International
Severe or moderate food insecurity is low but affects 26% of households in Colombia
Serious or moderate food insecurity in Colombia decreased in 2023 compared to 2022, but continues to affect more than a quarter of the country’s households, while serious food insecurity has hardly changed and continues to affect 4.8% of households, according to data published this Friday by the Colombian Government and the FAO.
The director of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), Piedad Urdinola, revealed at a press conference that severe or moderate food insecurity “fell from 28.1% to 26.1%” in 2023, affecting more than 14 million people, while regretting that in severe food insecurity the “variations are very slight,” since it has barely gone from 4.9% of households to 4.8%.
Where severe or moderate food insecurity decreased the most was in the municipal capitals of Colombia (from 26.8% to 24.7%), while in dispersed populated and rural centers the decrease was more moderate (from 32.5% to 31.2%).
In addition, the results show that in the departments with the worst records of hunger or poverty, La Guajira and Chocó, food insecurity has had great decreases, even reaching a reduction of 24.3 percentage points in the Chocó jungle, where severe or moderate food insecurity went from affecting 43.2% of households to 18.9%.
“The report does not present a very encouraging picture for the goal of eradicating hunger by 2030,” admitted the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Colombia, Agustín Zimmermann, although he admitted that there is “political will” and means to reverse the situation.
“Colombia undoubtedly has all the natural resources, the productive capacity, the institutionality, and the human resources to advance this goal,” said the Argentine who emphasized that “the vision of a Colombia without hunger and without malnutrition is within reach.”
The data come from the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) developed by the FAO, published this Friday for the second year in Colombia, which is the largest in Latin America, carried out in more than 86,000 Colombian households.
The data on this scale show results similar to those presented by the World Food Program (WFP) in February that revealed that food insecurity was reduced in 2023 from 30% to 25%, with 13 million people still in moderate or severe food insecurity.
The data, which were included in the National Quality of Life Survey (ECV) of the DANE, show that food insecurity is greater where life situations are most vulnerable, such as when it comes to single-parent households, made up of migrants, where there is no work or with many family members or young children.
Thus, in 2023, severe or severe food insecurity affected 40.7% of households led by a black, Afro, raizal or palenquera person, and 46.3% of indigenous people.
The situation in households led by a Venezuelan migrant is also particularly delicate, since “in households of international migrants in Venezuela, that prevalence goes to 41.6% so we see a very important gap that is replicated in regions,” according to Urdinola, and that contrasts with the 25.4% prevalence in households without migrants.
On the other hand, in households with more than five members, severe or moderate food insecurity reached 37.9% in 2023, while in single parents, food insecurity stood at 31.4%.
Food insecurity affected 32.8% of households with at least one child under 5 years of age, although “we are seeing an improvement from one year to the next,” said the director of DANE, pointing out that in 2022 it was 36.5%.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
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