International
Petro believes that the regional fronts of the guerrillas should be in the negotiation with the ELN
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, considered this Saturday that the regional fronts of that guerrillas should participate in the peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN), such as the one that operates in the department of Nariño (southwest) and that has unleashed a crisis in the dialogues.
“Without disred of the regional dialogue to build a Nariño in peace that has already begun, my Government maintains the established national table as the stage for peace dialogues with the ELN. It is important that that table has members of the different regional fronts of the ELN to move from dialogue to definitive negotiation,” Petro said on social network X.
Last February, after extending the bilateral ceasefire for six months, during the sixth cycle of dialogues in Havana, the ELN announced that the dialogues were entering a freezing phase, something that was solved days later.
This happened because the guerrillas were opposed by the announcement of the governor of Nariño, Luis Alfonso Escobar, that regional dialogues were going to be held where a front that the ELN said had been infiltrated by state agents was allegedly also involved.
Despite the setbacks, the delegations of the Government and the ELN spoke on Friday in Caracas with representatives of the guarantor countries and companions of the peace negotiations, before the extraordinary meeting that will begin this Saturday, the press team of the armed group assured EFE.
The ELN asked this week for an “extraordinary meeting” instead of the celebration of a normal cycle due to the “critical state” of the peace process that, in the opinion of that armed group, is plunged into a “freezing.”
The Government delegation, led by Vera Grabe, traveled to Caracas on Wednesday, while the guerrilla team arrived on Thursday, led by the head of negotiations, Israel Ramírez Pineda, alias ‘Pablo Beltrán’, and also by the top commander of the ELN, Eliécer Herlinto Chamorro, alias ‘Antonio García’, who is not part of the negotiating delegation.
At the meeting, according to the Government delegation, issues on the agenda will be addressed, such as participation, ceasefire and territorial transformations, as well as substantive decisions on the future of the process.
The negotiations, which were restarted in November 2022 after four years of freezing, have gone through several ups and downs, but both sides maintain a ceasefire that will be in force until next August 3.
International
Trump to build $200M ballroom at the White House by 2028
The U.S. government under President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that it will begin construction in September on a new 8,000-square-meter ballroom at the White House.
The announcement was made by Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary, during a briefing in which she explained that the expansion responds to the need for a larger venue to host “major events.”
“Other presidents have long wished for a space capable of accommodating large gatherings within the White House complex… President Trump has committed to solving this issue,” Leavitt told reporters.
The project is estimated to cost $200 million, fully funded through donations from Trump himself and other “patriots,” according to a government statement. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2028.
The Clark Construction Group, a Virginia-based company known for projects such as the Capital One Arena and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., has been selected to lead the project.
The new ballroom will be built on the East Wing of the White House, expanding the iconic residence with a space designed for state dinners, official ceremonies, and large-scale events.
International
Three salvadorans in Florida sentenced in $146 million construction tax fraud scheme
Three Salvadoran residents living in Orlando, Florida, were sentenced for conspiracy to commit tax fraud and wire fraud involving a scheme exceeding $146 million in the construction industry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. The sentence was handed down by federal judge Timothy J. Corrigan on Tuesday, July 29.
Eduardo Aníbal Escobar (45) was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in prison, Carlos Alberto Rodríguez (36) to 3 years and 4 months, and Adelmy Tejada (57) to 18 months in prison, followed by 6 months of house arrest. All three pled guilty on April 3, 2025.
In addition to the prison terms, the court ordered restitution payments totaling $36,957,616 to the IRS for unpaid payroll taxes, and $397,895 to two insurers for workers’ compensation claims related to the scheme.
Escobar and Rodríguez are permanent legal residents originally from El Salvador, while Tejada is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Salvadoran origin.
International
Kremlin hails preparedness after Kamchatka quakes leave no casualties
The Kremlin expressed relief that the earthquakes that struck Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula today —the first being the strongest since 1952— resulted in no casualties, and emphasized that the region is well prepared to face such natural disasters.
“Thank God, there were no victims,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during his daily press briefing.
The presidential representative stated that “all alert systems were activated in time, and evacuations were organized for residents in areas requiring it in response to tsunami threats.”
“Overall, the seismic resilience of the buildings proved effective (…) Therefore, we can say that the technological preparedness demonstrated a high level,” Peskov added.
Honduras sees ongoing killings of land defenders and attacks on press, warns NGO
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Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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