International
UN reports 3,960 gang deaths in Haiti by 2023
November 29 |
A report published on Tuesday by the United Nations denounces that the violence unleashed by gangs in Haiti has left more than 3,000 people killed and thousands more injured and victims of kidnapping, and called for an expedited dispatch of a multinational force to the island.
“The situation in Haiti is catastrophic. We continue to receive reports of killings, sexual violence, displacement and other violence, including in hospitals,” said Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The senior diplomat cited the report, which covers the period between the entire period and October 2023, as showing that killings by gang groups have left 3,960 people dead, 1,432 injured and another 2,951 who “have been kidnapped in gang-related violence”.
Last October the UN Security Council approved the use of a multinational force, commanded by Kenya – without the participation of the United Nations – to assist Haitian police forces in dealing with gangs.
Shortly thereafter, the African nation’s parliament froze the mission, demanding that the training and funding conditions established at the time of announcing the dispatch of the troops be met first.
Haitians, on the other hand, are wary of an armed presence with UN consent. The Caribbean country was cholera-free until 2010, when UN peacekeepers dumped infected sewage into a river. More than 9,000 people died from the disease and some 800,000 became ill.
Tuesday’s report focuses particularly on the Bas-Artibonite district, located in the center of the Caribbean nation, about 100 km from Port-au-Prince, the capital.
In Bas-Artibonite, the report says, 1,694 people were killed as of October of this year.
Violence in Haiti has reached alarming levels since gunmen assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse at his own residence in Port-au-Prince in July 2021.
Several suspects, of Colombian citizenship, as well as Haitian-Americans are either under prosecution or have already been convicted in the US in connection with the assassination.
The gangs have used sexual violence as a method of intimidating the population, the report said, something that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres himself had already denounced.
Following the report, the UN Panel of Experts on Haiti requested that the Security Council update the list of persons and entities under UN sanctions” for supporting, preparing, ordering or committing acts “that are contrary to international law.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
International
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
The Colombian government stated on Thursday that it would have no reason to reject a potential asylum request from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro should he leave office, as regional tensions persist over the deployment of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean since August.
“In the current climate of tension, negotiations are necessary, and if the United States demands a transition or political change, that is something to be assessed. If such a transition results in him (Maduro) needing to live elsewhere or seek protection, Colombia would have no reason to deny it,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio in an interview with Caracol Radio.
However, Villavicencio noted that it is unlikely Maduro would choose Colombia as a refuge. “I believe he would opt for someplace more distant and calmer,” she added.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also commented on Venezuela’s situation on Wednesday, arguing that the country needs a “democratic revolution” rather than “inefficient repression.” His remarks followed the recent detention and passport cancellation of Cardinal Baltazar Porras at the Caracas airport.
“The Maduro government must understand that responding to external aggression requires more than military preparations; it requires a democratic revolution. A country is defended with more democracy, not more inefficient repression,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter), in a rare public criticism of the Venezuelan leader.
Petro also called for a general amnesty for political opponents and reiterated his call for forming a broad transitional government to address Venezuela’s prolonged crisis.
Since September, U.S. military forces have destroyed more than 20 vessels allegedly carrying drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters near Venezuela and Colombia, resulting in over 80 deaths.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that attacks “inside Venezuela” will begin “soon,” while Maduro has urged Venezuelans to prepare for what he describes as an impending external aggression.
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