International

Russia accuses the United States of recruiting Mexican and Colombian prisoners to fight in Ukraine

Russia’s Foreign Espionage Service (SVR) accused private military companies in the United States of recruiting inmates from Mexico and Colombia in US prisons to send them to fight in the war in Ukraine.

“Private US military companies, under the direction of the Federal Drug Control Administration and the FBI, began recruiting representatives of Mexican and Colombian drug cartels who are serving sentences in U.S. prisons to participate in the Ukrainian conflict,” the SVR said in a statement.

According to the entity, “the United States is resorting to increasingly desperate methods in its attempts to change the situation on the Ukrainian front, by reinforcing the ranks of demobilized Ukrainian military with multinational scum with tendencies to armed violence.”

“Of course, the prospects of a new injection of ‘fortune soldiers’ chosen from serial killers, drug addicts and rapists (…) raise concern. However, the US plans to achieve a tactical advantage on the battlefield with this are destined for failure,” the SVR added.

He added that the first game of “these hitmen is scheduled to be transferred to the battlefield in the summer of this year.”

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“The criminal gang will be made up of several hundred Mexicans and Colombians. In case they accept this ‘work’ they are promised total amnesty in the hope that they will never return” from Ukraine, the entity said.

The SVR warned that “if the pilot project (…) turns out, the recruitment program of killers will continue and will be expanded with the appeal of criminals from other countries with serious crime situations.”

However, he pointed out that this process is going through difficulties, since “negotiations with the narco-barons are difficult” and no criminal dares to cooperate with the US authorities without the approval of their bosses.

“The bosses of the gangs try to sell their henchmen as expensive as possible, putting compliance with American plans at risk,” the Russian espionage estimated.

The SVR pointed out that this shows that President Joe Biden’s Administration “admits in practice his impotence and shows us once again the inconsistency of the Kiev regime boosted by them.”

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After the failure of the summer counteroffensive of 2023, Ukraine has had great difficulties with the call to ranks, which have been aggravated by the delays in the approval of a new mobilization law, which has been bogged down in the Supreme Rada for four months.

The president of Ukraine himself, Volodymyr Zelensky, called on Ukrainian deputies to put aside “populism” and approve the new mobilization law.

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.