International

Trump Administration confiscates fuel from Iran bound for Venezuela

Last week, U.S. officials reported that the Trump Administration seized four tankers carrying 1.1 million barrels of Iranian fuel bound for Venezuela. The action, officials said, is part of the ongoing pressure on both nations.

U.S. officials said no force was needed to carry out the seizures, nor was the physical seizure of the ships made, they added. U.S. authorities had to threaten ship owners, insurers and captains with sanctions to get them to hand over the cargo. Now, the cargo is the property of the United States; they said.

The United States has increased the pressure on shipowners to follow the sanctions imposed on Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. Last May, it issued a statement urging the global shipping industry to be vigilant of tactics used to avoid the sanctions, including ship-to-ship transfers or turning off tracking devices.

International

Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.

“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.

As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.

According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.

“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.

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Priority Municipalities

The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.

International

New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador

Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.

Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.

“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).

On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.

“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.

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The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.

International

Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids

Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.

The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.

In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.

He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”

The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.

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The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.