International
Peace Tribunal in Colombia charges former FARC for child recruitment
March 9th |
For the first time, Colombia’s Peace Tribunal indicted 10 mid-level commanders of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas for the recruitment and use of minors in the armed conflict, as well as 13 other war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murders, disappearances, executions and the use of anti-personnel mines.
Wednesday’s indictment is the first in what is known as Case 05, which investigates crimes committed during five decades of conflict in northern Cauca and southern Valle del Cauca, two departments in the southwest of the country where the FARC’s Western Bloc operated.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), the court created after the signing of the peace agreement between the state and the FARC in 2016, has 10 major cases open in which it is trying former FARC combatants, members of the security forces, state agents and civilians.
At least 18,677 children were victims of forced recruitment during Colombia’s armed conflict, according to the court’s preliminary figures. That crime is being investigated separately in a case that covers the entire country but was included in the charges brought against the 10 former guerrillas on Wednesday.
The court found that the FARC used “recruitment as a political-military strategy as an armed organization,” according to the indictment, especially since the late 1990s, with a “significant increase” since 2011.
Former top FARC commanders have acknowledged that the guerrillas forcibly recruited minors, but have denied that this was a systematic practice.
In the area, most of the minors who joined the guerrilla ranks were indigenous or Afro-descendants, according to voluntary accounts from several of the ex-guerrillas. Former combatant Efrén Núñez Pulido acknowledged before the Court a policy of recruiting minors, among them an “indigenous girl under 15 years of age who was later shot”.
The minors, detailed the Tribunal, were taken through deception and economic offers and many of their families lost track of them or later received their lifeless bodies.
The Court also found that in northern Cauca and southern Valle del Cauca the now defunct guerrillas committed deliberate attacks against the civilian population and aimed to “declare a provisional government” in the area and then “expand their presence and obtain power through the use of arms”.
With its actions, the former guerrillas caused deaths and disappearances of indigenous people and peasants who were accused of being informants or leaders against the insurgency, displaced thousands of people and used anti-personnel mines to achieve territorial and social control and confine the communities, according to the Court.
The former FARC carried out “councils of war” and “executions” within its ranks in which several of its members were shot for going against the rules. According to the Court, the FARC disregarded the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions “since they killed minors and persons who were brought in solely for the purpose of being killed without guarantees”.
In its investigation, the Tribunal compared 28 reports and publications from State entities, indigenous and victims’ organizations, as well as 91 versions from former guerrillas.
The ex-combatants have 30 working days to acknowledge or reject the accusations. If they deny responsibility, they may defend themselves with a lawyer, but if they are found guilty in a trial they could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. If they accept responsibility, they would receive sanctions that do not imply imprisonment.
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.
International
Seven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
Seven inmates were killed and eleven others injured in a violent riot and clash inside a penitentiary in the Mexican state of Veracruz, local authorities reported on Sunday.
The disturbance began on Saturday afternoon at the Social Reintegration Center in the port city of Tuxpan, in northern Veracruz, when inmates staged a protest over extortion and assaults allegedly carried out by members of the criminal group known as Grupo Sombra.
The protesting prisoners clashed with another group of inmates and set fires inside and outside the facility, seizing control of the prison for more than 12 hours.
During the takeover, the rioters released several videos, including one showing four prisoners —believed to be members of Grupo Sombra— accusing them of being behind the violence and extortion inside the prison.
It wasn’t until Sunday morning that elements of the Mexican Army, the National Guard, and local police forces managed to enter the prison and regain control. The state’s Public Security Secretariat confirmed that around 9:00 a.m. local time a coordinated operation restored full order and reestablished control of the facility.
Authorities also reported that the fires set by inmates were fully extinguished.
Official figures confirmed the “tragic” deaths of seven inmates and injuries to eleven people, who are now receiving medical treatment in various regional hospitals.
This is the second deadliest riot in Veracruz in the past eight years. In 2018, a violent uprising at the La Toma medium-security prison left seven people dead (six police officers and one unidentified man) and at least 22 injured (15 officers and seven inmates).
The riot follows the kidnapping and killing of retired teacher and taxi driver Irma Hernández, a case that shocked the entire country and was attributed to Grupo Sombra. Images of Hernández kneeling, surrounded by armed men in the municipality of Álamo, sparked nationwide outrage. She was murdered after refusing to pay extortion demands from the criminal organization.
Despite these incidents, Veracruz has not seen a spike in the daily homicide average. In fact, there has been a 1.6% decrease in homicides in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.
In 2023, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported 3,094 incidents in Mexican prisons —an 18.5% increase from the previous year— resulting in 100 deaths and 892 injuries.
International
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 2,533,000 deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to an international study led by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and Stanford University in the United States, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Researchers calculated that one death was prevented for every 5,400 doses administered.
The analysis also found that the vaccines saved 14.8 million years of life, equivalent to one year of life gained for every 900 doses given.
The study, coordinated by Professor Stefania Boccia, revealed that 82% of the lives saved were people vaccinated before becoming infected with the virus, and 57% of deaths avoided occurred during the Omicron wave. In addition, 90% of the beneficiaries were adults over 60 years old.
“This is the most comprehensive analysis to date, based on global data and fewer assumptions about the evolution of the pandemic,” explained Boccia and researcher Angelo Maria Pezzullo.
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
Seven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
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
-
Central America4 days agoFuneral turns tragic as armed attack leaves seven dead in Guatemala City
-
Central America4 days agoCosta Rica issues Yellow Alert and halts water activities over tsunami currents
-
International4 days agoThree salvadorans in Florida sentenced in $146 million construction tax fraud scheme
-
International4 days agoKremlin hails preparedness after Kamchatka quakes leave no casualties
-
Central America3 days agoDaniel Ortega’s last historic sandinista ally detained in Managua
-
International4 days agoU.S. launches ads urging undocumented migrants to self-deport via CBP Home App
-
Central America3 days agoHonduras sees ongoing killings of land defenders and attacks on press, warns NGO
-
Central America3 days agoGuatemala transfers top gang leaders to maximum security prison after funeral home massacre
-
International3 days agoTrump to build $200M ballroom at the White House by 2028
-
International2 days agoTrump administration blasts judge’s ruling reinstating TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
-
International2 days agoStudy finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
-
Central America2 days agoCosta Rica faces historic vote on lifting presidential immunity for Rodrigo Chaves
-
International27 mins agoIsrael says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
-
International30 mins agoSeven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison