Por REGINA GARCÍA CANO y AAMER MADHANI

WASHINGTON (AP) — El presidente Donald Trump se negó el lunes a descartar acciones militares contra Venezuela a pesar de mencionar la posibilidad de una apertura diplomática con su homólogo Nicolás Maduro, quien ha insistido en que el aumento en la presencia militar de Estados Unidos y los ataques sobre embarcaciones presuntamente cargadas con drogas en las costas frente a su nación tienen como objetivo retirarlo del poder.

Trump reiteró que “probablemente hablaría con” Maduro, pero subrayó que no está descartando la posibilidad de una acción militar en territorio venezolano.

“No lo descarto. No descarto nada”, subrayó Trump a los periodistas un día después de que planteó por primera vez la posibilidad de sostener “conversaciones” con Maduro. Sin embargo, Trump evitó responder a preguntas sobre si el mandatario venezolano podría decirle algo que lleve a Estados Unidos a tomar la decisión de reducir su presencia militar.

“Ha causado un tremendo daño a nuestro país”, declaró Trump, vinculando a Maduro con el narcotráfico y la afluencia de migrantes que han llegado a Estados Unidos desde Venezuela. “No ha sido bueno para Estados Unidos, así que veremos qué pasa”.

Los comentarios profundizaron la incertidumbre sobre los próximos pasos que Washington podría tomar con el gobierno de Maduro. Estados Unidos ha intensificado la presión en los últimos días, asegurando que anticipa designar como organización terrorista a un cartel que, según afirma, es encabezado por Maduro y otros altos funcionarios del gobierno venezolano.

El portaaviones USS Gerald R. Ford y los buques de guerra que lo acompañan llegaron al Caribe este fin de semana, coincidiendo con el anuncio de las fuerzas armadas estadounidenses sobre el más reciente en una serie de ataques contra embarcaciones sospechosas de transportar drogas.

“Puede cambiar la política en un instante”

La Casa Blanca asegura que sus acciones son parte de una operación antinarcóticos con el objetivo de detener el flujo de drogas hacia las ciudades estadounidenses. Pero algunos analistas, la población venezolana y la oposición política del país las consideran una táctica para aumentar la presión sobre Maduro.

El gobierno de Trump ha demostrado que “puede cambiar la política en un instante”, dijo Geoff Ramsey, experto en relaciones políticas entre Estados Unidos y Venezuela y miembro no residente de Atlantic Council. Mencionó como ejemplo las conversaciones diplomáticas que la Casa Blanca sostuvo con Irán “hasta el punto” en que las fuerzas armadas estadounidenses atacaron instalaciones nucleares en Irán en junio pasado.

Ramsey, sin embargo, agregó que el momento en que se producen las declaraciones de Trump, poco después de que el secretario de Estado Marco Rubio anunció la inminente designación como grupo terrorista al Cartel de los Soles, deja de manifiesto que el gobierno estadounidense no quiere repetir los intentos fallidos de diálogo.

“Realmente quieren negociar desde una posición de poder, y creo que la Casa Blanca está poniendo sobre la mesa un ultimátum para Maduro”, comentó Ramsey. “O se involucra en conversaciones creíbles sobre una transición, o Estados Unidos no tendrá más remedio que escalar”.

Maduro ha negociado con Estados Unidos y la oposición política de Venezuela durante varios años, más notablemente en los dos años previos a las elecciones presidenciales de julio de 2024. Esas negociaciones resultaron en acuerdos que tenían como objetivo allanar el camino para una elección libre y democrática. Pero Maduro puso a prueba sus límites en repetidas ocasiones, reclamando finalmente la victoria a pesar de pruebas creíbles de que perdió la contienda por un margen de dos a uno.

Entre las concesiones que Estados Unidos le otorgó a Maduro durante las negociaciones estuvo el visto bueno para que la gigante petrolera Chevron Corp. reanudara la extracción y exportación de petróleo venezolano. Las actividades de la corporación en el país sudamericano representaron un salvavidas financiero para el gobierno de Maduro.

Ni Maduro ni su principal negociador, el presidente de la Asamblea Nacional Jorge Rodríguez, comentaron el lunes sobre las declaraciones de Trump. Un portavoz de la líder opositora venezolana y ganadora del premio Nobel de la Paz, María Corina Machado, dijo a los periodistas el lunes que no hará comentarios sobre las declaraciones de Trump.

Escepticismo y esperanza en Venezuela

El objetivo de Trump en Venezuela sigue siendo incierto, pero sobre todo, el presidente “está buscando una victoria”, afirmó Ramsey.

“Y puede ser flexible en cuanto a cómo se vea exactamente”, dijo Ramsey. “Puedo imaginar a Estados Unidos presionando para obtener mayor control sobre los recursos naturales de Venezuela, incluido el petróleo, así como una mayor cooperación con los objetivos del presidente en materia de inmigración y seguridad”.

En Caracas, la capital de Venezuela, la gente respondió con escepticismo y esperanza ante la posibilidad de un nuevo diálogo entre Estados Unidos y Maduro, cuyo gobierno ha alimentado rumores de una invasión terrestre a pesar de que Trump ha dado pocas indicaciones claras de ello.

“Si en realidad se da (un diálogo), espero que el gobierno esta vez sí cumpla”, dijo Gustavo García, un comerciante de 38 años, mientras salía de la iglesia. “Hay que ser serios, nos tienen acostumbrados a que dialogan, pero no cumplen con los acuerdos. Con Trump no se juega”.

Mery Martínez, un ama de casa de 41 años de edad, dijo: “Hablar siempre será mejor”.

“Todo lo que sirva para evitar una desgracia es bueno”, afirmó. “Los venezolanos no lo merecemos, una guerra no beneficia a nadie”.

___

Garcia Cano informó desde Caracas, Venezuela. El periodista de Associated Press Jorge Rueda en Caracas contribuyó con 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/2025/11/17/trump-plantea-la-posibilidad-de-iniciar-negociaciones-con-venezuela-no-descarta-una-accin-militar/ 

The city of Aurora is partnering with the nonprofit Illinois Workers in Action to offer immigration-related services, including free legal help, out of a downtown city-owned building.

Illinois Workers in Action formed in 2021 primarily to support and educate workers, but recently the organization shifted its focus to address immigration-related issues, according to Aurora Chief of Staff Shannon Cameron.

The state of Illinois is among those providing the nonprofit with funding for legal aid, which is one of the things that will be offered through the organization’s new location, she said during a presentation at a special Aurora City Council meeting last week.

“We’re in a unique situation right now in our community,” Cameron said. “This is just one of the ways we’re trying to answer the community’s ask to us and demand for us to provide more resources.”

The organization will be able to provide visa and immigration assistance as well as detainee and deportation defense free of charge, Cameron’s presentation showed. She said that these are “complicated bureaucratic processes” that can be overwhelming for people, especially during a time when it is “dangerous to even be in our streets.”

The Chicago region, including Aurora, has seen a surge of federal immigration enforcement efforts in the last few months through what President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has called “Operation Midway Blitz.” Locally and across the region, U.S. residents and others have said they’ve been detained, protestors have said they were met with pepper-spray and other harmful tactics, and some businesses have said they are seeing significantly fewer customers, The Beacon-News and Chicago Tribune have reported.

Illinois Workers in Action can not only connect people to free legal aid, but its staff members can even drive people to and from their appointments so they don’t have to put themselves at risk, said Yoselin Escalona, one of the organization’s community outreach coordinators.

Ald. Juany Garza, 2nd Ward, said this was great since many legal offices are charging “so much” for these types of services right now.

The organization’s nearest office is currently in Bolingbrook, Cameron said, which makes it difficult for people in Aurora to access those services.

The Mayor’s Office gets questions all the time about legal aid, and while there are some “great resources” locally, there aren’t enough to meet the need, she said.

One of the mayor’s transition committees, the one focused on public safety, recommended the city create a department of immigrant and refugee rights — but that wasn’t possible given the city’s current financial situation, according to Cameron. So, she said, it was important for the city to find a way to offer these services without taking on the cost.

Illinois Workers in Action will also be providing the community with other services beyond connections to free legal aid. For example, the organization will be working to educate workers and businesses on their rights around interacting with immigration enforcement officers, according to a staff report included with the Nov. 12 meeting’s agenda.

Plus, the nonprofit will work with residents to find family members that have been detained, and it will coordinate with residents who are currently patrolling the streets, staff said in the report.

The organization will also answer questions about operations of the Aurora Police Department, which are sometimes mistaken for federal immigration operations, the staff report said.

According to Cameron, Illinois Workers in Action had already hired people to staff the new Aurora office.

At the meeting on Nov. 12, the Aurora City Council unanimously approved a six-month contract for the organization to lease office space in the building at 5 S. Broadway. The space is being offered at reduced rent, according to the staff report, which a draft of the contract showed was $300 per month.

Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward, questioned why the item went directly before the City Council rather than first making its way through the council’s committee structure. A number of things have been skipping the typical process, he said, some that were time-sensitive and some that weren’t.

Aurora Mayor John Laesch said the organization had already been working in the city, and that this vote was just to give them a space to work out of.

Illinois Workers in Action community outreach coordinator Escalona said she already had been working personally with local families who have had their loved ones detained. She lives in Aurora and is willing to do home visits, she said.

For more information about the organization or to sign up for immigration services, go to: www.illinoisworkersinaction.org

rsmith@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/aurora-partners-with-nonprofit-to-provide-free-immigration-related-services/ 

Por EDITH M. LEDERER

NACIONES UNIDAS (AP) — El Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU aprobó el lunes un plan de Estados Unidos para Gaza que autoriza una fuerza internacional de estabilización para proporcionar seguridad en el territorio palestino y contempla un posible camino hacia un Estado palestino independiente.

Rusia, que había circulado una resolución rival, se abstuvo junto con China en la votación de 13-0.

La votación representa un paso crucial para el futuro de Gaza tras dos años de guerra entre Israel y Hamás. Los países árabes y otros países musulmanes que expresaron interés en proporcionar tropas para una fuerza internacional habían señalado que era esencial contar con la autorización del Consejo de Seguridad para su participación.

La resolución aprobada respalda el plan de alto el fuego de 20 puntos del presidente Donald Trump, que propone una Junta de Paz aún por establecer como una autoridad transicional que sería encabezada por Trump. También autoriza la fuerza de estabilización y le otorga un amplio mandato, que incluye supervisar las fronteras, proporcionar seguridad y desmilitarizar el territorio. La autorización para la junta y la fuerza expira a finales de 2027.

Plan incluye redacción más fuerte sobre Estado palestino

Durante casi dos semanas de negociaciones sobre la resolución de Estados Unidos, las naciones árabes y los palestinos presionaron a Estados Unidos para fortalecer la redacción original que era débil sobre la autodeterminación palestina.

Estados Unidos lo revisó para decir que después de que la Autoridad Palestina —que ahora gobierna partes de Cisjordania— realice reformas y después de que avance la reconstrucción de la devastada Franja de Gaza, “las condiciones finalmente podrían estar en su lugar para un camino creíble hacia la autodeterminación y el Estado palestinos”.

“Estados Unidos establecerá un diálogo entre Israel y los palestinos para acordar un horizonte político para una coexistencia pacífica y próspera”, añade.

Ese lenguaje enfureció al primer ministro israelí Benjamin Netanyahu, quien prometió el domingo oponerse a cualquier intento de establecer un Estado palestino. Ha sostenido durante mucho tiempo que crear un Estado palestino recompensaría a Hamás y eventualmente llevaría a un Estado aún más grande controlado por Hamás adyacente a Israel.

Un elemento clave para la adopción de la resolución fue el apoyo de las naciones árabes y musulmanas que impulsan el alto el fuego entre Israel y Hamás y que potencialmente contribuirán a una fuerza internacional. La misión de Estados Unidos ante las Naciones Unidas distribuyó el viernes una declaración conjunta con Qatar, Egipto, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Arabia Saudí, Indonesia, Pakistán, Jordania y Turquía en la que pedían la “rápida adopción” de la propuesta de Estados Unidos.

Qué más dice la propuesta de EEUU

La resolución de Estados Unidos pide que la fuerza de estabilización garantice “el proceso de desmilitarización de la Franja de Gaza” y “el desmantelamiento permanente de las armas de grupos armados no estatales”. Una gran pregunta es cómo desarmar a Hamás, que no ha aceptado completamente ese paso.

Autoriza a la fuerza “a usar todas las medidas necesarias para llevar a cabo su mandato” en cumplimiento con el derecho internacional, que es el lenguaje de la ONU para el uso de la fuerza militar.

La resolución dice que las tropas de estabilización ayudarán a proteger las áreas fronterizas, junto con una fuerza policial palestina que hayan entrenado y evaluado, y se coordinarán con otros países para asegurar el flujo de asistencia humanitaria. Dice que la fuerza debe consultar y cooperar estrechamente con los vecinos Egipto e Israel.

La resolución dice que, a medida que la fuerza internacional establezca el control y traiga estabilidad, las fuerzas israelíes se retirarán de Gaza “de acuerdo con estándares, hitos y plazos vinculados a la desmilitarización”. Estos deben ser acordados por la fuerza de estabilización, las fuerzas israelíes, Estados Unidos y los garantes del alto el fuego, dice.

___

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/2025/11/17/onu-aprueba-plan-de-eeuu-que-autoriza-una-fuerza-internacional-de-estabilizacin-en-gaza/ 

UNITED NATIONS  — The U.N. Security Council on Monday approved a U.S. plan for Gaza that authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security in the devastated territory and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

Russia, which had circulated a rival resolution, abstained along with China on the 13-0 vote. The U.S. and other countries had hoped Moscow would not use its veto power on the United Nations’ most powerful body to block the resolution’s adoption.

The vote was a crucial next step for the fragile ceasefire and efforts to outline Gaza’s future following two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Arab and other Muslim countries that expressed interest in providing troops for an international force had signaled that Security Council authorization was essential for their participation.

The U.S. resolution endorses President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Trump would head. It also authorizes the stabilization force and gives it a wide mandate, including overseeing the borders, providing security and demilitarizing the territory. Authorization for the board and force expire at the end of 2027.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz called the resolution “historic and constructive,” saying it starts a new course in the Middle East.

“Today’s resolution represents another significant step towards a stable Gaza that will be able to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security,” he said. He stressed that the resolution “is just the beginning.”

Stronger language on Palestinian state helps get the US plan over the finish line

During nearly two weeks of negotiations on the U.S. resolution, Arab nations and the Palestinians had pressed the United States to strengthen the original weak language about Palestinian self-determination.

The U.S. revised it to say that after the Palestinian Authority — which now governs parts of the West Bank — makes reforms and after redevelopment of the devastated Gaza Strip advances, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”

“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” it adds.

That language angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had vowed to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state. He has long asserted that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger Hamas-run state on Israel’s borders.

A key to the resolution’s adoption was support from Arab and Muslim nations pushing for a ceasefire and potentially contributing to the international force. The U.S. mission to the United Nations distributed a joint statement Friday with Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey calling for “swift adoption” of the U.S. proposal.

Russia had floated its own plan

The vote took place amid hopes that Gaza’s fragile ceasefire would be maintained after a war set off by Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people. Israel’s more than two-year offensive has killed over 69,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority are women and children.

Russia last week suddenly circulated a rival proposal with stronger language supporting a Palestinian state alongside Israel and stressed that the West Bank and Gaza must be joined as a state under the Palestinian Authority.

It also stripped out references to the transitional board and asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to provide options for an international force to provide security in Gaza and for implementing the ceasefire plan, stressing the importance of a Security Council role.

What else the US proposal says

The U.S. resolution calls for the stabilization force to ensure “the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip” and “the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.” A big question is how to disarm Hamas, which has not fully accepted that step.

It authorize the force “to use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate” in compliance with international law, which is U.N. language for the use of military force.

The resolution says the stabilization troops will help secure border areas, along with a Palestinian police force that they have trained and vetted, and they will coordinate with other countries to secure the flow of humanitarian assistance. It says the force should closely consult and cooperate with neighboring Egypt and Israel.

As the international force establishes control and brings stability, the resolution says Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza “based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization.” These must be agreed to by the stabilization force, Israeli forces, the U.S. and the guarantors of the ceasefire, it says.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/united-nations-gaza-plan/ 

Nihilistic Accelerationism: Kirk Assassin & Butler, PA Shooter Share Disturbing Online Far-Left Radicalization, Furry Fetish

Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 17:20

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/nihilistic-accelerationism-kirk-assassin-butler-pa-shooter-share-disturbing-online-far 

Associated Press

LA PAz, Bolivia (AP) — Bailarines bolivianos disfrazados como Pepinos protestaron el lunes ante la embajada de Perú en medio de una nueva polémica por la apropiación cultural que, según denunciaron, hizo el país vecino de un personaje emblemático del carnaval de La Paz.

Los bailarines desplegaron la picardía y gracia del Pepino para reclamar a Perú por el uso de uno de los principales personajes carnavalescos en el lanzamiento de la Festividad de la Virgen María de la Candelaria 2026, una celebración religiosa y folclórica que tiene lugar anualmente en la ciudad peruana de Puno.

El Pepino es un personaje inspirado en el arlequín europeo y fue declarado como Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial del Municipio de La Paz. Lleva máscaras con una sonrisa para representar la alegría y la sátira en el carnaval que se celebra anualmente en la ciudad que es la sede de gobierno de Bolivia.

La semana pasada en el centro de Lima, los organizadores de la próxima Festividad de la Virgen María de la Candelaria exhibieron al personaje y sus danzas sin reconocer su origen boliviano, según se quejaron un grupo de bailarines vestidos de Pepinos a las puertas de la embajada de Perú situada en el centro de La Paz.

Los bailarines pidieron al gobierno del presidente de Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, realizar una representación ante autoridades peruanas para defender la cultura de Bolivia, dijo a The Associated Press, Napoleón Gómez.

“Nuestras danzas no tienen fronteras, pero sí un origen, Bolivia”, se leía en un cartel que un bailarín vestido de Pepino, con los colores rojo y amarillo.

En 2012 Bolivia ya había realizado una protesta formal ante Perú por lo que consideraron una apropiación cultural del personaje.

“Estamos indignados, estamos molestos porque desde Perú no han podido frenar a Puno, a sus bailarines, (y sus) autoridades culturales se han apropiado del Pepino, no lo podemos permitir”, señaló Gómez en referencia a que la semana pasada el personaje fue nuevamente usado en las danzas peruanas.

Según Gómez, hace más de 50 años existen estas polémicas con el vecino país por el origen de las danzas y los personajes. Una de ellas es en torno a la danza de la diablada, que tienen como personajes centrales a diablos que bailan comandados por un ángel en el carnaval andino más importante en Oruro, en el altiplano de Bolivia. Según los bolivianos, los peruanos imitan la vestimenta de los bailarines.

Bolivia y Perú son países vecinos que comparten el Titicaca, el lago más alto del mundo, que está cerca de La Paz y Puno.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/bailarines-vestidos-de-pepinos-reclaman-a-per-por-la-apropiacin-del-personaje-boliviano/ 

A father of two fatally shot by an immigration agent after a traffic stop in Franklin Park in September was struck in the left side of his neck before crashing the car into a semi-truck, according to autopsy results obtained Monday by the Tribune.

When paramedics brought Silverio Villegas González to the hospital, doctors found “apparent drug paraphernalia” in his possession, and toxicological studies later showed he had low levels of cocaine in his blood at the time of his death, the autopsy results showed.

A relative of Villegas González, meanwhile, told the Tribune he did not use drugs and worried the information could be used to cast him in a misleading or negative light as the investigation into the shooting continues.

The details, released more than two months after the Sept. 12 shooting, are virtually the only investigative records made public in the controversial case, which came in the early days of the Trump administration’s immigration-enforcement push known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”

The investigation into the shooting was initially handled by the FBI, and notes from a Cook County medical examiner’s office investigator indicated he was told by an FBI agent at the scene that the agency “would be taking jurisdiction of the case.”

But sources later told the Tribune it was the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that was handling the follow-up investigation, including whether the officer was justified in opening fire.

A DHS spokesperson was not immediately available for comment Monday.

Villegas González, 38, had just dropped off his kids at daycare and was on his way to work when agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pulled him over near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Elder Lane, a largely residential area also near an animal hospital, a nail shop and a high school.

In a statement released shortly after the shooting, DHS officials said Villegas González “refused to follow law enforcement commands and drove his car” at the agents, striking one and dragging him “a significant distance.”

“Fearing for his life, the officer discharged his firearm and struck the subject,” DHS said.

Both the agent and Villegas González were taken to nearby Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where Villegas González was pronounced dead.

DHS officials originally said the agent who was dragged was in critical condition. But body-worn camera footage by Franklin Park two weeks later showed the agent told police at the scene his injuries were “nothing major.”

The autopsy results, meanwhile, show Villegas González was struck in the left neck by a bullet that traveled on a downward trajectory and wound up lodged in his lower-right chest, suggesting the gunfire came from someone above him on the driver’s side of the car.

He also suffered graze wounds to the pinky and ring fingers on his left hand, the report showed.

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When Villegas González arrived at the hospital, he had $6 in cash in his wallet, along with a LINK benefits card and his ID, the report showed. Emergency room personnel also found “apparent drug paraphernalia…on his person,” the report stated, without providing further details.

“It was unknown if the decedent had any history of illicit drug use or alcohol abuse,” the report said.

Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement officers investigate the scene where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Silverio Villegas González after the agency says Villegas González tried to flee a traffic stop and struck the officer with his vehicle on Sept. 12, 2025, in Franklin Park. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Toxicology tests showed Villegas González had relatively low amounts of cocaine and Benzoylecgonine — a byproduct of the body breaking down the narcotic — in his blood at the time of his death, according to the 38-page report.

The official cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was homicide, according to the pathologist’s report.

Asked about those findings Monday, Graciela Villegas, Silverio’s sister, told the Tribune her brother did not use drugs. At the time of his death, he was dealing with liver complications and taking medication, another reason he avoided alcohol and tobacco entirely, relatives said.

“He had overcome a very serious illness, and because of that he didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t use anything,” she said. “Maybe before he got sick things were different, but he had been clean for about a year and a half.”

She added that Villegas González was in the process of obtaining full custody of his children, a situation she says would have made him “extremely cautious” about his health and behavior.

“He would never risk using drugs knowing a caseworker could come by at any moment to check on the kids,” she said.

The killing sparked immediate protests around the Chicago area as citizens, politicians and advocates condemned the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission.

Villegas González, who was from Mexico and had been living in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, was buried in his hometown of Irimbo in central Mexico several weeks later.

The controversial shooting spurred calls for a vigorous and transparent investigation by figures including Gov. JB Pritzker and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. And on Tuesday, Illinois Democrats led by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin wrote to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem asking for transparency and urging her to end what they called “dangerous operations” in the Chicago area.

Neither of the ICE agents involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras, and no surveillance footage showing the agent allegedly being dragged or opening fire has publicly surfaced.

DHS officials said in a statement after the incident that the agent who shot Villegas had worked for ICE since 2021 and that this was his first time firing his weapon in a use of force incident.

Body-worn camera video since released by Franklin Park showed its officers arrived at the scene to find a pair of agents hunched over Villegas González, who had been pulled out of his car and was limp on the side of the road.

“He tried to run us over,” one agent said.

Franklin Park police body camera footage captures the aftermath of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shooting that killed Silverio Villegas González on Sept. 12, 2025. (Village of Franklin Park)

When a Franklin Park police officer asked the agents if they were OK, one federal officer appeared to give a double thumbs-up in response. Both agents deemed the bloodied knee and cut-up hands on the officer apparently dragged to be “nothing major.”

The body camera footage captures a conversation between Franklin Park police Director Michael Witz and Officer Thomas Ferris about whether Illinois State Police or Franklin Park would investigate the shooting.

“It’s their guys who shot,” Witz said. “You know what I’m saying?”

“Public Integrity?” Ferris asked.

“It’s their guys. It’s not our guys.”

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/man-fatally-shot-ice-neck-cocaine/ 

Luther Sommerville, 66, of Aurora has been driving school buses for 18 years. This is his fifth year as a driver for West Aurora School District 129.

But, this school year, one thing about his job is different: The school bus he operates is electric.

His work is largely the same, he said, but it’s made for a different atmosphere — a quieter one.

“It’s nice and quiet,” Sommerville said, noting that the less noisy engines on the EV buses mean students don’t have to talk over them. “The quieter it is, the less noise … the kids make.”

Sommerville is one of a number of West Aurora school bus drivers who started driving electric buses last month. The district recently got 27 new electric-powered buses and 28 charging stations after applying for and being awarded a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

West Aurora has 79 buses in total, according to its Director of Transportation Brandy Kackert, meaning the new vehicles represent just over one-third of its total fleet.

The partial switch to EV buses has been some time in the making for the district, which serves nearly 11,000 students in Aurora, North Aurora, Montgomery, Sugar Grove and Batavia.

According to West Aurora, the recent addition makes its electric school bus fleet the largest in the Chicago region.

At a ribbon cutting on Monday, school officials pointed to the environmental benefits as a driving force behind the switch.

West Aurora School District Associate Superintendent of Operations Angie Smith speaks at a district event celebrating the launch of its new fleet of electric Blue Bird school buses at its transportation center in North Aurora on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (Mark Black/For The Beacon-News)

Standing in front of rows of school buses at the district’s transportation center, West Aurora’s Associate Superintendent of Operations Angie Smith said that this is one of a number of sustainability-related initiatives the district has taken on. It also has EV driver education cars, she said, along with buildings with geothermal and solar power.

And West Aurora’s school board president Rich Kerns called them “a symbol of progress and sustainability for many years to come.”

The district got $5.5 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus program for the new buses, according to Smith. They also received $930,000 from ComEd to support the initiative, for which a check was presented by ComEd President and CEO Gil Quiniones to the district on Monday.

Rich Kerns, president of the West Aurora School District board, gets on one of the district’s new electric Blue Bird school buses with others dignitaries for a brief ride on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (Mark Black/For The Beacon-News)

The total cost for the buses themselves was about $8.6 million, Smith said, along with around $1 million for the installation and construction of the new electrical service and chargers. The district is expecting to save around $120,000 annually on fuel with the new buses.

The cost of the project was a significant factor, Smith explained, and would have been considerably more expensive had the district not gotten the EPA grant and ComEd rebates.

But other school districts may not have those same options going forward, as the EPA stopped accepting applications in January for the grant program West Aurora received much of its funds from.

“That doesn’t mean that you won’t have districts that can still do it, but it’ll make it much more difficult … you might do it because it’s the right thing to do for the planet, but the math won’t work at the level it did (for West Aurora),” Smith said.

The district’s school board opted to partner with Massachusetts-based Highland Electric Fleets, according to past reporting, to purchase the 27 Blue Bird buses — which is the vendor the district already uses for its gasoline-powered buses.

The EV buses largely blend in with the gas-powered ones, but are marked with a green bird symbol, rather than a blue one, Smith explained, to alert first responders in case of an emergency or accident.

According to Sommerville, though the driving experience is much the same, adjusting to the new buses has been “a learning process” for the drivers and the rest of the district. But they’ve been able to help each other out along the way.

“Some things that one driver may experience, they can pass it on to the next driver,” he said. “It’s … a teamwork effort.”

As for the noise, Smith said the difference in volume has been so significant that the district has warned families not to wait for the sound of the bus getting to the bus stop to know when to send their kids to get picked up.

The new buses take the shorter routes in the district so they don’t have to be charged midday, she explained. Most of the time, they charge up overnight.

And the district isn’t able to use them for longer trips because there isn’t guaranteed availability of a charging station at their destination.

Going forward, the district has plans to install a solar panel canopy at the transportation facility where the EV buses are housed, so as to generate additional renewable energy.

But, for now, district officials said the EV bus initiative has been a win-win.

“It’s one of the few times where, you know, the environment wins, taxpayers win, employees win, like, there was no negative,” Smith said on Monday. “It was a perfect situation.”

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/west-aurora-gets-27-electric-school-buses/ 

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday did not rule out military action against Venezuela despite bringing up a potential diplomatic opening with leader Nicolás Maduro, who has insisted that a U.S. military buildup and strikes on alleged drug boats near his South American country are designed to push him out of office.

Trump reiterated that he “probably would talk to” Maduro, but underscored that he is not taking off the table the possibility of military action on Venezuelan territory.

“I don’t rule out that. I don’t rule out anything,” Trump told reporters a day after he first floated the possibility of having “discussions” with Maduro. Trump, however, sidestepped questions about whether Maduro could say anything to him that would lead to the U.S. backing off its military show of force.

“He’s done tremendous damage to our country,” said Trump, tying Maduro to drugs and migrants coming into the U.S. from Venezuela. “He has not been good to the United States, so we’ll see what happens.”

The comments deepened the uncertainty about the Trump administration’s next steps toward Maduro’s government. The U.S. has ratcheted up the pressure in recent days, saying it was expecting to designate as a terrorist organization a cartel it says is led by Maduro and other high-level Venezuelan government officials.

The USS Gerald R. Ford and accompanying warships arrived in the Caribbean this weekend just as the U.S. military announced its latest in a series of strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs.

‘Can turn policy on a dime’

The administration says its actions are a counterdrug operation meant to stop narcotics from flowing to American cities, but some analysts, Venezuelans and the country’s political opposition see them as an escalating pressure tactic against Maduro.

The Trump administration has shown it “can turn policy on a dime,” said Geoff Ramsey, an expert on U.S. policy toward Venezuela who is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. He pointed to the diplomatic talks the administration held with Iran “right up until the point” that the U.S. military targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.

But, Ramsey added, the timing of Trump’s remarks — after Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement of the impending terrorist designation of the Cartel de los Soles — underscores that the administration does not want to repeat failed attempts at dialogue.

“They really want to negotiate from a place of strength, and I think the White House is laying out an ultimatum for Maduro,” Ramsey said. “Either he engages in credible talks about a transition, or the U.S. will have no choice but to escalate.”

Maduro has negotiated with the U.S. and Venezuela’s political opposition for several years, most notably in the two years before the July 2024 presidential election. Those negotiations resulted in agreements meant to pave the way for a free and democratic election, but Maduro repeatedly tested their limits, ultimately claiming victory despite credible evidence that he lost the contest by a 2-to-1 margin.

Among the concessions the U.S. made to Maduro during negotiations was approval for oil giant Chevron Corp. to resume pumping and exporting Venezuelan oil. The corporation’s activities in the South American country resulted in a financial lifeline for Maduro’s government.

Neither Maduro nor his chief negotiator, National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez, commented Monday on Trump’s remarks. A spokesperson for Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado told reporters Monday that she would not comment on Trump’s remarks.

Skepticism and hope in Venezuela about possible talks

Trump’s goal on Venezuela remains unclear, but above all, Ramsey said, the president “is looking for a win.”

“And he may be flexible on exactly what that looks like,” Ramsey said. “I could envision the U.S. pushing for greater control over Venezuela’s natural resources, including oil, as well as greater cooperation with the president’s migration and security goals.”

In Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, people responded with skepticism and hope to the possibility of a new dialogue between the U.S. and Maduro, whose government has fueled rumors of a ground invasion despite the Trump administration giving little clear indication of such a plan.

“If (the dialogue) actually happens, I hope the government will actually follow through this time,” shopkeeper Gustavo García, 38, said as he left church. “We have to be serious. They’ve gotten us used to them talking, but they don’t honor the agreements. You don’t mess with Trump.”

Stay-at-home mother Mery Martínez, 41, said, “Talking is always better.”

“Anything that helps prevent a tragedy is good,” Martínez said. “Venezuelans don’t deserve this. A war benefits no one.”

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press writer Jorge Rueda in Caracas contributed to this report.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/trump-venezuela-military-action/