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DeSantis’s migrant flights could cost him Latino support at home

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) policy of shipping migrants from the border to left-leaning jurisdictions has been a winner in the GOP — but it could cost him at home with key Latino constituencies. 

The push by GOP governors to transport migrants from border states comes amid a surge in migration from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, a trio of Latin American countries with left-leaning authoritarian leaders. 

The three countries also have significant populations in Florida, where, along with other Latino voters, lawmakers and experts say DeSantis risks alienating a significant voting bloc. 

“These folks primarily coming from Venezuela are fleeing the Maduro regime. There’s a significant number of Venezuelans as well as the Cubans in Florida that fled similar dictatorships. And yet he’s turning his back on the victims of that regime. I think that will bite him,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), who immigrated from the Dominican Republic as a boy, told The Hill. 

“I believe that the Latino community there will recognize that he’s turning his back on people that are refugees or seeking political asylum, and they will not be happy about that.” 

DeSantis is facing a tougher-than-expected challenge from Democrat Charlie Crist, who was himself a former Republican Florida governor, in November. 

While DeSantis is a heavy favorite in that race, even a close election could hurt his image as a potential GOP 2024 frontrunner. 

Much of the criticism against DeSantis has focused on his political aspirations, particularly as he’s inserted his state into an issue originating on the U.S.-Mexico border, nearly 700 miles away from the Florida panhandle. 

“These are human beings. And you really don’t do that just to gain political clout. It’s really bad and he should suffer from what he has done…. He’s just showing how insensitive that he is towards people who are in desperate need, those people are leaving a dictatorship looking for freedom,” said Rep. Al Lawson (D-Fla.). 

“He’s under fire, you know, and he brought it on himself, scheming because he wants to be president of the United States.” 

DeSantis’s critics are also peeved that Florida is not only distant from the Mexico-U.S. border, but has historically benefited from Latin American immigration, especially from countries with authoritarian regimes, like Venezuela and Cuba. 

“That’s what makes it even worse, I think, is that the people of Florida and the Venezuelans and the Nicaraguans and the Cubans down there should know that he’s doing this basically to their communities,” said Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.). 

The Hill has reached out to DeSantis for comment.  

Still, experts say Latino voters are unlikely to collectively turn their backs on DeSantis over a single issue. 

“I think that some Latinos in other parts of Florida are very concerned about the treatment of Latinos for either because they’ve been discriminated against or they feel certain sensitivities and a certain sense of commonality with other immigrants. That will hurt [the GOP]. But the Latino vote in Florida is being driven by economics, foreign policy, and crime. I don’t see this incident changing this,” said Dario Moreno, a professor and Cuban politics expert at Florida International University. 

But Moreno added that mistreatment of Venezuelan migrants — people fleeing a regime that’s been a political punching bag for the GOP — risks blunting the party’s credibility on taking a tough stance against left-wing authoritarianism in Latin America. 

Moreno cited a long-term risk for Republicans in how “they talk about the home countries” if they don’t live up to foreign policy promises on places like Venezuela and Cuba. 

“It lays out a possible vulnerability, especially if all this foreign policy rhetoric is just empty promises,” he said. 

And immigrant Venezuelans are split in their reaction to Florida’s involvement in shipping migrants north. That split is in part based on politics, and in part based on a perception that DeSantis’s policy ultimately provides a free ride north, regardless of its political intent. 

“Most of them don’t know anyone [in the United States], and when they’re offered a free ticket, they accept it. Most [migrants] have told me, ‘If I’d been offered the same, I’d accept.’ But the question is whether they were deceived in that proposal,” said Liliana Rodríguez, a Venezuelan lawyer and asylee in the United States who works with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Dominic and Fe En Venezuela, both Catholic charities. 

Rodríguez said that for Venezuelans in the United States, political alignments often dictate their view of DeSantis’s relocation policy. 

“I’ve heard the community is divided depending on what party each Venezuelan belongs to,” said Rodríguez. “I hear a lot from those who are on the Republican side, ‘if I were offered something for free, I’d take it.'” 

Democrats warn the short-term win could be a long-term loss for Republicans. 

“Mr. DeSantis will probably ride this — his anti-immigrant thing, his border thing — to victory as governor. But what are the implications short and long term for the Republican Party in Florida? That’s what you got to ask yourself,” Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) said. 

Correa pointed to Proposition 187, which was on the California ballot in 1994, with people in the state voting to back a prohibition on undocumented immigrants from using many state services, kicking off a state-run citizenship screening process. 

The proposition passed with an overwhelming margin and was backed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican seeking reelection. The policy was blocked by courts before it ever went into effect, but some now blame it for pushing California Latinos away from the GOP. 

“The reaction to that was brutal. California — solidly Democrat. The Latinos, which about 40 percent of the population, became heavily Democratic. So what you’ve got to be careful with, what you’ve got to calculate is your short-term victory in that battle to become governor versus the long-term trend pattern of becoming the majority party with support from the Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, Latinx community,” Correa said. 

Democrats have a playbook to portray immigration hard-line Republicans as anti-immigrant — a playbook that’s turned California into the political crown jewel for the party, made Arizona competitive, but has yet to work in Texas. 

Florida Republicans say that playbook will fail against their border security and law and order arguments. 

“Floridians want individuals to follow our immigration laws and that’s why they support our Governor’s decision to shed light on the glaring hypocrisy of Democrat-run sanctuary cities,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) said in a statement to The Hill. 

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba and whose South Florida district is nearly 70 percent Latino, agreed. 

“I think that the blame is going to be laid squarely on the shoulders of President Biden for his failed policies at the border,” he said. 

Pressed on whether the migrant dumps could alienate Cuban and Venezuelan American voters in Florida, Gimenez replied, “I just answered your question and we’re done.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

Senate battle may come down to final four: Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin

The battle for control of the Senate increasingly is coming down to four key states: Nevada and Georgia, where two Democrats are seeking to hold on; and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where Republicans are trying to hold on to one open seat and save a vulnerable incumbent.

The four states are not the only competitive contests, but they are seen as the focal points for both parties and the races mostly likely to see a shift in power.

Incumbent Democrats are pulling away in Colorado, New Hampshire and even Arizona, which at the beginning of the cycle was seen as a potential gain for the GOP.

Republicans, for their part, are confident they’ll win in Ohio and North Carolina.

That would leave each party with 48 seats, and would mean the race for the Senate majority would come down to a final four.

“It’s up for grabs at this point,” Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat, told The Hill. “Every race we’re in the margin of error, which means the next six weeks can easily decide it.” 

Republicans think they have a decent chance of winning the Senate majority despite a difficult map in which they are defending more seats.

“Republicans go 3 and 1, and that’s the ballgame,” said one GOP operative involved in midterm races.

In Nevada, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) launched her latest offensive against former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt (R) on Thursday, accusing him of pushing the “big lie” about election fraud and the 2020 election.

Adding to her lines of attack, Laxalt told NBC News last week that the FBI has become “far too political.” The remark came after an event where he criticized Cortez Masto for not sufficiently backing law enforcement during the 2020 riots following George Floyd’s death. 

In Georgia, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) has struggled to pull away from GOP nominee Herschel Walker. According to two recent polls however, the incumbent Democrat has hit the 50 percent threshold that has outsized importance in the swing state. If no candidate reaches that figure on Nov. 8, the top two vote-getters, presumably Warnock and Walker, will face off in a runoff on Dec. 6. 

“Anybody who tells you they know what’s going to happen in Georgia and Nevada is lying,” one Democratic operative involved in midterm contests told The Hill. 

In Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) has generally held a significant lead in polls over Republican Mehmet Oz, even as Fetterman recovered from a stroke suffered shortly before his primary win.

However, the script has flipped in recent weeks as Oz and GOP outside groups have consistently targeted the former Braddock, Pa., mayor as soft on crime, a message that has helped move Republican voters into Oz’s column. 

“The average voter wants to go to the grocery store and not pay more for their goods, and they want to walk down the street and feel safe,” the GOP operative said. “That’s it. It’s not any more complex than that. In Washington, D.C., we’re experts at making things more complicated than they are.”

According to a recent Fox News poll, Fetterman leads with 48 percent to 44 percent for Oz, but the wind is clearly blowing in Oz’s direction.

The 4-point margin is down from 11 points in Fox News’s previous poll in July. The more recent survey also shows that 83 percent of Republicans are backing Oz compared to 73 percent of those polled in July. 

Democrats, however, maintain they are pleased with how things are shaping up.

“It’s tightening up as it was preordained to do. It’s going to take everything we have to win, but it’s absolutely positively doable,” said T.J. Rooney, a Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist who previously served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “We’re going to have to scratch and claw for every vote. … [Fetterman’s] getting the kitchen sink thrown at him.”

A poll released last week by Emerson College and The Hill also shows a 2-point Fetterman lead, putting the race within the margin of error. 

Despite the tightening polls, the Cook Political Report still lists the race as “lean Democratic.”

Cook lists the Nevada and Georgia races as “toss-ups” along with the Wisconsin race, where Sen. Ron Johnson (R) is in a tight fight with Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D).

Unlike the other three races, though, Johnson finally seems to have broken through polling wise in recent weeks after a wave of massive spending rolled through the Badger State.

According to AdImpact, an ad tracking firm, Republicans spent the second most in Wisconsin from Sept. 5-26, trailing only Georgia.

The incumbent Republican’s standing is a far cry from six years ago when much of the political world expected him to lose a rematch to former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to the point that the Senate Leadership Fund, which is backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), didn’t spend on the race. That victory for Johnson has stuck in the mind of Democrats ever since.

“Oh, I think everyone’s very much aware of it,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) told The Hill on Thursday. “Nobody’s counting their chickens before they hatch.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Supreme Court’s approval sinks to historic lows 100 days after abortion decision

One hundred days after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to an abortion, public approval of the court has dropped to historic lows as it prepares to open its new term on Monday.  

According to a Gallup poll released on Thursday, just 47 percent of Americans said they have at least a “fair amount” of trust in the judicial branch, representing a 20-percentage-point drop from two years ago, including 7 points since last year. 

A record number of people now view the court as too conservative. The drop in trust is driven largely by a sharp decline among Democrats, the poll found. Only 25 percent of Democrats, down from 50 percent a year ago, have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the court. 

A Marquette University Law School poll from earlier in September found that just 40 percent of adults approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing. 

Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs, said the numbers underscore that this is a defining time for the court.  

“The Supreme Court is at an important moment,” Zelizer said. “Trust in the institutions has vastly diminished, certainly among Democrats, and many have a close eye on how they rule on other vital matters. If decisions seem to keep coming from a very pointed political direction, frustration and calls for reform will only mount.” 

Even before the ruling to overturn Roe, progressives had been sounding the alarm about what they saw as a dangerous Supreme Court that was out of step with the majority of Americans.  

But in the wake of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, many Democrats, including President Biden, are seeking to use the Court’s rightward turn as a way to galvanize turnout ahead of the midterm elections. 

“Justice Alito said that women can decide the outcome of this election — paraphrasing some quote in the actual decision. Well, he ain’t seen nothing yet,” Biden said last week at a Democratic National Committee event.  

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion overturning Roe.

Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau predicted that the tenor around the Supreme Court won’t improve anytime soon. But he said that the current state of the court could help Democrats down the road.  

“The more the American people understand just how partisan this court has become, it will not only help Democrats politically, but it might lead to some judicial reforms,” Mollineau said.  

“But the flip side is that we’d be throwing gas on a fire and we’d be adding another institution the American people don’t trust.” 

The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was mostly expected after a draft copy of Alito’s opinion upholding Mississippi’s strict abortion ban leaked in advance.  

Alito was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas and the three justices chosen by former President Trump, achieving a decades-long conservative goal of overturning Roe.  

Legal experts said the public perception of the ruling highlights just how fraught the Supreme Court’s standing is. Unlike other branches of government, the legitimacy of the judicial branch depends on how its rulings are seen by the public. 

“The court has no real way to enforce compliance with its decisions beyond the understanding that what it is doing is somehow a legitimate exercise of law as opposed to something else,” said New York University law professor Melissa Murray. 

“The public may not accept a decision as legitimate when it seems like the decision is … simply rooted in the personnel of the court,” Murray said. “Like it’s meaningful that Roe was upheld multiple times by earlier courts and now is overruled as soon as there is a six to three conservative supermajority.” 

According to Gallup, public approval of the Supreme Court has been slipping steadily since last year, falling from 49 percent in July 2021 to 40 percent last September, just after the court allowed a restrictive Texas abortion law to go into effect.  

Susan Del Percio, the longtime Republican consultant, said the moment calls for an intervention from Chief Justice John Roberts. 

“It’s really on Roberts to see what he can do as a leader and getting [the justices] to be cohesive,” Del Percio said, adding that should come down to the cases they hear and the tone Roberts sets behind the scenes and “looking for common ground and toward people’s better angels.

“I think they’re willing to hear that message because if we don’t believe that, what hope is there?” she said. “While our institutions are holding, the people’s lack of faith in them is the ultimate demise.” 

The justices themselves are aware of their diminished standing with the public and are openly debating about whether the court has become too political and is risking its reputation.  

“The court shouldn’t be wandering around just inserting itself into every hot-button issue in America, and especially it shouldn’t be doing that in a way that reflects one ideology or one set of political views over another,” Justice Elena Kagan said during a visit to Salve Regina University in Rhode Island on Sept. 19. 

“The thing that builds up reservoirs of public confidence is the court acting like a court and not acting like an extension of the political process,” Kagan said. 

Kagan, who dissented sharply with the decision to overturn Roe, said public confidence is eroded when long-standing past decisions are disregarded. 

“When we see the composition of the court change and then the whole legal system being kind of up for grabs and legal rules getting reversed here and there, that’s what makes people worry. And that’s what ought to make people worry that something else is going on here other than applying legal principles fairly inconsistently,” she said. 

During an appearance at a judicial conference in Colorado in early September, Roberts said “it’s entirely appropriate” for members of the public to criticize rulings, but that doesn’t mean the legitimacy of the court needs to be called into question. 

“So obviously people can say what they want, and they are certainly free to criticize the Supreme Court. And if they want to say the legitimacy is in question, they are free to do so. But I don’t understand the connection between opinions people disagree with and the legitimacy of the court,” Roberts said. 

Seemingly responding directly to Kagan but without mentioning her name, Alito told The Wall Street Journal that implying the court is illegitimate “crosses an important line.” 

“It goes without saying that everyone is free to express disagreement with our decisions and to criticize our reasoning as they see fit,” Alito said in a rare statement. “But saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden to tour hurricane damage in Puerto Rico, Florida

President Biden will travel in the coming days to Puerto Rico and Florida to tour damage from Hurricane Fiona and Hurricane Ian, respectively, the White House announced late Saturday.

The president and first lady will travel to Puerto Rico on Monday, followed by a trip Wednesday to Florida. The White House did not disclose where the president would visit in either location, or details about who he would meet with.

Biden said earlier in the week he would likely visit Florida and Puerto Rico to look at the aftermath of the hurricanes once conditions allowed him to do so without interfering with emergency responders.

The visit to Florida will be Biden’s first since he traveled there after a condo collapse in Surfside last year. The state was slammed by Hurricane Ian, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm and knocked out power for millions of residents.

Biden warned that it could prove to be the deadliest storm in the state’s history. Authorities have said roughly 50 people died thus far in the storm as rescue efforts continue.

The president has spoken multiple times on the phone in recent days with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico last month, wreaking havoc on the power grid and leaving thousands in the dark as they grappled with rain and wind. The storm knocked out much of the same power infrastructure that was badly damaged by Hurricane Maria roughly five years ago.

Biden has in recent days repeatedly pledged he would not forget about Puerto Ricans recovering from the storm.

Source: TEST FEED1

Watch live: Trump holds rally in Michigan

Former President Trump is holding a rally in Warren, Mich., Saturday evening.

During the event, he will campaign for GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon as she seeks to unseat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), as well as for Republican state attorney general nominee Matthew DePerno and Republican secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo.

Trump’s remarks are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET.

Watch the live video above.

Source: TEST FEED1

Pressure mounts on Fetterman as Pennsylvania Senate race tightens

Democratic nominee John Fetterman is facing new pressure amid signs the Pennsylvania Senate race is tightening a little more than a month before Election Day.

Two new polls this week have shown Fetterman’s lead over Republican candidate Mehmet Oz shrinking, a development that comes as he faces growing scrutiny over his health, Republicans attack him on his law enforcement record as lieutenant governor and Oz racks up some notable endorsements.

While Fetterman’s allies say the recent tightening of polls is a natural result of Election Day approaching, it also raises the stakes for the Democrat as he looks to maintain his lead ahead of a crucial debate against Oz later this month.

A survey from Emerson College Polling and The Hill released on Friday showed Fetterman leading Oz 45 percent to 43 percent, within the poll’s margin of error and down from the Democrat’s 4-point lead in August.

Meanwhile, a Fox News poll released on Wednesday found that 45 percent of registered Pennsylvania voters said they’d vote for Fetterman if the Senate election was held today, compared with 41 percent for Oz. A Fox News poll of the race conducted in July showed Fetterman with an 11-point lead.

“This race was always bound and determined to be tighter and sure, it’s cause for concern, but I can guarantee you it’s not out of the blue,” said T.J. Rooney, former chairman of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party. 

The Fetterman campaign is “not caught flat-footed,” he added.

Pennsylvania has lived up to its reputation as a swing state in recent years. President Biden won the state by less than 2 points in 2020, while former President Trump won the state by less than 1 point in 2016. 

And most voters tend to begin paying closer attention to elections after Labor Day, once the primary season wraps up and campaigns enter general election mode. 

“Last time I checked we’re in Pennsylvania,” said Joe Calvello, a spokesperson for Fetterman’s campaign. “We don’t come to play here. It’s the big leagues.” 

Calvello touted the campaign’s ground game, pointing to a Fetterman rally last weekend in the Lehigh Valley that drew more than 1,000 people. 

“We feel good heading into this stretch because of what we’re seeing on the ground,” Calvello said. 

But Oz’s allies and Republicans say the closing gap isn’t just a function of Election Day approaching in a competitive state, but rather a sign Oz is gaining traction with voters.

“We got out of a tough primary and that always takes a little while to resettle, but now I think Republicans are united around Dr. Oz’s campaign,” said Barney Keller, an Oz spokesperson. “They know the stakes are important in this election, whether we’re going to have safer streets or an economy that works for the middle class.” 

Other Republicans argue that the tightening polls have more to do with Fetterman himself. 

“Oz is just not Fetterman,” said Keith Naughton, a GOP strategist who has worked on Pennsylvania campaigns. “[Fetterman] is a bad candidate and he’s the candidate Republicans wanted to run against.” 

The Cook Political Report shifted its rating of the Pennsylvania Senate race to “lean Democrat” in August.

But, in addition to the tightening polls, Oz since then has gained several notable endorsements, including from former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R) on Thursday. 

While on the surface a former Republican governor endorsing a GOP Senate candidate may not seem out of the ordinary, Ridge is arguably a different kind of high-profile Republican than the others who have endorsed Oz. The former governor broke with the GOP in 2020 and endorsed President Biden over then-President Trump. 

Oz’s allies this week have also been touting his endorsement from the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, which spilt its ticket and backed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro. Additionally, Oz won the endorsement from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

Oz’s allies say that the recent endorsements, along with Trump’s, are indicative of a Republican coalition the celebrity doctor-turned-politician is forming and negates the Democratic strategy of painting Oz as too extreme or Trumpian. 

Rooney also noted the importance of Ridge’s endorsement of Oz, saying the former governor is still a relevant player in Pennsylvania’s political realm. 

“The notion that well-respected establishment Republicans are supporting Oz definitely sends a signal, there’s no question about it,” he said. 

There’s also the argument that the commonwealth’s Senate race is a higher priority for Republicans growing increasingly pessimistic about their gubernatorial prospects.

The same Emerson College Polling-The Hill survey found Shapiro leading Republican candidate Doug Mastriano 51 percent to 41 percent. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report moved the race’s rating from “lean Democratic” to “likely Democratic.” 

“Because everyone has abandoned the gubernatorial candidate, every Republican has kind of rallied behind Oz,” Rooney said. 

One Democratic strategist quipped that Mastriano has set the bar low for the Oz campaign. 

“You cannot set the bar lower than ‘look at me, I’m running a better campaign than Doug Mastriano’, who I believe recently announced 40 days of fasting and prayer,” the strategist said. “If you would told me a year ago, not even knowing the nominees, that after the Labor Day the Republican nominee would be endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce and Tom Ridge, I mean that makes sense those are all Republicans.” 

As the campaign season enters its closing month, the contrast in messaging between Fetterman and Oz could not be more different. 

While both candidates have addressed the state of the country’s economy, which many Americans fear is creeping toward a recession, Fetterman has been hammering Oz on the issue of abortion while Oz focuses in on crime.

“Answering this question is so hard for him because he knows Pennsylvania won’t stand for this. He’d vote to ban abortion nationwide if he got the chance,” Fetterman said in a statement on Friday. “His views on this issue is way out of step for Pennsylvania, but that’s why he’s hiding.”

Oz’s campaign has said that he is “pro-life,” but supports exceptions for instances of rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother. 

Meanwhile, Oz’s campaign has sought to paint Fetterman as weak on crime, pointing to his record on the issue as mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, and as lieutenant governor. 

“Everyone’s waiting and excited for the debate on the 25th because it will expose Fetterman for what his record truly is [on crime],” said one national Republican operative. 

Fetterman’s campaign rolled out an ad earlier this week, featuring the sheriff of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, touting his record.

Ultimately though, Republicans and Democrats agree that the economy is likely to be the deciding factor. 

“At the end of the day, the decider in a close election is going to be economic issues,” Rooney said. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Zelensky advisor: Putin’s mobilization announcement ‘actually to our advantage’

An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s recently declared mobilization of additional troops is “actually to our advantage.”

“This may sound paradoxical, but it’s actually to our advantage that Russia has announced this mobilization,” Mykhailo Podolyak told Politico in an interview published Friday. “This shows the people of Russia that the country really is at war, that it’s not doing very well in this war, and that the Russians themselves will be the ones to pay the price.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military call-up of what Kremlin officials said could be as many as 300,000 additional troops last week, as Ukrainian forces made major gains in a counteroffensive in the eastern part of the country. The mobilization announcement resulted in swift backlash from Russian citizens, who scrambled to leave the country and staged anti-war demonstrations where hundreds of protestors were arrested.

Putin partially walked back the order just days later, announcing some exemptions from the call-up. The Kremlin also admitted on Monday that “errors” had been made in the draft.

“The mobilization shows that Russia has run out of a professional army,” Podolyak told Politico. “This army is being replaced by absolutely untrained people. A living resource has been thrown onto the front lines, and it will simply be exterminated.”

In Putin’s latest escalation in the war with Ukraine, the Russian president formally announced the annexation of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine on Friday. However, Podolyak dismissed the move as unimportant.

“For our plans, [annexation] doesn’t matter,” he said.

Russian troops on Saturday withdrew from the city of Lyman in the Donetsk region — one of the four regions that Putin had laid claim to just the day before. Ukrainian officials had previously said they had surrounded the city.

Podolyak said in a separate interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Ukraine will not participate in negotiations with Russia until its forces leave Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. Russia annexed that region in 2014.

“Russia does not want to negotiate – it only launches ultimatums,” Podolyak told La Repubblica. “If the Russian army leaves the entire territory of Ukraine, including Crimea, the negotiations could resume.”

As Ukraine continues to make gains in the war, Putin has also ratcheted up his nuclear threats. He made explicit threats about using Moscow’s nuclear arsenal in the same address in which he announced the partial military call-up.

“Russia now has one card left to play in this war: nuclear weapons,” Podolyak told Politico. “Against a non-nuclear nation. That’s absurd.”

A fellow Zelensky aide, Andriy Yermak, warned in an op-ed in The Atlantic on Friday that Ukrainian intelligence agencies believe the nuclear threat from Russia is “very high.”

Source: TEST FEED1

In Brazil’s election, democracy and the future of our planet are on the ballot

As Brazil elects a new president, congress and state officials today, the stakes for the country, the region and indeed the planet could not be higher.  

Brazil’s democratic journey resumed in the 1980s, and the country has traveled admirably far ever since. Despite the imposing and sometimes debilitating legacy of the military dictatorship, the country has built a robust and resilient democratic system, with strong and innovative institutions and a vibrant party system. It introduced and reinforced checks and balances and nurtured a fiercely independent judiciary and electoral court system. It has lifted millions out of poverty within the span of just two decades. And it has built a tried and tested voting system that is of the highest standards. In the process, Brazil has shown that democracy can promote profound, peaceful social and economic change. 

Brazil now will need all that strength and resilience, as it grapples with what Anne Applebaum calls the seductive lure of authoritarianism. Radical political polarization within Brazil, put into the context of growing attacks on democratic systems worldwide, makes this election particularly important. 

In Brazil, the anti-democratic playbook is all too familiar and chilling: Attempts to undermine the legitimacy and integrity of the voting system, and threatened refusal to accept election results; deliberate spreading of mis- and disinformation; attacks on judicial independence; murder of those standing up to fight environmental degradation; assault on press freedom, ad hominem attacks on and threats against journalists; attacks on human and indigenous rights; misogynistic and anti-LGBTQI comments by leading political figures; increasing political violence instigated with malicious intent. The risk of democratic erosion and threats to public order are very real.

We have great faith in the ability of the Brazilian people to continue charting a democratic course for their country. They are already bravely fighting back against the threats to their democratic system. Ordinary Brazilians are standing up to protect their institutions. Close to a million Brazilians have already signed a manifesto that the country’s democracy is facing serious danger, including well-known artists, businesspeople, jurists, and civil society representatives. Brazilians from all walks of life across the country will soon show up to execute their solemn democratic duty and operate the polling stations. They understand that democratic stability holds the key to economic prosperity. 

The international community has a special responsibility in lending its support to the Brazilian people in their hour of need. We need to show solidarity with the citizens and democratic institutions of Brazil to help consolidate democratic gains, preserve public order, fight poverty and disenfranchisement, and open new and innovative political spaces in their country. We also need to make it clear that disrespect for democratic institutions and electoral integrity will have grave consequences and could jeopardize Brazil’s international standing and economic development — that a democratic rupture would severely threaten the Brazilian economy and needed investment from Brazilian business and investors, as well as from abroad. 

First and foremost, we owe it to the Brazilian people to swiftly recognize the election results to leave no space for sowing uncertainty and instability. 

We are encouraged by the deep engagement by the U.S. administration and the European institutions and applaud members of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament for their commitment to support the democratic process in Brazil. It is vitally important that governments in the U.S. and Europe continue to closely monitor the elections in Brazil and engage with key actors on the ground to ensure a smooth democratic process.  

Looking beyond the elections, it will be essential for Brazilians, with the support of the international community, to find a way to re-establish trust in the political system and foster civic engagement beyond electoral cycles, safeguard a welcoming environment for a vibrant civil society, and further strengthening institutional capabilities to manage the challenges of disinformation. 

Brazil is key to resolving many of the common challenges humanity faces, such as climate change and environmental degradation. Thus, we need to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Brazilian leadership past the elections to ensure that Brazil lives up to its enormous potential to contribute to global peace and security and sustainable development. To that end and contingent on preserving democratic stability, we encourage decisive steps be taken to accept Brazil into the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and support a robust transatlantic political, economic and military-to-military dialogue with the next Brazilian administration on global and regional issues.   

Brazil has so much to offer to its people and to the world. At this inflection point we call upon the international community to show solidarity with the Brazilian people as they exercise their democratic rights. 

Javier Solana, former High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, former Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and former NATO Secretary General, ispresident of EsadeGeo – Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics. 

Thomas Shannon, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, is a visiting professor at Princeton University and chairman of the board of the American Academy of Diplomacy.

Source: TEST FEED1

Sunday shows preview: Florida, Carolinas begin recovery after Hurricane Ian; Putin annexes 4 Ukraine regions

Hurricane Ian’s devastation of the southeastern U.S. and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s formal annexation of four Ukrainian regions are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday talk show circuit.

As Ian slowed down over South Carolina on Saturday, Florida and the Carolinas continued reeling from the damage wreaked by the storm. Ian was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Friday and is expected to continue weakening through Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

President Biden declared an emergency in North Carolina on Saturday amid the now post-tropical cyclone, after previously making similar declarations in Florida and South Carolina. He warned on Friday that it could take the states years to rebuild from the storm.

More than 2 million people remained without power on Saturday as a result of Ian, including over 1.2 million in Florida. At least 34 people have been confirmed dead in the aftermath of the storm, according to The Associated Press.

Florida Sens. Marco Rubio (R) and Rick Scott (R) on Friday requested additional assistance for the state from the Senate Appropriations Committee. Both are set to appear on CNN’s “State of the Union,” along with Deanna Criswell, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). One or more of the three are also set to make appearances on multiple other Sunday shows.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and Kevin Anderson, the mayor of Fort Meyers, Fla., will be on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Putin’s annexation of four regions in southern and eastern Ukraine will likely also be a topic of discussion on Sunday’s shows. The Russian president formally announced the country’s claims on the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in a lavish ceremony on Friday.

The move — the latest escalation in Russia’s seven month-long war in Ukraine — was soundly rejected by the U.S. and its allies. Biden on Friday vowed to hold Russia accountable for the “fraudulent” annexation, announcing new sanctions on the Russian government.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this weekend, condemned the annexation on Friday as well, calling it “illegal and illegitimate.”

Gen. David Petraeus, former director of the CIA, is set to appear on ABC’s “This Week,” and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster will be on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows: 

ABC’s “This Week” — Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; Sen. Marco Rubio (R); Gen. David Petraeus, former director of the CIA

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.); North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D); NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg

CBS’s “Face the Nation” — Criswell; Scott; Kevin Anderson, mayor of Fort Meyers, Fla.; former national security adviser H.R. McMaster; Chris Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Criswell; Rubio; Scott

“Fox News Sunday” — Criswell; Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R)

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio); Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.); Nevada Senate candidate Adam Laxalt (R); Former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page

Source: TEST FEED1

Venezuela frees 7 imprisoned Americans in exchange for US releasing 2 of Maduro’s relatives

Venezuela has freed seven Americans who have been imprisoned in the South American country for years in exchange for the United States releasing two relatives of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

President Biden said in a statement on Saturday that the seven included five members of what is known as the “Citgo Six” — Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano and Jose Pereira. The five oil executives and Gustavo Cárdenas, another executive who was released in March, were asked to come to Venezuela for a meeting in 2017 but were detained upon arriving and sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzlement. 

“I am grateful for the hard work of dedicated public servants across the U.S. Government who made this possible, and who continue to deliver on my Administration’s unflinching commitment to keep faith with Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained all around the world,” Biden said. 

The other two Americans who were released are Matthew Heath and Florida-resident Osman Khan. Heath is a former U.S. Marine corporal who was arrested in Venezuela in 2020 on what the State Department has called “suspicious” weapons charges, The Associated Press reported. 

AP reported that the U.S. freed Franqui Flores and Efrain Campo, who are nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. The two men were arrested in Haiti in 2015 on drug trafficking charges and were convicted the next year. 

Biden said his administration’s priority is to prevent any American from being wrongfully detained or held hostage. 

“To all the families who are still suffering and separated from their loved ones who are wrongfully detained – know that we remain dedicated to securing their release,” he said. 

The announcement comes as the U.S. has so far been unable to arrange the release of two of the most high-profile Americans held captive, WNBA star player Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, in Russia. AP reported that despite the attention on them, Venezuela has been the country with the most Americans suspected of being held as bargaining chips in negotiations.

Source: TEST FEED1