International

Incidents in Argentina between police and state workers protesting 2,300 layoffs

A protest by Argentine state workers who were demonstrating for the dismissal of 2,305 state employees by the Government of Javier Milei ended on Monday with riots and two people arrested.

Representatives of the Association of State Workers (ATE) gathered in front of the headquarters of the National Institute of Industrial Technology, at the intersection of General Paz Avenue (the border between the capital and the province of Buenos Aires) and Constituyentes Avenue, with high circulation.

The Police of the city of Buenos Aires armed a cordon of troops with shields and helmets, which threw pepper spray at the demonstrators, many of them, with green breastplates with the ATE logo, and “liberated” the cutting of the streets, according to official sources.

“We arrested one person for assaulting police personnel and another for wielding a knife,” the Minister of Security of the government of the city of Buenos Aires, Waldo Wolff, reported in his X account.

One of the demonstrators who ended up on the floor, detained by the police, is the secretary general of ATE, Rodolfo Aguiar, who on Monday compared the dismissals of employees with the military dictatorship that the country suffered between 1976 and 1983.

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“We face a systematic plan for the destruction of the State in which the newly disappeared are fired,” Aguiar told El Destape radio, where he also said that “Milei’s dismissals translate into a phenomenal loss of rights for the population.”

ATE counted about 2,305 layoffs until this Monday, but he believes that there will be many more when the casualties are counted in the interior provinces, which are in addition to the run of layoffs already made by the Executive last March.

The union leader said that it is a “shame” that this Monday the Executive has called for equal negotiations for state workers and added that for tomorrow a plenary of delegates from all over the country is convened to “define the deepening of the struggle plan.”

The Government of Milei applies a strong adjustment to public spending, which allowed it in the first five months of the year a fiscal surplus of 0.4% of GDP – from 6% of 2023 that it had inherited, in order to lower inflation that is still 276.4% per year last May -, while maintaining a security policy that imposes order on the streets.

According to the official data published by the Indec, until last May the casualties in the State were 25,218 workers compared to December 2023, when contemplating the National Public Administration and state companies and companies.

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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.

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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.