Friday News Roundup - International

Venezuelans packed the streets of Caracas this week to support Juan Guaidó, an opposition leader who declared himself president.

This leaves Venezuela effectively with two presidents — Nicolas Maduro, the successor to Hugo Chavez, and Guaidó. On Thursday, the Trump administration announced its recognition of Guaido's interim presidency.

Maduro responded by rejecting Guaidó's claim to the presidency and by saying American diplomats had 72 hours to leave the country. But late on Thursday night, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would not pull the staff out.

The Venezuelan military will continue to support Maduro, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said.

From The Miami Herald:

López warned those who were supporting Juan Guaidó's claim to leadership that they were engaged in a “dangerous plan” that was “destined to fail.”

In a national address, López said he had been in communication with his field commanders and different branches of the military and they were unified in their support of 56-year-old Maduro.

How will Venezuelans cope with a government in flux as economic distress and political unrest has racked the country?

A large gas explosion killed about 100 people in Mexico last week. Fuel shortages have made citizens illegally tap gas pipelines, a dangerous practice that also has environmental consequences.

From BuzzFeed News:

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office last month, has promised to end fuel theft. But it's an almost impossible challenge, partly because illegal drilling — which includes crude, diesel, and gas — is so easy. The 10,560-mile-long network of pipelines that crisscross Mexico is mostly just a few feet below the surface, allowing people to puncture the pipes and then tap them with a valve.

López Obrador's crackdown on huachicoleo, as fuel theft is known, has led to long lines at the pumps and a fuel shortage crisis over the past few weeks — and was the backdrop for Friday's deadly explosion.

Besides the billions of dollars it costs the government in lost revenue and the growing death toll, fuel theft has created another crisis: an environmental disaster that has left an oily layer across swathes of Mexico, threatening the viability of its crops and the health of thousands of people.

And global elites met in Davos, Switzerland, this week. Many prominent world leaders skipped this year's event, including President Donald Trump.

Last time I went to Davos, the Fake News said I should not go there. This year, because of the Shutdown, I decided not to go, and the Fake News said I should be there. The fact is that the people understand the media better than the media understands them!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019

What does Davos tell us about the status of the global economy?

We're wrapping up the week in global news.

GUESTS

Nina-Maria Potts, Director of Global News Coverage, Feature Story News; @ninamariapotts

James Kitfield, Senior fellow, Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress; contributing writer, Atlantic Media; author of “Twilight Warriors: The Soldiers, Spies and Special Agents Who Are Revolutionizing the American Way of War”; @JamesKitfield

Susan Glasser, Staff writer, The New Yorker; global affairs analyst, CNN; @sbg1

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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