International
Ecuador’s president seeks cabinet change amid rise in gang violence
AFP
Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso on Thursday demanded the resignation of his cabinet almost a year into a term that has been marked by a crisis of bloody prison violence.
The right-wing president intended to renew his team and make new appointments specifically in the portfolios of energy and mines, agriculture, and human rights, the communications secretariat said.
On Tuesday, he changed his defense chief.
“The national government, in its first year of office, is carrying out an evaluation of its entire cabinet and making the changes it considers relevant,” the secretariat announced on Twitter.
As a result, Lasso has “requested the resignation of ministers,” it added, in an effort to “guarantee the welfare of each citizen.”
Lasso’s government has declared a war on drug trafficking blamed for an explosion of violence in the streets and in prisons.
Some 350 prisoners have been killed since February last year in Latin America’s worst jail massacres.
Criticized for not sufficiently addressing the issue, Lasso has released additional funding for prisons and said extra guards would be hired.
He also created a commission to study the issue in December and its first report was damning.
Despicable conditions had turned prisons into “human warehouses and centers of torture,” the committee said.
Last week, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo said the country was in the grips of a “crisis of insecurity” linked to crime, which has claimed nearly 1,200 lives so far this year.
Situated between Colombia and Peru — the two largest producers of cocaine in the world — Ecuador seized a record 210 tons of drugs in 2021.
In the first quarter of 2022, seizures exceeded 75 tons, according to the government.
International
Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 4,490 as Rescue Efforts Continue
The death toll from the powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has risen to 4,490, according to the latest official figures released by the government on social media.
Authorities reported that 16,740 people have been injured, while more than 19,500 residents remain in temporary shelters after the twin earthquakes devastated Caracas and the neighboring state of La Guaira.
Rescue teams from Venezuela and several foreign countries continue searching through collapsed buildings in an effort to recover victims who remain trapped beneath the rubble.
Government officials said the earthquakes damaged more than 850 buildings, with 190 structures completely collapsing.
Thousands of families who lost their homes are currently staying with relatives or friends, while more than 19,500 displaced people are living in overcrowded emergency camps set up in parks, stadiums, and public squares across La Guaira and Caracas.
International
Tensions Escalate in Middle East as U.S. Bombs Iran After Maritime Attacks
The United States launched new strikes against Iran on Wednesday, following President Donald Trump’s warning that Washington would “hit hard” against the Islamic Republic. While Trump ordered the retaliation after attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, he also said he hoped the latest wave of bombings would end soon and left the door open for renewed negotiations.
U.S. forces “have begun carrying out additional strikes against Iran to further reduce its ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the United States Central Command said in a post on X.
Washington blamed Iran for what it described as “recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping.”
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that explosions were heard in the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak, and Chabahar.
“This is in retaliation for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will be much worse,” Trump wrote on social media alongside an image showing what appeared to be a bombing at an Iranian location.
Before ordering the strikes, the U.S. president said that the ceasefire with Iran had ended. Mediators Pakistan and Qatar called for de-escalation, while the United Nations also urged both sides to reduce tensions.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a critical flashpoint in the Middle East conflict, which began in late February after U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran-linked attacks on at least three vessels in recent days triggered a U.S. offensive against Iranian targets on Tuesday. Tehran responded by launching attacks against Gulf countries that are allies of Washington.
International
Deadly Drug Trade Rivalry Suspected After Eight Bodies Discovered in Southern Mexico
Eight bodies were found Wednesday along a highway in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, in an incident authorities believe may be linked to a dispute over local drug sales.
The victims — six men and two women — were found abandoned on a road in a mountainous area of the municipality of El Bosque, according to the state prosecutor’s office in a statement published on Facebook.
Initial investigations indicate that the killings may be connected to “a dispute over retail drug sales between local criminal groups operating in the region,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Local media reports that several criminal incidents have increased in the area since the beginning of the year.
The road where the bodies were discovered is located in a mountainous region largely inhabited by Indigenous communities. Authorities have not released further details about the victims or possible suspects as the investigation continues.
Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 4,490 as Rescue Efforts Continue
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