Trump to meet with Venezuela's Guaido: White House

Yahoo – AFP, February 5, 2020

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido (C) waves as he is acknowledged by
US President Donald Trump during his the State of the Union address at the US
Capitol on February 4, 2020. (AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump will receive Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Wednesday for talks on how to speed a democratic transition in his country, the White House said.

Guaido, whom the United States and more than 50 other countries recognize as Venezuela's acting president, is seeking renewed international support for his push to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

The Oval Office meeting at 2:15 pm (1915 GMT) follows Trump's vow in a State of the Union speech Tuesday night -- with Guaido in the audience as his guest -- that "Maduro's grip of tyranny will be smashed and broken."

"The visit is an opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the people of Venezuela and to discuss how we can work with President Guaido to expedite a democratic transition in Venezuela that will end the ongoing crisis," the White House said in a statement.

"We will continue to work with our partners in the region to confront the illegitimate dictatorship in Venezuela, and we will stand alongside the Venezuelan people to ensure a future that is democratic and prosperous," it said.

Maduro so far has weathered Guaido's yearlong push for his ouster, which initially spark massive anti-government protest but has since lost momentum despite a deep economic crisis that has driven millions to emigrate.

As head of the National Assembly, Guaido proclaimed himself acting president in January 2019 after the legislature declared Maduro a "usurper" who was re-elected through fraud.

Painful memories for family of Guatemalan girl who died in US custody

Yahoo – AFP, Henry MORALES ARANA, December 16, 2018

Claudia Maquin, the mother of Jakelin Caal -- the seven year-old Guatemalan girl
who died in US Border Patrol custody -- speaks to reporters with the late girl's three
siblings (AFP Photo/JOHAN ORDONEZ)

Raxruha (Guatemala) (AFP) - Outside a humble thatched-roof home deep in the lush Guatemalan countryside, the mother of a seven-year-old girl who died after being detained by US border agents tries to remember happier days with her daughter.

The 27-year-old woman mournfully points to a nearby tree that young Jakelin Caal enjoyed climbing.

"I feel pain and sadness over the death of my daughter," said Claudia Maquin, speaking in her native Maya Q'eqchi' language through an interpreter.

Jakelin's death in American custody on December 8 -- which followed her detention after illegally crossing from Mexico with her father -- has reignited a debate in the United States on immigration policy and mistreatment of migrants.

It has also shocked residents of this indigenous farming village of unpaved roads that has neither electricity nor running water, and where crushing poverty is the norm.

The child's death came as President Donald Trump struggles to deter a tide of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

Nearly 60 percent of Guatemala's 17 million people live under the poverty line, according to government and World Bank figures.

That rate is higher in indigenous communities like the remote village where young Jakelin lived in the municipality of Raxruha, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) north of the capital Guatemala City.

Claudia Maquin stands outside the home where her late seven-year-old daughter 

Jakelin Caal grew up deep in rural Guatemala (AFP Photo/JOHAN ORDONEZ)

Left 'out of necessity'

Jakelin's father Nery Caal, 29, left the village to travel to the United States with her on November 30.

"He left out of necessity," Maquin told AFP, with her father-in-law Domingo Caal acting as an interpreter.

"When he left he said that he'd be looking for work there," she said.

Jakelin traveled north with her father because "the girl was very close" to him, said Domingo Caal, 61.

He said the girl was "jumping with joy" as she began the trip.

Before leaving "she told her mother and grandmother that when she grew up she would work and bring money to them," he said.

The US Department of Homeland Security confirmed the death of the girl, saying she died of dehydration and exhaustion in an El Paso, Texas hospital less than 24 hours after being detained as part of a group of 163 illegal border crossers in a remote New Mexico border area.

The DHS confirmation came only after it was reported by The Washington Post.

A relative shows a picture of the late Jakelin Caal on a phone (AFP Photo/

JOHAN ORDONEZ)

Guatemala's foreign ministry said the child came down with fever and was shaking and vomiting after she was in US Border Patrol custody, where she received aid from paramedics before being hospitalized.

Father wants answers

The girl's father, who is seeking asylum in the United States, issued a statement Saturday in his family's name "seeking an objective and thorough investigation" into his daughter's death.

The statement was read to reporters by Ruben Garcia, the head of Annunciation House, the refugee shelter where he is staying in El Paso, Texas.

Jakelin, who was just five days past her seventh birthday, had not been crossing the desert for days and "had not suffered from a lack of food or water prior to approaching the border," the statement read.

The statement also said that it was "unacceptable" that US agents had the father, who mainly speaks Q'eqchi', sign documents in English.

Immigrant rights activists, several waving signs and clutching pictures of the young girl, rallied to protest Jakelin's death in downtown El Paso as Border Patrol agents warily looked on from a distance.

A woman draws water from a well in the indigenous village of San Antonio Seacortez,
home of the Guatemalan girl who died in the custody of US border agents (AFP Photo/
JOHAN ORDONEZ)

"We want to know what happened during those hours in which she was detained and then taken to hospital," said one of the protesters, Fernando Garcia, head of the Human Rights Border Network advocacy group.

The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general announced an internal investigation into the girl's death.

'What can we do?'

The Guatemalan government has offered to bring back the girl's remains, and said that her father would be released by special permission from US immigration authorities.

The late girl's uncle Jose Caal told AFP that it could take some three weeks to complete the process to repatriate the girl's body for a funeral.

"It's very painful, very painful, but what can we do?" asked Domingo Caal.

"What happened, happened, but it's painful," he said.

Central American caravan continues toward US after rest

Yahoo – AFP, Yemeli ORTEGA, November 10, 2018

The metro in Mexico City opened an hour early to transport migrants toward
neighboring Mexico State (AFP Photo/Alfredo ESTRELLA)

Mexico City (AFP) - Around 5,000 Central Americans left Mexico City at dawn Saturday, brushing exhaustion and illness aside to get back on the road towards the United States as part of a migrant caravan that has drawn fury from President Donald Trump.

Between coughs and sneezes, the migrants packed up their makeshift camp in a sports park, where they had rested for six nights, and headed to the city's metro -- which opened an hour early to transport them toward neighboring Mexico State.

"We got cold sleeping out in the open, so that's why we're sick now. The kids have got lice, there's not always enough water to bathe them," Adamari Correa, a Guatemalan traveling with her sister and her sister's children, told AFP.

From there, the plan was to set off once again on foot toward Queretaro in central Mexico, still hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the US border.

"I don't want to walk, Mommy!" cried one little girl wrapped in a blanket, as her mother -- a sleeping mat on her back and two large bundles in each hand -- stood in an endless line waiting to board the five designated train, each carrying around 1,000 people, metro authorities estimated.

Some 1,000 police officers kept watch over the operation.

The caravan left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on October 13 and has covered more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) so far.

A group of Central American migrants is seen on the metro in Mexico City, on 

their way to Queretaro state (AFP Photo/Alfredo ESTRELLA)

At least two other caravans have since been established, defying threats from Trump -- who has decried what he describes as an "invasion" and ordered thousands of soldiers to the US-Mexico border.

On Friday, his administration unveiled a controversial new crackdown, announcing it would no longer allow people who enter the US illegally to claim asylum. Instead, those seeking political or other kinds of asylum will be heard exclusively at the border crossings.

Also on Friday, a group of 1,300 Central American migrants fragmented from the caravan to embark on the same path from Mexico City.

They quickly amassed on the sides of the wide high-speed road that snakes around the capital, leading to the exit toward Queretaro.

Taking the risk

"We're sick from the temperature changes," said Wilson Alexander Mejia, a 27-year-old laborer traveling alone.

"But we're determined to reach the border and beyond."

On the highway, truck drivers stopped to offer rides. Some migrants clung to vehicles; others found a seat perched on the hood, above the engine.

"Thank you Mexico! We go forward!" they yelled to passers-by, waving.

Other caravan members following behind trekked on foot or took public buses to reach the Queretaro exit, where trucks slowed to pick them up.

Under already intense sun, transport police were also seen helping migrants into one cargo vehicle's two trailers -- but they lacked any ventilation system.

"When you want something, you have to take risks and not care what happens," said Lucas Rocha, a 31-year-old on his second journey to the border. He said if he doesn't make it this time, he'll try again.

Years ago, he rode the notoriously dangerous cargo train route through Mexico known as "La Bestia" -- "the beast."

Along that route, migrants are routinely robbed and assaulted by organized criminals -- while scrambling onto moving trains sees many get dragged underneath and lose limbs.

UN rejects US bid to criticize Cuba and calls for end to embargo

Yahoo – AFP, Laura BONILLA CAL, Carole LANDRY, November 1, 2018

United States ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, pictured at a Security Council
meeting in New York on August 28, 2018, dismissed the vote calling for an end
 to the US embargo on Cuba as a "waste of everyone's time" (AFP Photo/
DOMINICK REUTER)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN General Assembly on Thursday called for an end to the decades-old US embargo on Cuba, adopting a resolution by an overwhelming majority and rejecting US moves to criticize Havana's human rights record.

It was the 27th time that the 193-nation assembly has issued the call to lift the embargo imposed in 1962.

The resolution presented by Cuba was adopted by a vote of 189 to 2 with no abstentions. The US and its ally Israel voted against while Ukraine and Moldova did not vote.

The United States failed to win support for eight amendments criticizing Cuba's human rights record. Only the US, Israel and Ukraine voted in favor of those amendments. The Marshall Islands joined them in one vote.

At least 65 countries including many European nations abstained and at least 113 voted against the proposed US call to Cuba to fully uphold its citizens' rights.

President Donald Trump's administration points to Cuba's repression of political opponents and curbs on freedom of expression as a reason for maintaining the economic embargo.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley dismissed the vote on the US embargo, which has been an annual exercise since 1992, as a "waste of everyone's time" because it did not address Cuba's human rights situation.

"It's one more time that countries feel they can poke the United States in the eye," Haley told the assembly.

Cruel policies

Applause broke out in the chamber after the adoption that highlighted Washington's isolation on its Cuba policy. The resolution is non-binding but carries political weight.

Haley declared that the United Nations had "rejected the opportunity to speak on behalf of human rights" and described the outcome of the vote as a reminder of "why so many people believe that faith in the United Nations is often misplaced."

In a 35-minute address ahead of the vote, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez slammed the Trump administration as a "government of millionaires that imposes cruel policies," citing US treatment of migrant children separated at the border with Mexico and "locked in cages."

"The US government does not have the least moral authority for criticizing Cuba or anyone else with regards to human rights," said the foreign minister, urging countries to back his measure.

Rodriguez argued that the embargo was a "flagrant, massive and systematic violation" of human rights in Cuba, notably by denying access to US-produced medicines and medical technology.

Last year, the resolution was adopted by a vote of 191 to 2. The United States and Israel were the only two countries that voted "no."

That vote took place after Washington for the first time abstained in the vote in 2016 as former president Barack Obama pursued a thaw in relations with Havana.

Ties between Cuba and the US have been in decline under Trump, who has rejected the previous administration's moves to improve ties with Havana.

Latin America braces for 'Bolsonaro effect'

Yahoo - AFP, Denis BARNETT, October 29, 2018

Police officers patrol the streets after the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won
Brazil's presidential election, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 28, 2018 (AFP
Photo/DANIEL RAMALHO)

Montevideo (AFP) - Brazil's Latin American neighbors are bracing for a regional "Bolsonaro effect" after the far-right leader's crushing victory in presidential elections.

The knock-on effect will be felt across the region in foreign policy, trade, policing and even in how political campaigns are waged, analysts said.

Bolsonaro's win perpetuates electoral routs for right-wing presidents against leftist governments hostile to the United States, said Argentine commentator Pablo Seman -- citing recent victories for Mauricio Macri in Argentina, Sebastian Pinera in Chile and Mario Abdo Benitez in Paraguay.

"The US is taking possession of what has been lost in Latin America, in a context of global struggle with China for natural resources, markets, political support. There is no place in Latin America where Washington has not regained the position it lost" in the 2000s, Seman added.

With President Donald Trump in the White House, "strongmen have the edge" in US foreign policy, said US analyst Michael Shifter.

Bolsonaro's triumph however raises fears of a return to authoritarian rule in a region which has suffered under a string of military dictatorships.

The shift will be stark, according to Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

"This is a guy who said the Brazilian dictatorship didn't kill enough people, that they need to kill another 30,000 people, that the police should be able to kill suspects, that the left will have a choice of going to jail or leaving the country.

"Will he do these things? I think he will implement as many of these threats as he can get away with," said Weisbrot.

'Not so extreme'

However, "the shift towards authoritarian rule may not be as extreme as many fear," according to Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank -- because traditional parties in Congress could yet provide checks and balances.

There could be a "modest Bolsonaro effect" in neighboring countries, especially those that experienced military rule, "but each country has its own particular dynamics that shape its political direction. Any contagion would be limited."

Ivan Briscoe, Latin America director of the International Crisis Group, said the ex-soldier's rise is part of a gradual "winnowing of democracy" in the region, the most notable examples being Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Police officers patrol the streets after the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won 

Brazil's presidential election, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 28, 2018 (AFP

Photo/DANIEL RAMALHO)

Bolsonaro wielding power in the volatile social context of Brazil is alarming.

"When you have a populist authoritarian, militaristic ruler in that context, he isn't just a laughing stock -- as Trump often is -- he is actually a very serious challenger to civil rights, and human rights and basic freedoms."

Bolsonaro has much in common with Mexico's president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said Briscoe.

"It's the appeal of the strong leader, it's the slightly vague political program, it's the promise of 'trust me, I will do the job' - it's the style. So we might see similar campaigning in Latin America."

Bolsonaro's trade choices

Bolsonaro has vowed to implement free-market reforms in the region's biggest economy and recently accused China -- its largest trading partner -- of "buying Brazil."

Beijing is set to build on its aggressive strategy in the region in recent years, analysts agree, with a style that appeals to Latin American leaders.

"It provides much more direct investment, loans, and aid to developing countries than the US does, and has a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of the recipients," Weisbrot pointed out.

Regardless of his China trade policy, it's an anxious moment for the struggling regional MERCOSUR bloc -- Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

"If Bolsonaro follows through on his idea of allowing members to pursue bilateral trade agreements, and not as a bloc, that would be a big blow," noted Shifter.

According to Weisbrot, Bolsonaro will "follow Macri and the other right-wing governments in pursuing commercial policies that the Trump administration favors." ​

Briscoe agrees that a leader with a "Brazil First" approach "is possibly not going to do wonders for MERCOSUR."

Worst case scenario

Regardless of Bolsonaro's appeal to the markets, Shifter says that based on his campaign rhetoric and background, we can expect "considerable erosion of democratic norms and institutions".

That means Bolsonaro supporting "right-wing and fascist movements everywhere, and also (being) a strong supporter of the Trump administration's foreign policy, which seeks to get rid of the remaining left governments," said Weisbrot.

The worst case scenario is that he could become South America's answer to the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has been credited with killing some 20,000 people since July 2016.

In a country where police killings number around 5,000 a year, "if Bolsonaro and all his deputies are saying 'the gloves are off, you can do what you want, we'll protect you, the courts won't prosecute you,' the signal which will be given in that context could lead to appalling violence," said Briscoe.

"In Brazil it really is a risk."

Trump-AMLO: clash of populists, or chance for a fresh start?

Yahoo – AFP, Alina DIESTE, July 3, 2018

Lopez Obrador won more than 53 percent of the votes in Sunday's poll, a major
upset to the establishment that raises a question mark over Mexico's relations with
its powerful northern neighbor, its main trading partner (AFP Photo/PEDRO PARDO)

Washington (AFP) - Like Donald Trump before him, Mexico's new leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador swept to victory with a promise to shake up corrupt elites and put his country's interests first.

So are the neighbors headed for a clash of the populists, or a new start in relations?

The politician known as "AMLO" won more than 53 percent of the votes in Sunday's poll, a major upset to the establishment that raises a question mark over Mexico's relations with its powerful northern neighbor, its main trading partner.

Despite Trump's hard line on migrants, his threats to build a wall on the border and shake up trade, and in spite of AMLO promising to "put Trump in his place," both leaders appeared determined to get off to a good start in a phone conversation held immediately after the Mexican's landslide.

Trump's National Security Advisor, the hawkish John Bolton, said the US president will "look forward" to what he predicted would be a productive meeting with AMLO.

"Having the two leaders get together may produce some surprising results," Bolton said.

Beyond the optimistic rhetoric, analysts suggest there are number of potential points of conflict ahead, even if AMLO moderates his approach upon taking office.

More Lula than Chavez

AMLO, the 64-year-old former mayor of Mexico City, won the presidency on his third attempt with a promise of "radical change," but his administration is expected to dial things down now he is finally in power.

Former Brazilian president (2003-2011) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is more likely to be

 the model for Mexican president-elect Andres manuel Lopez Obrador than the late 

Venezuelan Socialist leader Hugo Chavez, analysts said (AFP Photo/Nelson ALMEIDA)

"AMLO will govern more like fellow leftist Lula da Silva in Brazil than (the late Hugo) Chavez in Venezuela," said analyst Mark Rosenberg of the GeoQuant consultants.

Jason Marczak, Latin America director at the Atlantic Council, was more emphatic: "AMLO is not Chavez."

"Will AMLO seek to implement social reforms in a pragmatic way like Lula did?" he asked.

"Yes, in that respect I think he will follow that path. AMLO, like Lula, is also seen by his followers like a savior with superhuman status.

"But the economic context in which AMLO arrives to power is very different from the one Lula inherited."

Lopez Obrador won largely because Mexicans are fed up with corruption, impunity and violence, and not because of the US leader's angry outbursts at everything south of the Rio Grande, added Marczak.

"Washington can and should seize upon this moment to recalibrate relations with Mexico, to not just maintain, but deepen the cooperation that benefits both our countries."

Kindred spirit?

Despite sharp differences in their backgrounds, the Mexican leftist has much in common with the showy 72-year old New York real estate magnate.

"Both men are nationalists who see themselves as redeemers who have to take on a 'corrupt' and inefficient establishment and have an agenda of putting their country first," said Juan Carlos Hidalgo of the Cato Institute, who argued Trump could see AMLO as a "kindred spirit."

A man holds a sign during a protest against US President Donald Trump outside 

the US Embassy in Mexico City in March 2018 as the seventh round of NAFTA

 (North American Free Trade Agreement) talks took place in the city (AFP Photo/

ALFREDO ESTRELLA)

But, he warned, it could also go the other way. "They are populists, and populists need enemies to survive politically," he said, and AMLO could find that external enemy in Trump.

Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue center, argued the most sensitive and volatile issues are likely to be NAFTA, security cooperation and immigration.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1994 and regulating commerce between the United States, Canada and Mexico, has been a particular target for Trump's ire since he launched his campaign in 2015.

Trump ordered fresh negotiations to open last August to re-examine the complex trade deal, but Rosenberg said that protectionist urges on both sides will be complicate efforts to renew the pact.

Hidalgo said it was "likely that AMLO's campaign promises to seek self-sufficiency in food production will be the biggest stumbling block in the renegotiation."

"We can predict AMLO bringing the same brash approach to trade talks as his American counterpart," said Marczak. "As a result, trade talks are expected to become more difficult as the NAFTA partners seek to find a new compromise."

Trump name stripped from Panama hotel in property dispute

Yahoo – AFP, 5 March 2018

View of the hotel entrance sign after the Trump letters were removed,
outside the hotel in Panama City on March 5, 2018

The owner of the Trump Hotel in Panama City said Monday he had succeeded in expelling the management company of the US president's family from the building.

Cypriot businessman Orestes Fintiklis, who owns a majority of the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower in Panama, said it was "a commercial dispute that just spun out of control, and today this dispute has been settled by the judges and the authorities in this country."

Workers removed the Trump logo from the entrance to the luxury complex, where police had been deployed earlier in the day.

"Today Panama has showcased stable institutions, rule of law and investor-friendly legal framework," said Fintiklis in a brief statement to the press.

The row erupted last month when Fintiklis, a Miami-based investor who last year became owner of the majority of units in the building through a company he controls, said he wanted to boot the Trump Organization out before its management contract was up, remove the Trump name and rebrand the building.

In lawsuits lodged in the United States, Fintiklis alleged a decline in occupancy in the hotel. The Trump Organization hit back, claiming Fintiklis was breaching his contractual commitments as owner.

Fintiklis complained to the Panamanian prosecutors' office that Trump Organization employees were barring him access to the units he owns in the sail-shaped complex, which also boasts a casino, shops, a spa and a small private beach.

The complex was inaugurated in 2011 by Trump and Panama's president at the time, Ricardo Martinelli. Martinelli is currently on bail in Miami fighting extradition to Panama, where he is charged with corruption and spying.

The hotel and the majority of the apartments were sold last year to Fintiklis' Ithaca Capital Partners, which is based in Miami.

As part of the deal, the administration of the hotel remained in the hands of the Trump Organization, run by the president's two sons since he took office last year.

Trump Hotels last week accused Fintiklis of "fraud" and using "mafia-style tactics" to force its administration staff out of the disputed building.

There have been reports of physical confrontations between the new owner and his team and the Trump administration staff.

Last month, Panamanian prosecutors announced they were opening an investigation into the case following complaints by Fintiklis that he had been prevented from entering the building.

Accompanied by police and a court order, majority owners of Trump hotel in Panama City take ownership from Trump management #TrumpOceanClub pic.twitter.com/HagJMqupIS

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 6, 2018

US unveils fresh Venezuela sanctions, targets 10 officials

Yahoo – AFP, November 9, 2017

The US has unveiled new sanctions against the government of Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro over alleged corruption and interference in state elections last month
in which pro-Maduro candidates unexpectedly won a majority of governorships
(AFP Photo/FEDERICO PARRA)

Washington (AFP) - The United States on Thursday slapped more sanctions against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government, targeting 10 officials it said engaged in election irregularities to perpetuate what Washington called a dictatorial regime.

The new sanctions come as EU member states prepare to impose an arms embargo on Venezuela, whose leftist government has sought to tighten its grip on power amid a prolonged economic and political crisis that has led to deadly street clashes.

Things are so dire in oil-rich Venezuela that people line up to buy not just food and medicine but basics like soap and toilet paper. Maduro calls the crisis a plot contrived by rich conservative business people backed by the government of President Donald Trump.

The new sanctions came in response to October 15 state elections in which pro-Maduro candidates unexpectedly won 18 of 23 gubernatorial seats.

The US Treasury Department said irregularities "strongly suggest fraud" was used to elect Maduro candidates.

For instance, one of the people sanctioned, Sandra Oblitas Ruzza, vice president of the National Electoral Council, announced the relocation of polling stations just days before the voting, the US said.

So people showed up where they thought they could vote, but could not, it added.

"As the Venezuelan government continues to disregard the will of its people, our message remains clear: the United States will not stand aside while the Maduro regime continues to destroy democratic order and prosperity in Venezuela," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

He said the US will continue to go after Venezuelan officials who are complicit in efforts to undermine democracy, violate human rights, and act corruptly "unless they break from Maduro’s dictatorial regime."

Censorship and corruption

The sanctions named government ministers and members of Venezuela's National Electoral Council and the new, all powerful Constituent Assembly, which has replaced congress, even taking over its building, chamber and seats, can rewrite laws as it sees fit and is made up solely of Maduro loyalists.

The Treasury Department said the October elections were held amid censorship, abuse of state media and corruption extending to the distribution of food.

Others among those designated under the new US sanctions were Elvis Eduardo Hidrobo Amoroso, second vice president of the Constituent Assembly, which Washington deems illegitimate.

Also named were Culture Minister and former Information Minister Ernesto Emilio Villegas Poljak, the head of Venezuela’s state telephone utility Manuel Angel Fernandez Melendez, Urban Agriculture Minister Freddy Alirio Bernal Rosales and current ambassador to Italy Julian Isaias Rodriguez Diaz.

Rodriguez Diaz, for instance, who used to be second vice president of the Constituent Assembly, signed a decree forcing newly-elected governors to take the oath of office before that body, the US statement said.

The sanctions effectively freeze those named out of much of the global banking system, requiring most international banks not to process transactions on their behalf, and block their access to any assets under US jurisdiction.

Sanctions imposed by Trump's administration in August banned US trade in any new bonds issued by the Venezuelan government or state oil company PDVSA -- a needed step in any restructuring of the oil-rich country's debt.

The embattled government in Caracas announced last week it was calling a meeting of creditors for November 13 to try to restructure its foreign debt, estimated at $150 billion.

The move came the same day the International Monetary Fund said it was sanctioning the government for failing to provide economic data, as all IMF member states are required to do.

European Parliament approves first EU-Cuba pact

Yahoo – AFP, July 5, 2017

The European Parliament approved the Political Dialogue and Cooperation
Agreement, signed in December 2016, which is widely seen as a European
 riposte to US President Donald Trump's hardline stance against Cuba
 (AFP Photo/PEDRO PARDO)

Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved Wednesday a first-ever cooperation deal between the EU and Cuba, despite lingering concerns about human rights violations in the communist-ruled country.

Lawmakers in the eastern French city of Strasbourg approved the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, signed in December 2016, which is widely seen as a European riposte to US President Donald Trump's hardline stance against Havana.

"Europe has a great opportunity to demonstrate to the United States, which intends to withdraw, that it is possible to maintain the highest level of expectations on Cuba" and normalise relations with Havana, said MEP Elena Valenciano, the rapporteur of the agreement.

With the deal, Cuba joins other Latin American countries with similar agreements with the EU, whose relations with the island had previously been conducted within the so-called Common Position that linked ties to improvements in human rights.

Human rights remained a major hurdle to the deal, which had been negotiated since April 2014, with many MEPs calling for tougher language on the issue.

In an effort to placate opponents of the deal, the European Parliament adopted a non-legislative resolution on Wednesday in which MEPs urged the EU to assist "the economic and political transition in Cuba" including towards "democratic standards".

MEPs, who in the past granted Cuban dissidents the Sakharov Prize for human rights, also urged the release of all those jailed "for their ideals and their peaceful political activity."

With the vote, the agreement, which also lays the basis for trade relations, will enter into force provisionally in the coming months.

Full implementation will require ratification by the EU's 28 member countries in a complex process that can take years.

Mexico threatens to ditch US corn imports

Yahoo – AFP, Yussel GONZALEZ, March 21, 2017

Mexico imports billions of dollars' worth of corn from the US to feed its
livestock (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Mexico City (AFP) - Mexico has identified a potential weapon in its trade wrangle with US President Donald Trump: lucrative yellow cobs of American corn.

The Latin American nation imports billions of dollars' worth of the yellow grain from the United States to feed its livestock.

But with Trump pushing to shake up the countries' trade ties, Mexico is now threatening to buy from elsewhere.

That is worrying corn growers in some of the very same US states that voted heavily in favor of Trump: Iowa, North Dakota, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

Trump has vowed to restrict free trade with Mexico in order to protect US jobs and industry.

But with Mexico gearing up for a potential trade battle, the effect could be the opposite -- at least when it comes to corn.

"For US corn producers, Mexico is their number one export customer," Thomas Sleight, president of the US Grains Council, told AFP.

"They are concerned about maintaining excellent relationships with long standing customers that they've built over generations."

Leverage for NAFTA talks

Mexico's Agriculture Secretary Jose Calzada said Mexico is in advanced talks with two other corn producers, Brazil and Argentina.

The US grain is cheaper than those countries' corn at $198 a ton, says Juan Carlos Anaya, head of the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group, a Mexican research firm.

Brazilian corn costs $210 a ton and Argentine corn $217, Anaya said.

Buying corn from other countries would drive up the price of certain products in Mexico, he warned.

The US grain is cheaper than Brazil and Argentina's corn, at $198 a ton

(AFP Photo/Justin Sullivan)

But Mexico needs alternative sources of corn to gain leverage in trade negotiations.

Trump has vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada.

He wants new conditions that will help shift manufacturing jobs back to the United States and boost US production and exports.

Talks are expected to start this year.

"We do not know what the United States will propose," said Calzada.

"We have to act first to be sure that when we arrive at that negotiating table we are starting from a position of total strength."

One leftist opposition senator, Armando Rios Piter, has launched a legislative proposal to buy corn from Brazil and Argentina.

US "corn producers may have been fooled by Donald Trump when he said that Mexico was the only one benefiting from NAFTA," Rios told AFP.

"Now that they see what is at stake, they will have to change their minds."

US farmers concerned

Corn is Mexico's fourth-biggest import from the United States, after gasoline, diesel and natural gas.

Mexico imported $2.32 billion worth of corn in 2016 -- 10 percent more than the previous year, according to Mexican government figures.

By comparison, it imported just $17.7 million of corn from Argentina and $10 million from Brazil.

Mexico is also a major importer of US dairy products, pork, rice, wheat and soya.

Sleight said producers in five big corn-exporting US states have been lobbying lawmakers in Washington to stress how important NAFTA is for their business.

On January 23, agriculture industry leaders wrote to Trump saying that US food exports had quadrupled since NAFTA came into force in 1994.

"The sector in the US is struggling under the weight of low prices, reduced land values and rising interest rates, meaning farm profitability has declined", said analysis firm BMI Research.

"US farmers would suffer considerably from trade disruption with Mexico."