Venezuelans, and us
Plus Brazil, Ukraine, Iran, and Ian
Colombia on Monday reopened its 1,400-mile border with Venezuela after it was closed for seven years. The new leftist government in Bogotá headed by President Gustavo Petro met on the Simón Bolívar International Bridge with Venezuelan officials in a major step toward normalizing relations. The move is a setback for two decades of U.S. policy in the region, which sought to isolate the populist regime of Hugo Chavez and now his successor, President Nicolás Maduro.
The Simón Bolívar International Bridge in recent years came to symbolize the humanitarian crisis engulfing Venezuela, as 25,000 people a day crossed the bridge on foot fleeing a Venezuela where they could no longer access food, medicine, or a future. As pastors and others used the bridge to move supplies into Venezuela, the border also became the scene of violent clashes. Whether its opening will ease or intensify the crisis, it increasingly is bleeding north to the U.S. border and into November elections.
Welcome to this Sept. 28 Globe Trot. I’ve been sick, off schedule (my apologies to all), and running small fevers for no reason, but the great world spins apace. Sickness can speed compassion, and compassion “asks us to go where it hurts,” said Henri Nouwen. “Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”
Venezuela: Last month, Venezuelans surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at the U.S. border after Mexicans. The journeys for most are desperate and dangerous, yet they’ve become political fodder for border state governors even as they find Americans want to help them.
The 50 Venezuelans in Texas that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew to Martha’s Vineyard had lawfully sought asylum—
Asylum seekers are not “illegal” immigrants. They are simply following the law we enacted, said Mona Charen.
The volunteers from the Martha’s Vineyard Episcopal church who sheltered them said they missed supporting them once they were transported to a U.S. military installation. DeSantis now faces questions about the state-funded political operation, legal challenges, and perhaps fallout for his reelection bid for governor.
United States: The Biden administration plans to continue the refugee ceiling for the 2023 fiscal year at 125,000. That’s a separate category and process from border asylum seekers.Biden (after pressure) increased the cap to 125,000 for 2022, but the United States is on track to admit fewer than 25,000 refugees. The cap is merely symbolic if the U.S. doesn’t “rebuild and restore” our resettlement infrastructure, evangelical leaders wrote in a letter to President Biden and Congress.
In a survey released by Lifeway and other groups yesterday, more than 4 in 5 evangelicals describe legal immigration as helpful to the U.S., and want a balanced solution to the current impasse. In a massive shift from evangelicals surveyed in 2018, about three-fourths say they believe the United States has an obligation to accept refugees and others.
Brazil: As voters go to the polls for Sunday’s too-close-to-call presidential election, evangelical voters could prove pivotal. Some indicate they will turn from President Jair Bolsonaro to his leftist rival, ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Cuba: Hurricane Ian has collapsed the country’s power grid as it barreled over the island and prepared to make landfall again along Florida’s west coast on Wednesday.
Iran: Nowhere else in the Muslim world would we see what we are seeing in Iran right now, writes Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to formally annex occupied territories in Ukraine after staging referendums that involved coercion and door-to-door threats. Voting in Russian-controlled parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia ended Tuesday, with authorities claiming that each received between 87-99% approval from residents.
Any annexation will come as a Ukrainian counteroffensive across the Kharkiv Oblast continues to make gains into Luhansk and other regions. And as mass conscription in Russia is met with angry opposition. And as church groups and other organizations continue to resupply Ukrainians in areas freed from Russian control in recent weeks.
Putin may be weakened but he isn’t near finished, say neighboring leaders:
“We face two options,” said a senior Baltic defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy deliberations. “Either Russia ramps up its repression at home and escalates its war in Ukraine, or Russia faces internal upheavals and instability if Putin can’t keep control.”
“Neither option is good for any of us in this region,” the official added.
Japan held a rare state funeral for its longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in July as he stood to speak at a rally. Abe's signature policies included reviving Japan's economy and loosening constitutional restrictions on the military, but there was public opposition to the event because he stepped away from power amid scandal and had ties to the Unification Church.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s 90-year-old Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen went on trial yesterday. He and five others are charged with failing to properly register an aid fund for pro-democracy demonstrators. The trial is a reprisal for his vocal opposition to the regime’s crackdown on religious rights and democratic freedoms, writes Nina Shea:
Even under Mao, the Chinese Communist Party never forced a Chinese Catholic cardinal to stand trial on political charges. Now, this persecution of the venerable cardinal, who is 90 years old and the veritable face of the Chinese Catholic Church, comes as negotiations are underway for the renewal of the Sino–Vatican agreement on the appointment of bishops and must be seen in that context.
Despite this and another upcoming trial for Zen, Pope Francis publicly declared his intent to seek renewal of the agreement, which set to expire in October, and makes Catholic worshippers subject to a state church under the government. He expressed overall satisfaction with it, saying it is “moving well,” though “not ideal.” Asked about Cardinal Zen, Francis downplayed China’s harassment, saying the cardinal “says what he feels” and freedom has “limitations.”
Uganda: An expanded outbreak of Ebola cases in an area west of Kampala has killed 23 people of 36 total cases so far. An outbreak location poses a risk of further spread, says the WHO, because it is on a busy road that leads to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the area contains gold mines attracting people to the area.
Israel and West Bank: With her death, journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is becoming an emblem of Palestinian aspirations, her face captured in murals across the West Bank.
Lawyers representing the family of the slain Al Jazeera journalist submitted a complaint to the International Criminal Court at The Hague, calling for an investigation into her May killing. Akleh was shot and killed by Israeli fire while covering a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin last May, both U.S. and Israeli officials have concluded.
During his July visit to Israel, President Joe Biden sidestepped a request to meet with the family of Akleh, who was a U.S. citizen.
U.S. officials have not demanded accountability and compensation in her death; instead, pressing Israel instead to “review its policies and practices to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”
Italy joined Sweden in electing a far right leader this week, and The Dispatch has a good rundown of just who Giorgia Meloni says she is.
United Kingdom: “We are learning what she meant to us by coping with her absence,” said Sam Allberry following the late monarch’s funeral last week. In a half-hour interview with Russell Moore that’s worth your time, Allberry discusses Queen Elizabeth’s faith, suggesting the royal family going forward may be more inclined to talk about “values” than belief. Will King Charles III continue his mother’s Christmas Day messages? And while he does talk of his own Christian faith, will he speak of Christ? Allberry also has good insights on post-Christian America versus post-Christian England and the future of the Church of England, where he is ordained.
Don’t miss… Of all the stories about the Queen, it’s okay to have on repeat personal security guard Richard Griffin’s tale of her pulling one over on two American hikers.
I'm glad you're doing better. Thanks for your hard work in pulling together these insightful reports.
Thanks for another excellent roundup.