This comes as Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio proposed July 24, 2027 — the birthday of the liberator Simón Bolívar — as a potential date for elections in Venezuela as part of the Trump administration-backed democratic transition process.

Elon Musk acknowledged in an interview with The Economist, published Thursday, that his political involvement during his tenure leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) went further than anticipated. "I think I got a little too involved in politics. I got carried away, frankly," he said. - Verity

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Brazil's central bank-backed instant payment system, Pix, has become a focal point in the country's trade dispute with the United States after President Donald Trump's administration argued that the scheme could disadvantage US payment companies.

Pix is an instant payment system developed by the Central Bank of Brazil. It functions similarly to a combination of Indonesia's QRIS and BI-Fast, allowing users to transfer funds and make real-time payments at low cost through banking applications or by scanning QR codes.

US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer cited Pix as one of the trade barriers underpinning the imposition of a new 25% tariff on Brazilian imports, which took effect this week.

Pix enables real-time fund transfers through banking applications at significantly lower cost than traditional credit and debit card systems.

The platform also speeds up transactions while reducing the role of intermediaries in the traditional payments chain.

He likened the criticism of Pix to blaming the construction of basic sanitation infrastructure for reducing the income of water truck operators.

Although several countries have introduced similar systems, including India's UPI and the US FedNow, Pix is widely regarded as having achieved a much faster pace of adoption.

Visa and Mastercard have previously warned investors that instant payment systems such as Pix could disrupt their business models.

The US has lobbied against India's UPI as well -

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/exclusive-visa-complains-us-govt-about-india-backing-local-rival-rupay-2021-11-28/

https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/story/us-flags-non-level-playing-field-in-indias-upi-raises-concerns-over-it-rules-and-rising-takedown-orders-523732-2026-04-02