10 Major Laws Taking Effect In California In 2026

Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/15/2025 – 17:40

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/10-major-laws-taking-effect-california-2026 

Four of the nation’s top retail stores failed to promptly pull contaminated infant formula tied to a dangerous botulism outbreak from their shelves, federal health officials said in warning letters posted Monday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent letters to leaders at Walmart, Target, Kroger and Albertsons, saying the companies continued to sell ByHeart infant formula for days or weeks, despite a Nov. 11 recall of all products in the outbreak that has sickened more than 50 babies in 19 states.

“As a participant in the supply chain, your firm should take prompt and effective action when notified of a product recall,” FDA officials said in warning letters sent to the companies on Dec. 12 and posted online Monday.

The formula was found at Target stores in 20 states “well after the recall was initiated,” one letter said. In addition, it was sold at a Target store in New Hampshire on Nov. 16, despite an electronic block on the product’s sales code, the FDA noted. And at a Target store in Arkansas, single-serve packs of ByHeart formula were promoted with a “Sale!” sign and a $2 discount from Nov. 16 to Nov. 22.

Information from state and local health officials said ByHeart formula was found at Walmart stores in 21 states from Nov. 12 to Nov. 26. The formula was found in Albertsons stores in 11 states from Nov. 12 to Nov. 19, and at Kroger stores in 10 states from Nov. 12 to Nov. 19.

In addition, the companies failed to provide FDA with evidence that corrective actions have been put in place, despite multiple requests, the agency said. The companies have 15 working days to respond to the letters.

Walmart officials said in a statement that no ByHeart formula was sold after cash registers were blocked from selling the formula following the recall.

“We moved swiftly to issue a sales restriction and removed this product from our impacted stores and clubs and online,” a company spokesperson said in an email. “We take all reports of inaction seriously and will respond to the letter.”

Albertsons officials said the company worked closely with suppliers and regulators to identify and remove the products and communicate to customers.

“ByHeart infant formula products have been removed from our store shelves,” the company said in a statement.

All of the babies in the outbreak have been hospitalized and treated with an IV medication to stop the progress of the disease. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded the outbreak to include all babies treated for botulism after consuming ByHeart formula since it was first produced in 2023.

Steven Mandernach, executive director at the Association of Food and Drug Officials, said the FDA itself was slow to distribute information about the recall with state and local food safety officials. The agency didn’t fully share product lists until Nov. 14 — nearly a week after the initial recall of two lots of ByHeart formula on Nov. 8.

He said it was “disappointing” in an outbreak involving the sole source of nutrition for vulnerable infants.

“There probably wasn’t the sense of urgency to ensure the product was off the market that I would expect,” Mandernach said.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/byheart-baby-formula-recall-2/ 

National (Energy) Security Strategy

Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/15/2025 – 17:20

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/national-energy-security-strategy 

The Darien Swarm 13U Pop Warner youth football team was heavily motivated coming into the 2025 season after falling short a year ago of a trip to the national Super Bowl with a loss to an Ohio team in the regional competition.

After a 6-1 regular season this year, Darien, which has players from throughout the west suburbs, won its three games in the Chicagoland Pop Warner playoffs. That advanced the Swarm to regionals in Indiana and two more wins, including a victory over the Ohio team that had ended their season a year ago.

That win was their ticket to the Super Bowl at the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Matthews, North Carolina.

The Swarm won its first two games in the national tournament, before losing 32-8 Friday in the championship game to Saddleback Valley, of Lake Forest, California.

“This was definitely a special team,” said Swarm head coach Kenny Smith. “They had a great camaraderie and started working on their own during the summer. Our goal this year was to win a national championship.”

Running back Pharrell Bryan, of Oak Park, wasn’t surprised by the success of his team this year.

“I knew we were going to make it (to the Super Bowl),” he said. “We were missing some guys last year, but we had everything together this year.”

While a bit disappointed by not winning the national championship, Bryan said playing three games at the Super Bowl was a great experience.
“I really wanted to win it, but it was something I’ve never experienced before, and it was a lot of fun,” he said. “It was great seeing competition from all over.”

In the Dec. 6 quarterfinals of the Super Bowl, Darien defeated Odell Eagles of Concord, North Carolina, 16-8, before defeating the Downingtown Young Whippets of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, 40-36 in the semifinals on Dec. 9.

“We were a much more balanced team this year than last year,” Coach Smith said. “We were much more of a running team last year, but we were more balanced this year.”

Darien Swarm quarterback Jesus Ortiz Jr. throws a pass while getting protection from teammate Joseph Ajere during a game this season.The Darien Swarm 13U team advanced to the championship game of the Pop Warner Super Bowl on Friday in North Carolina. (Kenny Smith)

One key for having a more balanced offense this season was the addition of quarterback Jesus Ortiz Jr.

His story is interesting in that he spent the past two seasons playing for the Addison Cowboys and won the 2023 national championship in the 11U Division. Ortiz decided he wanted to play this season for Darien after playing against, and beating, the Swarm last season.

“I just liked what they were doing, the plan they had, and I love coach (Smith),” he said. “It was fairly easy to fit in, and they were very welcoming to me.”

Ortiz was disappointed to come up a game short of winning the national title with Darien this season, but still enjoyed returning to the Super Bowl.

“I love playing against the best competition, and this was a great group to be with,” he said.

Along with Pharrell Bryan and Jesus Ortiz, Swam team members were Joseph Ajere, Jayden Autrey, Ashton Cole, Daniel Cook, John Davis, Ryan DeNardo, Landon Echols, Kaleb Green, Shael Laasiri, Jayce LeSain, Francisco Martinez, Justin Miller, Cruz Perales, Carmine Pollack, NaShaun Robinson, Kyler Ruff, Kobe Smith, and Satas Valincius.

Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/darien-swarm-super-bowl-runner-up/ 

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia didn’t win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, but he enters the final two weeks of 2025 as the leading contender for sports apology of the year.

Congrats, Diego. Your journey from inspiring college football legend to nationally known jerk will be talked about for years.

This was another banner year for sports figures apologizing for stupid things they said or did, or tweeted or Instagrammed.

Oblivious sports figures come in all genders, and all shapes, forms and sizes. Pro golfers, WNBA stars, tennis players, football players and many others were forced to atone for their misdeeds, whether they felt remorse or were advised by someone with public relations expertise. Even ESPN’s Pat McAfee apologized for spreading a false rumor about a college student that she said “ruined” her life. Do you believe in miracles?

Yet Pavia managed to swoop in over the weekend to leave his apologist peers in the dust. After losing out to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza for the prestigious award, he posted an Instagram story photo of himself and his offensive linemates with the caption “F− all the voters,” adding a thumbs-down emoji.

He was also featured in a video at a post-Heisman celebration, giving the finger to a sign that read “F−−− Indiana” while partying. The obvious target was Mendoza, a humble and talented young man who gave credit to Pavia and the other Heisman contenders during his acceptance speech.

But if that wasn’t enough to seal the deal, Pavia retweeted former sports talk troll Skip Bayless, a Vanderbilt alum, who wrote that Pavia deserved the Heisman but didn’t get it, suggesting “his swagger and edge rubbed some voters the wrong way.”

Naturally, by the time Pavia woke up Sunday and checked his phone, he quickly became aware his reputation as a gritty, likeable underdog who made Vanderbilt into a football power had evaporated into thin air. He was suddenly viewed as the arrogant, condescending and inconsiderate punk who tried to tarnish Mendoza’s Heisman by declaring himself the rightful winner.

Heisman Trophy finalists, from left, Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin pose with the trophy before the award ceremony, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

It was reminiscent of Kanye West dissing Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards by getting up on stage to tell Swift that Beyoncé deserved it, except without interrupting Mendoza’s acceptance speech and saying “Imma let you finish.”

Pavia was already suspect when it came to his NFL draft prospects due to genetics — he’s a 5-foot-10 quarterback who was listed at 6-0 by his school. But the debate over whether he’d be picked on the second or third day of the draft was suddenly muted by the realization that no NFL general manager in his right mind would select such a classless and clueless player for such an important position.

Pavia, or someone he knows with an actual working brain, immediately tried to rectify the situation with a belated apology posted on his X account about his “disrespectful” behavior. He called Mendoza a “deserving” winner and blamed his reaction on his fiery competitiveness.

“As a competitor, just like in everything I do I wanted to win,” the post read. “To be so close to my dream and come up short was painful. I didn’t handle those emotions well at all and did not represent myself the way I wanted to. I have much love and respect for the Heisman voters and the selection process, and I apologize for being disrespectful. It was a mistake, and I am sorry.”

Nice try, but too late. Pavia, who has previously apologized for actions such as urinating on an opponent’s practice field in 2023, was toasted on social media and all over the internet. He has one more game — on Dec. 31 against Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl — to rescue his reputation from the dumpster fire he lit Saturday night. Good luck with that.

Pavia has some strong competition for the 2025 Sports Apology of the Year, and we’re still waiting on apologies from former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore, the ball-stealing fan known as “Phillies Karen,” and a few other knuckleheads.

This seems to be the Golden Age of Stupidity, fueled by the ability to advertise your own misdeeds with a few clicks on your phone.

Wyndham Clark watches his shot on the third tee during the first round of the Hero World Challenge PGA Tour at the Albany Golf Club, in New Providence, Bahamas, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A close second to Pavia might be serial apologist and PGA star Wyndham Clark, who first apologized this year for launching his driver with both hands into a sponsor wall following a bad tee shot during the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina. “My actions were uncalled for and completely inappropriate, making it clear that I have things I need to work on,” Clark posted on social media.

He then “worked” on it by destroying some lockers at historic Oakmont after missing the cut at the U.S. Open. Clark later said he was “very sorry” for making “a mistake that I deeply regret.” He now wanted to just “move on, not only for myself but for Oakmont, for the USGA.”

Moving on is always the best course of action for those who lack self-awareness.

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese wanted to move on after telling Chicago Tribune reporter Julia Poe that she was not “settling for the same s−−−” next year, adding “we have to get great players,” including someone younger than teammate Courtney Vandersloot. “We can’t rely on Courtney to come back at the age that she’s at,” Reese said.

After throwing Vandersloot and her teammates under the bus, Reese apologized to them and said her comments were “misconstrued.” Reese sounded thrilled last week when announcing she’d be back in ’26. “I’m under contract so, yes, I plan on returning to the Sky,” she said.

Finding blame elsewhere is a thematic motif for those in the apology business.

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese is defended by Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson during the second quarter at Wintrust Arena on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Latvian tennis star Jelena Ostapenko told American Taylor Townsend she had “no class” and “no education” after a dispute over a net cord at the U.S. Open. She later apologized by writing on Instagram that English was not her native language, and that she actually was referring to “what I believe as tennis etiquette” when telling Townsend, a Black player, she had “no education.”

“But I understand how the words I used could have offended many people beyond the tennis court,” Ostapenko added.

PGA of America president Don Rea Jr. apologized in a letter for American fans chanting “F−−− you, Rory” to Irish golfer Rory McIlroy at the Ryder Cup, but only after creating an outcry by telling the BBC, “Heck you could go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things.”

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson apologized for telling analyst Richard Sherman the Falcons were playing a game that resembled one from his youth, referred to with a name containing a homophobic slur. When he became aware the language was inappropriate, Robinson posted that the “insensitive” term was from “a football game we used to play as a kid but that’s not an excuse.”

If there were a separate category for 2025 Spitting Apology of the Year, we’d have numerous candidates from the sport of football, including the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Carter, Florida’s Brendan Bett, Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, and two Colorado State players who spat on opponents in the same game.

Chase even denied he had spit on Pittsburgh’s Jalen Ramsey despite video evidence proving the loogie was in fact his. After being handed a one-game suspension, Chase apologized on Instagram for both the spitting and the lying, writing “as someone who strives to lead with character and authenticity, I should’ve taken immediate accountability for what happened.”

Inter Miami soccer player Luis Suárez apologized for spitting on someone from the Seattle Sounders’ staff after a loss in the Leagues Cup final. He posted on social media that there was “still a lot of season left ahead and we will work together to try and get the triumphs that this club and its fans deserve.”

Then he finished by writing: “A hug to all.”

Every sports figure’s apology should end with a big hug to all, from the bottom of their publicist’s heart.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/diego-pavia-sports-apologies-of-the-year/ 

Norbert Holtkamp will take over as the new director of Batavia-based Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory starting Jan. 12, according to an announcement from the University of Chicago.

The announcement was made on Monday by University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos, who chairs the board of directors of Fermi Forward Discovery Group. Fermi Forward, which operates the lab under contract for the United States Department of Energy, is led by the University of Chicago and the Universities Research Association.

University of Chicago has been a co-contractor for Fermilab since 2007, according to the university’s website.

Holtkamp was the deputy director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University from 2014 to 2022, and is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, the news release from the University of Chicago said.

While at SLAC, Holtkamp managed the construction of the Linac Coherent Light Source upgrade, and more than $2 billion in on-site construction projects, the announcement said.

He worked at Fermilab previously, from 1998 to 2001, per the news release. At that time, he participated in the commissioning of the lab’s most powerful particle accelerator and led a multi-lab study on the feasibility of an intense neutrino source based on a muon storage ring, the announcement noted.

He holds the equivalent of a master’s degree in physics from the University of Berlin, and a Ph.D. in physics from the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany, the press release said.

Holtkamp will be succeeding Young-Kee Kim, a physics professor at the University of Chicago who had been serving as Fermilab’s interim director since January.

Alivisatos, in the news release, pointed to Holtkamp’s “wealth of scientific and managerial experience,” and said he will “champion Fermilab’s mission of pioneering scientific discovery, help ensure the success of projects critical to the lab’s future, strengthen the relationships necessary for shared achievements and inspire the next generation of researchers.”

As its new director, Holtkamp will be continuing the lab’s work of modernizing operations and infrastructure to advance the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility-Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or LBNF-DUNE, and other major projects, the announcement noted.

“Fermilab has done so much to advance our collective understanding of the fundamentals of our universe,” Holtkamp said in the announcement. “I am committed to ensuring the laboratory remains the neutrino capital of America, and the world, and the safe and successful completion of LBNF-DUNE is key to that goal. I’m excited to rejoin Fermilab at this pivotal moment to guide this project and our other important modernization efforts to prepare the lab for a bright future.”

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/norbert-holtkamp-new-fermilab-director-uchicago-president-announces/ 

So which example of human carnage most deserved an editorial board’s focus this day?

Was it the antisemitic shooting incident at Bondi Beach in Australia, where a father-and-son team of assassins opened fire on what was supposed to be a fun celebration of the beginning of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah? There, at least 15 people died and another dozen or more were critically injured. Rabbis, kids, the elderly; it did not seem to matter to the killers as long as they were murdering Australian Jews. En masse.

Was it the Saturday shooting in a classroom at Brown University that terrorized undergraduate students and resulted in the death of two of them and the wounding of at least nine more?

Was it the murderous incident at the home of the great Hollywood movie director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, killings in connection with which their son, Nick — a man who has struggled with addiction but also had made a healing movie with his dad — has been arrested?

Somewhere in the middle of all of that parsing of relative significance, all of that debating about the number of dead, the proximity to our readers’ homes and its relevance to our fears, the extent to which it was reflective of a broader issue, we threw up our hands at how little humans have progressed amid all of the vaunted technological miracles that surround us, how we still use violence to settle our political disputes or grievances or psychological states of being.

Since the way we analyze these incidents of violence mostly conforms to our pre-existing agendas and opinions, you easily could find whatever pallid justification you preferred.

In Australia, a country that disarmed itself at the end of the 20th century after its population reacted in horror to a prior incident, there was a reminder that the wrong people still can find a way to get their hands on a weapon unless the ban is absolute.

For those who oppose gun control, there was ample evidence that a society without many guns, even in the hands of police officers, finds it harder to immediately end such an attack, resulting in yet more dead. For those who want weapons banned, there was mostly just sorrow at these consequences. We could at least be glad they did not have automatic weapons.

At Brown, as we write, the shooter remains at large and legitimate questions are being asked about how and why he got away, why a classroom building apparently was so unwatched by cameras or guards, what that university community should now be doing, how a campus should be dealing with an evil person evidently still in its midst.

And in Brentwood, there appeared to be yet another agonizing lesson about the dangers of addiction to fentanyl, about how a chemical substance and the need for it can undermine love of your parents or make a mild-mannered person turn to the most gruesome means of attack, one by a hand-held weapon. When an artist is involved in such an incident, and Reiner was a great American artist, one’s mind often turns to the disparity between the pleasures afforded to others by their work, as in this case, and the apparent realities of life at home. One never knows.

We don’t know as much as we think about the why of any of this, but we can see the horrors of its impact on victims. And the word “see” has taken on a whole new dimension; a few clicks and the Bondi Beach massacre can be viewed on video. Shot by shot. Death by death.

Generally, our reaction to violence is dependent on some kind of proximity. But this weekend held something for everybody to fear. For anyone of Jewish faith, the idea that an outdoor family celebration in sunny Australia — or anywhere, really — could result in mass murder was a horrifying reminder of what happened at the Nova music festival in Israel in 2023 and that antisemitism rages on. For what other motivation could there have been at Bondi Beach?

For anyone with a kid away in college, the horrors at Brown gave parents nightmares about evil entering unprotected classrooms and life or death being determined by how easily, or not, someone could make it to the door. For students, there was a new sense of vulnerability even on a quiet campus where people were doing nothing more than reviewing material for a test.

And, of course, we all fear our kids falling pray to some kind of addiction and harming themselves, let alone another family or community member. This weekend, we all learned, again, that wealth and talent are no shields against such occurrences.

Editorials are supposed to draw inferences, make connections, advocate for change and have a point. Certainly, any reasonable person would wish that greater security, at Bondi Beach, at Brown, inside the Reiner home, could have stopped these attacks.

Most of us are caught between not wanting to be cowed by these terrorizing threats and being responsive to these clear and present dangers. We have no solution to that dilemma.

We will add this, though. For whatever reason, our society has lost its sensitivity to death. Whether it was President Donald Trump’s odious trolling of Reiner, a man he regarded as his political enemy but who now lays dead, or the anti-Israeli protester showing up as Australian Jews, who had no role in Gaza and live far from the Middle East, tried to mourn their dead, we saw people not just continue the hate in death but actually use it as a way to get attention for themselves.

Even given Trump’s history of relentless personal attacks, his remarks Monday were still enough to shock most of us in their sheer cruelty, coming from someone duly elected to be the leader of this great nation. We condemn them in the strongest possible terms, as we do the violence that seemed to explode across the planet just as the season of peace and goodwill was getting underway.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/editorial-bondi-beach-brown-university-rob-reiner-michele-violence-killing/ 

The Evidence Is Clear: Masks Don’t Do Anything…

Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/15/2025 – 17:00

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/evidence-clear-masks-dont-do-anything 

Por STAN CHOE

NUEVA YORK (AP) — Los precios de las acciones en la Bolsa de Valores de Nueva York cerraron con cambios mínimos el lunes, antes de que se den a conocer informes económicos esta semana que podrían influir en las tasas de interés.

El S&P 500 bajó 10,90 puntos, o 0,2%, a 6.816,51, aunque la mayoría de las acciones en el índice subieron. El promedio industrial Dow Jones cayó 41,49 unidades, o 0,1%, a 48.416,56, y el compuesto Nasdaq descendió 137,76, o 0,6%, a 23.057,41.

Las acciones de la industria de la inteligencia artificial ayudaron a mantener los índices bajo control, pues tuvieron un desempeño mixto tras los movimientos preocupantes de la semana pasada.

Nvidia, la empresa de circuitos integrados que se ha convertido en el rostro del auge de la IA, sumó 0,7%. Fue una de las mayores fuerzas que empujaron al S&P 500 después de que cayó 4,1% la semana pasada.

Pero Oracle se hundió otro 2,7% tras su caída del 12,7% la semana pasada, la peor que ha tenido en más de siete años. Broadcom descendió 5,6%.

Las acciones de IA han mostrado inestabilidad debido a preocupaciones de que los miles de millones de dólares que fluyen hacia chips y centros de datos puedan no producir una ganancia lo suficientemente grande como para que valga la pena. Las dudas están causando grietas en la industria, cuyos ascensos previos fueron el principal impulsor del repunte del mercado de Estados Unidos a niveles récord.

Además de la IA, el enfoque principal en Wall Street esta semana estará en lo que digan varias actualizaciones importantes sobre la salud de la economía del país.

El martes se dará a conocer el informe de empleos de noviembre, y los economistas esperan que muestre que los empleadores agregaron 40.000 puestos de trabajo más de los que recortaron durante el mes. El jueves se publicará una actualización sobre la inflación, y los analistas prevén que muestre que los consumidores en Estados Unidos pagaron precios un 3,1% más altos en noviembre que un año antes.

El rendimiento del bono del Tesoro a diez años bajó de 4,19% a 4,18%.

Por otro lado, las acciones de iRobot se desplomaron casi 73%, a 1,18 dólares, después de que el fabricante de las aspiradoras Roomba indicara que sus accionistas probablemente enfrentarán una pérdida total después de que el fin de semana solicitó protección por bancarrota bajo el Capítulo 11. La compañía ha llegado a un acuerdo con su principal fabricante por contrato, Picea, para adquirirlo a través de un proceso supervisado por un tribunal federal de quiebras.

___

La periodista de la AP Elaine Kurtenbach contribuyó a este despacho.

___

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/wall-street-se-mantiene-estable-antes-del-informe-del-martes-sobre-el-empleo/ 

CARACAS (AP) — El gobierno venezolano anunció el lunes su decisión de terminar de manera inmediata cualquier acuerdo de suministro de gas con Trinidad y Tobago en medio de tensiones por el despliegue militar estadounidense en aguas del Caribe.

La vicepresidenta Delcy Rodríguez acusó en un comunicado al gobierno de Puerto España de tener una “participación” en el “robo de petróleo venezolano, cometido” por la administración del presidente estadounidense Donald Trump, el pasado 10 de diciembre. No presentó pruebas.

El anuncio se produce cinco días después de que Trump anunciara que Estados Unidos incautó un buque petrolero frente a la costa de Venezuela.

“Este acto de piratería constituye una grave violación del derecho internacional y una franca transgresión a los principios de libre navegación y de comercio”, indicó el escrito publicado por Rodríguez, que también funge como ministra de Hidrocarburos, en su canal en Telegram.

En el comunicado también acusó a la primera ministra Kamla Persad-Bissessar de revelar “una agenda hostil” en contra Venezuela” desde su llegada al poder, “incluyendo la instalación de radares militares para el asedio” de buques que transportan el petróleo venezolano.

La primera ministra ha “convertido el territorio de Trinidad y Tobago en un portaviones estadounidense para agredir a Venezuela, en un acto inequívoco de vasallaje”, añadió.

La secretaria de Seguridad Nacional Kristi Noem, la semana pasada, vinculó la incautación de un buque petrolero con los esfuerzos antidrogas de Estados Unidos en América Latina.

El presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro, en tanto, lo ve como un ataque a la soberanía de la nación y parte de un esfuerzo por derrocarlo.

Maduro anunció a fines de octubre la suspensión de acuerdos de explotación de gas con Trinidad y Tobago en un momento en que un buque de guerra de Estados Unidos se encontraba en la capital de ese país vecino.

Venezuela y Trinidad –que en la década de 1990 firmaron el Tratado de Delimitación que establece los términos sobre la forma de explotación de cualquier yacimiento de hidrocarburos en ambos lados de la línea fronteriza– suscribieron en 2015 un acuerdo para la explotación conjunta de yacimientos comunes, entre otras medidas para impulsar proyectos binacionales.

El convenio con diez años de vigencia, que fue renovado automáticamente en febrero por cinco años más, permitía que cualquiera de las partes denunciase ese acuerdo.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/venezuela-anuncia-que-termina-acuerdos-de-gas-con-trinidad-y-tobago-en-medio-de-tensiones-con-eeuu/