International

MIT students protest again despite reprisals from the center and Biden’s accusation

Students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) occupied the stairs of the main building of that university this Friday and marched around the campus to reaffirm that they will continue with their protests against the war in Gaza.

The students said that “neither the reprisals of the university administration nor the reprimands” this week of President Joe Biden, who accused them of anti-Semitism, will prevent them from continuing with their demonstrations in favor of Palestine.

The MIT administration ordered the dispersion of a protest of these students on Thursday that ended in 9 detainees and this morning allowed the riot police to enter the campus to dismantle the camp that the students had established.

One of those arrested yesterday, Ruth Hanna, told Efe that they will not give in in their claims either because of Biden’s comments – in the demonstration many students wore kipá – or because of the fact that MIT is suspending and expelling students involved in the protests from their university residences.

“The students are fighting and we are not going to stop until justice is done to Palestine. We have power and we are going to continue using it,” said the student and also leader.

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Hanna lamented the “police brutality” during the arrests and the eviction of the camp: “We are not afraid. This repression makes our movement bigger and stronger,” he said.

“MIT works because we make it work,” “we have the power to close it” and “if we don’t get justice, they won’t have peace,” were some of the slogans that the students shouted.

Another young trade unionist, Cecil Carey, addressed the crowd, sentenced: “We are not going to move from here. They can suspend us and make us dizzy with meetings, but it won’t work for them. You can arrest students, but you can’t stop a move.”

One of the students who is suspended, Hannah Didehbani, criticized that after “seven months of genocide,” MIT “ignores” her demands and accused the university of “collaboratating” in investigations commissioned by the Ministry of Defense of Israel.

MIT has recently received 4 million dollars from Israel due to these joint works, which really for this macro-center of education, with about 3.5 billion annual budget, is nothing more than a few “penices,” according to Didehbani.

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But MIT “cares more about having freedom in academic terms” than being complicit in a genocide, Didehbani suggested, and he ended by saying: “We are not going to stop until all MIT’s relations with the Ministry of Defense of Israel are over.”

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.