Another Country Fights for Democracy

Ahoy, Meteor readers,

I have been watching Olympic rugby sevens since 9:30 this morning. I was initially watching to support social media sensation Ilona Maher—but I got hooked, kept watching, and friends, it was worth it: Today I got to see these women make history:

In today’s newsletter, we travel to Venezuela, where a hotly contested election has drawn hundreds of protestors. Plus, a new abortion ban goes into effect—and, of course, there’s more Olympics.

I love sports,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Venezuela fights for a fair election: Yesterday, thousands of Venezuelans flooded the streets to protest the results of Sunday’s election, in which officials had declared incumbent President Nicolas Maduro the winner. The opposing candidate Edmundo González and government opposition leader Maria Corina Machado are saying they have undeniable proof that the election—which had the highest turnout in years—was actually won by González.

Their claims have some backing: Maduro’s government has yet to provide verification for the election results, and the opposition has paper tallies which they claim  show they won by at least three million votes. Several countries in the region have denounced the election results.

The high voter turnout was motivated largely by González and Machado, who have been harnessing Venezuela’s young voters in an effort to overturn 25 years of authoritarian rule. Millions cannot afford food or medicine and polling showed that if Maduro remains in power, many plan to flee the country.

But Maduro won’t go quietly into that long good night—sound familiar?—and the reverberations of that decision could be disastrous. As one expert points out, “[If] Maduro clings to power by fraud and other illegitimate means, Venezuela will have missed perhaps its last best chance at change for a long time. Instability will persist and perhaps deepen, and Latin America and the United States will have no choice but to absorb the consequence.”

AND:

• Yesterday, a six-week abortion ban went into effect in Iowa. An abortion provider in the state told The 19th that many patients had no idea the law—passed more than six years ago—was about to become reality. (“We are having extremely difficult conversations in my department with patients,” she said.) Learn how you can support pregnant people in Iowa here.

• On that note: According to a new study, more women have tried to induce their own abortions since the fall of Roe. Unsurprising, but devastating.

• Vladimir Putin had a very specific message for the women in his country, the ones whose rights his government has been rolling back for years: Have more children—at least seven or eight. His suggestionsinclude starting reproduction at 18 to maximize childbearing years, and skipping college and career to focus on rebuilding the nation. Since this advice is coming from a man who has been sending Russian citizens into an endless and violent war of conquest since 2022—I think we can take it and throw it in the trash.

• Megan Thee Stallion is also Megan Thee Philanthropist. As Texans recover from Hurricane Beryl, Megan’s charitable foundation is working to get generators for senior citizens in Houston who still haven’t regained electricity since the storm landed in early July.

• In his final months in office, President Biden is wasting no time. During a speech yesterday, he described the Supreme Court as overrun by an “extreme and unchecked” conservative agenda (accurate) in desperate need of reform (also accurate). What’s he suggesting for a fix? Term limits and a binding ethics code for those sitting on the bench. Can this happen in the foreseeable future? It would have to get through Congress first which….yeah. Still worth trying.

• The women of Team USA have been busy making history! Queens native Lauren Scruggs just took home the silver in women’s individual foil fencing, making her the first Black American woman to earn an individual medal in that sport. And while we’re on the topic of Black women winning, Team USA won gold at the women’s team gymnastics final and that extra medal means that Simone Biles is officially the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history.

• Meantime, Olympics commentator Bob Ballard was dropped by Eurosport after making sexist comments about the Australian swim team. After they won gold for the 100 meter relay, they were apparently delayed in leaving the building—at which point Ballard said, “Well, the women just finishing off. You know what women are like, hanging around, doing their makeup.” Bye-bye, Bob.

• A new study out of Yale looks at how why the gender pay gap hasn’t budged much in the last few decades and the factors that have made progress stagnant: less early career opportunities and declining wages for young people, writ large. And what has closed the gap is not women earning more but instead men earning less. The researchers tell CNBC,  “Young women have done a tiny bit better between the mid-’70s and mid-’90s, but that how much better they have done is very small relative to how much young men have dropped in the wage distribution.”

• Tomorrow marks the global release of Netflix’s Mountain Queen, a documentary about Nepali climber Lhakpa Sherpa, who currently holds the world record for most summits up Mt. Everest by a woman. The movie is a gutting and inspiring story of all she overcame—from poverty to domestic violence to going back to her job at Whole Foods after climbing the largest peak in the world. The Meteor recommends!

• Scientists are inching ever closer to reviving the extinct wooly mammoth. It would be great if scientists took this level of fascination and funding and applied it to something less Jurrassic Parky, like, oh, I don’t know, understanding menopause.

• And…more weirdness from J.D. Vance.

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