International
Pedro Sánchez will visit a Palestinian refugee camp on his tour of the Middle East
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will visit a Palestinian refugee camp on his tour of the Middle East to learn first-hand about their situation and symbolize Spain’s full support for the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
Sánchez begins this Tuesday a trip that will take him to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to address with the leaders of those countries the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the need for a ceasefire to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe that Gaza is experiencing.
The objective of the trip, according to the Government, is to transfer Spain’s willingness to serve as a bridge between the EU and the Arab countries to advance in the search for definitive solutions that Sánchez considers can only go through the coexistence of two states, Israel and Palestine.
The tour will also have an economic component, especially in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to probe new investments from those countries in Spain and the opportunities they offer to Spanish companies.
In that economic context, the announcement of the Saudi company STC to take over 9.9% of Telefónica is framed, an issue that, according to government sources, Sánchez does not plan to raise in Saudi Arabia on his own initiative but could be addressed if the Saudi side does.
Nor is it planned to discuss with the Saudi authorities on this trip respect for human rights, which the cited sources emphasize is constantly done by Spain in the appropriate forums.
Sánchez will arrive in Amman on Monday night, but his agenda in Jordan will not begin until Tuesday and he will do so with that visit to the Palestinian refugee camp of Jabal el Hussein.
It is one of the four camps established after 1948 to accommodate refugees from Palestine who left as a result of the war between Arabs and Israelis.
The camp was established in 1952 for 8,000 refugees in an area of 421,000 square meters northwest of Amman, but currently, according to official figures from the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), the population is almost 30,000 people.
In that camp, Sánchez plans to have a chat with a group of Palestinian children and then meet with refugees living in this camp.
The visit, emphasizes the Executive, aims to give visibility to the work carried out by UNRWA, which it considers irreplaceable in the region in support of Palestinian refugees, as well as Spain’s support for this UN body.
The president of the Government will then visit the Citadel of Amman, rebuilt with funds from Spanish cooperation, and will then meet with the king of Jordan, Abdalah II.
Sánchez will move on Tuesday to Yeddah, the city of Saudi Arabia where he will develop his agenda in this country, where he will first see a group of Spanish businessmen and then he will be received by the crown prince and strong man of the country, Mohamed bin Salman.
The trip will conclude in Doha on Wednesday with a meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who will invite Sánchez to the ‘iftar’ of that day, the moment when the fast is broken in the period of Ramadan.
The Government emphasizes precisely the fact that the three countries have shown their willingness to visit Sánchez in the middle of Ramadan.
In Doha there will also be a meeting of Sánchez with Spanish businessmen, a meeting with women from Qatar who stand out in various areas of society and an interview with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
International
Brazil helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro kills six, including pilots and international figures
The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police confirmed on Monday the identities of three of the six victims killed in a helicopter collision that occurred the previous morning in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood.
All three identified victims are Brazilian nationals: the pilots of the aircraft, Charles Marsillac and Alexandre Souza, and music producer Lucas Brito.
The identities of the three foreign victims have not yet been officially confirmed. They include U.S. singer Oliver Tree, Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim—known online as “Gaspi”—and Argentine producer Lucas Vignale, all of whom were listed on the flight manifest.
According to police, forensic experts from the Legal Medical Institute have already collected DNA samples in order to identify the foreign victims, whose bodies were severely burned.
One of the helicopters crashed into a private parking lot, triggering a fire that destroyed around twenty electric vehicles. That aircraft was carrying the pilot and four passengers, including the three foreign nationals.
The second helicopter, which had only the pilot on board, crashed approximately 100 meters away from the first impact site.
Rio de Janeiro’s deputy mayor, Eduardo Cavaliere, stated that both helicopters were operating transport flights toward Angra dos Reis on the Rio coastline and toward the mountainous region of the state.
Oliver Tree, 32, was in Brazil as part of an international tour. The artist, known for songs such as “Life Goes On” and “Miss You,” had performed to a large audience in São Paulo a week earlier and was scheduled to continue his tour in Europe.
Argentine content creator Gaspar Prim, 23, had built a following of more than two million on social media platforms, gaining popularity for humorous and often controversial video productions that had occasionally been removed by hosting platforms.
International
Mexico and U.S. Launch New Bilateral Security Group to Combat Fentanyl and Organized Crime
The governments of Mexico and the United States officially launched the Bilateral Implementation Group (BIG) on Friday, a new initiative aimed at strengthening cooperation on security issues and enhancing joint efforts against transnational crime.
In a statement, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson announced that he and Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco addressed officials from both countries who will lead what he described as a “new phase of bilateral cooperation.” The initiative seeks to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs, illegal firearms, and human trafficking across the shared border.
Earlier this week, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had confirmed that senior security officials from both nations would meet in Mexico City on June 12 to review and advance existing cooperation agreements.
Through social media, Ambassador Johnson explained that the new bilateral group is designed to improve coordination between the two governments by placing greater emphasis on implementation, accountability, and measurable results. The effort will also focus on combating transnational criminal organizations operating across North America.
“The participation of 15 U.S. government agencies, working alongside their Mexican counterparts, reflects the seriousness of this effort and our shared commitment to delivering measurable results,” Johnson said.
The ambassador also highlighted several achievements that he attributed to ongoing bilateral cooperation. According to Johnson, maritime drug trafficking into the United States has declined by more than 95 percent, while overdose deaths have fallen by 35 percent.
He further noted that Mexican authorities have seized more than 400 metric tons of illegal drugs and dismantled over 2,300 clandestine laboratories as part of their efforts to combat organized crime and narcotics production.
The launch of the Bilateral Implementation Group marks the latest step in the security partnership between Mexico and the United States, as both countries seek to address shared challenges related to drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking, and the activities of criminal networks operating across the region.
International
‘El Chapo’ Guzmán again asks Mexican president to seek his return from U.S. prison
Convicted drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has once again appealed to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to intervene on his behalf and seek his transfer from the United States to Mexico, where he hopes to serve the remainder of his prison sentence.
Guzmán, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, is currently serving a sentence of more than 50 years in the United States after being convicted in 2019 on multiple charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering.
According to reports, the latest request was made in a letter dated June 2, one of several messages that Guzmán has reportedly sent to Sheinbaum in recent months in an effort to secure his repatriation. In the letter, he expresses hope that the Mexican government can support the efforts of his legal team.
Written in English and by hand, the letter asks that he be allowed to complete his sentence in Mexico, arguing that such a transfer would enable him to receive visits from family members more easily.
Guzmán is currently being held at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, commonly known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” one of the most secure prisons in the United States.
As in previous communications, the former cartel leader complained about his prison conditions, stating that he remains in near-total isolation and has little to no contact with other inmates.
He also reiterated his long-standing claim that he did not receive a fair trial in the United States and argued that the Mexican government bears responsibility for much of the violence associated with organized crime in the country.
In the letter, Guzmán maintains that his actions were motivated by a desire to protect himself and his family amid the violence linked to criminal organizations in Mexico.
Mexican authorities have not publicly indicated whether they plan to respond to the request. Guzmán remains one of the most notorious figures in the history of international drug trafficking and is serving his sentence under some of the strictest security measures in the U.S. prison system.
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