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China’s number two leader told a gathering of business executives in Beijing on Sunday that the country would pursue economic globalisation despite “fragmentation”, a thinly veiled reference to trade turmoil sparked by US President Donald Trump.The China Development Forum convenes after weeks that have seen Trump slap multiple rounds of tariffs on goods from the country, threatening a vital lifeline as economic challenges persist.Chinese leaders have been seeking to steer a shaky economy onto a more stable path since the end of the pandemic, particularly by boosting consumption.They are also now seeking to assert the country’s role as a staunch defender of the multilateral economic system, as Trump wages tariff wars with major US trading partners including China, Canada and Mexico.”China will firmly stand on the correct side of history, that of fairness and justice, and act in a righteous manner amid the rough waters of the times,” Premier Li Qiang said.Li’s speech came at the opening of the annual forum, attended this year by prominent business leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook.The country will “adhere to the correct direction of economic globalisation, practice true multilateralism and strive to be a force for stability and certainty”, Li vowed.And in apparent reference to renewed trade wars sparked by Trump, he added: “today, global economic fragmentation is intensifying”, while “instability and uncertainty are on the rise”.Beijing has in recent weeks expressed an open attitude toward engaging with Trump for trade talks.US Senator Steve Daines on Saturday met with He Lifeng, China’s Vice Premier responsible for economic matters, during a visit to Beijing viewed as a bid to ease strained relations.Daines is also meeting with Li on Sunday for talks that are expected to involve the cross-border flow of fentanyl and the deadly drug’s precursor chemicals from China into the United States.- ‘Candid dialogue’ -Trump says his new tariffs on China are due to Beijing’s failure to stem shipments of the chemicals, which underpin a devastating drug crisis.Beijing has insisted that it cracks down harshly on the illicit production and trade of drugs, describing the issue as one for Washington itself to solve.During his meeting with Daines, He said China “firmly opposes the politicisation, weaponisation and instrumentalisation of economic and trade issues”.The Vice Premier added that China is willing to “engage in candid dialogue” with the United States to resolve issues.The two countries have “many common interests and broad space for cooperation”, he added.The tariffs imposed by Trump since taking office in January amount to a 20 percent blanket hike on Chinese overseas shipments to the United States.The country’s exports reached record heights last year, but observers warn that turbulence in the global trading system could force Beijing to find other ways to boost activity.Data released Monday indicated an uneven recovery during the first two months of the year.Retail sales charted a moderate increase from the previous January-February period, though unemployment rose to its highest level recorded in two years.Beijing says it is targeting growth this year of around five percent — the same as last year and a goal considered ambitious by many economists.

Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney is expected to announce snap elections Sunday, seeking a stronger mandate as his country fights off a trade war and annexation threats from Donald Trump’s United States.The former central banker was chosen by the centrist Liberal Party to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister, but he has never faced the broader Canadian electorate. That will change on April 28, if, as expected, Carney announces he is bringing parliamentary elections forward several months from October.Government sources told AFP that he would announce the decision at 12:30 local time (1630 GMT) in a speech to Canada’s 41-million-strong nation.In power for a decade, the Liberal government had slid into deep unpopularity, but Carney will be hoping to ride a wave of Canadian patriotism to a new majority — thanks to Trump’s threats.Trump has riled his northern neighbor by repeatedly dismissing its sovereignty and borders as artificial, and urging it to join the United States as the 51st state.The ominous remarks have been accompanied by Trump’s trade war, imposing tariffs on imports from Canada that could wreck its economy.”In this time of crisis the government needs a strong and clear mandate,” Carney told supporters on Thursday in a speech in the western city of Edmonton.- Poll favorites -Domestic issues such as the cost of living and immigration usually dominate Canadian elections, but this year one key topic tops the list: who can best handle Trump.The president’s open hostility toward his northern neighbor — a NATO ally and historically one of his country’s closest partners — has upended the Canadian political landscape.Trudeau, who had been in power since 2015, was deeply unpopular when he announced he was stepping down, with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives seen as election favorites just weeks ago.But the polls have narrowed spectacularly in Carney’s favor since he took over the Liberals, and now analysts are calling this Trump-overshadowed race too close to call.”Many consider this to be an existential election, unprecedented,” Felix Mathieu, a political scientist at the University of Winnipeg told AFP.”It is impossible at this stage to make predictions, but this will be a closely watched election with a voter turnout that should be on the rise.”Poilievre, 45, is a career politician, first elected when he was only 25. A veteran tough-talking campaigner, he has sometimes been tagged as a libertarian and a populist.Carney, 60, has spent his career outside of electoral politics. He spent over a decade at Goldman Sachs and went on to lead Canada’s central bank, then the Bank of England.Smaller opposition parties could suffer if Canadians seek to give a large mandate to one of the big two, to strengthen his hand against Trump.And as for the US leader, he professes not to care, while pushing ahead with plans to further strengthen tariffs against Canada and other major trading partners on April 2.”I don’t care who wins up there,” Trump said this week. “But just a little while ago, before I got involved and totally changed the election, which I don’t care about […] the Conservative was leading by 35 points.” 

A jovial new podcast in which California Governor Gavin Newsom pals around with provocative right-wing guests has infuriated the Democratic Party, as its leaders clash over the best way to fight back against Donald Trump.In an apparent bid to court centrist US voters, Newsom — a presumed frontrunner for the Democratic leadership — this month launched “This is Gavin Newsom,” pledging to talk to “those I fundamentally disagree with.” Across the first few episodes, Newsom banters with Republicans like activist Charlie Kirk and firebrand Steve Bannon, agreeing with many of their views, like barring trans women from female sports.Many Democrats on the party’s left flank have blasted Newsom for providing a platform to views and figures they consider to be taboo, and failing to push back on his guests’ inflammatory statements and lies.But some Republicans like Anne Dunsmore, a veteran fundraiser who has spearheaded efforts to recall Newsom in California, say the strategy is smarter than it appears.”He’s doing what everybody else ought to be doing,” she said. “The guy is not stupid.”This week, conservative host Megyn Kelly cautioned against Republicans going on the podcast, warning it may help a potential future Democratic nominee build “an audience that’s large and can appeal to both sides.”Right-wing voices dominate the United States’ most popular podcasts, which were widely credited with aiding Trump’s victory last November. Democrats have struggled to gain a foothold in the booming medium.”I don’t like to see it, because my own feeling is this guy’s in training for 2028… we should not be helping him,” said Kelly, on her podcast.According to Dunsmore, Newsom could even be out-flanking the Republicans’ own strategy.Right-wing podcasts rarely reach across the aisle to feature Democratic guests, and are often “talking to themselves,” she noted.By speaking to the other side rather than fellow Democrats, Newsom is distancing himself from his party’s unpopular positions on issues like trans athletes, said Dunsmore.”This podcast is Gavin Newsom mitigating the extremism he’s been required to cater to for the last 10 years,” she said.”And he’s killing two birds with one stone — he doesn’t have to deal with his own party crazies.”- ‘Extremists’ -For some Democrats, this strategy is dangerous and counter-productive.Newsom notably twice failed to correct Bannon’s claims that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, also widely expected to seek the Democratic nomination, this week hit out at Newsom.”Steve Bannon espouses hatred and anger, and even at some points violence, and I don’t think we should give him oxygen on any platform, ever, anywhere,” he said.Newsom’s most recent episode featured Democrat Tim Walz. But he has hinted that Tucker Carlson, another Trump favorite, could be a future guest.Sacramento-based strategist Steven Maviglio said Newsom’s strategy of speaking with “right-wing extremists” is “not helpful to the Democratic cause.”But he also questioned whether it even benefits Newsom, who would first need to win the Democratic nomination in order to run for the White House.”To be president in 2028 you’re going to have to appeal to Democratic primary voters first,” said Maviglio.”Frankly he has a day job — he’s governor of a state with lots of challenges that he’s been not fulfilling… I think he’d be better served doing his job.”- ‘Breaking bread’ -Newsom has a history of making bold overtures beyond his own liberal state.In recent years, he has run pro-choice abortion ads in Alabama, debated Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Fox News, and campaigned for then-president Joe Biden in red states like Idaho.Capturing national media attention may be the main goal, said Steve Caplan, who teaches communications and marketing at University of Southern California.”Is it what Democrats want in this moment, to be breaking bread with the Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon to the world? The answer is no,” Caplan said.”Apparently he’s comfortable with going in a different direction. Will it pay off? It’s a long time between now and the election.”Until then, even Newsom’s right-wing guests seem perplexed by their host’s all-out courtship.”It was like almost nauseatingly positive, right?” Kirk later reflected. “In that way it was very difficult to navigate.”

Venezuela announced Saturday it had reached an agreement with Washington to accept additional deportation flights from the United States, one week after more than 200 Venezuelans accused of being gang members were sent to El Salvador.The flights were suspended last month when US President Donald Trump claimed Venezuela had not lived up to its promises, and Caracas subsequently said it would no longer accept the flights.But then Washington deported 238 Venezuelans accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang, which Trump has designated a foreign terrorist organization, to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, a move deeply criticized by Caracas.”In order to ensure the return of our countrymen with the protection of their human rights, we have agreed with the US government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with a first flight tomorrow,” Venezuelan top negotiator Jorge Rodriguez said in a statement.”Migrating is not a crime, and we will not rest until all those who want to return are home, and until we rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador,” said Rodriguez, who is also the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly.Sunday’s trip will be the fifth flight of migrants arriving in Venezuela since Trump took office in January. Since February, about 900 Venezuelans have been repatriated, most from the United States and some from Mexico.”Tomorrow, thanks to the perseverance and persistence of our government, we will resume flights to continue rescuing and releasing migrants from US prisons,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday.”We will rescue a group of young men tomorrow, and next week, and the week after that.”- Major US immigration crackdown -Last month, Trump revoked permission for oil giant Chevron to operate in Venezuela — a blow to Caracas’s wobbly economy. The Republican president said Maduro had failed to accept deported migrants “at the rapid pace” they agreed to.The countries broke off diplomatic relations in 2019, during Trump’s first term, after Washington recognized then-opposition leader Juan Guaido as “interim president” following 2018 elections widely rejected as neither free nor fair.Maduro nevertheless maintained his grip on power, and Joe Biden’s administration relaxed sanctions on Venezuelan oil as part of a deal for American prisoners and a promise to hold free elections. Those promised reforms never came.Washington did not recognize Maduro’s 2024 reelection win.There had been glimmers of hope for the relationship at the start of Trump’s new term, with US envoys in Caracas for talks.Then Trump invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act to target Tren de Aragua, and sparked anger by reaching a deal with Salvadoran leader Nayib Bukele to use his Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) outside San Salvador.Relatives of some of those deported to El Salvador told AFP they were told they were being taken to Venezuela.Maduro said Saturday that those men, “who never committed crimes in the United States, much less in El Salvador,” would eventually be returned to Venezuela.Then on Friday, the United States said it was revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including from Venezuela, who had been granted entry under a plan launched by Biden in 2022.They now have 30 days to leave the country.Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history and curb immigration, mainly from Latin American nations.More than seven million Venezuelans have fled Venezuela over the last decade as their country’s oil-rich economy implodes under Maduro.

US Senator Steve Daines on Saturday met China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng, who “firmly” criticised Washington’s economic policy while appealing for dialogue in talks with the staunch supporter of Republican President Donald Trump.He, responsible for economic matters, adopted a warm and welcoming tone in greeting the 62-year-old lawmaker and his wife, underlining the two countries can become “friends” despite trade tensions.The visit by Daines, who will meet Sunday with Premier Li Qiang, is seen as a way to ease strained relations during a burgeoning trade war launched by Trump.Daines said while in Beijing he would raise trade and the smuggling of fentanyl — a drug which has ravaged the US — with raw materials sourced from China.The lawmaker, who represents the state of Montana and worked for years in China, was praised by He for his knowledge of the country.”China firmly opposes the politicisation, weaponisation and instrumentalisation of economic and trade issues, and is willing to engage in candid dialogue with the United States on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits,” said the vice premier, according to state news agency Xinhua. “China and the United States have many common interests and broad space for cooperation,” he added.”The two sides can become partners and friends to achieve mutual success and common prosperity for the benefit of both countries and the world.”The top official also said Daines would meet Sunday with China’s premier.Daines said his arrival in Beijing came “at a time when we have important issues to discuss between our two countries”. “I’ve always believed in having constructive dialogue and that has been the nature of all my visits to China over the course of many years,” he said.- Trump’s trade war -Since retaking office in January, Trump has unleashed a barrage of tariffs on major US trading partners, including China, Canada and Mexico, citing trade imbalances and their failure to stop illegal immigration and flows of deadly fentanyl.Beijing has announced retaliatory measures, imposing levies of 10 and 15 percent on several US farm products, including soybeans, pork and chicken.”The Senator voiced President Trump’s ongoing call for China to stop the flow of fentanyl precursors from China and expressed hope that further high level talks between the United States and China will take place in the near future,” the US embassy in China wrote on X.Beijing has repeatedly said that it is fully cooperating with US authorities on the matter and has called on Washington to adopt stricter drugs legislation.Ahead of his China visit, Daines told Fox News he would also address the yawning trade imbalance between the world’s two largest economies.Trump said this week that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would visit the United States soon. Beijing has not yet confirmed the trip.

Republican Senator Steve Daines will meet Premier Li Qiang on Sunday, a senior Chinese official announced as the strong supporter of US President Donald Trump visits Beijing.The 62-year-old lawmaker has vowed to raise trade tensions and fentanyl smuggling during talks with Chinese officials.His visit comes against a burgeoning trade war and is seen as a way to ease bilateral tensions, which are already high over their tech rivalry and Taiwan.Daines, who represents the state of Montana, has considerable experience in China where he previously worked for Procter & Gamble. On Saturday he met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing, who praised him for his knowledge of the country.”Tomorrow Premier Li Qiang will meet with you and he will talk to you about what is happening in China and China’s broad policies,” said vice premier He, according to an official translation of his remarks.Daines responded by saying: “On this visit of course, we’re at a time when we have important issues to discuss between our two countries. “I’ve always believed in having constructive dialogue and that has been the nature of all my visits to China over the course of many years.”Since retaking office in January, Trump has unleashed a barrage of tariffs on major US trading partners, including China, Canada and Mexico, citing trade imbalances and their failure to stop illegal immigration and flows of deadly fentanyl.Beijing has announced retaliatory measures, imposing levies of 10 and 15 percent on several US farm products, including soybeans, pork and chicken.”The Senator voiced President Trump’s ongoing call for China to stop the flow of fentanyl precursors from China and expressed hope that further high level talks between the United States and China will take place in the near future,” the US embassy in China wrote on X.Beijing has repeatedly said that it is fully cooperating with US authorities on the matter and has called on Washington to adopt stricter drugs legislation.Ahead of his China visit, Daines told Fox News he would also address the yawning trade imbalance between the world’s two largest economies.Trump said this week that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would visit the United States soon. Beijing has not yet confirmed the trip.

The United States said Friday it was terminating the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, giving them weeks to leave the country.President Donald Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history and curb immigration, mainly from Latin American nations.The order affects around 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who came to the United States under a scheme launched in October 2022 by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden and expanded in January the following year.They will lose their legal protection 30 days after the Department of Homeland Security’s order is published in the Federal Register, which is scheduled Tuesday.That means immigrants sponsored by the program “must depart the United States” by April 24 unless they have secured another immigration status allowing them to remain in the country, the order says.Welcome.US, which supports people seeking refuge in the United States, urged those affected by the move to “immediately” seek advice from an immigration lawyer.The Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) program, announced in January 2023, allowed entry to the United States for two years for up to 30,000 migrants per month from the four countries, which have grim human rights records.Biden touted the plan as a “safe and humane” way to ease pressure on the crowded US-Mexico border.But the Department of Homeland Security stressed Friday that the scheme was “temporary.””Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” it said in the order.- ‘Chaos’ -Nicolette Glazer, an immigration lawyer in California, said the order would affect the “vast majority” of the half a million immigrants who entered the United States under the CHNV scheme.”Only 75,000 affirmative asylum applications were filed, so the vast majority of the CHNV parolees will find themselves without status, work permits, and subject to removal,” she posted on X.”The chaos will be unreal”.Karen Tumlin, director of immigrant rights group Justice Action Center, said the Trump administration was “breaking a commitment the federal government made to the hundreds of thousands” of immigrants and their sponsors in the United States.”Suddenly revoking the lawful status of hundreds of thousands of CHNV humanitarian parole recipients is going to cause needless chaos and heartbreak for families and communities across the country,” she said in a statement.Trump last weekend invoked rare wartime legislation to fly more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, which has offered to imprison migrants and even US citizens at a discount.More than seven million Venezuelans have fled their country over the last decade as the oil-rich country’s economy implodes under leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, a bugbear of Washington who has faced major sanctions.

US President Donald Trump on Friday denied signing a proclamation invoking a 200-year-old law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members who were sent to prison in El Salvador.His downplaying of his role in the affair came just hours after a federal judge called Trump’s use of the law “incredibly troublesome.”Last weekend Trump invoked the rare wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport 238 men his administration alleged were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and send them to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.In a statement at the time, the White House press secretary wrote that Trump “signed a Proclamation Invoking the Alien Enemies Act” and the document additionally appears in the Federal Register with Trump’s signature on it.But on Friday, Trump suggested his secretary of state had more to do with the matter, telling reporters: “I don’t know when it was signed because I didn’t sign it. Other people handled it.””Marco Rubio has done a great job and he wanted them out and we go along with that,” Trump said.Earlier in the day a federal judge said that Trump’s use of the little-known law to deport the alleged gang members was “incredibly troublesome.”At a hearing on Friday, James Boasberg, the chief judge of the US District Court in Washington, questioned the legality of using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to summarily send the Venezuelan migrants to the prison in El Salvador.”The policy ramifications of this are incredibly troublesome and problematic and concerning,” Boasberg said.He noted that the only previous uses of the AEA were “in the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, when there was no question there was a declaration of war and who the enemy was.”- Troublemaker and agitator -Last weekend Boasberg issued an emergency order against deportation of the Venezuelans and said two flights already in the air needed to turn around.The Justice Department has claimed the planes were in international airspace when the judge issued his written order directing them to return and his jurisdiction no longer applied.The episode earned Trump’s ire and the Republican president called on Tuesday for Boasberg’s impeachment, branding the judge a “troublemaker and agitator.”Those remarks by Trump drew a rare public rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts who said “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit against the deportations along with other rights groups, noted that even during World War II “people got hearings.””It was not this summary removal,” Gelernt said.”You have to be able to contest,” he said. “Otherwise anyone could be taken off the street.”Attorneys for several of the deported Venezuelans have said their clients were not members of the Tren de Aragua gang, had committed no crimes and were targeted only because of their tattoos.Boasberg meanwhile said at Friday’s hearing that “the government’s not being terribly cooperative at this point but I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order.”- ‘A bad group’ -Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday before denying signing the proclamation, Trump defended the deportations under the AEA, which was last used during World War II to intern Japanese residents.”I was told that they went through a very strong vetting process,” Trump said. “This was a bad group… killers, murderers and people that were really bad with the worst records you’ve ever seen.”The New York Times reported meanwhile that nearly the entire civil rights branch of the Department of Homeland Security was fired on Friday.The department’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties was responsible for oversight of the administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

Columbia University,  targeted by Donald Trump over student protests and alleged anti-Semitism from some demonstrators, unveiled a package of policies Friday in a bid to placate the president.Trump has targeted US universities that saw significant surges of protests against Israel’s war in Gaza that followed the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.The administration had demanded that the university deploys external oversight, but the school stopped short of that with its raft of measures, instead vowing to engage with outside academics on the issue.Columbia’s student movement has been at the forefront of protests that have exposed deep rifts over the war.Activists call them a show of support for the Palestinian people, while Trump condemns them as anti-Semitic, and says they must end.The president has cut $400 million in federal funding for Columbia — including research grants and other contracts — on the grounds that the institution has not adequately protected Jewish students from harassment.Columbia announced Friday “improvements to our disciplinary processes” as well as making it mandatory that protesters identify themselves when challenged — even if they wear masks, as many did during the height of the pro-Palestinian protests.It also announced the expansion of its security team, including the hiring of 36 officers empowered to remove or arrest those that break the prestigious Ivy League university’s rules.- ‘Combat discrimination’ -In the document titled “Advancing our work to combat discrimination, harassment and anti-Semitism at Columbia,” the university announced the creation of a new “Office of Institutional Equity” as well as updating its anti-discrimination and discriminatory harassment policy for students and groups.”The University’s approach and relevant policies will incorporate the definition of antisemitism recommended by Columbia’s Antisemitism Taskforce in August 2024,” the policy document said.As well as budget cuts to Columbia’s federal funds, with more threatened, immigration officers have targeted a leader of the pro-Palestinan protests, Mahmoud Khalil.Khalil, a US permanent resident with Palestinian roots and a graduate student at Columbia, was arrested by officers and has been held in Louisiana as he and his supporters fight his deportation on foreign policy grounds.Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, previously acknowledged the “critical moment for higher education” in a recent statement.Last week, the private university announced a battery of disciplinary measures — including suspensions, temporary degree revocations and expulsions — aimed at student protesters who occupied a campus building last year.In a recent letter sent to Columbia, the Trump administration gave the university one week to agree to a series of drastic reforms if it wants to open negotiations to recover the $400 million.The letter demanded Columbia codify a definition of anti-Semitism that includes a focus on anti-Zionism, and insists the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies departments be put under “academic receivership.”Friday’s policy announcement did not use that language to describe the measures the university will take towards the departments of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies — but did announce a review of their work.

Lawyers and relatives of Venezuelans flown from the United States to a notorious jail in El Salvador believe the men were wrongly labelled gang members and terrorists because of their tattoos. Jhon Chacin, a professional tattoo artist, has images of “a flower, a watch, an owl, skulls” and family members’ names etched onto his skin.Last October, the 35-year-old was arrested at the Mexican border for entering the United States illegally.Then last weekend, after not hearing from him for several days, shocked family members spotted him in a video of shaved and chained prisoners at a maximum security prison in El Salvador.He was one of 238 men declared as a member of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua — a terrorist group under US law — and deported by US President Donald Trump.”He doesn’t have a criminal record, he’d never been arrested,” Chacin’s sister Yuliana, who lives in Texas, told AFP.She is convinced her brother was designated a gang member because of his body art.At the US detention center, before being deported, “ICE (immigration) agents told him he belonged to a criminal gang because he had a lot of tattoos.”In the western Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, family members of several other deportees denied their loved ones were criminals.Twenty-three-year-old Edwuar Hernandez Herrera, known to family and friends as Edward, left Venezuela in 2023.He made a fraught journey across the jungle-filled Darien Gap before reaching the United States, where he was detained.He has four tattoos — his mother and daughter’s names, an owl on his forearm and ears of corn on his chest, according to his mother Yarelis Herrera.”These tattoos do not make him a criminal,” she told AFP.Herrera’s friend Ringo Rincon, 39, has nine tattoos, including a watch showing the times his son and daughters were born, said his wife Roslyany Camano.- Due process -US authorities have provided little public evidence to support claims that all the deportees were members of Tren de Aragua (TdA).In a court filing, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official admitted “many” of the expelled men had no criminal records, because “they have only been in the United States for a short period of time.”But Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin cited tattoos as evidence against 36-year-old professional soccer player Jerce Reyes Barrios.”He has tattoos that are consistent with those indicating TdA gang membership. His own social media indicates he is a member of the vicious TdA gang,” McLaughlin wrote on X.She insisted US intelligence assessments “go beyond a single tattoo.”Reyes Barrios’s lawyer, Linette Tobin, believes he was accused of gang membership for his tattoo of a crown atop a soccer ball — a variant on the logo of Real Madrid, his favorite team.In a letter posted on social media, Tobin said her client had sought asylum in the United States after being tortured for taking part in anti-government demonstrations in Venezuela.- ‘Strong vetting process’ -In September 2024, Texas authorities published a report listing tattoos it said were characteristic of Tren de Aragua membership, including crowns, stars and weapons.Yet Ronna Risquez, author of a book about Tren de Aragua, said tattoos are not known to be a signifier of gang allegiance in Venezuela — unlike heavily tattooed members of El Salvador’s Mara Salvatrucha.”Tren de Aragua has no identifying tattoo… some members of the gang are tattooed, others not,” she told AFP.Trump, who has previously linked tattoos with gang violence, on Friday insisted the men were a “bad group.””I was told that they went through a very strong vetting process, and that that will also be continuing in El Salvador,” he said.But if anyone was misidentified “we would certainly want to find out” Trump added. “We don’t want to make that kind of mistake.”Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Thursday the government had hired a law firm in El Salvador to try and secure the migrants’ release.Some eight million Venezuelans are estimated to have fled the country’s economic meltdown and increasingly authoritarian rule in the past decade.An estimated 770,000 Venezuelans live in the United States — many under a protected status granted to citizens of dangerous countries, which Trump recently revoked.