Stakes rise as Trump deploys world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean

When Donald Trump started sending warships, marines and reaper drones to the Caribbean in August to torment Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, the US’s former ambassador in Caracas, James Story, suspected the deployment was largely for show: a spectacular flexing of military muscle supposed to force the authoritarian leader from power.

But in recent days, as the world’s largest aircraft carrier and its strike group powered towards the region and the US president continued to order deadly airstrikes on alleged narco-boats, the diplomat’s thinking has shifted.

“Facts on the ground have changed tremendously,” Story said as the USS Gerald R Ford headed west amid the US’ largest military buildup in Latin America in decades.

Two months ago Story, who was Washington’s top diplomat for Venezuela from 2018 to 2023, saw only a 10% chance of some kind of US attack on Venezuelan soil and an 80% chance that Trump’s gambit would come to nothing. Now, he said he is 80% sure things would evolve into some kind of military action and sees only a 20% chance the status quo would hold.

“I’d say [something is] imminent, without a doubt,” Story predicted as observers in Venezuela and around the world battled to forecast what the unpredictable US president’s next move might be.

Victoria’s ‘adult time for violent crime’ reforms will not solve the youth crime problem

The Victorian government has announced a new youth justice reform package. The package is punitive in its nature, focused around an “adult time for violent crime” measure for several offences. These include aggravated home invasion, intentionally or recklessly causing injury in circumstances of gross violence, carjacking and serious and repeat aggravated burglary and armed robbery.

Children aged 14 years and over charged with these offences may face an adult court, devoid of the protections of the children’s court system. They will also be subject to significantly longer periods of imprisonment, including life imprisonment for aggravated home invasion and aggravated carjacking.

Announcing the reforms, Premier Jacinta Allan stated:

That means courts will treat these children like adults, so jail is more likely, and sentences are longer.

The reforms come following significant pressure on the Allan government from the community and media to introduce more punitive responses to youth crime.

However, these reforms violate human rights obligations, contradict evidence-based research and are expensive. They will have long-term, devastating impacts for children and young people in conflict with the law.