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
María Corina Machado says Venezuela’s political transition “must take place”
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said this Thursday, during a virtual appearance at an event hosted by the Venezuelan-American Association of the U.S. (VAAUS) in New York, that Venezuela’s political transition “must take place” and that the opposition is now “more organized than ever.”
Machado, who is set to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10 in Oslo, Norway — although it is not yet known whether she will attend — stressed that the opposition is currently focused on defining “what comes next” to ensure that the transition is “orderly and effective.”
“We have legitimate leadership and a clear mandate from the people,” she said, adding that the international community supports this position.
Her remarks come amid a hardening of U.S. policy toward the government of Nicolás Maduro, with new economic sanctions and what has been described as the “full closure” of airspace over and around Venezuela — a measure aimed at airlines, pilots, and alleged traffickers — increasing pressure on Caracas and further complicating both air mobility and international commercial operations.
During her speech, Machado highlighted the resilience of the Venezuelan people, who “have suffered, but refuse to surrender,” and said the opposition is facing repression with “dignity and moral strength,” including “exiles and political prisoners who have been separated from their families and have given everything for the democratic cause.”
She also thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for recognizing that Venezuela’s transition is “a priority” and for his role as a “key figure in international pressure against the Maduro regime.”
“Is change coming? Absolutely yes,” Machado said, before concluding that “Venezuela will be free.”
International
Catalonia’s president calls for greater ambition in defending democracy
The President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, on Thursday called for being “more ambitious” in defending democracy, which he warned is being threatened “from within” by inequality, extremism, and hate speech driven by what he described as a “politics of intimidation,” on the final day of his visit to Mexico.
“The greatest threat to democracies is born within themselves. It is inequality and the winds of extremism. Both need each other and feed off one another,” Illa said during a speech at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City.
In his address, Illa stated that in the face of extremism, society can adopt “two attitudes: hope or fear,” and warned that hate-driven rhetoric seeks to weaken citizens’ resolve. “We must be aware that hate speech, the politics of intimidation, and threats in the form of tariffs, the persecution of migrants, drones flying over Europe, or even war like the invasion of Ukraine, or walls at the border, all pursue the same goal: to make citizens give up and renounce who they want to be,” he added.
Despite these challenges, he urged people “not to lose hope,” emphasizing that there is a “better alternative,” which he summarized as “dialogue, institutional cooperation, peace, and human values.”
“I sincerely believe that we must be more ambitious in our defense of democracy, and that we must remember, demonstrate, and put into practice everything we are capable of doing. Never before has humanity accumulated so much knowledge, so much capacity, and so much power to shape the future,” Illa stressed.
For that reason, he called for a daily defense of the democratic system “at all levels and by each person according to their responsibility,” warning that democracy is currently facing an “existential threat.”
International
WMO predicts 55% chance of weakened La Niña impacting global weather this winter
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported on Thursday that there is a 55% chance that the La Niña phenomenon, typically associated with cooler temperatures, will affect global weather between December and February, though in a weakened form.
In its update released Thursday, the WMO clarified that while La Niña is usually linked to a temporary drop in average global temperatures, some regions could still experience warmer-than-normal conditions.
As 2026 progresses, the WMO expects the planet to shift toward neutral conditions, neither influenced by La Niña nor by its opposite, El Niño, which is associated with increased temperatures. The likelihood of neutral conditions is expected to rise to 75% between February and April, according to the agency’s regular bulletin on these phenomena.
La Niña occurs due to cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean waters and is also linked to changes in tropical atmospheric circulation, including wind and rainfall patterns. The opposite phenomenon, El Niño, has not been observed by experts since 2024, which currently remains the warmest year on record.
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