Puerto Rico – Artifex.News https://artifex.news Stay Connected. Stay Informed. Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:40:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://artifex.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/cropped-cropped-app-logo-32x32.png Puerto Rico – Artifex.News https://artifex.news 32 32 War clouds: On the U.S. and Venezuela https://artifex.news/article70345450-ece/ Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:40:00 +0000 https://artifex.news/article70345450-ece/ Read More “War clouds: On the U.S. and Venezuela” »

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Donald Trump’s remark that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered “closed in its entirety” raised fears that the Republican “peacemaker” President may be preparing to attack the South American nation. Over the past few weeks, the U.S. has intensified pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by conducting strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific waters against alleged drug traffickers and bolstering its troop presence in the region. Washington insists that the operations are part of its ‘war on drugs’, and accuses Mr. Maduro of heading Cartel de los Soles, which the U.S. has designated as a foreign terrorist organisation. The U.S. troop deployment includes two amphibious ready groups with over 4,500 Marines and sailors. The Pentagon has also sent aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, is hosting F-35 fighter jets and MQ-9 Reaper drones, just across Venezuela’s coast. In October, the U.S. flew a pair of supersonic B-1 Lancer bombers along the coast of Venezuela. It is now evident what Mr. Trump seeks — a regime change in Caracas. And Venezuela’s right-wing opposition, led by Nobel Peace Laureate María Corina Machado, has wholeheartedly endorsed America’s plans.

Mr. Maduro, a self-styled socialist, stands accused of rigging the 2024 presidential election, and Venezuela’s economy has suffered a near-total collapse on his watch, prompting millions to flee. He shares responsibility for Venezuela’s current condition. But the U.S. is not an innocent actor either. Washington’s sanctions have been a major contributor to Venezuela’s economic crisis. In the past, U.S. and several European governments had recognised Juan Guaidó, an opposition figure, as the President in a bid to undermine the Maduro government. Venezuela has long been used as a transit route by drug traffickers from Colombia, the source of most of the world’s cocaine. Yet, the U.S. government has not produced solid evidence to link Mr. Maduro to the cartels or to drug trafficking. The attacks in the Caribbean waters killing civilians constitute a blatant violation of international law. The threats by the Trump administration against Mr. Maduro, irrespective of the character of his regime, amount to an assault on Venezuela’s sovereignty. More importantly, the U.S. seems unwilling to learn from its past mistakes. It invaded Afghanistan in 2001 only to leave 20 years later after cutting a deal with the Taliban. America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq turned out to be one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes. Mr. Trump, who claims credit for ending many wars, must step back from the brink, and seek to resolve differences with Venezuela through dialogue.

Published – December 02, 2025 12:10 am IST



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]]> Elon Musk Flags Risk Of Poll Rigging https://artifex.news/we-should-eliminate-evms-elon-musk-flags-risk-of-poll-rigging-5900100/ Sun, 16 Jun 2024 02:48:20 +0000 https://artifex.news/we-should-eliminate-evms-elon-musk-flags-risk-of-poll-rigging-5900100/ Read More “Elon Musk Flags Risk Of Poll Rigging” »

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India uses the third generation of EVMs, known as M3 EVMs.

New Delhi:

Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk has advised against the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), citing concerns about their potential vulnerabilities to hacking. His remarks come amidst growing debates over the security of EVMs worldwide, especially following allegations of irregularities in Puerto Rico’s recent primary elections.

“We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high,” Musk posted on X.

The spotlight on EVM security has intensified due to recent controversies in Puerto Rico. The primary elections there were plagued by numerous irregularities linked to EVMs. However, a paper trail allowed election officials to identify and correct vote tallies.

Musk’s remark was in response to, Robert F Kennedy Jr, nephew of former US President John F Kennedy and an independent hopeful for the 2024 US Elections, who wrote, “Puerto Rico’s primary elections just experienced hundreds of voting irregularities related to electronic voting machines, according to the Associated Press. Luckily, there was a paper trail so the problem was identified and vote tallies corrected. What happens in jurisdictions where there is no paper trail?”

Kennedy Jr advocated for a return to paper ballots to prevent electronic interference in elections, ensuring that every vote is counted and elections remain secure.

While concerns over EVMs are gaining traction in the United States, the scenario in India presents a contrasting picture. India uses the third generation of EVMs, known as M3 EVMs, which are designed to be tamper-proof. These machines enter a ‘Safety Mode’ and become inoperable if any tampering attempts are detected.

A dedicated team of professors from three prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has been instrumental in the latest upgrades of Indian EVMs. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is supported by an eminent Technical Expert Committee (TEC) on EVMs, ensuring that the devices are robust and secure.

READ | Top Experts From IIT Who Helped Design India’s Most Tamper-Proof EVMs

Professor Dinesh K Sharma, a specialist in microelectronics and solid-state electronics from IIT Bombay, told NDTV, “Indian EVMs are different from other EVMs in the world. The M3 EVMs have no connection to any other device, not even mains power supply.”

The Supreme Court this year addressed the issue of cross-verification of votes cast on EVMs through paper slips generated by Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta rejected petitions seeking 100 per cent cross-verification, maintaining the current practice of verifying five randomly selected EVMs per Assembly constituency.

READ | “Blindly Doubting System…”: Big Supreme Court Order On VVPAT Verification

However, the court issued two directives to the Election Commission. Firstly, after symbols are loaded into an EVM, the symbol loading unit must be sealed and secured in containers signed by the candidates and their representatives. Secondly, these sealed containers, along with the EVMs, should be kept in storerooms for at least 45 days after the declaration of results.

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