’s interest in keeping the Syrian state permanently weak.
3. Given the new ruling groups’ failure to build a unifying framework for Syrians — and in light of their sectarian background and their conduct over the past year — a broad sentiment is emerging among Syrians in favour of decentralisation, including within national political bodies that view it as impossible for the new regime to create an umbrella structure that brings Syrians together. This aligns with long-standing Israeli aspirations, articulated by Gideon Sa’ar, the current Israeli foreign minister, who stated in 2015 that the Syria of the past could never return.

Syria’s fall was a strategic prize for the****Israeli occupation
After Israeli forces were defeated in the July 2006 war against Lebanon, they worked intensively to develop a new military approach to future confrontations — an approach described in The Human Machine Team as one that aims to ‘narrow the gap between intelligence and the decision to fire.’

Intelligence is typically part of pre-war preparation, shaping the direction of later military operations. However, during the 2024 war on Lebanon, intelligence became integrated directly into the conduct of operations and functioned in real time alongside conventional attacks. For example, pager explosions occurred simultaneously with the collection of new intelligence and ongoing airstrikes.

Despite the unexpected blows Hezbollah faced in the latter half of September 2024 — including targeted assassinations of senior figures, among them Al-Shahid Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah — the organisation managed to regain initiative on the ground and scored notable achievements in key operations, such as those targeting Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea and the Golani Forces’ position south of Haifa.

The ceasefire went into effect on 27 November 2024. In his statement on the agreement, Netanyahu declared that ‘Assad will pay the price,’ as if anticipating what would unfold 10 days later.

At that moment, the Israeli occupation faced two choices: continue the war against Hezbollah — accepting the costs of the resistance regaining its momentum, overcoming the pager attacks, and absorbing the loss of Sayyed Hassan — or seize the larger strategic prize: the collapse of the Syrian state, which would dismantle the geographic link in the Axis of Resistance stretching from Iran and Iraq to Lebanon. Securing this strategic gain meant disrupting or severing the primary supply route for weapons to the resistance in Lebanon. The Israeli occupation chose this second option and complemented it by exploiting the agreement’s 60-day window to accomplish what it could not achieve during the war. It established new positions inside Lebanese territory and maintained intermittent shelling throughout the year, targeting resistance members and hindering civilian reconstruction in southern Lebanon to intensify pressure on the resistance’s social base.

Venezuela Condemns Zionist Bombardment of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria

For its part, the resistance opted to absorb this phase without retaliation until it could adjust to the new realities — most notably the Syrian factor, which created an additional burden: adapting to the loss of strategic depth in Syria and the disruption of the supply route that passed through it.

The Syrian transformation goes beyond a shift from ally to a neutral government — it has become a government with historical animosity toward the resistance in Lebanon, carrying grudges from past confrontations in Syria and influenced by deep sectarian motivations that serve both extremist Syrian and foreign groups.

The border, once a conduit for arms to confront Israel, now tells a different story. While the resistance repeatedly asserts its refusal to lay down arms, Syrian official statements increasingly court Israel, implicitly signalling a potential readiness to join the Abraham Accords in the future.

The US envoy to Lebanon, Tom Barrack, did not hesitate on multiple occasions to leverage Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) against Lebanon, even referencing the Sykes-Picot agreement as a mistake — suggesting Syrian influence over Lebanon. Al-Sharaa (al-Jolani), meanwhile, has maintained a similar stance, declaring that he had ‘ended the presence of Hezbollah and Iran in Syria’ and would not allow Syria to serve as a platform for attacks against Israeli Occupation Entity.

Over the course of the year, Al-Sharaa (al-Jolani) took steps to secure close ties with Israeli occupation forces, including meetings between Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli politician Ron Dermer in Baku, Paris, and London. However, Israel did not respond with the warmth the new Syrian regime expected. Instead, it bombed areas around the Presidential Palace and the Ministry of Defense, signalling its demand for the new Syrian government’s total submission— and ending the parity that defined relations for decades. Netanyahu recently stated that an agreement is possible, but only if it includes a demilitarised zone stretching from Damascus to Jabal al-Sheikh — a condition possible only under complete capitulation.

Tensions escalated recently in the Beit Jinn region, southwest of Damascus, when a group of young Syrians ambushed Israeli soldiers, wounding 13. This incident highlights a new challenge for Israeli occupation forces: the transformation of resistance in Syria from a state-centred force to a popular movement.

A new Syria for Iran and Turkey
Under the former government, existing Syrian equipment and radars at least provided early warning to Tehran of Israeli fighters crossing Syrian airspace, even if they could not jam or intercept them. In the 12-day war on Iran, the new Syrian government remained silent, issuing no official condemnation of Israeli aggression — unlike other Arab states, including Gulf countries with long-standing tensions with Iran, which were concerned about the war spreading toward US military bases on their soil. This silence, coupled with prior statements about ending Iran’s role in Syria, effectively signalled alignment with Israel.

Turkey emerged as the largest investor in the Syrian war over 14 years. It shares the longest border with Syria (900 kilometres), supports and exerts authority over the greatest number of armed groups during the war, and influences political efforts to form a unified opposition framework against the Assad government.

Yet, Turkey has not fully recouped its investment in the Syrian war — the gains achieved after Assad’s overthrow fell short of its expectations. This is largely due to the strong influence of other actors on the Syrian stage, particularly Israel and the United States.

Tensions between Turkey and Israel in Syria can be summarised in several points:

1. The Israeli occupation seeks to shape Syria’s new security framework entirely on its own terms, which limits Turkey’s influence. For instance, in April 2025, Israel bombed airbases that Turkey had inspected to establish a presence for its forces within Syria.
2. Israel supports Kurdish autonomy in Syria as part of its broader policy of ‘pinching the peripheries’ and partitioning the state, while Turkey views this separation as a major security concern regarding Kurds in northern Syria.
3. Turkey aims to secure a role in Syria’s post-war economy and reconstruction projects, but this ambition does not necessarily align with US priorities—especially since Trump delegated the leading role in lifting sanctions to Mohammed bin Salman, rather than to Erdogan.

Time for zero-sum games?
Following the collapse of the Syrian state, heightened tensions among regional actors are expected. The key question remains: will this escalate into a zero-sum game between them?

1. Increased friction between Israel and Hezbollah is likely. The US and Israel previously attempted to spark a conflict within Lebanon to trigger civil unrest, but failed. Israel continues to weigh the costs of a long-term weakening of Hezbollah against the risks of a wider-scale war, while Hezbollah seeks to fully recover from the last conflict and optimise its existing capabilities.
2. Turkey, which maintains strong trade relations with Israel (accounting for 2.5 per cent of total Israeli imports), is now increasingly aware of the risks posed by Israeli policies in Syria and following the war on Iran. Could these developments narrow the gap between Iranian and Turkish foreign policies in the region? So far, Ankara has shown no significant indication of this shift.
3. Israel has intensified military operations in Gaza and the West Bank, disregarding even calls from Arab governments for a two-state solution—a position already rejected by the vast majority of the Arab public.

We are entering a period of hyper-tension among all actors, at multiple levels. Without at least an acceptable framework for a zero-sum approach against Israel, occupation and aggression are unlikely to abate.

(Sovereign)

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

The Hong Ting Forum, themed “Advancing New Frontiers for China-ASEAN Cooperation,” was held on Thursday in Jakarta, Indonesia, where participants discussed in depth how to strengthen cooperation between China and ASEAN.

The event brought together nearly 100 participants from governments, academic institutions, businesses, and media outlets from China and ASEAN member states.

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China-Asean FTA 3.0 to Fuel Economic Growth

In a video address, Fu Hua, president of Xinhua News Agency, said that initiatives proposed by China, such as fostering a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, are an important guide for the stable and long-term development of cooperation between the two countries.

ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said in a message that China and ASEAN share one of the most substantial and dynamic partnerships in the region, with China being ASEAN’s largest trading partner and economic connectivity between the two sides continuously deepening. He also noted that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Protocol of Upgrade 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area have opened a new chapter in bilateral cooperation.

The Hong Ting Forum themed "Advance New Frontiers for China-ASEAN Cooperation" was held on Thursday in Jakarta, Indonesia, where participants had in-depth discussions on strengthening China-ASEAN cooperation https://t.co/zQpIhtOFQr pic.twitter.com/VCQgYQKfpt

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) December 11, 2025

The Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Mission to ASEAN, Fu Fengshan, urged both sides to accelerate the formation of a new development model, jointly uphold the multilateral trading system, promote high-quality cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative, and leverage the stability of bilateral cooperation to address the uncertainties of international development.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

In an interview this Thursday, December 11, Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio expressed her country’s rejection of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan far-right activist María Corina Machado.

Villavicencio explained that the objection stems from the laureate’s belligerent stance, as she has repeatedly called for military intervention in Venezuela. While acknowledging the autonomous nature of the organization that awards the prize, the Foreign Minister considers this award incompatible with the essence and purpose of the recognition.

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Furthermore, referring to the recent statements by US President Donald Trump regarding Colombia, the Foreign Minister rejected the threats, insisting that relations between nations must be based on “mutual respect, dialogue, and consensus,” and not on unilateral force.

📌#ANÁLISIS | El abogado de derecho público, Jesús David Rojas, expresó que el Premio Nobel de la Paz 2025 perdió su valor, manifestando su postura de que no debería recibirlo una persona que contribuye a la guerra, que pide invasiones contra su país, apoya el genocidio en… pic.twitter.com/uUaRS2Qj1g

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) December 11, 2025

The Foreign Minister also emphasized that Colombia does not accept threats against any other country and stressed that the use of force or unilateral power leads to “greater conflicts and instability.”

In this regard, the head of Colombian diplomacy reaffirmed the country’s commitment to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which advocate for multilateralism as a fundamental tool for global coexistence.

The recent statements by Donald Trump, regarding the possibility of expanding anti-drug military operations to nations such as Colombia and Mexico, have generated greater concern in the region. This concern is heightened by the current context of increased US military presence in the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans, justified under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.

US military actions have involved the deployment of military forces and the execution of lethal operations against what they describe as alleged drug trafficking vessels. However, these operations have been condemned by various international organizations and governments around the world.

Contrary to Washington’s accusations, data from the United Nations (UN) and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) itself indicate that Venezuela (one of the countries singled out by the White House) is not a primary route for drug trafficking into the United States. More than 80 percent of narcotics transit the Pacific route.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

This article by Jorge Salcedo originally appeared in the December 11, 2025 edition of El Sol de México.

Mexico’s strategy for fulfilling its Rio Grande water allocations to the United States under the 1944 Water Treaty is no longer sustainable. The threat of a five percent tariff if the demand for 200,000 acre-feet, approximately 247 million cubic meters of water, is not met demonstrates that the country must stop relying on a hurricane to fulfill its treaty obligations, commented Rosario Sánchez, director of the Permanent Forum on Binational Waters .

“This practice of patching potholes with water from here and water from there isn’t going to work for us in the long run. What we see now is going to be like this every year, so there’s no going back, unless a hurricane hits , but depending on hurricanes to solve these kinds of political problems seems very negligent and very risky in the long run,” the researcher said in an interview with El Sol de México.

According to the 1944 International Water Treaty, Mexico is required to deliver 2.158 billion cubic meters of water from the Rio Grande to the United States over a five-year period. However, in the last period, which ran from October 2024 to October 2025, it failed to meet its quota due to drought.

Mexico’s shortage prompted US President Donald Trump to threaten to impose tariffs on Mexican products if our country does not deliver 247 million cubic meters of water before December 31.

Sánchez warned that Mexico must negotiate new water volumes in the treaty based on the availability of basins and population use, a task that will not be easy given the direct pressure from the United States, particularly from senators in Texas, and, on the other hand, the internal conflict in Mexico that could be caused by sending water from Sonora, Tamaulipas or Coahuila , since “giving water to someone in the current situation is taking it away from someone else.”

The researcher, who directs the Binational Basins Program at the Water Resources Institute of Texas A&M University, said that the country is implementing the exceptional drought resource established in the same treaty that allows extending the debt from one five-year cycle to the next, a mechanism that Mexico has taken advantage of in the last 25 years to deliver the third of the tributaries of the Rio Grande that correspond to it in each cycle, that is, with 2,158.6 million cubic meters of water.

Despite complying with this treaty exception, Sánchez warned that the reality of drought in both countries led Washington to demand a quarter of the water debt before the end of 2025, as the Mexican government has been justifying its delay in delivery for at least 15 years.

The water that President Donald Trump is demanding could come from some dams that were included in the treaty in recent years, such as the El Cuchillo Dam, the La Boquilla Dam, or the Conchos River, provided that the governments of Chihuahua, Nuevo León, or Tamaulipas allow it. However, Rosario Sánchez believes that the country needs to make significant structural changes in how it manages water, changes which, she pointed out, are not present in the recently approved General Water Law and National Water Law, which were presented as an initiative to eliminate hoarding and reorganize water concessions.

“As long as Mexico doesn’t make structural changes to its governance systems, which it hasn’t done—it doesn’t dare yet—despite the reform of the Water Law . The only thing the new law did was empower the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), that’s all it did. But other than that, management remains exactly the same,” said Rosario Sánchez.

This October 25th marked the beginning of Cycle 37, which will end in 2030. Mexico’s commitment so far is to deliver more than three thousand cubic meters of water within the next five years. This time, the treaty does not offer the same legal flexibility, as debts cannot be extended over two consecutive cycles.

The director of the Permanent Forum on Binational Waters explained that the Rio Grande basin has lost 80 percent of its natural flow, making the established allocations incompatible with the availability of the resource. She pointed out that the only way out is to follow the example of the Colorado River Basin, where an in-depth study and reassessment of the actual water availability were carried out in order to finally proceed with a fair redistribution and reallocation for all parties.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Strategy to Continue Handing Water Over to US is Unsustainable, Warns Expert

  December 11, 2025December 11, 2025

  The Director of the Permanent Forum on Binational Waters asserted that Mexico must renegotiate the 1944 Treaty, otherwise it will not be able to guarantee deliveries.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Tariff Hikes on China Will Cause Major Disruptions for Key Mexican Industries

  December 11, 2025

  Manufacturers reliant on Chinese inputs warned of rising costs, and lawmakers, including some from Morena, sought to avoid a dispute with a nation many consider crucial to Mexico’s trade diversification.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera December 11

  December 11, 2025December 11, 2025

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference with comments on tourism, IMSS, Plan Mexico & anti-China tariffs, water treaty, Mexico & US collaboration, PEMEX, water hoarding & Venezuela.

The post Mexico’s Strategy to Continue Handing Water Over to US is Unsustainable, Warns Expert appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

Argentine President Javier Milei signed the “Labor Modernization” bill on Thursday, December 11, and sent it to Congress for discussion, seeking to accelerate his reform package by taking advantage of the new legislative composition.

The bill, which contains 182 articles, has been described by various sectors as a “slave labor” reform that aims at precarious employment, longer working hours, and a reduction in workers’ rights, granting advantages to employers.

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Accompanied by Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni, the president signed the text that seeks to modify labor conditions in Argentina. The government bases its proposal on the need to reverse the “chronic stagnation of formal employment” which, according to the far-right party La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances), has pushed millions of Argentinians into the informal sector.

El Presidente de la Nación firmó hace unos instantes el proyecto de modernización laboral que se enviará inmediatamente al Congreso de la Nación. El mismo representa la transformación más grande de la historia argentina en materia laboral.

Dios bendiga a la República Argentina.… pic.twitter.com/rJCrDJ3VY6

— Manuel Adorni (@madorni) December 11, 2025

The Executive Branch blames the combination of high litigation costs, imprecise regulations, and a rigid labor structure for hindering the creation of formal jobs. The initiative promises to simplify registration, clarify the salary components that make up severance pay, modernize leave policies, and strengthen the predictability of the system, with a special focus on benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The government’s legislative strategy aims for preliminary approval of this bill in December, taking advantage of the extraordinary session period that extends until the 30th of this month.

To defend and explain the bill, Milei appointed the Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation, Federico Sturzenegger; his secretary, Maximiliano Fariña; and the Secretary of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, Julio Cordero, as official spokespeople.

The Casa Rosada (Presidential Palace) hopes that the debate on labor reform will conclude in early 2026, specifically between the end of January and the beginning of February, the same period in which they will also seek to pass other bills.

⚠️ Que CGT y CTA convoquen plan de lucha. Abajo la reforma laboral esclavista: el 18 a las 18h, todas y todos a las calles.

Derrotemos la reforma penal represiva y el paquete de leyes contra el pueblo trabajador. La ley de glaciares no se toca

Exigimos un paro activo nacional… pic.twitter.com/ahWfrw9496

— PTS | Frente de Izquierda Unidad (@PTSarg) December 11, 2025

The government’s legislative strategy seeks to secure preliminary approval for this legislation in December, taking advantage of the extraordinary session period that extends until the 30th of this month. Despite attempts to expedite the legislative process, the bill will not pass without resistance and street protests. With the possibility that the debate will begin in the Senate next Thursday, December 18, various sectors have already begun calling for a mobilization to Congress.

The call is being driven by unions, internal commissions and militant delegate bodies, university, college, and secondary school student centers, human rights organizations and social movements, and political parties of the Left Front Unity coalition.

The call is to gather on December 18 at 6:00 PM local time at the intersection of Avenida de Mayo and 9 de Julio to march to Plaza Congreso, under the slogan “Down with the exploitative labor reform and all anti-popular reforms.”

The sectors in resistance demand that the leadership of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) and the Central Union of Workers of Argentina (CTA) abandon the “truce” and call for assemblies in the workplaces and a general strike to impose a plan of struggle that defeats the plan of a Government more interested in meeting the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

This article by Yin Yeping originally appeared in the December 10, 2025 edition of Global Times.

[Editor’s note: Mexico’s Congress has passed the tariffs, which overwhelmingly target Chinese goods, particularly electric vehicles, although reducing the rates in certain areas from President Sheinbaum’s original proposal. Members of Mexico’s Workers Party (PT), a socialist party that usually supports Morena as part of the Fourth Transformation abstained from the vote.]

Mexico’s Congress is reportedly set to vote this week on proposed tariffs on China, despite fierce opposition from relevant Mexican businesses, according to media reports. A Chinese expert said on Wednesday that if implemented, the move could cause major disruptions for some key Mexican industries.

Mexico’s lower house early Wednesday approved tariffs of up to 50 percent next year on imports from China and several other Asian countries, Reuters reported. The bill still requires Senate approval, despite opposition from China and local business groups, according to the report.

After a review by the Finance and Economy ministries, at least 750 changes were made to the original proposal. Of more than 1,400 products initially targeted, over 300 ultimately ended up exempt. Even so, the levies will apply to a wide range of products, from clothing and footwear to steel, aluminum and auto parts, Bloomberg reported.

Mexico first unveiled the proposed tariffs in September but the proposal has struggled to gain broad support in Congress. The proposal would raise tariffs by up to 50 percent on imports of automobiles, textiles, clothing, plastics, steel and other products from China and other Asian countries that do not currently have a trade pact with Mexico, including India, South ‌Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia, Reuters reported.

Notably, foreign media, including Bloomberg and Reuters, singled out China among the targets of the proposed tariffs in their reports.

“If the additional tariffs on China are adopted, it would have a clear impact on Mexico’s economy and cause major disruptions for Mexico’s industries, particularly the automobile sector, which relies heavily on Chinese components,” Wang Youming, director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, experts have warned that the proposed tariffs could disrupt critical supply chains at a time when Mexico’s economy has essentially stalled. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that manufacturers reliant on Chinese inputs warned of rising costs, and lawmakers, including some from the ruling party, sought to avoid a dispute with a region many consider crucial to Mexico’s trade diversification.

Victor Cadena, executive vice president of the Mexican Chamber for Commerce in China (Mexcham China), noted on Wednesday that the bill to increase tariff has been in the Mexican Congress since September, already four months, and till now this bill has not been approved nor have it entered into force.

Cadena told the Global Times that the chamber’s position on the move remains the same as its statement posted in September. That statement said that “it recognizes the sovereignty and self-determination of both Mexico and China and proposes a continuous dialogue led by actions that promote win-win cooperation, shared gains and mutual development.”

Talking about the importance of the Chinese market, products and supply chains to Mexican businesses and consumers, Cadena said that “certainly the importance is huge,” noting that China is the second-largest trading partner of Mexico globally for over 20 years, and Mexico is the second-largest trading partner of China in Latin America.

Meanwhile, media reports noted that Mexico’s proposal comes as it faces heavy pressure from US tariff threats. Bloomberg claimed that the move was fueling expectations that it could soon make room for US tariff relief on Mexican steel and aluminum.

Wang said that compromising under US pressure and implementing additional tariffs on China would ultimately affect Mexican companies and consumers. Also, since many Mexican products made with Chinese components are exported to the US market, the proposed tariffs, if implemented, would also impact US importers and consumers, the expert said.

Previously, on September 11, when asked to comment on Mexico’s proposed tariffs, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China advocates a universally-beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, opposes all forms of unilateralism, protectionism and discriminatory and exclusive measures, and firmly rejects moves that are taken under coercion to constrain China or undermine China’s legitimate rights and interests under any pretext. “We will firmly protect our rights and interests in light of the developments of the situation,” said Lin.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Tariff Hikes on China Will Cause Major Disruptions for Key Mexican Industries

  December 11, 2025

  Manufacturers reliant on Chinese inputs warned of rising costs, and lawmakers, including some from Morena, sought to avoid a dispute with a nation many consider crucial to Mexico’s trade diversification.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera December 11

  December 11, 2025December 11, 2025

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference with comments on tourism, IMSS, Plan Mexico & anti-China tariffs, water treaty, Mexico & US collaboration, PEMEX, water hoarding & Venezuela.

• 

  Analysis

  The Trump Corollary & Manifest Destiny

  December 11, 2025December 11, 2025

  From George Washington to Donald Trump, there is no President whose plans do not include the myth of Manifest Destiny as an argument for imposing their imperialist dominance.

The post Mexico’s Tariff Hikes on China Will Cause Major Disruptions for Key Mexican Industries appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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Citizens perceived an increase in corruption over the past five years.

On Thursday, the National Consortium for Public Ethics (PROETICA) published the 13th National Survey on Perceptions of Corruption, which reveals that 85% of Peruvians consider Congress the most corrupt institution.

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The study, conducted by Ipsos in partnership with Consulting Support, Radio Programs of Peru (RPP), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), revealed a “drastic increase” in the perception of corruption in Congress, which leads the ranking with 85%, far surpassing the Prosecutor’s Office and the Judiciary.

The Prosecutor’s Office received 35% of mentions, and the Judiciary (33%). Meanwhile, the transitional government headed by Interim President Jose Jeri received 8% of mentions.

Other institutions mentioned were the Executive Branch (33%), the National Police (27%), local municipalities (17%), regional governments (13%), the media (8%), and political parties and regional movements (6%).

Según la #EncuestaProética2025, la corrupción sigue siendo considerada como uno de los principales problemas del país. Mientras que otros, como la delincuencia o la crisis política, son consecuencia directa o indirecta de esta.

Pese a que esto es así hace varios años, la mayoría… pic.twitter.com/DfGGIhtu6K

— Proética (@ProeticaPeru) December 11, 2025

The text reads, “According to the Proetica Survey 2025, corruption continues to be considered one of the country’s main problems. Other issues, such as crime and the political crisis, are seen as direct or indirect consequences of corruption. Although this has been the case for several years, the majority of Peruvians believe that corruption has increased in the last five years and will continue to increase in the next five.”

Between 2022 and 2025, perceptions of corruption in Congress increased from 60% to 85%, in the Attorney General’s Office from 18% to 35%, and in the National Police from 22% to 27%. In contrast, the perception of corruption in municipalities decreased from 22% to 17% and in regional governments from 25% to 13%.

The PROETICA report highlighted that citizens are demanding that Congress and the police lead the fight against corruption. Furthermore, Peruvians identified crime as another major problem facing the nation over the past five years.

The survey, conducted between October 22 and 31 with 1,300 participants in urban areas, has a margin of error of 2.7%. The legislature received twice as many mentions as other national entities, which means a significant increase.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Peru: In Cajamarca, more than 500 workers of the Canadian mining operator Shauindo observed an indefinite strike to demand better wages. pic.twitter.com/h1j5JUmux9

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 5, 2025

teleSUR: JP

Source: EFE

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