International
Mexico to maintain shaky ties with Peru
| By AFP |
Mexico on Wednesday ruled out cutting diplomatic ties with Peru despite the Andean country expelling its ambassador amid diplomatic tensions over the ousting of president Pedro Castillo, who is backed by the North American nation.
The government in Lima, which felt slighted by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s support for fellow leftist Castillo, on Tuesday declared the Mexican ambassador persona non grata.
It gave the envoy, Pablo Monroy, 72 hours to leave the country.
Mexico had offered asylum to Castillo’s family. Castillo and his wife Lilia Paredes face multiple accusations of corruption.
On Wednesday, Lopez Obrador said the Mexican foreign ministry “has decided not to break relations” with Peru.
This was to “give protection to the Mexicans who live in Peru,” the president told reporters.
“We will not expel anyone,” he added.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Tuesday called Peru’s decision “unfounded and reprehensible.”
Mexico City said it was recalling Monroy, “in order to ensure his safety” even as the mission in Lima continues to operate as normal.
Peru had agreed to give safe passage to Paredes and the couple’s two children, who arrived in Mexico on Wednesday morning, said Lopez Obrador.
“We will always defend the right to asylum,” the president said. “It is part of our foreign policy.”
Lopez Obrador has been one of Castillo’s most fervent foreign supporters, along with the fellow leftist leaders of Bolivia, Argentina and Colombia.
Embattled Castillo was impeached and arrested on December 7 after seeking to dissolve Congress to rule by decree.
Castillo’s short tenure was plagued by instability as he fought rabid political opposition and investigations into numerous graft claims.
Castillo is the subject of six separate criminal probes.
Lopez Obrador insisted Wednesday that Castillo was the legitimately elected president of Peru, and accused Lima of repressing demonstrations against his ouster.
Officials say 21 people have died in clashes, and hundreds, including police officers, have been injured.
Lopez Obrador also accused “the so-called political class — the groups with economic and political power” of fomenting the crisis in Peru “for their personal ambitions and their economic interests.”
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction