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Colonization was a barbaric event that the Europeans continue to endorse and claim as a civilizing process. On Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that his country would demand reparations from Spain for the looting, plundering, and enslavement of Indigenous peoples.

“Venezuela, together with a group of Latin American countries, wants to make a profound claim for Spain to pay reparations for the theft, the looting of our lands, and the slavery and suffering endured by our Indigenous and African ancestors,” he said.

“532 years ago, the process of resistance against colonialism and slavery began. Colonialism left a legacy of nazism and fascism. None of the colonizers, however, have apologized so far,” Maduro said.

“They hide behind the ideology of denialism. From Spain, this barbaric event is endorsed and claimed as a civilizing process,” the Bolivarian leader added and emphasized that the invasion of Indigenous peoples by the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus was a criminal and abusive act.

During the “Con Maduro +” TV program, the Venezuelan president also reaffirmed his support for Caribbean countries that have agreed to request billions of pounds in reparations from the UK for the slave trade.

Previously, during her address to the UN General Assembly in September, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley said her country had joined the “growing chorus calling for the immediate proclamation of a second decade” to complete the unfinished work and address the issue of reparations for colonialism.

Recently, Mexico also reminded Spain that it is still waiting for an apology for the crimes committed during colonialism.

The 16th Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas is taking place in the city of Mendoza. From Monday to Wednesday, U.S. Southern Command Gen. Laura Richardson and defense ministers from 23 countries will meet in Argentina to coordinate hemispheric cooperation actions.

Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri inaugurated the 16th Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA), as his country currently holds the temporary presidency of this forum, which was established in 1995. This meeting is taking place in the city of Mendoza, where participants will elect the CDMA Pro Tempore Secretariat for the 2025-2026 term and will deliver a ministerial declaration.

The Mendoza meeting was preceded by a series of meetings of various working groups: one on cooperation in humanitarian assistance and military relief in cases of natural or man-made disasters, another on women, peace, and security, and a third on cyber defense and cyberspace.

Two of the most relevant international issues that will take center stage in this year’s discussions are the war between Ukraine and Russia, and the conflicts triggered by Israel in the Middle East and their implications for Latin America.

Currently, the Mendoza meeting includes Wayne Munroe (Bahamas), Florencio Marin (Belize), Jose Mucio Monteiro (Brazil), William Blair (Canada), Maya Fernandez Allende (Chile), Ivan Velazquez (Colombia), Gian Loffredo (Ecuador), Henry Saenz (Guatemala), and Jean Berthier Antoine (Haiti).

Mark Anthony Phillips (Guyana), Latoya Waugh-Bryce (Jamaica), Enrique Covarrubias (Mexico), Jacinth Henry-Martin (Saint Kitts & Nevis), Darryl Daniel (Trinidad & Tobago), Jose Manuel Zelaya (Honduras), Frank Abrego (Panama), Oscar Gonzalez (Paraguay), Walter Astudillo (Peru), Carlos Fernandez (Dominican Republic), Krishnakoemarie Mathoera (Suriname), Armando Castaingdebat (Uruguay), and U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro are also at the CDMA summit.

Representatives from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were not invited to the Menzoza meeting, despite the latter two being part of the 34 nations of the Americas that make up the CDMA.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister and Chinese one are met to implement the “six plus” guideline which includes greater political confidence, cooperation in defence and security, deeper collaboration, a stronger social base, closer multilateral coordination, and better control and resolution of disagreements.

China seeks to strengthen its development collaboration with Vietnam by implementing a plan that will generate synergies between the Belt and Road initiative and Vietnam’s strategy of Two Corridors and One Economic Circle, according to statements by the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang began an official visit to Vietnam on Saturday, at the invitation of his counterpart Pham Minh Chinh. During his visit, Li highlighted the long friendship between both countries and how, in recent years, bilateral relations have developed positively thanks to the leadership of their leaders.

Since the beginning of this year, China and Vietnam have had high-level exchanges and have achieved successful cooperation in several areas, thus starting to build a community of shared future. Li highlighted the importance that China attaches to its relations with Vietnam, expressing China’s willingness to strengthen traditional friendship, improve strategic communication and deepen mutual cooperation.

Tran Thanh Man, for his part, congratulated China on its recent development achievements and expressed confidence that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and Xi Jinping, the country will make significant progress in its modernization process. Vietnam considers China a strategic priority in its foreign policy based in the two countries leaders which exchanges at all levels and in all areas will be strengthened, traditional friendship deepened, political confidence consolidated and mutual cooperation strengthened.

National Assembly of Vietnam seeks to strengthen ties with the Chinese National People’s Assembly in order to share experiences in building the socialist rule of law and foster friendship between both peoples, thus promoting a strategic community of shared future, According to the information of Thanh Man.

Khaled Mashal is a Palestinian politician who served as chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from 1996 until May 2017, where he was succeeded by Ismail Haniyeh. He has also covered duties as the de facto leader of Hamas twice, from July 2024 until August 2024 and from August 2024, after both leaders was assassinated/killed by Israel. He was regarded as one of the most prominent leaders of Hamas since the death of Ahmed Yassin, alongside Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar

Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Six-Day War forced Mashal's family to flee and he has since then lived in other parts of the Arab world in exile. For that reason, he was considered part of Hamas' "external leadership". After the founding of Hamas in the wake of the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of the organization.

Under his leadership, Hamas secured a surprise majority of the seats in the Palestinian legislative election in 2006. He does not believe that there is a contradiction between Hamas' and religious diversity He views the goal of Hamas to be to "end the Zionist occupation; to liberate the land and the holy places; to reclaim Palestinian rights; to secure the return of the refugees to their nation, lands, and homes; and to reclaim Jerusalem." Mashal wants the future Palestinian state to be one that "is open to the world, far from fanaticism, and one that promotes tolerance and accepts all.

Mashal believes that peace with Israel requires two things: that the Palestinian refugees that fled from, or were expelled by, Israeli forces in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence in which the Jewish State was established are allowed to return and that Israel withdraws from the territories it occupied in the 1967 war. Israel has said it would never agree to let all of the refugees return. In a meeting with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter in 2008, Mashal clarified that any agreement with Israel would have to be ratified with the Palestinian people in a referendum. Mashal later suggested a 10-year-truce (hudna) if Israel withdrew to the 1967 border. He considered this a proof of recognition: "We have offered a truce if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, a truce of 10 years as a proof of recognition".

Mashal was a vocal critic of the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, often refusing to follow directives issued by the PA regarding ceasefires with Israel. Mashal was considered a key force behind this policy, along with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. However, Mashal did attend Arafat's funeral, in Cairo on 12 November 2004.