The Latin American Report # 592
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro said this Friday that if his country were militarily attacked by the United States, it would move to a phase of "armed struggle," amid the back and forth of statements between Washington and Caracas following the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean with the alleged objective of curbing narcotrafficking activity attributed to the Miraflores Palace. Maduro, very given to heroic and mobilizing rhetoric, stated that while the reaction so far has been political, communicational, and institutional, a direct aggression would lead to a new stage "of armed struggle, planned, organized, by all the people [...], whether local, regional, or national."
The Bolivarian government apparently wanted to show some muscle on Thursday, according to statements from the Department of Defense, now rebranded in a classic way as Department of War, which claimed that two Venezuelan F-16s had flown over the Jason Dunham, one of the destroyers deployed off Venezuelan jurisdictional waters in the Caribbean. "I would say they're going to get into trouble," Trump said when questioned about the alleged event. It could be very unwise for Venezuela to try this way.
Ten fighter jets were recently deployed to Puerto Rico to strengthen this rare security mission, which seems disproportionate when we take into account the internationally accepted levels of narcotrafficking activity directly attributable to Venezuela, to not talk about the direct involvement of the government itself. Hundreds of militiamen marched yesterday to show their support for the disputed but very resilient Venezuelan president. "The United States of America must abandon its plan for a violent regime change in Venezuela and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and respect sovereignty, the right to peace, to independence of our countries," stated Maduro while also calling for dialogue. "None of the differences we have and have had can lead to a military conflict," he also said.
Argentina
The Argentine justice system yesterday formally charged a 22-year-old young man who a few days ago threw stones at President Javier Milei himself while the latter was traveling in a motorcade through a neighborhood of Buenos Aires, as part of the campaign for the legislative elections in the capital. Truthfully, it is a practice that should be punished regardless of the presidential figure, because if we are going to settle our political differences by throwing stones or punches, civic-political practice is degraded.
The young man, a left-wing activist, will be able to respond to the legal proceedings against him while remaining free. The Argentine scene remains very heated due to the scandal opened by the leak of audio recordings that, if true, involve Milei's own sister, and secretary of the Pink House, in a corruption scheme. This Friday, an organization demanded the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the judge who approved a ban on the publication of more audio recorded clandestinely at the presidential headquarters, which the press claimed to possess in representative volumes.
"We presented a request for impeachment to remove Judge Marianello. Freedom of expression is a limit we must never cross. Defending institutions demands that we make the utmost efforts for transparency, responsibility, and coherence in all branches of the state," said a Buenos Aires city legislator via X. Marianello is usually a very controversial judge.
