International
The boarding school that fights for the future of seven indigenous peoples in the Amazon of Peru
Shirts, pants and backpacks hang from wooden beams in a large room full of old bunk beds in which students from a particular educational center sleep in the heart of the Amazon of Peru. This residence and institute welcomes 248 adolescents of seven ethnic groups who seek to improve their future and, with it, that of their peoples.
The Yankuam Jintia high school (‘Luz en el camino’, in the indigenous language Achuar) is located in San Lorenzo, capital of the Datem del Marañón, and is an option for teenagers who do not have educational centers in their small indigenous communities.
It has teenagers from 12 to 18 years old of the shawi, condoshi, wampis, quechua, awajún, shapra and achuar ethnic groups, from 95 peoples, so the mixture of languages and cultures is breathed in the walls full of murals.
It houses realities of all kinds, from adolescents whose families have decided to give a better education for their children than their community can provide, to those who are orphans or have suffered abuse and did not have a safe home.
“We are always doing shifts so that they are not alone. We are always here with you at all times, they are small who come for the first year at 11 and 12 years old. They are very brave when leaving the family to come to study (…) They need the paternal warmth from us as mother and dad,” the director of the center, Sandra Elizabeth Flores, tells EFE.
He explains to EFE in the courtyard that this place was born as a male boarding school at the initiative of the missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who saw 50 years ago the little access that young people in these areas had to education.
“It was seen that our young people didn’t adapt much. There was a little bit of discrimination, because they didn’t master Spanish. Then the students came sad,” says the director, adding that for this reason the boarding school also became an intercultural school that respected the various origins of adolescents.
She adds, proudly, that the center has also been open since 2016 for girls, who are now a little more than half of the total.
“We do a comprehensive job trying to ensure that the children are respected, that the original language is maintained and we are working with a culture of peace,” says Flores.
The residence has an area for girls and a boys’ area, with several rooms per age group, in which some students have their books, hygiene material and glossy shoes tidy, while others keep their muddy slippers next to their toothbrushes.
“The reality in this educational institution, on the one hand, is fun, we share cultures, beliefs, experiences with each other and we make the union as a family, but we lack some basic needs since the institution does not have enough resources,” Jean, a 15-year-old young wampi, representative of the students and whose native community is two days away from the institute, tells EFE.
In the wooden bunk beds, there are no mattresses for some, and there are no pillows or mosquito nets for everyone.
“Like all young people, we also need to have fun and we want tools like balls and poles to go to represent school when we play soccer and be presentable,” he says before adding that he wants to get a scholarship to study Law.
The director shares her frustration by agreeing that the center lacks resources of all kinds, but that every year teenagers who want to enter are left out.
For many, the objective is to get one of the scholarships granted by the Government to students of high performance and scarce economic resources to pursue a university career, so the routine of the institute is focused on studies, which occupy mornings and afternoons.
But Jean admits that there is no computer in the center, a need that has identified a project developed by Unicef and Adra at the Datem del Marañón, which seeks to protect children, adolescents and their access to health services.
“We have worked with them on the issue of communication, their skills and strategies so that they can be able to easily develop, lose their shyness in front of the public when they express themselves or when they want to talk,” says the project coordinator, Lady Mondragón.
They also promoted the creation of ‘spots’ with messages alluding to health care that they have elaborated in the dialects of their native peoples, something that is not usually common since they are usually disseminated in Spanish.
He adds that, through this initiative, they have known the importance of promoting health in their communities, where they will then share them, which also helps to give a voice to these adolescents who live in a rich interculturality.
A project that gives communities a future of a present and a future that emanates from their adolescents.
International
Brazil helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro kills six, including pilots and international figures
The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police confirmed on Monday the identities of three of the six victims killed in a helicopter collision that occurred the previous morning in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood.
All three identified victims are Brazilian nationals: the pilots of the aircraft, Charles Marsillac and Alexandre Souza, and music producer Lucas Brito.
The identities of the three foreign victims have not yet been officially confirmed. They include U.S. singer Oliver Tree, Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim—known online as “Gaspi”—and Argentine producer Lucas Vignale, all of whom were listed on the flight manifest.
According to police, forensic experts from the Legal Medical Institute have already collected DNA samples in order to identify the foreign victims, whose bodies were severely burned.
One of the helicopters crashed into a private parking lot, triggering a fire that destroyed around twenty electric vehicles. That aircraft was carrying the pilot and four passengers, including the three foreign nationals.
The second helicopter, which had only the pilot on board, crashed approximately 100 meters away from the first impact site.
Rio de Janeiro’s deputy mayor, Eduardo Cavaliere, stated that both helicopters were operating transport flights toward Angra dos Reis on the Rio coastline and toward the mountainous region of the state.
Oliver Tree, 32, was in Brazil as part of an international tour. The artist, known for songs such as “Life Goes On” and “Miss You,” had performed to a large audience in São Paulo a week earlier and was scheduled to continue his tour in Europe.
Argentine content creator Gaspar Prim, 23, had built a following of more than two million on social media platforms, gaining popularity for humorous and often controversial video productions that had occasionally been removed by hosting platforms.
International
Mexico and U.S. Launch New Bilateral Security Group to Combat Fentanyl and Organized Crime
The governments of Mexico and the United States officially launched the Bilateral Implementation Group (BIG) on Friday, a new initiative aimed at strengthening cooperation on security issues and enhancing joint efforts against transnational crime.
In a statement, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson announced that he and Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco addressed officials from both countries who will lead what he described as a “new phase of bilateral cooperation.” The initiative seeks to curb the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs, illegal firearms, and human trafficking across the shared border.
Earlier this week, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had confirmed that senior security officials from both nations would meet in Mexico City on June 12 to review and advance existing cooperation agreements.
Through social media, Ambassador Johnson explained that the new bilateral group is designed to improve coordination between the two governments by placing greater emphasis on implementation, accountability, and measurable results. The effort will also focus on combating transnational criminal organizations operating across North America.
“The participation of 15 U.S. government agencies, working alongside their Mexican counterparts, reflects the seriousness of this effort and our shared commitment to delivering measurable results,” Johnson said.
The ambassador also highlighted several achievements that he attributed to ongoing bilateral cooperation. According to Johnson, maritime drug trafficking into the United States has declined by more than 95 percent, while overdose deaths have fallen by 35 percent.
He further noted that Mexican authorities have seized more than 400 metric tons of illegal drugs and dismantled over 2,300 clandestine laboratories as part of their efforts to combat organized crime and narcotics production.
The launch of the Bilateral Implementation Group marks the latest step in the security partnership between Mexico and the United States, as both countries seek to address shared challenges related to drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking, and the activities of criminal networks operating across the region.
International
‘El Chapo’ Guzmán again asks Mexican president to seek his return from U.S. prison
Convicted drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has once again appealed to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to intervene on his behalf and seek his transfer from the United States to Mexico, where he hopes to serve the remainder of his prison sentence.
Guzmán, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, is currently serving a sentence of more than 50 years in the United States after being convicted in 2019 on multiple charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering.
According to reports, the latest request was made in a letter dated June 2, one of several messages that Guzmán has reportedly sent to Sheinbaum in recent months in an effort to secure his repatriation. In the letter, he expresses hope that the Mexican government can support the efforts of his legal team.
Written in English and by hand, the letter asks that he be allowed to complete his sentence in Mexico, arguing that such a transfer would enable him to receive visits from family members more easily.
Guzmán is currently being held at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, commonly known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” one of the most secure prisons in the United States.
As in previous communications, the former cartel leader complained about his prison conditions, stating that he remains in near-total isolation and has little to no contact with other inmates.
He also reiterated his long-standing claim that he did not receive a fair trial in the United States and argued that the Mexican government bears responsibility for much of the violence associated with organized crime in the country.
In the letter, Guzmán maintains that his actions were motivated by a desire to protect himself and his family amid the violence linked to criminal organizations in Mexico.
Mexican authorities have not publicly indicated whether they plan to respond to the request. Guzmán remains one of the most notorious figures in the history of international drug trafficking and is serving his sentence under some of the strictest security measures in the U.S. prison system.
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