Petro denounces to the UN the hypocrisy of those who profit from the fight against drugs


The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has harshly criticized consumer societies and the hypocrisy of the fight against drugs, which poison the jungles and kill millions of Latin Americans while others fill their pockets in the name of higher values.


Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia - CHEPA BELTRAN / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

"I come from a country of bloody beauty", Petro began his intense and vehement speech, his first as president of Colombia before the United Nations General Assembly, where he criticized the "hypocritical" discourse of saving the jungle, since it is seen as "the enemy to be defeated".

"The jungle is burning, gentlemen, while you make war and play with it. The forest, the climatic pillar of the world, disappears with all its life. The great sponge that absorbs the planetary CO2 evaporates. The savior forest is seen in my country as the enemy to be defeated, as the weed to be extinguished", he denounced.

"The space of coca and of the peasants who grow it, because they have nothing else to grow, is demonized. For you, my country is of no interest to you except to throw poisons into your jungles, take your men to jail and throw your women into exclusion", he continued.

As he has been doing since he officially moved into Casa Nariño, Petro has again insisted that the fight against drugs has turned out to be a failure, as has the fight against the climate crisis.

"Decreasing drug consumption does not need wars, nor weapons, it needs all of us to build a better society: a more solidary society (...). Do you want less drugs? Think about less profits (...). Think about a rational exercise of power", he said.

WAR AS AN EXCUSE 

Petro has asked the international community for help, but stripped of hypocrisy, to save the Amazon rainforest. "The war served as an excuse for not taking the necessary measures (...) When it was necessary to move away as soon as possible from coal and oil, they invented one war and another".

"They invaded Ukraine, but also Iraq, Libya and Syria. They invaded in the name of oil and gas. They discovered in the 21st century the worst of their addictions, their addiction to money and oil. Wars have helped them not to act against the climate crisis. War has shown them how dependent they are on what will kill the human species", the Colombian president declared.

Petro again addressed those he considers responsible for the climate disaster that "fills the planet with viruses" to reproach them for at the same time doing business with medicines and turning vaccines into "merchandise".

"They propose that the market should not save us from what the market itself has created. The Frankenstein of humanity is in letting the market and greed act, surrendering the brain and reason, kneeling human rationality to greed," he lamented.

"The cause of the climate disaster is capital, the logic of relating to consume more and more, to produce more and more and for a few to earn more and more. This is what produces the climate disaster," stressed Petro, who, unlike other leaders at this type of event, did not read his speech.

Petro appealed to the rest of Latin American countries to unite in this attempt to put an end to this irrational power, to this passion for wars that are destroying the current civilization, and at the same time he proposed them to work together to save the Amazon rainforest.

"We can do it if you people from the north don't want to. Only exchange debt for life, only exchange debt for nature. I propose and I call on you in Latin America to put an end to it, do not pressure us to border ourselves in the fields of war, it is time for peace," he said.

"Let the Slavic peoples talk to each other, let the peoples of the world talk to each other (...) From Latin America I call on Russia and Ukraine to make peace (...). There is no total peace without economic, social and environmental justice", he concluded.

HOISTED ON HIS OWN PETARD

Manchin rails against 'revenge politics' on permit plan

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press - Yesterday 


WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday railed against what he called "revenge politics,'' as liberals in the House and Senate team up with Republicans to oppose his plan to speed permits for natural gas pipelines and other energy projects.


Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)© Provided by Associated Press

Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, secured a commitment from President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders to include the permitting package in a stopgap government-funding bill in return for his support of a landmark law to curb climate change.

But in the weeks since Biden signed so-called Inflation Reduction Act last month, Democrats and environmental groups have lined up to oppose the permitting plan, calling it bad for the country and the climate. Climate hawks such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, along with dozens of House members, say the permitting plan should be excluded from the must-pass spending bill.


Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)© Provided by Associated Press

Many Republicans agree. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy panel, called the permitting deal a “political payoff” to Manchin, whose vote on the climate bill was crucial to the law's passage.

Manchin's actions on the climate — including secret negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — "engendered a lot of bad blood” among Republicans, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters. “There’s not a lot of sympathy on our side to provide Sen. Manchin a reward.”

At a news conference Tuesday, Manchin expressed bewilderment at such sentiment, saying he's “never seen" such an example of “revenge politics,'' with Sanders and the "extreme liberal left siding up with Republican leadership'' to oppose his plan.

"It's revenge towards one person — me,'' Manchin said.

“I'm hearing that the Republican leadership is upset,'' he added. “They're not going to give a victory to Joe Manchin. Well, Joe Manchin is not looking for a victory.''

Replying Tuesday on Twitter, Sanders was defiant.

“Defeating the Big Oil side deal is not about revenge,″ he said. “It’s about whether we will stand with 650 environmental and civil rights organizations who understand that the future of the planet is with renewable energy and energy efficiency not approving the Mountain Valley Pipeline,″ a nearly-completed natural gas pipeline from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia. Manchin’s plan would expedite the pipeline and steer legal challenges to a different federal court.

While legislative text of his permitting plan has not been made public, Manchin called the bill “a good piece of legislation that is extremely balanced” and does not “bypass any environmental review.″ Instead it would accelerate a timeframe that can take up to 10 years for a major project to win approval.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has released a similar plan that would speed environmental permitting, but Manchin said his plan should have broader appeal, since it would streamline environmental reviews for renewable energy projects as well as fossil fuels. Manchin's plan has support from Biden and other Democratic leaders.

But a letter signed by more than 70 House Democrats slams the proposal as a “dirty side deal being negotiated behind closed doors, outside of proper government process and the view of our families and communities who it will deeply impact.''

If passed, "this deal will only make it easier for the fossil-fuel industry to site polluting projects in our communities and perpetuate the industry’s practice of concentrating destructive pollution projects in communities of color and poor communities,'' said the letter, led by House Natural Resources Chairman Raul Grijalva of Arizona.

The fissure among Democrats could complicate the party’s efforts to keep the focus on this summer’s major legislative victories — including the climate bill and a separate law to boost the semiconductor industry and create more high-tech jobs in the United States — heading into the midterm elections to determine which party controls the House and Senate.

More immediately, the divide is testing the ability of Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep enough Democrats in line to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

Schumer has said he will attach Manchin’s proposal to the stopgap funding bill, a promise Manchin said Tuesday he expects Schumer to keep.

The permitting plan "is going to be in the" funding bill to avert a government shutdown Sept. 30, Manchin said. If opponents are willing to close down the government “because of a personal attack on me, this is what makes people sick about politics,'' he added. “It makes me sick about it.''

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., did not directly answer when asked whether Manchin's permitting proposal would make it harder to pass the government funding bill, known as a continuing resolution.

"We’re going to pass the CR, and we're going to be here as long as it takes,'' Hoyer said Tuesday.

___

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

A PETARD 
a small bomb made of a metal or wooden box filled with powder,
 used to blast down a door or to make a hole in a wall.

Jury awards Illinois woman $363M in suit over plant's gas


CHICAGO (AP) — A jury has awarded $363 million to a woman who alleged that a now-shuttered suburban Chicago plant that sterilized medical equipment exposed residents to a toxic industrial gas and gave her breast cancer.

After a five-week trial, the Cook County jurors on Monday awarded Sue Kamuda $38 million in compensatory damages for the past and future loss of a normal life, emotional distress, disfigurement and shortened life expectancy, and $325 million in punitive damages.

Kamuda, 70, developed breast cancer in 2007 despite having no predisposition to it, her lawyers said. She is the first of more than 700 people seeking damages from Oak Brook, Illinois-based Sterigenics to go to trial over health claims over the plant’s releases of ethylene oxide gas.

Those lawsuits have been filed against Sterigenics since 2018, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published research showing people living near the plant in the DuPage County village of Willowbrook faced some of the nation’s highest cancer risks from toxic air pollution.

Sterigenics, the former plant's most recent owner, was ordered to pay Kamuda $220 million in punitive damages; parent company Sotera Health was directed to pay $100 million and Griffith Foods, the current name of the plant’s original owner, $5 million.

Monday’s verdict exceeded the $346 million Kamuda’s lawyers sought in closing arguments last Thursday against Sterigenics.

“It was such a relief,” Kamuda said of the verdict. The retired school administrator told reporters one of her sons has been diagnosed with cancer and has filed his own lawsuit against the company.

Lawyers for the companies argued that Kamuda’s attorneys offered no proof that her breast cancer was caused by exposure to ethylene oxide, an odorless gas pumped into fumigation chambers inside the sterilization plant and then released into surrounding neighborhoods.

The companies also brought in industry-connected scientists who tried to persuade jurors the plant never posed a danger to its neighbors, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Emails and documents presented during the trial showed the companies knew long ago that ethylene oxide is extremely dangerous, but delayed installing pollution-control equipment. The documents also showed the companies attempted to undermine federal regulations that would require costly improvements at sterilization facilities, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The plant had been releasing ethylene oxide from 1985 until it was temporarily shut down by the state in 2019 after authorities detected the gas nearby. Amid public pressure, Sterigenics closed the plant permanently later that year.

Patrick Salvi Jr., one of Kamuda’s attorneys, said Monday's verdict likely will affect rulings in other lawsuits.

“We think this ought to set the tone. There’s a lot of victims out there," he said.

Sterigenics and Sotera said in a statement they might appeal the verdict, saying it does not reflect the evidence presented in court.

“We will continue to vigorously defend against allegations about our ethylene oxide operations and emissions,” the companies said.

“As we have consistently done throughout our history, we will continue to operate in compliance with applicable rules and regulations to ensure the safety of our employees, the communities in which we operate and patients around the world.”

Griffith Foods, an Alsip, Illinois company, said the lawsuit was a “case of overreach” by the plaintiff’s lawyers. The company said it hasn’t been connected to Sterigenics in over 20 years.

Detroit sues Census in 2nd fight over population counts

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit sued the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday over population estimates from last year that show it lost an additional 7,100 residents, opening another front against the agency in a battle over how the city's people have been counted in the past two years.

Mayor Mike Duggan told reporters that the city wants the Census Bureau to reveal how it produced its population loss estimates for Detroit. Duggan claimed the bureau was going against its own policy by refusing to divulge to Detroit the way the estimates for the city were calculated and not allowing challenges this year.

The lawsuit appears to be the first litigation to challenge population results since the release of 2020 census data, which traditionally has formed the foundation of the annual population estimates.

The Census Bureau’s refusal this year to consider evidence that the 2021 population estimates were wrong perpetuates racial inequality and threatens the city’s reputation, Detroit said in its lawsuit.

“The Bureau’s failure to consider evidence of its inaccurate 2021 estimate costs the City and its residents millions of dollars of funding to which they are entitled while threatening the City’s historic turnaround by advancing the narrative that Detroit is losing population,” the lawsuit said.

The Census Bureau said in an emailed statement that it doesn't comment on litigation.

The bureau two years ago temporarily suspended its program allowing local governments to challenge their population estimates so more resources could be devoted to the execution of the once-a-decade census. The program isn't expected to resume until next year.

Detroit's lawsuit follows the city's appeal of the 2020 census data that showed Detroit with 639,111 residents, while estimates from 2019 put the city’s population at 670,052 residents.

Undercounts from the census and population estimates could cost Detroit tens of millions of dollars in federal funding over the next decade. Over the past decade or so, the city has received around $3.5 billion in annual federal funding tied to census figures.

“We have absolutely no idea what formula they could have possibly used," Duggan said Tuesday. “We don’t know what formula they used because they won’t tell us."

Duggan said 14 new apartment buildings opened in Detroit last year. DTE Energy has said 7,544 new utility accounts have been added, while the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department said new service has been added to 6,964 housing units, he added.

The U.S. Postal Service also has said it is delivering mail to 4,475 more residences in the city, according to Duggan.

“It's now clear the data coming out of the U.S. Census Bureau is completely divorced from reality,” he said. “We're drawing a line in the sand, and we're going to try to force accuracy out of these guys one way or the other. ”

“I think what the formula would show — it would show the error in their calculations, but if we get a formula that turns out they're right, we’ll admit they're right,” Duggan added.

Because of delays in releasing the 2020 census numbers, the Census Bureau broke with tradition and didn’t rely only on census figures for creating the foundation of its 2021 estimates of the U.S. population. Instead, statisticians “blended” the 2020 census numbers with other data sets to form the base of the annual population estimates used to help distribute $1.5 trillion in federal funding each year and measure annual population change through 2030.

Detroit is among several large cities to file a challenge of their figures from the 2020 census, following a national head count in which the Census Bureau acknowledged that a higher percentage of African Americans and Hispanics were undercounted than the previous decade. About 77% of Detroit's residents are African American, and Hispanics make up almost 8% of the population.

Leaders of Michigan’s largest city had questioned the results of the 2020 census since December 2021, when they released a report suggesting that more than 8% of the occupied homes in 10 Detroit neighborhoods may have been undercounted.

Duggan has said in a letter to the Census Bureau that insufficient resources and not enough census takers were devoted to the count in Detroit, resulting in an undercount of unoccupied homes that could amount to tens of thousands of residents being overlooked.

____

Schneider reported from Orlando, Florida.

Corey Williams And Mike Schneider, The Associated Press

American Airlines says data breach affected some customers, employees

(Reuters) -American Airlines Inc on Tuesday confirmed a data breach and said while an "unauthorized actor" gained access to personal information of a small number of customers and employees through a phishing campaign, there was no evidence of data misuse. Shares of the carrier, the latest U.S. company to suffer a cyber attack, fell 2.6% in afternoon trade. Recently, Uber Technologies Inc and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc also disclosed similar breaches, leaving investors and customers worried about data security.



"We are also currently implementing additional technical safeguards to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future," the airline said on Tuesday. It discovered the breach in July and engaged a third party cybersecurity forensic firm to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and the scope of the incident, according to a Sept. 16 consumer notification letter. American Airlines has notified customers that personal information such as address, phone number, driver's license number, passport number and/or certain medical information may have been accessed by the hacker, the letter showed. "We regret that this incident occurred and take the security of your personal information very seriously," Chief Privacy and Data Protection Officer Russell Hubbard said in the letter.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shinjini Ganguli)

Drought in Western US heats up as a Senate campaign issue


RENO, Nev. (AP) — In a midterm campaign season dominated by inflation, abortion and crime, there’s another issue that is becoming more urgent in Western states: drought.



The topic of water historically has played little to no role in campaign ads in much of the region, but funding to fight drought is coming up now in door-knocking campaigns and is on the long list of talking points that advocacy groups are using to rally voters in two states with vulnerable Democratic incumbents and looming water cuts: Nevada and Arizona.

“This issue appeals to the economic anxiety of our voters and our people,” said Angel Lazcano, a Las Vegas-based organizer for Somos Votantes, which seeks to mobilize Latino voters across swing states.

Federal officials recently announced that Nevada and Arizona would get far less water in 2023 as the stranglehold on the Colorado River worsens because of drought, climate change and demand. The federal government threatened to impose deeper, broader cuts if the seven states that depend on the waterway can’t agree on how to use less.

The two vulnerable incumbents whose states are hit hardest by the cuts — Catherine Cortez Masto, of Nevada, and Mark Kelly, of Arizona — seized on the opportunity to seek funding through the federal legislation. They were joined by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who is seeking reelection in Colorado, and Arizona’s Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. The four Western senators negotiated $4 billion in last-minute funding to help address the region’s growing water crisis in the Inflation Reduction Act.

In tight races in Nevada and Arizona, the Colorado River basin cuts and last-minute $4 billion in drought-relief funding will serve as a test of how influential access to water will be in deciding two of the most consequential Senate races this cycle.

Though still not allocated, the drought relief funding will generally pay farmers to leave fields unplanted and will pay for water conservation and habitat restoration projects.

Cortez Masto said in a brief interview that she doesn’t see it as a campaign issue, but rather an issue for the entire West.

Somos Votantes released ads in English and Spanish, thanking Cortez Masto for the funding. In Arizona, the Environmental Defense Fund and its advocacy partner did the same for Sinema and Kelly, who has touted the funding on social media.

Kathleen Ferris, a senior water policy researcher at Arizona State University, said drought is a politically murky subject. She doubts the relief funding will have any sway on the election, and even the Colorado River cuts have not risen to the level of other hot-button issues.

Campaigns historically have trouble communicating complex water policies because there are so many interest groups that have a stake, she said.

"It’s not necessarily easy to say, ‘Well, I will do this,’ which would hurt this group, or ‘I will do that,’ which would hurt another group,” said Ferris, a senior research fellow at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. “So mostly, what they say is ’I will convene stakeholders’ and ‘We will have robust discussions’ and ‘We will figure out a path.’ Well, that’s not very sexy for the electorate.”

The funding is small in the wider context of a historic megadrought. Farmers in Yuma, Arizona, are already requesting over a quarter of the funding, and projects elsewhere to convert ocean water to drinking water often cost billions.

Though projects in Nevada and Arizona may get priority, 17 states are eligible for the funding, which will be doled out through 2026.

Questions also remain about whether the one-time allocation will turn into an annual stipend. If so, experts say, other funding requests could come under scrutiny from states not reliant on the river.

Though the basin cuts will not result in immediate new restrictions, they signal that unpopular decisions about how to reduce consumption could come soon.

Nowhere have the effects of drought been as visible as in Lake Mead, the Colorado River’s largest reservoir, which supplies water to nearby Las Vegas. Residents have watched human remains and old artifacts reveal themselves as levels drop.

Lazcano, the community organizer at Somos Votantes, which endorsed Cortez Masto, brings up Las Vegas’ robust water recycling infrastructure and the $4 billion in drought relief funding while door-knocking or hosting events in Las Vegas' Latino neighborhoods.

He pitches drought relief as an environmental and economic issue — affecting jobs and opportunities next to rising gas prices, labor shortages and inflation.

“I feel like people have that surface-level understanding of these things that are happening,” he said. “Like they hear about the cuts and the money coming in, but they’re not too sure with how to take that in, and that’s where we come in. To tell them about how it is, or what these investments mean.”

The funding has earned mixed reactions from Republican candidates in Nevada.

While the inflation measure was universally vilified by the party, GOP lawmakers and candidates did not deny that drought needs urgent attention.

Adam Laxalt, who is running against Cortez Masto, has mostly stayed away from talking about drought. In an email, he said he supports efforts to address water problems in Nevada, noting that the crunch “didn’t just happen overnight.”

The Inflation Reduction Act will contribute to more inflation, and Cortez Masto should have secured funding without having to support a larger bill, he said.

Sam Peters, a Republican candidate for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District — which covers much of rural central Nevada down to the northern edge of the Las Vegas area — criticized paying farmers not to use water, saying that Democrats “throw money at it without a real solution.” He suggested desalination as a longer-term solution.

U.S. Rep Mark Amodei, Nevada’s lone Republican congressman, supported the general idea of the funding and also pointed to desalination, the technology that removes salt from ocean water and turns it into drinking water.

A $1.4 billion desalination project was proposed in California with support from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom but was rejected by a California coastal panel in May because of its cost and threat to marine organisms at the base of the food chain.

Days after the Inflation Reduction Act passed, Amodei sent out a blog post that didn’t mention drought but outlined the provisions he said would deepen the country’s economic woes.

Asked about the drought funding later, he said it was “maybe some of the least egregious stuff” in the act.

___

Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326

Gabe Stern, The Associated Press

GOP's hard-line tactics on migrants refocus midterm debate


MIAMI (AP) — They’ve delivered migrants on planes and buses to Washington, D.C., New York City — even Martha’s Vineyard. And the Republican governors of Florida and Texas may be just getting started.


GOP's hard-line tactics on migrants refocus midterm debate© Provided by The Canadian Press

Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas insist such dramatic steps are need to highlight a genuine crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, where thousands of migrants stream into the country illegally each day. But weeks away from their own competitive reelections, friends and foes alike acknowledged that such hard-line tactics have effectively refocused November’s midterm elections — at least, temporarily — away from abortion rights and toward an issue more favorable to Republicans.

A defiant DeSantis on Tuesday blasted the Biden administration's inaction on the Southern border and celebrated his own policies for making illegal immigration “a front-burner issue” ahead of the midterms.

“It will be a big issue in the elections, I can tell you that,” DeSantis said. “It’s already made more of an impact than anyone thought it could possibly make. But we’re going to continue to make more of an impact.”

Indeed, DeSantis and Abbott are pressing forward with — and even expanding on — controversial campaigns to ship thousands of immigrants from Texas to Democratic-led states and cities. Beyond shifting the national debate, their divisive moves could also serve to strengthen their national brands — and help legitimize their controversial policies — as they consider 2024 presidential bids.

“I personally thought it was a good idea," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.

The governors' rhetoric is reminiscent of former President Donald Trump’s dire warnings ahead of the 2018 midterms that a migrant caravan threatened the Southern border. Trump’s GOP lost 40 seats in the House and gained two Senate seats that year.

Democrats from Connecticut to California have generated momentum in recent weeks by campaigning on the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — and the GOP's subsequent push to outlaw abortion in dozens of states. Republicans, meanwhile, want to make the midterms a referendum on President Joe Biden and concerns about the economy, crime and immigration.

This week, at least, immigration is leading the national debate.

“What they’re doing is raising the salience and relevance of the immigration issue, which is important to Republican voters and can help drive turnout,” said veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse. “For the voters we’re appealing to, for the most part, the benefits outweigh the risks by a considerable margin.”

There are real risks, however, particularly for DeSantis, who has taken credit for two weekend charter planes that carried about 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, a small, wealthy island off Massachusetts' coast. The immigrants were told they were going to Boston.

A Texas sheriff on Monday opened an investigation into DeSantis' flights, though the law enforcement official, an elected Democrat, did not say what laws may have been broken in putting 48 Venezuelans on private planes from San Antonio, the first stop for many migrants who cross the border.

A lawsuit was filed Tuesday against DeSantis and his transportation secretary on behalf of several of the migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard, alleging the two politicians engaged in a "fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” to relocate them. DeSantis' office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat who represents San Antonio, has called on the Justice Department to investigate the flights as well.

Related video: Political fallout from sending migrants to different US cities
Duration 5:20 View on Watch

“These guys are immature, sadistic Trump imitators. That’s what they are,” Castro said of Abbott and DeSantis. “This is sadistic behavior. Whatever political point they were trying to make has been made a long time ago.”

DeSantis, who has stepped up travel on behalf of GOP candidates in the midterm elections, vowed to spend “every penny” of $12 million set aside by the state legislature for such “relocation programs.” On Tuesday, local officials in a Delaware community close to Biden's vacation home were preparing to receive another one of DeSantis' planes full of migrants from Texas, although the Florida governor refused to confirm the development.

Despite fierce criticism and potential legal liabilities, there has been little evidence of widespread political backlash in either state.

Democratic sympathizers in Florida staged news conferences in recent days condemning the governors while others compared DeSantis to late Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Spanish radio. But the number of Venezuelan voters in the state remains relatively small. Much of the community that exists has formed a coalition with Cubans, a crucial bloc in Florida that has increasingly voted Republican.

“Governors Abbott and DeSantis have had enough of it and decided to do something for people to pay attention,” said Ernesto Ackerman, a Republican who heads the Independent Venezuelan American Citizens. “This is a country of laws, not of scoundrels and tramps.”

In Texas, Abbott has spent the past two years pushing a series of provocative immigration measures that have elevated his national profile and kept critics on his right at bay. The two-term governor converted a former prison near Texas’ southern border into a jail for migrants, gave the National Guard extraordinary arrest powers and gridlocked some of America’s busiest ports for a week by mandating additional inspections for 18-wheelers crossing into the U.S.

The Abbott administration has been busing migrants to Washington, Chicago and New York City for months. The busing campaign includes two busloads of people who were dropped off outside Vice President Kamala Harris' residence last weekend.

Longtime Abbott adviser Dave Carney said Texas would expand its operation this week to include new drop-off locations in other states.

“We’ve been focused on this for two years. It’s got nothing to do with politics. The communities are screaming bloody murder,” Carney said, referring to border towns flooded with immigrants apprehended at the border and subsequently released.

Republicans cast the border crisis as a failure of the Biden administration.

The federal government this week reported that authorities stopped migrants 2.15 million times from October through August, the first time that measure has ever topped 2 million and a 39% increase from the same period a year earlier.

Border crossings have been fueled partly by repeat crossers because there are no legal consequences for getting caught under a pandemic-era rule that denies a right to seek asylum. Even so, the numbers are extraordinarily high.

While Abbott and DeSantis have also highlighted their accomplishments on issues related to the economy, neither has taken steps to moderate their immigration policies as the November election nears.

Abbott is running against former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who has outraised Abbott in a contest that represents the toughest challenge of the governor’s political career.

Immigration remains a crucial issue for Democrats who have long believed Texas’ booming cities and shifting demographics would eventually turn America’s biggest red state blue. But in overwhelmingly Hispanic counties on the border, Republicans are making an aggressive play for three congressional seats this fall after Trump made major gains in the region in 2020.

It was much the same in South Florida, where Trump's GOP performed better than expected in the last election.

DeSantis is running against former Rep. Charlie Crist, whose campaign has charged in recent days that the governor “shot himself in the foot” by shipping immigrants from Texas to Massachusetts. The move sparked a fundraising surge for Crist that exceeded $1 million over a 48-hour period, according to spokesperson Samantha Ramirez.

Republican candidates on the November ballot don't seem worried.

“I think it is a valid maneuver to use in order to try to wake up or at least expose the hypocrisy of progressive Democrats that say the border is secure and there’s no problem down here whatsoever,” said Joseph Swiger, one of dozens of Republicans running for local office in Texas border counties where the GOP seldom bothered to recruit candidates in the past.

___

Peoples reported from New York; Weber reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri in Washington contributed to this report.

Steve Peoples, Adriana Gomez Licon And Paul Weber, The Associated Press

UN

Bolivia and Peru express concern over the situation of the Palestinian people and the war in Ukraine

The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, and the President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, expressed their concern about the situation of the Palestinian people and the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a meeting at the United Nations Assembly on Tuesday, while calling for a ceasefire in the country.


The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, and the President of Peru, Pedro Castillo

 - MARIANA BAZO / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO

"Let the United Nations work tirelessly for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. For the historical rights of the Palestinian state and people to be respected and for NATO to stop thinking about its expansionist plans," Arce stressed.

For his part, Castillo has remarked before the UN General Assembly that "strategic balances" have been modified, resulting in the deterioration of peace. "(Peru) reiterates the illegitimacy of the Russian Federation's intervention in Ukraine, just as it reproves Israel's persistent occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories since 1967," he said.

In this way, he called for a cease-fire in Ukraine so that economic sanctions do not "affect food security" in a "convulsed" context in which these "unilateral" reprisals, different from those approved by the Security Council, are contrary to international law.

"It is indispensable that the international community assumes once and for all its responsibilities and propitiates peace negotiations to find a solution based on the recognition of the two states", explained Castillo, adding that it is necessary "a viable Palestine" and an "Israel with secure borders".

For this reason, the Peruvian president announced before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the Peruvian government will open a diplomatic representation in Palestinian territory with the aim of promoting this "lasting peace".

"THE "LITHIUM TRIANGLE" AND THE LAW OF THE SEA

 During his speech, Arce asked the United Nations to ensure the non-interference of states over strategic natural resources in the so-called "lithium triangle", formed by Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, which is "in the crosshairs" of the United States. "We are not pieces on a chessboard," he said, adding that they have "every right to decide" about their own resources.

Bolivia has gone through several potholes throughout their shared history, among them the Altiplano's lawsuit before the International Court of the Hague, brought by then President Evo Morales, in which Chile was forced to negotiate a sovereign outlet to the Pacific Ocean.

In view of these disputes, Arce explained that the sea "is a right of the peoples" and that "Bolivia was born with the sea". "However, at present, it is a cloistered country, forced by the circumstances of the past to face multiple barriers for transportation, communication and trade".

The Bolivian president has also put the focus on the fight against drug trafficking. "We must change the approach", he explained, adding that "militarization" is a point that needs to be worked on, since "it has affected the peasants in the south", leaving the large criminal groups in "impunity".

"The international war on drugs criminalizes and generates unilateral sanctions against countries of the south, but shields the laundering of assets, facilitates drug trafficking and other related crimes in other countries of the north," he said, adding that it is necessary to bet on a social and less militarized approach.

THE SAHARA AND THE MALVINAS 

For his part, Castillo recalled that Peru has re-established diplomatic relations with the Saharawi republic. "It firmly supports their right to self-determination", he said, adding that they support the efforts of the UN for a "cease-fire" in Western Sahara and a "negotiated and peaceful solution".

"In the same conviction, Peru fully recognizes the sovereignty rights of the Argentine Republic in the Malvinas Islands and we demand that the parties begin consultations and negotiations to achieve this imperative objective," he concluded.

Fernandez assures UN that the attack on Cristina Fernandez sought to alter democracy

The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, has assured this Tuesday before the UN General Assembly that the assassination attempt against Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner sought to "alter democracy".


The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez - 

"In Argentina, the attempt to assassinate the vice president not only affected public tranquility. It also sought to alter a virtuous collective construction that next year will celebrate four decades of life," he said, thanking "the solidarity" that the country has received "from the whole world" after the attack, as reported by 'La Nación'.

Speaking in New York before the United Nations General Assembly, in what was his first intervention before the world forum, Fernandez said that "many times in history, assassinations have been prologues of great tragedies" and "entire peoples succumbed behind those prophets of hatred".

"I am sure that the fascist violence that disguises itself as republicanism will not succeed in changing this broad consensus to which the vast majority of Argentine society adheres," she added, as reported by the Télam agency.

In this sense, he warned that extremist and violent discourses have found "fertile ground to sow anti-political sentiment", and he scorned that "those who seek to weaken" democracies "have specific interests that lead them to promote extreme polarization".

"Let us not accept this situation with resignation. Let us generate an energetic global rejection of those who promote division in our communities," said Fernandez.

ARGENTINA ASKS THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR A DIALOGUE ON THE MALVINAS 

On the other hand, Fernandez has taken advantage of the UN General Assembly to ask the United Kingdom to resume dialogues to address the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.

According to Télam, the Argentine president reaffirmed the country's "legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty rights" over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.

He also denounced that the United Kingdom "aggravated the controversy" with an "unjustified and excessive military presence in the islands" and with "calls for the illegal exploitation of resources". However, it has expressed its willingness to resume "negotiations" with London.

"We request the Secretary General to renew his efforts in the fulfillment of that mandate and that the United Kingdom agrees to abide by the call of the international community and put an end to this anachronistic colonial situation", emphasized Fernandez, reiterating to the British Government to comply with UN resolution 31/49, which calls for the decolonization of the Malvinas Islands.

Sahara – Morocco defends before the UN its autonomy plan for the Sahara as «the only solution».

The head of the Moroccan government, Aziz Ajanuch, defended Tuesday before the UN General Assembly the Moroccan autonomy proposal for the Sahara, which he described as "a realistic and fair solution to the problem", claiming once again the Moroccan ownership of the former Spanish colony.


Morocco's Prime Minister Aziz Ajanuch, leader of the 

National Rally of Independents (RNI) 

- CHADI / XINHUA NEWS / CONTACTOPHOTO

In his speech, he reiterated Morocco's commitment to a "definitive political solution" to what he called an "artificial regional conflict" over the Sahara, but made it clear that this solution must be based on "the Moroccan autonomy initiative, the only solution to this dispute", and be framed within "the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the kingdom".

According to the Moroccan Prime Minister, this "serious and realistic" initiative presented by Morocco in 2007 already enjoys the support of more than 90 countries. About thirty countries, mainly African, have in recent years opened consulates in the former Spanish colony after recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over these territories.

Moreover, he maintained that "the Southern Provinces", as the Sahara is called in Morocco, "live at the pace of an irreversible development dynamic, within the framework of the new development model" launched by King Mohammed VI in 2015 and its population participates in it through its democratically elected representatives in the councils of the two regions into which this territory is divided.

MESSAGE TO ALGERIA 

In another development, according to le360.ma portal, Ajanuch said Morocco supports the efforts of the UN envoy for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to relaunch the process of round tables with the participation of Morocco, the Polisario Front, Mauritania and Algeria with a view to reaching a realistic and lasting political solution in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council.

"The participation of Algeria, with seriousness and good faith, in the process of round tables (...) is a sine qua non to achieve a definitive settlement to this question", the Moroccan Prime Minister stressed, after accusing Algiers of being responsible for "the creation and maintenance of this artificial dispute".

On another matter, the Moroccan Prime Minister stressed his country's "firm" position in support of the Palestinian cause and a "two-state solution", although, nevertheless, he stressed that he will continue to defend "the special status of Jerusalem".

Nevertheless, Ajanuch maintained that "the world is now witnessing profound and multidimensional crises and challenges, and the African continent is the most affected by the difficult global economic conditions, which undermine its efforts in the field of sustainable development".

In addition, he called for strengthening international cooperation to launch "major initiatives" for development that will enable Africa to "withstand many international shocks," pointing specifically to climate change.

DIPLOMATIC EFFORT 

Morocco has recently been engaged in a major diplomatic effort to attract more countries to support its thesis of the Moroccanness of the Sahara. After then U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Rabat's sovereignty over the former Spanish colony in December 2020, the Moroccan government has worked and lobbied for other countries to follow in its footsteps.

In the case of Spain, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, recognized last March in a letter to Mohamed VI that the Moroccan autonomy plan is "the most serious, solid and credible basis" for a solution, while other countries such as France and Germany have recognized that it could be one of the bases for resolving the conflict.

The Moroccan Foreign Minister, Naser Burita, is also in New York these days, where he is having a busy schedule of meetings with his counterparts from several countries with the aim of continuing to promote Morocco's theses.

On Tuesday, the head of Moroccan diplomacy held a total of eleven bilateral meetings, nine of them with ministers of European countries - Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Portugal. A meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, is scheduled for Wednesday.