内容摘要：Quintonil’s team of chefs test sauces for the menu at the restaurant in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

Quintonil’s team of chefs test sauces for the menu at the restaurant in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

when he and five other government opponents sought refuge in March 2024 at a diplomatic compound in Caracas to avoid arrest. He spent more than a year there and on Saturday, along with four of the others, spoke publicly for the first time since they left the compound surreptitiously and arrived in the United States earlier this month.Machado’s close ally, Juan Pablo Guanipa, was among 70 people detained Friday for alleged anti-government activities. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello linked Guanipa to an alleged “terrorist group” plotting to disturb Sunday’s vote.

Guanipa’s brother, Tomás, rejected the accusation and said the arrest was punishment for “thinking differently” from the government.The ruling party-loyal National Electoral Council oversaw Sunday’s election for state legislators, 285 members of the unicameral National Assembly and all 24 governors, including the newly created governorship, a region long under dispute between Venezuela and neighboring Guyana.

After voting Sunday, Maduro said the electronic polling process is “very fast and very easy,” seemingly justifying the lack of lines at polling centers. Earlier, his ruling-party ally, Gov. Freddy Bernal, explained the apparent low turnout similarly.“We won’t see long lines because the process is very fast,” Bernal, who is seeking reelection as governor of the state of Táchira, told state television.

Maduro also criticized opposition factions who asked people not to vote.

“What did they win? They lost everything,” Maduro said three times regarding previous opposition boycotts. “They — the ones running that campaign — are nothing, and Venezuela continues its course.”The government alleged that the fire ignited when trees that were not properly maintained by the utility and its tree maintenance contractor came into contact with power lines. Damage from the fire closed campgrounds and more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) of trails for years and harmed habitat for the federally endangered wildlife-mountain yellow-legged frog and federally threatened fish and birds, the government said.

“These resources will help us rehabilitate burned areas, restore wildlife habitats and strengthen our forests’ resilience to future wildfires,” said Deputy Forest Supervisor Tony Martinez of the Angeles National Forest.The fire charred about 178 square miles (461 square kilometers).

Last year, the utilityto pay $80 million to settle claims on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service connected to a massive wildfire that destroyed more than a thousand homes and other structures in 2017.