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US sends migrants from Guantanamo to Venezuela

The United States deported 177 migrants from its military base in Guantanamo, Cuba to their homeland in Venezuela Thursday, the latest sign of cooperation between the long-feuding governments. Officials in Washington and Caracas confirmed that a plane left the US base and deposited the 177 people in Honduras, where they were picked up by the Venezuelan government. The deportees then left for Venezuela on a flag carrier Conviasa flight that arrived in Maiquetia late Thursday.Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello received the all-male group of deportees at the airport, telling them: “Welcome to the homeland.” “Those who returned, in theory, are all Venezuelans who were in Guantanamo,” Cabello told journalists, adding that another deportation flight was expected to arrive at the end of the week.The carefully choreographed operation would have seemed impossible just weeks ago when the United States accused President Nicolas Maduro of stealing an election. But since President Donald Trump entered office four weeks ago, relations have thawed, with the White House prioritizing immigration cooperation. Maduro said the handover was at the “direct request” of his government to that of Trump.”We have rescued 177 new migrants from Guantanamo,” he said at an official event.Trump envoy Richard Grenell traveled to Caracas on January 31 and met Maduro, who is the subject of a $25 million US bounty for his arrest. Grenell brokered the release of six US prisoners. A day later Trump announced Venezuela had agreed to accept illegal migrants deported from the United States. – ‘Recovered’ -Venezuela said it had “requested the repatriation of a group of compatriots who were unjustly taken to the Guantanamo naval base.””This request has been accepted and the citizens have been transferred to Honduras, from where they will be recovered,” the government said in a statement. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed they had transported “177 Venezuelan illegal aliens from Guantanamo Bay to Honduras today for pickup by the Venezuelan government.”Caracas broke off ties with Washington in January 2019 after The United States recognized then-opposition leader Juan Guaido as “interim president” following 2018 elections that were widely rejected as neither free nor fair. In October 2023, Maduro allowed US planes with deported migrants to fly into Venezuela but withdrew permission four months later. His government has been flying free or subsidized repatriation flights for Venezuelans wishing to return home. Venezuela is keen to end crippling US sanctions and to move beyond the controversy over elections last July that the United States and numerous other countries said were won by the opposition. The contested election results sparked protests in which at least 28 people were killed and about 200 injured, with 2,400 arrests.Human rights groups in the United States have sued to gain access to migrants held in Guantanamo after Trump ordered the base to prepare to receive some 30,000 people who entered the United States without papers.Guantanamo is synonymous with abuses against terror suspects held there after the September 11 attacks. The United States on Thursday deported another group of 135 migrants of various nationalities — including 65 children — to Costa Rica, from where they will be repatriated to their home countries, including China, Russia, Afghanistan, Ghana and Vietnam, the government in San Jose said.Costa Rica, along with Panama, is serving as a way station for migrants deported by Trump’s government.

Just 17% of Japan citizens hold passport, data shows

Only around one in six Japanese citizens hold valid passports, fresh data has shown, with the number of residents travelling abroad slowly recovering but still below pre-pandemic levels.The latest rate is far below the half of Americans with passports, a level that has soared from around five percent in 1990.As of December 2024, there were 21.6 million valid Japanese passports in circulation, representing around 17.5 percent of the overall population, the foreign ministry said Thursday.Before the Covid-19 pandemic, about a quarter of Japanese people owned valid passports.The country’s travel document is tied with neighbour South Korea’s passport as the world’s second strongest after Singapore, allowing visa-free entry to 190 destinations, according to this year’s Henley Passport Index.Outbound travel from Japan has gradually resumed after the quarantine measures and border closures of the pandemic era, according to the ministry.But the weakness of the yen — which has shed a third of its value in the past five years — is one factor deterring Japanese travellers along with inflation and a renewed interest in domestic travel, analysts say.The new data comes as the nation welcomes a record influx of tourists from other countries, with more than 36 million visits recorded last year and many flocking to hotspots like Kyoto.International travel by Japanese nationals began to increase sharply in the boom years of the late 1980s.In 1990, more than 10 million people from Japan travelled abroad, a figure that rose to 20 million before the pandemic. This year around 14.1 million Japanese are expected to travel abroad, according to top Japanese travel agency JTB.”In recent years, the rapid depreciation of the yen has caused some to refrain from overseas travel, but once the currency market calms, overseas travel is expected to pick up steam,” said its study, issued in January.

De Guantanamo au Venezuela: nouvelles expulsions américaines après les accords Caracas-Washington

Les Etats-Unis ont renvoyé de leur base cubaine de Guantanamo 177 migrants vénézuéliens vers leur pays, avec une escale au Honduras, à la demande des autorités vénézuéliennes, dans un nouveau signe de coopération entre Washington et Caracas.Ce groupe s’ajoute aux 190 migrants vénézuéliens renvoyés chez eux il y a 10 jours dans le cadre de la politique d’expulsions massives promise par le président Donald Trump à son retour au pouvoir.”Merci!”, a crié l’un des expulsés à sa descente de l’avion. “Vous m’avez sorti de là!”, a lancé un autre à l’intention du ministre de l’Intérieur, Diosdado Cabello, qui les a accueillis en leur disant “Bienvenue dans la patrie”.L’avion de la compagnie d’Etat vénézuélienne Conviasa a décollé du Honduras, où un autre appareil américain transportant les détenus est arrivé de la base de Guantanamo, connue pour sa prison militaire ouverte après les attentats du 11-Septembre 2001 et qui héberge toujours une trentaine de détenus accusés de “terrorisme”.Les migrants expulsés sont tous des hommes, la plupart d’entre eux portant des masques, des combinaisons de sport grises et des baskets sans lacets ou des tongs. Aucun d’entre eux n’était menotté.Ils ont défilé entre une haie de militaires déployés entre l’escalier de débarquement et le terminal. “Ceux qui sont revenus sont en théorie tous des Vénézuéliens qui étaient à Guantanamo”, a fait savoir M. Cabello à la presse, ajoutant qu’un autre vol de migrants expulsés arriverait en fin de semaine.Le Venezuela et les Etats-Unis ont rompu leurs relations diplomatiques en 2019, au cours de la première administration Trump qui menait l’offensive internationale contre le président Nicolás Maduro à coups de sanctions.Et si la position officielle de Washington reste de ne pas reconnaître M. Maduro, qui a prêté serment pour un troisième mandat après une élection contestée, le président américain a initié des contacts avec son homologue axés sur la migration et la libération de ressortissants américains emprisonnés au Venezuela.Le gouvernement américain a signalé début février le transfert de dix membres du gang vénézuélien “Tren de Aragua” vers Guantanamo où 30.000 lits ont été installés pour les migrants.Cette organisation a été désignée par les Etats-Unis et le Canada comme terroriste. “Si l’un des rapatriés se trouve dans une situation correspondant à l’une des formes de criminalité établies dans notre système juridique, les autorités compétentes agiront conformément à la loi”, a déclaré le Venezuela, qui a réaffirmé que le gang “a été démantelé” dans le pays. – “Externalisation des frontières” -Donald Trump mène une vaste offensive contre l’immigration illégale, avec notamment des raids dans plusieurs villes et des expulsions massives, ainsi que la suspension des programmes humanitaires lancés par son prédécesseur, Joe Biden, qui bénéficiaient aux Vénézuéliens, aux Cubains et aux Nicaraguayens. Washington reçoit le soutien de plusieurs pays d’Amérique centrale, comme le Panama et le Costa Rica, pour accueillir les personnes expulsées avant qu’elles ne soient renvoyées dans leurs pays d’origine.Le Costa Rica a d’ailleurs annoncé jeudi que 135 migrants de diverses nationalités, dont 65 enfants, expulsés par les Etats-Unis étaient arrivés dans le pays, d’où ils seront rapatriés chez eux.Aucun de ces migrants n’a de casier judiciaire, a précisé le vice-ministre costaricien de l’Intérieur, Omer Badilla.Il s’agit d’un système d'”externalisation des frontières” par lequel les Etats-Unis transfèrent le lent processus de rapatriement à un pays tiers, a expliqué Carlos Sandoval, chercheur en sciences sociales et expert en migration.Les personnes expulsées vers l’Amérique centrale sont des ressortissants de pays qui n’acceptent pas les vols de rapatriement, ou avec lesquels Washington entretient des relations tendues.Parmi les 299 personnes arrivées au Panama la semaine dernière figurent des ressortissants de l’Iran, de la Chine, de l’Afghanistan, du Pakistan, de l’Inde, de l’Ouzbékistan, de la Turquie, du Népal, du Sri Lanka et du Vietnam.Les accords avec le Venezuela ont même permis à deux avions de la compagnie aérienne nationale sanctionnée Conviasa d’entrer sur le territoire américain pour récupérer les 190 premiers ressortissants. Le Honduras a précisé que sa participation au transfert de jeudi ne faisait pas de lui un “pays tiers sûr” ou un “pont” pour les migrants expulsés par l’administration Trump, a souligné auprèsde l’AFP le vice-ministre hondurien des Affaires étrangères, Tony Garcia. “C’est un transfert”, les migrants “changent d’avion et continuent” vers leur pays, ils ne restent pas dans des refuges, a-t-il souligné.

De Guantanamo au Venezuela: nouvelles expulsions américaines après les accords Caracas-Washington

Mexico says won’t accept US ‘invasion’ in fight against cartels

Mexico’s president warned the United States on Thursday her country would never tolerate an “invasion” of its national sovereignty and vowed fresh legal action against US gunmakers after Washington designated cartels as terrorist organizations.The remarks were the latest in a series hitting back at the administration of President Donald Trump, which has ramped up pressure on its southern neighbor to curb illegal flows of drugs and migrants.Mexico is trying to avoid the sweeping 25-percent tariffs threatened by Trump by increasing cooperation in the fight against narcotics trafficked by the cartels in his sights.The eight Latin American drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations include Mexican gangs such as the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels — two of the country’s most powerful and violent criminal organizations.But the designation “cannot be an opportunity for the US to invade our sovereignty,” President Claudia Sheinbaum told a news conference.”They can call them (the cartels) whatever they want, but with Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion.”In an interview broadcast late Thursday on the social media platform X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to allay those concerns.”In the case of Mexico, the preference always is to work in conjunction with our partners in Mexico, and we can provide them a lot of information about who they are and where they’re located,” he said, referring to the newly designated criminal gangs. Sheinbaum said Mexico would expand its legal action against US gun manufacturers, which her government accuses of negligence in the sale of weapons that end up in the hands of drug traffickers.The lawsuit could lead to a new charge of alleged “complicity” with terrorist groups, she said.- ‘Eligible for drone strikes’? -Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in the White House last month saying that the cartels “constitute a national security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime.”US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the designations “provide law enforcement additional tools to stop these groups.””Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities,” he said in a statement. While he did not mention it, the move has raised speculation about possible military action against the cartels.Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been given a prominent role in the Trump administration, suggested the designation “means they’re eligible for drone strikes.”On Wednesday, Sheinbaum confirmed that the United States had been operating drones spying on Mexican cartels as part of a collaboration that has existed for years.According to The New York Times, Washington has stepped up secret drone flights over Mexico in search of fentanyl labs as part of Trump’s campaign against drug cartels.Military threats from the United States always generate resentment in Mexico, which lost half of its territory to the United States in the 19th century.Sheinbaum said that she would present to Congress a constitutional reform to protect “the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation” including against the violation of its territory by land, air or sea.On Thursday, Canada — also under threat of 25-percent tariffs from Trump over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States — joined the United States in labeling seven drug cartels as “terrorist entities.”The groups sanctioned by Canada included the Gulf Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Michoacan Family, the United Cartels, MS-13, TdA and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. – Mexico adjusting strategy -Mexico says that between 200,000 and 750,000 weapons manufactured by US gunmakers are smuggled across the border from the United States every year, often being used in crime.The Latin American country tightly controls firearm sales, making them practically impossible to obtain legally. Even so, drug-related violence has seen around 480,000 people killed in Mexico since the government deployed the army to combat trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.While she has ruled out declaring “war” on drug cartels, Sheinbaum has quietly dropped her predecessor’s “hugs not bullets” strategy, which prioritized tackling the root causes of criminal violence over security operations.Her government has announced a series of major drug seizures and deployed more troops to the border with the United States in return for Trump pausing tariffs for one month.Mexican authorities also announced the arrest this week of two prominent members of the Sinaloa Cartel, including the head of security for one of its warring factions.

Netanyahu orders ‘intensive’ West Bank operations after Israel bus blasts

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday ordered an “intensive operation against centers of terrorism” in the occupied West Bank, his office said, after three buses exploded in central Israel without causing any reported injuries. Three devices detonated on buses in the city of Bat Yam on Thursday evening and two others were being defused, according to police, with Israel’s defence minister accusing “Palestinian terrorist” groups of being behind the blasts.Netanyahu’s office said on social media early Friday that he had completed a security assessment with top officials, ordering fresh counterterrorism operations as well as stepped up security in Israeli cities. “The Prime Minister has ordered the IDF (military) to carry out an intensive operation against centers of terrorism in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu’s office said on X, using the biblical term for the West Bank. “The Prime Minister also ordered the Israel Police and the ISA (internal security agency) to increase preventative activity against additional attacks in Israeli cities,” he added. A large number of police were deployed to search for suspects after the “suspected terror attack”, the police force said in a statement.”Police bomb disposal units are scanning for additional suspicious objects. We urge the public to avoid the areas and remain alert for any suspicious items,” it added.Tzvika Brot, the mayor of Bat Yam, said in a video statement that there were “no injured in these incidents”.Security forces and bomb disposal units were seen by an AFP journalist as they inspected the remains of destroyed buses.Israeli media said that bus drivers countrywide had been asked to stop and inspect their vehicles for additional explosive devices.- ‘Intensify’ West Bank raids -A police commander from central Israel, Haim Sargarof, said in a televised briefing that the devices used to set off the blasts were similar to those found in the West Bank.Separately, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he ordered the military to “intensify operations to thwart terrorism” in West Bank refugee camps, particularly Tulkarem.The military has been carrying out near-daily raids in West Bank cities and camps for several weeks now targeting Palestinian militants.Multiple Palestinian civilians have also been killed in the raids, while Israeli security forces have destroyed homes and infrastructure.The military operation has displaced more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the United Nations.Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has escalated since the October 2023 outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip.At least 897 Palestinians including militants have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, according to an AFP tally based on figures provided by the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.At least 32 Israelis, including some soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or confrontations during Israeli operations in the West Bank over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.

Most Asian markets rise as traders pick over week of headlines

Asian markets mostly rose Friday after a negative day on Wall Street as investors weigh the economic outlook in light of Donald Trump’s tariffs drive and geopolitical machinations.A largely positive week in the region was headed for a healthy finish, and Hong Kong was again the standout performer thanks to the tech sector led by Alibaba following a forecast-topping earnings release.The yen pulled back a day after rallying past the 150-per-dollar mark following a warning on rising bond yields by Japan’s finance minister saw a rethink over bets on how many interest rate hikes the central bank will announce this year.Traders have been dealing with a series of Trump headlines this week that have made them consider their investment strategies, with his mulling of more tariffs adding to inflation worries.Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting, released this week, showed officials concerned that the president’s trade wars and pledges to cut taxes, regulations and immigration will force them to pause their rate cutting for now.The first high-level discussions between Washington and Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine — without the presence of Europe or Kyiv — saw the two appoint teams to negotiate an end to the war.The thawing of US-Russia tensions has led to angry exchanges between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.The developments have rattled market confidence amid questions over Trump’s commitments to European security.The uncertainty has helped push gold to record levels and close to $3,000 for the first time.Disappointing earnings from retail titan Walmart sparked worries about US consumer activity and the impact on the world’s top economy, and weighed on Wall Street with all three main indexes ending in negative territory.Asia fared a little better, with Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta rising.But Hong Kong led the pack, soaring more than two percent on the back of an 11 percent surge in Chinese ecommerce titan Alibaba in the wake of forecast-topping sales figures. The city’s market has piled on more than 15 percent in 2025 thanks to a blistering performance in the tech sector in the wake of the unveiling of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s chatbot, which has upended the global AI market.Alibaba is up around 60 percent this year, while Tencent has gained 20 percent and games developer XD Inc more than 30 percent.Sydney, Seoul and Wellington all retreated.On currency markets the yen retreated after Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday that rising government bond yields — which at a 15-year high — could weigh on economic growth.The yen was back above 150 to the dollar, having strengthened to below that figure for the first time since December.That dented expectations the Bank of Japan will announce a series of rate hikes this year, even after data Friday showed Japanese core inflation hit a 19-month high of 3.2 percent in January.”Kato’s remarks had traders rethinking whether the BoJ would really push ahead aggressively or if they might be nudged into a more measured, summer one-and-done approach in 2025,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.”Most economists expect the next BoJ rate hike to land in the summer, but the market isn’t entirely convinced.”Stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP growth figures, notably hawkish remarks from BoJ board member Hajime Takata, and a hotter CPI have amplified speculation that the tightening cycle could move faster than anticipated.”- Key figures around 0245 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 38,719.34 (break) Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.7 percent at 23,177.48Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,374.62Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0488 from $1.0505 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2656 from $1.2668Dollar/yen: UP at 150.00 from 149.65 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.86 pence from 82.90 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $72.69 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $76.70 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 44,176.65 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,662.97 (close)

Japan’s core inflation rate hits 19-month high

Japanese inflation accelerated in January, further pressuring households as prices excluding fresh food rose 3.2 percent on-year, government data showed Friday.The rate was the highest since June 2023, fuelling speculation over the timing of the Bank of Japan’s next interest rate hike as it retreats from years of aggressive monetary easing to boost the moribund economy.January’s core Consumer Price Index (CPI) was above market expectations of a 3.1 percent rise, accelerating from 3.0 percent in December, the internal affairs ministry said.Overall, inflation including volatile fresh food was up 4.0 percent on-year — among the highest in the G7 — speeding up from 3.6 percent in December and 2.9 percent in November.The price of cabbage almost tripled in January, in what local media have dubbed a “cabbage shock” after last year’s record summer heat and heavy rain ruined crops.The price of rice also soared more than 70 percent, Friday’s data showed, while electricity bills jumped 18 percent.Last week, the government said it would release a fifth of its emergency rice stockpile after poor harvests and panic-buying over a “megaquake” warning pushed up the cost of the staple.Japan has previously tapped into its reserves during disasters, but this was the first time since the stockpile was created in 1995 that supply chain problems have prompted the move.- Yen ‘slugfest’ -The Bank of Japan raised interest rates again last month, having done so in March 2024 for the first time in 17 years.It is gradually normalising monetary policies after years of efforts to counter Japan’s “lost decades” of economic stagnation and static or falling prices.”Japan’s hotter-than-expected CPI had all the makings of a knockout punch” for boosting the yen’s value, with traders ready for a “major shift” in expectations for central bank policy, said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”But instead, it turned into a slugfest as high-ranking officials stepped in to cool the yen rally,” he said.Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato warned Friday that higher bond yields could pressure government spending, because it means paying more for servicing Japan’s huge government debt.His comments reminded traders “that the BoJ isn’t operating in isolation — it’s still tethered to the Ministry of Finance, which has its own set of concerns”, Innes said.”Most economists expect the next BoJ rate hike to land in the summer, but the market isn’t entirely convinced.”One dollar bought 150.26 yen mid-morning on Friday, with the Japanese currency weaker than 149.68 Thursday.This week, gross domestic product (GDP) figures showed that Japan’s economic growth slowed sharply last year, although the rate for the fourth quarter topped expectations.It comes as companies fret over the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other protectionist trade policies on the world’s fourth largest economy.Japanese media reported on Thursday that the trade minister is arranging a visit to the United States to seek exemptions from the tariffs.