Category: News
Gary man convicted for drunkenly shooting gun in backyard: filings
A Gary man is facing deportation after he was sentenced Friday for drunkenly shooting off an automatic rifle in his backyard.
Carlos Alvarez Morin, 36, pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of ammunition as an illegal alien, records show. He was sentenced to one year and one day. He will also serve one year on supervised release.
In court filings, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristian Mukoski wrote that Alvarez Morin’s wife, a U.S. citizen, called the police around 2 a.m. April 28 to the home on W. 41st Avenue.
“My husband’s drunk and he’s shooting, please come,” she said.
Once Lake County officers arrived, the wife said she had been asleep when she heard five to 10 gunshots outside.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Alvarez Morin said. “I shot in the ground, ok?”
In court filings, defense lawyer Peter Boyles wrote his client was in the process of obtaining legal status through his wife, but the case “likely forecloses that opportunity for him and likely will result in his deportation.”
mcolias@post-trib.com
China, Rusia e Irán se unen a Sudáfrica para ejercicios navales
Por GERALD IMRAY
CIUDAD DEL CABO, Sudáfrica (AP) — Buques de guerra chinos, rusos e iraníes comenzaron el viernes una semana de ejercicios navales con Sudáfrica como anfitrión frente a la costa de Ciudad del Cabo, mientras las tensiones geopolíticas aumentan debido a la intervención militar de Estados Unidos en Venezuela y la toma de barcos que transportan petróleo venezolano.
Los ejercicios liderados por China fueron organizados el año pasado bajo el bloque BRICS, y las fuerzas armadas de Sudáfrica dijeron que las maniobras practicarán la seguridad marítima y operaciones antipiratería y “profundizarán la cooperación”.
China, Rusia y Sudáfrica son miembros de larga data de BRICS, mientras que Irán se unió al grupo en 2024.
La marina iraní estaba participando en los ejercicios mientras crecen las protestas en casa contra el liderazgo de la República Islámica.
No estaba claro por el momento si otros países de los BRICS —que también incluye a Brasil, India y los Emiratos Árabes Unidos— participarían en los ejercicios. Un portavoz de las fuerzas armadas sudafricanas dijo que aún no podía confirmar todos los países que participan en los ejercicios, que están programados para continuar hasta el próximo viernes.
Se vieron barcos chinos, rusos e iraníes entrando y saliendo del puerto que sirve como la principal base naval de Sudáfrica en Simon’s Town, al sur de Ciudad del Cabo, donde el océano Índico se encuentra con el Atlántico. Los barcos de China incluyen el Tangshan, un buque de clase destructor de 161 metros (528 pies) de largo. La Flota del Báltico de Rusia dijo que envió un buque de guerra más pequeño, el Stoikiy, y un petrolero de reabastecimiento a Sudáfrica.
Sudáfrica también recibió a barcos chinos y rusos para ejercicios navales en 2023.
Los últimos ejercicios estaban destinados a realizarse a finales de noviembre, pero se retrasaron por razones diplomáticas porque Sudáfrica recibió la cumbre del Grupo de los 20 alrededor de la misma época.
Los ejercicios podrían tensar aún más las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y Sudáfrica, que es la economía más avanzada de África y una voz líder para el continente.
El presidente estadounidense Donald Trump dijo en una orden ejecutiva en febrero que Sudáfrica apoya a “actores negativos en el escenario mundial” y destacó sus lazos con Irán como una de las razones para que Estados Unidos recorte fondos para el país. China y Rusia han utilizado a menudo los foros de BRICS para lanzar críticas a Estados Unidos y Occidente.
Sudáfrica ha afirmado durante mucho tiempo que sigue una política exterior no alineada y se mantiene neutral, pero la presencia rusa en el extremo sur de África ha tensado su relación con Estados Unidos anteriormente. El anterior gobierno de Estados Unidos acusó a Sudáfrica en 2023 de permitir que un barco ruso sancionado atracara en la base naval de Simon’s Town y cargara armas para ser llevadas a Rusia para la guerra en Ucrania. Sudáfrica refutó la acusación.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
NCAA denies Mississippi QB Trinidad Chambliss’ eligibility waiver, but Rebels plan to appeal
The NCAA on Friday denied Mississippi’s request to extend the eligibility of Trinidad Chambliss.
The Rebels star quarterback just finished his fifth year of college football in a 31-27 loss to Miami in a College Football Playoff semifinal Thursday night. He had planned to return to Ole Miss for one more year if the waiver was approved.
The NCAA said Ole Miss and Ferris State failed to provide adequate medical documentation to back up the request. Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said his school will appeal the ruling.
“We are disappointed with today’s announcement by the NCAA and plan to appeal the decision to the Committee level,” Carter said in a social media post, in which he included the flag of Trinidad and Tobago. “Additionally, we will continue to work in conjunction with Trinidad’s representatives in other avenues of support.”
Tom Mars, who is an attorney for Chambliss, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the NCAA’s decision.
“The last time I checked, however, the only score that matters is the one at the end of the fourth quarter,” Mars said. “I understand that Ole Miss will file an appeal with the NCAA. However, there’s now an opportunity to move this case to a level playing field where Trinidad’s rights will be determined by the Mississippi judiciary instead of some bureaucrats in Indianapolis who couldn’t care less about the law or doing the right thing. Whether to pursue that course of action is a decision only Trinidad and his parents can make.”
After taking a redshirt his first season at Ferris State in 2021-22, Chambliss was held out in his second season for medical reasons. He played two more seasons at the Division II school, leading the Bulldogs to a national championship before transferring to Ole Miss before the start of this season. Ole Miss filed the waiver request with the NCAA in November.
Chambliss completed 294 of 445 (66.1%) of his passes for 3,937 yards with 22 touchdowns and three interceptions for Mississippi (13-2), which set a school record for wins, including two after making the College Football Playoff for the first time. He ran for 527 yards and eight more TDs.
The NCAA said in its denial statement that approval of such waivers requires schools to submit medical documentation from a treating physician at the time of a student’s incapacitating injury or illness.
“The documents provided by Ole Miss and the student’s prior school include a physician’s note from a December 2022 visit, which stated the student-athlete was ‘doing very well’ since he was seen in August 2022,” the NCAA said. “Additionally, the student-athlete’s prior school indicated it had no documentation on medical treatment, injury reports or medical conditions involving the student-athlete during that time frame and cited ‘developmental needs and our team’s competitive circumstances’ as its reason the student-athlete did not play in the 2022-23 season.”
The NCAA noted that it initially provided a verbal denial Dec. 8, which was 12 days before Ole Miss beat Tulane at home in the program’s first CFP game.
“To receive a clock extension, a student-athlete must have been denied two seasons of competition for reasons beyond the student’s or school’s control, and a ‘redshirt’ year can be used only once,” the statement reads. “One of the rules being cited publicly (Bylaw 12.6.4.2.2) is not the correct rule for the type of waiver requested by the school.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/09/trinidad-chambliss-mississippi-ncaa-eligibility/
‘Comrade’ Singham Faces House Subpoena Over Alleged CCP-Linked NGO Network Fueling Anti-ICE Protests
‘Comrade’ Singham Faces House Subpoena Over Alleged CCP-Linked NGO Network Fueling Anti-ICE Protests
John Solomon’s Just the News reports that a dark-money NGO network tied to CCP-linked communist billionaire Neville Roy Singham was allgedly activated as a command-and-control support node to organize nationwide anti-ICE protests just hours after the deadly shooting in Minneapolis.
“China may be helping astroturf far-left protests against ICE via a financial network in league with radical-left financier and multi-millionaire Neville Roy Singham. Singham funds a network of groups expressing anti-American sentiment,” Solomon’s team wrote in a note.
On Wednesday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) wrote on X, “I have formally made a motion to subpoena Neville Singham, an American billionaire with ties to the CCP.”
During a House Oversight Committee meeting earlier that day, Luna said the China-based Singham “has been funding extremist organizations that fuel division and civil unrest in this country, especially regarding the anti-ICE riots last summer.”
For example, the Los Angeles riots last year.
What we have outlined mere hours after the ICE-related shooting of a left-wing “ICE Watch” activist trained to obstruct federal agents during deportation operations was the well-oiled protest industrial complex machine run by left-wing socialists and Marxists, which quickly mobilized nationwide, from Minneapolis to Portland to Seattle to New York City, or left-wing-controlled cities.
BREAKING: Tonight, cities across the country erupted in protest against ICEpic.twitter.com/CngPJd6AfE
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) January 8, 2026
Such coordination showed observers just how inorganic the protests were, as the Democratic Party appeared to be hoping for a “George Floyd 2.0” moment to burn city blocks to the ground in an attempt to sway public opinion polls against ICE operations. After all, ICE is deporting the Democratic Party’s illegal aliens, either their current voting bloc in some metro areas and states or a future one.
We also pointed out that Singham’s Party for Socialism and Liberation network was quickly activated in NYC on Wednesday night.
EXPOSED 🚨 The protest tonight in New York City against ICE is being paid for and organized by ‘PSL New York City – Party for Socialism and Liberation’
They are funded by Neville Roy Singham who lives in China and works with the CCP
He donated over $20 million to entities like… pic.twitter.com/Fy508FFbqn
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) January 8, 2026
By Thursday night, unhinged Marxists in NYC were chanting, “Kristi Noem will hang!”
NOW: “Kristi Noem will Hang!” Huge crowd chants in Foley Square NYC, also “Save a life, kill an ICE” as they gather to protest the ICE killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Some in the crowd condemn the talk of killing. pic.twitter.com/ifrXNZB0dz
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) January 8, 2026
Luna made her case to the House committee earlier this week for why Singham should testify, and the motion to issue a subpoena passed by voice vote. That vote also included approval of unrelated subpoenas.
“Neville Singham was referred to the Department of Justice, I believe, for FARA [Foreign Agents Registration Act] violations by then-Senator Rubio when he served on the Senate Intelligence Committee,” Luna said. “Neville Singham, regardless of what you might feel about your colleagues, has been a mechanism and funding arm of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Luna added, “He’s not a registered agent under FARA and has been connected to a number of riots, including the anti-ICE riots funded in Los Angeles. He has been avoiding our request to appear before Congress and provide information. He is definitely anti-American ideologically and is funding groups known to sow discord in this country. He is a known foreign agent for China. He should face a subpoena. If he does not comply, I will make a motion for inherent contempt.”
The Trump administration is running out of time in the midterm election cycle to enforce actions against Singham and other left-wing billionaires who operate dark-money-funded NGOs that function as what can only be described as an invisible insurrection against President Trump and the America First agenda. The administration has slow-walked enforcement across the nonprofit universe and, by doing so, should brace for a summer of chaos, with socialists and Marxists once again pushing the nation toward disorder.
Seamus Bruner, Director of Research at the Government Accountability Institute, commented…
Great work, @RepLuna! A subpoena is a necessary first step, but it’s not sufficient. If @USTreasury concludes that foreign-aligned money is financing domestic unrest, penalties should be severe — up to and including freezing and seizing assets. If warranted, bring on some… https://t.co/GhldXtWbYI
— Seamus Bruner (@seamusbruner) January 9, 2026
Time is ticking.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/09/2026 – 17:40
Frankfurt y Dortmund comparten puntos en emocionante empate de la Bundesliga
FRANCFÓRT, Alemania (AP) — El Borussia Dortmund, en segundo lugar de la tabla, cedió dos veces la ventaja y se enfilaba a lo que parecía una derrota por un gol en el tiempo de descuento, pero empató en el último minuto para terminar 3-3 en su visita al Eintracht Frankfurt en un emocionante choque de la Bundesliga el viernes.
El primer partido de liga de 2026 fue un aviso cautivador para el fútbol alemán, pero ambos equipos lamentarán su incapacidad para mantener una ventaja.
El empate dejó al Dortmund en segundo lugar, ocho puntos detrás del líder Bayern Múnich y cuatro por encima del Bayer Leverkusen y Leipzig. Los tres tienen un partido pendiente.
El Frankfurt perdió la oportunidad de avanzar a la quinta posición y se mantuvo en la séptima, igualado en puntos con el Stuttgart.
El partido comenzó de manera prometedora para el visitante con Maximilian Beier rematando de lado un centro de Julian Ryerson desde el flanco derecho después de diez minutos.
Pero en una noche fría en el Deutsche Bank Park, los aficionados locales se calentaron con la reacción de su equipo. Can Uzun igualó desde el punto de penalti después de que se considerara que Serhou Guirassy había cometido falta sobre Robin Koch.
El Dortmund tomó la delantera nuevamente a mitad del segundo tiempo cuando un disparo desviado de Felix Nmecha se coló por el poste lejano.
Y el Frankfurt respondió tres minutos después. Un pase que rompió la defensa de Arnaud Kalimuendo envió a Younes Ebnoutalib hacia el gol y mantuvo la calma para enviar el balón superando a Gregor Kobel.
El Frankfurt tomó la delantera por primera vez en el segundo minuto del tiempo de descuento cuando Mahmoud Dahoud lanzó un disparo, pero cuatro minutos después Carney Chukwuemeka empujó un balón suelto casi con el último toque del partido.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Guardaespaldas de la familia del republicano Vivek Ramaswamy es arrestado por cargos de narcotráfico
Por JULIE CARR SMYTH
COLUMBUS, Ohio, EE.UU. (AP) — El candidato republicano a gobernador de Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, ha expresado su preocupación porque un hombre que trabajaba como guardaespaldas de su familia enfrenta cargos federales por narcotráfico.
Justin Salsburey, de 43 años, de Bellefontaine, y su esposa, Ruthann Rankin, fueron acusados a finales del mes pasado de asociación delictuosa y posesión de grandes cantidades de narcóticos con la intención de distribuirlos a través del correo de Estados Unidos.
Salsburey estaba empleado por una empresa de seguridad privada contratada por los Ramaswamy para servicios de protección, según Connie Luck, portavoz de la campaña. Ella indicó que ARK Protection Group lo retiró inmediatamente del equipo de seguridad de la familia al enterarse del asunto.
Según las denuncias penales, 261 paquetes que contenían OxyContin falsificado y otras pastillas fueron entregados a la casa de la pareja en el oeste de Ohio entre agosto de 2024 y el mes pasado. Rankin ha sido separada de su empleo de maestra en una escuela cercana en Urbana, según un comunicado publicado por el distrito.
Salsburey está detenido en la cárcel del condado Franklin en Columbus, según el sitio web de la instalación. Rankin fue detenida y luego liberada.
“La familia de Vivek contrató a una empresa de seguridad privada para servicios de protección y se alarmó al escuchar esta inquietante noticia”, expresó Luck en un mensaje de texto.
Ella señaló que Salsburey había aprobado varias verificaciones de antecedentes realizadas por la empresa de seguridad, el FBI y la Oficina de Investigación Criminal de Ohio antes de ser contratado. La más reciente fue efectuada en septiembre por el Centro Médico Wexner de la Universidad Estatal de Ohio, agregó.
Salsburey también aprobó una prueba para detectar consumo de drogas previa a que se le diera el empleo, y nunca salió positivo en ningún examen aleatorio de detección de narcóticos, agregó Luck. Un mensaje dejado a un abogado que representó a Salsburey en el pasado no fue devuelto de momento.
“Vivek y su familia toman en serio los asuntos de seguridad y apoyan los esfuerzos para hacer que estos individuos rindan cuentas por estas acusaciones, si es que son demostradas”, indicó Luck.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Illinois AG says National Guard case should be resolved in its favor following Supreme Court ruling
Calling a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling a “straightforward path” to a legal victory, lawyers for the state of Illinois said Friday they hope to quickly resolving ongoing litigation over President Donald Trump’s controversial efforts to deploy National Guard troops to the Chicago area to bolster immigration enforcement.
The status filing in U.S. District Court comes two weeks after the high court’s denial of a request from the Trump administration to allow the Republican president to deploy troops to Illinois streets while a court battle over a restraining order plays out.
In the filing, lawyers for Attorney General Kwame Raoul said that although the Supreme Court’s ruling made no final determinations, it “effectively resolves as a matter of law” that the federalization and deployment orders by Trump were illegal.
“Plaintiffs’ reading of the Supreme Court’s Dec. 23 ruling is that it creates a straightforward path to judgment as a matter of law in their favor,” the filing stated.
While Illinois’ attorneys said they are prepared to proceed with summary judgment proceedings before U.S. District Judge April Perry, such litigation could be costly and drawn out, and the state is open to discussing other possible resolutions, the filing stated.
That posture is based partly on a dramatic change in circumstances. When the lawsuit was filed in October, National Guard troops from Illinois and Texas had already been “federalized” and were assembling at bases for imminent deployment.
Now, those forces have been largely demobilized, though some 195 Illinois National Guard troops remained in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as of this week “completing the demobilization process,” which is expected to conclude next week.
The filing also made note of Trump’s social media post on Dec. 31 announcing he was ordering the National Guard removed from Illinois, which also threatened: “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again – Only a question of time!”
Quoting from settled case law, the lawyers for Raoul said Trump’s “voluntary cessation of the contested conduct” is only binding if it’s “absolutely clear” the wrongful behavior will not recur.
Lawyers for the Department of Justice, meanwhile, asked for more time to decide how to proceed, saying they were “continuing to evaluate the implications of the Supreme Court’s recent stay decision,” which potentially affects pending cases in Oregon and California.
In the same status filing, the DOJ asked for one-month extension to file a response to the complaint, which the attorney general’s office has opposed.
The divided opinion by the conservative-majority Supreme Court represented a significant political victory for Gov. JB Pritzker and other Democratic governors in their escalating battle with Trump over his authority to go against their wishes and use federalized troops on U.S. soil to assist immigration enforcement personnel carrying out the president’s mass deportation efforts in Chicago and other American cities.
“At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the high court’s order said. “Thus, at least in this posture, the Government has not carried its burden to show that (the law) permits the President to federalize the Guard in the exercise of inherent authority to protect federal personnel and property in Illinois.”
Three of the court’s conservative justices, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, lodged dissents, with Thomas and Alito writing that the court “has unnecessarily and unwisely departed from standard practice.”
The fight landed at the Supreme Court days after Perry issued a temporary restraining order barring Trump from deploying Guard troops to the state.
That order has since been continued indefinitely pending the resolution of the lawsuit.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Trump Says US Will Begin Strikes On Cartels In Mexico
Trump Says US Will Begin Strikes On Cartels In Mexico
Authored by Joseph Lord and Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,
President Donald Trump announced in an interview aired Jan. 8 that the United States would begin launching strikes on cartels in Mexico.
“We knocked out 97 percent of the drugs coming in by water, and we are going to start now hitting land with regard with the cartels,” Trump told Sean Hannity from Fox News.
“The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch and see what’s happened to that country.
“They’re killing 250,000, 300,000 in our country every single year.”
The announcement comes just five days after Trump ordered an operation to capture and remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to the United States to face criminal charges, including narco-terrorism.
Trump gave a warning to several Latin American countries following the U.S. strike on Venezuela and Maduro’s capture.
The president also warned Mexico on Sunday that it needs to “get its act together,” referring to drug cartels operating in the country.
“You have to do something with Mexico,” Trump told reporters during his trip back to Washington from Florida. “We’re going to have to do something. We’d love Mexico to do it; they’re capable of doing it, but unfortunately, the cartels are very strong in Mexico.”
Trump said that he had spoken to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on a number of occasions, saying that the United States has offered to send troops into her country. However, he described her as “afraid” and that the “cartels are running Mexico,” not her
Mexico has repeatedly opposed U.S. proposals to fight drug cartels in the country.
“We categorically reject intervention in the internal affairs of other countries,” Sheinbaum said during her daily morning press conference on Monday. “The history of Latin America is clear and compelling: Intervention has never brought democracy, never generated well-being, nor lasting stability.”
Trump’s administration has intensified anti-cartel measures, including designating Mexican syndicates as terrorist organizations, a step he announced years ago. Officials say sea-based trafficking has been nearly halted, prompting a pivot to land operations.
Trump has previously said no formal war declaration is necessary.
“I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country,” Trump said on Oct. 23, 2025.
U.S. officials have linked cartels to tens of thousands of American overdose deaths annually. Trump has criticized Sheinbaum for declining U.S. offers to dismantle the cartels.
Trump did not give a timeline for land strikes against cartels.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/09/2026 – 17:15
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-says-us-will-begin-strikes-cartels-mexico
Qatari Embassy Damaged In Russian Drone Strike, Doha Shrugs
Qatari Embassy Damaged In Russian Drone Strike, Doha Shrugs
We earlier detailed yet another massive overnight Russian strike on Ukraine – including on the capital and the Western city of Lviv, the latter which was hit with a nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missile.
More details have emerged Friday as emergency crews assess the damage in Kiev. Notably the Embassy of Qatar in Kyiv appears to have been directly hit, likely by a drone, or else possibly from missile debris.
Residential building struck in overnight attack, via Ukrainian govt handout.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was the first to announce and confirm that the embassy suffered damage, though without casualties to diplomatic staff or personnel.
Sybiha blasted the Russian attack as a “clear violation of the Vienna Convention” and said Moscow’s “brutality” is without bounds, and offered the Zelensky government’s full support for Qatar.
Alongside this, Sybiha once again called on NATO to urgently step up support:
“Such a strike close to EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on X.
“It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake ‘Putin residence attack’ that never happened,” he added.
“Putin uses an IRBM near EU and NATO border in response to his own hallucinations – this is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses.”
As for the Qatari embassy, President Zelensky said on Telegram Friday, “In addition to our civilian infrastructure and energy facilities, a building of the Embassy of Qatar was damaged last night by a Russian drone.”
This after hundreds of drones and missiles pummeled the country overnight, leaving at least four dead.
More interesting has been Qatar’s incredibly meek and muted reaction, a sign that it doesn’t want to damage its important and delicate relations with Moscow. It has long sought to present itself as ‘mediator’ between the warring sides as well.
“The State of Qatar expressed today deep regret over the damage sustained by its embassy building in Ukraine as a result of the shelling of the capital Kyiv last night, affirming that no diplomats or embassy staff were harmed,” per Qatari media.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed in a statement today the importance of sparing embassies, diplomatic missions, headquarters of international organization and civilian facilities from the repercussions of crises, and to protect its members in line with international law,” it added.
This quite muted response quickly transitioned to calling for peace in Ukraine, offering to mediate efforts and international diplomatic action to resolve the conflict peacefully. Clearly Qatar is more concerned with not causing Russia any offensive whatsoever at this delicate moment.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 01/09/2026 – 16:50
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/qatari-embassy-damaged-russian-drone-strike-doha-shrugs
Trump promete a empresas petroleras “completa seguridad” si invierten en Venezuela
Por JOSH BOAK y AAMER MADHANI
WASHINGTON (AP) — El presidente estadounidense Donald Trump instó el viernes a ejecutivos petroleros a regresar pronto a Venezuela, ya que la Casa Blanca quiere asegurar rápidamente 100.000 millones de dólares en inversiones para revitalizar la capacidad del país sudamericano de explotar completamente sus vastas reservas de petróleo.
Desde la incursión militar de Estados Unidos para capturar al expresidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro el sábado, Trump ha pasado rápidamente a presentar tales acciones como una nueva oportunidad económica para Estados Unidos, ha tomado buques petroleros que transportan petróleo venezolano y afirma que Estados Unidos tomará el control de las ventas de 30 a 50 millones de barriles de petróleo venezolano y que controlará las ventas a nivel mundial indefinidamente.
Al iniciar la reunión con los ejecutivos de la industria petrolera, Trump les dijo que no deben ser escépticos de invertir rápidamente y, en algunos casos, regresar a Venezuela, pese a su historial de expropiaciones estatales, las actuales sanciones estadounidenses y la incertidumbre política.
“Tienen completa seguridad”, aseveró Trump a los ejecutivos. “Están tratando directamente con nosotros y no con Venezuela en absoluto. No queremos que traten con Venezuela”.
“Nuestras gigantescas compañías petroleras gastarán al menos 100.000 millones de su dinero, no del gobierno. No necesitan dinero del gobierno. Pero necesitan protección gubernamental”, añadió.
Trump dio la bienvenida a los ejecutivos petroleros a la Casa Blanca después de que las fuerzas estadounidenses incautaran el viernes otro barco vinculado al petróleo venezolano.
Todo es parte de un plan de Trump para mantener bajos los precios de la gasolina. En un momento en que muchos estadounidenses están preocupados por la asequibilidad, la incursión en Venezuela representa un espectáculo óptico para convencer a los estadounidenses de que puede reducir los precios de la energía.
La Casa Blanca dijo que invitó a ejecutivos petroleros de 17 compañías, incluyendo Chevron, que aún opera en Venezuela, así como ExxonMobil y ConocoPhillips, las cuales tenían proyectos petroleros en Venezuela que se perdieron como parte de una nacionalización de empresas privadas en 2007 durante el gobierno del presidente Hugo Chávez.
“Si miramos las estructuras comerciales y los marcos existentes hoy en Venezuela, hoy no es invertible”, dijo Darren Woods, el CEO de ExxonMobil. “Y por lo tanto, se deben hacer cambios significativos a esos marcos comerciales, al sistema legal, debe haber protecciones de inversión duraderas y debe haber un cambio en las leyes de hidrocarburos en el país”.
Otras compañías invitadas fueron Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, con sede en Singapur, Eni, con sede en Italia, y Repsol, con sede en España, así como una amplia gama de empresas nacionales e internacionales con intereses que van desde la construcción hasta los mercados de materias primas.
Las grandes compañías petroleras estadounidenses hasta ahora se han abstenido en gran medida de comprometerse a invertir en Venezuela, ya que se necesitan contratos y garantías. Trump ha insinuado que Estados Unidos ayudaría a respaldar cualquier inversión.
La producción de petróleo de Venezuela ha caído por debajo de un millón de barriles al día. Parte del desafío de Trump para revertir eso será convencer a las compañías petroleras de que su administración tiene una relación estable con la presidenta interina de Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, así como protecciones para las empresas que ingresan al mercado.
Aunque Rodríguez ha criticado públicamente a Trump y la destitución de Maduro, el presidente estadounidense ha dicho que hasta la fecha la líder interina de Venezuela ha estado cooperando tras bambalinas con su administración.
Tyson Slocum, director del programa de energía del grupo de defensa del consumidor Public Citizen, criticó la reunión y calificó la remoción de Maduro por parte del ejército estadounidense como “imperialismo violento”. Slocum añadió que el objetivo de Trump parece ser “entregar a los multimillonarios el control sobre el petróleo de Venezuela”.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
