International
Peru to buy illegal coca crops to battle drug trafficking
AFP
Peru’s government has announced a plan to buy the nation’s entire supply of illegal coca leaf — the primary ingredient in cocaine — for at least a year, as part of its battle against drug trafficking.
The South American country is one of the world’s three largest producers of cocaine, alongside neighbors Colombia and Bolivia, according to the United Nations.
Peru currently produces an estimated 160,000 tons of coca leaf a year with 62,000 hectares of land dedicated to the crop.
But the vast majority of that, some 95 percent, is produced illegally and sold to drug-traffickers who turn it into about 400 tons of cocaine a year.
All legally grown coca must be sold to the state coca company ENACO but that amounts to only 2,500 tons a year.
Legal coca leaf producers are on a register that includes 95,000 growers. However, the government wants to create a new register for the other 400,000 unregistered producers.
“It is imperative, for at least a year, to buy coca leaf from existing registered producers and from those that will make up the newly created register,” Cabinet Chief Anibal Torres said on Wednesday when presenting the initiative.
The plan would also see the demilitarization of Peru’s main coca leaf growing valley, known by the acronym VRAEM.
Soldiers have been stationed in the south-central area since 2006, due to the continued presence of the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla movement, which is allied with drug trafficking groups.
Government opponents have criticized the new plan, saying it will increase drug trafficking.
“The message from the government is that it is legalizing coca leaf and it will buy illegal coca leaf. The message is grow coca, and that’s very dangerous because we are talking about a primary material used in drug trafficking,” former interior minister Ruben Vargas told AFP.
The coca leaf bought by ENACO is used to make sweets, herbal infusions, flour and for chewing like gum, which is an Andean tradition to help combat fatigue.
“By promoting the growing of coca leaf peasants will obviously have two markets: the state and drug traffickers,” added Vargas.
“It will cause immeasurable damage not just to the environment but also the governability of the country.”
Peru created the register of coca leaf producers in 1978 as part of a state policy to combat drug trafficking that also included the destruction of illegal crops.
Earlier this month, authorities began a weeks-long process of incinerating the 16.3 tons of illegal drugs already seized this year.
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.
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.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
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Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
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