Análisis de Aaron Blake, CNN

Las entrevistas publicadas recientemente a Susie Wiles en Vanity Fair son notables por múltiples razones. Pero quizá lo más relevante sea lo que la secretaria general de la Casa Blanca dijo sobre Venezuela.

Al fin y al cabo, se trata de matar personas en alta mar y de la posibilidad de ir a la guerra con otro país. Y Wiles sugirió que el Gobierno ha ocultado sus verdaderas motivaciones.

“Quiere seguir volando embarcaciones hasta que [Nicolás] Maduro se rinda”, dijo Wiles al referirse a Trump.

Eso no es lo que el Gobierno ha dicho públicamente sobre sus ataques contra supuestas embarcaciones vinculadas al narcotráfico. Ha dicho que esos ataques tienen como objetivo impedir que las drogas lleguen a Estados Unidos, no ejercer presión sobre Maduro. Y ha eludido en gran medida el concepto de cambio de régimen en Venezuela, incluso cuando el presidente Donald Trump ha dicho que los días del presidente “están contados”.

Sin embargo, aquí estaba Wiles, ya a principios de noviembre, diciendo que todo estaba relacionado y que en realidad se trataba de someter a Maduro.

Los cambios en las justificaciones del Gobierno no son un asunto menor. No hay que remontarse muy atrás para ver lo desastroso que puede ser llevar a Estados Unidos a la guerra con falsos pretextos.

De hecho, los dichos de Wiles no fueron los únicos cambio que surgieron en los comentarios de la administración esta semana.

Repasemos los ejemplos clave de esta retórica cambiante.

El Gobierno ha insistido en que los ataques contra embarcaciones, que muchos expertos consideran ilegales, tienen como objetivo proteger a los estadounidenses del flagelo de las drogas. Ha calificado a sus objetivos como “narco-terroristas” y los ha considerado merecedores de ejecuciones sumarias sin debido proceso.

“Que esto sirva de aviso a cualquiera que esté pensando en introducir drogas en Estados Unidos de América”, dijo Trump cuando publicó el vídeo de los primeros ataques a principios de septiembre. “¡CUIDADO!”.

Una semana después, Fox News preguntó al secretario de Defensa, Pete Hegseth, cuál era la misión.

“El interés nacional fundamental, la seguridad del pueblo estadounidense, detener los asesinatos, detener el envenenamiento del pueblo estadounidense”, dijo Hegseth. “Es así de simple”.

La secretaria de Prensa de la Casa Blanca, Karoline Leavitt, dijo que se trataba de drogas y de “asegurar nuestras fronteras marítimas”.

El comentario de Wiles a Vanity Fair le dio un giro muy diferente a esto.

“Quiere seguir volando embarcaciones hasta que Maduro se rinda”, dijo Wiles. “Y personas mucho más inteligentes que yo dicen que lo hará”.

Si vas a matar de forma rápida y directa a personas, es mejor que sepas mucho sobre ellas.

Pero cuando se trata del ataque del que más sabemos, el primero, el Gobierno ha tenido dificultades para dar una versión consistente.

Pero al día siguiente, Trump dijo que se dirigía a Estados Unidos, mientras que Rubio modificó su comentario para decir que “se dirigía, eventualmente, hacia Estados Unidos”.

Avancemos rápidamente hasta este mes. Tras conocerse la noticia de que este primer ataque dejó sobrevivientes que posteriormente fueron asesinados, un posible crimen de guerra, el Gobierno se vio obligado a dar explicaciones. CNN informó que el funcionario militar que supervisó la misión, el al

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Casa Pacifica is calling on the community to step up and help vulnerable children and families this holiday season.

Through its Adopt-A-Family program, donors are matched with families in need and provided a wish list that includes gifts, household essentials, and items that bring comfort during a difficult time.

Organizers say the need is especially high this year, with more families facing financial and emotional challenges.

Community support helps ensure each child receives not only presents, but a reminder that they are cared for and not forgotten.

Casa Pacifica encourages anyone able to give—individuals, businesses, and organizations—to participate, donate gift cards, or contribute online.

Program leaders hope more “holiday heroes” will join in to brighten the season for local families.

The post Adopt-A-Family Program Urgently Seeking Holiday Heroes appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Taylor Romine, Emma Tucker, John Miller, Holmes Lybrand, Tori B. Powell and CNN staff

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (CNN) — The suspect in the Brown University shooting has been found dead after taking his own life, authorities said Thursday night.

The deceased suspect was identified as Claudio Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown University student and Portuguese national, Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez, Jr. said during a news conference. Valente was found dead in a storage facility with a satchel, two firearms, and evidence matching the scene of the crime.

The investigation relied on “threads” of information to get officials answers on the shooter’s whereabouts, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.

A person who came to local police officers with information, Neronha said, “blew this case right open.”

“That person led us to the car, which led us to the name, which led us to the photographs of that individual renting the car, which matched the clothing of our shooter here in Providence that matched the satchel that we see here in Providence,” Neronha said.

Earlier, police swarmed the Salem, New Hampshire, area where they found an abandoned car with a license plate believed to be connected to the suspect.

Authorities are also looking into potential ties between the Brown shooting and this week’s killing of an MIT professor at his Massachusetts home, according to a law enforcement official close to the case, though the official stressed there’s not yet definitive evidence of a connection. When authorities involved in the manhunt for Valente saw a call-out from police investigating the killing of an MIT professor, they realized a vehicle of interest in that case was just like one they were looking for.

It was the same kind of car used by suspects in both cases, but the license plates were different, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the case. A witness had provided a license plate to authorities probing the Brown University shooting who then investigated the car and its past drivers, which allowed them to identify the same vehicle of interest in the MIT professor killing.

The shooting on Saturday left two students dead and nine injured at the Ivy League school. At least 75 school shootings have unfolded this year in the US.

The “unthinkable” happened to the Brown University community in Providence and recovering from the devastating mass shooting will take “a great deal of time,” said Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee.

“We’re going to be forever changed but our commitment on the state level is to continue to support Providence, Brown and the people in the state of Rhode Island in recovery,” said McKee at the news conference.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Brown University shooting suspect found dead, officials say appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Annie Grayer, MJ Lee, CNN

(CNN) — A number of Jeffrey Epstein survivors voiced their concern in a private meeting with female Democratic lawmakers earlier this week about the intermittent disclosure of Epstein-related documents and photos by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, sharing that the selective publication of materials was distressing, four sources familiar with the call told CNN.

The video call with members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus featured multiple Epstein survivors, some of their representatives and a number of female House Democrats – some of whom told the survivors that they understood their distress and that they even shared in their concerns.

Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury, who also serves on the oversight panel, told the survivors in the meeting that she would relay their concerns back to the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia. She also said that she had already had some conversations with lawyers on the committee about how they were choosing which photos to release, and made clear that she herself was not happy about not getting much of a heads-up before the committee’s releases, according to the sources.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, another member of both the Democratic Women’s Caucus and oversight committee, agreed with Stansbury’s perspective. She told the group that she is committed to making sure that lawmakers are not causing Epstein survivors additional harm and trauma.

“Rep. Stansbury does not comment on private discussions with survivors and between colleagues. She stands with survivors in seeking justice and ensuring their safety and privacy,” Stansbury communications director Matt Jansen told CNN.

Since last week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released batches of photos that they’ve received from the Epstein estate. The photos have lacked context and mark a small portion of the 95,000 photos that committee members and staff are still sorting through. Democrats have redacted personally identifiable information about Epstein victims and survivors.

The disclosures have prompted some Republicans to accuse Democrats of cherry-picking information to release for political reasons. Since the Epstein estate started provided information to the committee, Democrats have highlighted smaller amounts of materials at a given time, while Republicans have taken a different approach and released larger tranches.

The most recent disclosure came on Thursday, when the House oversight panel’s Democrats released yet another batch of approximately 60 photos.

“Oversight Committee Democrats have always informed the legal teams and representatives of the survivors before any release, and we will continue to do so,” Garcia’s spokesperson Sara Guerrero told CNN in a statement. “The privacy of all survivors is a priority for the committee and all of its members.”

One source told CNN that some survivors did receive a heads-up from the oversight committee that new photos would be released on Thursday, though it is not clear how much detail, if any, about the contents of the images were shared ahead of time.

After members advocated to provide survivors notice in advance of releasing materials, Garcia informed Democrats on the oversight committee on Thursday morning ahead of the release what was included and shared that the survivors’ legal representatives were notified on Wednesday, according to an adviser famil

Por Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN

Las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos realizaron ataques contra dos presuntas embarcaciones de narcotráfico en el este del océano Pacífico este jueves, en los que murieron cinco personas, según el Comando Sur de Estados Unidos.

Al menos 104 personas han muerto en ataques de Estados Unidos contra supuestos barcos de narcotráfico, y el ataque de este jueves marca el tercero esta semana.

“El 18 de diciembre, por orden de @SecWarPete Hegseth, la Fuerza de Tarea Conjunta Southern Spear realizó ataques letales contra dos embarcaciones operadas por organizaciones designadas como terroristas en aguas internacionales”, escribió el Comando Sur de Estados Unidos en X, agregando que ningún militar estadounidense resultó herido en los ataques.

El lunes, Estados Unidos mató a 8 personas en ataques a tres presuntas embarcaciones de tráfico de drogas en el este del Pacífico, y mató a 4 personas en un ataque a una sola embarcación el miércoles.

Los ataques a embarcaciones sospechosas de narcotráfico forman parte de una campaña en curso, denominada Operación Southern Spear, que el Gobierno de Trump ha dicho que busca frenar el tráfico de narcóticos.

Estados Unidos ha incrementado su acción militar en Sudamérica en los últimos meses, enfocándose en Venezuela, una nación que el presidente Donald Trump ha acusado de robar “petróleo, tierras y otros activos” de Estados Unidos.

El Gobierno ha movilizado a miles de militares y a un grupo de portaaviones al Caribe, y Trump el martes ordenó un “embargo total y completo” de los petroleros sancionados que ingresan y salen de Venezuela.

El presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, respondió a Trump el miércoles, acusando a Estados Unidos de buscar un cambio de gobierno junto con la apropiación del territorio y los recursos de Venezuela.

“Sencillamente es una pretensión guerrerista y colonialista. Lo hemos dicho bastante y ya todo el mundo ve la verdad. La verdad ha sido revelada”, dijo Maduro en Caracas.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post EE.UU. ataca dos embarcaciones más en el océano Pacífico y mata a cinco personas appeared first on News Channel 3-12.