Venezuela Floods Kill at Least 25 after Heavy Rains

People sit surrounded by belongings following floods due to heavy rains, in Las Tejerias, Aragua state, Venezuela October 9, 2022. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria
People sit surrounded by belongings following floods due to heavy rains, in Las Tejerias, Aragua state, Venezuela October 9, 2022. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria
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Venezuela Floods Kill at Least 25 after Heavy Rains

People sit surrounded by belongings following floods due to heavy rains, in Las Tejerias, Aragua state, Venezuela October 9, 2022. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria
People sit surrounded by belongings following floods due to heavy rains, in Las Tejerias, Aragua state, Venezuela October 9, 2022. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

At least 25 people died and 52 were missing after five small rivers in central Venezuela flooded due to heavy rains, Citizen Security Vice President Remigio Ceballos said Sunday evening in a televised address.

The downpour on Saturday night swept large tree trunks and debris from surrounding mountains into the community of Tejerias, 40 miles (67 kilometers) southwest of Caracas, damaging businesses and farmland, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said earlier in the day.

Rodriguez said that a month's worth of rain had fallen in just eight hours and pumps used to power the community's drinking water system were carried away in the flood waters, Reuters reported.

Rodriguez said the priority was to locate people still trapped under mud and rocks throughout the town, while military and rescue personnel also searched the riverbanks for survivors.

"We have lost boys, girls," the vice president said from a flooded street in Tejerias. "What has happened in the town of Tejerias is a tragedy."

President Nicolas Maduro said in a tweet that he had designated the area a disaster zone and had declared three days of mourning.



Greenland Independence Is Possible but Joining the US Unlikely, Denmark Says

The Greenlandic (L) and Danish flags are pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Copenhagen on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
The Greenlandic (L) and Danish flags are pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Copenhagen on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
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Greenland Independence Is Possible but Joining the US Unlikely, Denmark Says

The Greenlandic (L) and Danish flags are pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Copenhagen on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
The Greenlandic (L) and Danish flags are pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Copenhagen on January 8, 2025. (AFP)

Greenland may become independent if its residents want, but is unlikely to become a US state, Denmark's foreign minister said on Wednesday after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out force to take control of the Arctic island.

Greenland's leader held talks on Wednesday with the Danish king in Copenhagen, a day after Trump's remarks thrust the fate of the mineral-rich and strategically important island, which is under Danish rule, to the top of world headlines.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said on Tuesday he would not rule out using military or economic action to make Greenland part of the United States. The same day, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., made a private visit to Greenland.

Greenland, part of NATO through the membership of Denmark, has strategic significance for the US military and for its ballistic missile early-warning system since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the Arctic island.

The president-elect has indicated he would pursue a more combative foreign policy that disregards traditional diplomatic formalities.

Greenland, the world's biggest island, has been part of Denmark for 600 years although its 57,000 people now govern their own domestic affairs. The island's government led by Prime Minister Mute Egede aims for eventual independence.

"We fully recognize that Greenland has its own ambitions. If they materialize, Greenland will become independent, though hardly with an ambition to become a federal state in the United States," Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said.

He told reporters the United States' heightened security concerns in the Arctic were legitimate following increased Russian and Chinese activity in the region.

"I don't think that we're in a foreign policy crisis," he said. "We are open to a dialogue with the Americans on how we can possibly cooperate even more closely than we do to ensure that the American ambitions are fulfilled."

Still, although Denmark itself played down the seriousness of Trump's threat to its territory, the returning president's openly stated ambition to expand US borders has jolted European allies less than two weeks before he takes office.

France's foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said Europe would not let other nations attack its sovereign borders, although he did not believe the US would invade.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed surprise at Trump's comments about Greenland and Canada, underlining that European partners unanimously uphold the inviolability of borders as a cornerstone of international law.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Greenland's relations with Denmark have lately been strained by allegations of colonial-era mistreatment of Greenlanders. Egede has said the island is not for sale, while in his New Year speech he stepped up his push for independence. Denmark says the territory's fate can be decided only by Greenlanders.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday she could not imagine Trump's ambitions would lead to US military intervention in Greenland. Denmark's military capabilities there are limited to four inspection vessels, a Challenger surveillance plane and dog sled patrols.

Responding to Trump's threat of tariffs against Denmark, which according to analysts at Danske Bank could potentially be "quite harmful to Danish companies, Frederiksen said she did not think a trade war with the United States was a good way forward.

Denmark is home to Novo Nordisk, Europe's most valuable company, which makes weight-loss drug Wegovy that has become hugely popular in the United States, the Nordic country's biggest trading partner.

The Danish royal palace gave no details ahead of King Frederik's meeting in Copenhagen on Wednesday with Greenland's Prime Minister Egede.

While many Greenlanders dream of independence from Denmark, the king remains popular on the island, having spent extended periods there, including a four-month expedition on the ice sheet. Last month, the royal court modified its coat of arms, enlarging a polar bear that symbolizes Greenland.

"I'm sure the king is really the person best placed in Denmark to deal with this issue right now because he has a long history with Greenland," Damien Degeorges, a Reykjavik-based consultant specializing in Greenland, told Reuters.

"He's popular in Greenland. So he can clearly be helpful to the Danish-Greenlandic relationship."

Trump already raised the issue of the US taking over Greenland during his first presidency, but his latest remarks still left many Danes baffled.

"I find it extremely ridiculous," said Jeppe Finne Sorenson, a data engineer in the Danish capital. "We have an alliance, we're allies. So this doesn't really respect that."