International
Migrants want to stay on Mexico’s southern border because of Sheinbaum’s industrial plan
Migrants on the border of Mexico and Guatemala want to work on the Mayan Train, the Interoceanic Corridor and the industries promised by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to mitigate migration, which would strengthen the area as an industrial pole of Central America, according to officials.
In the largest city of that border, the Mexican Tapachula, foreigners and businessmen expressed to EFE their optimism after the meeting two weeks ago between the president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, and Sheinbaum, who proposed bringing the Mayan Train and manufacturing industrial poles to the region.
Denis Olivera Aguirre, secretary of the Promoting Association for the Development of Markets in Tapachula, considered that these works would encourage the arrival of migrants because of the employment that there would be.
“In their countries they are suffering a rather delicate situation of security, of economy. So, seeing a source of work, maybe call more to Guatemala and Mexico, in fact, with the closure that (President) Donald Trump made for the United States, this (site) later will be a source of work,” he commented.
The municipal president of Tapachula, Aarón Yamil Melgar Bravo, recalled in an interview with EFE that Sheinbaum said from his campaign that Tapachula will be the economic capital of the state of Chiapas and Central America.
The mayor explained that there are almost 400 hectares available for industrial projects such as “the completion of the train tracks that connects from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to Puerto Chiapas” to promote trade between the Pacific and the Atlantic, and between North and Central America.
“They will be able to take the containers down and up the ship and lower the containers from the trains and, obviously the other branch of the railway tracks will go to Suchiate (border with Guatemala),” he explained.
Sheinbaum has insisted that to alleviate migration it is necessary to address the causes, after the record of more than 925,000 irregular migrants in Mexico from January to August 2024, above any full year.
“What do we say about migration? That it is not about putting national guards everywhere, but about giving well-paid employment so that people do not have to migrate out of necessity, so one of the objectives is to work with Guatemala to develop that pole on the border,” he said on April 11.
The projects encourage migrants like the Venezuelan Luz Marina, who considered them a “great proposal” and news for migrants interested in working in Mexico after Trump’s restrictions.
“We are in the best position to help Mexico and Guatemala, if we are interested in better working conditions, that they consider our support, there are many who are interested in agreement. There will be from 700, 800 or up to 1,000 Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian migrants and a very good working hand,” he said.
Deivy Gurrola, from Cuba, asked the Mexican authorities to encourage a regular stay for migrants who wish to work on these projects, “that there are factories, that companies be established to be able to find work quickly.”
“I would be interested in being able to work, I could pay rent (rent), support myself here in Mexico, because we do look for a little economy, work that accommodates the price, we would like to work,” she said.
Mexico received more than 24,000 deportees in the first eight weeks of Trump’s new presidency, including 4,567 foreigners, according to the latest update from Sheinbaum, who has promised support to those who decide to stay in the country.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction