Síntesis informativa del 27 de febrero de 2019
NEW YORK TIMES
Pakistani Military Says It Shot Down 2 Indian Fighters, Capturing Pilot
NEW DELHI — Pakistan's military said Wednesday that it shot down two Indian fighter jets that had entered Pakistani airspace, capturing a pilot, in an escalation of hostilities just a day after Indian fighter jets crossed the disputed Kashmir region to launch an airstrike within Pakistan.
India's government confirmed later Wednesday that one of its MiG-21 fighter jets had been "lost" as it thwarted an attempt by Pakistan's air force to strike an unspecified target inside India. In the engagement, a Pakistani aircraft was shot down by an Indian fighter jet, New Delhi claimed.
"We have unfortunately lost one MiG-21. The pilot is missing in action. Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts," Raveesh Kumar said at a news conference in New Delhi, the chief spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/world/asia/kashmir-india-pakistan-aircraft.html
Cold War-Style Accusations Fly as Security Council Meets on Venezuela
A United Nations Security Council meeting on Venezuela's crisis briefly turned into a diplomatic brawl on Tuesday, as the United States and Russia traded rejoinders reminiscent of the Cold War.
Nothing was resolved, and it appeared that if anything, the meeting illustrated how antagonists have hardened their positions over the crisis afflicting Venezuela, once Latin America's most prosperous country, now in an economic free fall.
The meeting was requested by the Americans to protest the Venezuelan government's refusal to permit humanitarian aid into the country this past Saturday, when convoys of supplies were stalled at its borders with Colombia and Brazil.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/world/americas/venezuela-security-council-abrams.html
Trump Meets Kim Jong-un to Start Summit Talks
HANOI, Vietnam — President Trump met over dinner on Wednesday with Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, opening the second historic summit meeting between the two to discuss steps North Korea should take to dismantle its nuclear weapons program and measures to establish a permanent peace on the divided Korean Peninsula.
"I think your country has tremendous economic potential," Mr. Trump told Mr. Kim after the two shook hands against a backdrop of North Korean and American flags and in front of a roomful of reporters in Hanoi, Vietnam. "I think you will have a tremendous future with your country — a great leader. And I look forward to watching it happen and helping it to happen."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/world/asia/trump-kim-summit-vietnam.html
White Supremacism in the U.S. Military, Explained
The United States military is one of the most ethnically diverse and integrated institutions in the nation, and has long promoted racial equality. Yet in a string of cases in recent years, Americans bent on racist extremism have been current or former members of the armed forces.
The arrest of a Coast Guard lieutenant whom federal prosecutors accused last week of stockpiling weapons and planning to start a race war raised the question of whether the military, for all its efforts to fight discrimination, has a continuing problem with white supremacists in the ranks.
Here is a look at the issue and how the military has addressed it:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/military-white-nationalists-extremists.html
The Acting Defense Secretary's Tough Balancing Act
WASHINGTON — In the two months since he stepped into Jim Mattis's size 9½ shoes, the acting defense secretary, Patrick M. Shanahan, has sought to do what his predecessor did not — namely, stay in line with President Trump.
Mr. Shanahan has repeated White House talking points at the Pentagon even during private meetings with allies and congressional members. He has done little to ameliorate the withdrawal of American forces from Syria — which prompted Mr. Mattis's resignation in December — and refused to criticize the president's decision to do so.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/us/politics/patrick-shanahan-trump.html
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THE GUARDIAN
Trump's special envoy to Venezuela 'will lie when needed' claims Raymond Bonner
Abrams was a key player in the Reagan administration in the 1980s when it propped up the El Salvadoran government and then covered up reports of the El Salvadoran army massacring its own people.
The former New York Times reporter, Raymond Bonner, who, along with Alma Guillermoprieto of the Washington Post, broke the story of the El Mozote massacre. has concerns about Abrams’ appointment.
“They’re putting him in a foreign policy job in Latin America, ostensibly to overthrow a government. I guess he’ll do a good job if he just does the opposite of what he did in El Salvador which was to prop up a government that shouldn’t have been propped up, now they want to overthrow a government and establish democracy.”
“He will do Trump’s bidding,” he says. “El Salvador demonstrates that he will do whatever is necessary to carry out the president’s objective. In El Salvador, it was to prop up what a diplomat called … a genocidal, nun-killing junta, and in Venezuela it’s to get rid of the government. And just like he lied when necessary, or quote-unquote misled Congress and the public when necessary, he’ll do the same in Venezuela. So he’s the right man for the job if you’re Trump. He’s the right man, if that’s what you want.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/27/trumps-special-envoy-to-venezuela-will-lie-when-needed-claims-raymond-bonner
Donald Trump hails ‘great leader’ Kim Jong-un at Hanoi summit
The two leaders advanced towards each other and shook hands in front of a dozen US and North Korean flags, set up in the city’s Metropole hotel, in a tableau near-identical to the backdrop to their first meeting, eight months ago in Singapore.
In his remarks to the press, Trump addressed criticism that the first summit had not lived up to his claims that it was a breakthrough that would lead to North Korea’s disarmament and end the nuclear threat the country posed.
Trump continued the approach he has pursued since Singapore, which was to flatter Kim and hold the prospect of great prosperity for North Korea if he agreed to disarm.
“I think your country has tremendous economic potential – unbelievable, unlimited. I think you will have a tremendous future with your country – a great leader. And I look forward to watching it happen and helping it to happen.”
Trump said the main summit talks would take place on Wednesday and predicted there would be a press conference when they ended.
Pakistan says it has shot down Indian jets after Kashmir cross-border attack
The skirmishes, a day after India flew sorties into Pakistan for the first time in nearly 50 years, are steep escalations in the most serious military crisis in south Asia since the pair fought a brief war in the Himalayas in 1999.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, issued a statement largely supportive of India, characterising its incursion five miles into neighbouring territory a “counter terrorism action” and calling on Pakistan to take “meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/27/pakistan-india-jets-shot-down-airstrikes-kashmir
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XINHUA
Pakistán afirma haber derribado dos aviones de combate indios y arrestado a uno de los pilotos
ISLAMABAD, 27 feb (Xinhua) -- El Ejército de Pakistán anunció hoy miércoles que la Fuerza Aérea de su país derribó dos aviones de combate indios dentro del espacio aéreo paquistaní y sus tropas terrestres detuvieron al piloto de uno de los aparatos alcanzados, según un comunicado militar.
El director general de Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), el brazo mediático del Ejército de Pakistán, general mayor Asif Ghafoor, dijo que uno de los aviones cayó en la Cachemira controlada por Pakistán, mientras que el otro se precipitó dentro de la Cachemira controlada por la India.
"Un piloto indio fue arrestado por las tropas en tierra", dijo el ISPR, y agregó que continúa la búsqueda de otros dos pilotos, quienes, según se informó, se encuentran en la parte paquistaní.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-02/27/c_137854989.htm
Trump llega a Hanoi para segunda cumbre RPDC-EEUU
HANOI, 26 feb (Xinhua) -- El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, llegó este martes en la noche al Aeropuerto Internacional de Noi Bai de la capital de Vietnam, Hanoi, para sostener su segunda cumbre con el máximo líder de la República Popular Democrática de Corea (RPDC), Kim Jong Un.
Tras descender del Air Force One, Trump saludó de mano y conversó con funcionarios que lo esperaban en el aeropuerto antes de dirigirse a su hotel.
Kim llegó esta mañana a Hanoi.
Trump y Kim tienen previsto reunirse primero el miércoles en la noche y cenar juntos, después sostendrán una discusión el jueves, en la que participarán sus respectivos delegados.
Se espera que los asuntos que encabezarán la agenda sean una hoja de ruta para la desnuclearización, la disminución de las sanciones contra la RPDC y una posible declaración sobre el fin de la guerra.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-02/27/c_137852744.htm
China se opone a intervención militar en Venezuela: Enviado
NACIONES UNIDAS, 26 feb (Xinhua) -- Un enviado chino dijo hoy que China se opone a una intervención militar en Venezuela.
"China sostiene que todos los países deben apegarse a los principios básicos del derecho internacional y las relaciones internacionales, se opone a la intervención extranjera en asuntos internos de Venezuela y se opone a la intervención militar en Venezuela", dijo Ma Zhaoxu, representante permanente de China ante la ONU, en una reunión del Consejo de Seguridad sobre la situación en Venezuela.
"China se opone a utilizar la cuestión de la llamada ayuda humanitaria con fines políticos para crear inestabilidad e incluso turbulencia dentro de Venezuela y en la región vecina", añadió.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-02/27/c_137853327.htm
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RUSSIA TODAY
India says it shot down Pakistani warplane, lost MiG-21 fighter as border crisis escalates
India shot down a Pakistani war plane and lost its own MiG-21 fighter, New Delhi said. Pakistan earlier claimed it had successfully taken out two Indian aircraft amid a spiraling border crisis.
In an "aerial engagement a Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft was shot down by a MiG 21 Bison of the Indian Air Force"and fell on the Pakistani territory, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, told reporters on Wednesday.
https://www.rt.com/news/452536-india-downed-pakistan-aircraft/
Pakistan downs 2 Indian aircraft inside its airspace, pilot arrested – military
Pakistan shot down two Indian Air Force aircraft after they crossed into its airspace, the army said. The incident comes amid an ongoing border crisis between the two nuclear powers.
The Pakistani Air Force downed "two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace" after they crossed the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, the army's spokesperson, Major General Asif Ghafoor, tweeted. It was later revealed that one of the machines was a MiG 21 fighter jet.
https://www.rt.com/news/452520-india-pakistan-aircraft-shot-down/
Russia willing to work with US on cybersecurity, but Washington stalls – national security chief
The Russian government is willing to cooperate with the US on cybersecurity issues, but so far it sees no reciprocation of this intention on the other side, said the head of Russia's National Security Committee. "On our part, we are prepared to dialogue with our Western partners, once there is responsiveness and a real interest in solving the issues we have accumulated," Nikolai Patrushev said in an interview.
The American government accuses Russia of interfering in its domestic affairs by hacking Democrat party officials and leaking stolen emails during the 2016 campaign. Moscow denies the allegations and says unlike Washington, it strictly follows the principle of non-interference.
https://www.rt.com/news/452568-patrushev-interview-cyber-us/
Senate Republicans block vote on bill to stop funding war in Yemen, citing poison pill
Senate Republicans have dodged another effort to end US support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen, ruling that an unrelated amendment added to the bill in the House allows majority leader Mitch McConnell to block the vote.
Language condemning anti-Semitism, tacked on as an amendment in the House before the Yemen War Powers bill was due to pass, is "not germane" to the content of the bill, the Senate parliamentarian ruled, stripping the bill of its "privileged" status and allowing McConnell to quash the scheduled vote.
Senators are planning to force a vote on a "clean" version of the bill, absent the anti-Semitism amendment, which House Republicans rammed through at the last minute in the wake of Rep. Ilhan Omar's controversial tweets about the Israeli lobby. The streamlined bill, written by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), retains privileged status.
https://www.rt.com/usa/452517-senate-republicans-block-yemen-resolution/
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AL JAZEERA
Trump meets Kim in Vietnam for second nuclear summit
Trump predicts a 'very successful' summit and Kim says is 'certain' of an outcome as the leaders meet in Hanoi.
Faras Ghani
The agreement did not explicitly define denuclearisation - leading to disagreements over what it means - nor did it detail a specific timeline for the destruction of North Korea's nuclear weapons arsenal.
The two leaders are due to meet on Thursday on the second day of the summit for formal talks.
The agenda for Thursday's talks is likely to have the US seeking an assurance from North Korea that it will stop testing its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. In addition, easing of sanctions on North Korea and a formal end to the Korean War, that ended in an armistice in 1953, is also likely to be discussed.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/trump-meets-kim-vietnam-nuclear-summit-190227115842165.html
Russia, Syria urge US to withdraw its troops
Russia and Syria call on the US to quit the war-torn country and to allow for the evacuation of refugees in Rukban.
Russia and Syria have called on the United States to leave Syria and to allow people inside a refugee camp in the southeast of the country to be evacuated by Russian and Syrian forces.
The move to keep a small fraction of the more than 2,000 US forces currently fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group in northeastern Syria came amid fierce criticism of Trump's decision to withdraw all US soldiers from the war-torn country.
ISIL's presence has been confined to the village of Baghouz in Deir Az Zor. Its fighters are on the brink of defeat, but a future resurgence of the group has become a concern among European states, who refuse to take back ISIL foreign fighters.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/russia-syria-forces-leave-syria-190227085626217.html
US senators want report on Khashoggi killing from intel community
Democrats introduce bill demanding the National Intelligence Director submit a public report on the writer's murder.
Ola Salem y William Roberts
In a new bid to force the government in the United States to release information about the killing of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a group of US senators introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require the Director of National Intelligence to submit a public report on the assassination.
US President Donald Trump has been accused of helping the Saudi government cover up Khashoggi's killing, first by calling it a "rogue" operation - a word echoed by Saudi officials, including most recently by Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied the allegation, telling reporters earlier this month, "America is not covering up for a murder".
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AL MAYADEEN
EE.UU. envía nuevo convoy de armamentos al norte de Siria
Según el llamado Observatorio Sirio para los Derechos Humanos, el convoy está compuesto por 200 camiones, la mayoría cargados con armas, aunque algunos viajaron vacíos, probablemente para transferir equipamiento fuera del aeropuerto de Ain al-Arab, incluso se estima que los medios de transporte podrían usarse en el repliegue de Siria de las fuerzas de la coalición.
Al mismo tiempo, se informó de la llegada de otras decenas de camiones cargados con armas al norte de Siria provenientes del Kurdistán de Irak, donde EE.UU. sigue desplegado.
Además, 100 uniformados estadounidenses entraron en territorio sirio y se dirigen hacia las zonas orientales del país, en la provincia de Deir Ezzor, donde el grupo extremista Daesh sigue activo.
EE.UU. aumentará las sanciones contra Venezuela
"Hemos dicho que las sanciones continuarán (...) habrá más sanciones esta semana (y) habrá más sanciones la semana que viene", dijo Abrams a los periodistas en declaraciones en la sede de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), donde se celebró una sesión extraordinaria a petición de Washington sobre la situación en Venezuela.
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DEUTSCHE WELLE
Trump le promete a Kim Jong Un "brillante futuro", si renuncia a arsenal nuclear
Donald Trump se reúne este 27 de febrero en Hanói con Kim Jong Un, a quien promete un futuro brillante si Corea del Norte acepta renunciar a su arsenal nuclear. Derechos humanos es, de nuevo, el tema ausente.
La primera cumbre entre el presidente estadounidense y el líder norcoreano, en junio en Singapur, concluyó con una vaga declaración sobre "la desnuclearización de la península norcoreana", pero sin compromisos concretos. El presidente estadounidense intenta convencer a Kim Jong Un poniendo como ejemplo a Vietnam, un país comunista que abrazó el capitalismo y dejó atrás la confrontación con Estados Unidos.
En un trino, Trump calificó a Kim de "amigo", muy lejos de los insultos y amenazas que ambos líderes se intercambiaban en el momento de mayor tensión por los programas armamentísticos de Pyongyang. Trump ha recurrido al palo y la zanahoria con Corea del Norte, elogiando por un lado el potencial económico del país, mientras, por otro, se niega a aliviar las sanciones que lo ahogan.
EE.UU.: descartar opción militar en Venezuela es "irresponsable"
Un alto funcionario del Gobierno de Donald Trump aseguró que una intervención armada es una posibilidad que Estados Unidos sigue barajando.
Una alta fuente del gobierno de Estados Unidos dijo este martes (26.02.2019) desde Bogotá, donde viajó junto al vicepresidente Mike Pence para participar en la reunión del Grupo de Lima sobre la situación en Venezuela, que es "irresponsable" descartar una intervención militar de Estados Unidos en Venezuela para propiciar la salida del poder del mandatario Nicolás Maduro, a quien tildó de "dictador".
A través de una audioconferencia y bajo condición de anonimato, el funcionario recordó que Estados Unidos no forma parte del Grupo de Lima y que, por lo tanto, las decisiones que adopte ese organismo no son vinculantes para la Casa Blanca. De este modo, la declaración donde el grupo se decanta por excluir la opción militar no condiciona las decisiones que adopte Washington al respecto.
https://www.dw.com/es/eeuu-descartar-opci%C3%B3n-militar-en-venezuela-es-irresponsable/a-47700676
Indonesia: Dozens buried in gold mine collapse
At least one person has died and dozens remain trapped after the collapse of an illegal gold mine on the island of Sulawesi. Rescuers are scrambling to find survivors in the rubble.
Rescuers are using spades and ropes to search for survivors after an illegal gold mine collapsed on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, trapping more than 60 people, according to authorities.
"When dozens of people were mining for gold at the location, suddenly beams and supporting boards they used broke due to unstable land and numerous mining shafts," disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Wednesday morning.
https://www.dw.com/en/indonesia-dozens-buried-in-gold-mine-collapse/a-47700721
