NEW: The Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, Spain, has officially reached its maximum height after being under construction for 144 years.
A 55-foot-tall white cross now stands at the top of the Tower of Jesus Christ.
The basilica now stands at a soaring height of 566 feet.
The Sagrada Familia was designed by Antoni Gaudífirst and the first stone was placed in 1882. The basilica's full completion is not expected for another decade.
As designed by Gaudí, who passed away in 1926 at the age of 73, the cross at the top has four arms so it can be recognized from any direction.
Beautiful.
Laura, with respect, your take reflects a serious lack of understanding of basic principles of constitutional law as well as of Venezuela’s legal and political reality, and of Venezuelans themselves.
The core flaw in the argument you are amplifying is the claim that there are “pro-market reforms” underway in Venezuela. That claim collapses immediately once you apply even the most elementary legal test: there can be no market without Rule of Law. Rule of Law is not a rhetorical preference; it is a foundational pillar of free societies and a necessary precondition for any functioning free market. Property rights, contract enforcement, judicial independence, and legal certainty are not optional add-ons—they are the market.
When @MariaCorinaYA rightly questions the legality of the so-called 2025 National Assembly, she is not engaging in obstructionism or “nitpicking.” She is defending the principle of Rule of Law. Laws must be debated, enacted, and approved by a competent and legitimately constituted authority. An illegitimate body cannot manufacture legality by passing statutes, no matter how market-friendly the language appears on paper.
For that reason, all decisions adopted by the 2025 Assembly are inherently subject to future judicial review, nullification, and legislative reform once constitutional order is restored. Any serious investor understands what that means: legal uncertainty, political risk, and the absence of credible guarantees.
This position is not marginal, ideological, or anti-Trump. On the contrary, it is fully aligned with the official position of the United States. Just last week, the U.S. National Security Advisor and Secretary of @StateDept@marcorubio stated during a hearing before the Senate @SenateForeign that the only legitimate authority recognized by the current U.S. administration is the National Assembly elected in 2015. That Assembly continues to meet periodically and has even approved a hydrocarbons law that offers more robust, market-oriented conditions than those proposed by the illegitimate chavista body in 2025. I invite you to actually read it.
What the 2025 Assembly is doing instead is a narrative performance, designed to sustain the fiction that Nicolás Maduro remains president and that his removal depends on parliamentary maneuvers despite the fact that under Venezuela’s Constitution, only a legitimate parliament can determine a temporary or absolute absence of the president. Ironically, those who support the 2025 Assembly in this specific context are the ones undermining @POTUS , not Machado because they validate a structure that contradicts the constitutional framework the U.S. itself recognizes.
Finally, on the issue of highly skilled Venezuelans: it is entirely true that they will not return until there is a full, credible restoration of constitutional order. I am one of them. As a constitutional lawyer with two graduate degrees from foreign universities and professional experience abroad, I -and thousands like me- will not relocate our lives, capital, or expertise to a system where legality is provisional and rights depend on political discretion.
Markets do not run on slogans. They run on law. And #Venezuela will not have a real market economy until it has real Rule of Law.
Cumplo con informar que, luego de 380 días de una injusta detención arbitraria y, de haber padecido, durante más de un año, una inhumana situación de desaparición forzada, mi esposo Rafael Tudares Bracho ha regresado a casa, esta madrugada.
Ha sido una lucha estoica y muy dura por más de 1 año, en la que finalmente logramos la excarcelación de Rafael, y aspiramos, más temprano que tarde, su libertad plena, a la que tiene derecho.
En estos momentos, agradezco muy especialmente a todas y cada una de las personas que me han apoyado humanamente, en la lucha por su libertad, desde el 7 de enero de 2025.
Especialmente, agradezco el apoyo al Equipo de la Oficina del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos, con sede en Panamá, que siempre hicieron seguimiento e incidencia en este caso, en el ámbito de sus competencias humanitarias.
Igualmente, todo mi agradecimiento a mi familia, incluso a mi hijos, y a los verdaderos amigos que nos apoyaron, humanamente, sin miedo y con muchos sacrificios, en todo la lucha. Gracias por tanto!
Finalmente, un agradecimiento especial a todos los familiares de las víctimas de desapariciones forzadas, detenciones arbitrarias y presos injustamente, que aún esperan la libertad de sus seres queridos. Toda mi solidaridad y apoyo. Siempre los llevaré en mi corazón y estarán presentes en mis oraciones.
Dios, nuestro señor, gracias por nunca abandonarnos. Santo Padre, Juan Pablo II, gracias por ser mi guía en estos últimos días🙏
¡Atención! Absolutamente todos los excarcelados por el régimen de Venezuela, están saliendo bajo medidas cautelares y prohibiciones. Al día siguiente de sus excarcelaciones, han tenido que ir a los tribunales para comenzar los procesos de juicios. (Siguen oprimidos)
Free all Political Prisoners in Venezuela!
Libertad para todos los Presos Políticos en Venezuela, es el llamado que realiza el equipo del @ForoPenal Capítulo Houston TX, con este original video.
Gracias especiales a Anita Viloria coordinadora de Houston, a Ramón Castro @ramoncastro77 quien grabó y editó el vídeo y a otras personas defensores de DDHH que se unieron para realizar el video.
Todo suma cuando se trata de pedir la justa liberación de TODOS los presos políticos en Venezuela, y cuando nos referimos a justa nos es libertad plena para todos!
Seguimos
The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, said the government would be releasing some political prisoners.
But only 11 of the country’s 800 political prisoners have been released so far. https://t.co/WS66dgHaHT
Acaba de ser excarcelada otra presa política, Didelis Raquel Corredor, quien fuera asistente de Roland Carreño. Se encontraba presa desde el 13 julio 2023. Van 11 excarcelados. Quedan 809.
ATTENTION Delcy Rodríguez and Diosdado Cabello — We expect all political prisoners in Venezuela, including all Americans, to be unconditionally released NOW.
Aracelis Balza sería la 9na presa política excarcelada. Fue excarcelada del Helicoide. Esto representa un poco mas del 1% de lo actuales presos políticos: 814 (cifra actualizada con nuevos registros)
Señor @SecRubio: nosotros, los venezolanos de bien, queremos que usted le ordene a la Sra. Rodríguez que libere a TODOS los presos políticos. Es una cuestión de humanidad!