International
Bolivia opposition call march to demand release of ex-president
AFP
Bolivia’s opposition have called for demonstrations against left-wing President Luis Arce to demand the release of former head of state Jeanine Anez and an end to “political persecution”.
The powerful Santa Cruz Civic Committee, a regional movement of business leaders and social organizations, called for a “big march” on Sunday and a national strike the following day.
Right-wing former Bolivian presidents Carlos Mesa and Jorge Quiroga and the governor of the rich eastern region of Santa Cruz also joined the call.
The opposition is demanding the government “put an end to political persecution” over a “false coup” and release political prisoners, Santa Cruz Civic Committee president Romulo Calvo said on Monday.
Former interim president Anez has been in prison since March, accused of allegedly leading a coup in 2019 to oust then-president Evo Morales.
Conservative Anez came to power in November 2019 after Morales resigned and fled the country following weeks of violent protests over his controversial re-election to an unconstitutional fourth term.
Anez, as the most senior parliamentarian left, was sworn in as interim president, but her political opponents denounced the move as a coup.
Under Anez’s administration, Bolivia held peaceful, transparent elections in October 2020, in which Morales’s leftist protege Luis Arce won a landslide victory.
Arce then vowed to pursue those he accused of staging a coup.
Anez was arrested in March this year and was more recently also charged with “genocide” over protesters’ deaths during violence between supporters and opponents of Morales — as well as between protesters and the security forces — that left 37 people dead in November 2019.
The accusation relates to two incidents in which 22 people died just days after she became president in what a report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights described as “massacres.”
Anez also faces charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy.
Her detention has sparked widespread international condemnation.
For his part, Morales has called for his supporters to march on La Paz from a nearby town next Tuesday.
“On October 12 there will be a great mobilization,” he said Sunday.
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.
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.
International
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Venezuela has announced the closure of its embassy in Norway, just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Venezuelan diplomatic mission provided no explanation for its decision on Monday.
“It is regrettable,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will continue to work in that direction.” The ministry also emphasized that the Nobel Committee operates entirely independently from the Norwegian government.
In its announcement, the Nobel Committee stated that Machado met the criteria established by Alfred Nobel, “embodying the hope for a different future, where the fundamental rights of Venezuelans are heard.”
International
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
Thousands of military personnel and civilians in Mexico worked tirelessly on Tuesday to clear roads blocked by the torrential rains of recent days, which have left more than 300 communities cut off across central and eastern regions of the country. Authorities also launched mass fumigation efforts in several affected areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever.
The official death toll remains at 64, though dozens of people are still missing. President Claudia Sheinbaumacknowledged that the government does not yet know the full situation in many of the isolated villages, which range in population from 500 to 1,000 inhabitants.
“The reopening of roads is one of the greatest urgencies,” Sheinbaum said. “It’s essential to guarantee air bridges, food supplies, clean water, and a proper census of the isolated communities so we can determine the condition of every person living there.”
Private construction companies are also assisting the effort with heavy machinery and technical support to help reopen highways and reconnect rural areas.
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
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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