International
Demonstrators in northern Chile protest against Venezuela migrants
AFP
About 3,000 people marched Saturday in the northern Chilean port city of Iquique to protest the presence of undocumented Venezuelans, with some demonstrators scuffling with migrants and a radical fringe setting fire to belongings at an empty immigrant camp.
The marching demonstrators shouted “No more illegal immigration” and sang the local anthem as well as Chile’s national anthem, warning that “Chile is a republic that will be respected.”
Police stepped in to break up a number of minor fights which they said were caused by Chileans who attacked Venezuelan migrants living on the street.
The protesters marched from Iquique’s old town about 10 blocks to the Pacific Ocean where hotels and apartments line the seafront.
The migrants have scrambled around the city since early Saturday to try to find less visible spots to camp, AFP journalists said.
The demonstration took place a day after police evacuated a migrant camp that had existed for a year in the town square. Most of the migrants, poor and undocumented, are stranded in the city, surviving on odd jobs with no way to reach the capital.
“The hundred families” who lived on the square “are now wandering in various public spaces… they are trying to settle with their tents on the beaches” or in the city’s industrial zone, said Jose Miguel Carvajal, governor of the Tarapaca region where Iquique is located.
Some more radical demonstrators went to a small camp set up by some Venezuelan migrants — who were not there — and burned their few belongings: tents, mattresses, bags, blankets and toys.
Chile is Latin America’s wealthiest country by per capita standards.
Venezuela, meanwhile, is in an unprecedented economic and political crisis that has led millions of people to leave their country, rich in oil resources but mismanaged and rife with dysfunction.
Venezuela’s national currency, the bolivar, has lost 73 percent of its value to the dollar so far this year. Inflation is about 3,000 percent.
International
El Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López pleads guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges
Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded guilty on Monday to drug trafficking charges in a U.S. court, months after his brother Ovidio reached a similar plea agreement, according to local media reports.
The defendant appeared before a federal court in Chicago early Monday afternoon and changed his previous plea in the case, the Chicago Tribune reported. U.S. authorities accuse him of forming, together with his three brothers, the cartel faction known as “Los Chapitos.”
The group is believed to have continued the operations of El Chapo, who has been serving a life sentence in the United States since 2019.
Guzmán López, 39, was arrested after landing in Texas in a small aircraft alongside cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
International
Venezuela authorizes return flights as U.S. continues deportations amid rising tensions
The arrival of U.S. aircraft carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued regularly despite rising tensions between Washington and Caracas over President Donald Trump’s military deployment in the Caribbean.
Trump maintains that the deployment is part of an anti-narcotics operation, while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insists the true objective is to remove him from power and seize the nation’s oil resources.
Venezuela’s aviation authority has “received a request from the United States government to resume repatriation flights for Venezuelan migrants from that country to Venezuela,” the Ministry of Transportation said in a statement .
“Under the instructions of President Nicolás Maduro, authorization has been granted for these aircraft to enter our airspace,” it added.
Caracas will permit two Eastern Airlines flights to land on Wednesday and Friday.
Migration remains one of the Trump administration’s flagship issues. On Monday, the U.S. president held a meeting with his National Security Council to discuss the situation in Venezuela, a day after confirming he had spoken with Maduro by phone, without offering further details.
According to the Venezuelan government, roughly 75 deportation flights have been carried out this year, returning at least 13,956 Venezuelans from the United States.
International
20,000 rounds stolen from german army after driver leaves cargo unattended
The German army confirmed the theft of a shipment of ammunition that occurred a week ago while it was being transported by a civilian delivery driver, a military spokesperson told AFP, confirming earlier media reports.
According to Der Spiegel and the regional broadcaster MDR, around 20,000 rounds of ammunition were stolen from an unguarded parking lot near Magdeburg, in eastern Germany, while the driver was asleep in a nearby hotel. No information has been released regarding the identity of the suspects, and the military declined to specify the exact type or amount of ammunition taken.
Authorities have also not indicated how the perpetrators knew the cargo would be left unattended.
“The theft was discovered upon delivery at the barracks,” the German army spokesperson said.
A police spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that an investigation has been opened but refused to provide further details “for tactical reasons.”
Sources close to the German military, cited by Der Spiegel, believe it is unlikely the theft was a coincidence. They suspect the thieves waited for the driver to stop for the night before striking.
Der Spiegel also reported that the Defense Ministry normally requires two drivers for this type of transport to ensure the cargo is constantly monitored. However, in this case only one driver was assigned, meaning the civilian transport company failed to comply with the security protocols.
El Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López pleads guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges
Venezuela authorizes return flights as U.S. continues deportations amid rising tensions
20,000 rounds stolen from german army after driver leaves cargo unattended
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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