International
Israel compares the protests in Columbia at the UN with a passage from Nazi Germany
Israel’s representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, compared on Wednesday the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University (New York), where 109 detainees took place on Tuesday night, with ‘The Night of Broken Glass’, a series of lynchings and combined attacks against the Jewish population coordinated by Nazi Germany in 1938.
“Those who resorted to Nazism at the time, are today breaking windows, attacking Jewish students and asking to be expelled from the university campus. The images we have seen in Columbia remind us of ‘The Night of the Crystals’,” said the diplomat at the plenary of the General Assembly on Wednesday, where the recent U.S. veto on the entry of Palestine as a full member was discussed.
On April 19, the United States vetoed in the Security Council the resolution that opened the door to the entry of Palestine as a full member of the UN, of which it is now only an observer.
With his words, Erdan referred to the moment when a group of pro-Palestinian students demonstrating on the Columbia campus broke several windows of the emblematic Hamilton Hall building and entrenched themselves inside.
“The anti-Semites did not manage to annihilate us during the Holocaust, neither in 1948, nor in 1967 nor in 1978. Today they are trying again, not only with terrorism and war, but also using the UN,” he stressed, in his already recurring speech against the organization, which he accuses of being favorable to Palestine.
“The elite universities, alleged bastions of liberalism, have become the breeding ground for racism and the most horrible hatred,” he added, also asking that “letters on the matter” be taken against the faculties and the presidents of the centers.
The protests over the war in Gaza that began in Columbia almost two weeks ago have spread like wildfire through other centers in the United States, ending in the arrest of hundreds of students and becoming the most massive and widespread university protests since the Vietnam War in 1968.
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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