BANGKOK (AP) — Anutin Charnvirakul, who was confirmed by parliament on Friday as Thailand’s new prime minister, is a cautious and pragmatic politician adept at straddling the country's political divide.
He's best known for leading a successful campaign to decriminalize cannabis in Thailand. The 58-year-old’s political ambitions have been supported by his family’s wealth and a strong regional power base in Thailand’s northeastern Isan region, where his Bhumjaithai party garners support from the large, rural population.
Anutin’s key skill is his ability to navigate Thailand’s polarized political landscape, which for two decades has been divided between supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the royalist-military establishment.
Anutin served in Thaksin’s government from 2004 until a 2006 military coup. In 2019, leading his own Bhumjaithai party, he became health minister in the government of Thaksin’s arch enemy, former Army Commander Prayuth Chan-ocha. But in 2023, he took the posts of deputy prime minister and interior minister in a coalition government led by the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai party.
That latest alliance was shattered in June this year, after then Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter, spoke indiscreetly during a phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen about rising tension over disputed territory along the Thailand-Cambodia border that resulted in a five-day armed conflict in July.
When Hun Sen leaked audio of the call, Paetongtarn’s chumminess with the Cambodian leader and unflattering reference to a Thai general caused a public uproar.
Anutin quit his Cabinet posts and pulled his party out of her coalition government, leaving it with a bare parliamentary majority. When the Constitutional Court first suspended and then dismissed Paetongtarn for a breach of ethics, it cleared a shortcut for Anutin to become prime minister.
Anutin’s Bhumjaithai party has become known as ”the quintessential power broker,” Thai studies scholars Napon Jatusripitak and Suthikarn Meechan said in an article published online last year.
“This stems from its lack of ideological commitments (except being more pro-monarchy in recent years), aggressive tactics in poaching MPs from other parties, and Teflon-like pragmatism in forming and switching alliances,” they wrote.
Born in Bangkok in 1966, Anutin is the son of politician and construction tycoon Chavarat Charnvirakul.
After studying engineering at Hofstra University in New York, Anutin joined his family’s company, Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction PCL, becoming its managing director in 1995. The firm has been involved in major projects, including Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
His political career began in 1996 as an adviser to the deputy minister of foreign affairs. He then aligned himself with Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party, which took power in 2001. Anutin served in deputy ministerial positions, but after the 2006 military coup, was caught up in the court-ordered dissolutions of Thaksin’s political machine, in which he served as a party executive.
Like other senior party members, he was served with a five-year ban on political activity. During the respite he returned to the family business and honed his flying skills on his private aircraft.
His other well-known enthusiasm is gastronomy.
“Dining is always a great pleasure of my life,” he once explained. “I love to search for delicious food and really appreciate the fact that I can take ultimate joy in any kind of cuisine — whether it be street food or luxurious international fare.”
When his political ban ended in 2012, Anutin took over as leader of the Bhumjaithai party, which was already established as an influential political machine in the northeast, leveraging the political acumen of its founder, Newin Chidchob.
After Bhumjaithai ran fifth in the 2019 election, Bhumjaithai joined the government, and Anutin was appointed deputy prime minister and public health minister.
His most significant accomplishment was the 2022 decriminalization of cannabis. He championed the policy for its medical, health, and economic benefits, projecting billions in annual revenue and aiming to reduce the prison population. He also announced plans to distribute 1 million free cannabis plants to households.
The cannabis rollout wasn't without criticism. The lack of comprehensive regulations led to a proliferation of unregulated dispensaries and concerns about public consumption and access for children, and this year efforts began to more tightly regulate the industry. Anutin maintained that his party’s detailed legislation was blocked by its coalition partners.
As public health minister, Anutin also oversaw Thailand’s COVID-19 response. Although Thailand probably fared no worse than most countries faced with the pandemic, he drew severe criticism for his handling of the crisis, particularly what was perceived as tardiness in obtaining vaccine supplies.
Other would-be scandals have dogged him more recently. These include suspected collusion in last year’s Senate election to give an unfair advantage to some candidates, and his position in a land dispute involving property claimed by the state that has belonged to the family of his Bhumjaithai mentor, Newin Chidchob.
Leader of Bhumjai Thai Party Anutin Charnvirakul, left, talks to lawmakers at Parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban soldiers wearing white gloves marched out of a plane on Thursday carrying urns with the remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela as trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport.
Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies of colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The soldiers' shoes clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, next to Revolution Square, with the urns and placed them on a long table next to the pictures of those killed so people could pay their respects.
Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized in almost half a century.
Hours earlier, state television showed images of more than a dozen wounded people described as “combatants” accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. Some were in wheelchairs.
Those injured and the remains of those killed arrived as tensions grow between Cuba and the U.S., with Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.
Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb as commander of Cuba's Armed Forces, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those killed looking on nearby.
Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casa said Venezuela was not a distant land for those killed, but a “natural extension of their homeland.”
“The enemy speaks to an audience of high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy,” Álvarez said in apparent reference to the U.S. “We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”
Álvarez called those slain “heroes,” saying that they were an example of honor and “a lesson for those who waver.”
“We reaffirm that if this painful chapter of history has demonstrated anything, it is that imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.
Thousands of Cubans lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.
“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” said Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, adding that she hopes no one invades given the ongoing threats.
When asked why she showed up despite the difficulties Cubans face, Gómez replied, “It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”
Cuba recently released the names and ranks of 32 military personnel — ranging in age from 26 to 60 — who were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the raid on his residence on January 3. They included members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the island’s two security agencies.
Cuban and Venezuelan authorities have said that the uniformed personnel were part of protection agreements between the two countries.
A demonstration was planned for Friday across from the U.S. Embassy in an open-air forum known as the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Officials have said they expect the demonstration to be massive.
“People are upset and hurt. There’s a lot of talk on social media; but many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.
In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes.
In December 1989, officials organized “Operation Tribute” to honor the more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in the war that defeated the South African army and ended the apartheid system. In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.
The latest mass burial is critical to honor those slain, said José Luis Piñeiro, a 60-year-old doctor who lived four years in Venezuela.
“I don’t think Trump is crazy enough to come and enter a country like this, ours, and if he does, he’s going to have to take an aspirin or some painkiller to avoid the headache he’s going to get,” Piñeiro said. “These were 32 heroes who fought him. Can you imagine an entire nation? He’s going to lose.”
A day before the remains of those killed arrived in Cuba, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced $3 million in aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa, which struck in late October.
The first flight took off from Florida on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.
“We have taken extraordinary measures to ensure that this assistance reaches the Cuban people directly, without interference or diversion by the illegitimate regime,” Rubio said, adding that the U.S. government was working with Cuba's Catholic Church.
The announcement riled Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
“The U.S. government is exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes,” he said in a statement. “As a matter of principle, Cuba does not oppose assistance from governments or organizations, provided it benefits the people and the needs of those affected are not used for political gain under the guise of humanitarian aid.”
Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Military members pay their last respects to Cuban officers who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the urns containing the remains are displayed during a ceremony in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Soldiers carry urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Adalberto Roque /Pool Photo via AP)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People line the streets of Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, to watch the motorcade carrying urns containing the remains of Cuban officers killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
