International
The Government of Colombia clarifies that the dialogue with the ELN guerrillas “is suspended” after the attack
The Government of Colombia confirmed on Wednesday that the peace dialogue with the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) “is suspended” after the attack by that armed group against an Army military base in the department of Arauca, in the east of the country, which left two dead and 27 injured.
The Government delegation at the dialogue table clarified in this way what was said on Tuesday night by President Gustavo Petro, who declared that the attack “closes a peace process with blood.”
“During these months the Government has sent multiple proposals to the ELN. Today the dialogue process is suspended. Its viability is severely damaged, and its continuity can only be recovered with an unequivocal manifestation of the will for peace of the ELN,” the delegation added in a statement, which did not completely close the door to the process.
In the letter they also expressed their “absolute rejection of the attack perpetrated by the ELN on the military base of Puerto Jordán, Arauca” and showed their condolences to the families of the victims “in the face of this new act of violence that claims the lives of young Colombians.”
The Colombian Government and the ELN restarted in November 2022 in Caracas the peace negotiations with the last major Latin American guerrilla that, however, stagnated at the beginning of this year due to the demands of the ELN that the Executive remove them from the list of terrorist groups and abandon the regional dialogue it maintains in the department of Nariño (southwest) with Comuneros del Sur, supposedly split from the ELN.
During the various cycles of negotiations in Caracas, Havana and Mexico City, the parties reached several partial agreements and agreed on a one-year bilateral ceasefire, the longest maintained with that guerrilla, which ended on August 3, after which the ELN resumed its attacks against public force and infrastructure in different parts of the country, especially in Arauca, where it is particularly strong.
Petro compared Tuesday’s attack to the attack on the Colombian Police Cadet School in Bogotá, which in January 2019 left 20 dead and 68 injured, including an Ecuadorian cadet, and which put an end to the dialogue that the Government was having with that guerrilla at that time.
“And obviously, as happened that time in another place near here, at the Police School, because many police officers died, ensigns who were studying there, because it is practically an action that closes a peace process with blood,” he added.
On that occasion, the government of Iván Duque broke off peace negotiations with the guerrillas.
Tuesday’s attack was at the Puerto Jordán military base, in Arauca (east), which “was attacked with improvised explosive devices launched from a dump mantip.”
According to figures provided by the Ministry of Defense, 27 soldiers were injured, “of which 20 have splinters” and seven are “seriously injured.” Two of the injured died on Tuesday night.
The violent escalation of the ELN left two soldiers dead last Sunday in a rural area of Tame (Arauca) and also includes attacks on the Caño Limón-Coveñas and Bicentenario pipelines, two of the most important in the country.
The Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline, 770 kilometers long, transports oil from the Arauca wells to Coveñas, a Colombian port in the Caribbean Sea.
International
Trump replaces Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Senator Markwayne Mullin
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday the departure of Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, one of the key architects of the administration’s policy of deporting undocumented immigrants.
Noem, who has been assigned a new role as a “special envoy” to Latin America, will be replaced starting March 31 by Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, the president said in a message posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
According to media reports, Trump made the decision after Noem’s recent hearings in Congress, during which she faced tough questions regarding the awarding of a major public contract.
International
Young Woman Will Represent Mexico at 2026 World Cup Opener, Says President Sheinbaum
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced Thursday that the young Mexican woman who proves to have the best ball control skills will receive her personal ticket to the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico City.
The left-wing leader had previously said she would not attend the tournament’s opening game on June 11 in the Mexican capital and instead planned to give away the ticket number 00001, reserved for her by FIFA.
During her morning press conference, Sheinbaum explained that women between 16 and 25 years old can participate by submitting a video through an official platform.
“What do they have to do? Keep the ball in the air for one minute,” she said, referring to the soccer juggling challenge that will determine the winner.
Among the judges selecting the winner will be Mexican striker Charlyn Corral, the world’s top female scorer who set a ball-control record in 2005, and professional referee Katia Itzel García.
Sheinbaum also revealed that she plans to watch the opening match during a large public gathering with giant screens in the Zócalo, located in the historic center near the presidential palace.
“Very few people will be able to attend the opening. So I will watch it here with the people, and a young woman will represent me and the people of Mexico,” the president said.
Sheinbaum has previously commented on the high cost of World Cup tickets, as well as the difficulty of obtaining them in a metropolitan area with more than 20 million inhabitants.
In the 2026 tournament, jointly hosted by United States, Mexico, and Canada, Mexico will stage 13 matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.
The opening match will take place at the legendary Estadio Azteca, which previously hosted World Cup opening ceremonies in 1970 and 1986, occasions when the presidents in attendance were famously booed by the crowd.
International
Claudia Sheinbaum: Operation Against ‘El Mencho’ Was Based on Pending Arrest Warrants
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday rejected claims that the military operation that resulted in the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was carried out under pressure from the United States government.
Sheinbaum explained that the deployment of federal forces was aimed at executing outstanding arrest warrants against Oseguera Cervantes, who was considered one of the most wanted criminals in both Mexico and the United States.
“That was not the objective (to ease pressure from the United States). It is very important, and I want to repeat it. This individual had an arrest warrant, or several,” Sheinbaum said, referring to the operation conducted on February 22.
According to the president, the initial goal was to capture Oseguera Cervantes, but military forces responded after coming under attack during the intervention.
“The operation was to detain him. The problem is that they were attacked — the Secretariat of National Defense — and they responded at that moment,” she said.
The president insisted that the action was not carried out in response to external demands, although she acknowledged intelligence cooperation with the United States.
“It was not done in any way because of pressure from the United States, not at all. Of course, there was intelligence information from the United States that was used specifically,” she concluded.
Trump replaces Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Senator Markwayne Mullin
Young Woman Will Represent Mexico at 2026 World Cup Opener, Says President Sheinbaum
Claudia Sheinbaum: Operation Against ‘El Mencho’ Was Based on Pending Arrest Warrants
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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