ReportWire

Tag: Democracy

  • California’s Prop 50 shakes up nation’s redistricting arms race

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Evan Cragin, president of the Sacramento County Young Democrats, said he was initially hesitant to support his party’s mid-decade push to redraw California’s congressional map to favor Democrats.






    Evan Cragin, president of the Sacramento County Young Democrats




    The state in 2008 voted to create an independent redistricting commission in an effort to end gerrymandering. In August, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Prop 50, a ballot measure that would temporarily override the commission and implement a redrawn map favoring Democrats.


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    Deene Souza, Tulare County GOP

    Deene Souza, director of grassroot efforts with the Tulare County Republican Party.




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    Erik Nisbet

    Erik Nisbet, director of Northwestern University’s Center for Communication and Public Policy




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    Chad Kinsella

    Chad Kinsella




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    Carson Gerber CNHI State Reporter

    Source link

  • California’s Prop 50 shakes up nation’s redistricting arms race

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Evan Cragin, president of the Sacramento County Young Democrats, said he was initially hesitant to support his party’s mid-decade push to redraw California’s congressional map to favor Democrats.






    Evan Cragin, president of the Sacramento County Young Democrats




    The state in 2008 voted to create an independent redistricting commission in an effort to end gerrymandering. In August, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Prop 50, a ballot measure that would temporarily override the commission and implement a redrawn map favoring Democrats.


    This page requires Javascript.

    Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

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    Deene Souza, Tulare County GOP

    Deene Souza, director of grassroot efforts with the Tulare County Republican Party.




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    Erik Nisbet

    Erik Nisbet, director of Northwestern University’s Center for Communication and Public Policy




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    Chad Kinsella

    Chad Kinsella




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    Carson Gerber CNHI State Reporter

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  • 5 newcomers elected to Salem City Council

    SALEM — Voters elected several newcomers to the City Council during Tuesday’s municipal election.






    Erin Turowski




    In Ward 1, challenger Erin Turowski defeated incumbent Cynthia Jerzylo, receiving 622, or 59.4% of the votes cast in the election compared to Jerzylo’s 426 votes, according to unofficial results.


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    Ward 2 candidate Andrew Justin Smith

    Andrew Smith




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    Jason Sydoriak

    Jason Sydoriak




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    Timothy Flynn

    Timothy Flynn


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    Ward 5 candidate Lydia C King

    Lydia King




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    Ward 6 candidate Katelyn Holappa

    Katelyn Holappa




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    Yamily Byas

    Yamily Byas




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    By Michael McHugh | Staff Writer

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  • Both sides say democracy is at stake with Prop. 50 — but for very different reasons

    If the ads are any indication, Proposition 50 offers Californians a stark choice: “Stick it to Trump” or “throw away the constitution” in a Democratic power grab.

    And like so many things in 2025, Trump appears to be the galvanizing issue.

    Even by the incendiary campaigns California is used to, Proposition 50 has been notable for its sharp attacks to cut through the dense, esoteric issue of congressional redistricting. It comes down to a basic fact: this is a Democratic-led measure to reconfigure California’s congressional districts to help their party win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026 and stifle President Trump’s attempts to keep Republicans in power through similar means in other states.

    Thus far, the anti-Trump message preached by Proposition 50 advocates, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other top Democrats, appears to be the most effective.

    Supporters of the proposal have vastly outraised their rivals and Proposition 50, one of the most expensive ballot measure campaigns in state history, leads in the polls.

    “Whenever you can take an issue and personalize it, you have the advantage. In this case, proponents of 50 can make it all about stopping Donald Trump,” said former legislative leader and state GOP Chair Jim Brulte.

    Adding to the drama is the role of two political and cultural icons who have emerged as leaders of each side: former President Obama in favor and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger against, both arguing the very essence of democracy is at stake.

    Schwarzenegger and the two main committees opposing Proposition 50 have focused on the ethical and moral imperative of preserving the independent redistricting commission. Californians in 2010 voted to create the panel to draw the state’s congressional district boundaries after every census in an effort to provide fair representation to all state residents.

    That’s not a political ideal easily explained in a 30-section television ad, or an Instagram post.

    Redistricting is a “complex issue,” Brulte said, but he noted that “the no side has the burden of trying to explain what the initiative really does and the yes side gets to use the crib notes [that] this is about stopping Trump — a much easier path.”

    Partisans on both sides of the aisle agree.

    “The yes side quickly leveraged anti-Trump messaging and has been closing with direct base appeals to lock in the lead,” said Jamie Fisfis, a political strategist who has worked on many GOP congressional campaigns in California. “The partisanship and high awareness behind the measure meant it was unlikely to sag under the weight of negative advertising like other initiatives often do. It’s been a turnout game.”

    Obama, in ads that aired during the World Series and NFL games, warned that “Democracy is on the ballot Nov. 4” as he urged voters to support Proposition 50. Ads for the most well-funded committee opposing the proposition featured Schwarzenegger saying that opposing the ballot measure was critical to ensuring that citizens are not overrun by elected officials.

    “The Constitution does not start with ‘We, the politicians.’ It starts with ‘We, the people,’” Schwarzenegger told USC students in mid-September — a speech excerpted in an anti-Proposition 50 ad. “Democracy — we’ve got to protect it, and we’ve got to go and fight for it.”

    California’s Democratic-led Legislature voted in August to put the redistricting proposal that would likely boost their ranks in Congress on the November ballot. The measure, pushed by Newsom, was an effort to counter Trump’s efforts to increase the number of GOP members in the House from Texas and other GOP-led states.

    The GOP holds a narrow edge in the House, and next year’s election will determine which party controls the body during Trump’s final two years in office — and whether he can further his agenda or is the focus of investigations and possible impeachment.

    Noticeably absent for California’s Proposition 50 fight is the person who triggered it — Trump.

    The proposition’s opponents’ decision not to highlight Trump is unsurprising given the president’s deep unpopularity among Californians. More than two-thirds of the state’s likely voters did not approve of his handling of the presidency in late October, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll.

    Trump did, however, urge California voter not to cast mail-in ballots or vote early, falsely arguing in a social media post that both voting methods were “dishonest.”

    Some California GOP leaders feared that Trump’s pronouncement would suppress the Republican vote.

    In recent days, the California Republican Party sent mailers to registered Republicans shaming them for not voting. “Your neighbors are watching,” the mailer says, featuring a picture of a woman peering through binoculars. “Don’t let your neighbors down. They’ll find out!”

    Tuesday’s election will cost state taxpayers nearly $300 million. And it’s unclear if the result will make a difference in control of the House because of multiple redistricting efforts in other states.

    But some Democrats are torn about the amount of money being spent on an effort that may not alter the partisan makeup of Congress.

    Johanna Moska, who worked in the Obama administration, described Proposition 50 as “frustrating.”

    “I just wish we were spending money to rectify the state’s problems, if we figured out a way the state could be affordable for people,” she said. “Gavin’s found what’s working for Gavin. And that’s resistance to Trump.”

    Newsom’s efforts opposing Trump are viewed as a foundational argument if he runs for president in 2028, which he has acknowledged pondering.

    Proposition 50 also became a platform for other politicians potentially eyeing a 2026 run for California governor, Sen. Alex Padilla and billionaires Rick Caruso and Tom Steyer.

    The field is in flux, with no clear front-runner.

    Padilla being thrown to the ground in Los Angeles as he tried to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the Trump administration’s immigration policies is prominently featured in television ads promoting Proposition 50. Steyer, a longtime Democratic donor who briefly ran for president in 2020, raised eyebrows by being the only speaker in his second television ad. Caruso, who unsuccessfully ran against Karen Bass in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral race and is reportedly considering another political campaign, recently sent voters glossy mailers supporting Proposition 50.

    Steyer committed $12 million to support Proposition 50. His initial ad, which shows a Trump impersonator growing increasingly irate as news reports showing the ballot measure passing, first aired during “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Steyer’s second ad fully focused on him, raising speculation about a potential gubernatorial run next year.

    Ads opposing the proposition aired less frequently before disappearing from television altogether in recent days.

    “The yes side had the advantage of casting the question for voters as a referendum on Trump,” said Rob Stutzman, a GOP strategist who worked for Schwarzenegger but is not involved with any of the Proposition 50 campaigns. “Asking people to rally to the polls to save a government commission — it’s not a rallying call.”

    Seema Mehta

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  • Trump says China’s Xi told him he won’t move on Taiwan during Republican’s term

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump says that Chinese President Xi Jinping has given him assurances that Beijing would take no action toward its long-stated goal of unifying Taiwan with mainland China while the Republican leader is in office.

    Trump said that the long-contentious issue of Taiwan did not come up in his talks with Xi on Thursday in South Korea that largely focused on U.S.-China trade tensions. But the U.S. leader expressed certainty that China would not take action on Taiwan, while he’s in office.

    “He has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘We would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in an excerpt of an interview with the CBS’ program “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday.

    U.S. officials have long been concerned about the possibility of China using military force against Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.

    The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which has governed U.S. relations with the island, does not require the U.S. to step in militarily if China invades but makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and to prevent any unilateral change of status by Beijing.

    Asked if he would order U.S. forces to defend Taiwan if China attacked, Trump demurred. The United States, both Republican and Democratic administrations, have maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan — trying not to tip their hands on whether the U.S. would come to the island’s aid in such a scenario.

    “You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that,” Trump said of Xi.

    The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House also did not provide further details about when Xi or Chinese officials have conveyed to Trump that military action on Taiwan was off-the-table for the duration of the Republican’s presidency.

    The “60 Minutes” interview was taped on Friday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. It marked Trump’s first appearance on the show since he settled a lawsuit this summer with CBS News over the newsmagazine’s interview with Kamala Harris.

    The rest of the interview is scheduled to air later Sunday.

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  • Trump Says China’s Xi Has Assured Him That He Won’t Take Action on Taiwan During Republican’s Term

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump says that Chinese President Xi Jinping has given him assurances that Beijing would take no action toward its long-stated goal of unifying Taiwan with mainland China while the Republican leader is in office.

    Trump said that the long-contentious issue of Taiwan did not come up in his talks with Xi on Thursday in South Korea that largely focused on U.S.-China trade tensions. But the U.S. leader expressed certainty that China would not take action on Taiwan, while he’s in office.

    “He has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘We would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in an excerpt of an interview with the CBS’ program “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday.

    U.S. officials have long been concerned about the possibility of China using military force against Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.

    The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which has governed U.S. relations with the island, does not require the U.S. to step in militarily if China invades but makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and to prevent any unilateral change of status by Beijing.

    Asked if he would order U.S. forces to defend Taiwan if China attacked, Trump demurred. The United States, both Republican and Democratic administrations, have maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan — trying not to tip their hands on whether the U.S. would come to the island’s aid in such a scenario.

    “You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that,” Trump said of Xi.

    The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House also did not provide further details about when Xi or Chinese officials have conveyed to Trump that military action on Taiwan was off-the-table for the duration of the Republican’s presidency.

    The rest of the interview is scheduled to air later Sunday.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    Associated Press

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  • Salisbury OKs almost all Town Meeting articles

    SALISBURY — The fall Town Meeting went off without a hitch Monday with all recommended articles being approved by townspeople.

    The Town Meeting warrant included 38 articles, with the warrant advisory committee recommending all but Article 38.


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    By Caitlin Dee | cdee@newburyportnews.com

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  • Democrat Abigail Spanberger Backs Virginia Legislature’s Redistricting Push

    BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, said Monday that she would not oppose a push by the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

    Virginia Democrats earlier in the day began taking steps to change the state’s constitution to allow for a new congressional map, a change that must ultimately be approved by voters before it becomes law. The change is designed to counter President Donald Trump’s push to create more partisan districts in several Republican-run states.

    In an interview on her campaign bus just eight days before Election Day, Spanberger told The Associated Press that she would not stand in the way of the Democratic leaders in the state General Assembly, although it’s unclear whether congressional districts could be changed in time for the 2026 midterm elections.

    “What they are doing at this moment is keeping alive the option of taking action into the future,” said Spanberger, who would become the governor in January if she wins next week. “While I like to plan for everything, on this one, because I’m on the bus tour, because we are eight days away (from Election Day), I’m like, I will let the General Assembly take this step, and then we’ll talk calendar issues later.”

    Her position marks a shift of sorts from this summer when she said she had “no plans to redistrict Virginia.”

    Virginia Republicans, including Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, blasted the move in a news conference outside the statehouse.

    “This, my friends, is not about party, it’s about principle,” Earle-Sears said, standing in front of a podium marked with the words, “Spanberger’s sideshow session.” “The voters created an independent redistricting commission. Only the voters have the right to decide a future, not gerrymandering Democrats.”

    The Democratic-led legislature’s push to enter Virginia into a redistricting battle comes after California made a similar move earlier this year.

    If Democrats gain just three more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, they would take control of the House and with it, the power to impede Trump’s agenda. But Republicans in other states, at Trump’s urging, are working aggressively to extend their advantage in redistricting moves of their own.

    In Virginia on Monday, the House amended its agenda to allow a redistricting constitutional amendment to be put forward, with details to come later. The state senate is expected to follow suit this week.

    Democratic state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, who has championed Virginia’s current redistricting law, said he still supports the concept of a bipartisan redistricting commission, “but I’m also not going to let Donald Trump go around to states that have the majorities that he likes and try to make it so that he can’t lose.”

    Because Virginia’s redistricting commission was created by a voter-approved constitutional amendment, voters must sign off on any changes to the redistricting process. A proposed constitutional amendment would have to pass the General Assembly in two separate sessions and then be placed on the statewide ballot.

    Democrats are scrambling to hold that first legislative vote this year in order to take a second vote after a new legislative session begins Jan. 14.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • Kenyans Bid Farewell to Statesman and Democracy Activist Raila Odinga at State Funeral

    NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Presidents and representatives of African heads of state joined thousands of mourners at a state funeral service Friday for Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the democratic reformer who died this week in India at the age of 80.

    Kenyans have turned out in large numbers to mourn Odinga since his death on Wednesday, reflecting the outsized influence the respected statesman had on political life in the East African country.

    Thousands filled a soccer stadium where Odinga’s casket was covered in the national flag for an Anglican Church service in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. They chanted and held up portraits of Odinga, while some carried twigs, a symbol of peace and unity in Kenyan tradition.

    Odinga ran for Kenya’s presidency five times over three decades, and although he never succeeded in becoming president, he is revered for a life of activism that helped steer Kenya toward becoming a vibrant multiparty democracy.

    Odinga’s body lay in state in Parliament on Friday morning ahead of the funeral, an honor only reserved for the president and former presidents.

    President William Ruto said Odinga deserved the honor for having been a legislator for 15 years, a role he used to play “a pivotal role in shaping some of the most consequential laws in our Republic’s history.”

    Ruto campaigned for Odinga in 2007 — a disputed election that was marred by violence. The two men were rivals in subsequent elections, including the most recent one in 2022.

    The two leaders signed an agreement this year after months of anti-government protests, and the pact saw opposition party members appointed to cabinet positions.

    David Kodia, the Anglican bishop who led the service, urged the leaders present to be “selfless” like Odinga and to shun corruption. Odinga was a practicing member of the church.

    Political analyst Herman Manyora told The Associated Press that the love displayed by so many mourners was a reflection of his work for democracy.

    “You can’t point at a man more willing to sacrifice everything just for the sake of his people,” said Manyora, who is based at the University of Nairobi.

    Among the mourners were Odinga’s wife Ida, daughters Winnie and Rosemary, and son Raila Odinga Junior.

    Winnie, who was with him in India, led the mourners to chanting in the local Luo language. She said her father died “strong, with dignity and pride” after he pushed his morning walk from his usual two to five rounds around the hospital where he was being treated.

    His son Junior, while donning his father’s beaded hat and a fly whisk, said he would take care of the family as the sole surviving son.

    President Ruto led the mourners in singing Odinga’s favorite song, Harry Belafonte’s “Jamaica Farewell” and said he helped him steady the nation earlier in the year.

    “Whenever the nation needed him to rise above self, he always did so unreservedly,” he said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • How Rubio is winning over Trumpworld on striking Venezuela

    In the early days of President Trump’s second term, the U.S. appeared keen to cooperate with Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader. Special envoy Ric Grenell met Maduro, working with him to coordinate deportation flights to Caracas, a prisoner exchange deal and an agreement allowing Chevron to drill Venezuelan oil.

    Grenell told disappointed members of Venezuela’s opposition that Trump’s domestic goals took priority over efforts to promote democracy. “We’re not interested in regime change,” Grenell told the group, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.

    But Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of State, had a different vision.

    In a parallel call with María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, two leaders of the opposition, Rubio affirmed U.S. support “for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela” and called González “the rightful president” of the beleaguered nation after Maduro rigged last year’s election in his favor.

    Rubio, now also serving as national security advisor, has grown closer to Trump and crafted an aggressive new policy toward Maduro that has brought Venezuela and the United States to the brink of military confrontation.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio whispers to President Trump during a roundtable meeting at the White House on Oct. 8, 2025.

    (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

    I think Venezuela is feeling the heat

    — President Trump

    Grenell has been sidelined, two sources told The Times, as the U.S. conducts an unprecedented campaign of deadly strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats — and builds up military assets in the Caribbean. Trump said Wednesday that he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert action in the South American nation, and that strikes on land targets could be next.

    “I think Venezuela is feeling the heat,” he said.

    The pressure campaign marks a major victory for Rubio, the son of Cuban emigres and an unexpected power player in the administration who has managed to sway top leaders of the isolationist MAGA movement to his lifelong effort to topple Latin America’s leftist authoritarians.

    “It’s very clear that Rubio has won,” said James B. Story, who served as ambassador to Venezuela under President Biden. “The administration is applying military pressure in the hope that somebody inside of the regime renders Maduro to justice, either by exiling him, sending him to the United States or sending him to his maker.”

    In a recent public message to Trump, Maduro acknowledged that Rubio is now driving White House policy: “You have to be careful because Marco Rubio wants your hands stained with blood, with South American blood, Caribbean blood, Venezuelan blood,” Maduro said.

    As a senator from Florida, Rubio represented exiles from three leftist autocracies — Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela — and for years he has made it his mission to weaken their governments. He says his family could not return to Cuba after Fidel Castro’s revolution seven decades ago. He has long maintained that eliminating Maduro would deal a fatal blow to Cuba, whose economy has been buoyed by billions of dollars in Venezuelan oil in the face of punishing U.S. sanctions.

    In 2019, Rubio pushed Trump to back Juan Guaidó, a Venezuelan opposition leader who sought unsuccessfully to topple Maduro.

    Rubio later encouraged Trump to publicly support Machado, who was barred from the ballot in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, and who last week was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pro-democracy efforts. González, who ran in Machado’s place, won the election, according to vote tallies gathered by the opposition, yet Maduro declared victory.

    Rubio was convinced that only military might would bring change to Venezuela, which has been plunged into crisis under Maduro’s rule, with a quarter of the population fleeing poverty, violence and political repression.

    But there was a hitch. Trump has repeatedly vowed to not intervene in the politics of other nations, telling a Middle Eastern audience in May that the U.S. “would no longer be giving you lectures on how to live.”

    Denouncing decades of U.S. foreign policy, Trump complained that “the interventionalists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand.”

    To counter that sentiment, Rubio painted Maduro in a new light that he hoped would spark interest from Trump, who has been fixated on combating immigration, illegal drugs and Latin American cartels since his first presidential campaign.

    A woman and a man standing in a vehicle, each with one arm raised, amid a sea of people

    Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, right, and opposition leader María Corina Machado greet supporters during a campaign rally in Valencia before the country’s presidential election in 2024.

    (Ariana Cubillos / Associated Press)

    Going after Maduro, Rubio argued, was not about promoting democracy or a change of governments. It was striking a drug kingpin fueling crime in American streets, an epidemic of American overdoses, and a flood of illegal migration to America’s borders.

    Rubio tied Maduro to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang whose members the secretary of State says are “worse than Al Qaeda.”

    “Venezuela is governed by a narco-trafficking organization that has empowered itself as a nation state,” he said during his Senate confirmation hearing.

    Meanwhile, prominent members of Venezuela’s opposition pushed the same message. “Maduro is the head of a narco-terrorist structure,” Machado told Fox News last month.

    Security analysts and U.S. intelligence officials suggest that the links between Maduro and Tren de Aragua are overblown.

    A declassified memo by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found no evidence of widespread cooperation between Maduro’s government and the gang. It also said Tren de Aragua does not pose a threat to the U.S.

    The gang does not traffic fentanyl, and the Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that just 8% of cocaine that reaches the U.S. passes through Venezuelan territory.

    Still, Rubio’s strategy appears to have worked.

    In July, Trump declared that Tren de Aragua was a terrorist group led by Maduro — and then ordered the Pentagon to use military force against cartels that the U.S. government had labeled terrorists.

    Trump deployed thousands of U.S. troops and a small armada of ships and warplanes to the Caribbean and has ordered strikes on five boats off the coast of Venezuela, resulting in 24 deaths. The administration says the victims were “narco-terrorists” but has provided no evidence.

    Elliott Abrams, a veteran diplomat who served as special envoy to Venezuela in Trump’s first term, said he believes the White House will carry out limited strikes in Venezuela.

    “I think the next step is that they’re going to hit something in Venezuela — and I don’t mean boots on the ground. That’s not Trump,” Abrams said. “It’s a strike, and then it’s over. That’s very low risk to the United States.”

    He continued: “Now, would it be nice if that kind of activity spurred a colonel to lead a coup? Yeah, it would be nice. But the administration is never going to say that.”

    Even if Trump refrains from a ground invasion, there are major risks.

    “If it’s a war, then what is the war’s aim? Is it to overthrow Maduro? Is it more than Maduro? Is it to get a democratically elected president and a democratic regime in power?” said John Yoo, a professor of law at UC Berkeley, who served as a top legal advisor to the George W. Bush administration. “The American people will want to know what’s the end state, what’s the goal of all of this.”

    “Whenever you have two militaries bristling that close together, there could be real action,” said Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at the think tank Chatham House. “Trump is trying to do this on the cheap. He’s hoping maybe he won’t have to commit. But it’s a slippery slope. This could draw the United States into a war.”

    Sabatini and others added that even if the U.S. pressure drives out Maduro, what follows is far from certain.

    Venezuela is dominated by a patchwork of guerrilla and paramilitary groups that have enriched themselves with gold smuggling, drug trafficking and other illicit activities. None have incentive to lay down arms.

    And the country’s opposition is far from unified.

    Machado, who dedicated her Nobel Prize to Trump in a clear effort to gain his support, says she is prepared to govern Venezuela. But there are others — both in exile and in Maduro’s administration — who would like to lead the country.

    Machado supporter Juan Fernandez said anything would be better than maintaining the status quo.

    “Some say we’re not prepared, that a transition would cause instability,” he said. “How can Maduro be the secure choice when 8 million Venezuelans have left, when there is no gasoline, political persecution and rampant inflation?”

    Fernandez praised Rubio for pushing the Venezuela issue toward “an inflection point.”

    What a difference, he said, to have a decision-maker in the White House with family roots in another country long oppressed by an authoritarian regime.

    “He perfectly understands our situation,” Fernandez said. “And now he has one of the highest positions in the United States.”

    Linthicum reported from Mexico City, Wilner from Dallas and Ceballos from Washington. Special correspondent Mery Mogollón in Caracas contributed to this report.

    Kate Linthicum, Michael Wilner, Ana Ceballos

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  • ‘Democracy is on the ballot,’ Obama says, urging Californians to pass Prop. 50 in new ad

    As Californians start voting on Democrats’ effort to boost their ranks in Congress, former President Barack Obama warned that democracy is in peril as he urged voters to support Proposition 50 in a television ad that started airing Tuesday.

    “California, the whole nation is counting on you,” Obama says in the 30-second ad, which the main pro-Proposition 50 campaign began broadcasting Tuesday across the state. The spot is part of a multimillion-dollar ad buy promoting the congressional redistricting ballot measure through the Nov. 4 election.

    Proposition 50 was spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democratic leaders this summer after President Trump urged GOP-led states, notably Texas, to redraw their congressional districts to boost the number of Republicans elected to the House in next year’s midterm election, in an effort to continue enacting his agenda during his final years in office.

    “Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years,” Obama says in the ad, which includes footage of ICE raids. “With Prop. 50, you can stop Republicans in their tracks. Prop. 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field, preserves independent redistricting over the long term, and lets the people decide. Return your ballot today.”

    Congressional districts were long drawn in smoke-filled chambers by partisans focused on protecting their parties’ power and incumbents. But good-government groups and elected officials, notably former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have fought to take the drawing of congressional boundaries out of the hands of politicians to end gerrymandering and create more competitive districts.

    Obama, long a supporter of ending gerrymandering, had already endorsed the ballot measure.

    In California, these districts have been drawn by an independent commission created by voters in 2010, which is why state Democrats have to go to the ballot box to seek a mid-decade partisan redistricting that could improve their party’s chances in five of the state’s 52 congressional districts.

    The ad featuring Obama, who spoke Monday on comedian Marc Maron’s final podcast about Trump’s policies testing the nation’s values, appears on Californians’ televisions after mail ballots were sent to the state’s 23 million registered voters last week.

    The proposition’s prospects are uncertain — it’s about an obscure topic that few Californians know about, and off-year elections traditionally have low voter turnout. Still, more than $150 million has been contributed to the three main committees supporting and opposing the proposition, in addition to millions more funding other efforts.

    Obama is not the only famous person to appear in ads about Proposition 50.

    In September, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the creation of the independent redistricting commission while in office and has campaigned for similar reforms across the nation since then, was featured in ads opposing the November ballot measure.

    He described Proposition 50 as favoring entrenched politicians instead of voters.

    “That’s what they want to do, is take us backwards. This is why it is important for you to vote no on Proposition 50,” the Hollywood celebrity and former governor says in the ad, which was filmed last month when he spoke to USC students. “The Constitution does not start with ‘We, the politicians.’ It starts with ‘We, the people.’ … Democracy — we’ve got to protect it, and we’ve got to go and fight for it.”

    Seema Mehta

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  • Obama rips concessions that businesses and others have made to Trump

    (CNN) — Barack Obama ripped into the law firms, universities and businesses that have worked out settlements or other deals with President Donald Trump’s administration, arguing that “We all have this capacity, I think, to take a stand.”

    The former president said the organizations that concede to Trump should be able to say, “We’re not going to be bullied into saying that we can only hire people or promote people based on some criteria that’s been cooked up by Steve Miller,” referring to the top White House aide.

    According to an advance podcast transcript, Obama said he sympathized with those looking to avoid a backlash, but said, “We’re not at the stage where you have to be like Nelson Mandela and be in a 10-by-12 jail cell for 27 years and break rocks.”

    The comments, some of the most direct that Obama has made about Trump outside of his campaign trail appearances in 2020 and 2024, came in an interview posting Monday for the final episode of the “WTF” podcast hosted by comedian Marc Maron.

    Maron, who last interviewed Obama in 2015, has frequently talked about that conversation in subsequent episodes. In July, after announcing he would end the 16-year run of the pioneering podcast, he suggested that another talk with Obama would be a dream way to finish. Last week, he got his wish — though not by having Obama make another visit to his house, as many of the podcast guests tend to.

    Maron kept the interview a surprise even from fans, only teasing in his penultimate episode that he traveled to record it. They met in Obama’s office in Washington.

    The conversation focused on the state of America and what Democrats can find hope in — but Obama also criticized progressive absolutism and singled out one rising Texas Democrat who impresses him.

    The news out of his hometown on his mind, Obama called Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Chicago “a deliberate end run around not just a concept, but a law that’s been around for a long time” — the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits the use of the military inside the US for law enforcement purposes.

    “That is a genuine effort to weaken how we have understood democracy,” he said.

    Obama reflected on his own experiences in the White House, including dealing with pushback from Republican leaders such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

    “If I had sent in the National Guard into Texas and just said, ‘You know what? A lot of problems in Dallas, a lot of crime there, and I don’t care what Gov. Abbott says. I’m going to kind of take over law enforcement, because I think things are out of control,’ it is mind-boggling to me how Fox News would have responded,” he said.

    The two also discussed the evolution of the media environment, particularly around the podcast world Maron helped shape, and what it has done to political communication.

    “It was interesting to me when people started criticizing Bernie [Sanders] or somebody else for going on Rogan. It’s like, why wouldn’t you? Yeah, of course, go,” Obama said, referring to “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.

    Among the Rogan guests who caught Obama’s eye: Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who turned a viral appearance on the podcast into fuel for what has now become a competitive Senate primary run.

    Obama called Talarico “terrific, a really talented young man,” adding that his appearance proves that going on long-form podcasts requires “a certain confidence in your actual convictions to debate and have a conversation with somebody who disagrees with you.”

    Overall, Obama argued, “what people long for is some core integrity that seems absent, just a sense that the person seems to walk the walk, just talk the talk.”

    Obama said he particularly enjoyed a bit from Maron’s latest stand-up special when the comedian jokes that progressives annoyed the average American into fascism.

    “You can’t constantly lecture people without acknowledging that you’ve got some blind spots too, and that life’s messy,” Obama said. “I think this was a fault of some progressive language, was almost asserting a holier-than-thou superiority that’s not that different from what we used to joke about coming from the right moral majority and a certain fundamentalism about how to think about stuff that I think was dangerous.”

    “If I talked about trans issues, I wasn’t talking down to people and saying, ‘Oh, you’re a bigot,’” he said. “I’d say, ‘You know, it’s tough enough being a teenager. Let’s treat all kids decently. Why would we want to see kids bullied?”

    Edward-Isaac Dovere and CNN

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  • Experts warn organized crime and dictatorship are converging across Latin America

    Panelists at the forum “Democracy and Organized Crime in Latin America” held Thursday in Washington D.C.

    Panelists at the forum “Democracy and Organized Crime in Latin America” held Thursday in Washington D.C.

    Interamerican Institute for Democracy

    Experts and former presidents warned that organized crime, narcotrafficking and authoritarian rule are converging into an unprecedented threat to democracy across Latin America as they met during a high-level forum held in Washington, D.C.

    The event, titled “Democracy and Organized Crime in Latin America,” on Thursday brought together scholars, diplomats and political figures under the auspices of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy, Florida International University, Universidad Austral, and Infobae.

    From the start, the tone was grave. “Organized crime in the region, including the global networks to which it is connected, is the single biggest threat — beyond the People’s Republic of China — to U.S. security and prosperity,” said Professor Evan Ellis, an educator at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute.

    Evan Ellis, professor at the U.S. Army War College, speaking at the forum “Democracy and Organized Crime in Latin America” held Thursday in Washington D.C.
    Evan Ellis, professor at the U.S. Army War College, speaking at the forum “Democracy and Organized Crime in Latin America” held Thursday in Washington D.C. Interamerican Institute for Democracy

    Speaking before a packed conference room near Capitol Hill, Ellis said that what was once a regional problem has evolved into a hemispheric crisis, feeding instability, corruption and authoritarianism.

    “Organized crime in the region,” he warned, “brings drugs that kill more Americans than virtually any other non-medical cause,” while exploiting migrants and “eroding democratic institutions across Latin America.”

    A Hemisphere “Awash in Cocaine”

    Ellis described a continent “awash in cocaine,” pointing to soaring coca cultivation in Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru. These illicit economies, he said, fuel cycles of “violence, illegal mining, human trafficking, and massive migration” that are destabilizing entire nations.

    He identified a nexus of criminal power stretching from Mexico’s Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel to Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. These organizations, he said, have capitalized on state weakness and corruption to build transnational networks that move drugs, launder billions, and infiltrate political systems.

    “The U.S. cannot view these developments as distant,” Ellis cautioned. “Economic malaise and institutional failure open the door for the capture of power by anti-U.S. populists,” citing Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Bolivia as examples of governments that have curtailed law enforcement cooperation and created “safe havens for criminals.”

    Ellis also drew attention to China’s expanding role in the region’s illicit economy. “The PRC is the leading source of precursor chemicals for fentanyl and other synthetic drugs,” he said. “Its banks and companies are used for money laundering, creating new challenges for financial intelligence units.”

    He urged a coordinated response involving extradition treaties, financial transparency, and the denial of safe havens to criminal organizations. “It is vital not to permit regimes to continue to serve as sanctuaries for criminal groups,” he concluded.

    “Either We Act, or We Witness the Death of Democracy”

    The forum then turned from academic analysis to the political and personal, as former Ecuadorian president Jamil Mahuad and ex-ambassador to the U.S. Ivonne Baki described how organized crime has infiltrated their own country.

    “Ecuador’s nightmare began when Rafael Correa eliminated visa requirements and opened the borders,” Baki said. “He gave the drug trade free rein.”

    Baki said President Daniel Noboa’s administration had shown willingness to cooperate with the United States and international partners but warned that the challenge was urgent. “The narcos are organized, and we are not,” she said. “If we don’t act fast and together, it will be too late.”

    Mahuad traced Ecuador’s transformation from a relatively peaceful country into one of the most violent in the region, with criminal networks turning coastal ports into export corridors for cocaine. “Ninety percent of the world’s cocaine is produced in Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru,” he said. “Ecuador has become the strategic exit point.”

    He argued that successive governments had underestimated the threat by treating narcotrafficking as a social issue rather than a national security emergency. The result, he said, was a weakened state “striking deals with traffickers” instead of confronting them.

    His conclusion was stark. “Either we witness the chronicle of the death of democracy in Latin America,” Mahuad warned, “or we believe that the generations condemned to a hundred years of solitude still have a chance on this earth.”

    Bolivia’s Crossroads

    For Eduardo Gamarra, professor of political science at Florida International University, Bolivia illustrates how organized crime can intertwine with political power until the two become indistinguishable.

    “For two decades, Bolivia has been governed by a narco-competitive regime,” Gamarra said, referring to the government of former president Evo Morales and his Movement for Socialism (MAS). “The line between the state and the criminal world has vanished.”

    From the Chapare region—long the heart of coca cultivation—to the business hub of Santa Cruz, which he described as “a safe haven for illicit organizations,” Bolivia has become “a central node in the global cocaine trade,” Gamarra said. “Where the state is absent, organized crime rules.”

    Yet Gamarra also saw signs of change. With the MAS weakened and two center-right candidates competing in an upcoming presidential runoff, he said Bolivia stood at “a historic crossroads.”

    “The next administration has the great responsibility to combat this scourge hand in hand with international institutions,” Gamarra said. “The authoritarian structure is dying, but the narcotics network remains alive. Bolivia must act first—replace two decades of narco-politics with sovereign leadership.”

    Regional Crisis, Shared Consequences

    Ellis’s and Gamarra’s analyses reflected a broader consensus among participants: that the fusion of organized crime and politics represents a new phase of instability in Latin America.

    Speakers described a region where the rule of law is eroding, institutions are captured by criminal interests, and illicit economies sustain both authoritarian leaders and violent groups.

    The overlap of political and criminal agendas, they argued, has transformed traditional governance challenges into a direct assault on democracy. Countries such as Venezuela and Nicaragua, they said, have evolved into “narco-states,” where criminal networks operate under state protection.

    Participants also highlighted the role of corruption, weak judicial systems, and foreign actors in perpetuating impunity. Without coordinated international action, they warned, the hemisphere risks a generation of entrenched instability.

    A Call for Collective Action

    Throughout the forum, one message recurred: that the threat facing Latin America is transnational, and that only multilateral cooperation—linking governments, the private sector, and civil society—can counter it.

    For Ellis, this means rethinking security partnerships and economic strategies. For Mahuad and Baki, it means rebuilding the moral and institutional foundations of democracy. And for Gamarra, it means replacing regimes that have normalized criminality with ones that restore the rule of law.

    All agreed that the window for action is narrowing. “The narcos are organized, and we are not,” Baki’s warning echoed across the session as participants discussed how to prevent further state capture by organized crime.

    A Region Under Pressure

    The concerns raised at the forum come amid a broader regional surge in violence and political instability. Homicide rates have climbed in Ecuador, Honduras, and Haiti; mass migration continues from Venezuela and Central America; and in several countries, police and military forces have been implicated in drug-related corruption.

    Analysts say these developments have not only weakened public confidence in democracy but also created openings for authoritarian leaders who promise order while consolidating control.

    Ellis’s reference to China underscored the global dimensions of the crisis. With Beijing expanding its economic footprint in Latin America—through infrastructure projects, energy investments, and trade—U.S. officials and regional experts have warned that criminal networks are exploiting the same channels to launder money and traffic illicit goods.

    The growing nexus between state corruption, transnational crime, and great-power competition has made policy coordination increasingly complex, even among allies.

    Warnings for Washington

    While the forum focused on Latin America, speakers repeatedly emphasized the implications for U.S. national security. Ellis described organized crime as “the single biggest threat—beyond the People’s Republic of China—to U.S. security and prosperity,” linking narcotrafficking to the domestic fentanyl crisis and border instability.

    The flow of drugs, money, and people across the hemisphere, he added, is not only reshaping Latin American politics but also reaching deep into American society.

    “Economic malaise and institutional failure open the door for the capture of power by anti-U.S. populists,” he said, warning that democratic backsliding abroad will eventually reverberate at home.

    The Fight Ahead

    By the forum’s close, participants returned to the same question that had opened the day: whether democracies in the Americas can withstand the combined pressures of crime, corruption, and authoritarianism.

    The answer, most agreed, will depend on political will. Renewed cooperation, transparency and judicial reform were repeatedly cited as essential. So were citizen engagement and accountability, which speakers said are being eroded by fear, apathy, and disinformation.

    Despite the grim outlook, there was also a sense of determination. “It is vital not to permit regimes to continue to serve as sanctuaries for criminal groups,” Ellis said. Mahuad, invoking García Márquez’s famous line, offered a note of hope: that Latin America’s generations “still have a chance on this earth.”

    Antonio Maria Delgado

    el Nuevo Herald

    Galardonado periodista con más de 30 años de experiencia, especializado en la cobertura de temas sobre Venezuela. Amante de la historia y la literatura.

    Antonio María Delgado

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  • A look at how Venezuelans in the US are reacting to Maria Corina Machado’s Nobel Prize win

    DORAL, Fla. — DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Venezuelans in “Little Venezuela” — the largest home for the country’s natives in the United States — are welcoming the news that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize with bittersweetness as deportation threats loom.

    The Trump administration has ended Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole programs that together allowed more than 700,000 Venezuelans to live and work legally in the U.S, putting them at risk of deportation. The Republican government has deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, claiming that they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang and were “invading” the U.S.

    Millions of Venezuelans had been forced to leave their country in the last decade due to its prolonged economic and political instability; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates more than 7.7 million have left since 2014 in the largest exodus in Latin America in recent history. Most have settled in the Americas, and more than 1 million came to the U.S.

    While Machado’s Nobel win is being met with joy, there’s also acknowledgement that it will do little to improve the situation Venezuelans at risk of deportation face in the U.S., as the former opposition presidential candidate has aligned herself with President Donald Trump’s policy on Venezuela.

    In February, after Trump announced he was ending TPS for Venezuelans, Machado told reporters her team had been in contact with members of Congress to “find a type of effective protection” for law-abiding Venezuelans. But after the Supreme Court on Oct. 3 allowed the Trump administration to end the program, she expressed no concerns of progress in her effort for an alternative protection for migrants.

    Machado, honored for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in Venezuela as President Nicolás Maduro took power, wrote on X hours after her win dedicating her prize to “the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”

    Frank Carreño, the former president of the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce who has lived in Doral, the city known as “Little Venezuela,” for 18 years, was pleased with the news that Machado won the Nobel Prize but warned that Machado will not pressure Trump to protect Venezuelans living in the U.S.

    “She sees the United States government as part of her strategy to restore democracy to Venezuela,” the Venezuelan American said. “She’s in that camp, not in this camp.”

    José Antonio Colina, a retired Venezuelan military officer who arrived in South Florida in 2003, said the Nobel Prize represents a recognition to Machado’s fight for democracy and liberty in Venezuela.

    “We hope that the award can give impetus or strength to remove Nicolas Maduro from power,” said Colina, a refugee in the U.S.

    Iris Wilthew, a Venezuelan American retiree, came to Doral with her husband expecting a large crowd celebrating at one of Venezuela’s most popular restaurants. But business carried on as usual in the city, and she was surprised to find almost no one in the restaurant at noon.

    Before leaving, she placed a poster with Machado’s name, her photo and the title “The Nobel Prize 2025″ and the message “#VenezuelaLibre” in one of the restaurant’s windows.

    “She is a tireless fighter,” said Wilthew, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998. “She has achieved this through his extraordinary effort.”

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Regina Garcia Cano contributed from Mexico City.

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  • A Look at How Venezuelans in the US Are Reacting to Maria Corina Machado’s Nobel Prize Win

    DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Venezuelans in “Little Venezuela” — the largest home for the country’s natives in the United States — are welcoming the news that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize with bittersweetness as deportation threats loom.

    The Trump administration has ended Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole programs that together allowed more than 700,000 Venezuelans to live and work legally in the U.S, putting them at risk of deportation. The Republican government has deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, claiming that they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang and were “invading” the U.S.

    Millions of Venezuelans had been forced to leave their country in the last decade due to its prolonged economic and political instability; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates more than 7.7 million have left since 2014 in the largest exodus in Latin America in recent history. Most have settled in the Americas, and more than 1 million came to the U.S.

    While Machado’s Nobel win is being met with joy, there’s also acknowledgement that it will do little to improve the situation Venezuelans at risk of deportation face in the U.S., as the former opposition presidential candidate has aligned herself with President Donald Trump’s policy on Venezuela.

    In February, after Trump announced he was ending TPS for Venezuelans, Machado told reporters her team had been in contact with members of Congress to “find a type of effective protection” for law-abiding Venezuelans. But after the Supreme Court on Oct. 3 allowed the Trump administration to end the program, she expressed no concerns of progress in her effort for an alternative protection for migrants.

    Machado, honored for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in Venezuela as President Nicolás Maduro took power, wrote on X hours after her win dedicating her prize to “the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”

    Frank Carreño, the former president of the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce who has lived in Doral, the city known as “Little Venezuela,” for 18 years, was pleased with the news that Machado won the Nobel Prize but warned that Machado will not pressure Trump to protect Venezuelans living in the U.S.

    “She sees the United States government as part of her strategy to restore democracy to Venezuela,” the Venezuelan American said. “She’s in that camp, not in this camp.”

    José Antonio Colina, a retired Venezuelan military officer who arrived in South Florida in 2003, said the Nobel Prize represents a recognition to Machado’s fight for democracy and liberty in Venezuela.

    “We hope that the award can give impetus or strength to remove Nicolas Maduro from power,” said Colina, a refugee in the U.S.

    Iris Wilthew, a Venezuelan American retiree, came to Doral with her husband expecting a large crowd celebrating at one of Venezuela’s most popular restaurants. But business carried on as usual in the city, and she was surprised to find almost no one in the restaurant at noon.

    Before leaving, she placed a poster with Machado’s name, her photo and the title “The Nobel Prize 2025″ and the message “#VenezuelaLibre” in one of the restaurant’s windows.

    “She is a tireless fighter,” said Wilthew, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998. “She has achieved this through his extraordinary effort.”

    Associated Press reporter Regina Garcia Cano contributed from Mexico City.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    Associated Press

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  • Opinion | Free Gaza’s Palestinians from Hamas

    Trump’s peace plan is a path to freedom and stability for the strip’s oppressed residents.

    Moumen Al-Natour

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  • Commentary: So much winning. Can Bonta maintain California’s legal hot streak against Trump?

    It was late Sunday evening when President Trump got thumped with a court loss — again — by California.

    No, a federal judge ruled, Trump cannot command the California National Guard to invade Portland, Ore. At the request of California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and others, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut broadened a temporary restraining order that had blocked Oregon’s National Guard from being used by the federal government. It now includes not just California’s troops but troops from any state. At least for the next two weeks.

    It’s the kind of legal loss Trump should be used to it by now, especially when it comes to the Golden State. Since Trump 2.0 hit the White House this year with Project 2025 folded up in his back pocket, the state of California has sued the administration 42 times, literally about once a week.

    While many of those cases are still pending, California is racking up a series of wins that restored more than $160 billion in funding and at least slowed down (and in some cases stopped) the steamrolling of civil rights on issues including birthright citizenship and immigration policy.

    “We have won in 80% of the cases,” Bonta told me. “Whether it be a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order, and more and more now permanent final injunctions after the whole trial court case is done.”

    I’ll take it. We all need some positive news. I don’t often write just about the good, but in these strange days, it’s helpful to have a reminder that the fight is always worth having when it comes to protecting our rights. And, despite the partisan Supreme Court, the reason that we are still holding on to democracy is because the system still works, albeit like a ’78 Chevy with the doors rusting off.

    While Gov. Gavin Newsom has made himself the face of California’s fights against Trump, taking on a pugnacious and audacious attitude especially on social media, the day-in, day-out slugging in those battles is often done by Bonta and his team in courtrooms across the country.

    It’s hard to recall, but months ago, Newsom called a special session of the Legislature to give Bonta a $25-million allowance to defend not just California but democracy. And in a moment when many of us fear that checks and balances promised in the Constitution have turned out to be little more than happy delusions, Bonta has a message: The courts are (mostly) holding and California’s lawyers aren’t just fighting, they’re winning.

    “We can do things that governors can’t do,” Bonta said. “No role and no moment has been more important than this one.”

    Bonta told me that he often hears that Trump is disregarding the courts, so “what’s the point of litigation at all? What’s the point of a court order at all? He’s just going to ignore them.”

    But, he said, the administration has been following judges’ rulings — so far. While there have been instances, especially around deportations, that knock on the door of lawlessness, at least for California, Trump is “following all of our court orders,” Bonta said.

    “We’re making a difference,” he said.

    A few days ago, the U.S. Department of Education was forced to send out a final chunk of funds it had attempted to withhold from schools. Bonta, in a multistate lawsuit, successfully protected that money, which schools need this year to help migrant children and English learners, train teachers, buy new technology and pay for before- and after-school programs, among other uses.

    That’s a permanent, final ruling — no appeals.

    Another recent win saw California land a permanent injunction against the feds when it comes to stopping their payments for costs associated with state energy projects. That a win both for the climate and consumers, who benefit when we make energy more efficiently.

    Last week, Bonta won another permanent injunction, blocking the Trump administration’s effort to tie grants related to homeland security to compliance with his immigration policies. Safety shouldn’t be tied to deportations, especially in California, where our immigrants are overwhelmingly law-abiding community members.

    Those are just a few of Bonta’s victories. Of course, Trump and his minions aren’t happy about them. Stephen Miller, the shame of Santa Monica, seems to have especially lost his marbles over the National Guard ruling. On social media, Miller seems to be attacking the justice system, and attorneys general such as Bonta.

    “There is a large and growing movement of leftwing terrorism in this country,” Miller wrote. “It is well organized and funded. And it is shielded by far-left Democrat judges, prosecutors and attorneys general. The only remedy is to use legitimate state power to dismantle terrorism and terror networks.”

    Never mind that the Oregon judge who issued the National Guard ruling is a Trump appointee.

    “Their goal, I think, is to chill and pause and worry judges; to chill and pause and worry the press; to chill and pause and worry attorneys general who stand up for the rule of law and for democracy, who go to court and fight for what’s right and fight for the law,” Bonta said.

    Bonta expects the administration, far from learning any lessons or harboring self-reflection during this mad dash toward autocracy, to continue full speed ahead.

    “We’re going to see more, and we’re going to see it fast, and we’re going to see it escalate,” he said. “None of that is good, including putting military in American cities or, you know, Trump treating them like his royal guard instead of the National Guard.”

    Even when the Trump administration loses, “they always have this like second move and maybe a third, where they are always trying to advance their agenda, even when they’ve been blocked by a court, even when they’ve been told that they’re acting unlawfully or unconstitutionally,” he said.

    On Monday, Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act to circumvent the court’s ruling on the National Guard, a massive escalation of his effort to militarize American cities.

    But California remains on a winning streak, much to Trump’s dismay.

    It’s my bet that as long as our judges continue to honor the rule of law, that streak will hold.

    Anita Chabria

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  • Gabon awaits results in its first legislative and local elections after the 2023 military coup

    LIBREVILLE, Gabon — The oil-rich central African nation of Gabon on Saturday voted in the country’s first legislative and local elections since a 2023 military coup ended a 50-year-old political dynasty.

    More than 900,000 Gabonese are eligible to elect parliament members and local councilors to replace officials appointed by the military following the coup.

    Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema had toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was accused of irresponsible governance, and in April, won the presidential election that signaled a return to constitutional democracy.

    Polls closed on Saturday evening, with vote counting beginning immediately after that at each polling station. Observers were allowed to observe the operations. The first results were expected Sunday.

    In Libreville, voting began with a slight delay because of early morning rain. Voters have been turning out since 8 a.m. in lines outside polling stations.

    The vote unfolded mostly peacefully. Just in the commune of Ntoum, a suburb of Libreville, voting was canceled in one constituency because of tensions between candidates.

    The main parties in the running are the Gabonese Democratic Party — the former ruling party that won every political election since it was founded in 1968, until it was overthrown in 2023 — and the Democratic Union of Builders (UDB), which was founded only three months ago by Oligui Nguema. Several small, underfunded parties have also nominated candidates.

    Saturday’s vote will elect 145 members of the National Assembly, two of whom will represent Gabonese citizens living abroad. The local polls are for councilors, who will indirectly elect the 70 senators, mayors and presidents of regional assemblies.

    The country is ruled by a presidential system under the constitution adopted by referendum last year. The legislative power is limited and parliament cannot topple the government.

    Gabon’s parliament had also adopted a contentious new electoral code earlier this year, which allowed military personnel to run, including Oligui Nguema in the April presidential vote.

    Following his victory, Oligui Nguema had pledged to diversify the central African nation’s largely oil-dependent economy, reform the education system and reduce youth unemployment.

    Gabon has a very high unemployment rate, especially among young graduates. There is a lack of infrastructure, including roads connecting the regional provinces and basic social services such as improving the supply of clean water to the population.

    France and its military forces have been pushed out of several African nations in recent years, but Gabon continues to host the French army, though Paris has been reducing the number of its troops there. The French base in Libreville is now shared by both armies.

    A second round of the election is scheduled for Oct. 11 in constituencies where no candidate has obtained an absolute majority in the first round.

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  • ‘We can’t sit on the sidelines’: LGBTQ+ candidates step up amid threats to queer rights

    San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert doesn’t generally agree with political parties redrawing congressional maps to gain power.

    But after President Trump persuaded Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw his state’s maps in order to improve Republican chances of retaining control of Congress in 2026, Von Wilpert said she decided California’s only option was to fight back with new maps of its own, favoring Democrats.

    There’s too much at stake for LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized Californians to do otherwise, said Von Wilpert — who is bisexual and running to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Darrell Issa, a Trump ally whose district in San Diego and Riverside counties will be redrawn if voters approve the plan.

    “We can’t sit on the sidelines anymore and just hope that the far right will play fair or play by the rule book,” said Von Wilpert, 42. “If we don’t fight back now, I don’t know what democracy is going to be left for us to fight for in the future.”

    San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert is challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Darrell Issa, whose Southern California district would be redrawn if voters approve the redistricting plan of California Democrats.

    (Sandy Huffaker / For The Times)

    Von Wilpert’s challenge to Issa — who did not respond to a request for comment — makes her part of a growing wave of LGBTQ+ candidates running for office at a time when many on the right and in the Trump administration are working aggressively to push queer people out of the American mainstream, including by challenging drag queen performances, queer library books and an array of Pride displays, and by questioning transgender people’s right to serve in the military, receive gender-affirming healthcare, participate in sports or use public restrooms.

    They are running to counter those efforts, but also to resist other administration policies that they believe threaten democracy and equality more broadly, and to advocate around local issues that are important to them and their neighbors, said Elliot Imse, executive director of the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute.

    The institute, which has trained queer people on running for and holding political office since 1991, has already provided 450 people with in-person training so far this year, compared with 290 people all of last year, Imse said. It recently had to cap a training in Los Angeles at 54 people — its largest cohort in more than a decade — and a first-of-its-kind training for transgender candidates at 12 people, despite more than 50 applying.

    “LGBTQ+ people have been extremely motivated to run for office across the country because of the attacks on their equality,” Imse said. “They know the risk, they know the potential for harassment, but those fears are really overcome by the desire to make a difference in this moment.”

    “This isn’t about screaming we are trans, this is about screaming we are human — and showing that we are here, that we are competent leaders,” said Josie Caballero, voting and elections director at Advocates for Trans Equality, which helped run the training.

    Rep. Sarah McBride at the DC Blockchain Summit.

    Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) at the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington on March 26, 2025. The summit brings together policymakers and influencers to discuss important issues facing the crypto industry.

    (Kent Nishimura / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    Across the country

    Queer candidates still face stiff resistance in some parts of the country. But they are winning elections elsewhere like never before — Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first out transgender member of Congress last year — and increasingly deciding to run.

    Some are Republicans who support Trump and credit him with kicking open the political door for people like them by installing gay leaders in his administration, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

    Ed Williams, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBTQ+ organization, said his group has seen “a surge in interest” under Trump, with “new members and chapters springing up across the country.” He said that “LGBT conservatives stand with President Trump’s fight for commonsense policies that support our schools and parents, put America first, and create opportunities for all Americans.”

    Ryan Sheridan, 35, a gay psychiatric nurse practitioner challenging fellow Republican incumbent Rep. Ann Wagner for her House seat in Missouri, said Trump has made the Republican Party a “more welcoming environment” for gay people. He said he agrees with Trump that medical interventions for transgender youth should be stopped, but also believes others in the LGBTQ+ community misunderstand the president’s perspective.

    “I do not believe that he is anti-trans. I do not believe he is anti-gay,” Sheridan said. “I understand the fear might be real, but I would encourage anybody that is deeply fearful to explore some alternative points of view.”

    Many more LGBTQ+ candidates, however, are Democrats or progressives — and say they were driven to run in part by their disdain for Trump and his policies.

    LGBTQ+ candidates at an LGBTQ+ Victory Institute training.

    LGBTQ+ candidates and prospective candidates listen to speakers at an LGBTQ+ Victory Institute training in downtown Los Angeles in September.

    (David Butow / For The Times)

    JoAnna Mendoza, a bisexual retired U.S. Marine, said she is running to unseat Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) because she took an oath to defend the U.S. and its values, and she believes those values are under threat from an administration with no respect for LGBTQ+ service members, immigrants or other vulnerable groups.

    Mike Simmons, the first out LGBTQ+ state senator in Illinois, is running for the House seat of retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and leaning into his outsider persona as a gay Black man and the son of an Ethiopian asylum seeker. “I symbolize everything Donald Trump is trying to erase.”

    Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones, who is a lesbian, said she is running for the House seat of the late Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), in a historically Black district being redrawn in Houston, because she believes “we need more gay people — but specifically Black gay people — to run and be in a position to challenge Trump.”

    Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone, who is running for Colorado treasurer, said it is critical for LGBTQ+ people — especially transgender people like her — to run, including locally. Trump is looking for ways to attack blue state economies, she said, and queer people need to help ensure resistance strategies don’t include abandoning LGBTQ+ rights.

    “We’re going to be extorted, and our economy is going to suffer for that, and we’re going to have to withstand that,” she said.

    Rep. Brianna Titone speaks at the Colorado State Capitol.

    Rep. Brianna Titone speaks during the general assembly at the Colorado State Capitol on April 23, 2025.

    (AAron Ontiveroz / Denver Post via Getty Images)

    Jordan Wood, who is gay, served as chief of staff to former Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County before co-founding the Constitution-backing organization democracyFIRST. He’s now back in his native Maine challenging centrist Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

    Collins, who declined to comment, has supported LGBTQ+ rights in the past, including in military service and marriage, and has at times broken with her party to stand in Trump’s way. However, Wood said Collins has acquiesced to Trump’s autocratic policies, including in recent budget battles.

    “This is a moment with our country in crisis where we need our political leaders to pick sides and to stand up to this administration and its lawlessness,” Wood said.

    Candidates said they’ve had hateful and threatening comments directed toward them because of their identities, and tough conversations with their families about what it will mean to be a queer elected official in the current political moment. The Victory Institute training included information on how best to handle harassment on the campaign trail.

    However, candidates said they also have had young people and others thank them for having the nerve to defend the LGBTQ+ community.

    Kevin Morrison, a gay county commissioner in the Chicago suburbs who is running for the House seat of Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who is running for Senate, recently had that experience after defending a transgender high school athlete at a local school board meeting.

    Morrison said the response he got from the community, including many of the school’s alumni, was “incredibly positive” — and showed how ready people are for new LGBTQ+ advocates in positions of power who “lead from a place of empathy and compassion.”

    In California

    LGBTQ+ candidates are running across California — which has been a national leader in electing LGBTQ+ candidates, but never had an out transgender state representative.

    Maebe Pudlo, 39, is an operations manager for the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and an elected member of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. She is also transgender, and running for the Central and East L.A. state Senate seat of María Elena Durazo, who is running for county supervisor.

    Pudlo, who also works as a drag queen, said that simply existing each day is a “political and social statement” for her. But she decided to run for office after seeing policy decisions affecting transgender people made without any transgender voices at the table.

    “Unfortunately, our lives have been politicized and trans people have become political pawns, and it’s really disgusting to me,” Pudlo said.

    Like every other queer candidate who spoke to The Times, Pudlo, who has previously run for Congress, said her platform is about more than LGBTQ+ issues. It’s also about housing and healthcare and defending democracy more broadly, she said, noting her campaign slogan is “Keep Fascism Out of California.”

    Still, Pudlo said she is keenly aware of the current political threats to transgender people, and feels a deep responsibility to defend their rights — for everyone’s sake.

    “This whole idea of rolling back civil rights for trans people specifically — that should be concerning for anybody who cares about democracy,” Pudlo said. “Because if they’ll do it to my community, your community is next.”

    Former Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton speaks at a training event for LGBTQ+ candidates and prospective candidates.

    Former Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton speaks at a training event for LGBTQ+ candidates and prospective candidates in L.A. in September. Also in the photo are, from left, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President Evan Low, West Hollywood City Councilmember Danny Hang, Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish and Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem.

    (David Butow / For The Times)

    Juan Camacho, a 44-year-old Echo Park resident also running for Durazo’s seat, said he feels a similar responsibility as a gay Mexican immigrant — particularly as Trump rolls out the “Project 2025 playbook” of attacking immigrants, Latinos and LGBTQ+ people, he said.

    Brought to the U.S. by his parents as a toddler before becoming documented under President Reagan’s amnesty program, Camacho said he understands the fear that undocumented and mixed-status families feel, and he wants to use his privilege as a citizen now to push back.

    Veteran California legislative leader Toni Atkins, who has long been out and is now running for governor, said the recent attacks on LGBTQ+ and especially transgender people have been “pretty disheartening,” but have also strengthened her resolve — after 50 years of LGBTQ+ people gaining rights in this country — to keep fighting.

    “It’s what it’s always been: We want housing and healthcare and we want equal opportunity and we want to be seen as contributing members of society,” she said. “We have a responsibility to be visible and, as Harvey Milk said, to ‘give them hope.’”

    Kevin Rector

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  • 160-mile march for democracy arrives in Washington from Philadelphia

    WASHINGTON — Over the span of 14 days, nearly 200 people marched from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in defense of democracy.

    From children to the elderly, members of the We Are America march arrived in the nation’s capital on a warm and sunny Friday afternoon, tired but joyous, where they were greeted with hugs and cheers from supporters and members of Congress.

    The mission of their sprawling walk was to unite a movement strong enough to hold America’s leaders accountable in the face of mass firings at government agencies, the federal takeover of the District of Columbia’s law enforcement and myriad disagreements with actions made by the Trump administration and the president himself.

    Marchers from across the country gathered in Philadelphia, then trekked through Newark, New Jersey; Wilmington, Delaware; Baltimore and beyond. Along the way they were housed in churches, where they slept in pews, or at people’s homes. One night the group camped outdoors.

    Founding member Maggie Bohara said the marchers were warmly greeted in every community they entered, given food, water and shelter.

    “It really showed that there are people who believe in what we believe in and that we’re not alone in this,” Bohara said.

    80-year-old Dianne Shaw-Cummins and her son Ted Regnaud were members of the march. Shaw-Cummins, who lives in Arizona but spends the summer in Minnesota with Regnaud, said one morning her son asked how she felt about walking from Philadelphia to Washington, to which she replied, “I can do that.”

    “I want better for my grandchildren. I want better for my children. I want better for all people that live and breathe in the United States of America,” she said.

    Speaking to the marchers shortly after their arrival, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, likened the march to Bloody Sunday, the day in 1965 when civil rights activists marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and were attacked by law enforcement on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

    “You marched on 160 miles, and today you are now bringing the Edmund Pettus Bridge moment to Washington, D.C. You’re bringing it to fruition,” Green said.

    The marchers carried a version of the U.S. Constitution with them that was created by children from across the country. They gifted it to Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., after they arrived in Washington. Van Hollen sprang into the national spotlight in April when he flew to El Salvador to meet with his constituent, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported by the Trump administration in March.

    Founding We Are America member MJ Tune said they carried the Constitution to remind elected officials of their oath to defend it against enemies, both foreign and domestic.

    “We also wanted to build a sense of community on this March. Right now we feel like so many people in America have lost a sense of community, and community is essential to creating a movement that can sustain long-term nonviolent action, which is our ultimate goal,” Tune said.

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