WSJ What’s News - Maduro Opponents and U.S. Question Venezuelan Election Results

Episode Date: July 29, 2024

A.M. Edition for July 29. Strongman Nicolás Maduro declares victory in Venezuela’s presidential election, an unlikely result disputed by the country’s opposition. Plus, President Biden prepares to call for Supreme Court reforms, including a motion to overturn a ruling on presidential immunity. And, with wildfires blazing across parts of North America, the WSJ’s Vipal Monga says Canada’s efforts to pursue ambitious climate goals while still being home to a massive oil industry have turned into a political quagmire for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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for info on kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro claims another presidential win while his opponents cry foul. Plus, President Biden is about to call for an overhaul of the Supreme Court. And as wildfires flare up in Canada, Plus, President Biden is about to call for an overhaul of the Supreme Court. And as wildfires flare up in Canada, so too is debate over the country's climate and energy policy.

The Liberal Party of Canada, which is headed by Justin Trudeau, basically wants the Canadian energy grid to be net zero by 2035. But that's created a climate backlash against him. It's Monday, July 29th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed victory in yesterday's presidential election, setting him up for a third six-year term in office. Residents around Caracas banged pots and pans to protest the result, which was announced by a regime-controlled electoral council and showed Maduro

winning by a margin of 51 to 44 percent. The journal's Cajol Vias is in the capital. The opposition has already suggested that the results were fraudulent and the numbers announced by the council appear to run very much against pre-election polls, exit polls, and quick counts that all gave the opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez anywhere from a 20 to 30 point advantage over Maduro, who's wildly unpopular. Speaking this morning, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. had serious concerns that the result announced did not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.

It's critical that every vote be counted fairly and transparently, that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers without delay, and that the electoral authorities publish the detailed tabulation of votes. The international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly. The election result is a blow to the Biden administration, which had offered concessions to Venezuela in exchange for commitments to hold free elections, but instead saw Maduro tighten his authoritarian grip. His re-election could also prolong an economic crisis that has fueled an exodus of nearly 8 million people over Maduro's rule, many of whom have settled in the U.S. and across

Latin America. Over the last decade, Venezuela's economy has contracted by 80 percent. Diplomats are scrambling to avoid all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah after a rocket attack Saturday killed 12 young people in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, leading Israel to authorize a retaliatory strike on the militant group in Lebanon. Israel and the U.S. have accused Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, of carrying out Saturday's attack, something Hezbollah denies.

The journal's Kerry Keller-Lynn is in Tel Aviv. Kerry, what is the mood like there this morning and what are we watching for next? Kerry Smedley-Miller, Director, National Institute of National Defense of Israel It's very tense. Some people are even refreshing their emergency supplies. And there is also quite a bit of frustration with the government because this is coming after nearly 10 months of fighting on Israel's border with Lebanon and that undeclared war has not been contained. In terms of what we're watching

for, Israel's military has called for full readiness on the northern border, and we understand that Hezbollah is bracing as well. Meanwhile, Israel's foreign minister has said that the Saturday attack crossed all red lines and that Israel is approaching a moment of an all-out war against Hezbollah and Lebanon. Nat. So some strong language there, Keri, that we have heard repeated warnings about the risk of war before. Is that actually more likely now? Analysts say that Israel's expected response is likely to be calibrated to be a show of force but come short of the full declaration of war. Obviously, that remains to be seen,

but there are significant American-led efforts to mediate between the sides and to pass messages that neither Israel nor Hezbollah nor even Iran, which backs Hezbollah, are interested in a fuller escalation of this conflict. And any Israeli anticipated strike will probably toe the same line. Keller Lin in Tel Aviv. Elon Musk shared a manipulated version of a campaign video for Vice President Kamala Harris on X this weekend, potentially breaching his own social media platform's policy, which forbids the sharing of synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that could deceive or confuse people. The reworked ad, which purports to be a parody, mimics the Vice President's voice to have her say she is the quote, ultimate diversity hire, end quote, and that her work addressing

the root causes of the border crisis was catastrophic. A spokeswoman for the Harris campaign blasted the post as, quote, the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump, while X didn't return the journal's request for comment. And President Biden is set to announce plans to overhaul the Supreme Court today, including proposing a constitutional amendment overturning a decision that gave Donald Trump and other former presidents immunity for crimes allegedly committed while in office. According to a White House official, Biden is also expected to urge Congress to set term limits for justices and impose an enforceable code of conduct instead of letting judges

police themselves. While there is little chance that the proposals will advance before the November election, with public approval of the court at historic lows, Democrats believe they'll resonate with voters. Coming up with wildfires blazing across North America, we'll look at how Canada's climate agenda and the impact of its lucrative oil sector are becoming increasingly hard to reconcile. We've got that story and more after the break.

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in domestic ticket sales in its debut weekend, blowing past preliminary estimates. That makes it the best opening weekend so far this year, with Inside Out 2, another Disney sequel, holding the number two spot. And in other markets news we're watching today, seizures of distressed office buildings and other commercial property in the U.S. climbed to their highest rates since 2015 over the second quarter, according to MSCI. While high interest rates and the slow return of workers to offices have punished the commercial property sector, the jump in foreclosures could signal it's close to bottoming out.

In a sign of how much investors value safety despite the roaring stock market, Morningstar reports that fixed-income ETFs have taken in nearly $150 billion through late July, a record sum for this point in the year. With bonds paying the highest yields in a generation, investors have embraced both indexed and actively managed funds before interest rates start coming down. McDonald's this morning is set to kick off another busy week of earnings, which will see four of the so-called Magnificent Seven report results – Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Apple.

Investors will also have their eyes on central banks, with the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, and Bank of England all due to make decisions on monetary policy this week. And Bitcoin's price has extended a recent rally, trading at nearly $70,000 following Donald Trump's speech at a Bitcoin conference over the weekend where the former president said he intended to create a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile if re-elected. California is battling its largest wildfire of the year, a blaze that has now burned an area greater than the size of Los Angeles and which was just 12% contained as of last night. Separate fires are ongoing in Oregon, Idaho, and Western Canada where droughts, extreme heat, and deadly wildfires are causing

widespread devastation. And just like last year when wildfires burned through an area larger than Florida and cost the Canadian economy close to $10 billion, that's sparking debate around climate change and reducing emissions from Canada's booming oil sector. Journal Canada correspondent Vipal Manga told us that Ottawa's balancing act between pumping more oil and trying to protect the climate is angering almost everyone. Canada is extremely rich in oil, fourth behind only Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in terms of oil reserves.

So for the oil and gas sector, it's close to a boom time. A lot of these companies are making money hand over fist, just basically milking cash flow. And with the completion of the Trans Mountain expansion, which is a new pipeline that goes from Alberta to the west coast of British Columbia, they now for the first time have access to Asian markets, which is sending the price of Canadian oil higher. Trouble is Canada's oil industry has been called the dirtiest oil industry in the world because it creates so much greenhouse gas in order to get this oil out, not to mention the fact that as this oil is burned it creates its own greenhouse gas. Despite setting some of the world's most ambitious emissions reduction targets,

Canada remains the only G7 country with higher emissions now than in 1990. However, Vipal says that attempts to curb oil production and introduce a consumer carbon tax haven't gone over well. The Liberal Party of Canada, by Justin Trudeau basically wants the Canadian energy grid to be net zero by 2035. So ironically, Trudeau is also the person who stepped in in 2018 and saved the Trans Mountain expansion. The Canadian government stepped in and bought it to save it and spent 25 billion billion to build it. By doing so, he basically boosted the fortunes of the oil and gas industry. Now, he's not really getting any credit for that in Alberta. They still see him as a person who

basically wants to phase out the oil and gas industry. And what is created is a climate backlash against him. The carbon tax adds about 50 cents to every gallon of gas that consumers pump, which has created a lot of frustration at a time when inflation is riding high and affordability is becoming a large problem. And with it shaping up to be another summer of extreme weather, from heat waves to torrential rain, we want to know how you have been affected. And as these phenomena increasingly become a business risk, what questions do you have about what companies are doing to mitigate their effects?

To weigh in, send a voice memo to wnpod at wsj.com or leave a voicemail with your name and location at 212-416-4328. Just might use it on the show. And that's it for What's News for Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Bullivant, with supervising producer Christina Rocca and I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.