Internacionales
Petro denounces missing more than one million projectiles and ammunition from military bases
The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, denounced on Tuesday that two inspections made at two military bases in the country found that more than one million projectiles and ammunition are missing, including missiles, and assured that these materials may be in the hands of international arms trafficking networks or illegal armed groups.
“The only way to explain this type of missing is that there have been for a long time networks made up of people from the Military and Civil Forces dedicated to a mass trade in weapons using the legal weapons of the Colombian State,” the president said in a statement at the Casa de Nariño.
Petro explained that the inspections carried out in the Fort of Tolemaida, located in the central department of Tolima, and at the base of the 10th Brigade of the Army, in the north of the country.
In Tolemaida, according to the president, “746 calibre 81-millimeter grenades are needed; 3,712 M-26 hand grenades; 2,880 40-millimeter grenades; 1,590 60-millimeter grenades; 797 40-millimeter grenades slaboned; 8,203 7.62 caliber ammunition; 41,745 5.56 caliber ammunition; 131,577 7.62-mped-caliber ammunition and 626,614 5.56-caliber ammunition”.
While at the base of Brigade 10 they did not find “two Spike missiles; 37 Nimrod missiles (both Israeli-made); 550 RPG rockets; 22 155-millimeter grenades; 621 106-millimeter grenades; 1,077 105-millimeter grenades for howitzer grenades; 1,077 90-millimeter caliber grenades; 960 81-millimeter-caliber grenades,” and “1,218 60-millimeter grenades.”
Also missing in the tanks are “4,171 40-millimeter caliber grenades; 24 40-millimeter L70HE caliber cartridges; 1,494 40-millimeter sloon grenades; 3,694 M-26 hand grenades; 17,456 anti-tank charges; 22,293 anti-tank loads .50 TAP; 330,419 7.62 Slap caliber ammunition; 9,829 162 caliber ammunition; 761,551 5.56 ammunition; 5,992 caliber 5.56 Slap and 1,262 special caliber .38 ammunition.
“As you can see, only among 5.56 ammunition there are more than a million lost ammunition,” added the president, who was accompanied in the statement by the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, and by the commander of the military forces, General Helder Giraldo Bonilla.
The president explained that the networks that allegedly stole their weapons were sold “to armed groups in Colombia” or possibly provide “foreign conflicts, the closest to Haiti.”
This is because that country is “hours away by speedboat” from the base of Brigade 10, located in the Colombian Caribbean region.
Petro also lamented that “with these same ammunition they end up injuring and killing the same members of the Military Forces” and warned that they will continue to carry out this type of inspections in other bases in the country.
“This type of gang must be dismantled,” concluded the head of state.
Internacionales
Francia Márquez says she has governed without guarantees in a racist, patriarchal system
Colombia’s Vice President Francia Márquez accused the government on Wednesday of perpetuating racism and patriarchy, adding that she has carried out her duties for nearly three years “without economic guarantees.”
“It hasn’t been easy to serve as vice president. It hasn’t been easy to govern a country with a racialized state and a government that practices racism and patriarchy,” Márquez said during the opening of the forum Promoting Economic Justice for Afro-descendant Peoples and Individuals in Cali, southwestern Colombia.
Her remarks follow her departure in February from her concurrent role as Minister of Equality, which underscored a growing rift between her and President Gustavo Petro. The split deepened after Márquez criticized Petro’s decision to appoint the controversial Armando Benedetti—now Interior Minister—as head of the presidential office.
At the time, Márquez warned in a letter that both her life and her family’s were at risk due to her public denunciations of corruption and her willingness to “call out what is wrong.”
A prominent social leader, Márquez has gained international recognition for her resilience and outspoken advocacy. Her powerful voice made her a political phenomenon and the breakout star of Colombia’s 2022 elections. Petro chose her as his running mate, making her the first Afro-Colombian woman to serve as vice president.
Márquez has become a symbol of hope, representation, and change for traditionally marginalized communities in Colombian society and politics.
Internacionales
“A great honor for our country”: Trump congratulates Pope Leo XIV
President Donald Trump congratulated Pope Leo XIV, the first-ever pope from the United States, in a message posted Thursday on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who has just been named pope. It is a tremendous honor to know he is the first American pope. What a thrill, and what a great honor for our country,” Trump wrote.
“I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a great moment!” he added.
Later, Trump spoke briefly to reporters outside the West Wing about the new pope, who hails from Chicago and also holds Peruvian nationality.
“What greater honor could there be? We’re a bit surprised but very happy,” Trump remarked.
When asked by a reporter whether he regretted posting an AI-generated image of himself dressed as pope — which he shared less than a week after attending Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome — Trump ignored the question.
Last week, he jokingly said he would like to succeed Pope Francis: “I’d like to be pope — that would be my number one choice,” he quipped.
During the conclave, the Republican politician had expressed certain preferences and hinted at support for a New York cardinal, presumably Timothy Dolan, whom he described as “very good.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a conservative Catholic, also reacted to the election of the new pontiff.
“The United States looks forward to deepening its enduring relationship with the Holy See under the first American pope,” Rubio said in a statement.
President Trump had a complicated relationship with the previous pope.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
China shows at the UN its “condemnation” of Israel for the “violation of Iran’s sovereignty”
Donald Trump’s government pauses its program of indiscriminate raides against migrants
Trump says he knew “everything” about the attack on Iran and assures that the dialogue remains open
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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