Venezuela has called on the UN to pressure the United States for the immediate release of Nicolas Maduro, weeks after his abduction by Washington.

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Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela and Colombia reached a series of high-level agreements aimed at strengthening binational cooperation following the meeting between Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, held Friday, April 25, at Miraflores Palace in Caracas. The meeting focused on the immediate activation of joint military plans and intelligence mechanisms to neutralize criminal groups in border areas, in addition to significant advancements in energy interconnection and import substitution.

Petro is the first head of state to pay an official visit to Venezuela since the deadly US bombing of the country on January 3, 2026, which resulted in the murder of more than 100 people. While Petro’s visit marks a diplomatic breakthrough, some Chavista analysts continue to question the Colombian president’s interventionist statements following the 2024 presidential elections, citing his recurrent interference in Venezuela’s internal political affairs.

Security and border defense
Venezuelan Acting President Rodríguez described the new security protocols as a “second milestone” in the ongoing normalization of relations with Colombia. The agreement mandates the creation of joint military plans and the immediate establishment of mechanisms for information sharing and intelligence gathering to combat transnational crime.

“These are mechanisms that must be implemented immediately, so that drug trafficking groups, groups involved in fuel smuggling, and other types of contraband understand that we are taking firm steps to combat these crimes with seriousness and professionalism,” Rodríguez said. The plan also incorporates socioeconomic programs designed to support vulnerable populations who have historically been victims of border violence.

Energy and electricity interconnection
In the economic sphere, the summit underscored the urgent need for electrical interconnection to stabilize western Venezuela. The region has faced severe challenges due to lack of investment in Venezuela’s National Electric System, attributed directly to US sanctions that have blocked the acquisition of spare parts and technological and financial resources necessary for maintenance.

Regarding natural gas, the two sides discussed mutual supply chains and the prospect of joint exports to third-party markets. “The Venezuelan people are suffering from disinvestment … a result of sanctions,” Rodríguez noted, adding that the joint export of gas to other countries is a priority scenario currently under consideration.

Trade and import substitution
The acting president highlighted the gradual recovery of binational trade, which has risen from a historic low of $50 million to $1.2 billion last year. The two leaders underscored the importance of a binational import substitution policy to strengthen regional sovereignty.

“It makes no sense for Colombia or Venezuela to look to other countries for products we can manufacture within our own borders,” Rodríguez stated. “We must think as a single people rediscovering our productive potential.”

Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez Receives Colombian Counterpart Gustavo Petro at Miraflores Palace

The Neighborhood and Integration Commission
The meeting concluded with the signing of the agreement of the Third Meeting of the Neighborhood and Integration Commission. This commission, led by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil and his Colombian counterpart, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, reported progress in seven key areas, including health, the environment, and tourism.

Rodríguez pointed to the revival of air connections as a catalyst for “common multi-destination projects” to boost the tourism sectors of both countries.

At the close of the meeting, the Venezuelan leader thanked President Petro for his solidarity, noting that he was among the first heads of state to contact Venezuelan authorities following the US aggression and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro. Petro, for his part, insisted on the call for unity within Simon Bolivar’s Great Colombia project.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

OT/JRE/SC

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Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has slammed Canada after it imposed new sanctions against the Islamic Republic amid the US-Israeli aggression, warning that their “bullying” will ultimately affect Ottawa.

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By Aseel Saleh  –  Apr 23, 2026

Amal and her media outlet, Al Akhbar, were targeted multiple times by Israeli forces before her assassination.

In yet another crime against journalism in the West Asia region, Israel targeted Lebanese journalists Amal Khalil and Zainab Faraj in a double-tap strike on the town of Al-Tayri in southern Lebanon, on Wednesday, April 22.

While Zainab survived after sustaining a wound to the head, Amal died in the attack carried out against them. The two had taken shelter in a house after an earlier airstrike killed two people in the car traveling in front of them.

According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) blocked rescue teams from reaching the targeted house to recover Amal’s body for several hours by launching intensified airstrikes on the area.

Amal and her media institution were threatened many times before her murderAmal Khalil, who worked with the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar since 2006, had previously informed local media outlets about receiving direct threats from Israeli phone numbers between August and September 2024.

She was threatened to leave southern Lebanon and stop reporting about the events there, otherwise she would be beheaded, her house would be demolished, or her media outlet would be targeted. The sender even provided her with details about her movements and whereabouts to further intimidate her.

🚨BREAKING🚨Israeli forces are now issuing direct death threats to Lebanese journalists on WhatsApp as well as besieging them.

Al-Akhbar correspondent @AmalKhalil83, who has been documenting the devastation across southern Lebanon, received these messages from an Israeli number…

— Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber) April 22, 2026

Al Akhbar also reported that Amal survived a previous assassination attempt during the 66-day war on September 23, 2024, as she left her family’s house seconds before it was hit by an Israeli airstrike.

The Lebanese newspaper added that the IOF targeted Amal and her colleagues many times between 2023 and 2024, with shells that fell a few meters from them while they were on duty.

UJL calls on the Lebanese state to take action against IsraelThe Union of Journalists in Lebanon (UJL) issued a statement strongly condemning the “horrific Israeli war crime”, and renewing its call for the Lebanese state to take the needed action on the following levels:

• Documenting the crimes centrally
• Opening judicial investigations into crimes
• Enacting a law punishing war crimes
• Initiating a request to form a fact-finding committee from the Human Rights Council
• Authorizing the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate war crimes committed by Israel in Lebanon since October 8, 2023

IFJ also labels the onslaught a war crimeMeanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined its affiliate UJL in “strongly condemning the targeted assassination of Khalil”.

Moreover, it reiterated that “deliberate attacks on civilians, including journalists, constitute war crimes.”

Israel Kills 3 Journalists in South Lebanon

**CPJ calls the attack on Khalil and Faraj a “grave breach of international humanitarian law”**For its part, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed its outrage about the offensive, warning that the “repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law.”

Direct talks between Tel Aviv and Beirut resume despite the blatant crimeThe assassination came less than one week after US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, starting on Thursday, April 16.

It was also launched hours before a new round of direct talks between the Israeli and the Lebanese governments resumed in Washington.

It is worth noting that Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of committing a “war crime” by targeting the two journalists, while President Joseph Aoun urged the international community for a “prompt intervention” to “put an end to it”.

However, for many, Beirut’s engagement in the new round of negotiations, despite the horrific crime against the two journalists, alongside countless other violations, represents a contradiction with Salam and Aoun’s statements, and reflects an approach of concession and surrender.

On the evening of Thursday, April 23, US President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension to the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

(Peoples Dispatch)

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As real wages buy 30% less meat, non-traditional proteins emerge as a controversial survival strategy.

Argentinais still dealing with a challenging inflationary environment in the first half of 2026. While the month-on-month Consumer Price Index (CPI) has shown signs of stabilization compared to the volatility of previous years, the annual rate remains significantly elevated.

As of March 2026, year-on-year inflation stood at approximately 32.6%. However, these general figures often conceal a more nuanced reality within the food sector.

Statistics from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) reveal that food and non-alcoholic beverages have frequently outpaced the general index, with meat and derivatives specifically surging by 6.9% in the Greater Buenos Aires area in early 2026 alone.

The primary challenge for the average Argentine household is the “relative price” distortion. While official reports indicate a slowdown in the headline inflation rate, the cost of essential proteins has risen much faster.

This has resulted in a significant “scissors effect” on purchasing power. Real wages have been unable to keep pace with these essential costs, particularly following the removal of broad utility and fuel subsidies in early 2026.

This loss of disposable income means that while the economy may show growth on paper, the capacity of a standard monthly salary to purchase a “basic food basket” has diminished by an estimated 30% over the last 24 months.

The Paradox of the Beef Export Giant
Argentina continues to be a major player in the global beef industry, but this success has created a paradox for its own citizens. In Q1 of 2026, beef exports reached an all-time high, generating over $1.1 billion in revenue.

Key markets such as China, which now accounts for almost 60% of export volume, and the United States, following recent trade expansions, have sustained demand at record levels. High international prices and a “first-come, first-served” export quota system have incentivized local producers to prioritize foreign buyers who pay in stable currencies.

For the local consumer, this global demand translates into “price parity,” where the cost of a steak in a Buenos Aires neighborhood butcher’s shop is increasingly tied to its value in Shanghai or New York.

In the absence of government interventions such as export taxes or domestic quotas, which the current administration has largely dismantled, local prices rise to match international levels.

As a result, domestic beef consumption has plummeted to 47.3 kilograms per capita, the lowest level recorded for over 20 years. There has been a growing trend of families opting for more economical alternatives to traditional beef, such as poultry and pork, or in some cases, non-traditional proteins.

Argentina’s President Closes Case Against British Businessman Who Fraudulently Acquired Strategic Lands

Emerging Alternatives and Regulatory ChallengesThe sustained pressure on beef prices has catalyzed the emergence of non-traditional food markets, most notably the commercialization of donkey meat and milk. In the province of Chubut, pilot programmes initiated in mid-April 2026 have introduced donkey meat to local butcher shops at a significant discount.

These premium cuts are available at a competitive price point of approximately $7,500 per kilogram, representing a significant cost reduction compared to traditional beef. The product’s affordability and high demand resulted in initial stock selling out within 24 hours.

Concurrent with the growth of the meat market, a niche industry for donkey milk has emerged in provinces such as Córdoba. Marketed for its hypoallergenic properties and high nutritional value, often compared to human breast milk, donkey milk is being positioned as both a premium wellness product and a therapeutic alternative for children with cow’s milk protein allergies.

However, the expansion of these markets faces significant regulatory hurdles. The National Health and Food Quality Service (SENASA) has noted a lack of federal-level slaughterhouses authorized for donkey processing, which is currently limiting sales to provincial borders.

Political Discourse and Societal Impact
The political response to these shifting consumption patterns has become a central point of contention between the administration and its critics. President Javier Milei and his team have described the focus on donkey meat as a “political operation” by the opposition to overshadow macroeconomic improvements.

The administration’s narrative highlights that, while inflation remains high, the “price jump” is a necessary correction following years of artificial price freezes. From the government’s perspective, the emergence of niche markets is a testament to private sector innovation and the freedom of consumers to choose affordable alternatives without state interference.

In contrast, opposition figures and social movements point to the consumption of donkey meat as a “symptom of national degradation.” Critics argue that a country capable of exporting over a billion dollars in high-quality beef should not have a population forced to seek out “emergency proteins.”

This debate is indicative of a broader societal concern regarding the erosion of the traditional Argentine lifestyle. As the government continues its policy of non-intervention and fiscal adjustment, the central question remains whether these non-traditional food sources are a temporary adaptation to a crisis or the beginning of a permanent shift in the Argentine socio-economic fabric.

The Commercialization of Donkey Milk and Market NicheAs the search for affordable proteins dominates the headlines, a secondary and more specialized market has begun to emerge: donkey milk. In contrast to the meat industry, which emerged as a response to domestic economic challenges, donkey milk is being promoted as a premium “superfood” with both therapeutic and industrial applications.

In the dairy heartlands of Córdoba and Santa Fe, small-scale producers have started to formalize production in response to a growing demand for hypoallergenic milk alternatives.

Scientific interest has bolstered this trend, as donkey milk’s biochemical composition is remarkably similar to human breast milk, making it a viable option for infants with severe cow’s milk protein allergies (CMPA).

While the global donkey milk market is projected to grow significantly through 2032, the Argentine sector remains in an artisanal phase. Producers are currently navigating a complex regulatory landscape to secure the necessary sanitary certifications for nationwide supermarket distribution.

For the Milei administration, this sector exemplifies the concept of “niche innovation”: a high-value, low-volume export product with the potential to generate foreign currency without the need for extensive infrastructure, as is typical of the traditional cattle industry.

Political Polarization and the Future OutlookThe issue of “donkey meat” has become a contentious topic in political discourse, serving as a potent metaphor for the country’s diverging economic narratives. Government spokespersons, including the Ministry of Deregulation, have largely characterized the issue as an illustration of market adaptability.

The official stance is that, in a free economy, price signals will naturally guide consumers towards the most efficient alternatives. President Milei has been vocal in defending the truth-telling of prices, arguing that the high cost of beef is a result of years of suppressed inflation and that the market must be allowed to find its own equilibrium without state-imposed price caps.

However, opposition figures and labor unions regard the situation as a social emergency. Critics argue that the increasing acceptance of non-traditional meats is a visible sign of a “broken social contract” in a country that historically defined its middle-class status through the accessibility of high-quality beef.

As Argentina moves into the second half of 2026, economic analysts suggest that food inflation may begin to decelerate further, with some forecasts projecting a drop to 20–22% annual inflation by year-end.

The decision of whether the “common Argentine” will return to the traditional beef asado or continue to integrate these new proteins into their diet will depend largely on the recovery of real wages and the government’s ability to balance record-breaking exports with domestic affordability.

(Telesur) by Silvana Solano

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The 22nd edition of the Latin American Festival of Open-Source Software Installation (FLISOL) will be held in numerous cities across Latin America and Spain to encourage the dissemination, understanding, and installation of open-source software applications and operating systems. The event invites all people, including students, academics, entrepreneurs, workers, public officials, enthusiasts, and those with little computer knowledge, to attend and bring their computers for software installation.

FLISOL is organized by communities and enthusiasts of the open-source software world. Additionally, some of its venues are supported by governments and public institutions, as is the case with the event that will be held in Caracas on April 29-30.

The National Center for Information Technologies (CNTI), affiliated with Venezuela’s Ministry of Science and Technology, will organize the event at the Central University of Venezuela’s (UCV) Faculty of Sciences and the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas. It is the second time that the event will be held at the UCV Faculty of Sciences.

The representatives of CNTI announced that the central theme of this year’s festival is Artificial Intelligence and Open Hardware. It will offer a space for students, professionals, and open-source software enthusiasts to closely observe the work of organized communities.

Events at the UCV
On Wednesday, April 29, between 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., there will be exhibition and demonstration areas at the UCV’s Faculty of Sciences, where various projects will be showcased. There will also be an installation table where attendees can have open-source software installed on their devices.

Additionally, several workshops will be held at the Faculty of Sciences:

• Sovereign Web Design: From Sketch to DeepRoot Template, by Jonás Reyes. The creation of HTML/CSS templates with the assistance of artificial intelligence and color palettes will be taught. It will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
• Animation and Digital Arts with 100% Open-Source Software (Professional Animation using Blender), by Raúl Alfredo González, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
• Professional Audio with GNU/Linux: Live Jamming, by Octavio Rossell and Licar Vásquez. It will be held between 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

To participate, one has to register. While the workshops are free, space is limited. Registration can be done by writing an email to atencion@cnti.gob.ve.

Masterclasses at the Teresa Carreño Theatre
On Thursday, April 30, masterclasses will be held in the José Félix Ribas room of the Teresa Carreño Theater from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. “Listen to the experts discuss the future of sovereign technology at the country’s most important cultural venue,” states the announcement by CNTI.

The festival will showcase version 8.4 of the Canaima operating system. Attendees can bring their devices to the installation booth to receive technical support and obtain this new update.

Artificial Intelligence Is Making Everything Dumber

Events in other cities
On April 17, a FLISOL was held in San Juan de los Morros (Guárico state), at the José Félix Ribas Educational Complex, according to the official FLISOL Venezuela page. On Friday, April 24, FLISOL Monagas was held at the Lotería de Oriente headquarters in Maturín, organized by Nerio Villalobos. On Saturday, April 25, FLISOL events are taking place in Cumaná, Mérida, and Valencia.

(Alba Ciudad) by Luigino Bracci Roa

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF

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The trial against Venezuela’s former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, several other public officials, and private business owners accused of embezzling funds from Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) continues, the Public Ministry announced.

The trial for this criminal case began on Monday, April 20. It is presided over by the 3rd Trial Court at the Palace of Justice in Caracas, which oversees Cases Related to Crimes Associated with Terrorism within National Jurisdiction. The court is presided over by Justice Alejandra Romero Castillo. It will hear arguments from all parties and decide on cases involving corruption and organized crime.

The 64 individuals accused in the case, including former ministers El Aissami and Simón Zerpa; former National Assembly Deputy Hugbel Roa; former vice president of PDVSA, Antonio Pérez Suárez; and former head of the National Superintendency of Cryptoassets (SUNACRIP), Joselit Ramírez, were brought to the court.

Other accused include the brothers Carmelo, Daniel, and Levi De Grazia; the brothers Vicente, Rafael, and Roger Perdomo; and Samark López. These businessmen and others were “responsible for diverting the resources obtained from illegal crude allocations and from the contracting processes for works and services that were executed without any kind of control,” according to the Public Ministry’s accusation.

That first session of the trial began at 9:32 p.m. on Monday, April 20, and concluded at 2:39 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21. The first to take the floor was National Prosecutor No. 50 Eddy Alberto Rodríguez Bencomo, who reaffirmed the accusation against the defendants, considering them members of “a corruption network formed by public officials who, taking advantage of their position and levels of authority, proceeded to carry out parallel oil operations through the assignment of crude oil loads by PDVSA to the National Superintendency of Cryptoactives and private individuals, without any type of control.”

Following Prosecutor Rodríguez Bencomo, representatives of the Attorney General’s Office and PDVSA took the floor, representing the interests of the Venezuelan State and its main oil company.

Then, the defenders of both public officials and private individuals began their interventions. María Mercedes Berthé, the former director of the Public Ministry, is defending El Aissami. She requested a precautionary measure allowing the former minister to be released from custody for the remainder of the process due to a health condition. Berthé explained that El Aissami recently underwent surgery due to the strangulation of a hernia, and the mesh placed to close the wound shifted, which has led to immobilization in some organs.

Lawyer Katy Marín also spoke in defense of Colonel Manuel Parra, former president of PDVSA-Marina, during the first session of the trial. Marín argued that the trial should be annulled due to alleged irregularities, including the alleged violations of the right to be assisted by a legal professional of the defendants’ choice, as all the accused had been assigned a public defender.

Marín also criticized the Public Ministry’s accusation presented by Prosecutor Rodríguez Bencomo. “It is a very generic accusation that does not specify the role each person played in that alleged corruption network,” claimed Marín.

After 2 a.m. on April 21, the judge suspended the session and scheduled it for Wednesday, April 22, during which the defense lawyers continued their interventions. They presented their arguments, which were mostly aimed at demanding guarantees for their clients. Daniel Guedez, for example, stated that the defense has not yet had access to the case file.

After the second session, Judge Romero Castillo scheduled the following session for Friday, April 24.

Guaidó Associates Simonovis and Vecchio Involved in PDVSA-Crypto-Allied Conspiracy

Details of the case
The 64 accused were arrested between March 2023 and April 2024 as part of the Anti-Corruption Operation announced by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Initially, 81 arrest warrants were issued, of which 61 were executed. These arrests involve 61 individuals allegedly involved in acts of corruption in the judiciary, municipalities, and the state-owned companies PDVSA, Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG), and Cartones de Venezuela (CARTOVEN).

The corruption scheme in the oil industry has the highest number of detainees, with 41 prosecuted. It was grouped into a file called PDVSA-Crypto because it involved parallel operations to sell Venezuelan crude oil, with revenues that did not enter the national treasury but were converted into crypto-assets, according to the Public Ministry.

The investigation by the Attorney General’s Office is presented in a document, numbered MP-55864-2023. Technically referred to as “Accusation,” the document contains 1,706 letter-sized pages. The investigation revealed that the embezzlement at PDVSA amounts to $5.5 billion.

(Últimas Noticias) by Eligio Rojas

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF

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Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez led the ceremony to establish the Commission for the Great National Consultation on Justice System Reform. The event was held on Thursday, April 23, in the Sol del Perú Room in Miraflores Palace. There, the acting president explained that the commission will review all Venezuelans’ contributions to ensure access to justice irrespective of individual differences.

She said that justice is a human right that must be guaranteed by the State and, accordingly, efforts are being made to address demands and make necessary corrections.

The members of the body include the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Caryslia Beatriz Rodríguez; Ombudsperson Egleé González; the attorney general of the Republic, Larry Devoe; Ombudsperson General Daniel Ramírez; National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez; the minister of the Interior, Citizen Security, and Peace, Diosdado Cabello; National Assembly Deputy Jorge Arreaza; and the coordinator of the Program for Coexistence and Peace, Ernesto Villegas.

“We are going to consult all Venezuelans about the reform of the criminal justice system,” the acting president declared. “It is a request from the people regarding everything related to access to justice; that there be timely and impartial access to justice, without any kind of differentiation.”

Rodríguez acknowledged that important steps have been taken; however, there is an unavoidable debt, “and we have to address it.”

She announced that the commission’s secretary will be Attorney General Larry Devoe.

Eradicating the flaws in the existing system
Rodríguez called for correcting the flaws in the existing system, especially in the citizen security agencies, where vices that undermine justice still persist.

“There are abuses of power that must be eradicated,” she emphasized. “I ask all the competent authorities in the matter to work together, as good Venezuelans, to address this issue. There are daily complaints from citizens who try to keep a respectful relationship with the citizen security agencies to maintain peace and tranquility, people who deserve to go to a court and receive fair treatment.”

“We have made progress, but there are evils that persist, evils that we have not been able to overcome. Hence the importance of consulting the people about their concept of what everyday justice is,” she explained.

She expressed her hope that the criminal justice system will strictly uphold Article 26 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which guarantees the citizens’ human right to justice.

Venezuela’s Minister for Education: We Have All Suffered From US Sanctions Against Venezuela (+National Unity)

Amnesty Law comes to an end
The acting president also praised Venezuela’s amnesty process, which aimed to move toward national reconciliation. The process has benefited 8,616 people; however, Rodríguez pointed out that some sectors have been trying to disrupt it.

She announced that the Amnesty Law is coming to an end, and that there are other ways to address the cases not covered by the law. “We have said that the Program for Democratic Coexistence and Peace has the authority to address cases related to justice,” she added.

Rodríguez also reported that efforts are underway to find channels to “meet those who are abroad.”

(Alba Ciudad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF

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By Roger D. Harris  –  Apr 24, 2026

The large-scale US airstrike on Venezuela was unprecedented in modern history. The surprise attack forcibly kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Combatant Cilia Flores, from Fort Tiuna on the outskirts of Caracas. The US killed over 100 people in the early morning hours of January 3, 2026, including reportedly some civilians in the neighboring Ciudad Tiuna social housing complex.

We visited Ciudad Tiuna 50 days after the US bombing to hear the resident’s accounts. We were the second “solidarity brigade” to visit Venezuela and the first to arrive by air. The delegation consisted primarily of activists from the US, along with Canada, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. CodePink,  Task Force on the Americas, Veterans for Peace, and World Beyond War were among the solidarity organizations represented.

Welcome to the socialist city of Tiuna.

Ciudad Tiuna is a planned housing complex of some 20,000 units, part of the national Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela program. Apartments are allocated with priority to families displaced by disasters and to low-income households. As of December 2025, over 5 million units have reportedly been delivered nationwide.

We were enthusiastically greeted by a community-based club affiliated with the Abuelos y Abuelas de la Patria (Grandparents of the Homeland) mission, a government program empowering seniors in communal life. They organized a cultural presentation and introduced us to social and political organizations in their socialist city.

The “grandparents of the homeland” greeted us.

A woman sang for mother earth accompanied by a shaman drum. A man read poetry by Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman, remarking “not all North Americans fornicate with their mothers” (loosely translated from Spanish).

In a tribute to Cuba, residents said they do not speak of solidarity with Cubans because “we are one people.” They praised the Cuban’s courage, including the 32 presidential guards murdered by the US in the January 3 attack. They also highlighted Cuban’s generosity in helping Venezuela achieve “territory free of illiteracy” status by 2005. Programs such as Misión Barrio Adentro brought thousands of Cuban doctors into poor urban and rural communities to provide free primary care.

And most of all, they deeply lamented the current US military blockade of Cuba, which has prevented Venezuela from supplying vital oil to the island. The suffering imposed by Washington on the Cubans pained them deeply.

They do not speak of solidarity with Cubans because “we are one people.”

They shared a flyer titled “Never Again – January 3 – Diplomacy for Peace,” which read in part:

Neither forgiveness nor forgetting! Memory is not resentment, but the heart of the people’s dignity who have been attacked. A people without justice becomes submissive. Impunity flourishes if we do not sow justice. We will not tire of weaving unity to triumph.

Their immediate demand is therelease of their president and first lady. The flyer also calls for defense of popular sovereignty, no intervention by imperialism in Venezuelan affairs, and reparations for the “offended homeland.”

Their immediate demand is the release of their president and first lady.

The flier concludes with a quote from Delcy Rodríguez: “The dignity of the Venezuelan people is the first line of defense. We have to preserve our integrity as a people, guarantee our territorial integrity, and preserve our national independence.”

Venezuela Celebrates International Women’s Day With First Popular Consultation of 2026

January 3 was not unanticipated but nevertheless a great shock. During a walking tour, they described the terror of the sneak attack. They told us each time the Venezuelan people successfully resisted Washington’s attempts at regime change – attacks dating back from the founding of their Bolivarian Revolution 26 years ago by then Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez – the siege has been racketed up.

“We were all running because we were being bombed.”

Fabricio, age 11, described a sky lit red with explosions and filled with US helicopters. The elders vowed: “Never again will we allow our children to be traumatized.” Government mental health workers have since been regularly visiting Ciudad Tiuna.

“Never again will we allow our children to be traumatized.”

They explained how they truly felt the horror that the Palestinians experience. The difference, they added, was that for them it was a single day while in Gaza it is every day.

At the time, many feared the attack could signal a protracted full-scale land invasion. Such an incursion, they warned, could well be launched in the future. (This was also the opinion of government officials that we conferred with.)

They are proud that the Bolivarian leadership remains firm and united. This they attribute to the support of the people such as themselves. The concessions forced upon the government under the threat of an even more devastating attack have been bitter to accept, but better than the alternative of greater destruction.

Dudar es traición – to doubt is to betray.

Our hosts described themselves as Chavistas, militants in support of the current government. Some wore shirts bearing the phrase dudar es traici**ón – to doubt is to betray. Their lived experience is of a nation under imperial siege – in a perpetual state of war with the threat of more. Under such circumstances unity is prioritized.

Under conditions of siege, unity is prioritized.

They rejected speculation that the kidnapping was aided by traitors within, arguing that such narratives serve the purposes of the enemy of eroding unity by fostering distrust. They emphasized the continuity of revolutionary policy from Chávez to Maduro and now to Delcy, as she is affectionately called.

Conditions have changed but not the leadership’s dedication. They noted that regional solidarity has weakened, leaving Venezuela ever more isolated.

Before we departed, several children gave us gifts: handmade wristbands in the national colors, decorated pencils, and a book on climate change from a Marxist perspective. Our hosts also had a frank take-home message for us: “We never invaded; we liberated. Take our passion and love to give you strength to do what you must and rise up.” The hardships caused by the US sanctions – including shortages of medicine and essential goods– are linked to the failure of North Americans to restrain our own government.

After being scared away by the US bombing, the wild parrots have returned to the community.

Meanwhile, the wild guacamayas (blue-and-yellow macaws), which once came to Ciudad Tiuna to be fed by residents but disappeared after the bombing, have now returned to a community that asks only to be left in peace.

Venezuela is a territory of peace.

(CounterCurrents.org)

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By Shabbir Rizvi  –  Apr 22, 2026

World War I was a bloodbath for the working and oppressed people of the world. In an imperialist war, more than 60 million soldiers were sent into war at the behest of the capitalists of their nations, in a conquest to ultimately secure new markets and resources for each country’s ruling elite.

An estimated 20 million people – between soldiers and civilian casualties – would lose their lives as a result of capitalist greed.

As a quick refresher, the contradictions that birthed the global conflict were, of course, the contradictions brought by capitalism, as Russian revolutionary and Bolshevik party leader Vladimir Lenin argued in one of his defining works – Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism(1917)*–*capitalism had reached its imperialist stage, which is defined by five key features:

1. The concentration of capital and production: Corporations and financial institutions eliminated or absorbed their competitors, leading to the concentration of production and capital within a few powerful monopolies.

2. Finance capital: The merging of industrial capital with powerful banking institutions, giving birth to “finance capital.”

3. Capital Export: Up until the stage of imperialism, capitalists had been exporting commodities. At the imperialist stage, capital itself is exported to the colonies and periphery to generate massive profits for the imperialist country, while controlling the social fabric and productive forces of the colonized country.

4. Monopolies and Cartels: The emergence of these organizations allows for control over resources and production in the hands of a few

5. Division of the world by major capitalist powers: The flagship capitalist powers, propelled by capitalist exploitation and control of resources, divided the world amongst themselves.

Published during the last half of World War I, the book analyzed the emergence of the imperialist stage, sweeping aside each state’s propagandistic reasons for supporting the war effort. Lenin’s historical materialist analysis guided the Bolsheviks and the Russian masses, who were plunged into the war, in recognizing that this was not a war for the working and toiling masses, but a war for the capitalists who exploit them.

The same year of its publication, the Bolsheviks converted the imperialist war into a revolutionary struggle at home against their own government that sacrificed hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers for the victory of the domestic capitalist class. The Russian masses, exploited and oppressed for decades by the Tsar, overthrew their bourgeois government, and the October Revolution triumphed with the slogan “All power to the Soviets!”

Why bring up this history now? Today, imperialism is driven by the United States of America. Being the victor of the “Cold War,” the collapse of the USSR created the conditions for the United States to project its power over nearly the entire globe. Still, the endless conquest to control new markets, resources, and forms of exploitation remains an objective for imperialism as it did over a century ago, just with different features and conditions. It is concentrated within one country’s capitalist class that operates internationally, the United States, which has its junior partners (the UK, European Union countries) and neocolonial partners (South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, etc).

Progressive and revolutionary forces within the imperial core must clarify their orientation to imperialism and how to respond to their government’s aggression against sovereign states. This brings us to another Leninist concept: Revolutionary Defeatism.

Understanding Revolutionary DefeatismThe concept of revolutionary defeatism was coined during the First World War, when Vladimir Lenin argued that the war’s interests did not align with the working classes of all the nations involved. The Tsarist rule of Russia brought death and destruction to the working class, as did the imperialist governments of Germany, France, etc. The imperialist nature of the belligerents ensured that even with a country’s supposed victory, exploitation would continue, that the poor and oppressed masses would continue to be poor and oppressed, and that the arm of the ruling class would be strengthened, not creating the conditions for liberation and prosperity but rather expanding the scope of exploitation and strengthening the ruling class oppressors.

Conditions in Tsarist Russia were dire. Wages were at starvation levels. Resources were hard to come by. There was little to no authentic representation for the workers’ interests at the state level, and the state itself was repressing workers for speaking out or organizing against the Tsarist regime.

Therefore, it was in the working class’s best interests to oppose the war, and, as Lenin conveyed it, “transform the imperialist war into civil war” in a bid to put power into the hands of the working and oppressed masses.

Though conditions within the imperial core – the United States – are far from a revolutionary moment, in part due to the lack of a vanguard party or organized movement, and of course, the lack of ideological cohesion, one cannot discount the contradictions of American society that can be raised in pointing out the obvious reasons to oppose the multiple fronts of aggression the US is waging, most particularly against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Axis of Resistance.

Biden Official: Biden Was Preparing To Bomb Iran if Re-Elected

In the United States, poverty is widespread. Financial conditions are not improving for the working and oppressed masses, and the destiny of the working class is not in their own hands but rather at the mercy of a group of billionaire capitalists across multiple industries, particularly financial and technological. There is limited access to healthcare, and one must take on debt to receive an education that may be outdated by the time they complete a program, or, worse, made redundant by artificial intelligence, which, again, is not regulated by the working masses. Housing shortages and increased costs of living continue to drive crises across multiple major cities, all while the government, whether run by Republicans or Democrats, responds by strengthening the police state.

These are just a few major problems in a long and growing list, and of course, this is all by design. At the same time, the capitalist state insists on preserving this system, and it wages multi-billion-dollar wars on countries for the stated goal of resource extraction – resource extraction that cements the rule and power of the ruling class that oppresses society. As observed earlier this year, the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was a step towards securing the massive oil resources of Venezuelan society, now to be overseen by American capitalists. The aggression on Iran is no different, with even more dire consequences, as Iran has been the regional power that has prevented total US hegemony over the West Asian region for nearly fifty years.

The slogan of every American who wants better living conditions, who wants actual power over their political system, who wants to rein in the havoc imposed on them by the ruling class, should be “No war on Iran!” More so, in this critical moment, as the aggression is already ongoing, the Americans wanting control over their own destiny should be calling for the defeat of their own military – the US military must be expelled from the region.

The imperialist army is an extension of the will of the capitalists that exploits the American at home, that creates the conditions for the repression of everyday Americans, that oversees the political system that ensnares them. The strengthening of the capitalist class makes any chance at revolution that much more difficult. For example, the profits from newly gained resources and markets for the capitalist are invested in politicians through the powerful lobbying arm of corporations, ensuring that laws are passed that favorably govern society in the capitalist class’s interests. There is no “third way” in which the United States military neither wins nor loses. It must be a strategic defeat that leads to the removal of the US imperialist mechanisms from the region. The imperialists cannot be allowed to gain any profits or strategic leverage from their aggression; otherwise, it will promote further aggression by setting a precedent.

Revolutionary Defeatism in Practice

“Wartime revolutionary action against one’s own government indubitably means, not only desiring its defeat, but really facilitating such a defeat.”

– Lenin, “The Defeat of One’s Own Government in the Imperialist War”

Though revolutionary defeatism, as we understand it, was coined during World War I, we must not make the mistake of treating that war as a “perfect example” to the current war of aggression by the United States on the Islamic Republic of Iran. WWI was a war of imperialists. The aggression against Iran has one imperialist belligerent, the United States, and an anti-imperialist nation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, defending itself.

To condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for the act of defending itself is to carry water for imperialism. To carry the propaganda of the imperialist machine against Iran is to carry water for imperialism. To say “neither Washington nor Tehran” is materially taking a position on the side of Washington.

Iran is fighting for its sovereignty against imperialism. It is not an imperialist actor, or an aggressor, by any means.

Within the imperial core, the masses have the responsibility of stopping their own war machine, a war machine that enforces the cycle of exploitation domestically and abroad. Muddying the waters of solidarity is creating the conditions for imperialism to advance, and therefore is an action that only strengthens the shackles of all working class and oppressed people.

Furthermore, the Islamic Republic of Iran is an anti-imperialist state. Its orientation to imperialism is to resist its expansion. Iran does not have plans to dominate the region. It does not have a financial class that seeks resource extraction across the globe. It is not engaged in colonialism. A state does not have to be socialist or communist in order for it to weigh successful resistance to imperialism. And, of course, criticizing how Iran should defend itself, or orient itself in any regard, particularly while living within the imperial core, is not productive, and categorically absurd.

Revolutionary defeatism in our time materially means stopping the US war machine. It means calling for its defeat. Americans must be exposed to the reality of the war machine that destroys, maims, and plunders in their name. The anti-war movement must be focused on creating conditions to prevent the continuation of the war – and imperialist plots in general.

In practice, we can turn to the Student Intifada of 2024, building on hard lessons learned but re-examining tactics and strategies. The divestment movements across the nation specifically focused on Palestine must be expanded in scope to target the entirety of the imperialist war machine – from its AI tools to its logistical services. Connections between the war machine and the tools of repression utilized by “law enforcement” agencies at home must be examined, exposed, and added to the long list of entities that need to be boycotted, divested from, and ultimately economically disabled. The language of imperialism is the language of profit accumulation, and so the imperialists must be cut off from their profit making abilities.

The imperialist propaganda spell must also be broken. The dominant discourse within mainstream media against the war is that the strategy of the war against Iran is wrong, and therefore it cannot be supported. This is not a condemnation of the war against Iran. In fact, the mainstream framing of the war against Iran is framed as the war with Iran, framing it in a way that insists that Iran is an aggressor country. The definition serves to promote the war effort. To take up an orientation of revolutionary defeatism, those within the imperial core must not condemn the strategy of the war, but condemn the war and all aggression itself – whether led by a Democrat or Republican, it all serves imperialist interests.

The revolutionary defeatist position must popularize the true reasons for the war, resource plunder and destabilization, and the anti-war movement must confidently assert that the best way forward is the defeat of imperialism. It must be able to concretely convey the bleak material conditions of American life, its deterioration, and that the success of American imperialism would translate into worsening conditions at home and globally, as the capitalist class would continue to be strengthened, solidifying their grip on society. And within this effort, a serious campaign must be waged to discourage participation within all branches of the US armed forces.

The work is cut out for the movement. Americans can see that their material conditions are worsening. Even the most politically removed person can understand that something is deeply wrong with society. It is up to the politically advanced sectors of society to confront the powerful propaganda machine, promote the defeat of imperialism, and call for a retreat of imperialism. Anything less than the retreat of the US war machine is a material victory for imperialism.

Shabbir Rizvi is the Political Director of Vox Ummah. He is also a contributor to Sovereign Media and has been featured on PressTV, Al Mayadeen, and Orinoco Tribune.

(Vox Ummah)

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This editorial by José Romero originally appeared in the April 24, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those ofMexico Solidarity Mediaor theMexico Solidarity Project*.*

If there is one area where free trade has shown its structural failure, it is agriculture. There, the promise that openness would bring efficiency, growth, and prosperity collapsed. The USMCA did not correct the asymmetry between Mexico and the United States; it institutionalized it. Both countries retained the ability to support their agricultural sectors as if they were starting from similar conditions. This is not the case. The United States supports its producers with subsidies, insurance, credit, infrastructure, and technology. Mexico exposed them with far less support. That is not competition: it is a structurally unequal relationship.

That’s the key that’s often overlooked. Mexico isn’t just competing against American farmers, but against the American government. Behind every ton of corn, wheat, or soybeans that enters the country, there’s a public system that mitigates risks and guarantees income. On the Mexican side, vast rural regions faced the opening of the market with low productivity, limited financing, and fragmented public policy. The result was predictable: imported products displaced domestic producers and eroded the economic base of the countryside.

Corn encapsulates everything. Mexico, its center of origin, became increasingly dependent on imports from the United States. What was once the core of the rural food supply and economy became subordinated to an external logic. That is not agricultural modernization. It is a loss of control over the country’s material base.

The impact of the USMCA cannot be measured solely in exports or foreign exchange. It must be measured in terms of food dependency, the disappearance of producers, forced migration, territorial fragmentation, and the weakening of the social fabric.

And this situation is no longer just economic: it’s political. Behind cheap corn are not only American farmers, but a coalition of interests based in the grain-producing region of the Midwest and the Great Plains. Mexico became a crucial outlet for this subsidized surplus. Therefore, the problem isn’t trade itself, but the arrangement that sustains it: the treaty didn’t open a neutral market; it consolidated a mechanism in which Mexico absorbs subsidized grains that sustain income and territorial power on the other side of the border, while here, producers, communities, and margins of sovereignty are dismantled.

What followed was not modernization, but a fracture. On one side, successful agro-export enclaves— berries , avocados—deeply integrated into the US market. On the other, vast rural regions without viable productive alternatives. This success is real, but it is partial, concentrated, and dependent on supply chains dominated by large corporations, many of them foreign. It is not a strengthened agricultural sector; it is a divided one.

The opening up of the economy did not generate enough jobs or stable incomes. For millions, the only option was to migrate. But not everyone could do so, nor did everyone find decent work outside their communities. And therein lies one of the most uncomfortable consequences of the model: when the formal economy ceases to offer options, other economies take its place.

The destruction of the countryside not only displaced people; it disrupted entire territories. Where agriculture ceased to be viable, where local markets collapsed, and where the state failed to build alternatives, a displaced, impoverished population remained, without hope. Some migrated. Others stayed. And under these conditions, crime ceased to be merely an external threat and also became an escape for some of those forced from the countryside and abandoned by the formal economy.

The real question is whether Mexico can continue to sustain its food supply with subsidized imports while its agricultural sector is dismantled. Because what’s at stake isn’t trade: it’s the country’s ability to make decisions about its own production base, and that ability has been gradually eroding.

This is not a simple, mechanical relationship between poverty and crime. It’s something deeper: a model that destroys rural productive foundations expands the space for recruitment and the growth of illegal economies. Where there is no employment, credit, or state presence, organized crime finds readily available labour and territories to control. The deterioration of the countryside thus generated a double displacement: that of those who left and that of those who, unable to leave or find decent work, were left vulnerable to the criminal economy.

That’s why the impact of the USMCA cannot be measured solely in exports or foreign exchange. It must be measured in terms of food dependency, the disappearance of producers, forced migration, territorial fragmentation, and the weakening of the social fabric. Exports of avocados and berries are celebrated, but the fact that the country has become more vulnerable in terms of the grains that sustain its food supply is concealed. Success stories are glorified, while the devastation is ignored.

After three decades, the result is clear. Agricultural liberalization did not strengthen the Mexican countryside; it subordinated it. It produced profitable enclaves, but not a rural structure capable of sustaining national development. And in that process, not only was food sovereignty eroded, but conditions were also created for migration, precariousness, and the spread of violence in the abandoned territories.

The review of the USMCA shouldn’t be limited to discussing market access. The real question is whether Mexico can continue to sustain its food supply with subsidized imports while its agricultural sector is dismantled. Because what’s at stake isn’t trade. It’s the country’s ability to make decisions about its own production base. And that ability has been gradually eroding. That, too, is part of the treaty.

• 

  Analysis

  USMCA & The Destruction of Mexican Agriculture

  April 25, 2026April 25, 2026

  The treaty didn’t open a neutral market; it consolidated a mechanism in which Mexico absorbs subsidized grains that sustain income & territorial power on the US side of the border, while here, producers, communities, & margins of sovereignty are dismantled.

• 

  News Briefs

  Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Suggests PEMEX Transition From Oil Company to “energy entity”

  April 24, 2026

  The son of President Lázaro Cárdenas, who nationalized Mexican oil production in 1938, made the comments as part of the Petroleum Advisory Commission.

• 

  Analysis

  Mexico’s National Security Shows Fractures

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  We are facing a scenario where denial is becoming state policy, but the most dangerous aspect is that even if the federal government truly lacked details, there’s an unacceptable lack of coordination.

The post USMCA & The Destruction of Mexican Agriculture appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira has expressed strong condemnation of the US and Israeli military aggression against Iran, while offering condolences for the martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, officials and citizens.

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A total of 125 organizations made a public call to all States to stop facilitating US extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

The signatories include humanitarian, human rights, peacebuilding, Latin America policy, faith-based, drug policy, and veterans’ organizations. They pointed out that States providing support to the US campaign of extrajudicial murders “risk incurring legal responsibility under international law.”

“Since September 2025, the United States military has killed more than 175 people aboard small vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The identities of most victims remain unknown, and there is no evidence that they posed any imminent threat to individuals or to the United States. Nevertheless, the Trump administration has signaled that these unlawful attacks will continue and in fact escalate, including through land strikes,” the open call released on Thursday, April 23, states.

The document stated that legal experts, civil society, former US government lawyers, and both active and retired US military personnel agree that Washington “is committing extrajudicial killings under international law.”

“The right to life and due process are fundamental principles of international law,” the organizations asserted. “These strikes—conducted outside of armed conflict, without a charge or trial, and against individuals merely accused of engaging in drug trafficking, which does not constitute an imminent threat or armed attack—amount to clear violations of these rights.”

They clarified that third countries that support the US attacks may incur “legal responsibility for aiding or assisting another State in their commission of internationally wrongful acts, including extrajudicial killings and crimes against humanity.”

“Forms of cooperation such as intelligence sharing, access to military bases, and the provision of logistical support may meet the threshold for aiding and assisting where they facilitate the identification, tracking, and targeting of vessels,” the groups noted. “Given the public nature of these strikes and the glaring lack of a lawful justification, States cannot plausibly claim ignorance of the risks associated with their support.”

“All States must immediately cease or refrain from providing any assistance that could contribute to these unlawful killings. Failure to do so facilitates the continuation of this lawless campaign, undermines the rule of law, and risks incurring legal responsibility under international law,” they reiterated.

Under international law, a State can be held responsible if it provides aid or assistance that facilitates the commission of a crime by another State.

US SOUTHCOM Strikes Boat in Eastern Pacific as Extrajudicial Death Toll Remains at 152

Consequences for the entire region
The groups underscored that the consequences of US extrajudicial killings are being felt in communities throughout the region. “Families awaiting the return of their loved ones may never know what happened to them and have no access to recourse,” they noted.

“Coastal communities have witnessed human remains washing up on shore and fear for their lives when they trade and fish, sowing psychological trauma and undermining livelihoods,” they specified.

The signatory organizations include Action Corps, CODEPINK, Action on Armed Violence, American Civil Liberties Union, Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, International Peace Bureau, Center for International Policy, Center for Victims of Torture, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Center for Legal and Social Studies, Colombia Human Rights Committee, StoptheDrugWar.org, The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, amongst others.

(Últimas Noticias) by María Elena Rodríguez

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF

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On Wednesday, April 22, left-wing Peruvian parties held a sit-in in Lima outside the National Jury of Elections (JNE) to condemn the right-wing demand for supplementary elections in the capital. They are highlighting that the right is alleging a premeditated fraud in the April 12 elections without evidence.

The mobilization came after the right-wing presidential candidate from the Popular Renewal party, Rafael López Aliaga, requested that the JNE hold supplementary elections only in the capital, his principal electoral stronghold. He alleged that electoral material arrived late, causing voters to leave the polling stations without voting in the early hours.

The proposal aims to influence the outcome of the second round. It is also supported by the far-right candidate Keiko Fujimori, who recieved 17% of valid votes (at 94.31% of votes counted). Currently, the leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez has recieved 12% of the votes, followed by López Aliaga with 11.9%.

Sánchez’s lawyer, Roy Mendoza, accompanied by supporters from multiple left-wing parties, declared that if the JNE calls for supplementary elections in Lima, it would be yielding to pressure and electoral extortion from “certain political parties.” He pointed out that holding a supplementary election would lack a legal basis and represent a regrettable situation for democracy.

Ruth Luque, a congresswoman and Senate candidate for the center-left party Ahora Nación, expressed a categorical condemnation of any authoritarian discourse that intends to capture fundamental institutions, undermining autonomy and respect for the people’s will.

She declared that by considering this measure, the JNE would reach an illegal and unconstitutional decision that would lead to social confrontation.

Luque stated that López Aliaga is disregarding the electoral results and is trying to prevent the left-wing party Together for Peru, a political force that “has earned its right and represents the votes of the most vulnerable sectors of the country,” from reaching the second round.

Peru Election: ONPE Reports 46.7% of Votes Counted, Keiko Fujimori Leading (+ Fraud Claims)

The secretary of doctrine of Ahora Nación, Carlo Magno Salcedo, stated that the supplementary elections proposed by the right cannot be considered legal under any electoral regulation and distort the popular will by potentially changing the result of the April 12 elections, which would imply “a serious threat to democracy.”

At the same time, the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) faces serious scrutiny over the delay in declaring the official results of Peru’s general elections.

This delay creates a climate of uncertainty and exacerbates calls for greater transparency, intensifying the public and political debate over which candidates will advance to the second round.

(Telesur)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF

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By Andreína Chávez Alava  –  Apr 23, 2026

Venezuela is facing one of its most challenging periods in history. The country does not directly control its oil revenue, which is held in the US Treasury. This is similar to how Washington has controlled Iraq’s oil revenue since the 2003 military invasion, effectively using it as leverage to influence Iraqi politics and international relations.

In Venezuela’s case, the oil grab followed the US military bombardment and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, creating an unprecedented constitutional challenge regarding governance. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has guided the nation through this period, balancing new US-Venezuela relations and managing Washington’s neocolonial expectations, while trying to defend sovereignty and peace.

Rodríguez has also committed to ensuring that the incomplete oil revenue Washington disburses ($500 million released in January, although sales reportedly surpassed $1 billion by mid-February) goes to funds destined for social investment, after over a decade of economic hardship caused by US sanctions.

The consensus among the population, government leadership, moderate opposition, business sectors, and analysts across the political spectrum is that the economy is paramount before opening the debate on new presidential elections. For the far-right opposition, the priority is to deny Rodríguez’s constitutional mandate and call for elections before the country has any real chance of improving its economy.

The truth is that Venezuela does not have the capacity to engage in a vote that does not guarantee economic or political stability.

Will Rodríguez finish Maduro’s term?
Following President Maduro’s abduction, Rodríguez, as the vice president, was appointed by the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber to assume the executive for an undetermined period. The decision aimed to ensure administrative continuity and national defense. The ruling was grounded in a teleological interpretation, understood as adapting the law to the current context rather than just its literal text, of Articles 234 and 239.8 of the Constitution.

Article 234 refers to temporary absence, which must be requested by the president through the National Assembly (AN). If approved, it would last for 90 days and be renewable once. Article 239.8 specifies that, in such cases, only the vice president can serve as acting president.

The Supreme Court has interpreted Article 234 by concluding that the events of January 3 were an “exceptional and atypical situation.” As a result, President Maduro’s kidnapping during a foreign military intervention that violated international law led to his “forced absence” and a “material and temporary impossibility” to carry out his functions.

Venezuela’s charter does not contemplate how to respond to a war-like scenario of this kind. Consequently, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) cannot yet provide a definitive legal classification of the presidential vacancy, whether absolute or temporary, in line with Articles 233 and 234, respectively. It also cannot determine whether elections should be called without undermining the country’s stability, as it confronts and adapts to a new reality in which US interference is difficult to avoid.

Can the TSJ interpret the constitutional text to classify President Maduro’s vacancy as “forced” and prevent a power vacuum by means of ensuring continuity through Rodríguez? The answer is yes. Article 335 grants the Supreme Court the highest authority to interpret the Constitution and adapt its application to preserve constitutional order.

Notably, the TSJ ruling did not say that Rodríguez would hold office for 90 days, which would have ended on April 3, nor did it state that this period would be extended until July 3. Rodríguez’s mandate has no expiration date. The high court could modify its ruling in the future. However, as of now, there is no legal basis to declare an absolute vacancy and hold presidential elections within 30 days or at any point in the foreseeable future.

As per Article 233, the absolute vacancy in the presidential office only responds to very specific causes: the president’s voluntary resignation, death or mental or physical incapacity, an impeachment process by the Supreme Court, or by decision of the National Assembly after a temporary absence continues unexplained for more than 90 days. None of these scenarios applies to the current situation.

According to constitutional scholar and elections expert Olga Álvarez, President Maduro’s kidnapping also constitutes an international crime. Treating it as grounds for declaring an absolute vacancy would therefore legitimize the crime and set a dangerous precedent for Venezuela by allowing foreign intervention to affect the constitutional letter.

“Under no circumstances—not even in a new constitutional process—can we consider the kidnapping of a president to be a cause to declare absolute absence. The grounds for that are based only on natural causes or constitutional safeguards within domestic law,” said Álvarez.

Does this mean that Venezuela will not hold elections before 2031, when Maduro’s term ends? It does not look probable. An electoral process is not ruled out, but it would depend on a future, more definite TSJ ruling regarding the extent of Rodríguez’s mandate and, more importantly, the country’s economic progress, as negotiations with the US alleviate sanctions (although through temporary licenses) and Caracas is reinserted in the global financial system.

“It’s the economy, stupid”
In a recent interview with an international outlet, National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez offered a window into the steps being taken to guarantee that future elections occur in a context of economic stability, dialogue with all opposition sectors—including those living abroad—, within the bounds of the Constitution, and establishing an electoral authority that everyone can trust.

“I could not tell you exactly when or even what the first election will be, because who knows if we will dive right in and start with the National Assembly and then the presidency, or the other way around, or all at once,” Rodríguez told the reporter. This statement makes it very clear that the government knows that elections will be crucial for strengthening the country’s democratic and constitutional order. Still, it will be a carefully planned and people-led decision, rather than rushed by the far-right to use US military invasion threats as leverage.

The parliament head invoked Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid,” to stress his point. The country has to focus on economic solutions and relief for the working class before a viable electoral process is possible, especially given that elections in Venezuela have historically led to destabilization by opposition factions.

For the anti-Chavista opposition, the longer the wait, the riskier it becomes that the Rodríguez administration will demonstrate it can negotiate effectively with the US and ensure that oil revenue disbursed by Washington is ultimately funnelled into the people’s well-being, even if the neocolonial arrangement is disgraceful. After all, in 12 long years of crippling economic sanctions, Caracas managed to gradually revive the economy, ensure food sovereignty, rebuild crucial infrastructure, manufacture parts it used to import, and revitalize the popular movement. It would make sense that current authorities could also navigate this moment for the country’s benefit.

Acting President Rodríguez has pledged to prioritize the economy. In her speech to mark 100 days of her mandate, she announced that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) had grown by almost 9 per cent, marking 20 consecutive quarters of expansion. This follows a collapse of around 80% due to a sharp drop in global oil prices at the end of 2014, followed by US sanctions and hyperinflation. The economy only returned to growth in the second quarter of 2021, primarily driven by oil sales to China at large discounts, since intermediaries were needed to circumvent US coercive measures.

“This growth is intended to translate into social well-being, more jobs, better incomes, and real opportunities for the Venezuelan people,” Rodríguez said.

The acting president went on to add that Venezuela currently produces 1.1 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), according to state-run oil company PDVSA. OPEC secondary sources, however, place March’s output at 988,000 bpd. She also noted that the country is taking steps towards gas exports. The aim is to continue recovering the level of oil production before US sanctions crippled the country’s main source of revenue.

Between February and March, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General Licences (GLs) 46B, 50A and 52, authorizing US entities to produce, lift, sell, and export Venezuelan oil and petrochemical products. In April, licences 55, 56, and 57 were granted, permitting negotiations and contracts for investments in the mineral sector, as well as other commercial negotiations and specific transactions involving the Central Bank (BCV) and three other state-run banks. This means that Caracas has returned to the US dollar-dominated international financial system, albeit temporarily.

By facilitating access to foreign currency, Venezuela could stabilize the local exchange rate and improve liquidity. It would also make remittances (a key source of income for Venezuelans) cheaper by enabling more direct and less expensive transfers.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have also just resumed dealings with Caracas. This will allow the Venezuelan state to access $5 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) that have been frozen since 2019, when the IMF stopped recognizing the Maduro government after the US threw its weight behind the opposition “interim government” led by Juan Guaidó. As Caracas regains recognition, it might also seek to recover other assets abroad, including around $4.8 billion in gold held by the Bank of England since 2019.

In a speech on April 19, Acting President Rodríguez stated that “the country is opening its doors to the world, certain of its ability to advance without ever renouncing sovereignty over its resources.” The goal is to achieve economic stability and repay the social debt to the people after enduring a US-induced crisis, rather than surrendering sovereignty “on a silver platter” for the exclusive benefit of the US.

From April 19 to May 1, Rodríguez will undertake a nationwide pilgrimage to raise awareness of the impact of US sanctions and foster national unity. The aim is to build a national consensus in favour of lifting all sanctions, emphasising that OFAC licences provide only temporary solutions while hindering long-term foreign investment and economic recovery.

In short, these OFAC licences are insufficient and are not a gift. Through diplomacy, Caracas is pursuing the complete removal of US sanctions, presenting itself as a direct negotiator with US officials and demonstrating national unity.

The country cannot hold elections while the US retains the leverage to influence the electorate by cutting off access to oil revenue illegally held in the US Treasury, because doing so would deny people real choice—just as sanctions have done in past electoral cycles and in countries worldwide under US regime-change measures.

A stable electoral process where political inclusion and respect can coexist will be achieved through real economic solutions and by strengthening the country’s response to the US.

The far-right mess and its bid for elections
In recent days, Venezuela’s far-right opposition, led by María Corina Machado, has launched a media campaign demanding that Washington impose presidential elections as quickly as possible. They argue that President Maduro’s abduction qualifies as “absolute vacancy” under Article 233, disregarding the TSJ ruling that explicitly says it does not.

Speaking to Reuters, Machado explained that she intends to urge the Trump administration to accelerate plans for “free and fair elections,” for which she would return to the country before the end of 2026, warning that Venezuela was on the brink of “anarchy.” This statement hides several lies and contradictions.

The concept of “free and fair elections” is an illusion in a country that has been under US sanctions for years, creating harsh economic conditions to influence voters, incite mass migration, and diminish the government’s popularity. This is why economic stability is key. Furthermore, electoral processes have been marked by far-right boycotts and post-electoral coup attempts, as it happened in 2013 (after Hugo Chávez’s death), 2018, and 2024.

Machado’s call for elections is a glaring contradiction after announcing to the world that her candidate, Edmundo González, had won the July 2024 elections, revealing the fragility of the victory claim. Machado refused to provide the Supreme Court with evidence of this alleged landslide victory during the electoral result review. Interestingly, she never said that González would return to Venezuela, only that she would.

Venezuela: Far-Right María Corina Machado Does Not Meet Amnesty Law Requirements

Why is Machado so insistent on holding elections as soon as possible? For the far-right camp, this is a matter of survival. It has been fading into irrelevance due to its lack of a strong popular base in Venezuela. Machado, who fled Venezuela in December after failing to challenge the outcome of the presidential elections, led a large rally in Madrid on April 19 with Venezuelan migrants alongside Spain’s People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox party. The rally saw the crowd chant racist slurs targeting Acting President Rodríguez. Machado urged the crowd to return to Venezuela, acknowledging them as her remaining base of support—a perfect example of what kind of government she would have.

The far-right hopes that Washington will force elections and use its leverage over oil revenue to hijack people’s decisions. However, regardless of how much Machado continues to court the Trump administration for more intervention, Venezuela is continuing along its constitutional path with a clear, mapped-out trajectory: improving the economy and defending sovereignty.

Venezuela wants peaceful elections and economic stability, with inclusion for all sectors of society. There is a consensus on this among government officials, moderate opposition groups, and the grassroots. It is the Venezuelan people, not far-right ambitions, who set the agenda.

AChA/OT/SF

From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.

This article originally appeared in the April 24, 2026 edition of Sin Embargo.

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo stressed this Friday that the defense of sovereignty has cost the Mexican people blood, and therefore considered the intervention of US agents in the state of Chihuahua a “very serious” matter.

“The people of Mexico have paid a heavy price in blood; the defense of sovereignty, the defense of the homeland has defined us since independence. Therefore, interference is something that no Mexican should allow, and the defense of sovereignty is something that is in our Constitution, but it runs through our veins and that’s how it should be,” she said in her morning press conference.

In that regard, she asked the governors to abide by the law and follow the principles enshrined in the Mexican Constitution.

“That’s why all governors and all mayors who want to have relations with a foreign government must comply with the law, no matter what, because sovereignty is not negotiable. It’s our principle, and I’m sure the people of Mexico agree with that,” she asserted.

The President clarified that there is indeed coordination and collaboration with the United States government, but always adhering to the principles established in the Constitution. She added that this is not about dismissing the work of María Eugenia Campos’s administration in security matters, but rather about clarifying the situation of the foreign agents who were in Mexican territory without permission or notification.

“We take this very seriously. I heard some opposition senators saying, ‘No, what’s happening is that the federal government doesn’t want to acknowledge the security results of the state of Chihuahua.’ […] It has nothing to do with that. The central issue is the presence of foreign agents in an operation in a state of the Republic without having requested the permits established by the Constitution and the National Security Law; and on this, everyone should be very firm, because there is something that is non-negotiable: it’s called sovereignty and principles,” she emphasized.

Governor Maru Campos is supposed to provide information: Sheinbaum

Regarding the meeting held yesterday between the Governor of Chihuahua, Maru Campos, and Omar García Harfuch, Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), the President highlighted that it was “a cordial conversation” in which the local leader committed to providing information about the participation of two US agents in an operation in the state.

“The Governor was asked for information and she agreed to provide it. The Secretary of Security explained all the principles and laws that must be followed when collaborating with a foreign government, and that in this case, this procedure was not followed,” the head of the Executive branch detailed, adding, “It now depends on the Governor.”

At the same time, she ruled out meeting or speaking with Campos, since the Federal Government’s communication was established yesterday by the Secretary of Security.

• 

  Analysis

  Mexico’s National Security Shows Fractures

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  We are facing a scenario where denial is becoming state policy, but the most dangerous aspect is that even if the federal government truly lacked details, there’s an unacceptable lack of coordination.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera April 24

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on tourism, dead CIA spooks scandal, homicide reduction, and household goods support for flooding victims.

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  Morena Deputies Propose Making Mother’s Day a Paid Holiday

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  Mexico is one of the countries with the fewest mandatory rest days for workers, the last holiday was added in 1987.

The post Our sovereignty has come at a price in blood; what happened in Chihuahua is very serious: President Sheinbaum appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

This article by Ivan Ortiz originally appeared in the April 24, 2026 edition of El Sol de México.

From Monday to Friday, Biology student Elizabeth Gerardo works three shifts: six hours of classes at the Faculty of Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), five more hours taking care of her younger brother at home, located in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, and another six hours spent on public transport, back and forth, between both places.

“Before my mobility problems, my commute was always two hours long. But now my journeys are three hours long, and I spend six hours a day on public transport. I arrive at school and home extremely tired,” the 19-year-old told this newspaper in an interview.

Aragón Galván, an engineering student at the National Polytechnic Institute ( IPN ) and an accounting student in the open system of the UNAM , also spends up to six hours commuting between his two schools and his home.

“I normally used to do three to four hours, but with the subway renovations, I’m doing double that. Now, on a good day, I do six hours, and on bad days, seven to eight hours. Practically a full workday,” he said.

Like them, thousands of students from the outskirts of Mexico City spend two hours or more each day commuting from their homes to University City, in the south of the capital. They say this commute has increased due to recent construction, service disruptions, and overcrowding on the Metro (STC) system.

Some subway users have to make multiple transfers to reach their destination faster. Photo: Nadya Murillo

Therefore, both campuses are preparing protests to demand that UNAM provide alternatives to avoid the excessive time spent on their commutes.

At the Faculty of Sciences, student strikes are being organized while discussions are held with authorities regarding the implementation of online or hybrid classes . At the Faculties of Accounting and Administration, protests are being planned for this Friday, April 24th, to occupy the turnstiles at the Metro Universidad station and allow passengers to pass through for free.

“It’s not fair that we fail for being late to exams or classes when we’re working hard every day. We’re mobilizing with the Popular Metro, even participating in marches, but above all, we’re raising awareness. We’re seeking to improve public transportation; it’s not dignified when a journey takes more than an hour and a half, even though it should only take half an hour,” Aragón stated.

Delays on the Metro have doubled the commutes of some passengers. Photo: Nadya Murillo

Aragón sometimes arrives home after midnight. At that hour, the streets of Mexico City are empty, but the buses that go to and from the State of Mexico are packed with people.

During journeys by bus and subway, it is common to travel standing up, trapped between dozens of people, and to endure human heat, pushing, assaults, and sexual harassment.

At four in the morning Elizabeth wakes up to leave home and get to her first class.

Students say they end up tired, stressed, and anxious after spending too much time on public transportation. Photo: Nadya Murillo

“In general, Line 2 isn’t that slow, but it also has its delays due to construction. The problem is Line 3, because lately there are so many people. I have to wait for up to three trains before I can get on one. Then Line 3 is so slow that I’m better off taking the 7 and 12 bus towards Zapata and then on to Universidad. It’s a huge detour involving four lines, but it takes less time,” the young woman explained.

Unlike her male classmates, Elizabeth has to return home early from her classes to take care of her nine-year-old brother. But she hasn’t been able to. “I babysit my brother because my mom works and no one else can. But these subway delays have made it hard for me to get home on time. I get back an hour late, and my mom is super late for work because she’s waiting for me, and she gets in trouble for it.”

Until nightfall, the student juggles her studies with caring for her brother, and if there’s time, she rests. Because of this strain, she says, she feels stressed and anxious, and even though she sets alarms, she can’t wake up.

“I feel like I’m a good student, but my performance has dropped a lot. All I want to do is sleep. When I help my brother with his homework or take English classes, I’m falling asleep,” she said.

If she lived next to her school, she would use her free time to study or help her mother with other caregiving tasks.

“I feel terrible that my mom is the only one in charge of the house, because it’s a lot of work. But many times I can’t help her,” she admits.

Passengers wait for the train on Metro Line 3. Photo: Nadya Murillo

What worries these students the most is the upcoming closure for remodeling of Line 3, which runs from Indios Verdes to Universidad.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do about the Line 3 remodeling. Several of my classmates tell me that they are even thinking of dropping out next semester because of it ,” Elizabeth added.

Esteban Morales, an accounting student who lives in Ecatepec and spends up to five hours commuting, also shared his concern about the announced renovations for this Metro line.

“Now there are fewer trains and they take a very long time. When they close Line 3 for renovations, everything is going to collapse, and the teachers aren’t always flexible with us.”

• 

  Analysis

  Mexico’s National Security Shows Fractures

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  We are facing a scenario where denial is becoming state policy, but the most dangerous aspect is that even if the federal government truly lacked details, there’s an unacceptable lack of coordination.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera April 24

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on tourism, dead CIA spooks scandal, homicide reduction, and household goods support for flooding victims.

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  Morena Deputies Propose Making Mother’s Day a Paid Holiday

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  Mexico is one of the countries with the fewest mandatory rest days for workers, the last holiday was added in 1987.

The post UNAM Students Prepare Protest: They Spend up to Six Hours a Day on Public Transport appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

This article by Gerardo Hernández originally appeared in the April 24, 2026 edition of El Economista.

This week, a proposal was introduced in the Chamber of Deputies to recognize May 10th as a mandatory day off for workers. The bill aims to bridge the gap between those who have the opportunity to enjoy the day off thanks to their employer’s good practices and those who must work as usual because it is not an official holiday.

The proposal promoted by Deputy Mirna María de la Luz Rubio Sánchez (Morena) proposes a reform to the Federal Labour Law (LFT) to include May 10th of each year in the list of holidays for Mother’s Day.

“The spontaneous or voluntary nature of these practices creates a fundamental problem: their exercise depends entirely on the will of the employer and not on the recognition of a right; consequently, the possibility of effectively enjoying May 10 as a space for coexistence is subject to heterogeneous, unequal and, at times, arbitrary criteria,” the legislator explains in the bill.

According to the OCC Labour Thermometer, 56% of companies celebrate Mother’s Day with a partial or total break for female employees with children.

According to Representative Mirna Rubio, the recognition of May 10th as an official holiday is not unrelated to the current dynamics of the labour market. “It seeks to provide legal certainty and general scope to a practice that already has social acceptance and concrete application in numerous workplaces.”

Furthermore, the legislator believes that expanding the list of holidays for workers would have positive effects on work-life balance, family life, and the encouragement of consumption.

So far in the current legislature, the increase in mandatory rest days has been one of the most recurring themes in the proposals; 12 projects have been presented in this regard, although this is the first initiative that contemplates May 10.

The following dates have also been proposed to be added to the official holidays:

• February 24th, Flag Day
• March 8th, International Women’s Day
• Holy Thursday and Good Friday
• May 5th, the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla
• June 30th is the Day of Dignity of Indigenous Peoples
• October 12th, Columbus Day
• November 1st and 2nd for the Day of the Dead
• December 12th, the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe
• The day set for the Revocation of Mandate process
• The employee’s birthday.

However, none of the proposals have been successful. In fact, in January the Labor and Social Security Committee of the Chamber of Deputies issued a negative ruling on five bills, rejecting the addition of nine dates to the list.

Mexico’s Public Holidays

In Mexico, the Federal Labor Law recognizes nine mandatory rest days; seven are fixed and two more are linked to the change of the head of the Executive Branch and the electoral processes.

This is the list of official holidays:

• January 1st for New Year’s Day
• The first Monday of February, for the Anniversary of the Constitution (February 5)
• The third Monday of March, for the birthday of Benito Juárez (March 21)
• May 1st, Labor Day
• September 16th, Independence Day
• On October 1st, through the transfer of the Executive Branch
• The third Monday of November for the Anniversary of the Revolution (November 20)
• December 25th for Christmas
• The dates determined by the electoral authorities for ordinary elections.

Since 1987, when elections were recognized as mandatory rest days, the mandatory rest days in the LFT have not been extended.

Although Article 74 of the Federal Labour Law , which regulates this right, has been modified since that year, the reforms have not resulted in an increase in holidays. An example of this was the adjustment made in 2006, which moved the commemorations of the Anniversary of the Constitution, the birth of Benito Juárez, and the Anniversary of the Revolution to a Monday, thus providing three long weekends for workers throughout the year.

According to a study by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Mexico is one of the countries with the fewest mandatory rest days for workers, along with Paraguay and Nicaragua, economies that also recognize only 9 holidays in their labour legislation.

According to the report “Organization of working time in Latin America: how many vacation and holiday days are there?”, the economies in the region grant between 13 and 14 official holidays per year , a threshold that Mexico is still far from.

• 

  Analysis

  Mexico’s National Security Shows Fractures

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  We are facing a scenario where denial is becoming state policy, but the most dangerous aspect is that even if the federal government truly lacked details, there’s an unacceptable lack of coordination.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera April 24

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on tourism, dead CIA spooks scandal, homicide reduction, and household goods support for flooding victims.

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  Morena Deputies Propose Making Mother’s Day a Paid Holiday

  April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

  Mexico is one of the countries with the fewest mandatory rest days for workers, the last holiday was added in 1987.

The post Morena Deputies Propose Making Mother’s Day a Paid Holiday appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

By Neil Zhu – Apr 21, 2026

The problem was never just Trump. The problem is a capitalist political system that keeps selling the working class the same lie in different packaging.

When Tucker Carlson says he regrets supporting Donald Trump, it comes across as genuine reflection, as if he is finally confronting what he helped create. But regret is not the real story here. The real story is that people like Tucker Carlson, Theo Von, Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, and a whole layer of right-wing influencers still have not confronted the deeper problem. They keep treating political failure as a matter of choosing the wrong person, when the real issue is the capitalist structure they refuse to challenge.

That is why this cycle keeps repeating. Different candidate, same illusion. Different slogan, same outcome.

This Is Bigger Than Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson matters because people know his name. So do Theo Von, Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, and the rest of that media ecosystem. Their names are useful because they are familiar to the audience. They are the entry point. But they are not the core issue.

The real issue is what these people have been doing for years. They take legitimate anger from ordinary people and redirect it into a politics that never actually threatens capital. They tell working people that the problem is the wrong elite, the wrong immigrants, the wrong cultural values, the wrong party, the wrong media class. What they do not do is lead people toward a serious confrontation with class power, capitalist ownership, and the material structure that keeps ordinary people trapped.

That omission is not small. That omission is the whole game.

They Never Judged Politics Through the Working Class
The basic failure here is not that they supported Trump. The deeper failure is that they never judged politics through working-class politics in the first place.

Working-class politics is not just a slogan. It is not aesthetic. It is not performance. It is a very simple standard. Does this politics improve the material reality of ordinary people? Does it raise wages, reduce exploitation, lower housing pressure, make healthcare more accessible, weaken the grip of capital, and shift power toward the people who actually keep society running? If the answer is no, then the branding does not matter. The speech does not matter. The personality does not matter.

And that is exactly why so many of these influencers fail. They do not start from class. They start from image, emotion, resentment, spectacle, and personality. That is why they are always vulnerable to the next strongman who knows how to talk like an outsider while serving the same old structure.

Why They Avoid Class Politics
Some of them do not understand class politics. Others understand it well enough to know why they do not want to touch it.

The moment you seriously talk about working-class politics, you move away from safe, profitable outrage and toward dangerous questions. You have to talk about employers, landlords, private capital, health insurance companies, military contractors, and the entire architecture of capitalist power. You have to ask who owns, who profits, who pays, and why the working class is always told to sacrifice while the rich keep collecting.

That is not good for the business model of political influencing. It is much easier to monetize culture war rage than class consciousness. It is much easier to talk about identity panic than capitalist exploitation. The moment they seriously touch class struggle, they risk losing audience, losing sponsors, losing platform comfort, and getting hit with the usual anti-communist smear. So they stay inside the safe zone. They posture as anti-establishment while carefully avoiding the one analysis that would actually explain the system.

That is not courage. That is controlled opposition with good lighting and a microphone.

Capitalism Is the Structure They Refuse to Name
The United States is not failing because the wrong individuals occasionally take office. It is failing because its political system is built inside a capitalist order that places profit above human need and elite power above democratic control.

Within that structure, politicians do not primarily answer to the working class. They answer to donors, capital networks, lobbyists, corporations, and the institutions that protect concentrated wealth. This is true whether the rhetoric is nationalist, liberal, conservative, populist, or technocratic. The packaging changes. The class character does not.

That is why Trump was never going to fundamentally serve ordinary people. He is not an accident outside the system. He is one more expression of it. A capitalist strongman is still a capitalist. A man from the elite class does not become a champion of workers because he wraps himself in anti-establishment language.

Too many people wanted to believe otherwise because they had no class standard to measure him against.

Why Reform Is Not Enough
Reform can produce temporary relief. That part should not be denied. Wages can be nudged. Benefits can be expanded. Specific abuses can be restrained for a time. But within capitalism, reforms are always unstable because the structure that generates exploitation remains intact.

That is the part liberals and soft reformists never want to face. If capital still controls investment, employment, housing, healthcare, media influence, and political access, then reform is operating on borrowed time. Gains can be diluted, rolled back, absorbed, priced out, or reversed the moment conditions change. History has shown this again and again. What gets won under pressure gets clawed back when pressure falls.

So no, reform does not solve the problem in the long run if the capitalist structure remains untouched. It can delay damage. It can buy breathing room. It can improve immediate conditions in limited ways. But it does not remove the ruling logic of the system. And as long as that logic remains, politics will keep bending back toward profit, hierarchy, and elite control.

That is why people keep ending up in the same cycle. They mistake temporary adjustment for structural change.

Minneapolis General Strike: Working Class Takes Step Into Revolutionary Future

Why the Cycle Keeps Repeating
Once politics is cut off from class struggle, people are left judging power by style. They look for authenticity, boldness, outsider energy, anti-establishment branding, and emotional force. That is exactly how they get trapped over and over again.

A candidate arrives speaking the language of anger. Influencers rally around him. The audience projects hope onto him. The system remains what it was. Disappointment follows. Then the same people go looking for the next savior, the next “real one,” the next figure who supposedly understands the people.

This is not political maturity. It is political illiteracy produced by a culture that refuses to teach class politics and punishes anyone who names capitalism as the root problem.

So yes, Tucker regrets it. Fine. But regret is cheap. The real question is whether he and the people around him are willing to name the actual structure that produced both Trump and the disappointment that followed. So far, the answer is mostly no.

My Take
The lesson here is not “be more careful next time.” The lesson is that without working-class politics, people will keep getting fooled by elite-managed populism. Without class struggle, politics becomes a carousel of slogans. Without naming capitalism, every critique stays trapped inside the very system it claims to oppose.

That is why these people keep failing. Not because they are uniquely stupid, but because they are operating inside a framework designed to keep the working class angry, fragmented, and politically disarmed.

If politics is not organized around the needs and power of ordinary working people, then it is organized around someone else’s interests. There is no neutral ground here.

Closing
A government should serve the people who make society function. That means the working class, not the donor class, not the investor class, not the professional political class, and not the media personalities who sell rebellion while staying inside the boundaries of acceptable capitalism.

As long as capitalism remains the structure, every so-called outsider will be pressured, absorbed, or revealed. Some reforms may soften the blow for a while, but they do not break the system. They do not put power where it belongs.

So the real divide is not Tucker versus Trump, or right versus left in the shallow media sense. The real divide is between a politics rooted in working-class interests and a capitalist order that will never voluntarily serve them.

That is the lesson people keep refusing to learn.

(Substack)

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By Robert Inlakesh – Apr 22, 2026

The United Arab Emirates says it has dismantled an Iran-linked “terrorist organisation” targeting the Muslim Shia community of the UAE. But the evidence made public so far tells a different story — one that raises serious questions about whether these arrests are part of a widening crackdown on dissent against the US-Israeli backed war against Iran which the UAE is involved in, masked as counterterrorism.

Despite presenting itself on the international stage as a victim, the UAE is quietly participating and aiding the US and Israel in its war against Iran. Yet, Abu Dhabi has enforced draconian censorship laws that carry lengthy prison sentences for those posting or even privately forwarding videos of Iranians munitions impacting targets in the UAE.

This week, the UAE’s State Security Department announced the arrest of 27 individuals, described by state-run WAM media as members of a “Shia terrorist group” allegedly linked to Tehran. Yet despite the severity of those accusations, none of the detainees appear to be facing formal terrorism charges.

Instead, those arrested are accused of spreading “misleading ideas,” maintaining “foreign allegiances,” and forming a secret organization — vague allegations that critics say are often used to justify political repression. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, rejected the arrests outright, calling them “baseless and unfounded.”

Even Emirati state media reporting reveals inconsistencies. While headlines such as “UAE dismantles terrorist cell and arrests members” suggest a major security operation, the details within those same reports make no mention of terrorism-related charges, focusing instead on loosely defined political and ideological offenses.

However, within the article itself, there is no mention of any terror related charges, only that they were detained for spreading “misleading ideas”, have “foreign allegiances”, in addition to being accused of establishing a secret organisation and managing its activities.

The case has also raised concerns of a sectarian dimension. Among the 27 detained are prominent members of the UAE’s Muslim Shia community, including cleric Ghadeer Mirza Al-Rustam of the Jaafari Endowments in Dubai and as well as Seyed Sadiq Lari who had served as the Imam of the Grand Mosque in the Zayed area of ​​Abu Dhabi, fueling suspicions that the crackdown may be targeting religious identity.

Furthermore, those arrested were all Emiratis, Saudis or Bahraini, none were Iranians. The alleged link made to the Islamic Republic of Iran is through Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), a concept within Shia Islam of adherence to a qualified Islamic leader. Emirati Shia publicly follow Ayatollah Sistani as their religious authority, for whom the concept of Velayat-e Faqih does not apply.

There is yet to be evidence presented to prove the detainees are agents of Iran, opposed to them simply expressing popular political views amongst Shia Muslims including opposing the war against Iran.

The UAE is the only Arab State that has directly participated in the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran. This was exposed after two Emirati Wing Loong II UAVs were downed over Iranian airspace. Following the US President’s announcement of a two-week temporary ceasefire, Abu Dhabi allegedly lobbied Washington to continue its assault, even going as far as bombing Iran’s Lavan Oil Refinery.

In the past, Abu Dhabi has launched politicised arrests while engaging in war.

For example, in 2016, two US citizens of Libyan origin were acquitted after spending two years in prison, on charges of funding two groups fighting in Libya. They were originally arrested in Dubai as part of wider crackdown on Libyan nationals, as the UAE began launching airstrikes in the North African country in 2024. According to the UN and their family members, the two wrongfully detained American citizens were severely tortured.

Not Neutral: Inside the UAE’S Shadow Role in the US-Israeli War on Iran

Between March and April, the UAE was struck by more Iranian missiles and drones than any other nation, during which it arrested at least 375 for violating its strict “cybercrime laws”. The mass arrests, assumed to be much more than officially announced, were launched as reprisals against those sharing and even forwarding videos they had filmed of Iranian munitions striking locations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It got so bad, that even British media had picked up on how many UK citizens were being rounded up.

According to Radha Stirling, the CEO of Detained in Dubai, “Under national security frameworks, individuals may face: 5 to 15 years imprisonment, or potentially life sentences. Fines reaching approximately USD 500,000. Prolonged or indefinite pre-trial detention. Restricted access to lawyers, embassies, and evidence. Human rights violations and torture.”

“People are increasingly afraid to communicate, send messages, document events or share information or a news article, even privately. Many are choosing to remain silent, unsure whether even routine communication could expose them to criminal liability and unsure to what extent authorities are surveilling the population”, Stirling added.

The mass arrest campaigns came as a part of an ongoing information war waged between the UAE and Iran. An investigation into Emirati censorship, by Bellingcat, “identified several high-profile incidents where authorities in the United Arab Emirates have downplayed damage, mischaracterised interceptions and in some instances not acknowledged successful Iranian drone strikes on the country.”

Meanwhile, the UAE has not been the only Gulf country to have launched mass detention campaigns over alleged “cyber crimes” and charges related to publishing “misleading ideas” or having “foreign allegiances”. Kuwait even arrested well known US-Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin on March 2, on cyber crime offenses related to posts shared during the war with Iran.

Arrest campaigns carried out against Shia Muslims across the region are also not a new feature to the US-Israel led war on Iran. The UAE’s media itself claimed without evidence that the Emirati authorities had dismantled another “terrorist network” last month, accusing both Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah of being behind it. In mid-March, Kuwait also claimed to have arrested members of a “Hezbollah network”, also failing to provide any evidence. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia had even executed two Shia detainees, accusing them of “terrorism”, one of whom was charged for protesting and arrested while he was only 17 years old.

(MintPress News)

From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.

Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Friday, Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez received her Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, marking the fulfillment of a bilateral cooperation agenda after several cancellations of the meeting.

Following the honors and protocol at the presidential palace, both leaders began a working meeting. This official visit reaffirms both administrations’ commitment to maintaining a relationship of mutual respect and understanding, aimed at reaping tangible benefits for their peoples.

The official meeting constitutes the first visit by a head of state to Venezuela since the kidnapping of Constitutional President Nicolás Maduro by US forces on January 3. It aims to strengthen cooperation alliances in trade, energy, politics, and security between the two nations.

The visit began with a private meeting in which the heads of state are expected to address the main factors affecting stability in the border region.

The day marks a milestone in regional diplomacy, focusing efforts on building a roadmap for shared solutions. Venezuela reiterates its commitment to advancing a foreign policy of peace and sovereignty, promoting economic stability in the cross-border region without interference in internal affairs.

The Colombian president arrived at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, La Guaira state, where he was received with the highest honors by Foreign Minister Yván Gil.

The visit was recently announced by President Petro, who stated that he would review joint actions in areas of strategic interest with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez. “If Muhammad will not come to me, I will go to the mountain. Then, I will go to Caracas,” he said during an interview in Spain.

At a Council of Ministers, Petro requested that Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez define the delegation’s composition, “with an emphasis on the defense sector, mainly made up of military and police authorities, to structure a joint security plan for the border.”

The meeting is expected to have an agenda focused on peace in the Catatumbo region and border security. The leaders will also review agreements on technical cooperation, health, education, industrial development, migration, and economic issues.

In detail, the talks are expected to address potential agreements for the export of Venezuelan gas to Colombia and the reactivation of the electrical interconnection project. This energy dialogue is particularly significant in the context of international issues and geopolitical tensions in the global energy sector, influencing the continuation and review of bilateral agreements.

In addition to energy and security, the agenda includes addressing consular issues affecting Colombians residing in Venezuela and Venezuelans in Colombia. Border, trade, and defense matters will also be discussed, with the aim of strengthening bilateral cooperation, territorial control, and security coordination.

Working groups have been established to review areas of cooperation between Venezuela and Colombia.

Colombia’s President Petro Says Meeting with Delcy Rodríguez Will Focus on Border Security

On Thursday, 11 working groups were established at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Caracas to review areas of cooperation between Venezuela and Colombia. They will facilitate constructive dialogues, define parameters, and enable the development of future joint projects within the framework of the 3rd Meeting of the Binational Neighborhood and Integration Commission.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

OT/JRE/SF

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This article originally appeared in the April 23, 2026 edition of Desinformémonos.

Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities in Michoacán denounced the systematic failure of the state’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide agricultural support and demanded the removal of its head, citing omissions, negligence, and the mismanagement of public funds allocated to production programs. The Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacán warned that, despite having a budget, the agency has not delivered basic supplies nor honored commitments previously agreed upon with the communities.

The Council, comprised of traditional authorities from 80 communities of P’urhépecha, Otomi, Mazahua, Nahua, and Afro-Mexican peoples, indicated that outstanding payments have persisted in various programs since 2025. In the case of Chemical Fertilizers and Compost, three communities have not received supplies despite having met the requirements and made the payments. Under the Cooperative Works program, at least ten communities are still waiting for cement for hydraulic and agricultural infrastructure. Under the Consume What You Produce program, payments for orchards, poultry, and mushroom projects have been owed to 25 communities for two years. They also reported delays in Livestock Infrastructure, where 15 communities have not received the promised materials.

The communities stated that these commitments are documented and budgeted, but accused the agency of “misusing programs and resources intended for agricultural support,” in addition to failing to attend meetings convened by federal authorities. “It is an institution that, despite having a multi-million dollar budget, is incapable of resolving even the most basic problems due to inefficiency or negligence,” they stated in their pronouncement.

With axes, hammers and ropes, the Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacán demolished a monument called “The Builders” on February 14, 2022

Given this situation, the Council demanded an investigation and audit to determine responsibility, as well as the removal of the head of the agency. It warned that if the outstanding issues are not resolved, the communities will launch a campaign to defend their land. “We cannot remain silent,” they affirmed, reiterating their demand for justice, territory, and autonomy for Indigenous peoples.

The full statement follows:

Indigenous communities in the countryside, between neglect and government non-compliance
TO THE SECRETARIAT OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF MICHOACÁN
TO THE NATIVE PEOPLES AND COMMUNITIES
TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO AND MICHOACÁN
TO THE MEDIA
TO THE GOVERNMENT OF MICHOACÁN

Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities of #Michoacán as of April 23, 2026.

K’eri Kunkorhekua Iretecheri, the Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacán #CSIM , an autonomous and independent council from governments, political parties and religious institutions, made up of traditional authorities from 80 communities of the P’urhépecha, Otomí or Hñahñú, Matlazinca or Pirinda, Mazahua, Nahua and Afro-Mexican Peoples, collectively declare the following:

For more than a year, the Michoacán Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (#SADER) has failed to deliver support and social programs to communities, even though the requirements, verifications, and corresponding payments have been met. In the Chemical Fertilizers and Compost program, it has not provided fertilizer to three communities since April 2025, despite the fact that all the requirements and the respective payment have been submitted.

To further illustrate, in the Works for Cooperation program, it failed to deliver cement for hydraulic and agricultural infrastructure projects to ten indigenous communities scheduled for 2025. Similarly, in the Consume What You Produce program, it has been two years since the delivery of vegetable gardens, poultry, and mushroom plots to 25 communities. Likewise, in the Livestock Infrastructure program, it has been two years since the delivery of materials for the development of livestock activities to 15 communities, among other breaches.

All these commitments are duly documented and budgeted; however, SADER misuses the programs and resources allocated to support agriculture and livestock for indigenous communities. Furthermore, it does not attend the working meetings scheduled by the Ministry of the Interior with the communities. In short,

It is an institution that, despite having a multimillion-dollar budget, is incapable of solving the most basic problems due to inefficiency or omission.

In a functional and democratic system, these facts should be sufficient to initiate an investigation and audit with the aim of determining responsibilities, as well as being removed from office while the investigations are completed.

In this context, we, the Indigenous peoples and communities, cannot remain silent. At the request of the traditional authorities that make up the CSIM, we demand the removal of the head of SADER Michoacán for failing to fulfill his duties, lacking initiative to resolve problems, and acting negligently. Finally, we call upon the Government of Michoacán to resolve the outstanding issues and problems in the agricultural sector; otherwise, we will soon launch a campaign in defense of the countryside.

TERUNHASKUA K’ OIA, ECHERI KA JURAMUKUKUA IAMENTU IRETECHANI
JUSTICE, TERRITORY AND AUTONOMY FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacán

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The post Indigenous Communities Denounce Non-Compliance by Mexico’s Agriculture Secretariat, Announce Day of Protest appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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By Pepe Escobar – Apr 20, 2026

The war on Iran is disrupting the trade, transport, and energy corridors at the heart of Eurasian integration.

The war of choice on Iran by the US is not only redefining geopolitics but also interfering with, destabilizing, and reorienting what The Cradle described in June 2022 as The War of Economic Connectivity Corridors; arguably the key geoeconomic paradigm of Eurasian integration in the 21st century.

From east to west and north to south, these corridors interlock virtually all major players across Eurasia.

Let’s dig deeper into what may be the four most important vectors: the China-driven New Silk Roads/ Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) east-west corridor; the Russia-Iran-India International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC); the IMEC (India-Middle East Corridor); and the proposed corridors linking Turkiye with Qatar, Syria and Iraq.

China’s New Silk Roads/BRI advances through a multiplicity of corridors from Xinjiang to western Eurasia, including the Northern Corridor (via the Trans-Siberian in Russia) and the Middle Corridor (via Kazakhstan and across the Caspian to the Caucasus and Turkiye).

Map of the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC)

Map of the India-Middle East Corridor (IMEC)

Iran at the center of Eurasian integration
But it is Iran’s ultra-strategic geography that has positioned it since the Ancient Silk Roads as the definitive crossroads between east and west; a role rekindled by the New Silk Roads/BRI launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

One of its crucial vectors, included in the 25-year, $400 billion China-Iran deal signed in 2021, is the BRI-integrated China-Iran overland corridor. It is essential for bypassing American maritime dominance, the decades-long sanctions barrage on the Islamic Republic, and sensitive chokepoints such as the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Suez Canal.

The first freight train from Xian, China’s former imperial capital, arrived at Aprin’s dry port in Iran, located 20 km from Tehran, which was inaugurated only three years ago in May. This marked the official start of this corridor, cutting transit times from up to 40 days by sea to a maximum of 15 days by land.

Aprin is a dry port: an inland intermodal terminal, directly linked by road/rail to seaports, in the Caspian or in the Persian Gulf. That means massive Chinese shipments can quickly access global maritime routes.

China-Iran fits into the broader east-west corridor, which, before the war, aimed to connect Xinjiang via Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan) to Iran, Turkiye, and further on to the Persian Gulf, Africa, and even Europe.

Of course, China could also profit from the rail corridor to receive Iranian oil, instead of relying on the Iranian ghost fleet, although the logistical challenges remain significant.

The China-Iran railway is already recalibrating the importance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship BRI project that connects Xinjiang, via the Karakoram highway, to northern Pakistan and then all the way across Balochistan to the port of Gwadar in the Arabian Sea.

Right up to US President Donald Trump’s war of choice, Beijing was inclined to pay more attention to the Iran corridor, considering Pakistan’s unstable political situation.

Whatever happens next, Iran will still need to carefully navigate the dizzyingly complex interplay between China and India. After all, both BRICS members have deep strategic interest in Iranian ports – considered as essential gateways to Central Asia.

Moreover, the Iranian port of Chabahar, part of what could be considered, at least before the war, as the Indian Silk Road, in Sistan-Balochistan, is in direct competition with the Pakistani/BRI port of Gwadar in the Arabian Sea, only around 80 kilometers away.

That brings us once again to Iran’s unrivaled role in Eurasian connectivity. Iran sits at the privileged intersection of two key transportation corridors: the Chinese-driven east-west vector and the INSTC, which links three BRICS members – Russia, Iran, and India.

What Tehran had been doing, up to the war, was to deftly align its multi-vector policy with both powers, China and India, and both corridors. Considering India’s alignment with Israel right before the decapitation strike on Iran on 28 February, things may radically change further on down the road.

INSTC collides with IMEC
The INSTC can be succinctly described as the north-to-south vector of Eurasia integration, linking Russia, Iran, and India, and crisscrossing the Chinese New Silk Roads, which move from east to west across Central Asia.

In May last year, with a professional crew of five, I shot Golden Corridor: the first documentary in the world, in English, on how the INSTC develops inside Iran, from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, with a special focus on Chabahar.

Up to the war, India was extremely worried about the potential for Chinese investment in Chabahar – a concern confirmed by the port authorities during my visit. Chabahar is, or at least was, seen by Indian strategists as their crown jewel in Iran: effectively the only viable route for India into Eurasia, reaching Central Asian, Russian, and eventually European markets.

No wonder the Indians were scared about the possibility of China securing a naval presence in the western Indian Ocean.

All Indian investments in Chabahar are now on hold. They were already stalled because of US pressure. China, though, remains relentless. Looking ahead, Beijing has already come up with an investment plan for the Makran coast in Sistan-Balochistan, complete with a massive deployment of Chinese companies connecting Iranian ports to the BRI.

Iran will opt for strategic pragmatism, especially after India de facto ditched its non-alignment and autonomy when facing the US: all that because of shallow, myopic calculations by the government led by Narendra Modi. So India has an uphill struggle if it doesn’t want to lose its Persian “crown jewel.”

Here, we once again the profound interconnection of the key trans-Eurasian corridors. The China-Iran railway, part of the China-Central Asia-Turkiye-Europe corridor, links to the INSTC in Iran, which is crucially backed by Russia.

At the same time, both stand in stark opposition to IMEC, the misnamed India-Middle East-Europe corridor, which is actually the Israel-Middle East-India-Europe corridor. The key objective of IMEC, an offspring of Trump 2.0’s Abraham Accords push, is to turn Israel into a strategic hub for trade/energy flows in West Asia.

As first detailed by The Cradle, IMEC has so far been little more than a major PR operation launched at a G20 summit in New Delhi. It should be interpreted as the collective west’s late response to the BRI: yet another American project to “contain” China and, more recently, Iran as a member of the INSTC.

Most of all, IMEC is a transportation corridor designed to bypass the top three vectors of genuine Eurasian integration: BRICS members China, Russia, and Iran.

The war on Iran, however, is inflicting a serious reality check on IMEC. The port of Haifa has been seriously damaged by Iranian missiles. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are in direct conflict over how to adapt to a post-American Persian Gulf in which Iran will be the dominant power.

As it stands, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), although always hedging, appears inclined to find an accommodation. UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed (MbZ), by contrast, is for all practical purposes at war with Tehran.

Europe is actively committing political and economic suicide. And India is puzzled about squaring the circle: how to organize a credible BRICS summit later this year while aligning with the US

For all practical purposes, IMEC is now in deep coma.

Take some provisional results of the war. Nearly 1,100 km of tracks are “missing” from the railway from Fujairah in the UAE to Haifa; 745 km are “missing” from Jebel Ali in Dubai to Haifa; and 630 km are “missing” from the railway from Abu Dhabi to Haifa.

That leaves IMEC looking even more fragile in the aftermath of the war. Several of the corridor’s potential nodes and surrounding infrastructure were also hit by Iranian missile strikes. And that may not be over yet.

NATO at Breaking Point: Transatlantic Rupture Accelerates Under US Escalation

Turkiye’s Pipelineistan ambitions
Turkiye, of course, had to develop its own Eurasian integration ideas, especially given how neo-Ottomanism wants to position Ankara as a player capable of rivaling Russia and Iran.

As it stands, Ankara’s gamble is to go for full Pipelineistan, as I defined two decades ago, the ultra-politicized maze of Eurasian energy corridors.

So Pipelineistan includes everything from the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil link, facilitated by the late “Grand Chessboard” Zbigniew Brzezinski, to the Russian-built South Stream and Turk Stream, as well as never-ending gas soap operas such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI), later reduced to IP.

A premier American obsession has long been to prevent an Iran-Pakistan pipeline from being built: an umbilical cord between two powerful Muslim nations linking West Asia to South Asia.

Map of major regional oil and gas pipeline routes connected to Turkiye

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar – yes, remember the dones? – is on a roll. His pet idea is to connect Basra – the oil-rich capital of southern Iraq – to the Iraq-Turkiye oil pipeline, which links Kirkuk to Ceyhan, in the Mediterranean (also the terminal for BTC), with a capacity of more than 1.5 million barrels per day. The problem is that the absence of political consensus in Iraq makes it, for now, a pipe dream.

Turkiye is even considering linking Syrian oil fields – hardly lavish production, at a maximum of 300,000 barrels a day – to the Iraq-Turkiye oil pipeline. That is messy territory, considering no one really knows who is running Syria.

Still, Ankara remains relentless. The Holy Grail would be a gas pipeline from Qatar to Turkiye via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria.

That’s a wacky version of history repeating itself. A pipeline sat at the center of the war on Syria: originally it would have been Iran-Iraq-Syria, before Qatar pushed in 2009 for a route from the North Field through Saudi Arabia and Jordan into Syria – a project vetoed by Damascus.

The war on Iran has once again turned everything upside down after QatarEnergy declared force majeure on a significant portion of its LNG exports, affecting both Europe and Asia.

Qatar still privileges LNG over pipelines. But now enter Turkiye, with the concept of a – still to be built – pipeline from Qatar to supply Europe, spun by Bayraktar as an “alternative export route.” That would cost at least a whopping $15 billion: a 1,500-km pipeline crossing as many as five borders. A certified, costly headache.

More feasible, at least in theory, is the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, which aims to connect Turkmenistan across the Caspian to Azerbaijan and Georgia, most likely parallel to the BTC pipeline and onward to Europe.

Once again, that needs to be built. It would cost at least $2 billion: a 300km-plus underwater pipeline across the Caspian from Turkmenbashi to Baku. That’s long, I made that crossing on an Azeri cargo in the 2000s, and it takes at least 8 hours. Afterward, the still non-existent pipeline would connect with two others, the South Caucasus and the Trans-Anatolian.

Extra costs would be inevitable: on upstream development, compression capacity, and downstream expansion.

And even if the whole thing came to light, Turkmenistan has no spare capacity: virtually all of its production goes to Xinjiang in China via a pipeline built and paid for by China. At best Turkiye imports a small quantity of Turkmen gas through Iran, on a swap basis; Iran also uses this gas.

Make Connectivity Corridors, Not War
What’s clear is that the War of Connectivity Corridors will remain the prime geoeconomic vector from West Asia to Central and South Asia – involving multiple paths towards Eurasia integration.

The war on Iran is accelerating quite a few interconnections. Take, for instance, the National Logistics Corporation (NLC) in Pakistan accessing the Gabd Border Terminal to boost trade with Iran and mostly Uzbekistan in Central Asia, via something called the TIR (International Road Transport) system, bypassing Afghanistan.

NLC is playing it quite strategically, simultaneously activating multiple trade corridors to China, Iran, and Central Asia, and at the same time helping to strengthen Iran’s battered trade and financial front during the war.

And we’re not even talking about the other key connectivity corridor of the future: the Northern Sea Route alongside the Russian coastline in the Arctic all the way to the Barents Sea, which the Chinese poetically refer to as the Arctic Silk Road.

China, India, and South Korea are very much focused on the Northern Sea Route, discussed every year in minute detail at the forums of St. Petersburg and Vladivostok.

It’s not an accident that the U.S. bombed several nodes of the INSTC: the port of Bandar Anzali, Isfahan, the port of Bandar Abbas, the port of Chabahar. As well as one stretch of the China-Iran railway, part of BRI, and financed by China.

This is a war against Iran, against China, against BRICS, against Eurasia integration. Yet Eurasia integration simply refuses to be derailed.

Make Connectivity Corridors, Not War.

(The Cradle)

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Argentinian President Javier Milei’s government reached an agreement with British businessman Joe Lewis and the company Hidden Lake S.A. to end the annulment action initiated by the Argentinian State in 2023. The action sought to nullify Lewis’ fraudulent purchase of over 12,000 hectares in a border security zone in Patagonia where the Lago Escondido estate is located.

The litigation had been initiated by the Argentinian Interior Ministry in 2023, following opinions from the Office of Administrative Investigations and the Treasury Attorney’s Office. The offices considered that the original purchase in 1996 was carried out through a fraudulent scheme involving shell companies and front men to circumvent the prohibition on the foreign purchase of strategic lands.

However, in January 2026, during the judicial recess, a federal administrative contentious court ratified a conciliatory agreement between the State and the firm Hidden Lake S.A., which rendered the lawsuit ineffective.

The litigation closed just before the Milei government appointed Juan Bautista Mahiques to head the Ministry of Justice and sent the Senate a proposal to renew Justice Carlos Mahiques’ appointment to the Criminal Cassation Chamber. Both had participated in a controversial 2022 trip to Lago Escondido with judges, prosecutors, officials, and executives linked to the Clarín Group.

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The 2023 case argued that the land purchase was made through the company HR Properties Buenos Aires, which was later replaced by Hidden Lake S.A., a corporate structure considered a “shell company” by regulatory bodies.

The operation enabled Lewis to acquire thousands of hectares in a strategic border area in Río Negro, including control over access to Lago Escondido.

The Argentinian State’s legal action sought to declare the purchase null and void, considering it harmful to public interest and national security.

However, the conciliatory agreement presented in January 2026 ended the process before the core issue was resolved. Meanwhile, the file was removed from public access, raising questions about the agreement’s transparency.

Argentina: Case Filed Against Prosecutor in Charge of Milei’s Crypto Scam

The case was unfolding amid other legal disputes related to the Lago Escondido lands, including a lawsuit to guarantee public access to the lake via the Tacuifí road, currently under review by the Supreme Court. According to rights groups and political organizations, Joe Lewis’ estate continues to restrict public access to the lake, while Lewis’ defense argues that the acquisition was legal.

The government’s decision to close the litigation marks a shift from the strategy initiated in 2023, when the State itself claimed that the acquisition of the lands was the result of a coordinated maneuver by officials and private companies to circumvent border security legislation. However, at that time, Argentina was governed by left-wing President Alberto Fernández.

(Telesur)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF

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This article by Darren Garcia originally appeared in the April 24, 2026 edition of Revista Contralínea.

In creating a long-term plan for Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), consideration must be given to how the company can transition from being an oil company to becoming “an energy entity” that “contributes to addressing the negative effects of climate change,” said Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, president of the Petroleum Advisory Commission.

This comes after the announcement of a program that will define the course of the country’s oil and energy industry during the first working meeting of the newly created PEMEX analysis body, where the former presidential candidate recalled the importance of the state-owned company in promoting the nation’s industrialization and economic development.

At the meeting of the members of the Commission, “the importance of making progress in addressing issues such as the modernization of facilities in the various refineries, the better use of coke and the reduction of gas flaring, particularly in the country’s marine areas, was highlighted,” according to a statement from the state-owned company.

This advisory body was formally established on April 16, following an agreement signed by PEMEX CEO Víctor Rodríguez Padilla on March 18—commemorating the 88th anniversary of the nationalization of the oil industry. Its purpose is to strengthen strategic analysis, technical reflection, and comprehensive monitoring of national oil policy.

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The post Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Suggests PEMEX Transition From Oil Company to “energy entity” appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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