International
Peru government says oil spill twice as big as previously thought
AFP
The oil spill off the coast of Peru sparked by a volcanic eruption thousands of miles away is twice as big as previously reported, the government said Friday.
The announcement came hours after a court banned four directors from the Spanish oil company Repsol, which owns the refinery where the accident took place, from leaving the country for 18 months.
Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez told reporters the country has “a figure so far of 11,900 barrels” dumped into the sea on January 15, instead of the 6,000 reported earlier.
Repsol confirmed that the figure was higher, but gave a slightly lower estimate than the minister.
The spill, described as an “ecological disaster” by the Peruvian government, happened when an Italian-flagged tanker, the Mare Doricum, was unloading oil at the La Pampilla refinery, just off Peru’s coast around 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Lima.
Repsol said the tanker was hit by freak waves triggered by a tsunami after a massive volcanic eruption near Tonga, more than 10,000 kilometers away.
The oil slick has been dragged by ocean currents about 140 kilometers north of the refinery, prosecutors said, causing the death of an undetermined number of fish and seabirds.
In addition, it left hundreds of local fishermen unable to take their boats out. They have staged protests against the Spanish company.
Deputy Environment Minister Alfredo Mamani said that 4,225 barrels of oil had been recovered from the sea and some 20 beaches, just over a third of the total.
For its part, Repsol said in a statement in Lima that “the amount of oil spilled is 10,396 barrels and 35 percent of that has already been recovered.”
Earlier Friday, Judge Romualdo Aguedo granted the prosecution’s request to prevent the four executives, including Repsol Peru’s Spanish president Jaime Fernandez-Cuesta Luca de Tena, from leaving the country, as investigators look into the catastrophic oil spill.
Peru has demanded compensation from Repsol, and the energy giant faces a potential $34.5 million fine, the Environment Ministry has said.
The Mare Doricum is anchored with a ban on setting sail.
Fernandez-Cuesta Luca de Tena is accused of being responsible for the crime of “environmental pollution to the detriment of the state,” with the three other executives considered “accomplices.”
If found guilty, Repsol’s president faces a potential prison sentence of four to six years.
In Madrid, the oil company pledged to “fully cooperate with any criminal investigation, as we are already doing with the ongoing preliminary investigation,” Repsol said in an email to AFP.
“Our main concern is cleaning up the environment. Repsol is putting all its efforts into cleaning up as quickly as possible,” the company added.
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
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