Big event, despite Corona: Merz: Have to let the CDU party congress take place, despite Corona
Official livery
The Venezuelan television broadcaster VTV reported in detail on Hunko’s visit to Maduro in the Miraflores presidential palace. "This meeting underscores the commitment to dialogue that President Maduro has called for"said the newscaster on state television. The post shows how Hunko and Maduro joke when they greet each other. The conversation took place in front of the flags of both countries – as during an official visit by heads of state or government.
Maduro then paid tribute to the meeting on Twitter: "As part of our diplomacy for peace, I received the German MP Andrej Hunko. We had an important meeting to strengthen relations with the European Community and respect for international law."
Criticism also from the Greens
The SPD politician Schmid called it "shameful that the Left Party still supports a ruler who has destroyed democracy in Venezuela and plunged his country into economic ruin". The CDU politician Wadephul called on the parliamentary group leadership of the left in the Bundestag to deprive Hunko of all international tasks – for example in the Council of Europe.
The Greens foreign politician Omid Nouripour also accused the left-wing MP of allowing himself to be instrumentalized by Maduro for propaganda purposes. "Maduro is not a leftist president, but a wicked kleptocrat who is ruining his country and people", he said.
Left defends Hunko
The Federal Foreign Office stated that the German embassy in Caracas had supported Hunko with the request for individual appointments and accompanied them. "This does not apply to the meeting with Mr Maduro"but added the ministry.
His own faction had informed Hunko of his intentions before the trip. The left-wing foreign politician Stefan Liebich pointed out that his party colleague had managed to speak to both sides. "In this respect, I have no criticism of it, but am curious what he tells us."
Few allies left
In view of the increasing international isolation of the Maduro government, only a few foreign visitors have recently come to Venezuela. While the USA, many EU states and numerous Latin American countries have already recognized Guaidó as the legitimate transitional head of state, Russia, China, Turkey and the left-wing governments in Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia remain loyal to Maduro.
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In December last year, Maduro received the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Shortly before, the President of the North Korean People’s Chamber, Kim Yong Nam, was a guest in Caracas. Critics, on the other hand, are not so welcome: In February, the government expelled six Spanish MEPs from the country who wanted to meet Maduro’s opponent Juan Guaidó.
Sources used: dpa news agency
Cash in Venezuela is becoming increasingly scarce and inflation is taking its course. That is why the government is issuing new banknotes for the second time – now with higher values.
Venezuela is again issuing new banknotes because of the galloping inflation. The notes for 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 bolivars would be put into circulation from Thursday, said the Venezuelan central bank. The 50,000 bolivar note is worth a hundred times as much as the note with the currently highest face value. According to the official exchange rate, it is worth $ 8.1.
The minimum wage in Venezuela is currently 40,000 bolivars. It’s enough to buy two kilos of meat. The largest bill to date, over 500 bolivars, is just enough for an egg.
The government in Caracas had already deleted five zeros from the local currency last August. Venezuela is in a deep economic crisis. According to the government, currency devaluation reached around 130,000 percent last year – according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it was 1.37 million percent.
Gross domestic product has halved
The new banknotes would pay for it "more efficient" the central bank announced. The Venezuelan central bank published economic key figures for the first time in May after three years of radio silence. Accordingly, the gross domestic product has shrunk by half since President Nicolás Maduro took office in 2013.
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There are acute supply bottlenecks in the South American country. A power struggle has been raging between Maduro and Parliament President Juan Guaidó for months.https://123helpme.me/argumentative-essay/ Guaidó is recognized as transitional president by more than 50 states, including the USA and Germany. The left-wing nationalist Maduro has so far been able to count on the support of large sections of the army as well as Russia, China and Cuba.
Sources used: AFP news agency
The ongoing power failure paralyzes large parts of Venezuela – the National Assembly has now declared a state of emergency. The US has announced that it will withdraw its last diplomats from the crisis state.
The US is withdrawing its last diplomats from Venezuela. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo justified this on Tuesday night in the short message service Twitter with the fact that the situation in the South American crisis state had worsened. In addition, the presence of diplomats in the embassy in Caracas has become one "disability" become of US politics.
Washington decided in January to withdraw all unnecessary US diplomats from Venezuela. In the power struggle in the crisis state, the USA stands behind the opposition leader and self-appointed interim president Juan Guaidó. US President Donald Trump has not ruled out a military intervention against the left-wing nationalist head of state Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela’s parliament declares a state of emergency
Due to the power failure that had been going on for days, the National Assembly had recently declared a state of emergency in the country. The majority of MPs voted on Monday for the initiative presented by the self-appointed interim president Juan Guaidó. However, Guaidó and parliament have no de facto power. The military has so far stood by the left-wing nationalist President Nicolás Maduro, who has ousted parliament. Many countries see parliament as the only democratically legitimized institution in the South American crisis country.
In the decree of the parliament, among other things, the armed forces are instructed to protect the power grid and not to suppress protests against the blackout. In addition, the authorities should provide fuel for generators to generate electricity. Oil deliveries to Cuba, an ally of Maduro, should be stopped immediately. Nothing was known about compliance with these instructions.
Since Thursday evening there has been no electricity in parts of the run-down country. The restoration of the electricity supply is only progressing slowly and has repeatedly suffered setbacks. The government of President Maduro blames a hacker attack planned by the USA for the power outage. The opposition, however, speaks of a lack of maintenance, corruption and mismanagement.
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Guaidó announced new protests against the government for Tuesday. He wants to seize the moment and turn the anger of many Venezuelans over the power failure into a popular uprising against his opponent Maduro. "This will be the beginning of a great national mobilization", he said.
Sources used: dpa news agency
Due to increasing corona numbers, the CDU party congress is postponed. To the annoyance of Friedrich Merz: He accuses his party of a strategic maneuver against him and fears further tricks.
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The candidate for the CDU chairmanship, Friedrich Merz, reacted with sharp criticism to the party leadership’s decision to postpone a decision on the party chairmanship into the new year. The cancellation of the election party conference on December 4th, decided by the party executive on Monday "the last part of the action "Prevent Merz" in the CDU". "And that works with the full broadside of the establishment in Berlin"said Merz "world" on Monday.
The former Union faction leader added: "I have very clear, unambiguous indications that Armin Laschet issued the motto: He needs more time to improve his performance. I am clearly leading in all surveys. If it were different, there would certainly have been another choice this year."
Merz fears further tricks
In addition to Merz, NRW Prime Minister Laschet and the foreign expert Norbert Röttgen are applying to succeed CDU boss Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. The federal executive decided on Monday in Berlin that the planned on-site party conference on December 4 in Stuttgart with 1,001 delegates could no longer be held in view of the sharp rise in the number of infections.
"I have clear indications that Armin #Laschet issued the motto: He needs more time to improve his performance. I am clearly leading in all surveys. If it were different, there would certainly have been another choice this year." ™ @world # cdupt20
– Friedrich Merz (@_FriedrichMerz) October 26, 2020
Even if a face-to-face party conference is not possible at the beginning of the new year, a digital party conference should be held. And if there is still no legal basis for this, there should be a digital party congress with a round of introductions and a subsequent postal vote.
Merz fears further tricks for the further internal party election campaign: "It is no coincidence that rumors about a new, fourth candidate are spread over and over again. All three candidates are supposed to be torn and tired, in order to then possibly present a surprise candidate at the last second. It is also systematically prepared in this way."
"No unreservedly legitimized leadership"
The incumbent party leadership with chairman Kramp-Karrenbauer and general secretary Paul Ziemiak called on Merz "No more substantial factual or personnel decisions (to) make". From January 1, 2021, the party "no unreservedly legitimized leadership" more. Merz sees his party in a threatening situation: "The CDU has been in really great danger since Sunday, but without any action on my part."
With the decision of the federal executive committee, the #CDU is fulfilling its responsibility in the pandemic & at the same time ensures their ability to act in the election year 2021. The renewed cancellation of # cdupt20 on December 4th. is bitter, but it follows the unpredictability as a result of the #pandemic. pic.twitter.com/FKVHQF8ons
– Norbert Röttgen (@n_roettgen) October 26, 2020
Nevertheless, Merz wants to continue fighting to become party chairman: "I have a message for all my friends and less dear friends in and out of the party: I’m holding on! You don’t wear me down!"
Proposal from Kramp-Karrenbauer: CDU party conference should be postponed to spring CDU candidate Merz: ‘Parts of the party establishment want to prevent me’ Big event, despite Corona: Merz: Have to let the CDU party conference take place, despite Corona
According to the ideas of CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the current infection situation should only be discussed from the outset on January 15 and 16 at the federal executive committee meeting and the situation should then be assessed. It should be about the question of whether and when a party congress in presence is possible. The chairman of the Junge Union, Tilman Kuban, negotiated with the support of the SME association – probably in the spirit of Merz – into the resolution that December 14th should play a bigger role in a kind of step-by-step plan for the next party congress.
Sources used: dpa news agency
For the fourth time in March, most of Venezuela’s states will be without power. The government and the opposition blame each other for this.
Another blackout has caused the crisis country Venezuela to sink into darkness. In most states, people were without electricity on Saturday nights (local time), like the opposition newspaper "El Nacional" reported. In the capital, Caracas, people protested with a cacerolazo: This Latin American form of protest involves beating pots and pans to draw attention to social injustices.
It was the fourth major power outage in Venezuela in March. The government blames sabotage planned by the US and the opposition for the collapse of the energy supply. The government opponents, on the other hand, see delayed investments, insufficient maintenance and corruption as the reasons for the power outages.
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On Saturday, numerous people took to the streets to protest against the government of President Nicolás Maduro and the severe supply crisis in Venezuela. "We know who is responsible for the blackouts: Maduro. But that’s enough now"said the opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó.
Sources used: dpa news agency
After two years in office, Donald Trump has let himself be drawn into a number of dangerous conflicts – Iran, North Korea, Venezuela. A strategy cannot be identified. What role does his staff play?
Four years of President Trump – his term in office in pictures
Photo series with 19 pictures
Brian Hook reports execution. Donald Trump’s special envoy to Iran sums up the situation one year after the United States left the international nuclear deal: "In almost every measure, Iran is weaker today than it was two years ago when we came into office."
It sounds like a success, but it is symptomatic of the foreign policy of Donald Trump’s administration, which has since been co-determined by two foreign ministers and three national security advisers: countries that Washington identifies as enemies are weakened. A sustainable solution, however, is missing, as is a comprehensive foreign policy strategy.
Stuck in Hanoi
On the subject of North Korea, Trump got stuck at the summit in Hanoi. In Venezuela, Washington had quite blatantly supported an attempted coup.