CUBA INCREASES THE PRESSURE ON U.S. EMBASSY IN HAVANA

    HAVANA, CUBA  --   Cuba’s foreign minister on Tuesday charged the United States with violating the historic 2015 agreement reestablishing diplomatic relations after decades by interfering in the country’s internal affairs. Bruno Rodriguez tweeted the U.S. embassy in Havana was engaged in “illegal” activity “intended to attack our constitutional order.”It was the second time in less than a week that the Communist-run government accused U.S. diplomats of fomenting dissent.

     While harsh rhetoric has returned to the old Cold War foes bilateral relations, Cuba has refrained from attacking U.S. diplomats up to now. Relations, broken off in 1961 and only partially restored in the 1980s, were reestablished as part of a short-lived detente orchestrated by former U.S. President Barack Obama. President Donald Trump, upon taking office, quickly announced he opposed the warming trend and is demanding Cuba cease its support for the Venezuelan government of socialist Nicolas Maduro and reform its political and economic system.“They violate the Vienna Convention, the agreement for the reestablishment of relations and Cuban and U.S. laws,” Rodriguez wrote, without providing specifics. The U.S. embassy did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

      Last week an editorial in the Communist Party newspaper Granma blasted the embassy for its support of leading dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer, who was arrested nearly two months ago. Granma accused U.S. diplomats of seeking to destabilize the country, recruit mercenaries and identify new sectors of the economy to sanction rather than boosting ties. The State Department defended the embassy’s activities and said they would continue. Cuba regularly brands dissidents as in the pay of Washington.

THE UNITED STATES  ACCUSES CUBA AND VENEZUELA OF EXACERBATING PROBLEMS IN SOUTH AMERICA
 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The United States on Wednesday accused Cuba and Venezuela of fostering conflicts in South America, the scene in recent weeks of massive anti-government protests in several countries. The special representative of the United States for the affairs of Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said that Caracas and Havana used social networks and other means to promote the disturbances, something "obvious" according to public domain records, he said, according to AFP. "It is beginning to have evidence of an effort by the regimes in Cuba and Venezuela to exacerbate problems in South America," said Abrams, who heads the diplomatic siege in the State Department to force the leftist president Nicolás Maduro out of power.

      Elliott Abrams also noted the recent expulsion of 59 Venezuelans from Colombia for participating in mass demonstrations against conservative President Ivan Duque. He also cited accusations, denied by Havana, that Cubans financed protests against the right-wing interim president in Bolivia, where leftist president Evo Morales resigned amid allegations of fraud in his controversial search for reelection. US officials also accused Venezuela of influencing the demonstrations that have shaken Ecuador and Chile in the last month and a half.

    The protests, all against allied governments of the United States, left more than 60 dead and millionaire damages. "We follow very closely what Cubans and Venezuelans are doing throughout South America," Abrams warned. The United States considers that Cuba, its enemy since the revolution of Fidel Castro in 1959, is Maduro's main ideological supporter , who remains in power despite the fact that most Western and Latin American nations consider his mandate illegitimate after numerous reports of irregularities in the elections of May 2018.

THE TIAR CONTRIES  WILL EVALUATE MEASURES TO RESTRICT TRAVEL OF CHAVISTA LEADERS

    BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --   The partner countries of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) will evaluate next week in Bogotá measures to restrict the travel of Chavez leaders across the Americas, said the US special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams. The measure will affect "several dozen" of officials loyal to Nicolás Maduro and will be discussed during the meeting held by the foreign ministers of the signatory nations of the TIAR, also known as the "Treaty of Rio", in Bogotá on December 3.

      “Next week, on December 3, the signatory countries of the Rio Treaty will meet in Bogotá, Colombia, to consider and we hope to adopt restrictions on regionally coordinated trips and measures to deny visas against several dozen officials of the Maduro's regime, ”Abrams said. "This is a new step in the growing regional efforts against the regime and in support of the return to democracy," he added.

     Abrams also denied that the Venezuelan opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, recognized as interim president for more than fifty nations, has lost momentum and reiterated his country's support for Guaidó, although he acknowledged that Venezuela's "recovery" will be a "multiple years" project. "We don't have a 'plan B', we have a 'plan A', we believe it will work, we are supporting the people of Venezuela," he said. However, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, will not attend the Bogotá meeting, which will be attended by his regional counterparts, because the head of US diplomacy will be on an official trip in London, Morocco and Portugal between December 1 and 6. To approve any measure, the vote is needed in favor of at least 13 of the 19 signatory countries of the TIAR.

CONOCOPHILLIPS ASKS THAT CITGO ASSETS  BE INCLUDED AS PART OF PAYMENT FOR EXPROPRIATIONS
 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  US oil company ConocoPhillips filed a motion on Tuesday in a Delaware court that seeks to take assets from the Houston-based Citgo Petroleum refinery as part of a payment of some $ 2 billion of an arbitration award against the state Venezuelan PDVSA. Citgo, a US subsidiary of PDVSA and one of Venezuela's main assets abroad, is under siege against numerous lawsuits against the Republic and the state oil company for late payments. However, any action against the company is restricted by United States sanctions aimed at pressuring the exit of power of Nicolás Maduro.

     Last year, the International Chamber of Commerce authorized ConocoPhillips a $ 2,000 million award as compensation for the expropriation of its assets in Venezuela in 2007. Conoco said that PDVSA made some payments, but has not fulfilled the entire amount agreed, despite the order issued by the instance. When claiming PDVSA's assets abroad, Conoco joins a list that includes a request from the Canadian gold mining company Crystallex, which won a judgment of about $ 1.4 billion for the expropriation of its assets, and the holders of the PDVSA 2020 bonus, which is backed by a 50% stake in Citgo.

     But the US Department of the Treasury said it would block any attempt to demand payments, judgments or arbitral awards that attempt to seize Venezuelan property. In the document he presented to the court, Conoco acknowledged that claiming the actions of PDV Holding, parent company of Citgo, would be “more complicated”, but argued that his request is as legitimate as Crystallex's. “The ability of any creditor to execute the actions of PDVH (…) can activate the status of an interpretation of sanctions, authorizations and / or licenses of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury,” said Conoco . PDVSA has not complied with a 12 million dollar tranche planned for the third quarter and has not canceled any of the amount required for the fourth quarter, Conoco spokesman Daren Beaudo said.

IVAN SIMONOVIS REVEALED A REGIMEN MEETING IN FORT TIUNA WHERE THE GOVERNMENT  REPRESENTATIVES DISCUSSED HOW TO DESTABILIZE THE REGION

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  --   The Special Commissioner for Security and Intelligence, Iván Simonovis, through a publication in his account on the social network Twitter, revealed a meeting held by some representatives of the Nicolás Maduro regime in Fort Tiuna, in Caracas, to “raise socialist plans in Latin America. Simonovis explained that this meeting was protected by officials of the Military House with the aim of "destabilizing the region."

     “This meeting was attended by: Diosdado Cabello, Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez, Iván Hernández Dala, Eduardo Serrano, Valentín Santana and others. With the support of terrorist groups, the socialist left works on an aggressive plan of mass destruction of democracies in Latin America, ”he said. He also emphasized that what the regime proposes to carry out is "to initiate a training plan for intelligence collectives and to provide insurgency instruction to militia groups, who will carry out destabilizing actions outside Venezuela." Given this, he stressed that “very soon”, the Tiar member countries that work for the liberation of Venezuela will take “a decisive and historic step to end the export of anarchy in our region. Only a proportional response to this threat will prevent chaos in Latin America, ”concluded Simonovis.

     On Monday, the Colombian government announced the expulsion of 60 Venezuelans for their participation in looting and acts of vandalism in the framework of protests against the government of Iván Duque. At the beginning of October, the Ecuadorian government announced that it arrested 17 foreigners, "most of them Venezuelans," with information about the movements of President Lenin Moreno, who faced strong indigenous protests over his economic adjustments.

THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT IMPOSES RARE CURFEW IN BOGOTA AFTER VIOLENT PROTESTS
 

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --  THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT has imposed a curfew on its capital city of Bogota for the first time in decades following a second day of anti-government protests. Violent clashes between protesters and police occurred after an estimated 250,000 took to the streets to reject the conservative government of Colombian President Iván Duque. Duque imposed the curfew after three people were killed following the peaceful daytime protests in what authorities described as violent looting incidents overnight. According to police, 146 people have been detained in the two days of unrest. At least 151 police and military officers have been injured, in addition to 122 civilians.

      One thing is a peaceful expression through protest,” he said. “Another very different thing is to take advantage of the protest to sow chaos.” The last time the city imposed a curfew was in 1977 for a general strike, before drug-related cartel violence became rampant and the country’s war with leftist guerillas intensified. Duque also announced that he will open a “national conversation” throughout the country next week to find long-term solutions to inequality and corruption. “The space for dialogue exists,” he said. The demonstrations follow a wave of protests overwhelming Latin America. Large protests in Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador have broken out as citizens voice frustrations with political leaders.

     In the first 15 months of his administration, Duque has watched his approval rating plummet to 26 percent and has faced a series of setbacks. “Colombia is facing a set of complex problems that are as difficult as any in its recent history,” said Cynthia Arnson, a Colombia expert and director of the Latin America program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. “I think any political leader faced with this array of problems would have a difficult time.” The nation has absorbed 1.6 million refugees escaping Venezuela’s economic crisis, and tensions soared to an all-time high with both sides sending troops to the Venezuela-Colombia border.

PRESIDENT EVAN DUQUE REJECTS VANDALISM AND ENSURES THAT THE VIOLENTS WILL FAIL "ALL THE WRIGHT OF THE LAW"

    BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --   The president of Colombia, Iván Duque , said Saturday that the presence of Army soldiers will be maintained in the streets of Bogotá in support of the Police due to protests and excesses in recent days. " With the mayor (of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa) we maintain all the thorough coordination and we also have the continuation of the joint patrolling between the Police and the Army, " Duque told reporters after a meeting with local authorities and the military leadership. In this meeting, measures such as dry law and curfew were analyzed in Bogotá , which was lifted this Saturday at 06.00 local time (11,000 GMT) and with which it was sought to regain control of public order throughout the city.

      "This patrolling is necessary, but it is also done to give citizens peace of mind, " he said. Duque added that members of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) of the Prosecutor's Office will continue “ with permanent support ” and rejected the wave of violence that took over Friday in several neighborhoods in southern Bogotá. " We express the total and absolute rejection of all Colombians for vandalism, for terrorism, for the plundering that some have wanted to perpetrate in the country to alter public order, generate anxiety and affect the freedoms of citizenship, " he added.

     Similarly, he denied the information circulated last night on social networks that warned of alleged attempted robberies of residences in the capital, which caused residents of numerous buildings to organize into defense groups to protect the properties. The protests in Colombia began last Thursday, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the country to express their rejection of the Government, a day that ended with some outbreaks of violence and a spontaneous cacerolazo that spread throughout the capital and other cities . That day was the prelude to a wave of violence that broke out on Friday in the south of the capital, where hooded men clashed with the Police, which in the afternoon dispersed two teaspoons with tear gas against the Government in the central Plaza de Bolívar and in the Monument to the Heroes.

COMMISSIONER HUMBERTO PRADO REQUESTS AN INVESTIGATION ON THE MASSACRE IN THE GRAN SABANA
 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA   --  Humberto Prado, Commissioner for Human Rights and Attention to Victims, spoke about the massacre in the Pemón community of Ikabaru, in the Gran Sabana municipality of Bolivar state, while demanding “respect, protection of their territorial rights, prior consultation , and protection of their integrity and life ”. “Such facts must be investigated and those responsible punished. A work for the Fact Determination Commission recently created by the UN for Venezuela, since the lack of independence of the powers in Venezuela does not guarantee credibility of results ”, was part of what the Commissioner expressed in the Twitter account.

       Prado points out that “this would be the second massacre against the Pemón people. In February between February 22 and 27, 2019, more than 25 indigenous pemones were slaughtered during the five days of the taking of Santa Elena de Uairén. ” He also emphasizes that “on July 12, the OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, said that the case would be brought before the ICC” highlighting that “what happened was a new attempt by Nicolás Maduro to remove this indigenous ethnic group from his territory, that occupies important spaces in the mining area of the country ”.

      Such facts must be investigated and those responsible punished. A work for the Commission of Determination of Facts recently created by the UN for Venezuela, because the lack of independence of the powers in Venezuela does not guarantee credibility of results.

US COURT REFUSES TO  HOLD A NEW HEARING IN CASE AGAINST CRYSTALEX

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  --    Venezuela received another setback this Thursday in the United States when an appeals court refused to hold a new hearing in the case against the Canadian miner Crystallex asking for compensation for the nationalization of a mine in 2011. The request for a new hearing by the panel and the judges was denied, according to documents of the Court of Appeal for the Third Judicial Circuit. In July, a US court determined that the Canadian mining company may confiscate Citgo shares - the Houston subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA - as compensation for the nationalization of a mine in Venezuela in 2011.

      Since February, Citgo is headed by a board appointed by Juan Guaidó, to whom the Donald Trump government handed over control of the company after he invoked articles of the Constitution to proclaim himself president in charge. "The case in the appeals court is over, there are no more options for Venezuela to appeal," Russ Dallen, an expert at the Caracas Capital Markets, based in Miami, told AFP. The judicial decision is suspended by executive order established in October by the Department of the Treasury, which, in the framework of the sanctions against Maduro, issued a temporary provision that prevents Venezuela's creditors from taking control of Citgo

     The case will return to Judge Leonard Stark to enforce the sentence but the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) reiterated that the execution of assets of Venezuela and its national oil company PDVSA is blocked, Dallen said in a note. For the expert with the execution blocked by the Treasury - unless Crystallex has a new specific license to allow it - the opposition of Venezuela, which in the United States represents the country - probably appeals the case to the Supreme Court.

DIOSDADO CABELLO WANTS MORE CHAOS IN BOLIVIA: "IT WILL BE THE SPARK THAT WILL IGNITE THE PRAIRIE OF THE BOLIVARIAN BREEZE, THE HURRICANE"
 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA   --  The president of the official National Constituent Assembly of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, said that "sooner rather than later Evo Morales will return made millions with the people." From the fraud and subsequent resignation of the leader of the MAS, 32 people died in his country. “We know that what happens in Bolivia is a genocide. It is the murder of the Bolivian people, of the people originating from the racist hatred of the fascist government of Bolivia under the orders of the government of the United States. They will not be able to with the Bolivian people. They cannot with Simón Bolívar's favorite daughter, ”Diosdado Cabello began his intervention, in his program Con el mazo danzo, dedicated to the crisis in Bolivia.
   
      "Sooner rather than later, Evo Morales will return made millions with the Bolivian people," he emphasized; before saying that "Bolivia is going to be the spark that will ignite the prairie of the Bolivarian breeze, the Bolivarian hurricane." Then he said that this country could become the “epicenter of a great Bolivarian hurricane” that extends throughout Latin America, setting as an example the “national strike” announced in Colombia for Thursday. “The people rose in awareness of freedom. They deserve the president they choose and elected Evo Morales, "he said. The Ombudsman of Bolivia confirmed on Wednesday that 32 people died because of the wave of violence unleashed in the country following the elections held last 20 October.

     In a statement, he spoke of the "existence of 8 people killed after the police-military operation in the Senkata plant sector, in El Alto." "During the current conflict in the country, there are a total of 32 deaths," says the text, which updates the dead balance so far. The blockade of the Fiscal Oilfield (YPFB) plant in Senkata had caused fuel shortages in both El Alto and La Paz. 80 percent of public transport was not working, according to local union data, in a city where fruits, vegetables and meat products, such as chicken.

THREE DIE AS BOLIVIAN SECURITY FORCES EVICT PROTESTERS FROM REFINERY

    LA PAZ, BOLIVIA  --      -- Bolivian police and troops killed three people and wounded 30 others on Tuesday in an operation to evict supporters of former president Evo Morales from an oil refinery in El Alto, near La Paz. “According to the preliminary information, the three people died as a result of gunshots,” the Ombudsman’s Office said. Security forces went to the refinery in El Alto’s Senkata district to enable the resumption of fuel shipments, which had been blocked by activists from the leftist MAS party after Morales resigned on Nov. 10 under duress.

      The wounded, including some in critical condition, were taken from Senkata to hospitals in El Alto and La Paz, the Ombudsman’s Office said, appealing to the armed forces to return to the barracks “to avoid more deaths.” The military, meanwhile, said that it had received “intelligence” that the people occupying the refinery had high-powered explosives which they planned to use to destroy the installations. The violence occurred after armored vehicles escorted a convoy of oil tankers away from the refinery. Tuesday’s fatalities bring to at least 30 the number of people killed as the security forces repress protests against the self-proclaimed interim government that took power following Morales’ resignation and flight into exile in Mexico. More than 700 others have been wounded.

     Bolivians went to the polls on Oct. 20 to choose their president for the next five years. In a statement issued the day after the election, the Electoral Observation Mission from the Organization of American States (OAS) said that Morales and former head of state Carlos Mesa had appeared to be headed for a runoff before an “inexplicable change” in the trend of the vote count occurred. Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous head of state, maintains that his late surge in the balloting came after votes from remote rural areas were counted. He agreed to an OAS audit of the votes amid pressure from violent, post-election protests. The OAS released its findings Nov. 10, saying that there had been a “clear manipulation” of the process and calling for a new election to be held.

THE  SCARE OF TARECK EL AISSAMI IN A TRIP TO TURKEY
 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   --  THERE IS A "SCARY" STORY   that this year 2019, on one of his several trips to Turkey, the former governor of Aragua Tarek El Aissami had a tremendous scare. As we know, it is indicated by the United States to participate in drug trafficking schemes. On Wednesday, August 31, the vice president of the economic area of Nicolás Maduro was included in the list of the most wanted fugitives by United States Immigration for the crime of international drug trafficking. And in August it was learned that the US was studying offering a reward for the capture of El Aissami, according to the Undersecretary of State for Cuban and Venezuelan Affairs, Carrie Filipetti.

      As if that were not enough, at the end of July the US Treasury Department also pointed out the regime's favorite businessman, Alex Saab, of being responsible for working with Tareck El Aissami to create a structure that would allow gold to be sold from Venezuela to Turkey and the Emirates United Arab. Well, the story is that in one of his steps through Turkey, El Aissami had to see how the alarms went on at the airport. The system showed that it is a person wanted with judicial debts and they passed it "pa'l cuartico".

     The man had to call half the world, move heaven and earth both in the country of Pilav, until they managed to speak with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey, to be left alone. It is no accident, we are told, that on the occasion of last October 29, the Day of the Republic of Turkey, a national holiday in that country, El Aissami has been on top of a blank -and he likes to wear pepito- at the reception that the ambassador gave in Caracas. A gesture of thanks to be left still. Will you dare to leave the country again?

BOLIVIAN AUTHORITIES SUSPECT CUBAN AND VENEZUELAN NATIONALS ARE BEHIND PLOT TO ASSASSINATE INTERIM PRESIDENT

    LA PAZ, BOLIVIA  --      --  Government minister Arturo Morillo said on Monday that Bolivia’s interim president, Jeanine Añez, canceled a trip to the country’s interior on Monday, November 18th for fear of an assassination attempt by “a criminal group” made up of Venezuelans, Cubans, and Colombians. “We have identified a criminal group that wants to carry out an assassination on the president, that is why today we had to cancel her trip to her home region,” said Murillo at a press conference in the Bolivian capital Monday morning. “There are people, obviously Venezuelan, Cuban, Colombian, involved in this, narco-trafficking is behind it all,” the minister claimed.

      According to Morillo, a “criminal organization with links to narco-trafficking” has plans to “make a Venezuela in Bolivia.”Few details were provided at the press conference, but he promised that military and police investigators are “after this criminal group,” whose activities, he maintained, form part of an “insurrection process” that has “links to narco-trafficking.” "There are people, of course, Venezuelan, Cuban, Colombian involved in this, there is drug trafficking behind," said the minister. According to Murillo, a "criminal organization with links to drug trafficking" aims to "make a Venezuela in Bolivia."

     Not many details were offered at the conference, but Murillo promised that military and police were "behind this criminal group." , whose activity, he said, is part of an "insurrection process" that has "links with drug trafficking." The minister told the press that he had to insist that the president not travel, and put her position available to her if she insisted on the trip. It is a pity that now they realize the work that Cuba has been doing throughout Latin America with a facade of humanitarianism, they wake up or they will get up with the Communist Boot in their heads.

HUGO CARVAJAL'S ESCAPE THREATENS THE CREDIBILITY OF THE SPANISH NATIONAL COURT
 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   --  Hugo "El Pollo" Carvajal, former chief of intelligence of Hugo Chavez, escaped. He did so after the decision of the National Court of Spain to extradite him to the US leaked. It was not a unanimous decision. Four of the 18 magistrates filed objections, while one of them denounced an alleged interference by Washington. "Here the underlying problem is the non-independence of justice," a legal source tells ALnavío newspaper. And he says it for two reasons: Due to the alleged interference of the United States in the process. And by the filtration that allows the escape of "El Pollo" Carvajal.

      The defense of Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal believes that the accusation of the United States is pure story. A kind of excuse for the former Chief of Intelligence and Military Counterintelligence of Hugo Chávez to reveal useful information against the Maduro regime. The US points to Carvajal as one of the leaders of the Cartel de los Soles, an alleged group of drug traffickers composed of Chavez military who traffic drugs and weapons to the US. Specifically, Carvajal is accused of collaborating with the FARC in Colombia to introduce cocaine into the US.

      For the defense of “El Pollo” Carvajal this is a story. And also for the magistrate of the National Court of Spain, José Ricardo de Prada. According to him, the accusation of the United States responds “much more to what would be a kind of narrative or novel story of a conspiracy attack against the United States of America by an enemy of that State, than to a legal description of specific criminal acts "

MICHELLE BACHELET WARNS THAT THE SITUATION IN BOLIVIA CAN "GET OUT OF CONTROL"

    GENEVA, SWITZERLAND  --      --   The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, warned on Saturday that "unnecessary or disproportionate use" of the police or military force can lead the situation in Bolivia to "get out of control" . Bachelet stressed that 14 people have died in the six days after former President Evo Morales went into exile in Mexico, and regretted that the deaths appear to be the result of "unnecessary or disproportionate use of force," said AFP. "I condemn these deaths. It is an extremely dangerous development, because far from appeasing the violence, it is possible that it will make it worse," he added.

      "I am really concerned that the situation in Bolivia can get out of control if the authorities do not handle it carefully, according to international norms and standards that govern the use of force, and with full respect for human rights," said the High Commissioner He added that "the country is divided and people from different sectors of the political spectrum are outraged. In a situation like this, repressive actions on the part of the authorities will simply further stoke that anger, and can endanger any possible dialogue path ".

      The agency's statement indicates that Bachelet's statements occur after the deaths of at least five protesters on Friday in Sacaba (Cochabamba) in Bolivia, allegedly as a result of the use of lethal ammunition by security forces. Bachelet urged the authorities "to ensure that the security forces comply with international norms and standards regarding the use of force, as well as to ensure the right to life and physical integrity of the protesters." "We have information that at least 17 people have died in the context of the protests, including 14 only in the last six days," Bachelet said. Bachelet expressed concern that, in addition to the deaths and hundreds of wounded, there were multiple arrests and detentions, including more than 600 people detained since October 21, many of them during the last days.

CHILE EXPELS 50 FOREIGNERS FOR RIOTING, INCLUDING 30 CUBANS AND 9 VENEZUELANS
 

     SANTIAGO, CHILE   --    Last week, Bolivia got rid of many of its Cuban rabble-rousers. This week, it’s Chile’s turn. Bolivia’s riots have turned deadly, with dead reported as of this morning. Chile continues to deal with rioters who want to topple president Sebastián Piñera and his government, but with fewer fatalities. Undoubtedly, Castro, Inc. is behind much or all of this turmoil, as usual. But Castrophiliacs everywhere deny that any such thing is possible. Chile has been engulfed in fearsome riots, and a lot of speculation has rolled around about the influence of foreign agents, pretty much all dismissed by the establishment President Trump has said as much, and naturally been criticized, for it. Chile’s weak president, Sebastian Pinera has said it, too.

      Nothing to see here, move along. But now a story emerges from Rancagua, a mid-sized Chilean city of about 200,000 situated about 54 miles south of Santiago. The Mayor ordered the expulsion of 50 foreigners from the country, 30 are of Cuban nationality, nine Venezuelans, seven Dominicans, three Haitians, one is Colombian and the other Bolivian 50 foreigners must leave the national territory and return to their country of origin, this because they were clandestinely in Chile or irregular, for example, with their visa expired, and formalized for crimes.

     This was stated by the Mayor Juan Manuel Masferrer, who said that he already signed his expulsion, arguing that these offenders at the time were made available to different courts of guarantee of the O’Higgins region, passed to detention control, formalized by the crimes charged and were left with precautionary measures, which empowers this procedure in accordance with the Immigration Regulations of the Ministry of Interior and Public Security. Of the 50 expelled, five were arrested and placed at the disposal of the justice accused of carrying out looting, and on the other, for being involved in disorders, threatening authority and lifting barricades, all crimes, which according to the Mayor Juan Manuel Masferrer, are sufficient reasons to decree his expulsion.Apparently the mayors in Chile have that kind of power.

MIKE POMPEO: LOYALISTS WHO ARE LOOKING FOR 'GOLDEN TICKET'  OUT OF THE MADURO REGIME

    WASHINGTON, D.C.    --    Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s cronies are looking for a “golden ticket” out of the regime, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “I think we see leaders inside of Maduro's inner circle now trying to figure out what the golden ticket looks like,” Pompeo told the Hill’s Newsmaker Series Monday morning. “'What does it look like if I leave?' When they start asking those questions, surely some of them will decide that there are better times ahead not supporting that thug.”

      U.S. officials have struggled to fracture the regime since January, when President Trump recognized top opposition lawmaker Juan Guaidó as the interim president of the country. Maduro refuses to relinquish power and the military remains resolute behind him, buttressed by Cuban security services and roving gangs of "colectivos" that have cracked down on protesters. “They will be in a far better place if they chose a different path,” Pompeo said of Maduro’s Cuban backers. “We are making the same case to all the parties that are supporting Maduro. Certainly the people inside his own military, his own army. The Cubans, the next ring out. The Russians.”

     Trump’s team has been intensifying sanctions on Cuba, partly because of the Communist regime’s key role in providing security assistance to Maduro. But as the regime’s top military commanders remain unified, U.S. officials are trying to undermine Maduro's remaining civilian support by assuring the PSUV political party that it has a future after Maduro. “We believe the Maduro regime must come to an end for Venezuela to recover democracy and prosperity, but like all of the country’s citizens, PSUV is entitled to a role in rebuilding Venezuela,” special representative Elliott Abrams, the top U.S. diplomat for the crisis, said last week. “You in the PSUV are entitled to run in free elections and try to convince your fellow citizens of the value of your policy.” “There are many efforts in the State Department to restore democracy to the Venezuelan people,” Pompeo said. “It is an imperative. It’s in our space, it’s here in the Western Hemisphere.”

THE HUNT FOR FORMER VENEZUELA VICEPRESIDENT  TARECK EL AISSAMI FOR INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING BEGINS
 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.    --    The former governor of the state Aragua and now vice president of Economy of the regime, Tareck El Aissami, is among the most wanted fugitives by the United States for the crime of international drug trafficking, after the United States Customs Immigration and Control Service, agency of the Department of National Security of the United States (ICE) will publish a poster with detailed information.

     ICE indicates that “in February 2017, the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury designated Tareck Zaidan El Aissami, a Venezuelan citizen, as a specially designated narcotics trafficker (SDNT) in accordance with The Kingpin Act for playing an important role in international narcotics deals El Aissami was appointed Executive Vice President of Venezuela in January 2017.

     He previously served as Governor of the Venezuelan state of Aragua from 2012 to 2017, and as Minister of Interior and Justice of Venezuela from 2008. He facilitated narcotics shipments from Venezuela, to include control over aircraft that departed from a Venezuelan air base and drug routes through the ports in Venezuela. In his previous positions, he supervised or partially owned narcotics shipments of more than 1,000 kilograms from Venezuela on multiple occasions, including those with the final destinations of Mexico and the United States. ”

WITH THE VENEZUELAN CRISIS STALLED, LIMA GROUP MEETS IN BRASILIA TODAY

    BRASILIA, BRAZIL    --    Ministers and representatives of the countries of the Lima Group will meet TODAY in Brasilia to re-analyze the situation in Venezuela and the stagnation of a crisis that has led millions of people to leave that country The meeting will be the first one held by the Lima Group since the election as the new president of Argentina of the Peronist Alberto Fernández, who has implied that once he takes office, on December 10, his country will leave this platform, created in 2017 to seek a democratic alternative in Venezuela.

     Even so, official sources told Efe that Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie will represent the Government of Mauricio Macri at the meeting, which may be the last of the Lima Group with the presence of that country.The president-elect of Argentina has already hinted that his future Government could join the Montevideo Mechanism, formed by Uruguay, Mexico, Bolivia and the Caribbean Community and that seeks to promote political dialogue in the country, but without ignoring the Government of Nicolás Maduro .

     The Lima Group, which maintains a much more critical position, is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru. All are among the dozens of countries that recognize the head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, as "legitimate and interim" president of Venezuela, and demand the holding of "free and democratic" elections to seek an alternative to Maduro. On behalf of Guaidó, the presidential commissioner for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Julio Borges, and the former mayor of the Caracas municipality of El Hatillo David Smolansky, in his capacity as coordinator of the Organization of American States (OAS) for the crisis will be at the meeting of Venezuelan migrants and refugees.
 

PROVEA DENOUNCES THAT IN 2019 INCREASED CASES OF TORTURE IN VENEZUELA
 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.    --    In just nine months 554 victims of tORTURE were reported. The majority are young and poor men. These are the majority of the injuries inflicted: blows, butts, electric shocks, crucifixion, kicks and insults. In the first 9 months of the year, 34 cases of torture were reported that included 554 individualized victims of this human rights crime, the human rights organization Provea reported. These data are the result of a press monitoring and compilation of complaints received by Provea between the months of January and September 2019.

      This figure represents an increase of 508.25% in the number of victims counted compared to the 12 months of the year 2018, when 109 people tortured were reported. In addition, it is the highest record documented by Provea in 31 years of monitoring the right to personal integrity in the country, surpassing the 185 victims registered in 2014. The majority of tortured persons (98.55%) were men, young people and the poor. The ages of the victims vary between 18 and 50 years. Most of the injuries inflicted are blows, butts, electric shocks, crucifixion, kicks and insults.

      Of the total number of victims counted by Provea between the months of January and September, 408 (73.64%) were persons deprived of liberty linked by the commission of common crimes; 124 (22.38%) military detained when accused of being part of conspiratorial acts against Nicolás Maduro, and another 22 people (3.97%) were civilians detained for political reasons or in the exercise of the right to peaceful demonstration. 21 people died between the months of January and September 2019 as a result of torture received by law enforcement officials. 19 of the recorded deaths occurred in Preventive Detention Centers (CDP) under the control of the Bolivarian National Police, Corps of Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigations (CICPC) and regional police.

CHILEAN POLICE OFFICERS SET ON FIRE BY MOLOTOV COCKTAILS THROWN BY PROTESTERS

    SAMTOAGO, CHILE   --    TWO Police officers in Chile’s capital were set on fire after demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails in their direction. Unrest in Chile began 19 days ago over a hike to subway fares and has grown into a massive movement demanding broad changes. Two female police officers trying to drive off protesters in Chile’s capital were set on fire after demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails in direction of the officers. A riot police officer on fire is assisted by colleagues during a protest against Chile's government in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 4, 2019.

     Chile has been facing weeks of unrest, triggered by an increase in subway fares. The protests have shaken a nation noted for economic stability over the past decades, which has seen steadily declining poverty despite persistent high rates of inequality. Jorge Silva, the Reuters chief photographer in South East Asia who is in Chile covering the protests, said he was standing close to the Baquedano metro station when he saw a flare out of the corner of his eye. “I realized a police officer had been set on fire by a Molotov and her team were trying to extinguish the fire,” he said.

     The incident sparked an immediate response from police, Henry Romero, another Reuters reporter, said. “From that moment things intensified, the police began to use a lot of gas and rubber bullets, the noise of the repeated fire was loud,” he said. The country’s interior minister visited the two police officers in the hospital and denounced the attack as “pure violence … nothing to do with the legitimate demands of citizens.” “It was a violent, cowardly aggression against two police officers who were working to protect the safety of our compatriots,” he said, according to Reuters.

COLOMBIA DEFENSE MINISTER RESIGNS AMID SCANDAL OVER MASSACRE OF 8 MINORS

 

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA    --    Colombian Defense Minister Guillermo Botero presented on Wednesday his resignation after the day before it became known that he hid from the public the military bombardment of a camp set up by dissidents from the now-demobilized FARC guerrillas in which at least eight children died. “Today, in a meeting with the president of the republic to analyze the current political situation, it was agreed that the most appropriate thing was to present my resignation from the post of national defense minister,” Botero said in an official statement issued by his office.

     Botero’s resignation comes a day after a Senate debate was held regarding a censure motion presented against him for failings in his security and defense policy. During the parliamentary debate, Sen. Roy Barreras, with the Party of the U, which provided key support for former President Juan Manuel Santos, revealed the military’s bombardment in early September of a camp of dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas in Caqueta province in which seven children died, including a 12-year-old girl. The Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday raised the death toll to eight minors killed in the operation, a figure that authorities had not divulged despite the fact that after the operation they had reported that deaths had occurred in the attack.

      After the firestorm sparked by the release of that information, Botero met with President Ivan Duque, to whom he presented his letter of resignation in consideration of the fact that it is his “duty as minister of defense to have an appropriate read on the political climate.” “More coca means less peace, more coca means less life, more coca means less forest, more coca means less youth, more coca means less work, more coca means less business, more coca means less democracy,” said the minister in his letter, which was made public and in which he makes no mention of the controversial bombardment. Just a few minutes after Botero made public his resignation, Duque announced on his Twitter account that he had named Gen. Luis Fernando Navarro, the current commander of Colombia’s military forces, to serve as defense minister on an interim basis.

WHO WILL BE THE PRIME MINISTER OF CUBA?  CASTRO'S FORMER SON-IN-LAW STANDS OUT AS A FAVORITE

    HAVANA, CUBA   --    A figure has become familiar in the most recent trips of the Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel abroad: that of General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja. The enigmatic military was the third to greet President Vladimir Putin at a meeting last week, behind Vice President of the Council of Ministers Ricardo Cabrisas, who renegotiated the Cuban debt to Russia, and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. Díaz-Canel introduced López-Calleja as an "economic advisor." López-Calleja also sat near Díaz-Canel in a meeting with Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico in mid-October this year, and accompanied him to his debut at the United Nations in September 2018.

      Although the official Cuban press has been ambivalent, showing it in photos but without publicly naming it as part of the official delegations, its growing international profile could suggest that Raul Castro's former son-in-law could be among the favorites to occupy the position of prime minister. The new Cuban constitution approved in February established changes of nomenclature in the government and the creation of new positions, including that of the prime minister. Díaz-Canel went from presiding over the Council of State and Ministers to receiving the title of President of the Republic at the beginning of October. The ruler has three months to propose a prime minister, who will be in charge of administering the country.

      The general is the true czar of the Cuban economy, at the head of the Group of Administration Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), a conglomerate of military companies estimated to control at least half of the Cuban economy. GAESA manages key areas such as the remittance business, most of the tourism industry, the Special Development Zone of Puerto del Mariel, as well as the main stores and supermarkets, gas stations, import and export companies, shipping companies, companies of construction, warehouses and an airline.

AT LEAST 9 U.S. CITIZENS KILLED IN CARTEL ATTACK IN NORTH MEXICO 

 

      MEXICO CITY, MEXICO    --   Drug cartel gunmen ambushed three SUVs along a dirt road, slaughtering at least six children and three women — all of them U.S. citizens living in northern Mexico — in a grisly attack that left one of their vehicles a burned-out, bullet-riddled hulk, authorities said Tuesday. The dead included 8-month-old twins. At least five other youngsters were wounded by gunfire. Mexican Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said the attackers may have mistaken the group's large SUVs for those of rival gangs.

      But all of the victims were believed to be members of the extended LeBaron family, who live in a decades-old settlement founded by an offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and have run afoul of the drug traffickers over the years. A LeBaron was killed a decade ago after denouncing the cartels. Mexican authorities say drug cartel gunmen ambushed multiple vehicles, including this one, slaughtering several women and children.

     In a tweet, President Donald Trump immediately offered to help Mexico "wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth." "The United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively," Trump tweeted. "The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army! But Mexico's president said: "The worst thing you can have is war." It was the second failure in recent weeks for López Obrador's "hugs not bullets" anti-crime strategy. Two weeks ago, Mexican forces seized a son of the imprisoned drug lord known as El Chapo but had to release him after cartel henchmen launched a furious counterattack in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

NAYIB BUKELE RESPONDED TO DICTATOR NICOLAS MADURO: "MORE RESPECT BECAUSE I WAS DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED, UNLIKE YOU"

    SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR, --    The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, on Sunday asked the dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, to respect him after he was called “traitor and fighter of imperialism”, after the decision of the Central American president to expel the diplomatic corps from the nation South American The president added that "in El Salvador, without being on seas of oil, a roll of toilet paper does not cost us a month's salary." The dictator Maduro described this Sunday as "traitor and fighter of imperialism" Bukele, who on Saturday ordered the expulsion of Venezuelan diplomats accredited in his country.

       "It is shameful to see how a person who came to the Presidency with some hope for the Salvadoran people melts in front of imperialism," Maduro said at the closing of the "Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Meeting, for Democracy and Against Neoliberalism" held in Havana. Maduro, whose presence in this forum had not been announced, said that "no mequetrefe will separate the peoples of El Salvador and Venezuela" and warned that "he who messes with us dries up, and Bukele will dry up." The Venezuelan regime applied this Sunday the principle of reciprocity and ordered the expulsion of diplomats from El Salvador accredited in Caracas, according to Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza.

     Maduro's foreign minister also attacked Bukele, who, he said, "officially assumes the sad pawn role of US foreign policy, by giving oxygen to its strategy of aggression against the Venezuelan people." According to a statement published by the Salvadoran ruler in his social networks, the expulsion of the Venezuelan diplomatic corps accredited in El Salvador responds to the ignorance of “the legitimacy of the government (of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás) Maduro”, and the recognition as president in charge of the country of the head of Parliament, Juan Guaidó. Repeatedly, Bukele, of the right-wing Grand Alliance for National Unity (WINS), has ruled against “the Maduro regime”, to the point that he decided not to invite him to take office, on June 1 .

IRAN MULTIPLIED ITS PRODUCTION OF ENRICHED URANIUM BY TEN AND HAS 30  NEW CENTRIFUGES 

 

      TEHRAN, IRAN     --   Iran said Monday that it has a production rate of five kilos of enriched uranium per day, multiplying by more than 10 times the production of two months ago, in advances that mark a greater distance with respect to the commitments assumed in the nuclear agreement of 2015. The announcement, which also included a mention of a prototype centrifuge that works 50 times faster than those allowed under the agreement, coincided with the 40th anniversary of the US embassy taking in 1979 and the beginning of a hostage crisis.

      By using these advanced devices, Iran further reduces the one-year term that Tehran would need to have enough material to build a nuclear bomb, if it wanted to. The international agreement limited Iran to using only 5,060 first-generation IR-1 centrifuges to enrich uranium by spinning uranium hexafluoride gas at high speed.

Centrifuges used by Iran in uranium enrichment
In a theatrical staging at the Natanz nuclear facility, where the interview was shot, Ali Akbar Salehi, vice president of the Islamic Republic and head of the Iranian Organization of Atomic Energy, pressed a button to activate a set of 30 IR centrifuges -6, raising to 60 the number of machines running.Salehi said in statements to official television that in the last two months Iran has developed two new models of centrifuges, one of which has already begun the testing period. One of these prototypes, which he called IR-9, would be about 50 times faster than IR-1.

     The measures respond to Iran's decision to abandon the restrictions imposed by the agreement on its nuclear program signed in July 2015, from which the United States withdrew unilaterally. According to the agreement, signed in Vienna by the 5 + 1 group (China, the United States, France, Great Britain, Russia and Germany), Iran agreed to reduce its nuclear program in exchange for lifting part of the sanctions that suffocate its economy. But when in May 2018 the United States decided to unilaterally abandon the agreement and reinstate harsh economic sanctions, Iran began breaching some of its commitments.

PLANE LOADS OF CASH FROM RUSSIA HAVE BEEN SHIPPED TO VENEZUELA

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA, --    Hundreds of millions of dollars in cash has been shipped from Russia to Venezuela, providing a lifeline to the South American country as U.S. sanctions limit its access to the global financial system. A total of $315 million of U.S. dollar and euro notes were sent in six separate shipments from Moscow to Caracas from May 2018 to April 2019, according to data reviewed by Bloomberg from ImportGenius, which compiled Russian customs records it obtains through private sources. The cash came from lenders run by the countries’ governments and went to Venezuela’s development bank, the records show.

     While the money could be for any number of things -- like Venezuela repatriating cash held overseas or dividends from a stake in a Moscow-based bank or revenue from sales of crude or gold -- the complex logistical feat shows one of the ways President Nicolas Maduro’s administration has sought to skirt aggressive U.S. financial sanctions. As a consequence of the scrutiny, the central bank is conducting more transactions in cash, sometimes offering local clients access to euro bills. ImportGenius’s data goes through April this year. That month, about $97 million in notes were sent in two loads from Moscow-based bank Evrofinance Mosnarbank to Venezuela’s Banco de Desarrollo Economico y Social de Venezuela, or Bandes.

     Evrofinance is a joint venture between Bandes and Russia’s state property management agency, In January, $113 million worth of 100-euro bills were sent from state-controlled lender Gazprombank, which at the time had a stake in Evrofinance. The same entity shipped $50 million in U.S. dollar bills just two days earlier, and two separate shipments of unspecified currency totaling $55 million were made in May and July of last year. A Venezuelan government official, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters, confirmed the country had received cash shipments tied to Evrofinance but declined further comment.

DICTATOR NICOLAS MADURO OFFERS TO SUPPORT HIS ALLY EVO MORALES IN THE FACE OF A CRISIS IN BOLIVIA

 

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA     --   In a meeting with representatives of indigenous peoples from various countries, the Venezuelan dictator asked to promote "global solidarity" for the Bolivian ruler, Nicolás Maduro called on Thursday the indigenous and "popular" movements to support his counterpart and Bolivian ally, Evo Morales, who, he said, faces an "oligarchic coup d'etat" over the protests unleashed after the presidential elections in which he was re-elected. “I want to ratify and ask all indigenous movements and popular movements in Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States, Africa, Asia, to raise our flag to support our brother Evo Morales Ayma who is facing a coup of Oligarchic, imperialist state, ”he said.

     In a meeting with representatives of indigenous peoples from various countries and broadcast on radio and television, Maduro asked to promote "global solidarity and support" to Morales. "Long live Evo Morales! Long live the people of Bolivia! Long live the original peoples!" He said the "oligarchies" want to destabilize Bolivia by the reelection of Morales. "They are applying a good part of the formula of violence that they applied against Venezuela several times," he said while saying he was sure that his counterpart will, like him, make "peace" triumph in Bolivia. "We demand that the electoral results of Bolivia be respected," he said.

     Bolivia is experiencing a scenario of demonstrations after the electoral results of last October 20 in which Morales was given the winner for a fourth term. The opposition and civic movements denounced a fraud in the counting of votes in favor of the president of that country. The protests were violent in recent days in several cities of the country, with clashes between supporters and detractors of Evo Morales, in addition to clashes with the police. So far, in the demonstrations there are two deaths due to bullet impacts, as reported by the State Attorney General, Juan Lanchipa.

JOSE MARIA AZNAR: CUBA, RUSSIA AND CHINA HAVE INTERVENED IN VENEZUELA, BUT THOSE WHO HAVE TO INTERVENE DO NOT"

    miami, FLORIDA --    José María Aznar, former head of the Spanish Government, referred on Wednesday to the situation of Venezuela with the regime of Nicolás Maduro. Missed opportunities, the need to intervene, the role of Cuba and the challenges of liberal democracies were among the issues addressed during an interview with NTN24 during the IV presidential dialogue and the Mezerhane chair that takes place in Miami. In Venezuela, Cuba has intervened, Russia has intervened. China has intervened. But those who must intervene do not intervene.

     When I have the opportunity to talk about this issue of Venezuela or what is happening in the region, many analysts, former presidents, always put Cuba behind, as an engine. Not only behind what happens in Venezuela, but also behind what happens in Bolivia, behind what has happened in Ecuador ... Cuba always there. How to explain the opening, the support, the approach of Spain at this time with Cuba? - I have not changed position in relation to Cuba. In 1996, I raised a common position for the European Union that has lasted until very recently, and that unfortunately has been modified, and that was very clear: cooperation is not possible if there is no respect for human rights, and the Cuban dissent clearly a very manifest respect.

     That position has been abandoned, and even the opposite has been reached, that is, that the United States has re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba, without conditions. And other countries too. So doing what he does is consolidate the situation in Cuba. And Cuba has a great history, the Castro regime, of interventionism in other Latin American countries. He is responsible for many deaths, many wars, many violence in many Latin American countries. Maintain that situation, it is what is happening. The influence of Cuba in Venezuela is evident, everyone knows it, in the Armed Forces, in intelligence services, in information services. And that penetration in other countries is a reality that we also know.

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