International

Prosecutor’s Office says that the 8 victims of an accident at sea in southern Mexico are from China

The Attorney General’s Office of the State of Oaxaca (FGEO), in southern Mexico, specified on Saturday that the eight lifeless bodies that were found on a beach in the community of San Francisco del Mar, correspond to migrants of Chinese origin.

In a statement, the Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office, through the Regional Deputy Prosecutor’s Office of the Isthmus, established that they are seven women and one man, all originally from China.

On Friday, the FGEO reported the discovery of the bodies and said that it had located a survivor.

This Saturday, according to the statement made by the surviving person, a man from China, everyone was traveling aboard a boat that was guided by a person from Mexico.

He explained that the boat left the city of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, on Thursday, March 28.

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He said that on his crossing the boat turned over, on March 29, he did not specify the time, with all the crew members, so they were left adrift at sea where eight people died and only one of the migrants survived.

The lifeless bodies of the victims emerged in the place called Playa Vicente, belonging to San Francisco del Mar, which is an open sea beach, on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

The authorities indicated that the victims have not yet been officially identified, so the Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office carries out the work with different federal authorities, in addition to the work being carried out with the Chinese embassy in Mexico.

Traveling overcrowded on all kinds of transport and routes are one of the most dangerous ways that migrants use to cross Mexico clandestinely, heading to the United States, so they pay thousands of dollars to traffickers.

Since October 2018 and despite the tightening of surveillance on the southern border of Mexico, thousands of migrants from Central and South America, the Caribbean and from countries in Africa and China enter Mexican territory with the aim of reaching the United States.

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Human traffickers look for routes for foreigners and sometimes park in the southern states of the country such as Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz and Oaxaca, in addition to those from the north, which border the United States, one of the last stops on their journey to the United States.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.