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Díaz-Canel cambia el tono contra EE.UU. La realidad alternativa de Trump sobre la guerra con Irán. Las acusaciones contra el líder sindical Cesar Chavez. Esto es lo que debes saber para comenzar el día. Primero la verdad.

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La presidenta encargada de Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, informó este miércoles que decidió reemplazar a Vladimir Padrino como ministro de Defensa, un cargo que ocupaba desde 2014. Padrino, uno de los hombres más cercanos del fallecido presidente Hugo Chávez y del derrocado presidente Nicolás Maduro, será sustituido por el general Gustavo González López, dijo la presidenta encargada en su cuenta de Telegram.

En apenas cuatro días, el Gobierno de Cuba pasó de hablar de diálogo a las advertencias contra Estados Unidos, en medio de la creciente presión sobre la isla y el malestar por la crisis, que incluyó un apagón total el lunes. El cambio quedó claro en un mensaje que publicó el presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel en redes, en el que aseguró que “ante el peor escenario, a Cuba la acompaña una certeza: cualquier agresor externo chocará con una resistencia inexpugnable”.

• Entre la desesperación por sus familiares y la expectativa de un cambio: así viven los cubanos de Miami la crisis en la isla
• Las dos caras de Cuba: es una herida para EE.UU. y un símbolo para parte de América Latina. Análisis
• Costa Rica dice que no reconoce al Gobierno de Cuba y anuncia el cierre de su embajada en La Habana

Independientemente de la opinión que se tenga sobre la conveniencia estratégica y moral de la guerra contra Irán, es indiscutible que los comentarios del presidente Donald Trump al respecto han sido confusos, inconsistentes y contradictorios. A menudo da la impresión de que el hombre que dirige el esfuerzo bélico no está muy al tanto de los detalles ni siente curiosidad por ellos. Análisis.

• La crisis en el estrecho de Ormuz, en mapas y gráficos: así golpea la guerra con Irán al petróleo
• ¿Por qué un Irán debilitado insiste en prolongar la guerra?
• Cómo la táctica de Israel de eliminar a los líderes iraníes podría complicar la búsqueda de Trump de una solución definitiva. Análisis
• Portaaviones de EE.UU. se aleja de la guerra con Irán para reparaciones tras un incendio

El presidente Donald Trump ha ensalzado un programa de incentivos de US$ 915 millones para lograr que los inmigrantes indocumentados abandonen voluntariame

By Hanna Ziady, Olesya Dmitracova, CNN

London (CNN) — Oil and natural gas prices spiked Thursday, as Iran ramped up strikes on energy infrastructure across the Middle East and attacked one of the world’s most important liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Qatar.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, extended the previous day’s gains, rising nearly 8% to $115 a barrel. On Wednesday, Brent settled at $107.38 a barrel, its highest closing level since mid-2022. WTI, the US benchmark, rose around 1% to $96 a barrel.

In Europe, benchmark natural gas prices surged 24% and have now more than doubled since the war began on February 28.

QatarEnergy said Wednesday that its Ras Laffan LNG hub had sustained “extensive damage,” after being attacked by Iranian missiles twice in 12 hours. Ras Laffan is the largest LNG facility in the world, according to the International Energy Agency.

The attacks by Iran came after strikes on the Islamic republic’s own energy production facilities – the first since the war began and a major escalation in the conflict, which had largely spared Iran’s energy infrastructure. An Israeli strike Wednesday targeted Iran’s South Pars, part of the world’s largest natural gas field, shared with Qatar.

Iran has threatened further attacks across the Middle East, naming Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as likely targets. Two oil refineries in Riyadh have already found themselves in the midst of attacks, according to Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan. And on Thursday, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said fires had erupted at two of its refineries following drone attacks that targeted the facilities in the early hours and had since been extinguished.

Speaking of Iran’s threats, Aditya Saraswat, senior vice president at Rystad Energy in Dubai, said Thursday: “Any such attacks would likely push oil prices up by at least another $10 and significantly disrupt supply, particularly across key producers in the Middle East.”

“Qatar is particularly exposed given the concentration of its LNG infrastructure at Ras Laffan. … Any disruption here would not only affect regional supply but ripple through global LNG markets, with Asia bearing the brunt given its dependence on Qatari volumes,” he added in a note.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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By Annie Grayer, Paula Reid, Katelyn Polantz, Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) — A transparency law passed by Congress has forced the release of more Epstein files than ever before, but some lawmakers and victims are exploring ways to push the Justice Department to disclose even more information from the voluminous trove that’s being withheld.

Some 2.5 million documents in the Justice Department’s investigative files on late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have not been publicly released, and many of the 3.5 million pages that have been published are heavily redacted, prompting questions about what’s being kept from the public.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are exploring new legislation and still want to depose Attorney General Pam Bondi under oath about her handling of the Epstein files, which could provide a window into what is being withheld. Bondi met voluntarily with committee members behind closed doors on Wednesday, but it erupted when Democrats stormed out of the room in frustration, saying she would not commit to complying with her subpoena.

The push for Bondi’s testimony comes amid frustration and dissatisfaction with how the administration has complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act – and with the limitations of the law itself.

Reps. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Ro Khanna, a California Democrat – the pair who led the bipartisan push to pass the legislation in Congress late last year – are weighing whether to join survivors of Epstein’s abuse in suing to gain access to more files.

Massie and Khanna acknowledged to CNN in a recent interview that not including an enforcement mechanism in the bill has created some limitations to the law.

“If I knew the attorney general was going to break the law and you’d have to bring her into a court to adjudicate a plainly written law, I would do it,” Massie said when asked why they didn’t include a section in the bill outlining what’s called a “cause of action,” meaning a legal guideline on how someone or Congress itself could go to court to test the Justice Department’s compliance with the transparency law.

But they still argue public pressure has been their greatest tool.

The Justice Department has repeatedly agreed to fix redaction errors, including the improper disclosure of victims’ names, while insisting officials are not hiding anything. There is currently no legal mechanism in play where the department could be forced by a judge to remove redactions or release more filings.

A senior DOJ official recently told reporters they are hoping to move on from the Epstein investigation, and that no additional charges are expected without any new information.

“We got smashed by lawyers and Congress and the public for making mistakes,” the official said, arguing that some of the criticism has been unfair given that attorneys worked long hours under deadline, with some reviewing more than 1,000 documents a week.

“There is always a ton of mistakes in document reviews,” the official said, noting the department put new procedures in place as soon as they realized there were problems with the release.

Under the law, the Justice Department was allowed to withhold or redact certain documents, such as classified information and depictions of child sexual abuse. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has told Congress the department went further, also keeping back some internal deliberations, attorney-client communications and grand jury court proceedings.

The department additionally withheld Epstein files that were written in foreign languages, Blanche said, and some records couldn’t be uploaded to the public database be

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

Washington, DC (CNN) — For over a month, Transportation Security Administration employees have been showing up to work at US airports without getting paid.

It’s the same song all over again for these security workers who have endured three lapses in funding during the last six months.

The employees have become “political pawns” in these increasingly frequent Washington battles, missing paychecks as lawmakers jockey to see who will take the blame for the pain inflicted.

And usually, it doesn’t get better until things get worse for the workers.

“The real leverage points should be (lawmakers being) worried about their constituents,” said Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of AFGE TSA Council 100, the TSA union. “They should be really worried about making sure that they uphold the Oath of the Constitution, like the TSA officers do.”

Yet Congress remains in a stalemate over funding the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats and Republicans are locked in a disagreement over something that has almost nothing to do with airline travel – immigration reform.

Late last year, a 43-day government-wide shutdown, the longest in US history, ended after many TSA officers and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers stopped showing up to work, disrupting travel. Union leaders say many had to take other jobs to make ends meet.

Lawmakers blame opponents for TSA workers going unpaid

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle point fingers at their political opponents for what is happening to TSA workers.

Sen. Katie Boyd Britt, a Republican from Alabama, said in a post on X that Democrats are to blame for making TSA employees miss more than two months of paychecks during the recent shutdowns.

“This is absolutely unacceptable,” Britt said in her post. “Democrats need to end their political posturing, stop using our TSA agents as political pawns, and fully fund DHS.”

Republicans want all of DHS funded while Democrats want immigration reform included, or will support partial funding, leaving out money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection.

“TSA agents should not go without pay because Republicans refuse to agree to commonsense reforms,” Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington State, said in a statement. “It has become all too clear that Republicans would rather keep DHS shut down than work with Democrats to prevent more Americans from being killed by masked federal agents.”

The shutdown is a “self-inflicted wound” that doesn’t have to happen, but is “due to partisan politics,” said John Pistole, former TSA administrator in the Obama administration.

“Many of these TSA employees are newer, in their first five years of employment,” Pistole said. “They’ve gone a paycheck and a half now without being paid… so it is becomes a very practical problem.”

The official administration DHS Instagram has placed blame on Democrats, saying they “continue to play games with the livelihoods of our TSA officers and their families.”

And Democrats blame Republicans for not supporting standalone legislation.

“I’ll go down to the floor today and try to pass a bill to pay our TSA agents. So how about you all put your money where your mouth is and don’t block it?” Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat from Nevada, said to Senate Republicans on X.

Lawmakers have the power to end the shutdown, and ultimately if it gets bad enough they will act, said Erik Hansen, senior vice president and head of government relati

Por John Liu, CNN

En menos de 12 horas, misiles iraníes impactaron dos veces la Ciudad Industrial de Ras Laffan en Qatar, causando daños considerables a este importante centro energético del estado del Golfo. Se prevé que las repercusiones se extiendan mucho más allá de Medio Oriente.

Gestionado por la empresa estatal QatarEnergy, Ras Laffan es, sin duda, el centro de gas natural licuado (GNL) más importante del mundo, ya que integra transporte, procesamiento e instalaciones portuarias.

Qatar exporta alrededor del 20 % del suministro mundial de GNL —el segundo mayor, después de Estados Unidos— y casi todo su gas se transporta desde Ras Laffan.

La producción de GNL y otros productos en la zona se encuentra suspendida desde principios de marzo debido al cierre efectivo del vital canal de navegación del estrecho de Ormuz, y los importantes daños sufridos por las instalaciones de producción podrían prolongar aún más el tiempo necesario para reiniciar la actividad.

Se prevé que algunos países del sur de Asia, como Pakistán, Bangladesh e India, sean los más afectados, ya que dependen de Qatar para más de la mitad de su suministro de GNL y cuentan con reservas limitadas.

Sin embargo, Ras Laffan también abastece a países de otras partes de Asia, Europa y África, todos los cuales se verían obligados a afrontar las interrupciones en el suministro.

Además del GNL, Ras Laffan también produce fertilizantes, como urea y amoníaco —suministros clave para la industria agrícola—, así como azufre y helio, un gas esencial en la fabricación de microchips. Según QatarEnergy, este centro puede suministrar alrededor del 25 % de la producción mundial de helio .

La ciudad industrial de Ras Laffan está ubicada en el extremo noreste de la península de Qatar, a unos 80 kilómetros (50 millas) al norte de Doha. Procesa gas procedente de una gran reserva en el Golfo Pérsico que comparte con Irán. Qatar denomina a su parte campo North Dome, mientras que Irán la denomina South Pars.

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