World
EU rejects 'democratic legitimacy' of Venezuela's Maduro
![EU rejects 'democratic legitimacy' of Venezuela's Maduro EU rejects 'democratic legitimacy' of Venezuela's Maduro](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/08/68/70/16/1200x675_cmsv2_87fe4c78-0ccf-522c-a17f-bcd4affb7296-8687016.jpg)
The EU’s 27 foreign ministers said Maduro would remain Venezuela’s de facto president but that they denied his democratic legitimacy.
The European Union’s foreign ministers on Thursday jointly rejected Nicolás Maduro’s claim to re-election in Venezuela, but stopped short of joining the US in recognising opponent Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate President-elect.
“We cannot accept the legitimacy of Maduro as the elected president,” the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said after an informal ministerial meeting in Brussels.
“He will remain president de facto, but we deny democratic legitimacy based on results that cannot be verified,” he added.
There was broad consensus among ministers to reject Maduro’s democratic legitimacy, but no such consensus to recognise the electoral victory of González Urrutia, who addressed the ministers by video earlier on Thursday, a diplomatic source confirmed.
The declaration comes a month after the highly contested July 28 presidential ballot in which Maduro was declared the winner, despite international concerns that the vote lacked transparency and claims from the opposition it has evidence the incumbent was defeated.
Protests continued in Venezuelan cities on Wednesday amid fears Maduro was tightening his grip on power and spurning international pressure to provide verified evidence of his claim to re-election.
Last week, Venezuela’s Supreme Court – known to be packed with Maduro’s loyalists – upheld the incumbent’s victory, prompting condemnation from several foreign governments in the West and Latin America.
The US has declared González the legitimate winner of the election, citing “overwhelming evidence.”
EU stops short of recognising González as election winner
The political opposition says it has voting tallies that testify that González won the vote by a landslide, prompting international calls for the Venezuelan authorities to publish a comprehensive breakdown of the national vote.
A United Nations panel of experts analysed a sample of the tallies published online by the opposition and found that they exhibited “all the security features of the original result protocols”. The Venezuelan government has rejected the tallies as forged.
Venezuelans vote using electronic machines that print a paper receipt. Those receipts are then deposited in a ballot box and are used to generate voting tallies, or “actas” that the Venezuelan authorities have so far refused to disclose.
Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares voiced concern that those voting tallies may never be made public.
“A significant amount of time has already passed and so we as 27 countries must face the likely situation that we will not be able to see these voting tallies, and neither will the opposition be able to analyse them,” Albares said.
Borrell echoed the Spanish minister’s concerns, accepting that Maduro would become Venezuela’s de facto leader.
Maduro has lashed out at foreign governments that have contested his victory. Speaking in Caracas on Tuesday, he launched a flurry of insults at Borrell, accusing him of “complicity” in the war in Gaza and of instigating an “open war against Russia from Ukraine.”
Opposition asks EU to step up
Relations between the EU and Venezuela have frayed since the EU denounced Maduro’s 2018 re-election as unfree and unfair, prompting the bloc to introduce sanctions as part of international efforts to weaken Maduro’s grip on power.
The bloc recently said calls for new sanctions were “premature” as long as the political crisis persisted.
Nelson Dordelly Rosales, Special Advisor on EU Affairs for opposition group Plataforma Unitaria Democrática, told Euronews that while sanctions could be increased to up pressure on Maduro’s regime, the bloc also needs more creative solutions if it is to support the democratic movement in Venezuela.
“The European Union used to think out of the box and tried to use other tools in the diplomatic toolbox,” Dordelly said, adding that “financial” incentives could help propel a democratic transition in the country.
“More than 70% of the population wants democratic change. So it’s important for the EU to listen to that and to do more than just simply adding a few names on the sanctions list.”
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World
Boar's Head plant linked to deadly outbreak broke food safety rules dozens of times, records show
A Boar’s Head deli meat plant in Virginia tied to a deadly food poisoning outbreak repeatedly violated federal regulations, including instances of mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings, and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment, newly released records show.
Agriculture Department officials logged 69 instances of “noncompliance” with federal rules in the past year, including several in recent weeks, according to documents released through federal Freedom of Information Act requests.
The Jarratt, Virginia, plant has been linked to the deaths of at least nine people and hospitalizations of about 50 others in 18 states. All were sickened with listeria after eating Boar’s Head Provisions Co. Inc. deli meats. The company recalled more than 7 million pounds of products last month after tests confirmed that listeria bacteria in Boar’s Head products were making people sick.
Between Aug. 1, 2023, and Aug. 2, 2024, U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service personnel found “heavy discolored meat buildup” and “meat overspray on walls and large pieces of meat on the floor.” They also documented flies “going in and out” of pickle vats and “black patches of mold” on a ceiling. One inspector detailed blood puddled on the floor and “a rancid smell in the cooler.” Plant staff were repeatedly notified that they had failed to meet requirements, the documents showed.
“I think it is disgusting and shameful,” said Garshon Morgenstein, whose 88-year-old father, Gunter, died July 18 from a listeria infection traced to Boar’s Head liverwurst. “I’m just even more in shock that this was allowed to happen.”
The documents, first reported by CBS News, didn’t contain any test results that confirmed listeria in the factory. The bacteria thrive on floors, walls and drains, in cracks and crevices and hard-to-clean parts of food processing equipment. Pests such as flies can easily spread the bacteria through a plant and the germ can survive in biofilms — thin, slimy collections of bacteria that are difficult to eradicate.
Officials with Boar’s Head did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, but a spokesperson told CBS that the company regrets the impact of the recall, prioritizes food safety and addressed the USDA’s concerns.
Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University, said the records raise a lot of red flags.
“It makes me wonder why additional actions weren’t taken by management of that company and the regulators,” she said.
Donald Schaffner, a Rutgers food science and safety expert who reviewed the inspection documents, said reports of condensation throughout the plant are concerning because that’s a known risk factor for listeria.
“The fact that they are having the same problems over and over again weeks apart is an indication that they really struggling to keep up with sanitation,” Schaffner said.
Listeria infections cause about 1,600 illnesses each year in the U.S. and about 260 people die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People older than 65, those who are pregnant or who have weakened immune systems are most vulnerable.
USDA food safety officials did not immediately respond to questions about the conditions at the plant. Federal reports show no enforcement actions against Boar’s Head between January and March, the latest records available.
Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who has sued companies over food poisoning outbreaks, said the conditions described in the inspections reports were the worst he’s seen in three decades.
Garshon Morgenstein said his father bought Boar’s Head products because of the company’s reputation.
“For the rest of my life, I have to remember my father’s death every time I see or hear the name Boar’s Head,” he said.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
World
Hundreds of thousands of dead fish blanket Greek tourist port after flooding
![Hundreds of thousands of dead fish blanket Greek tourist port after flooding Hundreds of thousands of dead fish blanket Greek tourist port after flooding](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/2024-08-28T140636Z_2_LYNXMPEK7R0IN_RTROPTP_4_EUROPE-WEATHER-GREECE-FISH.jpg)
Greek authorities have started collecting hundreds of thousands of dead fish that poured into a tourist port in the central city of Volos this week after being displaced from their usual freshwater habitats during flooding last year.
The floating carcasses created a silvery blanket across the port and a stench that alarmed residents and authorities who raced to scoop them up before the odour reached nearby restaurants and hotels.
GREEK-FLAGGED OIL TANKER ADRIFT AND ON FIRE AFTER SUSPECTED HOUTHI ATTACK
“It spans kilometers,” city council member Stelios Limnios told Reuters. “It’s not just along the coast, but also in the center of the Pagasetic Gulf,” he said, referring to the area offshore Volos whose coast is lined with holiday homes.
On Wednesday, trawlers dragged nets to collect the fish that were then dumped in the back of trucks. More than 40 tonnes have been collected in the last 24 hours, authorities said.
A man sits in a boat as tons of dead fish have washed up in the port of Volos, Greece, August 28, 2024. (REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis)
Volos mayor Achilleas Beos said the smell was unbearable. During a press conference on Wednesday he blamed the government for not dealing with the problem before it reached his city. He said that rotting fish could create an environmental disaster for other species in the area.
Experts said the problem was caused by historic floods last year that inundated Thessaly plane further north, including rivers and lakes. A net was not placed at the mouth of the river leading into Volos, they said. When the fish met the sea, the saltwater likely killed them.
“They didn’t do the obvious, to put a protective net,” mayor Beos said, referring to government services.
The environment ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Local prosecutors have ordered an investigation.
The disaster is the latest impact of extreme weather in Greece that scientists link to climate change, including higher temperatures and erratic rainfall that cause wildfires and flooding.
Dimosthenis Bakoyiannis, 33, who owns a beach restaurant 10 km (6 miles) from Volos, says his turnover dropped 80% this summer as fewer tourists wanted to visit after the flooding.
“Closing the barrier now doesn’t help,” he said. “Now it’s too late, the tourist season is over.”
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