International
Venezuela fails in bid to renew UN rights council seat
AFP | Agnes Pedrero
China and Russia will lose a trusted ally in the UN Human Rights Council after Venezuela, which stands accused of serious violations, failed Tuesday to renew its seat.
“Great news that UN General Assembly rejected Venezuela’s re-election bid,” Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, tweeted after the vote.
Fourteen seats — nearly a third of the 47-member council — were up for grabs during Tuesday’s vote in New York, although there was only suspense around a small portion of them.
Rights council membership is divided between five regional groups, which typically pre-select the candidate countries for the three-year term ahead of the vote, leaving little room for competition.
There were however competitive races in two regions this year: Asia-Pacific, where there were six candidates for four seats, and Latin America and the Caribbean, where three candidates contested two seats.
In the latter group, Venezuela was running against Chile and Costa Rica.
‘Unfit for membership’
Human Rights Watch and other groups had urged nations not to vote for Venezuela, pointing to findings by UN investigators suggesting President Nicolas Maduro and other members of his government are behind crimes against humanity in the country.
“Venezuela’s vengeful assault on critics of the government makes the country unfit for membership in the UN’s top rights body,” Charbonneau said before the vote, warning that handing Caracas a seat “would undermine the UN’s credibility”.
When the count around the large UN General Assembly hall was done, Venezuela secured only 88 votes, falling short of the required 97-vote majority and far behind the 144 votes taken by Chile and 134 for Costa Rica.
The composition of the council matters, especially as swelling geopolitical tensions increasingly colour the debates and votes in the Geneva-based body.
Tuesday’s vote came on the heels of a historic council session marked by the first-ever attempts to push through resolutions targeting China and the situation inside Russia.
The council accepted the resolution brought by most EU countries calling for a special rapporteur to monitor the rights situation in Russia, amid concerns of domestic crackdown as Moscow’s war rages in neighbouring Ukraine.
But it narrowly rejected a more tepid text put forward by the United States merely asking for a debate on violations in Xinjiang.
The proposal came after a UN report cited possible crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the far-western Chinese region.
‘Consistent ally’
While this was a heavy defeat for Western nations, and appeared to signal a shifting power balance in the council, observers suggest a few changes in the body’s membership could allow the next resolution targeting China to pass.
New council members with a “more robust and principled approach” to human rights crises could “greatly increase” the chances of a future initiative on China succeeding, said Raphael Viana David of the International Service for Human Rights.
Venezuela was staunchly in the ‘no’ camp on both those votes, and is among the nations that repeatedly slam attempts to call out abuses by specific countries at the council as a “politicisation” of human rights.
“Venezuela has been a consistent ally of both China and Russia at the council,” ISHR’s Tess McEvoy told AFP.
International
Trump: U.S. has hit three venezuelan narco boats in Caribbean
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that American forces have struck three suspected Venezuelan drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean so far, not two as previously reported.
“We took down boats. It was actually three boats, not two, but you only saw two,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a state visit to the United Kingdom.
The president was asked about remarks by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who accused Washington of plotting to invade his country.
“Stop sending members of the Tren de Aragua to the United States. Stop sending drugs to the United States,” Trump responded.
The Republican leader mentioned this third vessel a day after announcing that U.S. forces had struck a speedboat in which, according to him, three “terrorists” were killed. Later, from the Oval Office, he claimed the boat had been carrying cocaine and fentanyl.
The attacks come amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas, as the U.S. military maintains a Caribbean deployment under the banner of counter-narcotics operations.
The Trump administration accuses Maduro of heading the so-called Cartel of the Suns, which the Venezuelan government denies. Washington has also offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture.
On Monday, Maduro said communications with the U.S. were “broken” in the face of what he called an “aggression” and declared that Venezuela is now “better prepared” in case of an “armed struggle.”
International
Ecuador’s Noboa declares State of Emergency in seven provinces amid fuel price protests
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in seven provinces due to what he described as “serious internal unrest,” as road blockades and demonstrations erupted in response to the elimination of the diesel subsidy and growing concerns over insecurity.
The 60-day measure applies to the provinces of Carchi, Imbabura, Pichincha, Azuay, Bolívar, Cotopaxi, and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.
Since Monday, partial protests have been reported in Pichincha, Carchi, Azuay, and Imbabura. On Tuesday, road blockades extended to northern Pichincha and routes in Carchi, near the Colombian border. In response, the Executive headquarters was temporarily relocated to Cotopaxi and the Vice Presidency to Imbabura.
The presidential decree states that the measure comes amid “strikes that have disrupted public order and provoked acts of violence, endangering the safety of citizens and their rights to free movement, work, and economic activity.”
According to the decree, the goal is to “prevent the radicalization of disruptive actions” in the affected provinces and to limit the impact on the population. It further emphasizes that the situation requires an “exceptional intervention by state institutions to safeguard security, guarantee citizens’ rights, maintain public order, and preserve social peace.”
Social organizations and labor groups, including the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), have strongly rejected the diesel price increase following the subsidy’s elimination.
The decree justifies the two-month duration as necessary “to ensure a strengthened state presence in the affected territories, restore order, and prevent further acts of violence against people, public, and private property.”
International
Colombia’s special peace tribunal hands down first sentence against former FARC leaders
Seven former rebel leaders, including their last known commander Rodrigo Londoño, alias “Timochenko,” have been handed the maximum penalty established in the 2016 peace agreement.
Under the ruling, they will face mobility restrictions and be required to carry out activities aimed at restoring the dignity of victims, such as helping locate missing persons and participating in landmine clearance in territories where they once operated. These alternative sentences to prison were part of the historic deal signed in 2016 between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) —once the most powerful guerrilla group in Latin America— and then-President Juan Manuel Santos, Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) found the ex-commanders guilty of being responsible for the kidnapping of 21,396 people before laying down their arms and transitioning into a political party. “Investigations showed that kidnapping became a systematic practice. These crimes not only broke the law but also left open wounds that persist in families, communities, and the daily life of the country,” a magistrate told reporters in Bogotá, in the absence of the former commanders, who had accepted responsibility for their crimes back in 2022.
It took the tribunal more than seven years to deliver its first ruling, amid criticism from opponents of the peace deal who argue it is too lenient on the rebels. The former commanders still face charges for other crimes against humanity, including the recruitment of minors.
During their decades-long conflict, the FARC held hostage soldiers, police officers, businesspeople, and political leaders, including French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt. Images of emaciated captives chained in jungle camps shocked the world and became symbols of the conflict.
Trump: U.S. has hit three venezuelan narco boats in Caribbean
Ecuador’s Noboa declares State of Emergency in seven provinces amid fuel price protests
Trump files $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International4 days agoJair Bolsonaro sentenced for leading armed criminal plot after 2022 election loss
-
International4 days agoAuthorities capture CJNG financial chief in international airport operation
-
International1 day ago20th Festival Salvadoreñísimo brings together thousands of salvadorans in Houston
-
International3 days ago22-Year-Old Suspect Arrested After 33-Hour Manhunt in Small Western U.S. Town
-
International1 day agoEl Salvador unveils 2025-2029 National Reintegration Plan for returned migrants
-
International5 hours agoEcuador’s Noboa declares State of Emergency in seven provinces amid fuel price protests
-
Sin categoría5 hours agoTrump files $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times
-
International5 hours agoTrump: U.S. has hit three venezuelan narco boats in Caribbean
-
International6 hours agoColombia’s special peace tribunal hands down first sentence against former FARC leaders