Venezuela, When violence is a mask for impotence and illegitimacy

CARACAS, Venezuela.—A total of 924 Human Rights organizations and movements from different parts of the world signed a communiqué in which they recognize “the democratic legitimacy and authority of the National Electoral Council and, consequently, the decision to award the victory of this process to President Nicolás Maduro.”
The document signed, among others, by representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Spain, United States, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Serbia, urges to respect the life, health and safety of all people, while condemning the acts of vandalism committed by supporters of the extreme right, defeated at the polls.
In this sense, the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, informed that there is no arrest warrant against María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, main promoters of the terrorist guarimbas of the last days.
“There is a general investigation that has had as a direct effect the arrest of people burning public headquarters with people inside,” and added that whoever makes a call to facts linked to acts of terrorism will be arrested.
In the exhortation for an atmosphere of peace to reign, “a sincere appeal to all parties to seek the truth, to exercise moderation, to avoid any kind of violence, to solve conflicts through dialogue, to take into account the true good of the population and not partisan interests,” Pope Francis made yesterday in favor of Venezuela, after praying the Sunday Angelus, in St. Peter’s Square.

He’s Known as ‘El Terrible’—and He Might Be the Greatest Olympic Athlete of All Time

He’s Known as ‘El Terrible’—and He Might Be the Greatest Olympic Athlete of All Time

Story by Robert O’Connell, Jared Diamond

PARIS—With a list of accomplishments longer than a swimming pool, Michael Phelps has a strong claim to be considered the greatest athlete in Olympic history. After all, his 23 gold medals is more than twice as many as anyone else.

But it turns out there’s another athlete, barely known to most of the sports world, who might have a better claim to that title. He stands at 6-foot-5, weighs about 290 pounds and has dedicated his life to overpowering some of the strongest men on the planet.

His name is Mijaín López—and he might be the most dominant Olympian of all time.

López is a 41-year-old Greco-Roman wrestler from Cuba who seems less like an athlete than a tall tale: as solid as a mountain, as ungraspable as air. He can’t match Phelps’s overall medal count, but he looks set to achieve one feat that neither Phelps nor anyone else at the Games has ever done before. With a victory in Tuesday’s match against Chile’s Yasmani Acosta, López would become the first person ever to win gold in the same individual Olympic event five times.

He’s Known as ‘El Terrible’—and He Might Be the Greatest Olympic Athlete of All Time© Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

“To be able to do that, it’s unheard of,” said Phelps, one of the small group of athletes to have won four times in a row. “There’s a reason why no one’s ever done it before.”

To the people unfortunate enough to have stepped into the ring with López, the remarkable streak of medals is just the beginning of his legend. Forget losing a match or settling for silver—entering the Paris Games, it had been more than a decade since he’d so much as given up a single point at the Olympics. His last gold medal, in Tokyo, came when his final opponent chose to stop competing, standing to one side and letting López raise his arms in victory.

Mijaín López will seek today his fifth consecutive Olympic title

Photo: Ricardo López Hevia

Paris. — He did not come to his sixth Olympic Games out of vanity, nor to bask in his pedigree. He is here because he does not get tired of going out with Cuba in the middle of his vast chest.
Mijaín López will seek today his fifth consecutive Olympic title, which would be an unprecedented feat for the Olympic world. Until today, one of the same sport, Japanese gladiator Kaori Icho has four diadems, achieved from Athens-2004 to Rio de Janeiro-2016.
Al Oerter, an American discus player, also has four triumphs between the Melbourne-1956 and Mexico-1968 editions.
No one has ever gone further in the same individual event, having only one podium chance. Mijaín, in fact, is the first to try.
“My five medals are not mine, they belong to my people, my parents, my family, my friends, my coaches. To succeed, you just have to love what you do, defend it and respect the people who approach you, even if they are your opponents,” he told the press last night.
He also announced that he does not know how it will be, “because I love the fight obsessively, but tomorrow (today) I’m done.”
He does it surrounded by affection for what he has done and for his nobility, the one that took from the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, a sensitive message to the Giant of Herradura: “Mijaín’s fifth is going”, he published in X, “and the whole Cuba is accompanying him. Dear Mijaín, you are already a legend, living history. A hug from all your people.”
Mijaín stood, the day before, at the threshold of the sacred temple of the Olympic deities, on the same day that another of that species, Armand Duplantis, touched the sky with his world record of 6.25 meters in the pole vault, so that Paris changed French for their language, because last night, here, they only talked about them.
Today is August 6, the same date on which Mijaín López won his second gold medal, 12 years ago. History repeats itself when the great ones write it.

New General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam

To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Photo: Nhan Dan 

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, congratulated President To Lam, on his election as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
“We convey the most sincere and warmest congratulations to comrade To Lam, on his election as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. We ratify our firm will to continue deepening the excellent ties between our Parties and peoples,” wrote the Cuban Head of State, in the social network X.
With 100% of the votes in favor, the member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (VCP) and president of the country, To Lam, had been elected general secretary of the VCP Central Committee of the 13th term, Nhan Dan newspaper reported.
In his first speech, To Lam affirmed that he will inherit and promote the revolutionary achievements of the recently deceased Nguyen Phu Trong, and previous generations of leaders; maintain solidarity and unity and, together with the entire Central Committee, Political Bureau and Secretariat, lead the entire Party, people and army, to successfully implement the goals and tasks set at the 13th National Congress of the Vietnamese Party.