The outgoing secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, defended this Friday that he “delegitimized dictatorships” and “detaned himself from ideologies” during his decade in office (2015-2025), which will end in 10 days.

“We have done a strong, intense work of delegitimization of each of the dictatorships of the continent. That has been our work, that is what the organization’s regulations required of us,” Almagro said at an event at the Cuban Diaspora Museum in Miami.

Almagro, who on May 25 will hand over the post to Surinamese Albert Ramdin, the first Caribbean to lead the organization, claimed his fight against the “dictatorships” of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, by maintaining that this transcends ideological positions, as his critics claim.

“I have the ability, we have had the ability to detach ourselves from ideology because the one who leaves (clings) and prefers to continue and die clinging to ideology instead of principles, that is a serious mistake,” he said.

The secretary, who held the position of foreign minister of Uruguay between 2010 and 2015 with the now deceased former president José Mujica, is about to end his mandate in the OAS, in which he received criticism from left-wing governments, such as Mexico, Bolivia and Colombia, in addition to the countries already mentioned.

In addition, the controversy was intensified by an external investigation in 2023 by the law firm Miller & Chevalier, which determined that he violated OAS ethical standards by maintaining a relationship with an official of the organization.

But the Uruguayan boasted of his legacy that includes “not allowing the normalization of dictatorships in the democratic community of the Americas”.

He also emphasized that he arrived under the presidency in the United States of Democrat Barack Obama, but he was also in the administrations of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, as well as in the course of left and right waves in Latin America.

“We knew how to navigate all those waters and we always navigate them attached to the fundamental principles and values of each of the conventions, but each of these these determinations of political dignity, which are fundamental freedoms and which is democracy,” he said.

The official made these statements at an event in which the exiled community in Florida of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela gave him recognition for considering him “a civil hero” who defended freedom and democracy in these countries.

Cuban activist Rosa María Payá, for example, considered that Almagro was characterized by being “the only secretary general who has called things by their name,” in reference to dictatorships, political prisoners and crimes against humanity.

The official remarked that the officials in Cuba and Venezuela do not have “any ideological elaboration”, because both “the left and the right must be able to generate rights for people.”

The use and recruitment of minors by organized crime groups “is a very common practice and we are very worried,” the head of Child Protection of Unicef in Mexico, Rocío Aznar, told EFE this Wednesday, so she urges to look “in particular why adolescents are disappearing” in the North American country.

According to a report by the University of Guadalajara (UdeG), in Jalisco (western Mexico), state where Rancho Izaguirre is located, the alleged training camp of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), people between 15 and 19 years old occupy the first place in disappearances between January and April 2025, with 122 reports, the most likely cause being forced recruitment by organized crime.

In addition, “one of the main causes of death in adolescents in Mexico is homicide,” explains UNICEF’s Child Protection specialist, Juan Rodríguez, which could also have a “link” with criminal groups that recruit and use children and adolescents to fulfill roles ranging from messaging to sicariato.

Therefore, he explains, one of Unicef’s proposals is the criminalization of the crime of recruitment and use for “the protection of children,” but also because “it is in the line of organized crime prevention,” which has co-opted 30,000 minors, according to the Network for the Rights of the Child in Mexico (Redim).

“The (criminal) groups have taken advantage of the conditions or advantages of recruiting children. One, they are cheaper and, two, the imputable penalties are lower than those of an adult,” Rodríguez explains.

To date, Unicef does not have specific figures on this affectation to childhood at the national level, since, in the no typification, it is difficult to “access the number of victims of recruitment and use.”

However, Aznar clarifies that, despite the lack of figures, this problem exists and “is one of the most serious violations of rights (…) These children and adolescents are exposed to the worst forms of violence, they see them, suffer them and, sometimes, they execute them.”

In that sense, he emphasizes, it is necessary that “the (Mexican) State reacts” and recognizes that “all recruitment and use of a person under the age of 18, who is still in the process of development, is forced.”

Also, because the one who is on trial is not the recruiter, but “the teenager who has committed a crime because they have used him, they have taken advantage of his vulnerability as a minor (…) The focus and responsibility is on the victim,” he says.
Adopt a national policy

In addition, Rodríguez insists, “boys and girls are not only recruited in order to commit a crime, they are also recruited to fulfill other roles, courier or cook. Those roles also expose them to levels of violence or risks that do not necessarily comply with operational activities such as the young hitman, the one who kidnaps.”

That is why, Aznar adds, “we continue to urge the Mexican State to adopt a policy beyond a specific or conjunctural or temporary program,” which would be the first comprehensive national policy of prevention and attention to recruitment for a country where there are also more than 127,000 unlocated people since there was a record in the 1960s.

Mexican children and youth who face armed violence “deserve the opportunity to be able to heal, to rebuild their lives and if they have done damage to be able to repair it in a constructive way,” he concludes.

In response, President Claudia Sheinbaum has offered to develop “all the necessary schemes” to attend to youth in Jalisco, after the UdeG report warned about the forced recruitment of young people in that Mexican state.

The 90-day tariff truce between the United States and China barely represents a respite for the port of Los Angeles, the most active in North America and the most affected by an unprecedented trade war from which it will be difficult to recover.

The impact of the taxes on the Asian country disarmed activity in the largest port in the United States with a collapse of 32% and 35% in ship traffic in the last two weeks, a heavy blow to one of the main engines of the state of California, which had not experienced a similar crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although on paper the temporary agreement between Trump and China, which comes into force this Wednesday, is favorable for trade between both sides, its wound leaves open a deep hole in the ports of the west coast that is difficult to stop.

Last Friday morning, no cargo ship had left China with goods to the two main ports on the west coast in the last 12 hours, according to port officials told CNN, an unprecedented scene in the last five years.

Nor were there the 41 ships that were planned to leave China for San Pedro Bay, which includes the piers of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California.

The latter stands out for being one of the key pillars in the economic vitality of the United States, since the port of Long Beach generates 2.7 million jobs worldwide, including more than 1.1 million in California, according to the website.

To the sharp drop in port activity is added the uncertainty in the rise in prices of items from China and the impact to absorb the economic and employment losses generated by ships that never reached their final destination in the midst of the tariff war.

Shipments from China represent about 45% of the business of the port of Los Angeles, which over the years has been increasing its commercial cargo: last year it received 10.3 million containers, a record 1.7 million TEU (maritime cargo unit, equivalent to a 20-foot container), almost 20% more than in 2023.

The truce does not convince the maritime transport sectors, restless about another uncertain panorama that pushes them to drift, without a plan to correct the impact of the decrease in imports in the busiest ports of the United States.

“The reduction of taxes between the US and China is good news for consumers, the US business, workers and the supply chain. To avoid further uncertainty and disruption of trade, both parties must work together quickly towards a long-term agreement,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the port of Los Angeles, in a statement.

The representative of the port activity of Los Angeles has presented himself in the last month as an iron whistleblower of the serious consequences of the tariffs imposed on China.

The United States has been imposing tariffs on China since April 2 and incurred a reprisal that reached 145% in the midst of the trade war. The Asian country responded with the same currency and applied taxes of 125% on US imports.

After last Sunday’s meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, the powers consolidated a 30% tariff for China and 10% for the United States for a period of three months in which they hope to agree on a framework that favors both parties.

The National Federation of Retailers also applauded this temporary agreement, “which allows a significant de-escalation of the current trade relationship,” its executive director, Matthew Shay, said in a letter.

But they are not satisfied with these reforms: “We urge the Administration and our Chinese trading partners to continue talks to address current problems, work to eliminate the remaining tariffs for national security reasons and ensure long-term stability between the world’s two largest economies,” he said.

“If the situation does not change quickly, I mean the uncertainty we are experiencing, we could see empty products on the shelves. The consumer will notice it in the next 30 days,” said the executive director of the Port of Long Beach, Mario Cordero, according to CNN.