'Trump Rejects Maduro Request For Amnesty In Newly Disclosed Phone Call: WSJ'

 President Donald Trump has reportedly rejected Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's request for broad amnesty during a newly disclosed phone conversation last week, telling Maduro and his top advisers to drop their demands and swiftly exit Venezuela as US military pressure intensifies, which has lately included an order to halt all flights in the country's sovereign airspace.

According to people familiar with the exchange who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, Trump and Maduro discussed a sweeping amnesty plan, during which time Maduro is said to have sought blanket legal protection for himself, his senior officials, and their families. "Trump told Maduro that if he didn’t leave willingly, the US would consider other options including the use of force, according to people familiar with discussion," WSJ wrote.

Many of those same officials are at this moment under US sanctions or face criminal charges related to corruption and narcotics trafficking. 

President Trump is said to have dismissed the proposal while warning Maduro that the United States would ramp up military action if he refused to step down. This is consistent with prior Washington regime change operations in places like the Middle East, which has seen many longtime rulers overthrown - including Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, and Bashar al-Assad.

A number of top-ranking Maduro officials have been called out by the Trump administration, and urged to leave the country immediately - including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez.

Trump while speaking at Mar-a-Lago during Thanksgiving, apparently days after the secretive Maduro phone call, hinted that US ground operations against Venezuela could begin soon. "The land is easier. That’s going to start very soon. We warned them, stop sending poison into our country."

According to some of the details of the newly disclosed call via The New York Times:

The conversation took place late in the week, two of the people said. It included a discussion about a possible meeting between the two men in the United States, according to the people with knowledge of the matter, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. There are no plans at the moment for such a meeting, one of the people said.

The phone call, which included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, came days before a State Department designation of Mr. Maduro as the leader of what the administration considers a foreign terrorist organization, the Cartel de los Soles, came into effect.

After this, Trump announced that the airspace over Venezuela should now be considered closed. "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP," Trump wrote on X. 

Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned pilots to "exercise caution" near Venezuela's airspace due to the "worsening security situation and heightened military activity.

The Pentagon has been deploying warships and other military assets in the Caribbean this year. The deployment centers around bolstering Hemispheric Defense, and the Trump administration has formally characterized Nicolás Maduro as the head of a terrorist organization and considers his government illegitimate. 

Quick response after the US orders what's effectively a total airspace closure over the Latin American country:

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-rejects-maduro-request-amnesty-newly-disclosed-phone-call

NYT Torches Tim Walz After Somalians Scam Woke Minnesota For $1 Billion 'On His Watch'

 The NY Times has thrown Minnesota governor Tim Walz under the bus over a massive and sprawling fraud scandal that federal prosecutors say siphoned over $1 billion from the state's social safety net programs - more than the entire state spends annually to run its Department of Corrections.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)

The fraud involved a series of schemes that federal authorities say took root over the past five years, many centered within Minnesota’s Somali diaspora, where individuals established companies that billed state agencies for services that were never performed. Prosecutors say 59 people have been convicted across various cases so far, in three separate plots.

Minnesota’s fraud scandal stood out even in the context of rampant theft during the pandemic, when Americans stole tens of billions through unemployment benefits, business loans and other forms of aid, according to federal auditors. - NYT

 

Federal prosecutors have emphasized the seriousness of the cases being prosecuted by career federal attorney Joseph H. Thompson - who warned that the scale of fraud threatens public confidence. “No one will support these programs if they continue to be riddled with fraud,” Mr. Thompson said. “We’re losing our way of life in Minnesota in a very real way.”

Feeding Programs and Expanding Fraud

The first public indication of a systemic problem emerged in 2022, when attorneys began prosecuting fraud related to pandemic-era child nutrition programs. 

Prosecutors charged that Feeding Our Future, a Minneapolis nonprofit, partnered with dozens of local businesses to claim reimbursements for tens of thousands of nonexistent meals. The funds were allegedly used for luxury spending, including homes, vehicles, and international real-estate investments.

Investigators later determined that the problem extended beyond the food-assistance program. Two additional fraud schemes came to light last year, including inflated reimbursement claims for services to people at risk of homelessness and fraudulent autism-therapy certifications involving children recruited from Somali communities in Minneapolis.

One provider in the autism program, Asha Farhan Hassan, is accused of facilitating $14 million in fraud. Her attorney, Ryan Pacyga, said she entered the field with good intentions but eventually engaged in falsifying invoices and intends to plead guilty. Pacyga added that some defendants believed state agencies were enabling the fraud. “No one was doing anything about the red flags,” he said. “It was like someone was stealing money from the cookie jar and they kept refilling it.”

Political and Cultural Fault Lines

The cases have fueled debate about whether state officials hesitated to intervene due to concerns over accusations of racism or political backlash. A report by Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor found that threats of discrimination lawsuits influenced regulatory decisions, including early warnings issued by Feeding Our Future that challenging claims from minority-owned businesses would trigger litigation and public accusations.

Kayseh Magan, a former fraud investigator at the Minnesota attorney general’s office, said that pushback contributed to reluctance among Democratic officials. “There is a perception that forcefully tackling this issue might cause political backlash among the Somali community, which is a core voting bloc,” Mr. Magan said.

Amid the prosecutions, allegations even spilled into courtroom misconduct: defendants attempted to bribe a juror with $120,000 and a note asking, “Why, why, why is it always people of color and immigrants prosecuted for the fault of other people?”

Mr. Thompson argued that heightened racial sensitivities following the death of George Floyd in 2020 affected oversight and enforcement. “This was a huge part of the problem,” he said. “Allegations of racism can be a reputation or career killer.”

Walz’s Response

Walz (D), now in his second term and seeking a third, acknowledged that pandemic policies prioritized speed and accessibility of assistance. “The programs are set up to move the money to people,” Mr. Walz said. “The programs are set up to improve people’s lives, and in many cases, the criminals find the loopholes.”

And of course since Walz is seeking a third term next year and fraud has become a central theme in the upcoming governor’s race, he's introduced stricter measures, including:

• a task force to pursue fraud cases

• enhanced inter-agency data-sharing

• new technology — including AI — to detect suspicious billing

Community Impact and Racial Tensions

The fallout has reverberated sharply within Minnesota’s Somali community of roughly 80,000 residents. Many say the scandals have cast suspicion on innocent families and entrepreneurs. Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose district includes Minneapolis, urged Minnesotans not to generalize wrongdoing. “We do not blame the lawlessness of an individual on a whole community,” she said.

Except - as Somali-American professor Ahmed Samatar of Macalester College argues, the scandal demands honest reflection. 

Dr. Samatar said that Somali refugees who came to the United States after their country’s civil war were raised in a culture in which stealing from the country’s dysfunctional and corrupt government was widespread.

Minnesota, he said, proved susceptible to rampant fraud because it is “so tolerant, so open and so geared toward keeping an eye on the weak.” -NYT

Some Somali social-service providers have criticized the increased scrutiny, with the Minnesota Somali Community Center asserting that heightened enforcement has left legitimate organizations feeling “criminalized and intentionally targeted.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/nyt-torches-tim-walz-after-somalians-scam-woke-minnesota-1-billion-his-watch

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4526615-swiss-voters-shoot-down-50-percent-tax-on-super-rich

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/trump-says-he-believes-honduran-ex-president-hernandez-was-set-up-on-drug-trafficking-charges-ce7d51dbde81f422

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraines-anti-corruption-investigation-turning-rolling-coup

Kazakhstan Angrily Calls On Ukraine To Stop Black Sea Oil Terminal Attacks

 Kazakhstan is angrily denouncing and protesting the "deliberate attack" on critical energy transport infrastructure of the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the waters of Russia's port city of Novorossiysk, after on Saturday a naval drone sent by Ukraine severely damaged one of its three loading points.

Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, "We emphasize that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium plays an important role in supporting the stability of the global energy system."

It added: "We view what has occurred as an action harming the bilateral relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and we expect the Ukrainian side to take effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future."

Via Reuters

This marks a rare moment that the former Soviet satellite state in central Asia is directly calling out the Ukrainian government and military.

A key section of Caspian Pipeline Consortium near Novorossiysk has as a result of the attack been taken offline until repair and restoration works are completed.

The consortium's over 930-mile pipeline connects oil fields in western Kazakhstan and Russian offshore fields in the Caspian Sea to a marine terminal in Novorossiysk, which means the location serves as the main export route for Kazakh oil, and is one of the world’s largest oil conduits by volume.

Regional sources note that the pipeline transports about 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports. According to the consortium's confirmation of the weekend attack:

CPC said on Saturday that a November 29 naval drone attack on its terminal had “significantly damaged” Single-Point Mooring (SPM) 2 – essentially a floating buoy which connects to tankers to load oil.

“Further operation of Single Point Mooring 2 is not possible,” CPC said. “Loading operations and other operations were stopped [and] tankers were withdrawn from the CPC water area.”

“We believe that the attack on the CPC is an attack on the interests of the CPC member countries,” CPC said.

Moscow for its part decried the Ukrainian attacks as amounting to terrorism and further alleged that European powers are currently engaged in an intense hybrid war against Russia.

However, Ukraine can in turn point to constant and devastating Russian aerial attacks against its energy grid, ahead of what is likely to be a harsh winter - at a moment much of the country is under a rolling power blackout regimen.

Over in Europe, Hungary has also long complained of these Ukrainian attacks on pipelines and energy infrastructure. This summer crude oil flows from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline suffered forced disruptions after Ukrainian drone strike crippled transformer stations and other elements.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/kazakhstan-angrily-calls-ukraine-stop-black-sea-oil-terminal-attacks

VW Aims To Cut Development Costs In Half With New "Made In China" Car

 Volkswagen says it can build an electric car entirely in China at roughly half the cost of producing one in Germany, helped by quicker development, lower labor expenses, easier battery sourcing and a more efficient supply chain, according to FT.

After heavy investment in its new R&D base in Hefei, which includes more than 100 labs for software, hardware and powertrain testing, the company says it can now validate software, hardware and full vehicles at the same time.

According to VW’s China technology chief Thomas Ulbrich, the facility gives engineering teams “an entirely new level of integration,” allowing them to shorten decision cycles and speed up innovation. VW says the development timeline for new Chinese EVs is about 30 per cent shorter than the traditional 50-month process

FT writes that the carmaker intends to introduce around 30 EV models in China over the next five years as it tries to regain momentum in the world’s largest auto market, where competition from domestic EV makers has eroded its earlier dominance.

Although the strategy began as “in China, for China,” executives say the company is now considering exporting Chinese-built models and applying Chinese-led advances to its global operations.

Other European manufacturers, such as Renault, are also trying to match China’s rapid development pace by simplifying components and relying more on local engineering talent.

Still, VW stands out for the scale of its investment, committing almost €4bn in China since 2022 through efforts including its partnership with Xpeng and its funding of Horizon Robotics, with which it is developing an AI chip for autonomous-driving features.

These moves come as VW continues to cut costs in Germany, where high production expenses and weak European demand have led to a plan to reduce its domestic workforce by 35,000 by 2030.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/vw-aims-cut-development-costs-half-new-made-china-car