International
How has Latin American and Caribbean unity been strengthened?
June 22 |
This Thursday, June 22, marks a new anniversary of the Day of Latin American and Caribbean Unity, and is received with renewed encouragement after the electoral triumph of progressive options that promote the integration of the region and the consolidation of initiatives that work towards this goal.
It was in 2001 when the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) decreed that the Day of Latin American and Caribbean Unity be celebrated every June 22, the date on which the Amphictyonic Congress was installed in 1826.
The Amphictyonic Congress, installed on June 22, 1826 in the city of Panama, responded to the dreams of integration that the Liberator Simón Bolívar had and whose objective was to collaborate in the consolidation of the unity of the new republics, creating a confederation of the Ibero-American peoples from Mexico to Chile and Argentina.
In recent years, progressive options in the subcontinent have won elections to establish integrationist governments, examples of which are Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Chile, Honduras and most recently Colombia, which has been governed since August 2022 by the leftist Gustavo Petro.
After Petro’s victory in the second round of elections held on June 19, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), stated that his arrival marked the beginning of “a new stage” in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
He also recalled that “when we arrived (in 2018) there were few countries with progressive governments. From our arrival a new stage began and there began to be important triumphs,” he said in reference to Petro’s victory.
Latin America saw an increase in the number of progressive administrations at the end of 2022, with the victory of leftist Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, who defeated the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.
Another recent moment of consolidation of regional integration occurred within the framework of the IX Summit of the Americas, held in June 2022 in the city of Los Angeles, California, which had the characteristic that the host country, the United States (US), excluded the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
After learning of this decision, Mexican President López Obrador, and others such as those of Honduras, Argentina and Bolivia, among others, conditioned their presence in the continental conclave to the participation of the leaders of the excluded nations.
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.
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