Machado put ego above unforgiving earthquake crisis in Venezuela | Opinion

Extreme request

Once again, Miami Herald writer Mary Anna Mancuso’s June 29 op-ed, “U.S. is right to prioritize Venezuela earthquake rescue, not Machado’s return,” says it as it is!

That opposition leader Maria Corina Machado wants top priority in returning to Venezuela while the U.S. government is dealing with the unforgiving earthquake crisis in Venezuela is typical of a politician’s ego and timing for political points.

Mancuso, as in her previous op-eds, nails it. I wish we could clone her, as she is never biased and reminds me of true reporting back in the day. So refreshing, indeed.

Lucita L. Moran,

Coral Gables

Bye-bye, ethics

Donald Trump’s use of the presidency to massively enrich himself reminded me of a moment during a legal seminar I attended in Colorado many years ago. I tried to buy dinner for a long time friend, Stan Goldstein, then a circuit judge in Miami. He declined, saying he did not want to appear to have a conflict of interest.

Unfortunately, Stan is gone and so is any concept of conflicts of interest. Are there no limits?

James Woodard,

Palmetto Bay

Excellent reminder

Mary Anna Mancuso’s June 14 op-ed, “America’s 250th is worth celebrating — even if you didn’t vote for Trump,” was excellent and definitely worth reprinting. As our communities, nation and even families become more divided, it may seem challenging to remember what this holiday signifies.

I thank Mancuso for reminding us of the country’s ideals, the importance of its history and learning from the past, while encouraging all, regardless of ideology, to focus on what is vital and what each of us can celebrate as we aim to improve and move forward.

Pamela F. Poulos,

Miami

World Cup fervor

Watching the World Cup and the passion exhibited by the fans is an overwhelming experience and makes me jealous that Americans don’t seem to have the same fervor. The Tartan Army and the Norway Rowing Team put immediate smiles on my face.

It would be wonderful if we could show the same excitement for our local and national teams.

Sol Yanowitz,

Miami

Apathy at the top

The World Cup is frequently celebrated as a testament to global unity, a grand stage where a shared love for the game transcends borders. With the tournament hosted across North America, international visitors are finally experiencing the “America” they’ve long encountered in history books and cultural lore. They are discovering a sprawling, diverse culture, captivated by our complex societal fabric to the spectacle of American consumerism at mega-stores like Buc-ee’s.

This historic moment grants President Donald Trump a unique trifecta: presiding over the World Cup tournament as our nation celebrates its monumental 250th anniversary and later, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. It is a rare opportunity to showcase the iconic “Shining City on a Hill.”

Instead, the administration squanders the spotlight on manufactured distractions, such as the recent reflecting pool debacle. This chaotic deflection is a familiar playbook, designed to obscure deeper administrative incompetence. Fortunately, global visitors see through the noise.

Trump’s assertion that the U.S. is more respected than ever is easily debunked outside of partisan media silos. As America marks 250 years of pioneering modern democracy and innovation, it also faces deep-seated pitfalls. We are at a critical inflection point and international audiences will undoubtedly witness a nation deeply conflicted about its milestone.

While Trump cannot be solely blamed for a cultural rift years in the making, his insistence on turning a historic celebration into a personal spectacle ensures his legacy will be remembered — just not favorably.

Alex Jimenez,

Winter Park

Devastated Venezuela

Venezuelans are neither happy nor celebrating. We were already living a tragedy: a narco-regime running our country. We are grateful that the United States captured the man at the top, because someone finally did what the Venezuelan military and most of those benefiting from the regime never had the courage to do. However, the masterminds behind that system are still in power, still calling the shots.

Venezuela, burdened with a $250 billion debt, was recently struck by an earthquake that has devastated the country. It would take three “Marshall Plans” to give Venezuela a real chance to recover. No economic recovery plan, however, can change a culture of corruption.

If President Trump is genuinely committed to helping Venezuela, then extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary decisions. Strong leadership should be exercised through an international civilian-military governing authority that guarantees public order, the transparent distribution of humanitarian aid and the beginning of institutional reconstruction.

Venezuela does not need a government of the same political figures who have dominated the country’s past, nor of those who today seem more concerned about the next elections than about the suffering of millions of Venezuelans. Venezuela needs real solutions, not political calculations.

Carlos Marquez,

Miami

U.S.-Iran questions

The first of the 14 points in the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to end the war agrees to the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon…” The inclusion of Lebanon was deliberate.

President Donald Trump, who agreed to and signed this MOU, is now saying Iran is not honoring the ceasefire agreement, with attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Israel did not sign this MOU and certainly is not terminating its military operations in Lebanon.

If Trump knew Israel would not agree to this condition, why did he sign it?

Questions as to who is not honoring the agreement must be answered.

John Jarnagin,

Key Largo

Civics 101

The U.S. Supreme Court should not have even heard the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara. Birthright citizenship is clearly written in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment Citizenship Clause, which guarantees citizenship to all persons born in the United States.

We are all here because our grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents immigrated to the United States to build this country through their skills and a desire to make this a better place for their families.

Why are we suddenly judging the status of the babies born to illegal immigrants here? Who are we to twist and transform the words of our Founding Fathers and ostracize human beings from their basic human rights?

Babies born on this land clearly have the right to be U.S. citizens, regardless of their parents’ status.

Mayade Ersoff,

Palmetto Bay

Brewing trouble

A report released by Beyond Plastics in May caused a furor when it placed Starbucks’ “widely recyclable” claims in its target hairs. The coffee company and the plastics industry did what they do best — bury the well-researched document behind numbers without documentation and cast doubt on the basic premise of the report.

The furor has died, but the problems of recycling plastic remain. Plastic was not invented to be recycled, but the industry has played a public relations game since the 1960s in response to being blamed for the growth in litter and trash.

Symbols used today give the impression of recyclability, but none of these are legally regulated. The chasing arrows triangle, the How2Recycle instructions and others are no guarantee that your used container will be recycled. The Miami-Dade Recycle Right website explicitly states that “numbers on plastic are no longer helpful indicators of recyclability.”

Much of the problem is the lack of a national recycling strategy and spotty recovery infrastructure, making an item “widely recyclable” in some areas and a landfill item in others.

John S. Szalasny,

Miami