Last March, the US justice system reopened a case regarding the alleged responsibility of former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the shooting down of small planes belonging to the organization Brothers to the Rescue in 1996.

Cuba has categorically rejected the US accusations. The Caribbean nation argues that the accusation is a distortion of the truth, given that Brothers to the Rescue is considered an organization linked to acts of terrorism and provocation against the country’s government.

According to Havana, the aircraft were conducting illegal flights over Cuban airspace. They were reportedly asked repeatedly to refrain from entering Cuban airspace, but these requests were ignored, according to the Cuban justice system. Furthermore, according to the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Havana asked Washington on 25 occasions to prevent these illegal flights. Subsequently, with no response from Washington or Brothers to the Rescue, Cuba proceeded to fire upon the aircraft flying over its territory.

However, the US justice system denies Cuba’s version of events and has sought a conviction for these acts. That is how, on October 19, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier succeeded in having his state issue an arrest warrant for Raúl Castro, then Cuba’s Minister of Defense.

“Raúl Castro ordered the cold-blooded murder of four Florida residents, and the state will never stop pursuing accountability for that communist conspiracy,” Uthmeier said regarding the arrest warrant.

But the Cuban government maintains that Brothers to the Rescue had a different mission than the one it claimed. Cuban Deputy Gerardo Hernández stated: “Although [Brothers to the Rescue] was founded to spot and report the location of rafters to the US Coast Guard in the 1990s, its role shifted toward provocations following the change in immigration policies agreed upon between Washington and Havana in 1995, with the intention of hindering any diplomatic rapprochement and normalization of relations between the two countries.”

For his part, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the Florida court’s decision: “The reprehensible action taken against the Army General this morning in a pathetic Miami circus, with an electoral agenda, has no legal basis whatsoever – nor will it ever have one – much less a practical one… In the face of every affront, [Raúl Castro] will always find the determination of a people to defend the Revolution.”

He added: “That maneuver, cloaked in legal pretense and orchestrated by anti-Cuban politicians against Raúl and against Cuba, deserves our firm condemnation. It is part of their aggressive agenda and a response to their failures in attempting to justify the Embargo and the collective punishment against our people.”

For its part, the Mexican government characterized the arrest warrant issued against one of the historic leaders of the 1959 Cuban Revolution as an “electoral maneuver.” This was explained by President Claudia Sheinbaum, who linked the judicial decision to the upcoming midterm elections: “The arrest warrant against Army General Raúl Castro, attributed to the Florida prosecutor’s office, seeks to win the support of segments of the US electorate.”

Russia also condemned the arrest warrant against Raúl Castro, calling it “baseless and false,” and linked it to a powerful political group in Florida: “[It is] revenge by the anti-Cuban lobby in Miami,” said the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The decision is part of a series of measures by the Trump administration against the revolutionary government in Havana, which the US president himself has said he would like to see fall and has on some occasions suggested he might launch a military attack on Cuba.

Trump has imposed economic and trade sanctions that add to the historic economic and trade embargo the United States has imposed on the island for more than 60 years – an embargo that has caused losses amounting to tens of billions of dollars for a country with a population of just 10 million.

Added to this is the recent oil embargo imposed by the United States on the Caribbean island. As a result, throughout 2026, only one oil tanker entered Cuba, which has brought much of the country’s production, transportation, and electricity generation to a standstill. This has led to an increase in mortality rates and reduced access to basic services for the civilian population.

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A patrol boat off the coast of Gabon intercepted three trawlers in July 2026, inside the Grand Sud Reserve. This is one of West and Central Africa's largest marine reserves, where industrial trawling is banned. None of the trawlers held a valid license. The patrol found them because analysts at the nonprofit Global Fishing Watch had studied satellite data and worked out where to look.

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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention issued an urgent call for international solidarity Wednesday, warning that the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is spreading faster and across a wider geographic area than any previous outbreak of its kind.

The alert followed confirmation by Nigeria’s government on Tuesday of the country’s first case, a woman who arrived in the capital Abuja on an international flight from Uganda, who remains isolated under medical care while authorities work to contain any possible transmission.

Nigeria has become the fourth nation on the continent to report confirmed infections, joining the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya.

RELATED: Nigeria Confirms First Ebola Case as Outbreak Spreads in Africa

Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, described the gravity of the moment in direct terms. “We cannot allow this outbreak to spread to more countries or continue for another year,” he said, stressing that the virus has now achieved the widest geographic reach in the history of the disease.

"This Ebola outbreak is no longer one country's fight."

Africa CDC Director General H.E. @Dr_JeanKaseya calls on every @_AfricanUnion Member State to detect early, trace every contact and protect health workers. On the 28th of October, he will be convening Africa's ministers of… https://t.co/7esmXLjk1N

— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) October 21, 2026

Four Countries Affected

The current episode stands as the second deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded worldwide, with more than 4,600 deaths across the region. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, the toll has surpassed 4,205, a figure that underscores how deeply the epidemic has taken root there even as it extends into new territory.

Kaseya framed the response as inseparable from global security. “Every day of delay costs lives. Africa’s health security is global health security. Stopping Ebola in Africa today means protecting the world,” he said, adding that Nigeria has the agency’s total solidarity and that the outbreak must be defeated together.

Africa CDC had already anticipated the crisis. In May 2026 the specialized agency of the African Union declared a public health emergency of continental security, a warning that positioned the region’s institutions ahead of the current escalation. The agency has since begun mobilizing assistance toward Nigerian territory while reinforcing response operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Uganda.

Urgent Call for Funding

Kaseya directed his appeal beyond the continent, telling the international community what the response requires. “We need immediate and flexible funding, medical supplies, diagnostic tests, trained response personnel and stronger community surveillance,” he said.

The public health agency of the African Union has moved quickly to convert the appeal into action. On Wednesday it invited the region’s health ministers to a virtual meeting scheduled for October 28, where they will debate the spread of the virus and coordinate next steps. The gathering arrives less than a week after Nigeria’s first confirmed case, a timeline that reflects the urgency Kaseya has attached to the response.

Nigeria’s entry into the outbreak carries particular weight. The country is the most populous on the continent, and its capital’s connection to an international flight from Uganda raises questions about how far the virus may have traveled before detection. For now, the patient remains the single confirmed case in the country. But the presence of the disease in Abuja, rather than in a border community, changes the calculus for responders who must now trace contacts across a dense urban network. The woman’s isolation is one line of defense; the contact tracing around her is another, and both depend on the resources Africa CDC is struggling to assemble.

The outbreak’s trajectory since May has followed the pattern Kaseya warned about. Declared an emergency when still confined to a smaller footprint, it has now breached four national borders and shows no sign of slowing. The October 28 meeting of health ministers will test whether that warning has finally translated into the funding and supplies that African institutions have been requesting for months.

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Legislators representing multiple political organizations in Bolivia, including Libre, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), and Unidad, have demanded an urgent and impartial investigation following the circulation of a series of audio recordings attributed to former electoral campaign advisor Fernando Cerimedo.

The recordings demonstrate that a complex and expensive operation to abduct former President Evo Morales was being plotted.

If the authenticity of the recordings is confirmed, the case will expose a network of clandestine operations involving illegal funds, the involvement of foreign agents, and the direct participation of a senior official in the Bolivian government cabinet.

El medio boliviano Brújula Digital publicó hoy un vídeo que demuestra como policías se quedaron las maletas con dinero del narco Marset. Acusan al socio de Cerimedo Erick Correa y al ministro de gobierno que lidera los ataques al fiscal que los investiga.

Este vídeo era una de… pic.twitter.com/6Q4nVfImOV

— Julián Macías Tovar (@JulianMaciasT) October 20, 2026

The allegations gained international attention following reports by journalist Julián Macías Tovar on social media platforms.

According to the leaked information, Cerimedo traveled to the United States and the Zionist colony of “Israel” with the aim of arranging helicopters and tactical tracking equipment to enter the Chapare region in Bolivia, the political and territorial stronghold of the indigenous leader and former president of Bolivia Evo Morales.

In the recordings, the voice attributed to Cerimedo informs the current public works minister, Mauricio Zamora, of logistical details about the acquisition of drones and specialized equipment.

In the recordings, a speaker is heard offering to pay “whatever the operation costs” informally and in US currency. The speaker mentions a previous attempt in which they allegedly reached Morales’s second security ring with the backing of foreign agents.

Various figures in Bolivian politics have reacted by demanding an immediate clarification of the facts. Libre deputy Edgar Zegarra noted that the revelations are extremely serious and require a transparent, balanced inquiry that is free of political bias in order to establish responsibility and bring the criminals to justice.

For his part, Morales questioned the lack of response by the Public Ministry and demanded immediate action: “What is the new prosecutor José Armando Urioste waiting for to investigate the new Cerimedo recordings?”

Parliamentary pressure is aimed at determining the veracity of the material, the origin of the financing, and whether there was improper use of state resources and institutions or foreign interference.

Faced with the accusations, Public Works Minister Mauricio Zamora denied the authenticity of the audio recordings, asserting that they were manipulated and edited.

However, in statements collected by the outlet Fama, Poder y Ganas, the official admitted having had prior telephone contacts with Cerimedo, the former political advisor now incarcerated under assassination charges.

Evo Morales: ‘The Plan Was to Sentence Me & Bar Me from Running, But I Won Every Case’

Although the recordings have not yet been officially verified by forensics, the scandal once again raises alarms about Bolivia and the security of Evo Morales. The country has been racked by demonstrations following the contested electoral victory of right-wing candidate Rodrigo Paz in late 2025.

(Telesur)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SL

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United States has denied former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau permission to travel to Puerto Rico, where she was due to take part in a municipalist forum next month, a decision that sources close to her link to her pro-Palestinian activism.

Ada Colau, a candidate for the Frente Amplio, had planned to attend the Ciudades Valientes meeting on November 3 and 4 in the municipality of Caguas in central Puerto Rico. When she applied for the digital travel authorization known as ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization), U.S. authorities approved the members of her delegation but denied her request. She was then advised to attend an in-person interview at the U.S. embassy in Madrid.

According to people close to Colau, the interview held two weeks ago focused on her position on the conflict in Gaza. “The entire interview was about the Flotilla and her pro-Palestinian activism, with a lot of insistence on the three days she was held in Israel,” they said.

RELATED: U.S. Expands Social Media Review for Visa Applicants Starting October

After the interview, U.S. authorities issued a final denial, citing “suspicion that she wants to migrate illegally to the country.”

“This is a clear case of political censorship. And it is a disgrace, because while we see that Javier Milei can travel freely to our country to insult the press and citizens in general, his friend Donald Trump bans me from entering a country like Puerto Rico, which is a colony occupied by the United States,” Colau said.

The US has refused to grant a visa to former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau over her participation in the Global Sumud Flotilla and her support for Palestine.

Colau had been invited to attend a meeting convened by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. pic.twitter.com/TuEEQasz9x

— The Times of Palestine (@PalTimesNews) October 21, 2026

Ada Colau governed Barcelona between 2015 and 2023. She had traveled to the Caribbean archipelago in April 2024 to discuss urban planning, access to housing, human rights and the role of women in politics. During that visit, at a conference on government and citizen participation, she advocated for truth, justice and reparation in the face of European colonization in Latin America.

The prohibition echoes other restrictions imposed by Washington on figures critical of its foreign policy. The same administration has repeatedly denied a visa to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to attend the United Nations General Assembly. In Colau’s case, the stated rationale of immigration risk collides with a documented history of official visits and public conferences.

Event Agenda Unchanged

The decision keeps the event in Caguas and preserves the original schedule rather than postponing or relocating it.

The Puerto Rican collective confirmed that its upcoming event will keep its original agenda, and that the political leader will participate remotely. “Ada will be present, one way or another, because ideas and courage do not require visas to cross the borders imposed on us to divide us,” they affirmed.

“Colau is one of the founding voices of the international municipalist movement that inspires this meeting and her physical absence will be felt, but we maintain our commitment to the exchange of experiences,” the organizers said, rejecting the ban.

“Her physical absence will be felt, but we maintain our commitment to the exchange of experiences. Our collaboration with Ada and with the Sentit Comú Foundation remains just as strong and Brave Cities will take place as planned,” the League stated in a public communiqué.

For her supporters, the case exposes the double standard at the heart of the colonial relationship. The denial of entry, they insist, is not a security measure but a political sentence delivered through administrative channels.

Organizers say the work continues, and that Colau’s ideas will still shape the conversations in Caguas even in her in-person absence. The entry ban, however, ensures that a voice critical of U.S. policy will not speak from the island that Washington governs as a colony.

🚨🇪🇸 BREAKING — Ada Colau:

“If we trivialize and allow the genocide in Gaza, and apartheid and the colonial persecution of Palestine, humanity is lost.

Therefore, all humanity must not give up, resign itself, normalize or trivialize the genocide in Gaza and the persecution of… pic.twitter.com/cLg7UIx5Ss

— Pamphlets (@PamphletsY) October 18, 2026

Puerto Rico has been under U.S. control since 1898, after the Treaty of Paris, and since 1952 has held the status of a commonwealth with its own constitution, although the United States retains exclusive control over immigration, customs, defense and currency. ESTA was required because of the island’s colonial status. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, and ESTA applies to travelers from visa-waiver countries such as Spain who enter U.S. territory.

Rights groups have often criticized U.S. visa denials based on political views, while U.S. officials typically say such decisions follow immigration law and are not open to public discussion.

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Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)— Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez noted that this week’s National Popular Consultation registered the highest turnout of all communal consultations held in the country’s history. She made the comments on Wednesday during a visit to the Nueve Raíces de Simón Communal Circuit in Caracas, where she also announced that the next Popular Consultation of the Youth will take place in February 2027.

The acting president also stated that the Venezuelan government would finance all seven projects submitted by the commune with the highest participation in each state. In the Capital District, Mayor Carmen Meléndez and Head of Government Nahum Fernández stated that Caracas will fund the first- and second-place projects in every communal circuit. Rodríguez called on youth to prepare projects for the February 2027 consultation.

Later, at a separate assembly with condominium boards in Caracas, Rodríguez discussed support for older residents who live alone or have difficulty reaching health services. She said that a program was being considered in which nurses would visit these individuals at their home and pledged government support for food and medical care.

During the assembly, the acting president also recommended that a special plan be drawn up to repair and maintain elevators in residential buildings, citing the difficulties faced by older people living on upper floors when elevators are out of service.

Venezuela: Delcy Rodríguez Praises Popular Consultation Turnout, Announces Funds Ready for Communal Projects

The assembly followed the first participation of condominium boards in the national consultation process. Rodríguez told the boards they would continue to receive government support and encouraged them to work with communities to address residents’ needs.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

OT/JRE/SL

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Ecological grief is growing—and our current approach to climate change education isn't keeping pace.

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The UN World Meteorological Organization warned Wednesday that the current El Niño episode could push Pacific sea surface temperatures to 3.8 degrees Celsius above the average between November 2026 and January 2027, levels its top official called unprecedented in four decades of monitoring.

The alert came during a joint press conference in which the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo acknowledged that the phenomenon now sits “literally outside the scales of monitoring that we have used over the past four decades.”

Her assessment placed the coming months among the most severe climate events recorded since such tracking began.

RELATED: El Niño Extreme Weather: 34 Days of Record Rain Raise Global Alarm

Saulo and UN humanitarian coordinator Tom Fletcher issued an urgent call for the international community to prepare in advance for the consequences they expect.

Fletcher put the human cost in stark terms. The phenomenon “will shake Latin America, eastern and southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific with extreme heat, droughts and floods,” he warned, and could push food insecurity to affect as many as 50 million people worldwide.

The warning singled out regions already struggling with fragile agricultural systems and limited infrastructure, where a single failed harvest can tip entire communities into crisis.

El Niño is set to hit fragile communities hard.@UNOCHA and @WMO are sounding the alarm, appealing for immediate assistance to support communities already affected by what has been described as the strongest El Niño on record. https://t.co/LDrygGkPPw pic.twitter.com/H1XcVA3AR7

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) October 21, 2026

Off-the-Scale Temperatures

The temperature projection of 3.8 degrees above the long-term average would place this El Niño beyond the upper bands of the monitoring framework built over forty years. Saulo noted that extreme weather events are already being recorded and will tend to multiply as the phenomenon gains intensity. She stressed, however, that the crisis “does not have to inevitably trigger a humanitarian disaster,” a message both officials repeated throughout their appearance.

To front-load the response, Fletcher announced the allocation of 50 million dollars from the UN emergency fund. The money will assist 11 of the most vulnerable countries as a priority, including Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan. The list reflects the broad geographic reach of the expected impacts, spanning the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and Central America.

Both representatives insisted that a window of opportunity remains open. Extreme conditions “do not have to translate into humanitarian emergencies or fatalities” if precautions are taken in time, they argued, framing preparedness as the difference between a difficult season and a catastrophic one.

A Narrow Action Window

Saulo and Fletcher directed their appeal beyond governments. WMO and the humanitarian office urged development banks and international financial institutions to release funds in a coordinated manner before the worst damage occurs. The underlying premise is simple, El Niño cannot be stopped, but its worst human impacts can be mitigated and prevented.

Latin America appears prominently in the forecast. Central America has already been placed on maximum alert over drought conditions linked to the so-called Super El Niño, and the new warning extends that concern across the region. Africa faces the mirror problem in several zones, with eastern and southern areas bracing for a combination of heat, drought and flood depending on local geography.

WMO’s warnings marks a departure from the cautious phrasing typical of international agencies. Describing the phenomenon as off the scale is not a rhetorical flourish but a technical judgment, one intended to shake loose the funding and coordination that slow-moving bureaucracies often withhold until emergencies are already visible. For Saulo and Fletcher, the next three months represent the period when that response must be assembled, not the period when it can still be debated.

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This article by Sugeyry Romina Gándara originally appeared in the October 21, 2026 edition of SinEmbargo, an independent Mexican digital news outlet.

Mexico City, October 21 (SinEmbargo).– Former prosecutor César Gustavo Jáuregui Moreno was formally charged with the crime of Treason, as a co-perpetrator and for allegedly intentional conduct. The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) maintains that the former official consented to, authorized, and allowed the presence of two foreign individuals in the operation carried out in El Pinal, in the municipality of Morelos, Chihuahua, thereby allegedly putting at risk the sovereignty and independence of Mexico by attempting to subject the country to a foreign government.

However, Jáuregui’s defense asserts that there is no solid, video, or documentary evidence proving his participation. It also argues that, under the same logic with which the Attorney General’s Office seeks to attribute responsibility to the former prosecutor, the Governor of Chihuahua, María Eugenia Campos Galván, must also be investigated to determine what she knew about the operation and whether she bore any responsibility. For the defense, it is even imperative that the state governor be called to testify.

“If we are going to enter that terrain, then it would also be necessary to investigate whether the head of the Executive had knowledge of the operation,” attorney Héctor Villasana said in an interview with SinEmbargo, after the hearing for the formulation of charges, which lasted at least eight hours.

For the attorney, who is part of the former prosecutor’s defense team, the Governor’s public statements, made on October 14 on Latinus, in which she held Jáuregui and other officials of the state prosecutor’s office responsible for acting without her knowledge, make it necessary for the FGR to take her testimony and contrast her versions with the other elements of the investigation.

“I think what the Attorney General’s Office would have to do is summon the Governor, as a result of these statements she made, in which she changed her version, and make her appear through the mechanisms,” Villasana said.

César Jáuregui’s defense asked that Maru Campos, Governor of Chihuahua, be summoned to testify about the presence of the CIA in the state. Photo: Cuartoscuro

The attorney noted that, as far as he knew, Campos Galván had not testified before the FGR regarding the presence of agents of the United States (US) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the operation in the Sierra Tarahumara. He recalled that she was summoned on May 27, but did not give a statement because, as was reported at the time, she questioned the conditions of the summons.

The defense also considered that the investigation must look more deeply into the chain of command and into what the various officials may have known about the participation of the foreigners. Nevertheless, Villasana insisted that the charge against Jáuregui is not supported, from his perspective, by evidence showing that he authorized or consented to the presence of the agents.

“The concrete thing here is that the accusation against Prosecutor César Jáuregui is not based on any piece of evidence that concludes that he participated in, consented to, or authorized the presence of these people,” he stressed.

The Hearing: 150 Pieces of Evidence Presented

The charge against Jáuregui is based, according to what his attorney set out, on Article 123, section I, of the Federal Penal Code, which covers the crime of Treason.

During the hearing, the FGR presented close to 150 pieces of evidence, including witness statements, expert opinions, and analyses. The Attorney General’s Office says that the then head of the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) allowed the presence of two foreign individuals in the operation against an alleged drug lab in El Pinal.

César Jáuregui, former prosecutor of Chihuahua, is accused of the crime of Treason. Photo: Manuel Sánchez, Cuartoscuro

The accusation argues that, with that conduct, Jáuregui put at risk the sovereignty and independence of the Republic by attempting to subject it to a foreign government.

Villasana explained that the Attorney General’s Office attributes to his client an intentional participation and as a co-perpetrator, not a responsibility derived solely from an omission.

“No, no, no. The accusation is as intentional and as co-perpetrator. He came to an agreement. That is, co-perpetration implies that there is a prior concert and agreement between the parties to commit a crime. So that is how the accusation stands,” he clarified.

They Point to the Deceased Director of the AEI

The defense strategy, according to what the attorney laid out, will focus on maintaining that, so far, all the evidence presented by the FGR indicates that the direct relationship with the U.S. agents belonged solely to Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes, then director of the State Investigation Agency (AEI).

Oseguera Cervantes was one of the four people who died in the rollover that occurred in Polanco, after the deployment related to the operation.

It should be noted that among the elements presented by the FGR’s Public Prosecutor were some of the reports submitted by Wendy Chávez, head of the Specialized Unit that Maru Campos created to investigate the case.

In this regard, it is important to recall that on May 12, in a second report of the state investigation, it was stated that CIA agents had visited the facilities of the Strategic Operations Prosecutor’s Office at least twice, including hours before the operation, and that one of them was carrying a firearm.

Villasana stated that the photographic records and witness statements place the foreigners at the facilities of the State Investigation Agency and not at the central offices of the Attorney General’s Office, where Jáuregui worked.

“The entire investigation concludes that the meetings and the visits and the presence of these people took place at the offices of the General Directorate of the State Investigation Agency. The State Investigation Agency is about 10 kilometers away, it is on the way out of the city of Chihuahua [the exit to Ciudad Aldama], and the central offices of the Attorney General’s Office, where the Attorney General works, are downtown, right next to the Government Palace,” he clarified.

Based on these elements, the defense maintains that it must be clarified who coordinated the presence of the agents, which officials maintained communication with them, and who had knowledge of their participation in the operation.

“So, never, there is no piece of evidence, there is no video, there is no log, there is absolutely nothing that proves there was a meeting between Mr. Jáuregui and these people,” he stated.

The attorney insisted that the investigation must look more deeply into the conduct of those who, according to the evidence presented, had contact with the foreign agents.

It will be up to the Attorney General’s Office to investigate whether, under this same scheme of omission, the Governor could bear serious responsibility.

Héctor Villasana, Jáuregui’s defense attorney

As for former prosecutor Guillermo Zuany, Villasana said that participation is also attributed to him for having been director of Operations of the Strategic Operations Unit.

The attorney indicated that Zuany maintained communication with Oseguera Cervantes, since he had recently left the Directorate of the State Investigation Agency, after the Governor appointed him head of the Strategic Operations Unit and designated Oseguera as director of the Agency.

“The meetings between them are, in a way, logical and understandable for following up on pending matters in this transition,” he noted.

After a hearing that lasted at least eight hours, the defense requested the doubling of the constitutional term to prepare its arguments before it is determined whether Jáuregui will be bound over for trial.

The Judge set the continuation of the hearing for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Because the crime charged carries mandatory pretrial detention, the former prosecutor must remain in jail while his legal situation is resolved, according to what his attorney said.

Judge Submitted Her Resignation

Villasana also confirmed that the arrest warrant against the former Chihuahua prosecutor, César Jáuregui Moreno, was issued by federal Judge Mariana Vieyra Valdez, assigned to the Federal Criminal Justice Center of Almoloya de Juárez, who, as was reported during the hearing, had submitted her resignation.

• 

  News Briefs

  Jáuregui’s Defense Demands That Mexico’s Attorney General Summon Governor Maru Campos to Say What She Knows About the CIA

  October 21, 2026

  His lawyer says all the evidence points to the late state investigations chief, and that Campos changed her version of what she knew on Latinus.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera October 21

  October 21, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on Pemex, fuel theft, Jalisco’s water crisis, missing persons, and the lie detector.

• 

  News Briefs

  Jáuregui’s Arrest Does Not Close the CIA Case in Chihuahua; Morena Demands Broader Investigations

  October 21, 2026

  Morena leader Ariadna Montiel holds Governor Maru Campos politically responsible and says ex-prosecutor Guillermo Zuany must also face justice.

The post Jáuregui’s Defense Demands That Mexico’s Attorney General Summon Governor Maru Campos to Say What She Knows About the CIA appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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A fresh dispute has erupted between Beijing and Taipei over commemorations for Sun Yat-sen, a Chinese revolutionary hero who is revered on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Beijing on Wednesday lashed out at Taipei’s move to ban Taiwanese officials from attending events in the mainland Chinese capital marking the 160th anniversary of Sun’s birth on November 12. Sun brought an end to more than 2,000 years of imperial rule when he founded the Republic of China (ROC) in 1912, and he also founded the...

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Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced Wednesday that Venezuela will hold its Youth Popular Consultation in February 2027, a vote she framed as a platform for young people to convert their talent, creativity and ingenuity into a driving force for national development.

Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez delivered the announcement during a visit to the Nueve Raíces de Simón communal circuit, where she urged the country’s youth to prepare actively for what she described as a democratic appointment that will mark the direction of the coming year.

Rodríguez said the process aims to vindicate the talent, creativity and ingenuity of the new generations and to propel Venezuela toward fresh development opportunities. The call places younger Venezuelans at the center of a participatory model that has gathered strength since 2024.

RELATED: Venezuela to Begin Funding Projects Selected in Popular Consultation Next Week

The announcement lands days after the Second National Popular Consultation of 2026, held on October 18. It was the eighth nationwide vote of its kind since 2024, and officials described the turnout as massive and successful. That result has now been translated into a fresh appeal aimed specifically at young people, signaling the government’s intention to widen the base of participants in community decision-making.

🗳️🔥 ¡LA JUVENTUD SE PREPARA: NUEVA CONSULTA EN FEBRERO 2027!🇻🇪✨

Tras una participación histórica en la pasada Consulta Nacional Popular, la ruta continúa: ¡Jóvenes de toda Venezuela a prepararse desde ya! 💪🌱

El compromiso no se detiene: es momento de seguir adelante,… pic.twitter.com/YyOteBQqLT

— Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Juventud (@Minjuventud__ve) October 21, 2026

Text reads: “Youth is preparing: new consultation in February 2027! After a historic participation in the last National Popular Consultation, the route continues: Young people from all over Venezuela to prepare now! The commitment does not stop: it’s time to move forward, organize and execute projects that will transform our territories.”

A Record October Turnout

Millions of residents from communities across the country turned out on October 18, prompting the National Electoral Council (CNE) to extend voting by one hour.

The scale of the exercise was measured in large numbers. More than 5,418 communes and communal circuits coordinated the work of over 48,000 communal councils, and voters selected among 37,205 priority community projects eligible for public financing.

Rodríguez has championed the consultation model as a vehicle for what officials call popular power. In separate remarks, she described participation in the October exercise as extraordinary, linking the strong turnout to a broader effort to place public decision-making directly in the hands of organized communities rather than distant institutions.

A Broader Community Voice

One of the most notable features of the October consultation was the first-time inclusion of condominium boards, which put forward 428 projects. Acting President Rodríguez celebrated that milestone on social media, underscoring the importance of keeping decisions about everyday matters firmly in the hands of communities themselves.

The proposals reflected local priorities. Acting President Rodríguez had previously detailed that 14% of the projects corresponded to the water sector, followed by initiatives in road infrastructure, lighting, electricity, public services and productive activities, showing residents directing public resources toward their most pressing daily needs.

With the youth consultation now scheduled for February 2027, the Acting President called young Venezuelans to assume what she called absolute protagonism in the process. Organizers expect the new consultation to build on the machinery tested in October and to channel the energy of younger generations into decisions that will shape the country’s near-term path.

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A day after the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, stunned political observers by releasing an ad that featured the estranged mother of his opponent, Amy Acton, calling Acton "a liar," Vice President JD Vance told reporters during an appearance in the state that he was "disgusted."

But the vice president, widely viewed as the likely heir to President Donald Trump's far-right MAGA movement, wasn't disturbed by the content of the ad, in which Acton's biological mother, Donna Arthur, accused Acton of lying about experiencing homelessness as a child.

He wasn't troubled by the fact that Ramaswamy's campaign had enlisted the help of Arthur even though she lost custody of her children and hadn't seen Acton since 1978, when the Democratic candidate was 12 and testified in court that her stepfather, Arthur's husband, had raped Acton. And he didn't express horror over the fact that Arthur fled the state with her husband to avoid legal liability and stayed married to him until his death in 2004 despite his alleged abuse of her daughter, only to be featured in an ad attacking Acton more than two decades later.

Instead, Vance reserved his "disgust" for Republicans who condemned the ad, which Ramaswamy's campaign is now planning to spend $4 million streaming ahead of Election Day.

While the ad has been called "the most disgusting, pathetic ad ever created in the history of political ads" by one observer and has resulted in calls for an end to Ramaswamy's political career, Vance shrugged off the content of the 60-second video by saying, "Politics is a tough business."

He called on his fellow Republicans, some of whom have denounced the ad, to put aside concerns about attacking Acton, whose allegations are backed up by court records—and to focus instead on the dangers posed by Democratic candidates like Acton who have called to expand healthcare access, lower costs for working Americans, and support workers' rights.

"My message to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days," Vance told reporters in Cincinnati.

WOW -- Vance *defends* Ramaswamy's reprehensible ad 👇Q: Ramaswamy's campaign put out a controversial ad featuring his opponent's mother. Some Republicans are backing away from that. Do you think that ad was appropriate?JD VANCE: Well, I'll be honest with you. Whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern. My concern is who is gonna govern. I have to admit I'm a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans who are whining more about that ad than they are about what the Democrats want to do.
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 21, 2026

The vice president added that "whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern" and said he was "disgusted" to see Republicans "who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America."

Vance's position on Ramaswamy's tactics—deployed as Acton was leading him by seven points in one poll by Marist College—brought to mind, for some observers, his comments in 2024 about the Trump campaign's spreading of racist, baseless lies about the Haitian population of Springfield, Ohio eating their neighbors' pets during the presidential race.

Vance told CNN at the time that he was willing “to create stories so that the... media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people."

"Vance's earlier Haitian pet-eating lie and his current embrace of Vivek's weaponization of child abuse are providing a pretty ugly picture of what the Vance 2028 presidential campaign is going to look like," said Jessica Reidl of the Brookings Institution. "Just venom, lies, and smears all the way down."

Republicans who have attempted to distance themselves from Ramaswamy's ad include US Sen. John Husted of Ohio and the state's secretary of state, Frank LaRose, both of whom said they would not have chosen to run such an advertisement. LaRose said his office was reviewing complaints about the video.

An aide for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) deleted a social media post sharing the video and apologized for amplifying it “after researching it, and the disturbing allegations.” Casey Putsch, who ran against Ramaswamy in the GOP primary, said he would cross party lines to "vote for Amy and end Vivek's political future in America" in light of the ad, while former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who sparred with Ramaswamy during the 2024 race, also denounced the video.

After Vance's press conference, former US Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) said that while the ad had exposed Ramaswamy as "digusting, vile, and unfit, JD Vance arrives to show there’s someone even worse."

In addition to the press conference, Vance spoke about the ad and doubled down on attacking Acton at a rally in his home state on Wednesday.

"Now the media and the Democrats in the state of Ohio are obsessed because guess what, Vivek Ramaswamy had the audacity to run a TV commercial which calls it out like it is and calls Amy Acton a liar," said Vance.

WOW -- Vance *defends* Ramaswamy's reprehensible ad 👇Q: Ramaswamy's campaign put out a controversial ad featuring his opponent's mother. Some Republicans are backing away from that. Do you think that ad was appropriate?

JD Vance: "Now the media and the Democrats in the state of Ohio are obsessed because Vivek Ramaswamy had the audacity to run a TV commercial which calls it out like it is and calls Amy Acton a liar" https://t.co/iWKrOKclmW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 21, 2026

He then said that Ohio voters "see through" Acton's "fraudulent activity" before egging on an audience member who suggested the Democratic candidate is an alcoholic.

"Somebody said alcohol," the vice president said with a grin. "You can say it sir, I can't."

Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist with the ACLU, said that with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, Vance's closing midterm argument amounts to "please help us smear a child rape victim to overcome the electoral hurdle of our failing president."

As families across the US struggle with rising prices at the gas pump, grocery store, and doctor's office—linked to Trump's war on Iran, tariff policy, and Republicans' healthcare cuts—the president's approval rating stands at 32%, according to a recent Reuters poll.

Ryan Grim of Drop Site News called Vance's attacks on Acton "truly despicable given JD’s own upbringing" by his mother, who struggled with substance use disorder, which he wrote about in the memoir Hillbilly Elegy.

"JD Vance doubling down on the claim that Amy Acton and her brother are lying about being abused as children. If he is so sure, then why did the state strip custody?" said Grim. "What if his mom was still an addict and did an ad calling JD a liar for his book? Would he be ok with that? Soulless behavior."

The vice president, said journalist Pedro L. Gonzalez, is giving voters a choice "between a party that downplays child sexual abuse and attempts to discredit the victims or the party that doesn’t do that."

"That is his closing pitch," said Gonzalez, "and I hope the only thing people remember him for."

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