Síntesis informativa - 6 de agosto 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
‘Urgent Resolve’ to Fight Domestic Terrorism Faces Tall Legal Obstacles
Within days of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the United States government began writing new laws, reinterpreting old ones and crafting aggressive new policies to defeat Al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist groups.
In the aftermath of the deadly shootings this weekend, President Trump on Monday promised “with urgent resolve” to press a similar whatever-it-takes strategy to investigate and prevent white-supremacist violence and hate crimes. The F.B.I. has said that such racially motivated domestic terrorism now accounts for more deaths and arrests in the United States than Islamist terrorism.
“We can and will stop this evil contagion,” Mr. Trump said. He ordered the F.B.I. to identify the necessary tools and promised to deliver “whatever they need.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/world/americas/shooting-response-dayton-el-paso.html
China Warns Hong Kong Protesters Not to ‘Take Restraint for Weakness’
HONG KONG — An official in Beijing on Tuesday issued China’s sternest denunciation yet of the demonstrations in Hong Kong, saying they had “exceeded the scope of free assembly” and warning that the semiautonomous city would not be allowed to descend into chaos.
“I want to warn all the criminals to not wrongly judge the situation and take restraint for weakness,” said Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. He warned against underestimating China’s “firm resolve and strength to safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.”
But Mr. Yang offered little in the way of concrete measures to resolve the political crisis, calling for more patriotic education and encouraging residents to confront protesters. “We need to stand up to protect our wonderful homeland,” he said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/world/asia/hong-kong-china-protests.html
White Terrorism Shows ‘Stunning’ Parallels to Islamic State’s Rise
Many scholars of terrorism see worrying similarities between the rise of the Islamic State and that of white nationalist terrorism, seen most recently in the carnage in El Paso, Tex.
“The parallels are stunning,” said Will McCants, a prominent expert in the field.
And they are growing more notable with each new attack.
Experts say that the similarities are far from a coincidence. White nationalist terrorism is following a progression eerily similar to that of jihadism under the leadership of the Islamic State, in ways that do much to explain why the attacks have suddenly grown so frequent and deadly.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/world/americas/terrorism-white-nationalist-supremacy-isis.html
Trump Imposes New Sanctions on Venezuela
WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order on Monday imposing new economic sanctions on the government of Venezuela, escalating his campaign to remove President Nicolás Maduro from office.
The White House announced the action, which freezes the property and assets of the Venezuelan government and those of any individuals who assist Venezuelan officials affected by the order, on the eve of an international conference on Venezuela in Lima, Peru. Several Trump officials, including the national security adviser, John R. Bolton, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, are scheduled to attend the gathering, which will discuss ways to “restore democracy” to Venezuela, according to Peru’s government.
Mr. Trump’s order cited “the continued usurpation of power” by Mr. Maduro as well as “human rights abuses, including arbitrary or unlawful arrest and detention of Venezuelan citizens, interference with freedom of expression, including for members of the media, and ongoing attempts to undermine Interim President Juan Guaidó and the Venezuelan National Assembly’s exercise of legitimate authority in Venezuela.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/us/politics/trump-venezuela-sanctions.html
THE GUARDIAN
Trump blames 'glorification of violence' but not guns after mass shootings
In his first public remarks on the pair of shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Trump also condemned white supremacy as authorities said they were investigating an anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant manifesto allegedly tied to the El Paso suspect.
“The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed by racist hate,” Trump said. “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.”
“These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America.”
“Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,” Trump said, while calling for reforms that “better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence”.
He said authorities should “make sure those people not only get treatment, but, when necessary, involuntary confinement”, but did not elaborate.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/05/trump-mass-shootings-el-paso-texas-dayton-ohio-guns
China accuses US of 'deliberately destroying' world order
China stepped up the trade war rhetoric on Tuesday, accusing the US of “deliberately destroying international order” with “unilateralism and protectionism”.
A day after Washington branded China a currency manipulator in a rapidly escalating trade dispute, China’s central bank said it “deeply regretted” the move by the US and said such behaviour “seriously undermined international rules” and damaged the global economy.
On Monday, the US labelled China a currency manipulator, in a move that brings already tense relations to a boil.
The US treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, accused China of manipulating its currency “to gain unfair competitive advantage in international trade”. The US will now ask the International Monetary Fund to “eliminate the unfair competitive advantage created by China’s latest actions”.
It is the first such move since 1994 and came as international stock markets fell on fears of an escalation in the simmering conflict between the two trading superpowers. The Dow Jones index lost close to 3% on Monday following similar falls in Asia and Europe.
On Tuesday, Asian markets fell. By the middle of the trading day Australia’s ASX200 had fallen 2%, the Hang Seng was down 0.7%, and the Nikkei 0.7%.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/05/us-designates-china-as-currency-manipulator
Trump freezes all Venezuelan government assets in US
The Trump administration has frozen all Venezuelan government assets in a significant escalation of tensions with socialist leader Nicolás Maduro. It places Washington’s trade relations with the South American country on a par with Cuba, Syria, Iran and North Korea.
The ban on Americans doing business with Venezuela’s government takes effect immediately.
“All property and interests in property of the Government of Venezuela that are in the United States ... are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in,” the executive order says.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/06/trump-freezes-all-venezuelan-government-assets-in-us
North Korea fires more projectiles, says it may be 'compelled to seek new road'
The launches came as Pyongyang described Washington and Seoul’s war games as a “flagrant violation” of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula which reflected a lack of “political will” to improve relations.
“Despite our repeated warnings, the United States and South Korean authorities have finally started the joint military exercise targeting the DPRK,” the foreign ministry spokesman for the nuclear-armed North said, according to the state news agency, KCNA.
Jair Bolsonaro says criminals will 'die like cockroaches' under proposed new laws
In an interview broadcast on Monday, Bolsonaro said he hoped Congress would approve his controversial plans to expand the so-called excludente de ilicitude – an article in Brazil’s criminal code that makes some normally illegal acts permissible.
Activists fear that could cause a bloodbath, but Bolsonaro claimed it would provide much-needed “legal cover” to police officers who used lethal force in the line of duty and bring a “dramatic” drop in violence.
“These guys [criminals] are going to die in the streets like cockroaches [if such protections are approved] – and that’s how it should be,” he said.
AL JAZEERA
Wall St stocks fall as US-China dispute turns into 'currency war'
Billions of dollars in losses reported as US president accuses China of currency manipulation.
Wall Street's major indexes posted their biggest percentage drop of the year, as China's devaluation of the yuan sparked fears of further escalation of the US-China trade war, with the US president accusing Beijing of "currency manipulation".
The losses spread to the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday with indexes from Tokyo to Hong Kong falling sharply. Shanghai and Sydney shed 2.6 percent, while Manila and Wellington were also down around two percent.
The yuan weakened past the seven-per-dollar level, its lowest in 11 years, after the People's Bank of China, with the blessing of policymakers, set its daily midpoint at the weakest level in eight months.
Several investors viewed the move in the yuan as a direct response to Trump's announcement of 10 percent tariffs on an additional $300bn Chinese imports.
Trump imposes economic embargo against Venezuela
First-ever expanded sanctions against a western hemisphere government in over 30 years similar to those faced by Cuba.
The order, signed late on Monday, freezes all Venezuelan government assets in the United States and barred transactions with its authorities.
"This embargo will not have a direct effect on the departure of the Maduro government nor will [it] result in a change in the position of the government at the Barbados negotiating table [talks between the government and opposition]," Carlos Pina, a Venezuelan analyst, told Al Jazeera.
"This means that far from inviting Maduro's government to yield, there will be a situation of increased tension on both sides. The government has shown it has the capacity to cope with external pressures, and specifically with economic sanctions.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/trump-imposes-economic-embargo-venezuela-190806020407778.html
North Korea threatens more launches after latest missile test
Pyongyang conducts fourth test in 12 days in protest against South Korea-US joint military exercises.
The statement comes just an hour after the North fired on Tuesday "two projectiles that are assumed to be short-range ballistic missiles" from South Hwanghae province on its west coast.
Trump has played down the tests by saying they did not break any agreement he had with Kim but the talks have yet to resume.
The arrival of new, US-made F-35A stealth fighters in South Korea, the visit of a US nuclear-powered submarine to a South Korean port, and US tests of ballistic missiles are among the steps that have forced North Korea to continue its own weapons development, the spokesman said.
Short-range missiles pose no threat to US territory but do put at risk its allies Japan and South Korea and the tens of thousands of US troops stationed in both countries.
UK joins US-led security mission in Strait of Hormuz
European nations have been reluctant to take part in the US naval mission.
While British officials stressed on Monday that there was no change to London's policy on Iran, they said joining the US is the most significant non-Brexit foreign policy move to date of the newly-appointed Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
No other countries are yet involved.
The tanker dispute has tangled the UK in the diplomatic differences between the European Union's big powers - which want to preserve the Iran nuclear deal - and the US which has pushed for a tougher policy on Iran.
AL MAYADEEN
Legisladores de EE.UU. redoblan esfuerzos para evitar que Trump entre en guerra con Irán
Veintiocho legisladores de los partidos republicano y demócrata están presionando para que se apruebe una ley que prohíba el uso de fondos para acciones militares contra Irán sin autorización del Congreso, según una carta interna obtenida por Foreign Policy.
Una legislación similar fracasó antes, pero los legisladores esperan poder convertirla en un proyecto de ley de política de defensa que se espera finalice en el otoño.
Prominentes críticos liberales demócratas del presidente Donald Trump, incluyendo al senador de Nuevo México, Tom Udall, y al representante de California, Ro Khanna, y por incondicionales partidarios del triunfo republicano, como el representante Matt Gaetz de Florida, quienes se oponen a dicha legislación, incluyendo al senador republicano de Arkansas, Tom Cotton, han argumentado que dicha ley restringiría la capacidad del presidente para responder rápidamente a las amenazas de Irán.
Tras ola de violencia Uruguay emite alerta de viaje a EE.UU.
De acuerdo con Montevideo, la violencia, en su mayor parte, es "por crímenes de odio" que tienen su raíz en "el racismo y la discriminación".
La Cancillería recomendó a los ciudadanos uruguayos evitar, particularmente, visitar algunas ciudades de EE.UU., como Detroit (Michigan), Baltimore (Maryland) y Albuquerque (Nuevo México), que se encuentran "entre las 20 más peligrosas del mundo", según el índice de Ceoworld Magazine 2019, reseñó Prensa Latina.
Pentágono: Cualquier operación turca en el norte de Siria será "inaceptable"
Por su parte, el secretario de Defensa de Estados Unidos, Mark Esper, señaló que cualquier operación turca en el norte de Siria sería "inaceptable", y señaló que "su país impedirá la incursión unilateral, pero espera llegar a un acuerdo con Ankara".
Mientras tanto, las negociaciones turco-estadounidenses sobre el establecimiento de una zona segura en el norte del país se reanudarán este martes.
