International

Grisly killings stoke cartel fears in Ecuador

AFP

The bodies of two men hung from a pedestrian bridge in southwestern Ecuador stunned the country Monday and raised the spectre of Mexican cartels there.

The victims were killed, tied up and suspended by the same rope on a pedestrian bridge in Duran, a city near Guayaquil, Ecuador’s biggest city, police said.

As the South American country faces an upsurge in violence linked to drug trafficking, the national press has stressed the singularity of the incident.

The two men had been missing since February 11, according to police, and an investigation was underway into their abduction.

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The crime could be linked to “the capture of seven tons of cocaine” Sunday in the port of Guayaquil, the commander of the zone, Marcelo Cortez, said.

One of the victims has already been identified by the media as Carlos Alberto Escobar. He was 34 years old and was recognized by a tattoo.

In the past four months, five decapitated people have been found in Duran and Guayaquil, the region hardest hit by the violence which authorities link to conflicts between local groups of drug traffickers with ties to powerful Mexican cartels.

These rivalries are at the root of the deadly violence that has plagued Ecuadoran prisons for months, in particular the huge prison complex in Guayaquil, where around 320 inmates were killed in a riot last year.

Ecuador was for years a transit point for cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru — bordering countries and the world’s leading suppliers of this drug — but the intelligence services believe that this lucrative enterprise is now deeply rooted within the country itself.

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“The country is under attack by an international mafia of drug cartels,” a presidential official said in November.

International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.