International

Schmit (PSE): “When someone asks Sánchez to be hanged, all boundaries are crossed”

The head of the list of the Social Democrats to the presidency of the European Commission, Nicolas Schmit, warned on Thursday against “turning politics into a battlefield” and considered that in Spain, “when someone asks Pedro Sánchez to be hanged, all boundaries have been crossed.”

“It is a danger in our democracy when in Spain someone asks that Pedro Sánchez be hanged, (because) all the boundaries have been crossed. And from there everything is possible because it can reach the ears of someone upset,” the social democratic candidate warned the European Commission in an interview with the European Drafting of Agencies, of which EFE is a part.

Near the end of a campaign for the European elections in which there has been an assassination attempt in Slovakia and several politicians in Germany have suffered violent attacks, Schmit stressed that the discourse of some forces (which does not limit the extreme right) “does not reach a minimum of dignity,” so “from there the next level is physical violence.”

“Politics should not be about hatred, it should be something between democrats. Between adversaries, not enemies. If politics is transformed into a battlefield, into a war, there is a danger that some madman will take it literally and grab a gun,” Schmit stressed.

In the same interview, Schmit warned about the risk that the existence of two far-right groups in the European Parliament (the Conservatives and Reformists, on the one hand, and Identity and Democracy, on the other) will lead to the conclusion that part of them are “decent.”

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“What is attractive about Vox?” asked the Social Democratic leader, who stressed that his group will not enter into any coalition with individual groups or delegations that are located to the right of the European People’s Party.

The Luxembourg politician, until now Commissioner for Employment, opined that the founding fathers and mothers of the European Union and belonging to the Christian Democratic family “must be stirring in their graves” with the approaches of the European People’s Party towards the ultra-conservatives.

“Christian Democrats were among the fathers and mothers of the process of European integration and now they do not exclude alliances with those who are fundamentally against this Europe project. People like (the former Italian prime minister) Alcide de Gasperi must be stirring in his grave,” Schmit lamented.

The social democratic candidate declared himself “surprised” by the campaign messages of his main rival and current president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and asked him to be “honest” with his approach to the Italian Prime Minister, the ultra-conservative Giorgia Meloni.

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International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.