International
Mexico’s southern border becomes the most insecure area in the country
The main city on Mexico’s southern border, Tapachula, has become the municipality with the highest perception of insecurity in the country, in the midst of the organized crime dispute over the control of drug trafficking and people from South America, activists tell EFE.
Nine out of 10 inhabitants of this city, 91.9%, perceive that this city is unsafe, which places it in first national place in the National Survey of Urban Public Security (ENSU) published this week by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEgi).
Roberto Alejandro García, representative of the entrepreneurs of the Pedestrian Trail in Tapachula, assured EFE that the municipality is one of the most unsafe in the country for the last three years in the face of crime and the lack of control of migrants on the southern border.
The business leader said that “lately they kill people even in the center, either with bullets, machetes, stabs, and not only in the center, but in all the surroundings and colonies (neighborhos).”
“Now, currently, there are deaths every day in Tapachula, because the authorities are not able to cover Tapachula. We have 20 years with the same amount of elements that monitor, that is an irresponsibility of the state and federal government,” he said.
Between a ‘war’ and the high flow of migrants
Tapachula is the second largest city in Chiapas, a state on the southern border where the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) warned on Monday in a statement of a “civil war” scenario due to forced displacement, homicides and forced disappearances that occur in the face of organized crime disputes.
On the other hand, the mayor of Tapachula, Yamil Melgar Bravo, said last week that the municipality concentrates 60% of migrants in Mexico, where irregular migration rose by 193% year-on-year in the first half of the year to exceed 712,000 people nationwide, according to the Government’s Migration Policy Unit.
Teodoro Vázquez Castillo, general secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Federation of the State of Chiapas, regretted that all citizens are worried because they perceive “horrible” security.
“One of the factors is migration and the rest, I don’t know if with it, brings the boom of drugs, smuggling of women, of migrants who are extorted. All the northern gangs came to operate in Tapachula, I don’t know if there is no authority that marks a stop,” he said.
Promise of attention at the southern border of Mexico
The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, denied on Tuesday that there is an atmosphere of “war” in Chiapas, where she said that her government is working so that “there are no displacements and pacify and avoid extortion and crimes that are occurring.”
But the director of the Center for Human Dignity (CDH), Luis Rey García Villagrán, pointed out that the southern border faces a crisis of insecurity and human rights, since citizens do not have confidence in any of the police corps, the streets are in dim and the surveillance cameras never work.
“The robberies of passers-by, extortion, executions, shootings, mass kidnappings, express kidnappings that did not exist, there are many canteens, drug sales,” he said.
The activist said that in Tapachula there is a fluctuating population of 70,000 unregistered people of more than 20 nationalities, so “corrupt” policemen, he denounced, take advantage of migrants.
The director of the ‘Belén’ shelter, César Augusto Cañaveral, asked for security for the migrant shelter, which also fears being a victim of organized crime.
International
Peruvian Court Orders Definitive Dismissal of Money Laundering Case Against Keiko Fujimori
A court of Peru’s National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice ordered the definitive dismissal of the criminal proceedings for alleged money laundering and criminal organization against presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, authorities reported on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
The ruling was issued by the Tenth National Preparatory Investigation Court in compliance with a previous decision by the Constitutional Court (TC). The decision was confirmed by Fujimori’s attorney, Giuliana Loza, who said on social media platform X that “there was no money laundering nor criminal organization.”
According to the defense, the case was closed for lacking legal grounds and for violating due process. “The proceedings concluded because they lacked a legal basis and constituted clear prosecutorial persecution,” Loza stated.
Judge Wilson Verastegui, whose ruling was reported by local media, said the Constitutional Court determined that the facts alleged in the so-called ‘Cocktails Case’ do not constitute a criminal offense under the principle of legality. The court noted that the crime of illegal financing of political organizations was not in force at the time the alleged acts occurred.
The dismissal also applies to other leaders of the Fuerza Popular party, including Pier Figari, Ana Rosa Herz, Jaime Yoshiyama and José Chlimper, as well as the party itself.
Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), had been under investigation for the alleged irregular financing of her 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns, a case that exposed her to a possible 30-year prison sentence. However, one year ago the National Superior Court annulled the trial and returned the case to the intermediate stage.
Fujimori is currently pursuing her fourth presidential bid, ahead of Peru’s general elections scheduled for April.
International
Colombian Defense Chief Meets U.S. Officials to Advance Bilateral Narcotics Strategy
Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez Suárez, is in the United States this Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking, Colombian officials said, in a visit that comes as ties between Bogotá and Washington begin to ease after a period of diplomatic tension.
The trip is seen as a prelude to a scheduled visit by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to Washington, where he is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in early February. Sánchez will remain in Washington through Wednesday, according to Colombian government sources.
During his stay, Sánchez is slated to meet with senior U.S. officials, including representatives from the Department of Defense, members of the U.S. Senate, and White House advisors, to outline a joint strategy to “defeat drug trafficking” and expand cooperation on intelligence against transnational crime.
According to a statement from the Colombian Defense Ministry, the agenda will include strengthening collaboration on technology, intelligence sharing, and efforts to disrupt criminal networks that operate across borders. Officials said the discussions will also help set the stage for Petro’s upcoming talks with Trump.
The visit follows a period of strained U.S.–Colombia relations last year, when Washington revoked Petro’s visa and withdrew Colombia’s certification as a key partner in anti-drug efforts — moves that coincided with disagreements over counter-narcotics strategy and broader diplomatic frictions. However, a recent phone call between Petro and Trump, described as cordial by officials, helped lower tensions and reopened channels for dialogue ahead of the presidential meeting.
International
Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case
A Dominican court on Monday postponed until March a preliminary hearing against the owners of a nightclub that collapsed last year, killing more than 200 people.
The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8, 2025, during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who died along with 235 other people.
Jet Set owner and manager Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, who served as the club’s administrator, were arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter but were later released on bail after posting approximately $842,500.
Both appeared at the Palace of Justice, where they were met by a small protest from relatives and friends of the victims.
“Thirty years in prison is not enough” and “President, we want JUSTICE,” read signs held by demonstrators.
The preliminary hearing determines whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. The court decided to reschedule the hearing for March 16.
“We don’t want money and we’re not demanding anything else, only justice for those who died,” said Secundino Pérez, a 75-year-old shopkeeper who lost 12 friends in the Jet Set tragedy.
“Antonio and his family celebrated Christmas sitting at a table, celebrating their freedom,” said Edgar Gómez, who lost his daughter in the collapse.
The Dominican Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants “significantly altered” the structure of the nightclub. Prosecutors filed formal charges in November and requested that the case proceed to trial.
The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of three months to two years in prison.
“May your conscience never let you sleep. I lost my son,” a woman shouted through tears before the hearing, while others chanted, “Murderers, murderers, murderers.”
Peruvian Court Orders Definitive Dismissal of Money Laundering Case Against Keiko Fujimori
Colombian Defense Chief Meets U.S. Officials to Advance Bilateral Narcotics Strategy
Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case
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