International

The difficult fight against bloodletting on the roads in Peru

Shreed buses, frontal collisions of vehicles, invaded lanes… The scenes are repeated mainly on weekends.

Between 2021 and 2023 there was an annual average of 3,000 deaths on the roads, according to the National Road Safety Observatory of the Ministry of Transport (ONSV), which links the high accident with three main causes: recklessness at the wheel, speeding and drunkenness.

By the beginning of May, 970 people had died on the slopes. And there is still a lack of the school holiday season and several holidays, including the end of the year, when accidents usually increase.

In Peru, the mortality rate from traffic accidents was 14 people per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019, compared to the average of 17 victims per 100,000 in the Americas, according to the World Bank.

In 2023, 87,172 accidents were officially reported that left 3,138 dead.

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The efforts of the authorities to improve control managed to reduce the rate to 9.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants last year, but the bloodlet on the roads continues.

Cornelio lost his family in March. A bus invaded the opposite lane of the Panamericana Highway and hit the family van, 147 km north of Lima.

This 36-year-old farmer was going ahead in another vehicle along with some workers. His wife, his two children, two brothers and a sister-in-law never arrived at the meeting place.

“My soul broke, we will never recover from this, for pleasure we have made the house. Now we have a void,” he tells AFP in a choppy voice.

Last month, in only four accidents there were 60 deaths, a figure not included in the count until the beginning of May.

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“It is true that there are contributory factors, for example, the climatic issue, the state of a vehicle or a road, the human factor is predominant and determining,” Larry Ampuero, spokesman for the Superintendence of Transport (Sutran), tells AFP.

According to that organization, 70% of accidents occur in cities and 30% on roads.

“There is informality due to lack of control, but also there is no good road network, we have an infrastructure in poor condition and lack of maintenance,” said Martín Ojeda, manager of the interprovincial transport guild to RPP radio.

The human factor is in many cases related to the fatigue of the drivers of the public transport service. The law establishes a limit of ten hours a day for driving buses.

“Drivers generally suffer from drowsiness or tiredness because they work more hours than allowed,” Luis Quispe, director of Luz Ámbar, an NGO that studies the phenomenon of the high accident rate, tells AFP.

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The interprovincial service guild maintains that it complies with the rules and that each bus travels with a spare driver, but the drivers question it.

“It is the fault of certain factors, both of the driver or the company that suddenly makes us work too many hours, practically 24 hours,” bus driver Julio Camarena tells AFP.

“They also have to see the state of the roads, which is terrible at the national level, we would say for the most part,” adds Camarena, 51, from the Yerbateros bus terminal in Lima.

On its side, the Association of Victims of Traffic Accidents (Aviactran) points to the indolence of the authorities and the lack of justice as the biggest problems on the roads.

“The State is not worried that accidents will increase, it does not want to solve the problem,” Carlos Villegas, president of that organization, tells AFP.

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According to Villegas, so far this year there are “more than 36,000 accidents.”

“The authorities are responsible for all traffic accidents, that’s why we are going to sue them,” he emphasizes.

80% of the injured – he adds – do not receive justice in their lawsuits against companies and authorities “for corruption” of the system.

“We feel very disappointed with the State,” says Villegas, who created Aviactran because a drunk doctor at the wheel seriously injured his nine-year-old son in 2006.

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International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”