World

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro wins third term

Published

4 months ago

July 29, 2024 9:26 am

BodexNG

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro won re-election with 51.2 percent of votes cast Sunday, the electoral council announced, after a campaign tainted by claims of opposition intimidation and fears of fraud.

The President of the CNE electoral body, Elvis Amoroso, in its majority loyal to the government, told reporters 44.2 percent of votes had gone to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

Independent polls had predicted Sunday’s vote would bring an end to 25 years of “Chavismo”, the populist movement founded by Maduro’s socialist predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chavez.

Maduro, 61, addressed supporters minutes after the announcement, saying: “There will be peace, stability and justice.”

As his supporters celebrated, downcast opposition voters waited to hear from Gonzalez Urrutia and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken immediately expressed “serious concerns” that the result did not reflect the will of Venezuelan voters.

Since 2013, Maduro has been at the helm of the once-wealthy petro-state where GDP dropped by 80 percent in a decade, pushing more than seven million of its 30 million citizens to emigrate.

He is accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of rising authoritarianism.

Gonzalez Urrutia had replaced popular Machado on the ticket after authorities loyal to Maduro excluded her from the race.

Machado, who campaigned far and wide for her proxy, had urged voters on Sunday to keep “vigil” at their polling stations in the “decisive hours” of counting amid widespread fears of fraud.

Maduro had previously warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses.

– ‘Prepared to defend’ –

Rejecting opinion polls, the government relied on its own numbers to assert Maduro would defeat Gonzalez Urrutia, a little-known 74-year-old former diplomat.

Maduro counts on a loyal electoral apparatus, military leadership, and state institutions in a system of well-established political patronage.

On Friday, a Venezuelan NGO said Caracas was holding 305 “political prisoners” and had arrested 135 people with links to the opposition campaign since January.

Gonzalez Urrutia had said the opposition was “prepared to defend” the vote and trusted “our armed forces to respect the decision of our people.”

He added there had been a “massive” voter turnout.

Ballots were cast on machines that print out paper receipts placed into a container. The electronic votes go directly to a centralized CNE database.

The opposition had deployed about 90,000 volunteer election monitors to polling stations countrywide.

– Watching ‘very closely’ –

Sunday’s election is the product of a mediated deal reached last year between the government and the opposition.

The agreement to hold the vote led the United States to temporarily ease sanctions imposed after Maduro’s 2018 reelection, which was rejected as a sham by dozens of Western and Latin American countries.

However, the sanctions were snapped back after Maduro reneged on agreed conditions.

Washington is keen for a return to stability in Venezuela — an ally of Cuba, Russia and China that boasts the world’s largest oil reserves but severely diminished production capacity.

Economic misery in the South American nation has been a major source of migration pressure on the US southern border.

Most Venezuelans live on just a few dollars a month, with the country’s health care and education systems in disrepair and the population enduring biting shortages of electricity and fuel.

The government blames sanctions, but observers also point the finger at corruption and government inefficiency.

Machado said earlier Sunday that if Maduro “grabs power,” another “three, four, five million” Venezuelans will likely join the exodus.

“What’s at stake here goes beyond our borders, beyond Venezuela,” she said.

Concerns over the fairness of the vote were further stoked when Caracas blocked several international observers, including four Latin American ex-presidents, at the last minute.

The foreign ministers of seven Latin American nations called Sunday for the electoral process to “fully respect the popular will” of the Venezuelan people.

About 21 million Venezuelans are registered as voters, but only an estimated 17 million still in the country are eligible to cast ballots.

World

Trump appoints Elon Musk to lead department of government efficiency

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2024 3:33 pm

BodexNG

US President-Elect Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk, chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla and SpaceX, to lead a soon-to-be-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk, owner of X, the microblogging platform previously known as Twitter, was an avid supporter of Trump during the electioneering leading up to the November 5 presidential election.

The former president defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris after securing more than 270 of the electoral college votes required to win the poll.

A statement on Tuesday said Musk would run DOGE alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, a politician and entrepreneur.

It said the duo “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement’.

“I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans,” the statement quoted the president-elect as saying.

“Importantly, we will drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 Trillion Dollars of Government Spending.”

Trump will take office for a second and final term on January 25, 2025.

World

French newspapers sue X for using content without paying

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2024 2:46 pm

BodexNG

Major French news organisations say they are suing X, a micro-blogging platform, for allegedly using their content without paying.

According to Reuters, the newspapers, which are Le Monde, Le Figaro and Le Parisien, announced in a statement on Tuesday.

The media platforms said they were due payment under their ancillary rights, which allow payment to news outlets by digital platforms, for the distribution of their content.

They said X, formerly known as Twitter, and owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has never agreed to open negotiations with French news publishers, unlike Alphabet Inc, Google and Meta Platforms Inc.

The publication also said the media organisations claimed that X has not complied with an order issued by the Paris Court of Justice in May to release information required to calculate the amount owed.

“The revenue from these rights, with the investment that it would enable its beneficiaries to make, is a boost to the plurality, independence and quality of the media, which are essential for freedom of expression and the right to information in our democratic society,” the newspapers said.

A spokesperson for the Paris tribunal also confirmed the case to Reuters and said a hearing has been scheduled for May 15, 2025.

World

Trump sentencing in hush-money case delayed again until November 19

Published

3 days ago

November 13, 2024 8:17 am

BodexNG

A New York judge, Juan Merchan, has postponed the decision on Donald Trump’s sentencing in his high-profile hush-money case, delaying it until November 19.

This delay could extend the impact of the conviction into his upcoming administration.

This update, confirmed by a court statement on Tuesday, adds another layer of delay to Trump’s legal battle over alleged hush-money payments.

“The joint application for a stay of the current deadlines… until November 19, is granted,” the court said in an email seen by AFP.

The decision comes amid multiple delays in a case that could see Trump sentenced on 34 felony counts.

According to The Guardian, the delay reflects the Trump defence team’s numerous motions over the past year, each requesting more time or challenging aspects of the proceedings.

Protracted Legal Battle
The case originates from Trump’s April 2024 court appearance—the first time a former president has faced criminal charges.

As reported by PUNCH Online, Trump, 77, was accused of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign.

This hush-money case is just one of four criminal cases Trump is grappling with as he campaigns for the White House.

In May, a New York jury found him guilty on all counts in an unprecedented verdict that jolted U.S. political circles.

The case was adjourned to September and then delayed again.

This was the first conviction of a former president for business fraud, setting off waves across media outlets from PUNCH to CBS.

Trump’s team had anticipated that a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity might offer him a shield, leading Judge Juan Merchan to delay sentencing until September and, subsequently, November.

According to a statement released at the time by Biden’s campaign, the conviction underscored that “no one is above the law.”

Biden’s communications director, Michael Tyler, said, “Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain.”

Trump’s Legal Strategy
Trump’s defence argues that the payments to Daniels were legal expenses and that the claims of falsified business records violate neither state nor federal laws.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office disputes this, arguing that the payments were structured to bypass New York’s election laws, amounting to an illegal campaign contribution.

These funds, prosecutors allege, were intended to influence the election in Trump’s favour — a point highlighted by The New York Times.

The Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling, granting sitting presidents immunity for actions taken in office, added complexity to Trump’s case, as his defence team invoked this ruling to argue for dismissal.

As Merchan reviews these arguments, he has warned of the “fraught complexities” involved and emphasised a desire to prevent the legal proceedings from impacting the election.

Despite his legal battles, Trump won the November 5 election against Kamala Harris, buoyed by steady support among his base.

Yet, his win has stirred fresh complications for his other cases.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith is reportedly scaling down federal probes into Trump’s role in election interference and the classified documents case, which could be deferred.

Meanwhile, the Fulton County election interference case in Georgia has been put on hold following a new appeal, with prospects for prosecution uncertain due to recent revelations regarding District Attorney Fani Willis’s office.

As January 25, 2025, approaches—the date Trump is set to assume office as the 47th president—the implications of these pending cases remain unresolved.

Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others