1. The Biden administration this week, for the first time, referred to Edmundo González Urrutia as "president-elect" of Venezuela.
Independently collected voting tallies of the July 28 election show González got about 70% of the vote, but there has been no official vote count shared – and President Nicolás Maduro instead claims he won a third term.
It's unclear what impact calling González president-elect might have as Venezuela gets close to the Jan. 10 date for a presidential inauguration. González is currently in exile in Spain.
2. Mauro Cid, a Brazilian military officer who served as a private secretary to former President Jair Bolsonaro, was called to testify before the Supreme Court today about his knowledge of an alleged plot to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Cid, who has not commented on the subpoena, last year pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting Bolsonaro in alleged embezzlement. (Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing.)
Five military officers, along with a former general who served in Bolsonaro's cabinet, have been arrested on suspicion of planning the assassination.
Authorities say the suspects also had plans to kill Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes in late 2022, after Bolsonaro lost the elections.
