Video shows federal agents tackle and arrest Venezuelan man in courthouse
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Axios
a day ago
- Axios
Trump's authoritarian streak
A five-alarm fire tore through the economic establishment Friday after President Trump ousted the government's top labor statistician, accusing her — without evidence — of "rigging" a weak jobs report. Why it matters: It's just one glaring example from a week that bore many authoritarian hallmarks — purging dissenters, rewriting history, criminalizing opposition and demanding total institutional loyalty. The big picture: The overwhelming, all-consuming nature of Trump-driven news cycles makes it difficult to discern partisan hysteria from true democratic backsliding. But apply any of these five storylines from the past week to a foreign leader — or even a past U.S. president — and it reads like an authoritarian playbook. 1. Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer, a 20-year government veteran, after BLS announced massive downward revisions for job growth in May and June. "We're doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony. ... So you know what I did: I fired her," Trump told reporters, without explaining why he believed past jobs reports were credible when they were positive. William Beach, who led the BLS during Trump's first term, blasted the firing as "totally groundless" and warned of a "dangerous precedent" of politicized economic data. 2. Eager to shift scrutiny from his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Trump has demanded his Justice Department prosecute former President Obama for "treason" over the 2016 Russia investigation. Top Trump aides are engaged in an all-out effort to rewrite the history of "Russiagate" and exact revenge on Obama-era intelligence officials, including through criminal referrals. 3. In his crackdown on liberal power centers, Trump has extracted more than $1.2 billion in settlements from 13 of the most elite players in academia, law, media and tech, as Axios reported this week. The Trump administration is reportedly eyeing up to $500 million from Harvard and $100 million from Cornell, paving the way for a cascade of other universities to follow suit. 4. Dozens of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador's notorious CECOT megaprison say they were beaten, sexually assaulted and denied access to lawyers and medical care, according to a Post investigation. Many of the men had no criminal records and had entered the U.S. legally — some with refugee status or temporary protected status, according to the Post. Human rights experts say the reported abuse may violate international law, and raise serious questions about the Trump administration's responsibility for alleged torture on foreign soil. 5. Trump's months-long campaign to oust Fed Chair Jay Powell, or at least pressure him to cut interest rates, is still lingering. Trump's stream of insults, which escalated after the Fed held rates steady this week, has prompted comparisons to Turkey's disastrous experiment with bringing its central bank under political control. What they're saying:" President Trump is holding the federal government and elite institutions accountable for their political games, longstanding corruption, and terrible incompetence," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement. With regard to CECOT, a White House official told Axios: "These are criminal terrorist illegal immigrants and the American people are safer with them as far away as possible. President Trump is putting the safety of Americans first." Between the lines: Trump has little reason to curtail his maximalist impulses. Vast swaths of society are falling in line: The Smithsonian, for example, quietly removed references to Trump's two impeachments from its presidential exhibit last month, the Washington Post reported. The museum says the exhibit was always meant to be temporary, but its content review comes after Trump signed an executive order in March ordering the removal of "improper ideology" from Smithsonian properties. Trump's consolidation of power also comes at the same time he's attempting to unilaterally reset the global trading order — with tariff rates set to his personal whim. Brazil now faces 50% tariffs — among the highest rates of any country — due to its prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, which Trump has denounced as a "witch hunt." The stakes of Trump's centralized command were accentuated Friday, when he ordered two nuclear submarines repositioned in response to saber-rattling by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Appeals judges order ICC prosecutor to recuse himself from Venezuela investigation
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court on Friday ordered chief prosecutor Karim Khan to recuse himself from an investigation into Venezuela, citing a conflict of interest. Khan's sister-in-law, international criminal lawyer Venkateswari Alagendra, has been part of a team representing the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the five-judge appeals panel at the ICC says her involvement creates an issue of 'bias' for the prosecutor. The British barrister, who is currently on leave from the court , stepped down temporarily pending an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. Alagendra and Khan worked together previously on cases, including as defense counsel for Kenyan President William Ruto and for Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Alagendra is the sister of Khan's wife, human rights lawyer Shyamala Alagendra. The Washington-based Arcadia Foundation, which focuses on human rights issues in Venezuela, filed a complaint with the court in 2024, asking for Khan to be removed from the case over a conflict of interest. The court dismissed the initial complaint in February. In written filings, Khan told the court he could not 'recall' any discussion with his sister-in-law about the facts of the case and did not attend any meetings where she was present. The ICC has an ongoing investigation into violence that followed Venezuela's 2017 election but has so far not sought any arrest warrants. Khan announced in late 2021 that he was opening the investigation after a lengthy preliminary probe and an official referral — a request to investigate — in 2018 from Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru. However, the full-scale investigation was put on hold when Venezuelan authorities said they wanted to take over the case. The ICC is a court of last resort that only takes on cases when national authorities are unwilling or unable to investigate, a system known as complementarity. Khan pressed ahead with efforts to continue the court's first investigation in Latin America. ICC judges agreed with Khan and authorized him to resume investigations in Venezuela in 2023 . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Migrants from Venezuela detained at an El Salvador prison open up about the abuse they endured
In the weeks since the U.S. government released hundreds of Venezuelan nationals incarcerated at El Salvador's infamous Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) and sent them back to their home country, several detainees have spoken out about the abuses they endured. Times staff writer Kate Linthicum and special correspondent Mery Mogollón spoke to Jerce Reyes Barrios, a 36-year-old former professional soccer player, who left Venezuela last year and tried to apply for asylum at the Otay Mesa border crossing in California. He was among the more than 250 men accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua street gang and sent to CECOT by the Trump administration in March. Reyes Barrios denies ever belonging to the criminal organization. His attorney, Linette Tobin, said in a court statement that her client was accused of being a gang member because of an arm tattoo that featured a soccer ball decorated with a crown — a nod to Spanish club Real Madrid CF. He says the maltreatment began the moment they were removed from the plane. 'Welcome to El Salvador, you sons of bitches,' Reyes Barrios claims the prison guards told them. 'You've arrived at the Terrorist Confinement Center. Hell on earth.' Inside, Reyes Barrios said the men were constantly beaten. They were kept in overcrowded cells and slept on metal beds. They were hardly fed, were given contaminated water and were supervised by a sadistic staff. 'There was blood, vomit and people passed out on the floor,' he said. Reyes Barrios' account of what he experienced at CECOT is consistent with what other former detainees have described. 'The doctor would watch us get beaten and then ask us 'How are you feeling?' with a smile,' Marco Jesús Basulto Salinas, a 35-year-old kitchen worker who had temporary protected status, told the Washington Post. 'It was the most perverse form of humiliation.' Some of the worst abuse took place at a cell dubbed 'La Isla.' It was there where Andry José Hernández Romero, a 31-year-old hairdresser who left Venezuela out of fear of being persecuted for being gay, says he was sexually assaulted. Conditions inside CECOT were so bad that some detainees attempted suicide, while others contemplated it. 'I'd rather die or kill myself than to keep living through this experience,' 39-year-old Juan José Ramos Ramos told ProPublica. 'Being woken up every day at 4 a.m. to be insulted and beaten. For wanting to shower, for asking for something so basic. ... Hearing your brothers getting beaten, crying for help.' At one point, the men staged a hunger strike. When that didn't work, some of them cut themselves and wrote messages on sheets and in the walls using their own blood. 'We wanted them to see we were willing to die,' Neiyerver Adrián León Rengel, another former detainee, told the Post. After nearly four months of alleged abuse, the men were told that they were finally going home. Their release was part of a prison exchange deal— Venezuela agreed to free 10 jailed Americans. 'At that moment, we all shouted with joy,' Reyes Barrios said. 'I think that was my only happy day at CECOT.' The Times reached out to a spokesperson for Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, seeking comment, but did not get a reply. For its part, the Trump administration is refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing. 'Once again, the media is falling all over themselves to defend criminal illegal gang members,' Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, told the Washington Post. 'We hear far too much about gang members and criminals' false sob stories and not enough about their victims.' According to internal data obtained by ProPublica, the Trump administration knew that nearly 200 of the men sent to CECOT had not been convicted of crimes in the U.S. If you're looking for something to do this weekend that's both fun and free, come join the De Los team at 350 S. Grand Ave. on Saturday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., as we co-present a Grand Performances concert headlined by Adrian Quesada. The multi-instrumentalist will be performing songs from 'Boleros Psicodélicos,' a duo of albums released in 2022 and 2025 that takes boleros — love ballads popular across Latin America — and injects them with a healthy dose of psychedelia. Every track on both records features a different singer, so performing 'Boleros Psicodélicos' live is logistically difficult given Quesada's lengthy list of collaborators. Joining him onstage on Saturday will be Gaby Moreno, Trish Toledo, Angélica Garcia, Mireya Ramos and one or two surprise guests. El Marchante and Explorare will kick the night off. The De Los team will have a booth at the event, where we'll be giving out free posters and copies of our 'De Los 101' zine for subscribers of the Latinx Files. We will also be raffling off tote bags! You can RSVP here. Starting Monday, I'll be going on paternity leave for two months. But fret not, for I leave you in the very capable hands of De Los writer Carlos De Loera — next week will not be his first rodeo. Working on this newsletter has been one of the most fulfilling professional experiences I've had, and while I'll miss it, I'm very much looking forward to having quality baby bonding time. I'll return in time to write the Oct. 10 edition of the Latinx Files. Unless otherwise noted, all stories in this section are from the L.A. Times.
