International

Former opposition electoral rector registers as a candidate for the presidential elections of Venezuela

The former rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela Enrique Márquez, close to the opposition, registered this Monday – last day of applications – after 21:00 local time (1:00 GMT on Tuesday), as a candidate for the presidential elections of next July 28, outside the consensus of the main anti-Chavist coalition Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD).

Márquez, nominated by the political party Centrados, said at an event at the headquarters of the CNE that he wants to represent political change in Venezuela, so he will begin a tour of the country to convince citizens that the only instrument is the vote.

“We want to represent the Venezuelan people who suffer, the people outraged by corruption, decimated by migration, the people who dream of a better country,” he said.

He also criticized the opponents who have called for abstention in other past electoral processes because, in his opinion, that has deepened the problems in the Caribbean nation.

Márquez indicated that if any politician asks not to vote in the presidential elections, he is rejected by the citizenry, because he is an “accomplice of the country that we do not want, because only abstention guarantees the continuity of what we do not want to continue.”

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In addition to Márquez, President Nicolás Maduro has registered to compete in the upcoming elections; deputies Luis Eduardo Martínez, Juan Alvarado, José Brito and Javier Bertucci; former mayors Claudio Fermín and Daniel Ceballos; Antonio Ecarri, Luis Ratti and comedian Benjamín Rausseo, dissidents from the broader sector of the opposition.

Meanwhile, the main opposition coalition, the Democratic United Platform (PUD), denounced impediments to accessing the system and registering its candidate, the historian Corina Yoris, chosen as such in the face of the disqualification that prevents María Corina Machado, winner of the October primaries, from competing for public positions in these and other elections until 2036.

Having failed to obtain the application, the PUD has asked the CNE to extend the period to apply for candidacies for three days, in order to “remedy the violations of fact and law that have occurred in the process.”

However, the electoral body did not extend the period or pronounce on the request for extension of registration by the PUD.

Yoris assured on Monday that the opposition he represents has exhausted all the means at his disposal “so that this can be resolved,” so he demanded that Maduro “respect the Constitution” and his political rights.

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Machado, for his part, warned that if the candidate who will compete against Chavismo in the presidential elections is “chosen” by the Maduro Government, these cannot be considered elections.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.