El ministro de Seguridad Social de Brasil, Carlos Lupi, renunció este viernes a su cargo, luego de que estallara un escándalo de corrupción y fraude en su cartera, del que -asegura- no formó parte.

La semana pasada, la Policía destapó la operación “Sin Descuento”, una trama que tuvo lugar entre 2019 y 2024, y se basó en cientos de miles de descuentos no autorizados en los recibos de jubilaciones y pensiones, por parte de sindicatos y asociaciones que debían prestar servicios a estos sectores sociales.

Los investigadores creen que, en total, se habrían descontado unos 1.100 millones en dólares, con posible connivencia de funcionarios del Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Social. El dinero era sustraído por medio de diversos métodos, como el pago de créditos no solicitados, y desviado a través de estas empresas u organismos que tenían convenios con la cartera.

El caso llegó a las autoridades luego de que se recibieran denuncias de unos 130.000 jubilados por fondos sustraídos de forma irregular de sus cuentas; sin embargo, se estima que el número real de víctimas podría ser mayor e -inclusive- superar las cuatro millones de personas.

Lupi aseguró que no estuvo involucrado en esta trama ni tuvo conocimiento de ella durante su tiempo al frente de la cartera de Seguridad Social, pero igualmente se distanció del cargo.

“Tomo esta decisión con la certeza de que mi nombre no fue citado en ningún momento en las investigaciones en curso”, se defendió en un comunicado publicado en sus redes sociales.

El Gobierno de Lula da Silva aceptó de inmediato su dimisión y anunció que será sustituido por Wolnet Queiroz, hasta entonces viceministro y también parte del Partido Democrático Laborista.

Asimismo, convocó este mismo viernes a una serie de reuniones en las que comenzó a evaluar las posibilidades para devolver a los jubilados y pensionados su dinero, aunque aún no se ha hecho pública ninguna decisión oficial.

Al igual que Lupi, el presidente del INSS, Alessandro Stefanutto, fue destituido diez días atrás, cuando se conoció por primera vez el caso, y otros seis funcionarios de la entidad y un policía federal fueron suspendidos, en tanto avanzan las investigaciones.

Esta semana, Lula brindó un discurso en el que celebró que su Gobierno haya “desmontado” este esquema ilegal y se comprometió a que los responsables sean procesados y obligados a reparar los daños causados, aunque Marcelo Freire Sampaio Costa, miembro del Ministerio Público del Trabajo, planteó sus dudas sobre la posibilidad de avanzar en un escenario tal a la brevedad.

“Los bienes incautados por las investigaciones no pueden convertirse inmediatamente en dinero para refinanciar las arcas de la Unión, porque las personas a las que se les incautaron tienen que enfrentarse a un proceso penal. Tienen que poder defenderse, tiene que haber un juicio justo para que finalmente sean condenados o no”, explicó.

El escándalo llegó en un mal momento para Lula, que se enfrenta a una imagen positiva en caída, principalmente por el alza de la inflación, y pierde, con la salida de Lupi, a un miembro clave en las alianzas del Partido de los Trabajadores, de cara a las elecciones de 2026.

Además, a todo esto se suma que el de la Seguridad Social es ya el segundo caso de corrupción que enfrenta su gabinete, luego de que en abril su ministro de Comunicación, Juscelino Filho, fuera acusado por presuntos sobornos durante su desempeño como diputado, en 2022, y debiera renunciar a su cargo.

(Con información de AFP y EFE)

U.S. officials have finalized new economic sanctions against Russia, including banking and energy measures, to intensify pressure on Moscow to embrace U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end its war on Ukraine, according to three U.S. officials and a source familiar with the issue.

The targets include state-owned Russian energy giant Gazprom and major entities involved in the natural resources and banking sectors, said an administration official, who like the other sources requested anonymity to discuss the issue.

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The official provided no further details.

It was far from clear, however, whether the package will be approved by Trump, whose sympathy for Moscow’s statements and actions have given way to frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spurning of his calls for a ceasefire and peace talks.

The U.S. National Security Council «is trying to coordinate some set of more punitive actions against Russia,» said the source familiar with the issue. «This will have to be signed off by Trump.»

«It’s totally his call,» confirmed a second U.S. official.

«From the beginning, the president has been clear about his commitment to achieving a full and comprehensive ceasefire,» said National Security Council Spokesman James Hewitt. «We do not comment on the details of ongoing negotiations.»

The U.S. Treasury, which implements most U.S. sanctions, did not respond to a request for comment.

An approval by Trump of new sanctions, which would follow the Wednesday signing of a U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal that he heavily promoted as part of his peace effort, could signify a hardening of his stance towards the Kremlin.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 the United States and its allies have added layer upon layer of sanctions on the country. While the measures have been painful for Russia’s economy, Moscow has found ways to circumvent the sanctions and continue funding its war.

Trump «has been bending over backwards to give Putin every opportunity to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to have a ceasefire and an end to the war,’ and Putin keeps rejecting him,» said Kurt Volker, a former U.S. envoy to NATO who was U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations during Trump’s first term. «This is the next phase of putting some pressure on Russia.»

«Putin has been escalating,» he continued. Trump «has got the U.S. and Ukraine now in alignment calling for an immediate and full ceasefire, and Putin is now the outlier.»

Since assuming office in January, Trump has taken steps seen as aimed at boosting Russian acceptance of his peace effort, including disbanding a Justice Department task force formed to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin.

He also has made pro-Moscow statements, falsely blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for starting the conflict and calling him a «dictator.»

Meanwhile, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, has advocated a peace strategy that would cede four Ukrainian regions to Moscow, and has met Putin four times, most recently last week.

But three days after that meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Putin’s maximalist demands for a settlement and Moscow’s forces have pressed frontline attacks and missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, claiming more civilian casualties.

Reuters reported in March that the United States was drawing up a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief but Trump in recent weeks has expressed frustration with Putin’s foot-dragging on ending the invasion and last Saturday held a «very productive» one-on-one meeting in the Vatican with Zelenskiy.

The next day, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he was «strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions and Tariffs on Russia» that would remain until a ceasefire and final peace deal.

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Volker said that Russia has been earning hard currency that funds its military through oil and gas sales to countries like India and China and that it would be «very significant» if Trump slapped secondary sanctions on such deals.

Secondary sanctions are those where one country seeks to punish a second country for trading with a third by barring access to its own market, a particularly powerful tool for the United States because of the size of its economy.

A new report warns that NATO is unprepared for modern digital warfare. Without stronger leadership, especially from the U.S., the alliance could face serious security risks.

The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) released a study showing that many NATO members are failing to modernize their military data systems.

Although NATO leaders talk about the importance of secure and shared cloud infrastructure, most countries still store critical military information in local servers that are vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The report calls data the «currency of warfare» and urges NATO to improve how it stores and shares military information.

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At the moment, most NATO countries are building separate national cloud systems. France uses Thales, Germany uses Arvato, and Italy is working with Leonardo to develop sovereign defense cloud services, according to the CEPA report Defend in the Cloud: Boost NATO Data Resilience.

The U.S. has its own approach, using Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle to build a sovereign cloud for the Department of Defense, as noted in the same CEPA report.

This fragmented setup is creating major problems. The CEPA report explains that many of these national systems are not interoperable, which makes it difficult for NATO allies to share intelligence or respond rapidly in times of crisis.

Although 22 NATO members have pledged to build shared cloud capabilities, progress has been slow. CEPA describes a gap between what leaders promise and what is actually getting done, and the process remains slow and overly bureaucratic.

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Feb. 13. (AP Photo/Harry Nakos)

Some of the hesitation stems from political tensions. 

Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has reinforced his long-standing position that NATO members must meet their defense spending commitments. 

In early 2025, Trump proposed raising the target above the current 2% benchmark and stated publicly that the U.S. would only defend NATO allies who meet what he considers their «fair share» of the burden.

TRUMP PRAISED FOR GETTING NATO ALLIES TO BOLSTER DEFENSE SPENDING: ‘REALLY STAGGERING’

At the same time, Trump has taken credit for strengthening the alliance by pushing European governments to boost their defense budgets. 

In March, he pointed to what he called «hundreds of billions of dollars» in new allied defense spending as proof that his pressure was effective. His administration continues to engage in high-level NATO meetings and has publicly affirmed support for the alliance’s core mission.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has worked to reassure European partners. During an April meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, he stated that the U.S. is «as active in NATO as it has ever been,» pushing back on claims that the administration is disengaging.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio addresses the audience during a final press conference as part of the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels on April 4. (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

According to statements published by the State Department and reported by Reuters, Rubio emphasized that Trump is not opposed to NATO itself, but to an alliance that is under-prepared or underfunded.

Rubio is also playing a central role in U.S. efforts to broker peace in Ukraine. In early 2025, he led direct talks with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia and presented Trump’s terms for a possible ceasefire, according to official State Department readouts and contemporaneous reporting by Reuters and other outlets.

Rubio has emphasized that Ukraine and European allies will remain closely involved in the process. After a pause in U.S. aid earlier this year, he announced that military support would resume once Kyiv signaled agreement with the proposed framework for peace.

Meanwhile, NATO continues to provide assistance to Ukraine through a trust fund valued at nearly $1 billion. This figure is based on NATO’s own reporting on its Comprehensive Assistance Package, as cited in CEPA’s April report.

The alliance is also coordinating training and equipment donations, but the CEPA report makes it clear that efforts are being slowed by a lack of secure data sharing.

The report points to Estonia as a model for digital resilience. Estonia backs up its government data in Luxembourg through a «data embassy» system, ensuring it remains protected even if local systems are attacked. NATO, according to CEPA, should encourage similar strategies across the alliance.

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According to CEPA, the U.S. is best positioned to lead the way, with Trump and Rubio already taking the necessary steps to push NATO in the right direction.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

CEPA’s report can be reviewed here.