International

Milei questions politicians and journalists who “close their mouths” about Venezuela

The Argentine president, Javier Milei, questioned this Sunday the politicians and journalists who “close their mouths with respect to the Venezuelan dictatorship” and treated them as “accomplices by action or omission” of the situation in Venezuela.

“In Venezuela there is a Communist Dictatorship that kidnaps, tortures and murders anyone who opposes them. No intellectually honest person can deny this reality. Isn’t it striking to you that all the politicians, journalists, businessmen and trade unionists who called us fascists close their mouths with respect to the Venezuelan dictatorship?” Milei asked in his X account.

Milei was one of the first leaders who called the results of the presidential elections of July 28 in Venezuela “fraud” and “electoral scam” and did not recognize the announcement of the National Electoral Council (CNE) of that country, which gave Nicolás Maduro as the winner.

“Some even support the Maduro Dictator. They say, without getting red, that he won the elections in a legitimate way. That Venezuela is a democracy. All this while they affirm that our movement is fascist,” questioned the Argentine ultraliberal president this Sunday.

“You will never hear progressive and well-thinking journalists say that communism is a murderous ideology,” Milei said, after indicating that communism “always ends in a bloody and murderous dictatorship, like fascism.”

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“It’s time for them to choose and get out of neutrality. To the imbeciles of the idea of well-thinking centrism and who call anyone who escapes their mediocre logic a fascist, I ask them directly: Maduro or Corina Machado?” said Milei, regarding the opposition leader in Venezuela.

The Argentine chancellor, Diana Mondino, reached the point of “confirming” that “the legitimate winner and elected President” of Venezuela is Edmundo González Urrutia, although later his ministry relativized him and said that he waits to pronounce himself “definitely.”

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.