US amassing 16,000 troops off Venezuelan coast – Washington Post
1 Nov, 2025, https://www.rt.com/news/627242-us-amass-troops-venezuelan-coast/
The American forces in the area reportedly include eight Navy ships, a special operations vessel, and a nuclear-powered submarine.
The US is deploying a massive military contingent to an area near Venezuela, including 10,000 soldiers and 6,000 sailors, the Washington Post has reported. The move may indicate plans to expand regional operations.
The US has repeatedly accused Venezuela of aiding “narcoterrorists” and has imposed sweeping sanctions on the country. The American military has also attacked about a dozen vessels since September, claiming they were used by drug smugglers.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has denied the allegations, accusing Washington of “fabricating a new war” amid the continuing military buildup.
According to the Washington Post, eight US Navy warships, a special operations vessel, and a nuclear-powered attack submarine are already in the Caribbean. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, expected to arrive next week, will reportedly bring with it three more military vessels, with a total of over 4,000 military personnel onboard.
Additionally, F-35 fighter jets are stationed at a US base in Puerto Rico, the Post reported, citing satellite images.
The arrival of the carrier group suggests Washington’s plans could extend beyond a counter-narcotics operation, Ryan Berg, the director of the Americas Program and the Center for Strategic & International Studies, told the outlet. He added that US President Donald Trump has about a month to make “a major decision” before the group would need to be redeployed.
Multiple media outlets have recently reported that the White House was weighing potential military actions in Venezuela. Senator Rick Scott told CBS last Sunday that Maduro’s “days are numbered.” The WaPo claimed on Thursday that Washington had already identified some targets, including military facilities allegedly used for drug-smuggling.
When asked about the reports on Friday, Trump said, “No. It’s not true.” Last month, Trump confirmed authorizing the CIA to carry out lethal covert operations in the region.
Trump Is Moving Relentlessly Toward Illegal War in Venezuela
The lawful procedure would have been to arrest people if there was probable cause they were involved in drug trafficking and bring them to justice in accordance with due process.
Venezuela isn’t even mentioned in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Drug Threat Assessment 2024.
The Trump administration’s murderous strikes on small boats at sea constitute unlawful extrajudicial killings.
By Marjorie Cohn , Truthout, October 30, 2025
s the Trump administration continues to murder people in small boats on the high seas and mounts the largest U.S. military buildup in decades in the Caribbean, it is moving inexorably toward an all-out, illegal attack and forcible regime change in Venezuela.
Despite Team Trump’s feeble attempts to legally justify its ocean strikes, which have now killed 57 people since early September, those extrajudicial killings are also unlawful.
Donald Trump’s murderous campaign came into focus on February 20, when the State Department designated eight drug trafficking organizations, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations. Although the administration has attempted — so far unsuccessfully — to use that designation to justify sending immigrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador, Trump is now invoking it in an effort to validate his illegal strikes at sea.
Moreover, on March 15, Trump issued “A Proclamation,” alleging that Tren de Aragua has been engaged, in association with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in “irregular warfare” in the United States, with no explanation of what is meant by irregular warfare. But on February 26, most U.S. intelligence agencies had made a finding that Tren de Aragua was neither controlled by the Venezuelan government, nor was it committing crimes in the United States on its orders.
On September 2, Trump announced that the U.S. had conducted a “kinetic strike” against an alleged drug smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, even though Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. military could have interdicted the vessel rather than killing all of those on board. Trump wanted to “send a message,” hardly an excuse for premeditated murder.
The lawful procedure would have been to arrest people if there was probable cause they were involved in drug trafficking and bring them to justice in accordance with due process. Both U.S. and international law provide for the arrest of alleged drug traffickers or individuals suspected of acts of terrorism, both on the high seas and in U.S. territorial waters.
In a post on social media accompanied by a video clip of the strike, Trump declared that the attack was “against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists” and referred to the February 20 foreign terrorist organization designation. This did not provide a lawful basis for murdering alleged drug dealers.
Although Trump’s stated rationale is preventing drugs from Venezuela entering the United States, Venezuela isn’t even mentioned in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Drug Threat Assessment 2024.
No State of Armed Conflict, No Unlawful Combatants, No Self-Defense
It was reported in early October that Trump had notified several congressional committees that the U.S. is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels that his administration has branded terrorist organizations, and that suspected drug smugglers are “unlawful combatants” in order to justify the strikes as self-defense………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
There is no current state of armed conflict, there is no evidence that the people on the boats were combatants, and it is illegal to deliberately attack civilians. “This is not stretching the envelope,” Geoffrey Corn, a retired judge advocate general lawyer who was formerly the Army’s senior adviser for law-of-war issues, told The New York Times. “This is shredding it. This is tearing it apart.”
The strikes on boats also violate the right to life enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the U.S. has ratified, making it part of U.S. law under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. The covenant says that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” It outlaws extrajudicial killing outside the context of armed conflict or by law enforcement when necessary to protect against an imminent threat to life.
An Attack on Venezuela Would Be an Unlawful Act of Aggression
In addition to its increasing numbers of murders of alleged drug smugglers at sea, the Trump administration is positioning tremendous military firepower for what appears to be an imminent attack on Venezuela.
Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft-carrier strike group with five destroyers to deploy to the region to “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States,” according to a Pentagon spokesperson.
“The only thing you could use the carrier for is attacking targets ashore, because they are not going to be as effective at targeting small boats at sea,”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Forcible Regime Change Violates Venezuela’s Right to Self-Determination
During his first term, Trump repeatedly voiced his desire to invade Venezuela and change its regime. He was preoccupied with the idea of an invasion, the AP reported.
In 2019, the Trump administration orchestrated an unsuccessful strategy led by Rubio to carry out a coup d’état, seize power from Maduro, and install Juan Guaidó as “interim president” of Venezuela…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
National courts around the world should investigate and charge U.S. officials, including Trump, Rubio, and Hegseth, with murder under well-established principles of universal jurisdiction.
And we must mobilize a powerful antiwar movement to demand that the U.S. government stop the illegal boat murders and stay out of Venezuela. https://truthout.org/articles/trump-is-gunning-to-illegally-attack-venezuela-and-change-its-regime/?utm_source=Truthout&utm_campaign=33e1b56faa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_10_30_09_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbb541a1db-33e1b56faa-650192793
Communities Push Back against SpaceX in Tamaulipas
Conibio, which partners with federal conservation programs, expects to see the loss of more endangered turtles because of launches from Starbase. “It’s like launching bombs on their habitat,”
A Mexican conservation group says Elon Musk’s rocket launches from South Texas are killing turtles, damaging homes, and littering Tamaulipas beaches with debris.
Pablo De La Rosa, The Border Chronicle, Sep 10, 2025
Three miles south of Starbase, Texas, where SpaceX launches rockets into orbit, the beaches of Tamaulipas begin at the mouth of the Rio Grande. Further south along the water’s edge, generations of families from northern Mexico have spent Sundays on the shores of Playa Bagdad’s recreational area, renting small wooden palapas for shade. Local fishermen live off the seafood they catch nearby in the Gulf of Mexico. They sell their fried fish, spicy shrimp kabobs, and raw oysters to visitors who sunbathe and swim on the beach.
Many Tamaulipecos have grown up with fond memories of Playa Bagdad, and Jesús Elías Ibarra Rodríguez is one of them. Rodríguez is a Matamoros-based veterinarian and the founder and president of Conibio Global A.C., a nonprofit conservation organization based in the state of Tamaulipas.
For several years, residents of Brownsville and other border towns have protested losing access to public beaches and the harm to the environment and communities caused by many SpaceX rocket explosions. In August, several Texas border organizations demanded that the Federal Aviation Administration halt more rocket launches until a complete environmental impact statement is conducted.
A protest movement is also building in neighboring Mexico, Rodríguez said, as the number of launches and tests has increased. “We’ve been here years before SpaceX, working to conserve these precious ecosystems,” he said. “But everything is changing now. The beach is changing. Even people’s homes, old houses going back generations, are getting damaged from the launch vibrations.”
In 2019, SpaceX launched its first rocket prototype from Starbase, called Starhopper. Rodríguez said that during early tests, most noise and debris were contained north of the U.S.-Mexico border. But in recent years, SpaceX “began building rockets of great size, considered the largest rockets ever constructed on the planet.” It was around this time that communities in Tamaulipas began to feel the greater effects from the vibrations of engine tests and rocket launches.
A 2024 study from Brigham Young University found that the rocket launches at Starbase produced sound levels similar to “a rock concert or chainsaw” up to six miles away. The data also showed the blasts were powerful enough to cause structural damage to nearby homes and buildings.
Concerns increased in Mexico as residents in Tamaulipas began to find industrial debris on the beach, some labeled with the names of manufacturers of materials used in the space industry. “They started letting debris fall into Mexican territory,” said Rodríguez. “That was what really worried us, alarmed us, and upset us.” Rodríguez says that his organization has documented debris from SpaceX rocket launches along a 40-kilometer stretch of Tamaulipas beach.
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said in June that the federal government was looking into a possible lawsuit against SpaceX based on damage sustained in the region from rocket launches. That same month, El País reported that Elon Musk had reached out to the Mexican government in the days after Sheinbaum’s comment for help in recovering any debris found in Tamaulipas that might still belong to the company.
Rodríguez says that Sheinbaum has assigned a local task force that is now present during launches along with Conibio staff and will soon make available a special team of divers to prepare reports on any major debris that is still under Mexican waters.
Rodríguez says that Conibio, which partners with federal conservation programs, expects to see the loss of more endangered turtles because of launches from Starbase. “It’s like launching bombs on their habitat,” said Rodríguez. “You have the sound and vibration of the explosions, and you have tons of millions of little pieces of plastic that are bait for them. And we worry about sea life in general consuming all that.”
Conibio reports that some 900 endangered turtles have died this year because they were trapped in their underground nests by compacted sand from Starbase launch and test vibrations, including from an accidental explosion of a rocket in June that occurred on the ground while it was still attached to its launch arm………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
While some community members in South Texas have rallied behind the Starbase project in hopes of jobs and economic benefits, that tradeoff does not exist for people in Tamaulipas.
“People here are very unhappy with this,” said Rodríguez. “There are hundreds, even thousands of Mexicans who want to join in, come together, and show that Mexico is united and that we will demand change, that those rockets explode somewhere else.” https://www.theborderchronicle.com/p/communities-push-back-against-spacex?publication_id=373432&post_id=173185930&isFreemail=true&r=3alev&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Niobium – A Radioactive Sword of Damocles Hangs over Brazil’s Northern Amazon.
what most of the recent published articles on Niobium mining and production did not tell is, that it comes together with radioactive contamination.
by Norbert Suchanek March 14, 2025, http://www.brazzil.com/niobium-a-radioactive-sword-of-damocles-hangs-over-brazils-northern-amazon/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJG251leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfGUg_gxwqT-GH-2rf2gS6UFbCIEJor7nUjyHk5r3QeWWDN68BkPISQ75Q_aem_IuD1Bi2C47ICmfmj-uK0BQ
Balaio at the upper Rio Negro in the Northwest of the State of Amazonas is one of the most preserved indigenous reservation in Brazil. More then 257,000 hectares of rainforest, rivers and mountains. Located in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira it is the traditional territory of the Tukano and eight other indigenous peoples, the Baniwa, Baré, Desana, Koripako, Kubeo, Pira-tapuya, Tariana and Tuyuka. And it is the birthplace of 71-year-old Alvaro Doéthiro Sampaio Tukano.
Since his father Ahkïto died in 2020, at the age of 110, Alvaro Doéthiro Sampaio Tukano has been the chief of the Tukanos in Balaio. Alvaro is one of the most respected indigenous leaders and shamans in Brazil. He was one of the founders of the Union of Indigenous Nations (UNI) and together with other known leaders and activists like Mario Juruna, Marcos Terena, Aílton Krenak, Paulinho Paiakan and Davi Kopenawa Yanomami at the forefront of the indigenous movement in the 1980s and 1990s fighting for the demarcation and preservation of their traditional territories.
As chief of the Tukano, Alvaro is committed to preserving their traditions and expanding the supply of traditional medicine and food. The challenge is to preserve the forest and achieve food and health sovereignty by harnessing the indigenous knowledge his people have acquired over millennia.
However a sword of Damocles hangs over Balaio. It’s called Niobium (Nb).
One of the world’s largest deposits of the strategic mineral Niobium is located in the Tukano territory. The Niobium reserves in the São Gabriel da Cachoeira region could be enough to meet the world’s demand for Niobium for 400 years, prospectors say.
Niobium is a heavy metal used essentially in alloys in several industrial applications, such as aeronautics, aerospace, fabrication of pipelines and oil rigs and in nuclear fuel rods of nuclear power plants. It is particularly important for the arms industry. In addition Niobium plays today a vital role in the global energy transition from non-renewable to so called “green” energy solutions. Used in advanced Lithium-ion batteries, it enables the development of materials with fast charging capabilities.
A recent paper on Brazil published at the Munich Security Conference 2025 states: “The second issue is the energy transition and the global fight against climate change. Brazil’s critical mineral reserves make it indispensable for the development of clean technologies. It holds 94 percent of the world’s niobium, 22 percent of its graphite, 16 percent of its nickel, and 17 percent of its rare earth elements – all vital components in green technologies.”
However, already in 2020 scientists from the University of São Paulo (USP) pleaded “Keep the Amazon Niobium in the Ground” because of the possible cumulative effects of forest loss resulting from potential development of unexploited rare earths and Niobium (Nb) reserves in the region.
They wrote in the study: “Whilst developing these mineral deposits goes against the economic rationale of matching supply and demand of commodities in international markets, it is conceivable that political will could build a narrative ‘demonstrating’ that opening up the region for mining is in the national interest, thus paving the way for subsidies and public investments in infrastructure that could have devastating consequences for biodiversity and indigenous peoples.”
To date, any mining in demarcated indigenous territories is prohibited by the Brazilian Constitution. However, there is now a strong political lobby in Brasilia that wants to change this. Furthermore there are growing international interests in Brazil’s strategic minerals.
In November of last year, Brazil and China signed an agreement for sustainable mining — whatever the word “sustainable” may mean in this context. The extraction and development of niobium, lithium, and nickel are among the priorities of the agreement. And, of course, the US government also has a keen interest in that heavy metal. In May 2024, the US ambassador to the country, Elizabeth Bagley, said to the media that the US wants partnership with Brazil for Critical Minerals such as Niobium.
But what most of the recent published articles on Niobium mining and production did not tell is, that it comes together with radioactive contamination.
All Niobium mining and processing is associated with the generation of large amounts of radioactive waste. Niobium ore is classified worldwide as a naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) and it occurs in the Earth’s crust along with radioactive elements such as uranium, radium, thorium, potassium-40, and lead-210. Each ton of niobium produced leaves behind a legacy of around 100 to 400 tons of radioactive and toxic waste, according to current statistics from the Brazilian Atomic Energy Commission (CNEN).
Last February, Federal Minister Gilmar Mendes of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) presented a bill that would undermine the Brazilian Constitution and allow mining even in demarcated indigenous territories. If the bill gains a majority in Brasilia, the indigenous peoples of the upper Rio Negro region may have to decide whether to consent to niobium mining in exchange for compensation or to defend consequently their territories.
The Navajo Nation, with over 500 abandoned uranium mines and unsecured radioactive tailings, could show Alvaro Tukano and his people what it means to live in a radioactive contaminated territory.
Norbert Suchanek is a German correspondent in Rio de Janeiro and an experienced environmental journalist. At the beginning of March of this year, he received the Nuclear-Free Future Award in the Education category in New York City.
Contact: norbert.suchanek@online.de
Link between unexploded munitions in oceans and cancer-causing toxins determined
by Anisa S. Jimenez, Phys Org, February 18, 2009
During a research trip to Puerto Rico, ecologist James Porter took samples from underwater nuclear bomb target USS Killen, expecting to find evidence of radioactive matter – instead he found a link to cancer. Data revealed that the closer corals and marine life were to unexploded bombs from the World War II vessel and the surrounding target range, the higher the rates of carcinogenic materials.
“Unexploded bombs are in the ocean for a variety of reasons – some were duds that did not explode, others were dumped in the ocean as a means of disposal,” said Porter. “And we now know that these munitions are leaking cancer-causing materials and endangering sea life.”
Data has been gathered since 1999 on the eastern end of the Isla de Vieques, Puerto Rico – a land and sea area that was used as a naval gunnery and bombing range from 1943-2003. Research revealed that marine life including reef-building corals, feather duster worms and sea urchins closest to the bomb and bomb fragments had the highest levels of toxicity. In fact, carcinogenic materials were found in concentrations up to 100,000 times over established safe limits. This danger zone covered a span of up to two meters from the bomb and its fragments.
According to research conducted in Vieques, residents here have a 23% higher cancer rate than do Puerto Rican mainlanders. Porter said a future step will be “to determine the link from unexploded munitions to marine life to the dinner plate.”….. https://phys.org/news/2009-02-link-unexploded-munitions-oceans-cancer-causing.html
It’s so hot in Mexico that monkeys are dropping dead from trees.
At least 83 of the midsize primates were found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco
Independent, Mark Stevenson, 22 May 24
It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees.
At least 83 of the midsize primates, who are known for their roaring vocal calls, were found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. Others were rescued by residents, including five that were rushed to a local veterinarian who battled to save them.
“They arrived in critical condition, with dehydration and fever,” said Dr. Sergio Valenzuela. ”They were as limp as rags. It was heatstroke.”
While Mexico’s brutal heatwave has been linked to the deaths of at least 26 people since March, veterinarians and rescuers say it has killed dozens and perhaps hundreds of howler monkeys.
In the town of Tecolutilla, Tabasco, the dead monkeys started appearing on Friday, when a local volunteer fire-and-rescue squad showed up with five of the creatures in the bed of the truck.
Normally quite intimidating, howler monkeys are muscular and can be around 2 feet (60 centimeters) tall, with tails as long again. They are equipped with big jaws and a fearsome set of teeth and fangs. But mostly, their lion-like roars, which bely their size, are what they’re known for.
“They (the volunteers) asked for help, they asked if I could examine some of the animals they had in their truck,” Valenzuela said Monday. “They said they didn’t have any money, and asked if I could do it for free.”
The veterinarian put ice on their limp little hands and feet, and hook them up to IV drips with electrolytes.
So far, the monkeys appear to be on the mend. Once listless and easily handled, they are now in cages at Valenzuela’s office. “They’re recovering. They’re aggressive … they’re biting again,” he said, noting that’s a healthy sign for the usually furtive creatures.
Most aren’t so lucky. Wildlife biologist Gilberto Pozo counted about 83 of the animals dead or dying on the ground under trees. The die-off started around May 5 and hit its peak over the weekend.
“They were falling out of the trees like apples,” Pozo said. “They were in a state of severe dehydration, and they died within a matter of minutes.” Already weakened, Pozo says the falls from dozens of yards (meters) up inflict additional damage that often finishes the monkeys off.
Pozo attributes the deaths to a “synergy” of factors, including high heat, drought, forest fires and logging that deprives the monkeys of water, shade and the fruit they eat.
For people in the steamy, swampy, jungle-covered state of Tabasco, the howler monkey is a cherished, emblematic species; local people say the monkeys tell them the time of day, by howling at dawn and dusk.
Pozo said the local people — who he knows through his work with the Biodiversity Conservation of The Usumacinta group — have tried to help the monkeys they see around their farms. But he notes that could be a double-edged sword.
“They were falling out of the trees, and the people were moved, and they went to help the animals, they set out water and fruit for them,” Pozo said. “They want to care for them, mainly the baby monkeys, adopt them.”
“But no, the truth is that babies are very delicate, they can’t be in a house where there are dogs or cats, because they have pathogens that can potentially be fatal for howler monkeys,” he said, stressing they must be rehabilitated and released into the wild……………………………………………………
“This is a sentinel species,” Pozo said, referring to the canary-in-a-coal mine effect where one species can say a lot about an ecosystem. “It is telling us something about what is happening with climate change.” https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/mexico-city-heat-drought-monkeys-b2548962.html
Venezuela may be first nation to lose all its glaciers
10 May 24, Aleks Phillips, BBC News
Venezuela may be the first nation in modern history to lose all its glaciers after climate scientists downgraded its last one to an ice field.
The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), a scientific advocacy organisation, said on X that the South American nation’s only remaining glacier – the Humboldt, or La Corona, in the Andes – had become “too small to be classed as a glacier”.
Venezuela has lost at least six other glaciers in the last century.
With global average temperatures rising due to climate change, ice loss is increasing, helping to raise sea levels around the world…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx8qv1nvdppo
France will help Brazil develop nuclear-powered submarines, Macron says
President Emmanuel Macron and counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday celebrated the launch of Brazil’s third French-designed submarine, which will help secure the country’s immense coastline, dubbed the “Blue Amazon.”
France 24 By:NEWS WIRES|: Video by:Angela DIFFLEY 27/03/2024
The two men highlighted the importance of their countries’ defense partnership during a time of major global unrest, at a ceremony at Brazil’s ultra-modern naval base in Itaguai near Rio de Janeiro…
Despite differences, notably on the Ukraine war, Macron said “the great peaceful powers of Brazil and France” had “the same vision of the world.”…………………………………..
The construction of the submarines was outlined in a 2008 deal between Lula and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which also included the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters.
The fourth submarine, the Angostura, will be launched in 2025.
France skirts around nuclear sub
Brazil is also planning to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, the Alvaro Alberto, a project that has suffered significant delays, mainly due to budget constraints.
The French naval defense manufacturer Naval Group is supporting the design and construction of the submarine, except for the nuclear boiler which is being designed by the Brazilians.
Brasilia is however trying to convince Paris to increase technology transfers to help it integrate the reactor into the submarine and sell it equipment linked to nuclear propulsion.
France has been reticent to transfer such technology due to the challenges of nuclear proliferation.
“If Brazil wants to have access to knowledge of nuclear technology, it is not to wage war. We want this knowledge to assure all countries that want peace that Brazil will be at their side,” said Lula.
Macron told Brazil “France will be at your side” during the development of the nuclear-powered submarines, without announcing specific assistance.
“I want us to open the chapter for new submarines… that we look nuclear propulsion in the face while being perfectly respectful of all non-proliferation commitments,” he said……………………… https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240327-france-to-help-brazil-develop-nuclear-technology-for-submarines
2
Mexican president criticizes US aid to #Ukraine and sanctions on Latin American nations in high-level meeting
López Obrador called for US program aimed at removing blockades, ceasing harassment of independent and sovereign nations
Fox News, September 29, 2023
Mexico’s president on Friday slammed U.S. aid for Ukraine and economic sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and other nations as the first of two high-level U.S.-Mexico meetings got underway in Washington.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a broad criticism of U.S. foreign policy, saying U.S. economic sanctions were forcing people to emigrate from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The harsh comments came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina and Trade Representative Katherine Tai were meeting their Mexican counterparts at the State Department……………………… more https://www.foxnews.com/world/mexican-president-criticizes-us-aid-ukraine-sanctions-latin-american-nations-high-level-meeting
Mexican president urges end to ‘irrational’ Ukraine war, wants Russia at peace talks
Reuters, August 1, 2023 https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexican-president-urges-end-irrational-ukraine-war-wants-russia-peace-talks-2023-07-31/
MEXICO CITY, July 31 (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday called for an end to the “irrational” war in Ukraine, urging upcoming peace talks in the Middle East to include representation from both Ukraine and Russia.
Lopez Obrador said Mexico would only take part in the talks in Saudi Arabia, reportedly scheduled to be held over the coming weekend, if both sides were present.
“If there’s acceptance from both Ukraine and Russia to look for solutions to achieve peace, we’ll participate,” the president told reporters at a regular press conference.
“We don’t want the Russia-Ukraine war to continue, it’s very irrational,” Lopez Obrador added, noting that the conflict has caused massive human suffering. “The only thing that benefits from it is the war industry.”
Senior officials from up to 30 countries are expected to participate in the talks Aug. 5-6 in Jeddah, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Russia has not been invited, the outlet reported, citing diplomats involved in the planning.
On Monday, the Kremlin said it would “follow” the meeting but did not currently see conditions for peace talks with Kyiv.
Lopez Obrador has sought to keep Mexico neutral in the war, though his government has backed some major U.N. resolutions criticizing Russia’s role in the conflict. Mexico has refused to send arms to Ukraine and has not imposed sanctions on Russia.
In April, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Mexican lawmakers to back his plan to end the war, which would include Russia withdrawing its troops from Ukrainian territory.
Lopez Obrador had outlined a separate peace plan last year, which Ukraine opposed, arguing it would have benefited Russia.
Reporting by Kylie Madry and Raul Cortes; Editing by Bill Berkrot
Only neutral countries can bring peace to Ukraine – Brazil
https://www.rt.com/news/579835-brazilian-fm-weapons-deliveries-ukraine/ 18 Jul 23
Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told RIA Novosti that several countries are willing to join his nation’s peace efforts
Brazil is against weapons deliveries to either party in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira has said. The diplomat also predicted that peace would eventually be achieved with the help of nations which have not taken sides, such as Brazil and African countries.
In an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti published on Monday, Vieira stressed that Brasilia has consistently voiced its opposition to arms shipments to Kiev and Moscow.
According to the diplomat, “several countries are ready to join” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s peace efforts. The minister cited the initiatives recently put forward by a group of African nations.
“This will take time, but it’s precisely this that will lead to peace which we are striving for,” Vieira insisted.
While on an official visit to Rome last month, President Lula argued that Russia and Ukraine both need to compromise to end the conflict.
“The two parties both need to get something. Only the Russians and the Ukrainians know what they need to reach peace,” he said at the time.
The Brazilian head of state also called into question the EU’s capacity for mediation, arguing that the bloc is effectively involved in the conflict. Lula went on to name India, Mexico, and African nations as potential neutral peace brokers.
Moscow has blamed Kiev for the lack of peace negotiations, pointing out that last year Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree that rules out talks for as long as his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, remains in power.
The Ukrainian government insists it will only negotiate after driving Russian forces out from all territories within its 1991 borders. Zelensky has proposed a peace plan of his own, which calls for a Russian withdrawal, reparations, and a tribunal for alleged war criminals.
Moscow has rejected the idea, describing it as detached from reality.
One of the world’s worst nuclear disasters is likely something you’ve never heard of.
This is, of course, the Goiânia Accident of 1987. This
happened in the city of Goiânia in the Goiâs region of Brazil, which
surrounds the Federal District containing the purpose-built capital
Brasilia. In 1985, a hospital in the city moved locations, leaving behind a
radiotherapy unit which used the substance caesium-137 to treat cancer. Two
years later in 1987, two men broke into the abandoned building looking for
items with scrap value, and stole the machine – including its radioactive
component which they were not aware of.
Unilad 4th July 2023
https://www.unilad.com/news/nuclear-disaster-goiania-brazil-accident-918843-20230704
Thorium fake charity group cons El Salvador into joining the “Nuclear Power Club”.
Power, 20 Mar 23,
“…… the government of El Salvador and the Thorium Energy Alliance, a Harvard, Illinois–based non-profit advocacy group that endorses thorium-fueled reactors, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the “El Salvador Energy Bridge” plan. The MOU was signed by Daniel Alvarez, El Salvador’s director general of Energy, Hydrocarbons, and Mines (DGEHM), and John Kutsch, executive director of the Thorium Energy Alliance, at the Embassy of El Salvador in Washington, D.C. (Figure 1), with Ambassador Milena Mayorga present to witness the event.
El Salvador has historically gotten much of its power from hydro and geothermal resources, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) data. In 2020, the most recent numbers available on the IEA’s website, hydropower accounted for about 32.8% of the electricity generation in El Salvador. Geothermal was second, supplying 24.6% of the mix, while oil (15.5%), solar PV (14.3%), and biofuels (12.9%) rounded out the list. El Salvador’s total generation in 2020 was about 6.321 TWh………………..”
Corruption exposed: US meddled in Ecuador’s election, using Julian Assange as bargaining chip
A former minister of Ecuador testified that the US government conspired with a right-wing political party to run a disinformation campaign against the leftist Correísta movement, backing a millionaire banker for president in exchange for giving up journalist Julian Assange, who had asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy.
MP, Ben Norton, 13 Nov 22,
Ecuador’s former energy minister testified that the US government conspired with a right-wing political party to run a disinformation campaign against the leftist Correísta movement of ex President Rafael Correa.
He said that US “federal agents” pledged to help “influence” the 2017 presidential elections and support the candidacy of conservative millionaire banker Guillermo Lasso in exchange for the promise to turn over journalist Julian Assange, who had been given asylum by Correa and was stuck living for years in Ecuador’s embassy in London.
The former energy minister, Carlos Pareja Yannuzzelli, had fled a corruption investigation in Ecuador and was living as a fugitive from justice in the United States in late 2016 when he was offered large sums of money and US government protection in return for reading a carefully prepared “script” that made false accusations of corruption against Correa and his Vice President Jorge Glas, who was later imprisoned on highly dubious charges.
Pareja testified that the federal agents also coerced him into making false accusations against a US citizen, so they could justify their involvement in the Ecuadorian case. This led to the US citizen being arrested and imprisoned for three-and-a-half years.
Lasso ended up losing the 2017 election (before going on to win the 2021 election), but his victorious opponent, Lenín Moreno, later betrayed Assange anyway, letting British authorities raid the embassy, imprison the WikiLeaks journalist, and prepare to extradite him to the United States.
The revelation of this extraordinary example of Washington meddling in another country’s election came from one of the top officials in Ecuador’s oil industry……………………………………………………………
US intelligence-linked right-wing Ecuadorian politician uses corrupt US asset to accuse Correa of corruption……………………………………………..
Ecuador’s ex energy minister details US-backed campaign to help the right wing in the 2017 elections………………………………………………………..
it was widely assumed, even by Correa himself, that Correa’s former Vice President Lenín Moreno would continue his socialist political program.
Moreno did run on a left-wing presidential campaign, but after entering office, he did a political 180. Moreno turned hard to the right, repressing, imprisoning, and exiling Correísta politicians.
He also stabbed Julian Assange in the back, reversing Correa’s pledge to protect the WikiLeaks publisher and renouncing the Ecuadorian citizenship that had been given to the journalist. In order to arrest Assange, Moreno even let British authorities violate his own country’s sovereignty by storming the embassy, which constitutes Ecuadorian territory under the Vienna Convention in international law.
Correísta politicians have alleged that Moreno was bribed and/or blackmailed by the US government, as he obediently fulfilled all of Washington’s foreign-policy goals, collaborating closely with the Donald Trump administration, removing Ecuador from the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) and Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and even recognizing US-appointed coup leader Juan Guaidó in Venezuela.
…………………………………………………………….. Corrupt Ecuadorian official conspired with Miami-based oligarchs who stole millions from their people……………………………………………. more https://multipolarista.com/2022/11/11/capaya-us-meddled-ecuador-election-assange/
Islanders in Latin America face relocation, because of climate change.
Some 2,000 islanders in Guna Yala will become one of the first indigenous
communities in Latin America to relocate because of climate change.
Islander Magdalena Martínez, who has campaigned for new housing on the
mainland, tells the BBC how she feels about leaving the island she grew up
on.
The Panama government estimates all islands of the Guna people could be
under water by 2050, based on forecasts by an independent group of
scientists, although others think the islands may not all be submerged
until the end of the century.
BBC 20th Aug 2022
-
Archives
- May 2026 (62)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (268)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (376)
- September 2025 (257)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
- June 2025 (348)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 