International
Mexico and the US launch an unprecedented joint border plan to stop arms trafficking
Mexico and the United States launched a new joint initiative to stop arms trafficking to Mexican territory, in an attempt to attack one of the main sources of violence in the country: the illegal entry of weapons from the north to the south, something that EFE was able to verify this Monday on the Ciudad Juárez border.
The plan contemplates bilateral operations and stricter controls at international crossings, such as the one recently installed on the Córdoba-Americas Bridge, one of the busiest on the binational border and that connects Ciudad Juárez with the American El Paso, where elements of the Mexican Army check vehicles for weapons and ammunition.
Mexican authorities stressed that the objective is to “safeguard national security on both sides of the border.”
The urgency of the agreement was evident after the murder of Héctor René Rocha González, lawyer and former employee of the Municipality of Juárez, which recently occurred in the San Antonio neighborhood of the border town.
The man was chased by hitmen while driving a Jeep Wrangler and died while trying to escape running away; the aggressors shot him with an AK-47 rifle, a weapon that, according to authorities, smuggled from the United States.
For research professor Ricardo Melgoza Ramos, from the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, the agreement opens a window of opportunity after failed experiences in the past.
“There was already talk of an arms trafficking agreement, we will remember the failed process of ‘Fast and Furious’. However, we believe that this new attempt may be positive,” Melgoza told EFE about the weapons tracking initiative agreed between Washington and Mexico City between 2006 and 2011.
“It must be remembered that 200,000 weapons cross from the United States to Mexico: 43% from Texas, 22% from Arizona and 9% from California. Now it will be possible to use the E-Trace platform to quickly detect the origin of the weapon. If this materializes, the flow of weapons will be reduced and criminal groups will be strangled with the financial part,” he said.
Likewise, Melgoza added that the change of security policy under the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum represents a break with the motto of ‘no bullet hugs’ by former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024).
“Now more is being fought, although there are still regions, such as the Chihuahua mountain range, where organized crime has control. To achieve peace, joint work and purification of police corporations are needed,” he said.
Border operations are part of a mission that arises after the visit of US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to Mexico City, in which he held meetings with President Sheinbaum to strengthen cooperation between both countries on security.
“We reached an agreement that the United States will reinforce the operations (…) to control the passage of weapons from the United States to Mexico, an agreement of this type had never been reached,” the president remarked after the meeting with Rubio last September.
For his part, the lawyer and former public security official Fernando Rubalcaba highlighted the positive aspects of binational cooperation.
“The benefit is more positive thanks to these agreements, because they allow a climate of collaboration and understanding of a common cause such as public security. How good that a way to avoid the introduction of weapons is being sought, given that almost all high-impact crimes are committed with firearms,” he said.
Rubalcaba stressed that tools such as the IBIS ballistic system in Mexico and Interpol’s international IBIN program can be strengthened with this type of agreement.
“It will allow us to make cross-checks of intelligence information and better track weapons. Military filters on bridges inhibit crime and generate security, although some may perceive the opposite,” he said.
International
Germany says football bodies alone will decide on possible World Cup boycott
The German Football Association (DFB) and FIFA will decide with full “autonomy” whether to boycott the upcoming World Cup, which will be hosted mainly by the United States in six months, following threats made by former U.S. president Donald Trump, the German government told AFP on Tuesday.
Trump has threatened to seize Greenland and impose higher tariffs on European countries that oppose the plan, raising political tensions between the United States and Europe.
“This assessment therefore lies with the relevant federations, in this case the DFB and FIFA. The federal government will respect that decision,” Sports State Secretary Christiane Schenderlein said in a statement emailed to AFP.
AFP had asked the German government about the possibility of a boycott of the World Cup to be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
“The federal government respects the autonomy of sport. Decisions regarding participation in major sporting events or possible boycotts fall exclusively within the responsibility of the relevant sports federations, not the political sphere,” said Schenderlein, a member of the conservative CDU, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
International
Daily Mail publisher insists reports relied on legitimate sources amid privacy trial
Two British tabloids accused of phone hacking and other forms of “unlawful information gathering” against Prince Harry and six other individuals, including singer Elton John, insisted on Tuesday that their reporting relied on legitimate sources.
Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, sought to rebut allegations of privacy violations through illegal methods on the second day of trial at London’s High Court, following a lawsuit filed by the seven claimants.
Prince Harry, 41, who attended court hearings on both Monday and Tuesday, could be called to testify starting Wednesday in a trial expected to last up to nine weeks.
Lawyers for the claimants said the alleged illegal activities took place between 1993 and 2011, with some incidents reportedly extending as late as 2018. They argue that the tabloids hired private investigators to intercept phone calls and obtain confidential information, including detailed phone records, medical histories, and bank statements.
However, Anthony White, counsel for ANL, told the court that the trial would show the company presents “a compelling account of a pattern of lawful source acquisition” for its articles.
White added that the claims would require the court to believe that journalists and staff at the tabloids had engaged in widespread dishonesty, which the company strongly denies.
International
Death toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40
The death toll from the train accident that occurred on Sunday in southern Spain has risen to 40, according to investigative sources cited by EFE on Monday afternoon.
Since early Monday, search operations have focused on the damaged carriages of a Renfe train bound for Huelva, which collided with the last derailed cars of an Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid after it left the tracks.
The crash has also left more than 150 people injured. Of these, 41 remain hospitalized, including 12 in intensive care units at hospitals across the Andalusia region.
More than 220 Civil Guard officers are working at the site, searching the railway line and surrounding areas for key evidence to help identify victims and determine the causes of the accident.
The tragedy has revived memories of the deadliest railway disasters in Europe in recent decades. In Spain, the most severe occurred on July 24, 2013, when an Alvia train derailed near Santiago de Compostela, killing 80 people and injuring 130 others.
At the European level, the worst rail disaster took place on June 3, 1998, in Eschede, northern Germany, when a high-speed train struck a bridge pillar at 200 kilometers per hour, resulting in 98 deaths and 120 injuries.
Germany says football bodies alone will decide on possible World Cup boycott
Daily Mail publisher insists reports relied on legitimate sources amid privacy trial
Death toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40
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