International

Mexico town hall massacre leaves at least 20 dead

Photo: Francisco Robles / AFP

AFP | Yussel Gonzalez

Gunmen attacked a town hall and murdered at least 20 people, including a mayor, in a southern Mexican state riven by turf wars between rival drug cartels, authorities said Thursday.

Soldiers guarded the bullet-riddled building in San Miguel Totolapan following Wednesday’s massacre, in which Mayor Conrado Mendoza and his father, who held the job before him, were killed in broad daylight.

The mayor was in a work meeting when he was shot dead, municipal official Freddy Vazquez told reporters.

“At first we couldn’t believe it. Our municipality is peaceful. We thought they were fireworks… but little by little we listened more closely and realized that they were gunshots,” he said.

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Police officers and city council workers were reported to be among the victims.

The attack came amid disputes between criminal groups operating in Guerrero state, including one known as Los Tequileros and another called La Familia Michoacana, Deputy Security Minister Ricardo Mejia said.

Located in the violence-wracked Tierra Caliente region, San Miguel Totolapan sits along a drug trafficking route disputed by different cartels.

“It’s possible that the murders were due to a dispute between Los Tequileros and La Familia Michoacana for control of the municipality,” security analyst David Saucedo told AFP.

Los Tequileros were previously active in San Miguel Totolapan for several years, mainly staging kidnappings for ransom.

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But the group’s influence dwindled after the death of one of its leaders in 2018 in a gunfight with police.

Just days before Wednesday’s attack, alleged members of Los Tequileros had made threats to return to the town, local press reported.

‘Cowardly murder’

Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest states, has endured years of violence linked to turf wars between drug cartels fighting for control of marijuana and opium production and drug trafficking.

“These are organizations that have been around for a long time. They did not emerge during this government, and we are trying to address the causes,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters.

Guerrero state attorney general Sandra Luz Valdovinos said that nobody had yet been arrested for the attack.

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“There isn’t yet enough evidence to determine who’s likely responsible,” she told local television.

Criminal gangs have cultivated close links to regional politicians, complicating efforts to pacify Guerrero despite the deployment of federal forces.

“Drug traffickers control various areas of the state and, instead of fighting them, the political parties have relied on them to win elections,” Saucedo said.

More than 340,000 people have been killed across Mexico in a spiral of bloodshed since the government deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006.

Local-level politicians frequently fall victim to violence connected to corruption and the multibillion-dollar narcotics trade.

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Mendoza is one of 94 mayors who have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, according to data from consulting firm Etellekt.

His party, the left-wing opposition PRD, condemned the “cowardly murder.”

“We demand justice, enough of impunity,” it wrote on Twitter.

Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado, of the ruling Morena party, said she had ordered a swift investigation into the massacre.

“There will be no impunity for the vicious aggression,” she tweeted.

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A member of the Mexican Army stands guard in front of the bullet-ridden building of the Municipality of San Miguel Totolapan, state of Guerrero, Mexico, on October 6, 2022. - Mexican authorities said Thursday that at least 20 people had been killed, including the mayor, when gunmen stormed a town hall in the southern part of the country Wednesday in a broad daylight attack. (Photo by FRANCISCO ROBLES / AFP)

International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.