International
Ecuador quake leaves 14 dead and more than 400 injured
March 20 |
The strong 6.8 tremor that shook Ecuador left 14 dead and 446 people injured in at least two provinces, the country’s authorities reported on Sunday. At least one death was reported in bordering Peru.
A day after the earthquake, the most recent official reports show that 180 houses were affected and 5 bridges were destroyed, according to the Ecuadorian Risk Management Secretariat.
In Peru, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola reported that a 4-year-old girl died in a hospital in the Tumbes region, bordering Ecuador. The minor suffered an encephalocranial traumatism after her house collapsed due to the earthquake in Ecuador, which was also felt in Peru.
The Peruvian civil defense said that due to the tremor four houses were uninhabitable in the Tumbes region.
Ecuadorian rescue forces are still working in the areas affected by the quake, which according to Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute had its epicenter about 29 kilometers from Balao, in the Guayas region, about 80 kilometers south of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second largest city.
Early Sunday, rescuers and volunteers traveled to the island of Puná, on Ecuador’s southern coast, to assess damage and offer aid to the victims. President Guillermo Lasso called on Ecuadorians to remain calm and expressed his solidarity with the families of the deceased and those affected.
The expressions of support to the victims and relatives of the victims began to arrive after the earthquake.
Pope Francis offered prayers on Sunday for the victims of the earthquake. During his weekly midday blessing, Francis recalled that the tremor “caused deaths, injuries and enormous damage.”
“I am close to the Ecuadorian people and I assure them of my prayers for the dead and for all those who suffer,” the pope added.
The U.S. ambassador in Quito, Michael J. Fitzpatrick, offered via Twitter “sincere condolences” for the deaths and assured that the U.S. “joins the people of Ecuador in this difficult situation.
Deaths and damages
One of the people who lost his life in Saturday’s earthquake was in the city of Cuenca. The victim was trapped inside a vehicle on which the facade of a house collapsed, informed the Secretariat of Risk Management.
In the province of El Oro, the collapse of a house resulted in the death of three people. In the area of Jambelí, the collapse of the camera tower of the Integrated Security Service ECU 911 was reported.
The airport in the Santa Rosa canton was slightly damaged as a result of the earthquake.
At the moment, two aftershocks have been registered after the tremor. One of magnitude 4.8 at a depth of 24 kilometers, and another of magnitude 3.7 at a depth of 23 kilometers. Both with epicenter about 23 kilometers from Balao, Guayas.
In Guayas, authorities reported multiple material damages. Including the collapse of 10 houses that left several injured.
In Machala canton, the tremor caused the collapse of a two-story house leaving people trapped inside, authorities reported. They also reported the collapse of telephone lines and lack of electricity in several sectors of the province, and the collapse of the old coastal dock.
Firefighters immediately launched rescue efforts for people trapped under the rubble.
President Guillermo Lasso called for calm and to “be informed through official channels”, in a message on his social networks. Lasso said that he communicated with the Secretariat of Risk Management “to evaluate the effects” of the earthquake that occurred in Balao, Guayas.
The president and his cabinet activated the National Emergency Operations Committee in Guayaquil to evaluate the effects caused by the tremor.
International
79-Year-Old ICE Detainee Faces Hearing as Family Warns His Health Is Rapidly Deteriorating
Paul John Bojerski, a 79-year-old man detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Florida, will face a hearing before an immigration judge on Tuesday as his family warns that his health has sharply deteriorated due to detention conditions.
Bojerski was arrested on October 30 during a mandatory ICE appointment in Orlando. Although he has lived in the United States for more than seven decades, he never obtained U.S. citizenship. Born in a refugee camp in Germany after World War II, he legally immigrated with his family in 1952 at the age of five and has lived since then in the city of Sanford.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, his record includes criminal convictions from the 1960s and 1970s, which led to a deportation order that authorities did not carry out at the time.
In July, ICE warned him that he had to leave the country voluntarily. He was instructed to return on October 30 with a travel plan, but was unable to do so because he has no passport and no country willing to receive him. As a result, he was arrested and transported for eight hours to the detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” located in the middle of the Everglades west of Miami.
Immigrant rights organizations have denounced “inhumane” conditions at that facility, which opened in July, reporting issues such as spoiled food, lack of medical care, limited access to drinking water, mosquito infestations, and difficulty contacting the outside world.
His family says Bojerski has lost mobility since being detained. He previously walked unassisted, but now uses a wheelchair, has been left without his usual treatment for chronic back problems, and reportedly fell to the floor of his cell without receiving help for hours.
He is currently being held at the Krome detention center in Miami, where a judge will determine on Tuesday whether he can be released on bond.
International
Trump: “I Don’t Rule Out Anything” When Asked About Troops for Venezuela
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he may speak at some point with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and did not rule out the possibility of sending American troops to the South American nation.
Trump’s remarks come amid heightened tensions over the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean aimed at combating drug trafficking. Venezuela views the operation as a step toward toppling Maduro, whom Washington accuses of leading a “terrorist” organization involved in narcotics trafficking.
“At some point, I will talk to him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Maduro “has not been good for the United States,” he added.
When asked whether he ruled out sending U.S. troops to Venezuela, Trump replied, “No, I don’t rule it out. I don’t rule out anything.”
“We have to take care of Venezuela,” he continued. “They have sent hundreds of thousands of people from their prisons into our country.”
International
Armed Civilians Block Roads in Michoacán Amid Operation Targeting Criminal Leader
Armed civilians blocked several highways in the western Mexican state of Michoacán on Monday in response to a security operation targeting a criminal leader, just a week after President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government reinforced the presence of federal forces in the region.
The federal deployment was increased following the early November shooting death of Carlos Manzo, mayor of the municipality of Uruapan. His killing sparked protests and widespread demands for justice.
Michoacán is home to major drug trafficking groups such as the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and La Nueva Familia Michoacana—both designated as “foreign terrorist organizations” by U.S. President Donald Trump in February.
“Following an operation to apprehend a priority target (a criminal leader), armed civilians set up roadblocks and burned vehicles at various highway points in La Piedad, Zamora, and Pátzcuaro,” the Michoacán Public Security Secretariat reported on X.
“Our Civil Guard is already clearing the roads; two suspected individuals were killed,” the agency added, without specifying the intended target of the operation.
Organized crime groups in Mexico frequently block roads to prevent the capture of their leaders or to hinder law enforcement activities.
The blockades also occurred just hours before a new state public security secretary took office. José Antonio Cruz—a former official of the local prosecutor’s office and former National Guard executive—assumed the position, replacing Juan Carlos Oseguera.
The killing of Mayor Manzo during a public Day of the Dead event on November 1 triggered protests throughout Michoacán. During demonstrations held Saturday in Mexico City, participants also demanded justice for the crime.
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