International
Parents of students protest in front of military headquarters in Mexico
September 22 |
Fathers, mothers and relatives of the missing normalista teachers in Ayotzinapa in September 2014 along with students from a rural school in the state of Guerrero, set up a protest camp on Thursday in front of Military Camp 1, in Mexico City, capital of the country.
Sources close to the protesters revealed that the concentration could remain in place until next Monday, when a meeting is scheduled at the Ministry of the Interior (Interior Ministry), or until Tuesday, the day that commemorates nine years since the disappearance of the 43 students.
The plaintiffs set up a tent where they will be camping in front of this complex as an expression of their demand to the Army of the North American country to deliver the necessary information to find the whereabouts of the more than 40 missing students.
Mario González, father of César Manuel González, one of the 43 missing students, stated: “We are at the Campo Militar 1 battalion, where the information of all the battalions of the country is located.”
“They are nothing more than criminals, cowards with weapons”, sentenced the father, in clear reference not only to the events of September 26, 2014, but to the whole installation of elements to protect the Army facilities where they arrived that includes barbed wire, barricades and hundreds of armed soldiers.
This 2023 will commemorate the ninth anniversary of the event that generated one of the most emblematic cases in the judicial history of Mexico, treasured as a great pending issue by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who promised to resolve it before the end of his term (October 2024).
Last Wednesday, the relatives met with the President and when leaving the meeting they explained their demand that the Army should finish providing the necessary documentation on the case in order to find the whereabouts of the students once and for all.
The relatives were disappointed by the president’s refusal, who assured that all the information had already been handed over, although they claim the existence of these missing documents in what was handed over by the Army to the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
The GIEI recently withdrew from the country because it was unable to make progress in the investigations due to the obstacles imposed by the lack of collaboration of the Armed Forces in the investigation. The Truth Commission classified the event as a “State crime” due to the participation of authorities at all levels, including the Armed Forces.
The government of López Obrador has repeatedly denied the accusation made by supporters of former President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and has defended the so-called “historical truth”, which maintains that corrupt police detained the students and handed them over to the Guerreros Unidos cartel, which murdered and incinerated them in the Cocula landfill.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
International
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
The Colombian government stated on Thursday that it would have no reason to reject a potential asylum request from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro should he leave office, as regional tensions persist over the deployment of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean since August.
“In the current climate of tension, negotiations are necessary, and if the United States demands a transition or political change, that is something to be assessed. If such a transition results in him (Maduro) needing to live elsewhere or seek protection, Colombia would have no reason to deny it,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio in an interview with Caracol Radio.
However, Villavicencio noted that it is unlikely Maduro would choose Colombia as a refuge. “I believe he would opt for someplace more distant and calmer,” she added.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also commented on Venezuela’s situation on Wednesday, arguing that the country needs a “democratic revolution” rather than “inefficient repression.” His remarks followed the recent detention and passport cancellation of Cardinal Baltazar Porras at the Caracas airport.
“The Maduro government must understand that responding to external aggression requires more than military preparations; it requires a democratic revolution. A country is defended with more democracy, not more inefficient repression,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter), in a rare public criticism of the Venezuelan leader.
Petro also called for a general amnesty for political opponents and reiterated his call for forming a broad transitional government to address Venezuela’s prolonged crisis.
Since September, U.S. military forces have destroyed more than 20 vessels allegedly carrying drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters near Venezuela and Colombia, resulting in over 80 deaths.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that attacks “inside Venezuela” will begin “soon,” while Maduro has urged Venezuelans to prepare for what he describes as an impending external aggression.
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