International
Alausí, in Ecuador, is still at risk a year after the gigantic avalunc that left 75 dead
A year after 75 people died from an allh in Alausí, this population of the Andes of Ecuador gradually rises with the effort of its inhabitants, who continue to live under the danger of new landslides while waiting for official help for reconstruction.
On the night of March 26, 2023, thousands of tons of land buried more than fifty houses. It took the relief agencies about three months to rescue the bodies in the midst of the pain and anguish of relatives and neighbors, who joined the work.
Now, in the anglum area, some herbs have begun to cover the land that swallowed part of the population.
“With our machinery we have made some stabilization for the protection of the margin of the homes that were left (safe),” the mayor of Alausí, Remigio Roldán, told EFE.
Without a “concrete response from the State,” he said, “Alausí allied with universities and non-governmental organizations” to solve different problems left by the landslide,” such as the destruction of a water conduction system that fed 8,000 inhabitants.
“Thanks to the European Union (EU) we are receiving funding of about two million dollars for the new system of collection, conduction and re-empowering of the drinking water treatment plant for the 8,000 inhabitants,” Roldán reported.
The mayor highlighted the efforts of the inhabitants to rehabilitate an important road, which connects the south with the center of the Andean region of Ecuador, where they opened a path in the middle of the ‘ground zero’ to peak and shovel.
In addition, about 18 million dollars are needed to stabilize the slope of the entire perimeter of the landslide.
“We can’t let it stay as it is. In the upper part of the collapse we have two communities that do not have a sewer system, we still have septic wells, the problem is still latent,” he said.
Therefore, last February, at the visit of a group of diplomats from European countries, headed by the EU ambassador, Charles-Michel Geurts, the situation was exposed, since the representatives visited the province of Chimborazo – of which Alausí is a part – to analyze potential aid in various sectors.
Geurts highlighted the admiration they have for Alausí, for its people, resilience and vision of the future, while his counterpart from France, Frédéric Desagneaux, mentioned the willingness of the EU for accompaniment in the restoration of the dynamism of Alausí.
The mayor numbered 75 people who died in the all. and pointed out that they have not been able to rescue nine “who remained among the rubble” in the area where 163 families lived.
According to the latest official report of the tragedy, published in November by the Secretariat of Risk Management, there are 65 deceased and 10 who are officially listed with the status of “disappeared” after not being able to find their bodies.
The victims reached 800. “Some,” said Roldán, “have had to emigrate, some are renting apartments, rooms, others are where the relatives are.”
By following the area at risk, they have not allowed the return of the inhabitants to the houses that were left standing on the banks of the avalh: “We do not want to lose more lives. We warn that the problem is still latent, we have a part (in the) that continues to give way to the cracks.”
“We demand the Government to give homes,” Roldán stressed, adding that the investment of 1.5 million dollars has been budgeted for the construction of 57 homes and, although they have the land to carry out the works, they have not made progress because the Government has changed, which has been led by President Daniel Noboa since November 23.
In addition, apart from the allanch polygon, there are two schools with 800 students, who cannot return to their classrooms if the slope is not stabilized.
“We are improvising in other infrastructures that were abandoned for the boys to receive classes,” he said.
Roldán comments that they do not have “the concrete support” of the Government in roads and housing. “We have to adjust to living in the middle of this reality, making all our effort, as a small government (mayor’s office), as communities, as organizations,” he noted.
He recalled that in a visit to Alausí hours after the tragedy occurred, then-President Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023), offered to invest 8 million dollars, but “not a single penny in immediate actions” has not yet been specified.
He lamented that none of the 186 rural communities of Alausí has drinking water, sewerage or sanitation, and pointed out that the State must disburse the 50% advance of a contract for the construction of a hospital, whose cost is around 23 million dollars, but that does not advance either.
In January, the Secretariat of Risk Management presented the roadmap for the recovery of Alausí, with a budget of 10 million dollars financed mainly by international cooperation to rebuild the road that connects with Riobamba, the provincial capital, as well as housing solutions and the delivery of bonds for vulnerable people, among other actions.
International
Police investigate deaths of Rob Reiner and wife as apparent homicide
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is investigating the deaths of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reinerand his wife as an “apparent homicide,” amid a wave of tributes to the director of classics such as When Harry Met Sally.
According to U.S. media reports on Sunday, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles mansion with what appeared to be stab wounds.
Several political figures shared messages of condolence following the reported deaths of the director of A Few Good Menand his wife.
While the LAPD did not officially confirm the identities of the victims, it stated that homicide detectives were dispatched to the Reiner residence.
“At this time, no additional details are available and the investigation into an apparent homicide is ongoing,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that no arrests have been made and that no individuals are currently being questioned as suspects.
“I’m not going to confirm whether anyone is being questioned at this moment or not. We are going to try to speak with as many family members as we can,” Hamilton said.
CNN reported that a family spokesperson confirmed the deaths of Reiner and his wife.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harrisissued statements expressing their condolences.
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.
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