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By Caitlin Johnstone – Sep 19, 2026

Julian Assange is officially back on Twitter, restoring to the world an important voice we were robbed of by the US empire’s years-long campaign to silence the WikiLeaks founder via lifelong imprisonment for forbidden acts of journalism.

Not everyone will remember it, but there was a time when this was almost impossible to imagine. It seemed almost certain that this man was going to die in Belmarsh Prison or spend his remaining years in some hellhole in America.

Now whenever my nephew catches me or my husband expressing pessimism about something working out, he tells us “Hey. Assange is free now.” It’s become our family code for “Anything’s possible. Don’t give up hope.”

We should really try to appreciate this. Never let hope die. A better world is possible. Anything can be.

I'm back. https://t.co/2e58azeJkt

— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) September 17, 2026

In other news, it’s good to see the world rejecting Ed Sheeran’s policy of feigned neutrality on the Gaza issue. “I don’t pick sides” is a fallacy when there’s a massive power imbalance and a clear aggressor, especially when your own country is partially responsible for what’s happening. If your husband is abusing your child and you do nothing, you’re not a neutral party in that scenario, and when your kid grows up you’ll probably be blamed just as much as the father.

A modern military force hammering a giant concentration camp full of colonized people using high-tech weapons of mass murder with the help of your tax dollars is not a “war” that you get to be “neutral” towards. It’s a genocide, and you’re either for it or against it. There is no comfortable third option where you get to avoid picking a side and also avoid looking like an asshole.

One of the most idiotic talking points you’ll see these days is that it’s bad to criticize “Israel” without also criticizing Hamas. It’s like, what do you mean? You’re saying I can’t criticize a nuclear-armed high-tech military committing war crimes with the backing of my own country and its allies unless I also criticize a tiny group of besieged militants? You’re telling me I can’t say anything about the abuses of an apartheid state whose supporters are relentlessly assaulting my right to free speech and eroding civil liberties throughout the western world, unless I in the same breath also criticize a few thousand Palestinian resistance fighters who have done me no wrong? What the hell are you even talking about?

No, I’m just going to criticize “Israel”, thank you very much. I am going to criticize the state whose genocidal atrocities are supported by the power structure under which I live and pay taxes, whose support network is systematically demolishing the rights of me and my countrymen. If you don’t like it, go fuck yourself.

I have a few more thoughts for today.

Firstly, I love it when I see “Israel” apologists whining about people responding to their screeds with “I ain’t reading all that. Free Palestine.” All hasbarists have is endless mountains of verbiage explaining why it’s fine and normal to drop military explosives on buildings full of children, so it enrages them when someone takes away their only weapon.

They don’t have truth and morality on their side, so all they have is words, words, words, words, words. Take that away from them and they’ve got nothing, and they know it.

And finally, new rule: if you deny that “Israel” is guilty of genocide in Gaza, then the onus is on you to provide a convincing explanation for why every human rights group on earth (including the Israeli ones) agrees it’s a genocide.

If you hold that there’s an antisemitic conspiracy between all human rights groups, then the burden of proof is on you to show that conspiracy taking place.

If you hold that there’s been an Islamist conspiracy to infiltrate all human rights groups, then you need to provide proof of that conspiracy.

If you hold that there is no conspiracy and it’s just a coincidence that all human rights groups happen to think “Israel” is committing human rights abuses, then you need to provide a convincing argument why every institution of human rights experts coincidentally came to the same conclusion and are still incorrect.

You can’t just say “I disagree with their findings” or “That one group made an argument I find weak” or “It’s not a genocide because blah blah blah.” You need to address the unanimous consensus, because that’s part of the debate now.

Even flat earthers and climate deniers who claim all the experts are wrong at least try to provide arguments for why there’s a secret conspiracy to amplify faulty conclusions in the scientific community, but deniers of the Gaza genocide somehow seem to think they don’t need to address their dissent with the overwhelming consensus of experts in the relevant field.

You don’t get to do that, guys. That’s not a thing. If you’re claiming the experts are lying about one specific country, then you need to provide a detailed and believable explanation for why that might be.

Lawyer Who Represented Julian Assange Takes on President Maduro’s Defense, Presidential Couple Injured

I’ve yet to encounter a single genocide denier who can do this, online or otherwise. Not one.

P.S. Claiming you can’t accuse “Israel” of genocide until the ICJ rules it a genocide is exactly the same as claiming you can’t say Charlie Kirk was murdered until his killer has been officially convicted of murder.

(Caitlin Johnstone)

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From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.

The cutoff hits Saudi exports that had sunk to a nine-year low in August

Saudi Aramco has informed at least two European refiners that they will receive no crude in October under their long-term supply contracts, citing the damage caused by a drone attack on the East-West, Bloomberg reported on 18 September.

According to people briefed on the decision, the cutoff is not limited to the refiners Aramco has notified so far and applies to all of its European buyers.

These customers typically receive Saudi crude every month under term contracts meant to keep supplies steady.

The cutoff has left European refiners scrambling to replace the lost barrels. Poland’s Orlen has already issued more than 10 tenders for alternative cargoes, a move that has amounted to panic buying among some Aramco customers.

Dated Brent, Europe’s benchmark, briefly rose above $130 this week due to the rush driving up prices for regional grades.

CARICOM Judases

Even before the October cutoff, at least three European refiners had Saudi crude cargoes scheduled for the final 10 days of September canceled or deferred until as late as November, according to trade publication Argus. 

Two other refiners expected notices of delays or cancellations to their September supplies.

One market source told Argus that every Saudi cargo due to load in the last 10 days of the month could be at risk, though the refiners in question were not named, and Aramco declined to comment.

Riyadh announced the shutdown of the East-West pipeline, also known as Petroline, on 10 September after drones hit at least two points along its route. 

Saudi authorities have blamed drones they allege were launched from Iraq, an accusation the Iraqi resistance has denied.

No Saudi crude has left Yanbu since 11 September, according to Vortexa data, while Aramco said it was aiming for a partial restart within days and full capacity within six weeks, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The outage deepens the strain on Saudi exports, which had already slumped to around 3 million barrels per day in August, a nine-year low, under pressure from the Hormuz blockade and Yemeni blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.

(The Cradle)

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From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.

By Prabir Purkayastha – Sep 14, 2026

Last week, on 4 September, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an African proposal for a new world map, which shows countries’ true size relative to one another. It aims to correct the view of the world shaped by the widely used world map based on the Mercator Projection, created by Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century Flemish cartographer. The problem with the Mercator Map is well known; for example, it shows the island of Greenland as the same size as the African continent, even though Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland! Simply put, Mercator maps greatly exaggerate the global north—the US and Europe—while shrinking Africa and most of Asia. Nor does it treat the rest of the Southern Hemisphere kindly. South America, nearly three times the size of Europe, looks comparable to it on a typical Mercator map.

Though there is no geographical reason the Southern Hemisphere should be smaller than the Northern Hemisphere, mapmakers made it significantly smaller because it had very little landmass beyond 40 degrees and was therefore cropped out. This meant that on most Mercator maps, because Western mapmakers cropped out much of the Southern Hemisphere, the equator was significantly displaced downward. The double whammy of squeezing the equatorial areas, where much of Africa lies, and shifting the equator down made the global north, particularly Europe and North America, seem much larger than they actually are. Typically, on most Mercator maps, the Northern Hemisphere looks twice the size of the Southern Hemisphere, though the two hemispheres are identical in size.

Any map, whether Mercator or any other projection, has the problem that you can be true to either size or shape, but not both. The problem is a fundamental one of projecting a three-dimensional surface to a two-dimensional piece of paper. There is no way of doing this without distortions. Only a globe can truly represent the three-dimensional earth faithfully. But then what do we do when we want to reproduce geographical details for our readers in books or articles?

The blatant distortions of the Mercator projection and its Eurocentric approach gave rise to several alternatives, particularly among broad-left or progressive cartographers. Others, particularly in the US and Europe, have opposed it, arguing that size does not matter and that they were comfortable being shown much bigger than they actually are. But many dissented and tried to work out alternate projections. The Gall-Peterson projection, which was backed by the German social democratic government of Willy Brandt, is one such projection. The Hobo Dyer projection, which is in the global commons, meaning anybody can use it without paying royalties, is another one. Finally, the United Nations has ended the map wars, with a resounding victory for the motion moved by the African nations for using equal area maps. The voting was 164 in favor of the motion, with the US casting the only nay vote.

The objective of the Mercator map was for ships navigating in open seas, where we can no longer navigate, recognizing various topological features, rivers, hills, villages, towns, etc. On the open ocean, if we identify where we are on a Mercator map and the destination we want to reach, we can travel in a straight line, as shown on the map. It conserves direction, meaning if we plot a course on a Mercator map, we can set our course by it. That is why ocean-going countries used Mercator projections for navigation when they had few instruments beyond the compass and the sextant to determine where they were relative to their destination.

It is important to note that the direction shown on the map is not the shortest path between where you start from and your destination. The shortest path on two points on the surface of the globe is the arc of the great circle from where you are to your destination. A straight line on a 2-dimensional map may look like the shortest distance, but it is not, as it does not account for the Earth’s curvature. Simply put, the price we pay for converting a curved surface to a flat 2-dimensional one is that we distort the shape of the surface. We stretch certain areas and shrink others. On a flat earth, the shortest distance would be what your compass shows, but not on a sphere.

Earlier, ships used stars and the midday sun to estimate where they were and where they needed to go. Setting a course to your destination using a Mercator map and a compass was much easier than trying to guess where you were on an empty ocean with no landmarks and constantly changing course for a shorter route. The constant line on the map was called the rhumb line, and following it greatly helped the ocean farers. Mercator maps were popular in Europe, particularly in Western Europe, because, apart from the Arabs, they were the major ocean-going nations.

While the Arabs focused on trade, particularly in the Indian Ocean, Western Europeans focused not only on fishing but, in the off-season, on piracy, raiding and looting other nations. The Vikings, major romantic figures in Hollywood, were particularly brutal, combining loot with slave trade. Of course, like all pirates, once you become powerful, you can convert that ocean power into conquest. The northern men, or Norsemen, conquered France and later England and are known to us as Normans. Not very different from the Dutch and the British East India Companies, starting with trade and piracy and later establishing colonial empires.

Not surprisingly, the ocean-going kingdoms of Western Europe, for whom war and fishing for food and hunting seals, walrus, etc., for blubber and skins were major sources of wealth, focused much more on seafaring and shipbuilding. This meant ships built for the rougher Atlantic Ocean had certain advances that Arab and Indian ships did not, though the compass, astrolabe, astronomical maps, and other nautical instruments all came from Asia.

Scope of US General License 52C for Oil Operations with Venezuela

Western European ships had deck-mounted cannons, which allowed them to fire ‘broadside’, meaning multiple cannons firing simultaneously, unlike the front- and rear-mounted cannons. That is one of the major reasons a handful of West European countries could use the oceans to first capture the ocean trade and later build their colonial empires. Unlike fixed forts, ships acted as floating ones, giving Europeans mobility in naval wars that static ground fortifications lacked.

As Needham’s monumental work on Chinese science and technology shows, many nautical advances in shipbuilding and navigation came from China. Seven voyages by Zheng He’s ships in the 15th century (1405 to 1443), which traveled from China, Southeast Asia, India, and down the Arab coast to Africa, showed that the Chinese had built huge ships and a powerful navy. At that time, they were well ahead of Europe and the Arabs, in both shipbuilding and warships. Internal differences between the landed aristocracy and the naval commanders led to the navy’s destruction and a ban on building any oceangoing ships.

Although India supplied the timber necessary for shipbuilding to the Arabs and once had a powerful navy, it ceded the oceangoing trade to Arab merchants. Neither China, India, nor the Arabs saw the navy as militarily important. As one Mughal emperor said, oceans are for traders, not us, the warriors. Caste divisions in India also led, at one point, to barring upper castes from undertaking ocean voyages. Crossing Kala Pani, always forbidden by the Brahmins, was not strictly followed. India saw major maritime expansion in the Buddhist period, not by war but through trade and proselytizing Buddhist monks. After the revival of Hinduism in the South, the taboo against upper-caste travel across oceans was enforced more strictly, leaving the oceans to traders and mercenaries. For example, the major fleets of the Indian kings, whether the King of Calicut, also known as Samundri or Zamorin, or Shivaji, relied on mercenary naval commanders and ships, many commanded by the Arabs.

As history shows, maps, ocean trade, and war are intimately connected. Ocean voyages and naval wars make maps strategically important. It is not simply where each country’s borders lie that is important, but also how it strategically views the world. We can see this currently playing out in Bab-al-Mandeb and the Persian Gulf. A quick look at a map would have convinced US leaders that Iran has a clear strategic edge in the Strait of Hormuz, just as the Houthis do in the Red Sea and the passage to the Suez Canal. Neglecting the oceans repeats the mistakes Asia made in a different age, mistakes from which it has learned. We need to bear this in mind today as well.

(Savageminds)

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From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.

French President Emmanuel Macon and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney staged this Sunday the rapprochement between the European Union and Canada as a recipe for “growing threats” to each country’s sovereignty, in a speech delivered at Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the only French possession in North America.

[Trump Threatens to Cut Trade with EU Over Canada Association Plan: France’s Macron Backs Canada-EU Approach](https://www.telesurenglish.net/frances-macron-backs-canada-eu-approach/)

“We support the rapprochement agenda in this future alliance” between Canada and the EU and the project of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, for it to be part “of a European political community,” Macron assured.

He did so in a joint statement with Carney, the first Canadian head of government to visit this French territory of less than 6,000 inhabitants, which nonetheless places France in North America.

The Canadian Prime Minister also supported this rapprochement with Brussels, which he based on a common vision of democratic values and how to face major current crises, such as global warming, trade deregulation, or ongoing conflicts.

French President Macron:

We must work together with Canada to secure our energy supplies and keep fuel prices under control — an extremely sensitive issue for France today.

Canadian liquefied natural gas projects can contribute, are important for our Europe, and will help open… pic.twitter.com/Mquv0YDDRY

— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 20, 2026

A joint message that comes after constant threats from US President Donald Trump to Canada’s sovereignty, to which others have recently been added regarding this small French possession in North America.

“Canada and France share the same view on the period we are going through. We are two great independent countries that want to remain so, we believe in democracy, the rule of law, respect for international law, and free and fair trade,” Macron said.

In the face of “the upheavals our societies are suffering,” among which he cited “threats to sovereignty,” Carney called for “building a new alliance” that would materialize in different sectors, such as Artificial Intelligence or trade, and that “will strengthen collective resilience so that people can live as they choose, based on shared values.”

Both leaders gave special importance to possible exchanges in the energy field, at a time when Canada is developing new liquefied gas projects and Europe is looking for new supply sources in the face of problems in the Middle East, which are driving up fuel prices.

Carney called for cooperation in the development of AI between both countries which, he said, lead the development of these technologies alongside the United States and China.

Carney’s visit to Saint Pierre and Miquelon has high political significance and comes after Trump published a map in which this French archipelago was covered by the United States flag, to which Macron responded by defending French sovereignty over the territory.

The Canadian Prime Minister reiterated this sovereignty over islands that are barely 19 kilometers from its coasts and whose territorial waters have been delimited since 1992 after years of conflict between both countries.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Cuba is experiencing another total disconnection of its National Electric Power System, and efforts are underway to identify the causes, amidst an energy crisis exacerbated by U.S. sanctions that limit access to fuel and spare parts.

Cuba’s Electric Union (UNE) reported a total disconnection of the National Electric Power System (SEN) on Friday, occurring around 2:05 p.m., which caused a widespread power outage across the country.

It also announced the immediate activation of assessment and diagnostic protocols to identify the cause of the incident.

Once the problem is identified, recovery efforts will begin with the aim of gradually restoring the supply by creating electrical micro-grids, prioritizing the operation of hospitals, care centers, water supply systems, and other essential services.

7,000 Supply Containers Bound for Cuba Remain Stranded, Foreign Minister Reports

Energy situation and the US blockade
The text reads, “Update on the National Electric Power System”

The outage occurs amidst the deep energy crisis facing the island, marked by the consequences of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States. US restrictions hinder the acquisition of parts, technologies, and other resources needed to maintain thermoelectric power plants, while also limiting access to the fuel essential for electricity generation.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating Cuba an unusual and extraordinary threat and warned that he would impose tariffs on countries supplying oil—directly or indirectly—to the Caribbean nation. As a result of these restrictions, Cuba has received only one shipment of crude oil so far in 2026, transported by the Russian vessel Anatoly Kolodkin in March.

These measures have resulted in an energy blockade that has significantly reduced electricity generation capacity, causing prolonged blackouts and affecting public transport, water supplies, communications, educational activities, and the healthcare system, where thousands of patients are awaiting surgery.

(Telesur)

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From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.

By Thom Hartmann  –  Sep 18, 2026

At any other time in American history, it would end the career of somebody like Scott Bessent, our limited-intelligence Treasury Secretary. It came out yesterday when Illinois Congressman Sean Casten was questioning him about the “billions of dollars” that Trump keeps claiming America is “getting” from selling Venezuelan oil.

Bessent agreed with Trump, saying the oil and oil money we’ve seized from that country is “one of the largest assets to ever go on the U.S. balance sheet.” Billions and billions of dollars.

So Casten asked him a simple question: Can you tell us who controls that money and where it is? Can you confirm “whether or not those [funds] are flowing to U.S. persons?”

Bessent’s answer was a shocking single word: “No.” He ain’t talkin…

Did Trump take the oil and the money from the oil? Bessent refuses to say. Trump refuses to say. Nobody, in fact, in the Trump regime will tell us where that money is or who controls it or even who’s making the money accrued on its interest.

Here’s what we do know:

Three days after Trump kidnapped President Maduro and his wife, he went on his Nazi-infested social media site and wrote that Venezuela’s oil revenues would be controlled by him personally “as President of the United States.”

Three days after that, he signed an executive order declaring a “national emergency” involving that oil so no court or creditor could touch the money, screwing the bondholders and oil companies to which Venezuela owed roughly $150 billion.

Then Trump started selling the oil we’d seized from Venezuela. The first load, according to Reuters and Semafor, went to commodity trading companies Vitol and Trafigura for about $500 million, groups that the Washington Post said both carry histories of bribery schemes tied to oil sales.

And that money didn’t go to the Treasury account that was described in Trump’s own executive order. Instead, it went to a bank account in Qatar, right after that country’s leaders gave him a $400 million jet. A senior official explained to Semafor that Qatar was chosen as a “neutral location” where money “can flow freely” without risk of seizure.

Senator Elizabeth Warren was outraged, and told the world what most of us were thinking at the time: “There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military. That is precisely a move that a corrupt politician would be attracted to.”

In January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified to the Senate that $300 million had been sent to Venezuela to cover government payroll needs and another $200 million was “still sitting” in Doha. He referred to the entire operation as “novel” and “a short-term mechanism.”

But a month later, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on CNBC that the account had been closed and no more money would be flowing to or through Qatar…and nobody has identified where it went, or where it is, since then.

Where’s the money?

House Foreign Affairs committee ranking member Gregory Meeks called it “an offshore slush fund.” Bessent, questioned by Casten back in February refused to say which accounts the Treasury Department was even using, even though Trump’s executive order had named him/Treasury as the custodian for the funds. Casten and Senator Chris Van Hollen again demanded to know where the money was in March, and were again stonewalled. And then again this week.

Meanwhile, the pile of money is growing, particularly given the oil crisis provoked by Trump’s idiotic war against Iran. Using Bloomberg tanker-tracking data, the Council on Foreign Relations published an April estimate that: “In the first four months of the United States exerting control over Venezuela’s oil exports, almost one hundred million barrels of oil worth an estimated $8 billion have flowed through a process marked by no transparency and minimal oversight.”

A State Department official testified to Congress back in April that around $3 billion had gone back to Venezuela, but Trump boasted in July that the US had sold more than $13 billion in stolen Venezuelan oil and suggested he could divert those funds to the American military or anywhere else he wanted.

Back in June, Marco Rubio tried to assuage Congress’ concerns by saying that accounting firm KPMG “audits every disbursement.” But when the libertarian Reason Magazine dug into it in August they found that neither the agreements nor the audits have been published.

And the so-called “Transparent Sovereignty” website the Venezuelan government set up to show the world its oil transactions only lists one single sale. Apparently, Trump is not even telling them what he’s done with their oil, or where their money went.

And it’s not just oil. In March, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum flew a planeload of American mining executives to Caracas and came home bragging about having made off with over $100 million in gold. He set up a deal to sell it to reportedly bribe-friendly Trafigura with the proceeds going into, well, nobody knows where.

This is an old script that Trump appears to be following here, one many corrupt petrostates pioneered long ago.

For example, in 2014 Nigeria’s central bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, accidentally revealed to his Senate that roughly $20 billion in oil revenue had never made it into the national treasury. President Goodluck Jonathan’s response was to fire him and call the money a “phantom.” When PriceWaterhouseCoopers finally audited the books, it found at least $1.48 billion was simply gone.

The US-Venezuela Oil Deal: Beyond the Announcement

I’ve done international relief work in some of the most corrupt nations in the world, been offered bribes and threatened for not taking them, and the pattern I’m seeing here is eerily familiar. They never announce the looting; they just stop letting you know where anything went or who ended up with it. Most people figure that it must be okay since it’s not being reported or discussed, and the conversation dies away.

So, here we are. Trump:

— announced that he’d taken the oil,
— then that he’d taken the money from the sale of the oil and put it in a bank with the country that had given him a free 747 jet,
— hired traders with bribery records,
— refused to publish the contracts,
— put his own hand-picked cabinet members in charge of both the disbursements and oversight, and
— then sent Bessent to Congress to say, “No” when asked if we could please, please know where it’s all gone.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress seem to have developed a sudden case of lockjaw.

Congressmen Casten and Joaquin Castro have introduced into the House the Venezuela Oil Proceeds Transparency Act to force the GAO to audit the Qatar account and whatever’s followed it. Republicans refuse to let it out of committee, and Mike Johnson won’t give it a chance on the floor.

(Common Deams)

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From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.

Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sewilam, warned Ethiopia this Sunday that Egypt will not allow “anyone to control the key to life” of its population, after accusing Addis Ababa of blocking dialogue for an equitable sharing of the Nile River.

[African Foreign Ministers Promote Equitable Use of the Nile River: Egypt Warns Ethiopia Not To Allow It To Control the Nile](https://www.telesurenglish.net/egypt-warns-ethiopia-not-to-allow-it-to-control-the-nile/)

In a meeting with foreign correspondents in Cairo, Sewilam denounced that Ethiopia is the only country in the Nile basin that refuses to review the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), despite the fact that the rest of the member states agreed in February to reopen negotiations.

In September 2025, Ethiopia inaugurated the “Grand Renaissance Dam”, a large hydrographic project on the Blue Nile that has been viewed with great suspicion, even rejection, from Cairo due to its impact on the river’s flow.

“All countries accepted to restart consultations and amend the agreement to restore the Nile family. Only one country refused to return to the table: Ethiopia,” the minister asserted.

Egypt🇪🇬 has rejected Ethiopia’s efforts to gain access to the Red Sea and warned against the construction of new dams, amid ongoing tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa over regional security and Nile water resources. pic.twitter.com/UOYc0bqGhu

— AFRICA IS HOME GLOBAL (@AfricaisHOME2) September 20, 2026

Egypt and Sudan refuse to sign the CFA – an agreement promoted by the upstream countries to replace colonial-era treaties that granted Cairo majority control of the river – considering that it does not guarantee their water security nor recognizes the pre-existing uses of a desert country of 120 million inhabitants that depends 98% on the Nile for its survival.

Likewise, the head of the water portfolio rejected accusations that Egypt hoards the river’s resources.

According to data presented by Sewilam, based on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), more than 2 billion cubic meters of rain fall annually in the Nile basin countries, of which Egypt only receives 55.5 million, which is 2.7% of the total.

“Ethiopia receives more than 1 billion cubic meters of annual rainfall, and its livestock alone consumes 85.5 million cubic meters of water per year, which represents 150% of all the water that reaches Egypt,” Sewilam emphasized.

Similarly, the minister warned that Egypt is in a situation of “absolute water scarcity,” with a per capita availability of 473 cubic meters per year, less than half of the international water poverty threshold (1,000 cubic meters).

To cover this structural deficit, the country is forced to reuse the same drop of water up to three times through underground drainage networks and mega-treatment structures such as those of the New Delta (7.5 million cubic meters per day) and Bahr El Bakar (5.6 million).

In addition, Egypt indirectly imports more than 30 billion cubic meters of water per year in food.

“We are not against dams or the development of our neighbors. We have approved 36 projects in the upper basin, including four hydroelectric dams. All we demand is respect for International Law, prior notification, and multilateral negotiation,” he concluded.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz enacted the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 1.9 billion dollars, aimed at strengthening his administration’s economic reform program and international reserves.

[Social Protests Persist in Bolivia Amid Diesel Subsidy Removal: Bolivia’s Right-Wing Government Enacts IMF 1.9 Billion Dollars Agreement](https://www.telesurenglish.net/bolivias-right-wing-government-enacts-imf-1-9-billion-dollars-agreement/)

Law 1765, which mentions the multilateral organization’s financing, was published in the Official Gazette of Bolivia without any additional announcement, thus, according to Bolivian regulations, it comes into effect.

The agreement’s validity became effective after the Bolivian president announced on Friday at midnight the lifting of the diesel subsidy, which will now be priced according to the international market value. The price of a liter of fuel increased from 9.80 Bolivianos (1 dollar) to 17.95 Bolivianos (1.83 dollars).

Entérate de la noticia completa 📲: https://t.co/86QKbmwoPQ

🇧🇴💰 Uno de los mecanismos establecidos por la norma es el seguimiento de la ejecución del crédito. El Ministerio de Economía deberá remitir semestralmente a la ALP información e informes sobre el uso y ejecución. pic.twitter.com/vM1OlNVWgZ

— Bolivia Tv Oficial (@Canal_BoliviaTV) September 20, 2026

Paz’ government committed to the IMF to eliminate fuel subsidies starting in 2027, according to the agreement for the implementation of a technical plan reached last July and published last week. The agreement grants Bolivia 1.369 billion special drawing rights (SDRs), equivalent to 1.9 billion dollars, to address the “persistent” fiscal and external imbalances that have affected it in recent years.

The repayment period for the debt is “up to 10 years from each disbursement,” with an interest rate of 3.47%, which may vary “according to the SDR quotation.

“The agreement has been harshly criticized by progressive sectors of the country. Former President Evo Morales criticized the government’s agreement with the IMF, calling it unconstitutional and treasonous to the homeland, based on Article 320 of the CPE which prohibits foreign economic impositions.

Furthermore, he accuses the government of trying to modify the Magna Carta under the pretext of eliminating subsidies and attracting investment, with the aim of privatizing natural resources. He also objects to the possible closure of ten state-owned companies, interpreting it as a step towards privatization and the sale of Bolivia.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

By Atilio A. Boron  –  Sep 16, 2026

Roberto Sánchez and Ivan Cepeda, AFP
Recently, the empire has already stolen four elections in Latin America—one under the Biden administration and three under Trump. But this is not unusual in the history of relations between the United States and our countries. The most notorious cases in the past were those of the 1988 Mexican presidential election, when Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas was stripped of his victory to favor the candidate of the United States and the ruling classes, Carlos Salinas de Gortari. This election ushered in the era of electoral fraud in the region, which was still very primitive compared to what Palantir can do today with great sophistication. At that time, they resorted to a staged “computer blackout”; then, when the National Electoral Institute’s computers were restarted, a “miracle” occurred that radically altered the figures assigned to the leading contenders up until the moment of the blackout.

But there’s more: in 2000, Alberto Fujimori won the election through a blatant manipulation of votes and election records. The maneuver was so brazen that even the OAS withdrew its observation mission to make its protest clear. Months later, Fujimori would be removed from office. Another even more scandalous case was the 2017 presidential election in Honduras, which allowed for the reelection of Juan Orlando Hernández thanks to a “computer blackout” similar to the one that had enabled Salinas de Gortari’s victory in Mexico. It is worth noting that years later, JOH was arrested by US authorities, tried in US courts, and, in 2024, sentenced to 45 years in prison after being found guilty of smuggling several hundred metric tons of cocaine into the United States while serving as president of Honduras and simultaneously acting as a drug lord. Confirming once again the “seriousness” of the US government’s fight against drug trafficking, JOH was granted a pardon by Donald Trump in November 2025 and now enjoys complete freedom to continue his criminal activities.

A quick return to the present day demonstrates the renewed prevalence of this practice of stealing elections in our countries.

• Ecuador, April 2025. The empire and the Ecuadorian right wing erected all manner of obstacles to prevent the election of Luisa González, the candidate of Revolución Ciudadana. A climate of violence was instigated, and a fierce media campaign was unleashed to discredit González, in addition to the unpunished manipulation of the vote count with the open complicity of the National Electoral Council. Thus, the billionaire Daniel Noboa—a US citizen born in Miami, who is said to be the largest cocaine exporter on this continent with his fleet of banana boats—emerged victorious. As far as the Organization of American States (OAS) is concerned, everything is fine.

• Honduras, 2025. Candidate Rixi Moncada, of the ruling Libre Party, saw her electoral chances dashed when Washington made it known that it was considering revising the policy allowing unrestricted remittances to Honduras should Moncada win the election. These remittances are a vital resource for Honduran families: the country receives some $12 billion a year, providing essential relief for those most in need. The mere dissemination of the news triggered a massive exodus of votes, reducing the electoral landscape to a battle between two right-wing candidates: Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party and Nasry Asfura, the candidate of Juan O. Hernández’s National Party. Trump stated on several occasions that his candidate was Asfura, who ultimately won the election with just over 40 percent of the vote.

Latin America Faces Growing US Aggression

• Peru, June 2026, runoff election. The candidate chosen by the empire was Keiko Fujimori, against whom Mario Vargas Llosa himself had not spared any insults due to her proven immorality and complicity in numerous acts of corruption. Roberto Sánchez, representative of a broad sector of the left and the progressive movement, was defeated by Fujimori in a shameless vote count during the runoff election. Fujimori won by a narrow margin of 49,641 votes out of a total of just over 18 million voters. In light of serious allegations of irregularities during the voting process and in the corresponding records, the law allows for the contesting of suspicious polling stations. Of course, to challenge the 1,751 polling stations that showed serious irregularities, one had to pay 1,375 soles per station—a total of 715,000 dollars—which had to be deposited within 72 hours of the election’s conclusion. Mission impossible: no recount, and yet another theft by the empire.

• Colombia, 2026. The recent Colombian election declared a nefarious figure like Abelardo De la Espriella the winner. To achieve this, a master-class cyberfraud was employed, introducing a troubling innovation in the realm of electoral crimes. President Gustavo Petro denounced the existence of a clandestine data center, hosted in the US, from which the vote count was monitored and altered. It is said that this center focused its intervention on just over 5,000 polling stations, set up exclusively for the runoff election. At these stations, De la Espriella received a disproportionately higher total number of votes than at the others. This striking anomaly—which systematically awarded an overwhelming majority to the “empire’s” candidate (who, like his neighbor Noboa, is a US citizen)—allowed him to prevail in the final tally with a lead of some 250,000 votes over Iván Cepeda, out of a total electorate of nearly 25 million voters. Despite President Petro’s allegations, the entire Colombian judicial system—not just the electoral courts, which are dominated by Uribism—completely dismissed the presidential accusation.

• Brazil, 2026. Now, now they’re going after Lula. It is of the utmost importance to exercise the highest level of vigilance to prevent all kinds of fraud, whether electronic or more traditional. Keep in mind that if the election is snatched away from Lula, Trump will have a free hand to—using a chess metaphor—attempt to checkmate the queen, Claudia Sheinbaum, who is relentlessly hounded by the raving orange man. And next in line is Argentina’s presidential election in 2027.

(Resumen Latinoamericano)

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From Orinoco Tribune via This RSS Feed.

This article by Nancy Flores originally appeared in the September 19, 2026 edition of Contralínea, a Mexican investigative journalism magazine.

Documents and emails declassified by the US government on the failed Fast and Furious operation —agreed upon by the administrations of Felipe Calderón and Barack Obama— reveal similarities with the Walking Fentanyl operation. Although the agencies in charge are different —in the first case it was the ATF and, in the second, the DEA—, both were carried out knowing they would cause deaths; in both, the violation of US laws was authorized in order, supposedly, to learn the inner workings of the crimes, and the US border was opened to give free passage both to the trafficking of weapons and to that of fentanyl. Another feature they share is that they failed: the agencies did not land any decisive blow against the criminal networks that operate on US territory. In the case of Fast and Furious, it also involved the intentional violation of Mexican laws; in addition, it contributed to the increase in deadly violence in the north of the country: the weapons were handed over to the Sinaloa Cartel, an organization to which the then-federal Secretary of Public Security and Calderón’s right-hand man was allied.

Second and final part. As the United States was ramping up its intrusion into Mexico through the Mérida Initiative —one of the main sources of funding for the supposed “war” on drug trafficking waged by Felipe Calderón and his secretary Genaro García Luna—, between 2009 and 2010 the operation Fast and Furious (Rápido y Furioso) was carried out, allowing some 2,000 high-caliber weapons to be trafficked to the Sinaloa Cartel.

Led by Group VII of the Phoenix Division —of the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)— that failed “experiment” to learn about the networks that made possible the illegal trafficking of weapons from the United States to Mexico shares several similarities with the recently uncovered operation Walking Fentanyl, carried out by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) during the past administration of Joe Biden.

Documents and emails declassified by the US government regarding the Fast and Furious operation, as well as the announcement of the opening of an investigation into the Walking Fentanyl operation, reveal that both were carried out knowing they would cause deaths; in both, the violation of US laws was authorized in order, supposedly, to learn the inner workings of the crimes, and the border of the neighboring country to the north was opened to give free passage to the trafficking of weapons and of fentanyl, respectively.

Declassified US government documents on the Fast and Furious and Walking Fentanyl operations.

Another feature of the two operations is their failure: neither the ATF nor the DEA obtained information to dismantle the criminal networks that operate in US territory and, with it, halt the illegal trafficking; nor did they land any decisive blows against criminals on the other side of the border.

Additionally, in the case of Fast and Furious —an operation authorized by Calderón’s government— it involved the intentional violation of Mexican laws, in addition to contributing to the increase in deadly violence in the north of the country: the weapons were handed over to the Sinaloa Cartel, and members of that organization —then associated with García Luna— removed the tracking chips and used them to expand their firepower.

Faced with the US government’s attempts to pressure Mexico on the false argument that not enough is being done against drug trafficking, and its threats to intervene in our country, this past September 10 President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo recalled these two cases as part of the problems that the United States has not resolved in its own territory. She also observed that it is part of the electoral fervor, and thus demanded that Mexico not be used to try to win votes.

It’s, if you will, a ‘Fast and Furious,’ but over there; but with drugs, not weapons. So they have plenty of problems over there, or their own problems, without their campaigns devoting themselves to the issue of the United States. They have no reason to use Mexico in their electoral campaign.

President Claudia Sheinbaum

She also exposed the contradictions US authorities constantly fall into: “some days they say: ‘no, Mexico is doing its job very well and we are coordinating very well.’ And another day: ‘no, but they’re not doing enough. Of course, if Mexico does its job, then great; but, if not, well, there can be consequences.’ So, it’s part of the campaign, from our point of view. And what do we say? Let’s coordinate, as we have done up to now, and each side runs its campaigns on its own territory.”

At that morning press conference, Sheinbaum Pardo recalled that the midterm elections in the United States will be held this coming November, and thus reiterated: “let them not use Mexico in their campaign. The United States has its problems. So Mexico should not be used as part of the electoral campaign of the United States.”

Investigation Against the DEA

Beyond the electoral campaign that the Trump administration is facing with low popularity, the Walking Fentanyl operation would show that US agencies did not learn the lesson that the Fast and Furious operation left the ATF.

This past August 31, Congressman James Comer sent a communication to Attorney General Blanche, informing him that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had opened an investigation into the “loosening,” by the Joe Biden administration, “of risk-mitigation protocols related to fentanyl.” The letter details that, through said operation, law enforcement was allegedly prevented from intervening to stop the trafficking of the opioid.

“They allowed deadly street drugs to reach US communities. The first Trump administration developed risk-mitigation protocols that addressed the unique threat that fentanyl poses to public safety, requiring agents to make reasonable efforts to prevent the distribution of this lethal drug. But the Biden administration dismissed those protocols and, instead, allowed the shipments to remain in the custody and control of criminals.”

The document notes that, in early 2023, the DEA intentionally stopped applying anti-drug-trafficking protocols in New Mexico: “instead, the DEA allowed shipments of up to 100,000 pills to remain in the hands of criminals, giving rise to the practice of ‘Walking Fentanyl,’ in which the pills were not intercepted and were allowed to keep moving through criminal networks. DEA agents monitored the shipments of pills but did not seize them, allowing hundreds of thousands of pills to reach the streets of New Mexico” between January 21, 2021 and January 19, 2025.

In his letter, the congressman adds that, according to Biden government officials, the objective of said operation was to build a larger case in order to prosecute more criminals; however, the result was an increase in threats to public safety. He adds that New Mexico was severely affected by fentanyl trafficking, which is proven by the fact that a nearly 21 percent increase in deaths from poisoning by this substance was recorded, against a 14 percent decrease in the rest of the country.

Excerpt from Congressman James Comer’s letter on the Walking Fentanyl operation.

Regarding the protocols the DEA stopped applying, he explains that no operations were carried out to prevent the drug from reaching the streets of New Mexico, no search warrants were requested, and the fentanyl was not seized; instead, it was allowed to “walk.”

And although he acknowledged the likelihood that DEA agents do not have sufficient resources to intercept all the shipments they are aware of, he pointed out that “a policy ordering them not to intercept significant shipments is unacceptable and, without a doubt, caused considerable harm and the loss of lives.” According to the DEA, due to the devastating effects of fentanyl, more than 50,000 people died in 2024; and nearly 80,000, in 2023.

In addition to Congressman Comer’s notes, it stands out that the DEA kept the Walking Fentanyl operation hidden, and that this became known only when the US press revealed it. It also runs counter to other public policies of the Agency itself, such as the “Fentanyl-Free United States” initiative. That one not only focuses on controlling the opioid to reduce its supply, but also includes awareness campaigns to curb demand.

The Agency details that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel have modified their commercial practices: “DEA laboratory tests indicate that 29 percent of the fentanyl pills analyzed during 2025 contained a potentially lethal dose, a significant decrease from the 76 percent of pills analyzed just two years earlier, in 2023. In addition, the purity of powdered fentanyl decreased to 10.3 percent, compared to the 19.5 percent recorded during the same period. The reduction in both potency and purity correlates with a decline in deaths from synthetic opioids to levels not seen since April 2020.”

Lessons From Fast and Furious

The “Walking Fentanyl” operation reveals that US agencies did not learn the lesson of the disastrous Fast and Furious operation, led by Group VII of the Phoenix Division. In that case, the ATF let some 2,000 high-powered weapons “walk” into Mexico, with the supposed objective of tracking them and determining how the illegal trafficking of weaponry for the drug cartels operated.

Declassified reports and emails from that operation detail the ATF’s conduct: in real time, the agency knew that the weapons trafficked with its consent were increasing violence in Mexico and causing more and more murders.

An example of this are the emails that David J. Voth, supervisor of Phoenix Group VII, sent to the other agents involved in the operation. On March 12, 2010, with the subject line: “Monday morning meeting, Strike Force, 9:30 a.m.,” he told them: “I have been informed that a rift may be brewing within the group. This is the moment when we should all come together, not split apart. We all have a right to our respective opinions (even if they are different); however, we must get along and understand that we have a mission to accomplish.

“I am thrilled and proud that our group is the first of the ATF groups for the country’s southwest border to… [CENSORED]. That said, I thank you all for your efforts to date and I applaud the results we have achieved in a short time. Whether it matters to you or not, top brass and headquarters authorities are following this case very closely and also believe that we (Phoenix Group VII) are doing what the southwest border groups were conceived for. It may sound corny, but we are ‘the tip of the ATF’s spear’ when it comes to firearms trafficking on the southwest border.

“We must resolve our problems at this meeting. I will not under any circumstances allow this case to be harmed by trivial arguments, rumors, or other adolescent-type behavior. I don’t know what all the problems are, but we are all adults, we are all professionals, and we have an exciting opportunity to use the most important tool in our law enforcement arsenal. If you don’t think this is fun, you’re in the wrong profession; and that’s that! This is the pinnacle of national US law enforcement techniques. After this, the arsenal is empty. Maybe the Maricopa County jail is hiring detention officers and you can earn 30,000 dollars (instead of 100,000) for serving lunch to inmates all day.

“Finally, many of our fellow ATF agents are coming to town to help us on this case. We must give our best and lead by example. No one wants to leave their family behind or abandon their pending cases to help someone who doesn’t even value their sacrifice. We must overcome this obstacle once and for all and move forward with the mission at hand. This may be the most fun experience you’ll have at the ATF; the only one who limits the fun is ourselves!”

Declassified email from ATF supervisor David J. Voth to Group VII agents.

Almost a month later, on March 2, 2010, David J. Voth again wrote to the entire group and copied the then-prosecutor in Phoenix, Emory Hurley —also involved in the Fast and Furious operation and who, after the scandal, was reassigned from criminal to civil cases—, and George T. Gillett Jr., special agent in charge of the ATF in Phoenix. The subject of the email was: “No pressure, but perhaps with a greater sense of urgency…”

Its content was very telling, since it begins with a list illustrating the violence in Mexico:

• “958 dead in March 2010 (the most violent month since 2005)
• “937 dead in January 2010
• “842 dead in December 2009
• “187 murders in March, including 11 police officers”

“I hope this email is well received, since it is not intended to imply anything other than the fact that the violence in Mexico is serious and, without meaning to be dramatic, we feel a sense of urgency regarding this investigation. Our subjects bought 359 firearms in the month of March alone, including numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles. I believe our plan to dismantle this entire organization is justified, and that rushing to arrest a single person without taking into account the full scope of the conspiracy would be inadvisable for the overall success of the mission. I recognize that we all agree that doing it correctly requires patience and planning. Nonetheless, if there were something we could do to facilitate a timely response or action by others, we should communicate our sense of urgency regarding this matter.

“Thank you all for your continued support in this endeavor,

“David Voth

“Supervisor, Phoenix Group VII”

Declassified email signed by David Voth, supervisor of Phoenix Group VII.

A month later, on May 3, 2010, Voth himself wrote as the subject of the email: “Just for your information…” And in the content, he pointed out to them: “April was the second most violent month during the Calderón administration, with 1,231 killings. This figure is more than double that recorded in the same month of 2009 (560 deaths) and five times that of 2008 (270).”

Declassified email: “April was the second most violent month during the Calderón administration.”

Another document declassified by the US authorities, and identified as “Phoenix Group VII (Firearms Trafficking GRIT/SWB) 785115-10-0004, Operation Fast and Furious (Rápido y Furioso),” notes that said operation was part of “a large-scale firearms trafficking investigation, in which weapons have been recovered either in the Republic of Mexico or on the border between the United States and Mexico (or in its immediate vicinity: El Paso, TX; Nogales, AZ; Douglas, AZ, etc.). To date, more than 1,500 firearms have been acquired since October 2009 —paying more than 1 million dollars in cash, through direct transactions at various federally licensed establishments (FFL) in the Phoenix area—. Currently, the ATF maintains active several judicially authorized audio interceptions (under Title III regulations), and there are sworn statements pending approval at the Department of Justice (Office of Enforcement Operations, or DOJ-OEO) relating to other target phones linked to this conspiracy. This investigation presents multiple strands: the ATF seeks not only to prosecute various individuals for straw-purchase offenses or unlicensed weapons dealing, but, more specifically, to establish the link with the Mexican cartel or drug trafficking organization (DTO) that obtains said weapons, in order to consolidate the strongest possible case and to bring the most serious charges when the moment of formal accusation arrives.”

Declassified document on Operation Fast and Furious (Phoenix Group VII).

And another of the documents details how the weapons were being acquired and how they were handed over to the traffickers: “on May 8, 2010, a cooperating defendant of Task Force VIII of Group VII, of the ATF in Phoenix, participated in the simulated purchase of firearms to later sell them to a trafficker.” To do so, the declassified report notes, he was asked to visit Lone Wolf Trading Company and Arizona Auto Weapons, both holders of federal weapons-sale licenses. There he was to acquire five Beretta 92SF pistols (9 mm, semiautomatic). At the first business they had only two available, while at the second, more than 40. He acquired two weapons, respectively (serial numbers: 1159712 and J395712), and filled out ATF forms 4473 and 3310.4 during the process.

“After returning to the area near the agent’s residence, he met with ATF Phoenix Task Force VIII at a previously agreed-upon neutral location. He photographed the pistols, noted their serial numbers, and provided the cooperator with an electronic audio-recording device. Subsequently, the agent returned to the residence and informed him by telephone of his return. He positioned himself in a nearby location suitable for surveillance.

“At approximately 5:00 p.m. on this date, a black Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible was observed arriving at the cooperator’s residence. Approximately 30 minutes later, the same black Mitsubishi convertible was observed leaving the area. Shortly afterward, the cooperator was debriefed on the encounter with an audio-recording device. During the debriefing, the cooperator indicated that a person, driving the black Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible, arrived at the residence; they spoke generally about possession of the two Beretta 92SF pistols that the cooperator had purchased at LWTC. The person paid him 200 dollars for the weapons. As evidenced in the audio recording (which is part of this file and is incorporated into it), he informed the agent that he would obtain little more profit than this from this (and other) firearms transactions. He went on to describe how his financial needs were the factor motivating him to traffic weapons and how he would continue doing so until those needs were satisfied. In addition, he tried to reassure the agent by stating that he assumed the only real risk in their trafficking arrangement when he erased the serial numbers from the weapons and transported them south, toward their final destination.”

In the end, and as is already known, the Fast and Furious operation not only failed, but it was found to have been responsible for supplying weaponry to the Sinaloa Cartel and, consequently, also contributed to the violence and the increase in intentional homicides in Mexico. It was even documented that some of those weapons were used in the murders of US citizens. Following these events, Group VII was dissolved. However, the case remains unpunished; so much so that Felipe Calderón was never called to clarify his government’s participation in it.

• 

  Analysis

  From Fast and Furious to Walking Fentanyl: Lessons Not Learned by the US

  September 20, 2026September 20, 2026

  Nancy Flores digs into declassified emails showing the DEA let fentanyl ‘walk’ New Mexico streets, echoing the ATF’s Fast and Furious guns to the Sinaloa Cartel a decade earlier.

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  News Briefs

  China Accuses the US of Dividing Mexico over Trade Dispute

  September 20, 2026September 20, 2026

  China’s embassy described the US comments as an expression of “supremacy and hegemony” and asserted that they sought to discredit the economic cooperation between Mexico and China.

• 

  News Briefs

  Sheinbaum Meets Privately with Maru Campos on Her Arrival in Ciudad Juárez

  September 19, 2026

  If any law was broken in the drug operation involving CIA agents in Chihuahua, those responsible, including state officials, must be prosecuted, the two agreed.

The post From Fast and Furious to Walking Fentanyl: Lessons Not Learned by the US appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

United States President Donald Trump announced this Sunday that the triumphal arch he wants to build in Washington D. C. will be a military compound that can house drones and snipers.

[3 Urgent Demands from Washington March Voting Rights Rally: Trump Says DC’s Arch of Triumph Will Be a Military Drone Complex](https://www.telesurenglish.net/trump-says-dcs-arch-of-triumph-will-be-a-military-drone-complex/)

“At the express request of the United States Armed Forces, and for reasons of national security, I have agreed to transform the magnificent Arc de Triomphe into a first-rate military complex and triumphal arch,” the president wrote on his Truth Social network.

Trump:

At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert the magnificent Triumphal Arch, planned since the Civil War Era many years ago, at the Receptive Circle adjoining the Arlington Memorial Bridge, into a top… pic.twitter.com/chjH1R1Io2

— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 20, 2026

In the message, Trump detailed the functions that the military complex-monument would have, which “will allow for the rapid housing, storage, and deployment of a large number of drones and snipers (both on the roof and in the plaza), in addition to having the capacity to store large quantities of sniper ammunition.”

The triumphal arch, projected to be built between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, is one of the great works that Trump is carrying out in Washington and which are not without controversy.

Determined to leave his mark and legacy on the US capital, the president did not miss the opportunity in the Truth message to assure that “no other facility like it will exist in the whole world.”

And he insisted that “among the 59 main cities and capitals, Washington D. C. is the only one that does not have a triumphal arch; but now it will have one that will be, by far, the grandest of all!”

The construction of the triumphal arch has drawn criticism from broad sectors who question everything from the megalomaniacal nature of the construction to the visual changes in the historical axis between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington that would tarnish the solemnity of the military cemetery.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Irregularities detected in the more than 90,000 polling stations set up in Russia for the parliamentary elections held over the past three days are minimal, electoral authorities said on Sunday.

[Russians Vote on Final Day of State Duma Elections: Russian Parliamentary Elections Proceed Without Major Incidents](https://www.telesurenglish.net/russian-parliamentary-elections-proceed-without-major-incidents/)

“The percentage of complaints about irregularities is minimal. If we do the math, it’s less than 0.1% of the 91,000 electoral commissions. Colleagues, this is significantly lower than what we saw in the 2021 elections,” said the chairwoman of Russia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Ela Pamfilova, as quoted by Russian agencies.

Pamfilova assured that all complaints are analyzed “instantly.” “I can confidently state, and I reiterate, that the elections in Russia are being held in full compliance with the law, and voter turnout is very high,” she declared. She also added that reports of massive obstruction of observers’ work are “false.”

“We have practically received no complaints (on that matter),” she said, adding that more than 1,100 independent observers are working in the current elections, about forty of them from the United States and European countries.

Representatives of the pacifist Yabloko party, excluded from the elections, and the Communist Party of Russia had previously denounced the obstruction of their observers’ work at polling stations.

In addition, many voters complained about obstacles to getting a printed ballot and pressure to vote online, which the opposition sees as an instrument of fraud.

More than 111 million Russians in 89 regions are called to the polls since Friday to elect the 450 deputies who will make up the Duma, or lower house of Parliament, in more than 90,000 polling stations.

Russians residing in 152 countries will also be able to exercise their right to vote, where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up 333 polling stations, many of them in diplomatic missions.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

This article by José Shaddai Olvera Torres originally appeared in the September 18, 2026 edition of El Chamuco y los Hijos del Averno, a Mexican satirical and political magazine.

The Embassy of China in Mexico accused the US diplomatic mission of attempting to generate divisions between the two countries through a message spread during the celebrations of Mexican Independence.

The protest arose from a message published on September 15 by the US Embassy with the phrase “Viva México, Made in China,” referring to the foreign origin of the fireworks and other products used during the patriotic festivities.

In a “Solemn Declaration,” the Chinese mission held that the message ignored elementary norms of diplomatic courtesy and disrespected the Mexican people.

Post by @USEmbassyMEX on X

The Embassy also reproached the United States for taking advantage of one of Mexico’s main national dates to question a third nation, instead of sending congratulations.

China Defends Its Trade Relationship With Mexico

The Chinese mission maintained that it is up to the Mexican people to decide how to celebrate their Independence and which countries to choose as trading partners.

A nation’s Independence Day belongs to its people. How and with what to celebrate it is decided by its own people.

Embassy of China in Mexico

Illustration: Fer / El Chamuco

Beijing also defended Mexico’s right, as an independent state, to freely establish its commercial relations.

The Embassy recalled that exchanges between Mexico and China have a history of more than four centuries, linked to the Nao de China (the Manila Galleon), when Asian products such as silk and porcelain were exchanged for Mexican silver.

According to the Chinese position, that historical relationship represents a process of exchange and learning between the two societies.

Beijing Accuses Washington of Using the Mexican Celebration

The Chinese Embassy held that the US publication turned the Mexican national celebration into a stage for the geopolitical dispute between Washington and Beijing.

In its declaration, it described the US comments as an expression of “supremacy and hegemony” and asserted that they sought to discredit the economic cooperation between Mexico and China.

Finally, the Chinese mission asked its US counterpart to respect the host country and to focus on strengthening the ties between the two peoples.

It also questioned what it described as an attempt to “sow discord and division,” and held that this strategy would end up harming those who promote it.

The controversy occurs in a context of tension over the commercial and geopolitical relations among the United States, Mexico, and China, with Washington recurrently questioning the presence of Chinese products and investments in Mexican territory.

• 

  News Briefs

  China Accuses the US of Dividing Mexico over Trade Dispute

  September 20, 2026September 20, 2026

  China’s embassy described the US comments as an expression of “supremacy and hegemony” and asserted that they sought to discredit the economic cooperation between Mexico and China.

• 

  News Briefs

  Sheinbaum Meets Privately with Maru Campos on Her Arrival in Ciudad Juárez

  September 19, 2026

  If any law was broken in the drug operation involving CIA agents in Chihuahua, those responsible, including state officials, must be prosecuted, the two agreed.

• 

  News Briefs

  Beatriz Mojica: From Criticizing AMLO to Coordinating Morena in Guerrero

  September 19, 2026

  The senator on leave is Morena’s pick for governor of Guerrero in 2027, after a career that includes the PRD and her 2018 support for Ricardo Anaya.

The post China Accuses the US of Dividing Mexico over Trade Dispute appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

Susy Aponte, a journalist and candidate for the regional government of the Socios por Áncash movement, known as “la China Polo,” was killed Saturday in a market in the Andean city of Caraz during an electoral campaign tour, days after publicly denouncing death threats against her.

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The attack was carried out by an alleged hitman who shot her in the head, according to local media, which reported that several people accompanying her were wounded. Peru’s National Police detained an armed man as a suspect in the shooting.

In recent days, Aponte circulated a message on her social media in which she accused the director of Criminal Investigation of Peru’s National Police, General Víctor Revoredo Farfán, of allegedly having “ordered an attack” against her after she exposed links between police commanders and the criminal organization Los Pulpos. She said she had received the warning from three prison facilities in the country.

Aponte had scheduled for Sunday the publication of an investigation into Lalo Villa, candidate for Mayor of Huaraz for the Alianza para el Progreso party (APP, center-right), led by businessman and former governor César Acuña.

RELATED: Peru to Detain Irregular Migrants in Military Installations

In response to the attack against the candidate in the October 4 elections, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Violence against Women and Members of the Family Group of Huaylas opened a preliminary investigation under the crime of femicide. Provincial prosecutor Dina Ramos, along with four deputy prosecutors and the National Police, took charge of collecting evidence at the crime scene, ordered the removal of the body, and instructed the review of video surveillance cameras to clarify the cause.

🚨 #LoÚltimo | Fiscalia Especializada en Violencia contra la Mujer y los Integrantes del Grupo Familiar de Huaylas inició investigación preliminar contra los que resulten responsables del delito de feminicidio en agravio de Susy Aponte, candidata al Gobierno Regional, quien… pic.twitter.com/WOyU4iK2tr

— Ministerio Público (@FiscaliaPeru) September 19, 2026

The Peruvian Press Council joined the demands to determine the motives of the crime, expressing on its digital platforms the urgency that this act not go unpunished as has happened with other episodes of aggression against journalists.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

A Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) report says the United States would intervene in Brazil’s presidential election on Oct. 4, aiming to reorient Latin America’s political and economic vision.

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A higher risk level is flagged, according to the report, with a U.S. presence in the region potentially rupturing Brazil’s relations with China and leading to trade tensions over tariffs imposed on Brazilian products.

Titled “Threats to the 2026 Electoral Process,” the document was sent confidentially to the Presidency of the Republic, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and the Ministry of Justice.

RELATED: Lula Announces Security and Sovereignty Measures Amid Pressure Over Brazil’s Oil and Strategic Minerals

ABIN stresses that the measures are justified by arguments that Brazil “has not acted in good faith” in its negotiations, following instructions from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Washington’s demands, the report adds, include Brazil ensuring that “political dissidents” are not stopped or arbitrarily restricted from taking part in the electoral process. That appeared in a draft of commitments.

#Brazil | The Trump administration made 21 demands during talks over 50% U.S. tariffs, including conditions touching Brazil’s 2026 elections, digital regulation and critical minerals.
Brazil rejected the proposal as unacceptable.#UnitedStates #teleSUREnglish pic.twitter.com/YP2cArLh5f

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) September 18, 2026

The diplomatic escalation came after Washington labeled Brazilian criminal organizations as terrorists and, in July, announced sanctions on citizens and companies in Brazil and Portugal, in some cases curbing economic growth

The Lula government has played down Washington’s pressure and triggered trade reciprocity mechanisms in response to the U.S. measures.

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Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela and Paraguay opened a process to restore diplomatic and consular relations during Paraguayan President Santiago Peña’s visit to Venezuela on Saturday, September 19. His meeting with Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez concluded with the signing of a framework for cooperation, while Paraguay’s longstanding oil debt to PDVSA remained unresolved.

The rapprochement comes after years in which diplomatic ruptures and Paraguay’s support for US-backed efforts to remove President Nicolás Maduro stranded the relations, and Paraguay refused to repay Venezuela the money owed to the Venezuelan state oil company.

The debt stems from fuel supplied by PDVSA to its Paraguayan counterpart, Petropar, in 2009. The debt has previously been reported at more than $300 million. Orinoco Tribune’s November 2023 coverage put it above $360 million. Current Paraguayan officials cite approximately $300 million while disputing the interest calculation. The final amount remains contested.

In 2019, the then president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez broke relations with Caracas and supported the US-backed “interim presidency” of Juan Guaidó. In November that year, members of Abdo’s administration held talks with Guaidó’s representatives over a proposal to reduce Paraguay’s debt.

Those negotiations became a corruption scandal in January 2021. Reporting identified Abdo’s minister of government, Juan Ernesto Villamayor; Guaidó’s asset-recovery commissioner, Javier Troconis; and Argentinian lawyer Sebastián Vidal as participants in those negotiations. Draft terms envisaged forgiving half the debt recognized by Paraguay and paying Vidal a commission exceeding $26 million, igniting the scandal.

Villamayor subsequently confirmed the contacts and proposed a 50% reduction, but said that no agreement was concluded because of doubts over the representatives’ legal authority.

In July 2023, before taking office, Santiago Peña expressed willingness to pay, invoking financing terms that, according to him, were for 15 years at 2% interest. In November 2023, Peña and President Maduro agreed to restore diplomatic and consular relations. Venezuela severed ties again in January 2025 after Peña claimed that far-right opposition figure Edmundo González was the winner of Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, in a clear act of interventionism.

Ahead of Saturday’s visit, Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano reiterated on Friday, September 18, that Paraguay recognizes the debt but challenges the interest demanded. He said the difference concerned charges that Paraguay considers outside the commercial agreement and that is part of a legal procedure being discussed in the International Chamber of Commerce’s arbitration process in Paris, as reported by news outlets in Venezuela.

ABC Color in Paraguay reported that Ramírez also left open the possibility of resuming fuel purchases from Venezuela, while stressing that the visit would begin talks rather than immediately reopen embassies. Paraguayan outlet RDN linked the approach to rising fuel prices and the search for additional suppliers. No new purchase agreement has been confirmed.

On Saturday, Peña arrived at Maiquetía airport with his wife, Leticia Ocampos, and was received by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia. Delcy Rodríguez subsequently welcomed him to the Simón Bolívar Hall at Miraflores Palace.

The talks covered trade, consular services, energy cooperation and outstanding financial commitments. According to Telesur, the meeting emphasized mutual respect, sovereignty, equality between states and peoples’ right to self-determination.

Venezuela’s VP Blasts Paraguay’s President for Serving US Interests & Not Honoring Debts

Plasencia and Ramírez then signed a joint document setting out a path for renewed cooperation and the progressive restoration of relations.

Afterward, Peña declared that the discussions also addressed economic strengthening, Venezuela’s institutional process and cooperation against transnational organized crime. In remarks reported by the Paraguayan media Última Hora, he confirmed that dialogue had begun toward an eventual restoration of diplomatic and consular ties.

The announcements included no repayment schedule, agreed interest calculation or new oil-supply contract. Recovering the money owed to the Venezuelan people would remain an outstanding issue in the renewed relationship.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

OT/JRE/SC

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Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—A circulating provisional speakers list places Venezuela at head-of-state level during the United Nations General Assembly’s upcoming general session, fueling reports that Acting President Delcy Rodríguez will address the gathering. The Venezuelan government, however, had not publicly confirmed her participation as of September 19.

An image, dated September 4 and headed “Revised Provisional List of Speakers,” assigns Venezuela the third slot in the Thursday, September 24 afternoon session of the General Assembly, following Uruguay and Senegal. The session runs from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., New York time. In the list, “HS,” meaning head of state, appears beside Venezuela, but Rodríguez is not named.

These details match reporting published by Venezuelan news outlets claiming that they obtained the official list. Nevertheless, the September 4 document could not be independently authenticated against a publicly accessible UN original document. Its provisional status also means that the proposed representation and speaking order is subject to change.

The UN’s official website confirms that the UNGA’s 81st session will take place September 22–26 and September 28. Its theme is “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”

Meanwhile, President Nicolás Maduro remains captive in a US prison in New York, the same city hosting the UN General Assembly. No information has been released about whether Rodríguez might visit or communicate with him if her trip is confirmed.

Reports of a possible meeting with TrumpUS mainstream media have also reported plans of a Rodríguez–Trump meeting in New York. The Associated Press reported on September 18 that US officials anticipated an informal meeting during UN week. Separately, far-right Venezuelan news outlets reported, citing US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, that the meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 22.

These reports attribute the plans to Washington. There has been no confirmation from Caracas. Any meeting would carry particular political weight after the January 3 US military attack and the abduction of President Maduro and First Lady and National Assembly Deputy Cilia Flores.

Rodríguez’s attendance would bring Venezuela back to in-person participation at presidential level after years of US imperialist threats against President Maduro. The last time that a Venezuelan head of state addressed the UN General Assembly was in September 2018, when President Maduro denounced Washington’s interventionism, economic persecution and attempts to seize control of Venezuela’s resources.

Delcy Rodríguez addressed the UN General Assembly on September 27, 2019, as the vice president of Venezuela, representing President Nicolás Maduro, months after Washington backed Juan Guaidó’s self-proclaimed presidency in its campaign to overthrow President Maduro. In her speech, documented by the UN, she declared that Venezuela would never bow to imperial powers and accused Washington of targeting the country’s social model because it challenged US capitalist supremacy.

She described the US Treasury Department as an “economic Pentagon” and condemned the sanctions as “new economic terrorism,” accusing Washington of seizing Venezuelan assets and imposing a financial blockade that undermined health, education and nutrition. Rodríguez dennounced that sanctions used civilian suffering to enforce US domination and punish countries pursuing a multipolar world. She called for an investigation into US violations of the UN Charter and accused Washington of committing crimes against humanity.

Venezuela has continued participating through other representatives in UN forums. In the September 2025 session of the General Assembly, then-Foreign Minister Yván Gil represented Venezuela. Gil condemned US regime-change efforts, unilateral sanctions, and the military threat against Venezuela and the Caribbean.

Voting rights and regional diplomacyAnother issue is whether the diplomatic opening could facilitate restoration of Venezuela’s General Assembly voting rights after years of exclusion. Venezuela has faced difficulties paying its UN fees due to the US financial blockade, which has obstructed access to funds and international transactions.

The UN’s current Article 19 page still lists Venezuela among countries affected by contribution arrears. The General Assembly may grant an exception when nonpayment results from circumstances beyond a member state’s control.

Restoration therefore remains a possibility requiring a separate financial or institutional resolution.

Trinidad and Tobago Intends to Re-establish Relations With Venezuela

Trinidad attemts to re-establish relations with VenezuelaMeanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has announced plans to meet Delcy Rodríguez during UN week. As Orinoco Tribune reported on September 18, Persad-Bissessar said that preparations were complete for talks aimed at rebuilding bilateral relations, with energy cooperation among the central interests.

The Trinidadian prime minister has been accused by both political opponents and allies of actively facilitating the January 3 US military invasion of Venezuela. She has also been criticized for promoting a xenophobic campaign against Venezuelan migrants in Trinidad and Tobago.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

OT/JRE/SC

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Russian citizens took part Sunday in the third and final day of voting to renew the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, amid attempts by Ukraine to sabotage the voting.

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Voting began last Friday. Russia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) said Sunday that nationwide turnout exceeded 45% of the electoral roll. “Currently, more than 45 percent of voters have already cast their ballots across the country,” CEC chairwoman Ella Pamfilova told the press.

RELATED: Drone Strikes Cooling Tower at Russia’s Kursk-2 Nuclear Plant

The process will decide all 450 State Duma seats for its ninth legislative term, as well as governors in eight regions and more than 20,700 local positions across the country.

🇷🇺 September 20 – voting in Russia’s State Duma elections is underway at diplomatic missions.

Polling stations open at 8:00 am local time.

📸 A glimpse of the main election day abroad:

👉 https://t.co/pAulFQE4Zp pic.twitter.com/23TE1TJ9gC

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) September 20, 2026

President Vladimir Putin described the elections, held from September 18 to 20, as the most significant event in Russian domestic politics.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

A massive blackout affected hundreds of thousands of users Saturday night in neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, causing traffic light failures and leaving people trapped in elevators, requiring the intervention of firefighters of the Argentinian capital.

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At its peak at 9:45 p.m. local time, the outage reached 519,472 users of Edenor and 78,125 of Edesur, according to reports from the National Electricity Regulatory Entity (ENRE). Within Edesur’s concession area, the hardest-hit zones included La Paternal, Flores, Floresta, Villa del Parque, Vélez Sarsfield, Caballito and Villa Santa Rita, with outages also reported in Palermo, Belgrano, Villa Urquiza and Villa Devoto.

RELATED: Marcha de la Bronca Argentina: 5 Powerful Demands Against Milei’s Harsh Cuts

At 9:30 p.m., Edesur communicated that service had been normalized for customers affected by a system failure unrelated to its company, specifying that tonight’s incident reached a group of customers in the southern and northern areas of the AMBA, some of them within its distribution concession area.

🇦🇷 Apagão de grandes proporções deixa quase 600 mil pessoas sem luz em Buenos Aires

As causas do incidente ainda são desconhecidas.

Belgrano, Palermo, Las Cañitas, Villa Urquiza, Villa Crespo, La Paternal e outros bairros da capital e da província de Buenos Aires foram afetados pic.twitter.com/3AoPUS2jAS

— RT Brasil (@rtnoticias_br) September 20, 2026

Restoration unfolded that same night. In Edenor’s area, the number of affected users fell from more than 500,000 to 24,094, then to just over 2,000, until full service restoration was achieved. Edesur reduced users without power to 70,272 by around 10:00 p.m. and to 69,013 minutes later, achieving general normalization near 10:20 p.m. After 11:00 p.m., electricity supply was regularized for the vast majority of the population, with only 891 account holders remaining to be reconnected.

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This article by Jesús Estrada, correspondent, originally appeared in the September 19, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left-wing daily newspaper.

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, held a private meeting with PAN Governor María Eugenia Campos Galván at midday this Saturday at the Abraham González airport in Ciudad Juárez. The state governor and the president addressed various issues, among them the case of the participation of CIA agents in operations against drug trafficking, two of whom died in a car accident in the municipality of Morelos this past April.

As she left the airport to head to the “Honesty and Results” event at the Plaza de la Mexicanidad, Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that she had spoken with Maru Campos about the alleged illegal intervention of U.S. agents. “We spoke about coordination; what I told her is that in the event there was a violation of any law, action must be taken — she agreed — in case any official of her government acted wrongly, that it proceed.”

The agreement with the governor of Chihuahua was that, “through the Secretariat of Governance and the Secretariat of Security, depending on the issue, we will work jointly for the well-being of the state of Chihuahua.”

In the event there was a violation of any law, action must be taken. If any official of her government acted wrongly, let it proceed.

Claudia Sheinbaum

On Friday, from Irapuato, Guanajuato, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that, despite the significant differences she has had with the governor of Chihuahua, María Eugenia Campos, over the participation of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents in an anti-drug operation in the state, she would meet with her today at the Ciudad Juárez airport, but that it would be with the Secretary of Governance, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, that the PAN governor would take up state-related matters.

“She sent me a letter requesting a series of meetings, taking advantage of my visit to Chihuahua. The truth is I am going to the (accountability) event and from there I am off to Baja California,” she said.

She emphasized that she asked the Secretary of Governance to speak with her. “They will have several meetings on the issues she is requesting through the Secretariat of Governance in Mexico City,” she affirmed.

• 

  News Briefs

  Sheinbaum Meets Privately with Maru Campos on Her Arrival in Ciudad Juárez

  September 19, 2026

  If any law was broken in the drug operation involving CIA agents in Chihuahua, those responsible, including state officials, must be prosecuted, the two agreed.

• 

  News Briefs

  Beatriz Mojica: From Criticizing AMLO to Coordinating Morena in Guerrero

  September 19, 2026

  The senator on leave is Morena’s pick for governor of Guerrero in 2027, after a career that includes the PRD and her 2018 support for Ricardo Anaya.

• 

  News Briefs

  Morena’s Elections Commission Chief: Differences Are Natural to a Living Party

  September 19, 2026September 19, 2026

  Amid criticism over the 10 chosen profiles, Citlalli Hernández, president of Morena’s National Elections Commission, defended the differences as natural to a living party.

The post Sheinbaum Meets Privately with Maru Campos on Her Arrival in Ciudad Juárez appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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A demonstration marched through the streets of Tunis this Sunday demanding the release of members of the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza, detained in the North African country since March.

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Seven members of the Global Sumud Flotilla coordination committee were detained on March 6 after Tunisian police prevented a commemoration of the initiative at the port of Sidi Bou Said. Days later, a judge of the Economic and Financial Judicial Pole ordered preventive detention for all of them.

The judge’s order alleged money laundering. The national committee for the defense of the activists denounced at the time that the order was issued without the activists — among them Wael Nawar, who managed the funds donated for last summer’s humanitarian initiative to Gaza — having been interrogated.

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights stated that the financial charges imputed to the detainees are “fabricated” to “undermine” future solidarity actions with the Palestinian people.

RELATED: Gaza Schools Reopen In Tents After Three Years Of War

In the march, demonstrators expressed support for the detained activists and denounced the “criminalization” of support for the Palestinian cause and the mistreatment of prisoners by Tunisian authorities. The protest was supported by Tunisian civil society associations and political parties, with slogans such as “there is no fear, the street belongs to the people” and chants in favor of Palestine.

On September 13, a Tunis court ordered the extension for another four months of the preventive detention measure imposed on four Tunisian activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla, arrested on Tunisian territory and currently on hunger strike to protest their imprisonment.

The national committee for the defense of the activists has portrayed their imprisonment as a “serious indicator of the decline of the official Tunisian stance,” a historically pro-Palestinian country, and an “alignment with imperialist policies.”

URGENT CALL TO ACTION: Wael, Nabil, Ghassan, and Ghassan are on hunger strike, and their health is deteriorating fast. Four lives are on the line.

Their appeal hearing is September 23rd. We’re calling on everyone to mobilize on September 22nd, outside your local Tunisian embassy… pic.twitter.com/OElffxYECd

— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) September 19, 2026

In posts on X, amid the march in Tunis, Global Sumud Flotilla reiterated that Wael, Nabil, Ghassan and Ghassan are on hunger strike and their health is deteriorating rapidly. “Four lives are on the line,” warned the coalition of solidarity organizations, which reported that their appeal hearing is on September 23. “We’re calling on everyone to mobilize on September 22nd, outside your local Tunisian embassy or consulate. Every voice counts.,” the Flotilla wrote.

A similar situation was experienced by 10 members of Convoy Global Sumud Magreb in Libya between May and late June, when they were released. The activists, from Spain, Poland, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia and Italy, were illegally held in unknown areas and also went on hunger strike.

Palestinians who have been resisting settler violence and land theft for decades are asking us to show up. Physical attacks by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank are escalating daily. Homes are being demolished, land seized, and families driven out in night… pic.twitter.com/FW0HQRSnEM

— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) September 5, 2026

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Protests in Bolivia are still ongoing as the government eliminates the diesel subsidy and extends a state of emergency, with former President Evo Morales warning of food price increases.

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Supreme Decree 5716 set the initial diesel price at 17.95 bolivianos ($1.83) per liter as of Saturday, September 19, replacing the traditional fixed price that provided certainty to the economies of workers and communities with a market mechanism indexed to the international import cost and considering transport, storage and taxes.

The decision, seen as contrary to popular interests, came after pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the Legislative Assembly’s agreement to extend the state of emergency for another 90 days, perhaps anticipating social rejection of the “dieselazo.”

RELATED: Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Announces Diesel Subsidy End

From the opposition, Morales denounced that the suppression of the subsidy and the extension of constitutional restrictions constitute an external imposition dictated by the IMF. He said the sudden rise in input costs will directly affect small farmers and trigger an uncontrolled increase in the prices of basic foods for the population, in addition to impacting other sectors.

In Morales’s view, the Executive expanded “the state of emergency to impose the dieselazo right before the summer planting. They don’t care that small producers don’t know where to get money to buy fuel, fertilizers and other inputs.” He added that “the Government chose to unload the weight of the adjustment onto those who work the land” instead of publicly debating the measure and adopting social protection and productive stimulus policies on the eve of the El Súper Niño event. He asserted that the Government subordinated itself to the IMF and that the country is not run by Paz but by the U.S. Southern Command, which months ago made clear it is interested in controlling Bolivia’s resources.

Morales also addressed the issue this Saturday at the assembly of the agrarian union organization of coca producers Central Isiboro, and at the inauguration of the Tambaquí Fair at the Central Ayopaya of the Carrasco Federation in Puerto Villarroel, in the Cochabamba Tropics. He added that the U.S. is disputing control of Bolivia’s natural resources. Emphasizing the just popular concern over the “dieselazo,” he called on the workers gathered there to continue fighting without giving up.

During an expanded meeting, the president of the Federation of Mining Cooperatives, Josué Caricari, rejected that the IMF impose conditions on Bolivia and mortgage the future of popular sectors that — he said — will be the ones to pay the debt of 1.9 billion dollars that the Fund’s credit will entail, and another 3 billion that other credit organizations would provide.

The general secretary of the Bolivian Trade Union Confederation of Intercultural Original Communities (CSCIOB), Aquilardo Caricari, questioned Paz over the “dieselazo” and regretted that the Government lied to the people when it initially assured that Supreme Decree 5676 would affect only large fuel consumers. He warned that eliminating the subsidy will generate negative repercussions for the population.

Ampliaron el Estado de Excepción para imponer el diéselazo final justo antes de la siembra de verano.

No les importa que los pequeños productores no sepan de dónde sacar plata para comprar combustible, fertilizantes y otros insumos. Y cuando falten alimentos y suban los…

— Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) September 19, 2026

The criticisms occurred amid broad rejection of neoliberal-style decisions and corruption scandals within the Executive, including revelations about the relationship between Paz and far-right operator Fernando Cerimedo. In early 2026, the country faced intense protests after the “gasolinazo,” which the right-wing Government tried to impose through DS 5503. Months later, in May-June, it faced several weeks of mobilizations and blockades against privatizations, during which the resignation of the Cabinet was demanded.

The extension of the state of emergency endorsed by the Legislature seeks to prevent the resurgence of road blockades and social protests. The Government reproaches organizations and social movements that promote protest actions threatening circulation and supply.

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Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez led the signing of a memorandum of understanding between state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) and French-origin TotalEnergies E&P New Ventures, a subsidiary of the energy group TotalEnergies, to strengthen cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector.

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The commitment was signed on Saturday by PDVSA President Héctor Obregón and TotalEnergies Senior Vice President for the Americas Francisco Javier Rielo.

RELATED: Paraguayan President Arrives to Venezuela For a Working Visit

This same week, acting President Rodríguez celebrated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between PDVSA and U.S. company Continental Resources to develop and operate a strategic block in the Orinoco Oil Belt.

La presidenta de la República, @delcyrodriguezv, lideró este sábado la firma de un Memorando de Entendimiento entre Petróleos de Venezuela S. A. (PDVSA) y la empresa multinacional francesa TotalEnergies E&P New Ventures, una filial del grupo energético TotalEnergies. pic.twitter.com/0ZkMHhqweT

— PDVSA (@PDVSA) September 20, 2026

Through her official Telegram channel, the Venezuelan official said the agreement is “aimed at boosting new technical and financial capacities for the development of the Ayacucho 2 Block of the Orinoco Oil Belt.” She highlighted that “with these strategic alliances, we are advancing in strengthening our hydrocarbon production and in generating new opportunities for Venezuela’s economic growth.”

The Ayacucho 2 Block is located in Anzoátegui state, north of the Orinoco River, within the world’s largest crude reserve. It covers a total area of 51,000 hectares and has an estimated in-situ oil resource of 30 billion barrels.

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By William Serafino  –  Sep 17, 2026

In a rapid and strong military offensive on the Yemeni coast of the Red Sea, the political-military movement Ansarallah (the de facto government of Yemen) has gained strategic influence over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a commercial and fuel route whose geopolitical significance has increased exponentially since oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was halted by Iran in response to Washington and Tel Aviv’s illegal attacks on its territory in February.

A game-changing blitzkrieg
In just a few days, like a domino effect, Ansar Allah’s military campaign seized strategic positions in Yemen that were under the control of the government backed by Saudi Arabia.

According to a report by Al Mayadeen, on September 10, “Yemeni forces took control of the districts of Hays and Al-Khokha, south of the Hodeidah governorate, on the Red Sea coast,” as part of a broad ground deployment by Ansarallah that included simultaneous battles in the southwest and the interior of the country.

On the same day, the strategic port city of Mocha, just a few dozen kilometers from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, fell to Ansarallah. Mohammed al Bukhaiti, a member of the Ansarallah Political Bureau, told RT that the organization had taken control of the strait, which contributed to pushing oil prices above $100 a barrel.

Coastal advances have continued, with the islands of Perim, Greater Hanish, and Lesser Hanish falling to Ansarallah forces, as they aim to dominate the artery connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean through which 12% of global trade transits.

The political and military setback suffered by Riyadh is energy-related in addition to territorial. In this regard, the situation resembles a general short circuit: facing a combination of precision attacks from Yemen and Iraq, the Saudi government has shut down the East-West pipeline, is trying to overcome the damage to its refineries, and has suspended oil shipments from the port of Yanbu.

Break in the Hormuz safety valve
The Yemeni advance occurs at a particularly critical moment in the confrontation between Washington and Tehran in the Strait of Hormuz, with US attacks on oil tankers and Iranian counterattacks on US military assets in the Gulf escalating in intensity.

As the situation in the strait has worsened, Riyadh has increasingly relied on the East-West pipeline to transport crude oil from Hormuz to Yanbu, and then export it via the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

In light of the new geopolitical scenario in the Red Sea, this logistical reorganization of regional oil trade has weakened, significantly affecting global crude prices.

The firm Rystad Energy predicts a bleak short-term scenario, as daily transport volume through the pipeline (between 2.6 and 4 million barrels per day) risks “disappearing from the market.” The sky is the limit for future increases in the price of a barrel.

The simultaneous double energy stranglehold on Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb not only intensifies the ongoing international fuel crisis but also restricts the already narrow margin of maneuver of a global energy industry that had weak mechanisms to respond effectively.

According to experts cited by The Guardian, “the stock buffers that existed in the system earlier this year, shielding the world from the worst effects of an oil shock by limiting price increases, have now largely disappeared.”

Trump, the big loser
With a transmission speed surpassing that of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Yemeni geopolitical game changer made its powerful effects felt on the backbone of the US political economy: fuel prices. The rapid turnaround acted as a multiplier for the existing global supply restriction in Hormuz.

Over the weekend, the price of diesel exceeded $6 per gallon, adding an extra $2.58 to what consumers were paying a year ago. Gasoline, for its part, is dangerously climbing toward $5 per gallon, according to national averages recorded by the American Automobile Association.

The upward trend in fuel prices implies a double political blow for Trump in the upcoming midterms, where the Democratic Party leads national voting intention thanks to potential support of independents, according to recent YouGov polls.

Trump’s loss of face before US citizens
Trump has been politically exposed for failing to fulfil his grand promise to lower gasoline prices below $3 per gallon. Since then, facing the impossibility of turning his word into material reality, he has been modifying his statements to offer a perspective of relief close to the elections or immediately after them.

However, unless there is a unilateral concession from Iran, which there is no indication could happen in the short term, there is no viable way to ease the cost of fuel.

If the All-America survey by CNBC in October 2025 showed a 62% disapproval of Trump’s economic management, it is logical to infer that disapproval is increasing at the same pace as the rising numbers on gas station counters across the US.

On the other hand, the recent official figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a 3.4% increase in prices in August. A third of that increase corresponds to the surge in fuel prices, directly associated with global oil prices in the three-digit range.

Thus, the frustration at the gas stations translates directly to the household economy, the central battleground of the November midterms. There, Democrats have gained a significant advantage with their affordability narrative.

The other damage is partisan. Following the national climate, Republican voters are increasingly dissatisfied with the country’s economic situation.

A recent report by Natalie Allison of The Washington Post illustrates the collapse: in January of this year, according to the New York Times and Siena University poll, “72% of Republican voters stated that the economy was better than a year before. Now, nine months later, only 29% of Republicans feel the same way.”

The cruel twists of history have led Trump to become his own target. In that distant 2012, a year that now seems a century away, the current US president tweeted: “Gas prices are at crazy levels—fire Obama!”

Careless speech can cost one dearly.

Venezuelan Oil Cannot Fill US Strategic Reserves, Trump Faces Electoral Defeat in Midterms

A dead end
Victim of his own arrogance, Trump has entered a maze and seems to have thrown away the key. His ammunition is scant, to say the least, to reverse the consequences of the war that he unilaterally launched in West Asia in February.

He cannot keep releasing crude from strategic US reserves due to its dangerously low levels. The temporary measure of lifting restrictions on sanctioned vessels to access oil stored offshore worked momentarily, but according to Chevron CEO Mike Wirth, “those reserves have already been depleted.”

Betting on an exponential increase in Venezuelan production runs counter to market reality, and filling the US reserve with crude from Venezuela presents significant operational and technical obstacles.

The extreme severity of the situation forces Trump to choose between politically costly and deeply damaging extremes electorally.

Making a pact with Iran to resolve the geopolitical deadlock in Hormuz will project him as a weak personality, a perception that is by no means convenient in the final stages of an electoral process.

At the same time, moving forward with a military escalation without a guaranteed horizon of victory will only add more fuel to the fire, making the problem that he is trying to solve unmanageable.

Facing this destructive dilemma, Trump most likely hopes that a fierce Saudi counteroffensive, combined with Ansarallah’s logistical difficulties in maintaining its epic territorial conquests, will break Yemen’s dominance over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Even if that were to happen today, it is impossible to put out the fire.

(Diario Red)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF

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Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz announced the elimination of the diesel subsidy in Bolivia, which as of this Saturday is being quoted according to the international market, and announced a series of economic measures to counteract the effect of said measure on the economy.

[Evo Morales: Diesel Subsidy Withdrawal Is a Punishment for Producers: Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Announces Diesel Subsidy End](https://www.telesurenglish.net/bolivian-president-rodrigo-paz-announces-diesel-subsidy-end/)

“We have made the decision that as of today, diesel will cost us the same as it costs us to buy it abroad. We cannot buy expensive to sell cheap so that a few can steal it,” said the president in a recorded message broadcast on national television.

This readjustment raises the price of diesel from 9.80 bolivianos (1 dollar) to 17.95 bolivianos (1.83 dollars). Although the cost of said fuel had been adjusted since August 17 only for “large consumers.”Paz announced that Bolivia’s resources “will no longer be used for this subsidy,” but will be allocated to the construction of public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and roads.

🚨 Rodrigo Paz elimina el subsidio al diésel y lo comercializará a precio internacional

🔴 El presidente de Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, anunció la eliminación del 100% del subsidio al diésel en el país, afirmando que a partir de ahora se comercializará a precio internacional para… pic.twitter.com/gW6sn4pm7U

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) September 19, 2026

He also said that 2.9 million people will receive a new payment of the Extraordinary Protection and Equity Program (PEPE) bonus and that the Government will allocate 800 million bolivianos (81.6 million dollars) in credits with preferential conditions for heavy cargo transporters, guilds, artisans, and small merchants.

The president withdrew the fuel subsidy that had been in effect since 2005 in December, although in January he had to issue a new decree with that measure after protests from labor unions that questioned other provisions of the original norm.

At the beginning of July, the Executive issued a decree that keeps the fuel prices established in December fixed for another six months, given the application of the flexible exchange rate for the dollar and external factors that affect the international price of fuels, which the country imports for the most part.

With this last measure, the stable price is maintained only for gasoline and other fuels, except diesel, although the commitment of the Bolivian Executive before international entities is to eliminate the subsidy completely starting in 2027.

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