International
The Strasbourg Court rules that climate inaction goes against human rights
The Strasbourg Court issued a historic ruling on Tuesday in favor of one of the three demands raised for the insufficient action of the States to limit climate change and pointed out that Switzerland had violated the human rights of a group of elderly women.
However, the judges overturned the media lawsuit that six young Portuguese had raised against Portugal, but also against 31 other European countries that they intended to condemn for insufficient policies to mitigate climate change.
The judges dismissed their allegations without examining the merits of the case in the first place because the six plaintiffs skipped a fundamental rule of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which is that the internal remedies of the country they denounce must be exhausted before taking a case to Strasbourg.
The young people had argued that climate urgency exempted them from that basic legal rule, but the ECHR did not accept that thesis.
In addition, European judges also pointed out that, to denounce other States beyond Portugal and apply a supposed principle of extraterritoriality because their action or inaction may have effects for them, there are other international legal instruments and the ECHR is the competent body to do so.
They also pointed out that a certain policy cannot be dictated to States about what they would have to do because of the effects that will have for people outside their territory or outside their authority and control.
But beyond this case, which by the form of its approach already raised many doubts about the possibility of it going ahead, the movement against climate change received a note of hope from the Strasbourg Court, with a ruling condemning Switzerland in a lawsuit raised by elderly women from that country.
The president of the ECHR, Síofra O’Leary, pointed out that Switzerland had violated the rights of those women, gathered in the Verein KlimaSeniorinnen association, because “criticism gaps” have been found in Swiss policies against climate change.
Specifically, European judges estimated that Switzerland failed to comply with its obligations to the rights of these elderly women (more than half are over 75 years old) to prevent them from suffering the effects of global warming.
They illustrated it by pointing out that there have been shortcomings in Swiss policy to quantify, by setting a price for carbon or otherwise, the limitation of its greenhouse emissions.
In the same vein, Switzerland did not respect in the past the objectives it had set itself to reduce those emissions.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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