Axios

1. Spain's Parliament yesterday passed a bill recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia as the South American country's legitimate president-elect.

• The designation would only be official if Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez signs the bill, however.
• González is living in exile in Spain after being granted political asylum this weekend, after threats of arrest by the regime of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.

2. A highway project in the Brazilian Amazon will be completed despite major concerns about its environmental impact, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this week.

Today's pachanga is for Regina Mills, assistant professor of English at Texas A&M University!

• Regina published her first academic book, a literary history of Afro-Latinos, Afro-Latinas, and Afro-Latinxs in the U.S.
• "Invisibility and Influence: A Literary History of AfroLatinidades," was published by the University of Texas Press in June 2024.

Congrats!

🎤 Please send us your pachanga nominations by filling out this form or replying to this email!

Hispanic sports fans are helping drive the surging popularity of soccer in the U.S. while also engaging heavily with other sports, per a new report.

Why it matters: Understanding how Latinos consume sports is key for advertisers, teams and brands that want to capture the coveted and growing audience.

Huge financial imbalances between the U.S. and China can be chalked up to weaknesses in each nation's domestic economy — as opposed to being primarily driven by unfair Chinese trade practices, according to a new piece from International Monetary Fund economists.

Why it matters: The conclusion throws some cold water on the Biden administration's stance that China's practice of heavily subsidizing targeted industries is a central economic concern.

An elite Israel Defense Forces unit conducted a highly unusual raid in Syria earlier this week and destroyed an underground precision missile factory that Israel and the U.S. claim was built by Iran, according to three sources briefed on the operation.

Why it matters: Israeli airstrikes on Syria have increased since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel as cross-border conflicts between Hezbollah and Israel intensified. But the raid on Sunday was the first ground operation the IDF has conducted in recent years against Iranian targets in Syria.

The total economic output of U.S. Latinos reached $3.6 trillion in 2022, growing at a faster rate than most wealthy global economies, according to a report released Thursday.

Why it matters: Despite wide economic disparities in the United States, Latinos' rapid population growth, relative youth, educational attainment and high levels of entrepreneurship have made them an economic powerhouse.

A list of Europe's economic shortcomings is a reminder of the strength that underpins the U.S. economy.

Why it matters: The man credited with saving Europe from one crisis now says it faces another. Countries are falling behind; he says the union must become more like America to catch up.

Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the director of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel met with Hamas negotiators on Wednesday to try to break the deadlock in the hostage-release and ceasefire in Gaza deal talks, three sources with knowledge of the meeting said.

Why it matters: The meeting in Doha was aimed at trying to get Hamas to lessen its new demands about the release of Palestinian prisoners who are serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, the sources said.

President Biden said Wednesday that he was "outraged" by the killing of an American activist by an Israeli soldier last week and that Israel needs to take "full accountability" for the incident.

The big picture: Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head during a protest in the town of Beita last Friday. The Biden administration had pressed Israel to swiftly provide information on the incident, and the IDF investigation was concluded unusually fast due primarily to the fact that she was an American.

Over and over at last night's presidential debate, Kamala Harris set traps surgically designed to provoke, rattle and enrage Donald Trump.

• And over and over, Trump stepped right into them.

Why it matters: With just eight weeks until the election, Harris delivered for Democrats on the biggest possible stage — the type of national stage that ended President Biden's political career less than three months ago.

Former President Trump raised a baseless conspiracy theory on Haitian immigrants eating pets during the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday night.

Why it matters: A presidential nominee on the debate stage accused people, without evidence, of eating cats and dogs.

Former President Donald Trump claimed during Tuesday's presidential debate that his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris "hates Israel" while she fired back that he "admires dictators."

Why it matters: The candidates' exchange about foreign affairs and national security was less about policy and more about personal attacks.