Sign in

Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻

@maripuerta.com
2K followers 2.3K following 1.3K posts

Venezuelan-American • PoliSci Assistant Prof • PhD in Cultural Studies • Assistant Professor • Democracy & Autocratization • She/Her/Ella • Reposts ≠ endorsement • Spread: joinspread.com/u/maria-isabel-puerta-riera • www.maripuerta.com NO DMs

PostsRepliesMedia
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 05/09/2026
More Americans Are Identifying as Democrats Ahead of Midterms www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/u...
nytimes.com
Gallup Polls Show Democrats Outnumber Republicans Ahead of 2026 Midterm Elections
Data from Gallup shows that Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have their largest advantage over Republicans since 2008.
040
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 24/07/2026
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him
Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.
020
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
NEW: If there were any Republican hopes that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) might change her mind to vote for the SAVE America Act, she made it clear in no uncertain terms that she will never. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
Murkowski slams door shut on supporting SAVE America Act
Not only is Sen. Murkowski not going for the SAVE America Act, but the Wall St. Journal says Trump's desperate pleas for the bill could backfire.
1642907686
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 15/07/2026
Sifting Through Quakes’ Rubble, and the Ashes of a Revolution Explore this gift article from The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/w...
nytimes.com
Sifting Through Quakes’ Rubble, and the Ashes of a Revolution (Gift Article)
The devastation of Jacqueline Zúñiga’s city in Venezuela follows the demise of her political project. The revolution is over, but the human ties that help her cope remain.
001
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 13/07/2026
"Among the analysts’ concerns was last year’s dismissal of two senior career intelligence officers after one of Gabbard’s deputies tried to rewrite their assessment that Venezuela was not directing a criminal gang, Tren de Aragua."
14016
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 13/07/2026
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
theatlantic.com
CIA Officers Can Sense the Threat Within
A survey reveals concern among the rank and file that Trump-administration meddling is undermining intelligence work.
052
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 11/07/2026
The Trump administration issued subpoenas to New York Times journalists who wrote about the new Air Force One, an escalation of pressure on the media.
nyti.ms
Times Journalists Subpoenaed as Trump Escalates Pressure on Media
The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”
117359157
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 11/07/2026
Platner’s Rise and Fall Revives Old Questions About ‘Bernie Bros’ and Women www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/u...
nytimes.com
Platner’s Rise and Fall Revives Old Questions About ‘Bernie Bros’ and Women
The collapse of Graham Platner’s Senate bid in Maine after a rape allegation renewed attention to a movement built by Senator Bernie Sanders that some say is too forgiving of male misconduct.
000
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 10/07/2026
He’s Suspected of Hiring a Venezuelan Gang for a Political Killing. Trump Officials Still Work With Him. www.propublica.org/article/chil...
propublica.org
He’s Suspected of Hiring a Venezuelan Gang for a Political Killing. Trump Officials Still Work With Him.
Authorities say former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime hired Tren de Aragua to kidnap a dissident who had taken refuge in Chile. The suspected mastermind, Diosdado Cabello, remains powerf...
022
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 07/07/2026
With $8 Billion in Venezuelan Oil Money, U.S. Gives $300 Million in Quake Aid www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/w...
nytimes.com
With $8 Billion in Venezuelan Oil Money, U.S. Gives $300 Million in Quake Aid
247
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 06/07/2026
TROPICAL PARTHENON THIS WEEK: Venezuela after the earthquakes open.substack.com/pub/maripuer...
001
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 04/07/2026
Happy 250th from @timothysnyder.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
open.substack.com
On Tyranny — Special 250th Edition
With friends, on video, to recall and to rebel
010
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 04/07/2026
After the Earth Stopped Shaking www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/w...
nytimes.com
After the Earth Stopped Shaking
000
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 04/07/2026
This is a heartwrenching description of the human tragedy and government abandonment in Venezuela www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/p...
nytimes.com
The Fallout of Massive Earthquakes for Venezuela — and the U.S.
001
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 04/07/2026
Why the Twin Earthquakes in Venezuela Were So Deadly www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
See Why the Venezuela Earthquakes Were So Deadly
A series of unlucky factors — two earthquakes in rapid succession, a fault that ruptured toward Caracas, soft ground and the shallow depth of the earthquake — combined to make the Venezuela earthquake...
000
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 03/07/2026
A Big Gamble for the Left: Can Socialism Appeal in a Swing State? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/03/u...
nytimes.com
A Big Gamble for the Left: Can Socialism Appeal in a Swing State?
010
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 03/07/2026
one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5877...
one.npr.org
🔊 Listen Now: Recovering the missing in Venezuela
All Things Considered on NPR One | 7:05
000
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 03/07/2026
one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5877...
one.npr.org
🔊 Listen Now: 'We can still pull out live victims': LA rescuers join Venezuela quake rescue efforts
Morning Edition on NPR One | 4:24
000
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 03/07/2026
Killed by the Venezuelan Quakes Just Hours After Being Deported From U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/w...
nytimes.com
Killed by the Venezuelan Quakes Just Hours After Being Deported From U.S.
031
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
BREAKING: The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled 2-1 that ICE cannot detain people under the Trump administration's massive new detention policy for more than 90 days without affording them a bond hearing. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28...
561628557
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 02/07/2026
BREAKING: The Vatican excommunicates bishops from a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics that consecrated them without Pope Leo's consent.
bit.ly
Vatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicates bishops and invalidates sacraments
The Vatican has responded aggressively to a traditionalist society that consecrated bishops without the pope’s consent.
1221399335
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 01/07/2026
Killed by the Venezuelan Quakes Just Hours After Being Deported From U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/w...
nytimes.com
Killed by the Venezuelan Quakes Just Hours After Being Deported From U.S.
022
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 28/06/2026
Venezuela Was on the Cusp of Rebirth. Then Disaster Struck, Again. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/27/w...
nytimes.com
Venezuela Was on the Cusp of Rebirth. Then Disaster Struck, Again.
030
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 27/06/2026
Richard Pereira and his wife, Johana Pineda, came to the United States from Venezuela. They were deported last week, and on the day they arrived, while staying near Maiquetía, the earthquakes struck, and Richard lost his life. His wife and son survived and need desperate help: gofund.me/78f5fb8ad
gofund.me
Donate to Ayuda a Johana y Richi a reconstruir sus vidas, organized by Luisa Quintero
English //// (Baja para Español) Richard Pereira and h… Luisa Quintero needs your support for Ayuda a Johana y Richi a reconstruir sus vidas
121
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 22/06/2026
This week in Tropical Parthenon, by @Maripuerta open.substack.com/pub/maripuer...
010
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Red de Politólogas - #NoSinMujeres @redpolitologas.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
🎉 ¡Hoy cumplimos 10 años! 🎂 Una década construyendo redes, abriendo espacios y poniendo a las mujeres en el "centro" de la Ciencia Política. Gracias infinitas a cada colega por sumar a esta comunidad. Esto es de todas. 💗 #NoSinMujeres #10AñosRedDePolitólogas #Somos1013
132
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 15/06/2026
How Can We Tell Whether a Country Is Democratic? open.substack.com/pub/changesw...
open.substack.com
How Can We Tell Whether a Country Is Democratic?
Five methodological decisions for evaluating democracy without relying on a single index.
001
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 10/06/2026
Inside the White House Freakout Over the Epstein Files www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/m...
nytimes.com
Inside the White House Freakout Over the Epstein Files
032
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 06/06/2026
Inside Trump’s suddenly softened new green card policy wapo.st/4ah1xvv
wapo.st
Inside Trump’s suddenly softened new green card policy
Big business, including tech and AI companies, launched a quiet but extensive lobbying effort against the green card policy requiring applicants to apply from abroad.
020
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 24/05/2026
Delcy Rodríguez has preserved an authoritarian system and avoided elections for five months while courting Trump officials and the oil industry www.wsj.com/world/americ...
wsj.com
How Venezuela’s New Leader Rose From Pariah to Powerful U.S. Partner
Delcy Rodríguez has preserved an authoritarian system and has avoided elections for five months while courting Trump officials and the oil industry.
042
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
NPR @npr.org · 24/05/2026
DHS was originally conceived in the interest of unity and harmony — and the phrase "homeland security" was originally meant to be reassuring. n.pr/4nOx8KP
n.pr
'Homeland Security' has spawned political insecurity since DHS was born
DHS was originally conceived in the interest of unity and harmony — and the phrase "homeland security" was originally meant to be reassuring.
1288480130
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 24/05/2026
Trump Is Setting His Sights on Restricting Legal Immigration www.nytimes.com/2026/05/23/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Is Setting His Sights on Restricting Legal Immigration
010
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 23/05/2026
Inside the unraveling of U.S. diplomacy under Trump www.reuters.com/investigatio...
reuters.com
Inside the unraveling of U.S. diplomacy under Trump
Allies are rewriting the rules of engagement, ignoring the president’s rhetoric and forging diplomatic channels to manage decisions driven increasingly by personalities, not institutions.
010
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 22/05/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... Venezuelan makeup artist who was deported to El Salvador seeks asylum in Spain: ‘I feel safe here’
theguardian.com
Venezuelan makeup artist who was deported to El Salvador seeks asylum in Spain: ‘I feel safe here’
Andry José Hernández Romero was deported from the US to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison before he was allowed to return to Venezuela
010
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Reuters @reuters.com · 22/05/2026
Angst over rising cost of living pushes US consumer sentiment to record low reut.rs/49d7SYv
reut.rs
Angst over rising cost of living pushes US consumer sentiment to record low
U.S. consumer sentiment fell to a record low in May as surging gasoline prices linked to the Iran war intensified affordability concerns, highlighting broader dissatisfaction with President Donald ​Trump’s handling of the economy.
54516
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Reuters @reuters.com · 22/05/2026
US Ebola patient in Berlin hospital not critically ill, family tests negative reut.rs/4dYwff5
reut.rs
US Ebola patient in Berlin hospital not critically ill, family tests negative
A U.S. citizen who contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of ​Congo, where an outbreak of a rare ‌strain has killed over 130 people, is not critically ill and his wife and four children have tested negative, the ​Berlin hospital where the family is being treated ​said on Friday.
0309
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Reuters @reuters.com · 22/05/2026
BREAKING: The White House forced US intelligence official Tulsi Gabbard to resign from her post, a person familiar with the matter said. Gabbard posted her resignation letter on X reut.rs/3PxKi24
58464214
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Reuters @reuters.com · 22/05/2026
US tells foreigners seeking green cards: Return to your countries to apply reut.rs/4x06Nh0
reut.rs
US tells foreigners seeking green cards: Return to your countries to apply
Foreigners seeking to adjust their immigration status in the United States to secure green cards will ​have to do so from outside the country via ‌the State Department, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said on Friday, in a move criticized by aid groups.
51911
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
USCIS acknowledges that some groups of green card applicants are NOT impacted, either because Congress declared they could get green cards while here, or because they have no option to consular process. This includes asylees/refugees, SIJS, and other humanitarian visa categories.
Screenshot of a portion of the memo which says there are a limited number of exceptions for specific categories of aliens.
631859
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 22/05/2026
JUST IN: US judge dismisses indictment against Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego reut.rs/43mpi1l
215626
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 22/05/2026
The head of the World Health Organization said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is “spreading rapidly” and now poses a “very high” risk at the national level.
bit.ly
WHO chief says Ebola outbreak in Congo is 'spreading rapidly' and upgrades risk assessment
The head of the World Health Organization says the Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly and poses a “very high” risk at the national level.
510560
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 22/05/2026
In pushing to prove his loyalty to President Donald Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has agitated the same Republican lawmakers whose votes he may need to secure the permanent job.
bit.ly
Blanche thrust into Republican firestorm over $1.8B fund as he seeks to prove his loyalty to Trump
In pushing to prove his loyalty to President Donald Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has agitated the same Republican lawmakers whose votes he may need to secure the permanent job.
79329
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 22/05/2026
An advocacy group is suing President Donald Trump's administration over its decision to reinstate a near-ban on abortions for veterans and their family members who depend on the U.S.
bit.ly
Advocacy group sues Trump administration over access to abortion for veterans
An advocacy group is suing President Donald Trump's administration over its decision to reinstate a near-ban on abortions for veterans and their family members who depend on the U.S.
312032
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 22/05/2026
Tulsi Gabbard has resigned as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying she needed to step away as her husband battles cancer.
bit.ly
Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence, citing her husband's health
Tulsi Gabbard has resigned as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying she needed to step away as her husband battles cancer.
288432
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 22/05/2026
BREAKING: A judge dismisses human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported.
bit.ly
Judge dismisses human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported
A human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Tennessee has been dismissed without a trial.
2333478
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Miami Herald @miamiherald.com · 22/05/2026
“Us victims never had a chance,” victim tells Congress.
bit.ly
Ex-Miami Beach mayor accused of sexual assault by Epstein assistant
“Us victims never had a chance,” victim tells Congress.
021
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 22/05/2026
Gabbard resigns as Trump's top US intelligence official www.reuters.com/world/us/gab...
reuters.com
Gabbard resigns as Trump's top US intelligence official
Principal Deputy Director of ​National Intelligence, Aaron ​Lukas, would serve ⁠as acting director of national intelligence, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
000
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 22/05/2026
As the U.S. sends an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean in a pressure campaign to change Cuba’s Communist government, the island’s military is a ghost of its former self www.wsj.com/articles/cub... via @WSJ
wsj.com
Cuba Has Few Defenses if the U.S. Military Moves Against It
The Communist island once had a vaunted military, but it’s now “a shell of a shell of what it used to be.”
000
Reposted by Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻
Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
For more than a decade, Stephen Colbert has been one of the top voices of late night—making us laugh and, even more importantly, reminding us who we are and what America stands for. Michelle and I enjoyed being Stephen’s guests—even when the games were rigged—and we’re grateful to call him a friend.
582410497907
Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 22/05/2026
Poll Suggests a Possible Path Forward for Democrats www.nytimes.com/2026/05/22/u...
nytimes.com
Poll Suggests a Possible Path Forward for Democrats
000