May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.

In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.

Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.

Erik Prince, the founder of the private security firm Blackwater (now called Academi), expressed his support for Daniel Noboa, the president and re-election candidate in Ecuador, and stated that he hopes to continue working together in the fight against crime.

“I hope Ecuador chooses law and order. We are here to help, to combat gangs, and to provide the tools for the government to restore law and order, peace, and prosperity,” said the former U.S. military member, who arrived in Guayaquil to participate in an operation alongside the Ministers of the Interior, John Reimberg, and Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo.

Prince did not hold back in his criticism of left-wing governments, such as Venezuela, which he described as a “narco-state with mass drug processing,” while also linking the party Revolución Ciudadana, of which the Correista Luisa González is a member (and who faces Noboa in the second electoral round), as an “ally of Nicolás Maduro.”

Minister Loffredo had already announced on Tuesday that a team from Prince would arrive in the country in the coming days to provide “advisory and training” to security forces, as part of the “strategic alliance” that President Noboa agreed upon with the Blackwater founder to fight against “narcoterrorism,” details of which have not been disclosed.

The People’s Supreme Court of Cuba announced on Monday that it has successfully completed the release of 553 prisoners, a process first announced on January 14. Among those freed were political prisoners, including opposition figures José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro.

The announcement came shortly after Washington, in the final days of the Biden administration, decided to remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

While Havana has insisted that the releases were a unilateral and sovereign decision, the United States maintains that the measure was part of an agreement mediated by the Vatican. According to U.S. sources, many of those released were participants in the July 11, 2021, anti-government protests, the largest demonstrations Cuba has seen in decades.

Cuban authorities have not provided a list of the released prisoners or a timeline for the implementation of the measure, despite multiple requests for information from EFE.