International

The Colombian Government will go on the offensive against the ELN for the violence in the Catatumbo

The Minister of the Interior of Colombia, Juan Fernando Cristo, said on Wednesday that the Government will go on the offensive against the National Liberation Army (ELN) for the violence exercised since last week in the Catatumbo region that has left between 60 and 80 dead and more than 38,000 displaced.

“The Government has decided to use all constitutional and legal instruments to reject that intention of the ELN (to control the Colombian-Venezuelan border), to go on the offensive and to restore normality for the inhabitants of Catatumbo,” Cristo said in a statement to the press.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Monday that he will declare a state of internal commotion for the offensive undertaken by the guerrillas, a measure that will come into force tonight, according to Cristo.

“It is totally inexcusable, unacceptable, the crimes committed by the ELN, are acts of barbarism, it is a premeditated, organized massacre, the one that the ELN has done in the Catatumbo while they were preparing for a new conversation with the Government,” said Cristo.

Petro also suspended on Friday the peace talks with that guerrilla, with whom the Government delegation was supposed to meet this month to try to unlock negotiations that have stalled since May last year.

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However, Cristo said that with this offensive, the ELN aims to “appropriate the income of coca, drug trafficking” and to “exercise territorial control over the Colombian-Venezuelan border area in that part of the Catatumbo.”

The ELN offensive against a FARC dissident has left between 60 and 80 dead (according to reports from the Ombudsman’s Office and the Government of Norte de Santander), although Legal Medicine has so far received only 41 bodies due to the difficulty in accessing the areas where the fighting took place.

Likewise, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) figures 38,419 displaced and 12,176 confined.

With the declaration of internal shock, the Government considers that it will have “all the necessary legal instruments to face this crisis and to restore normality.”

“From the issuance of the decree tonight, the Government will be authorized for 90 days to issue measures that allow us to restore that normality,” Cristo said.

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It seeks to strengthen “military capabilities, increase the foot of strength, restrict communications and intercept communications.”

“We need to advance in the control of coca, advance with a crash plan in programs to replace illicit crops, because if we do not transform that economy (…) we will continue in the same,” he said.

Likewise, it has a humanitarian dimension to “attend as it properly deserves, with all dignity, to the displaced people caused by the ELN, who are today in Tibú, Ocaña and the city of Cúcuta.”

Finally, the interior commotion seeks to carry out a “social and economic transformation of the territory”.

“We are going to use the inner commotion to advance in a defined way in the replacement of illicit crops, but also in the fulfillment of a dream of the catatumberos, which are investments,” Cristo concluded.

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International

Trump signs order to end federal funding for NPR and PBS

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to halt federal funding for two public media outlets, PBS television and NPR radio, accusing them of being biased.

NPR and PBS are partially funded by American taxpayers but rely heavily on private donations.

Trump has long maintained a hostile relationship with most media outlets, which he has referred to as the “enemy of the people.”

An exception is the conservative Fox News channel, some of whose hosts have played important roles in the administration of the Republican magnate.

“National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) receive taxpayer funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB),” Trump said.

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“Therefore, I direct the CPB board and all executive departments and agencies to cease federal funding for NPR and PBS,” he added.

The Republican leader argued that “neither of these entities provides a fair, accurate, or impartial portrayal of current events to the taxpayer citizens.”

At the end of March, Donald Trump called on Congress to end public funding for these two “horrible and completely biased networks.”

International

Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka

Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.

The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.

An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.

The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.

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Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.

Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.

Internacionales

Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages

May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.

In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.

Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.