International
New clashes in violence-hit Ecuador prison: officials
AFP
New clashes were reported on Tuesday in an Ecuadoran prison where 15 people died in a riot the day before, the state prison administration authority said.
Violence in Ecuador’s prisons, where drug gangs vie for power, is often carried out with knives and sometimes involves beheadings. The unrest has left more than 400 prisoners dead since February 2021.
“There has been a new incident” in the Latacunga prison in the center of Ecuador, around 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Quito, the SNAI prison authority told reporters.
The prison authority had to send in tactical units to re-establish control following Monday’s riot that left at least 15 inmates dead and 33 injured.
SNAI said the most recent clashes took place in a medium-security part of the prison that houses 4,300 inmates and is one of the largest in the country.
The authority said “detonations” had been heard but that police were “containing” the inmates. No deaths have been reported.
Administrative personnel were evacuated from the prison, said SNAI.
Following Monday’s massacre, worried relatives waited outside the prison on Tuesday hoping for information on their loved ones.
“I’m looking for my brother Carlos Bravo. I got here at 6:00 am,” one tearful woman who did not give her name told AFP.
“They told me to come and fetch my brother. I don’t know anything, there’s no list (of the dead), no-one has told me anything.”
A force of 600 police and military personnel entered the prison on Monday to try to retake control from the rioters, authorities said.
Riot sparked by inmate attack
Monday’s riot was allegedly provoked by the murder of Leandro Norero, a 36-year-old suspected drug trafficker known by the alias “El Patron” (the boss).
Norero, who had become one of the leaders of a group of inmates, was arrested last May for allegations of money laundering, in an operation in which $6.4 million, 24 gold bars, firearms and ammunition were allegedly seized.
“From what we can tell, Leandro Norero would be among the victims,” said SNAI assistant director Jorge Flores.
The prosecutor’s office said on Twitter it was working to identify the dead.
Website GK said Monday’s riot broke out after an attack “against Norero and his security, at least six prisoners,” quoting unnamed inmates.
Norero, who was also wanted by Peru, was allegedly a member of the Los Chone Killers gang.
Other gangs such as Los Choneros, Los Lobos and Los Tiguerones also have a major presence in Ecuador’s prison system, from where gang leaders manage the drug trafficking trade.
Norero’s murder could spark further clashes, the interior ministry saying said, adding “we have to be careful.”
The country’s overcrowded prisons contain about 35,000 inmates, many of them members of gangs linked to drug trafficking.
A government committee noted in April that Ecuadorian prisons “are considered warehouses of human beings and torture centers.”
Bordered by Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producers, Ecuador serves as a departure port for drug shipments, primarily to the United States and Europe.
In a bid to improve the living conditions in Ecuador’s prisons, President Guillermo Lasso launched an inmate census in August.
During a television interview on Monday, he offered “a message of condolence and solidarity with the families of those who died today in (the prison)”.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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