International
Colombia will ask the UN to extend the implementation of the peace agreement to more than 15 years
The Government of Colombia will ask the UN Security Council to consider the possibility of expanding the implementation of the peace agreement signed in 2016 with the former FARC guerrilla beyond the 15 years agreed when it was signed, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said on Tuesday.
“We are proposing that an adjustment be made to the implementation framework plan that was designed to be implemented in 15 years and with the delays we must seriously consider the possibility of extending the implementation period of that framework plan,” Murillo said about the proposal that President Gustavo Petro will present to the Security Council on Thursday.
For the time being, the possibility of extending the 15-year period for the implementation that was signed and working on tables to work “extraordinary and emergency measures” will be considered to expedite the implementation because, as Murillo pointed out in a press conference: “It is very clear that we will not be able to comply with the agreement in the 15 years that were proposed in the framework implementation plan and will probably require an extension.”
That extension “has been said that it has to be (…) from five to eight years,” although at the moment it is under discussion.
“Althog much progress has been made in the implementation of the peace agreement, it is supremely important that the structural obstacles that are to the timely implementation and full implementation of the agreement can be removed,” said the chancellor, who stressed that the current Government is the one that has implemented the most.
These obstacles are “institutional” but there are also “budgets” for peace in Colombia and others “that have to do with the legal and legal that have really prevented the accelerated advance of the implementation of the agreement,” Murillo said.
Therefore, the Government wants to propose “a shock plan for the next two years” that will require “extraordinary measures, some emergency, to be able to put the implementation in tune,” and thus “overcome the structural barriers that the complete implementation of the agreement has.”
The president of Colombia will go to New York on Thursday for the quarterly session of the Security Council where the state of implementation of the peace agreement will be discussed and where the UN verification mission will present its report for this quarter.
“Petro will be very clear that he remains firmly committed to the implementation of the agreement, but obviously connected to the policy of total peace and in that sense he will request that it continue with the unanimous support and accompaniment of the international community through the United Nations Security Council, but also an accompaniment to the new measures and the guarantees that will obviously be proposed to accelerate the implementation,” Murillo anticipated.
In New York, the president will also participate in the inauguration of a monument at the UN headquarters made with the smelting of weapons left by the FARC and will also meet with the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, to talk about Colombia and other countries such as the situation in Gaza or the war in Ukraine.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
International
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
The Colombian government stated on Thursday that it would have no reason to reject a potential asylum request from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro should he leave office, as regional tensions persist over the deployment of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean since August.
“In the current climate of tension, negotiations are necessary, and if the United States demands a transition or political change, that is something to be assessed. If such a transition results in him (Maduro) needing to live elsewhere or seek protection, Colombia would have no reason to deny it,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio in an interview with Caracol Radio.
However, Villavicencio noted that it is unlikely Maduro would choose Colombia as a refuge. “I believe he would opt for someplace more distant and calmer,” she added.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also commented on Venezuela’s situation on Wednesday, arguing that the country needs a “democratic revolution” rather than “inefficient repression.” His remarks followed the recent detention and passport cancellation of Cardinal Baltazar Porras at the Caracas airport.
“The Maduro government must understand that responding to external aggression requires more than military preparations; it requires a democratic revolution. A country is defended with more democracy, not more inefficient repression,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter), in a rare public criticism of the Venezuelan leader.
Petro also called for a general amnesty for political opponents and reiterated his call for forming a broad transitional government to address Venezuela’s prolonged crisis.
Since September, U.S. military forces have destroyed more than 20 vessels allegedly carrying drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters near Venezuela and Colombia, resulting in over 80 deaths.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that attacks “inside Venezuela” will begin “soon,” while Maduro has urged Venezuelans to prepare for what he describes as an impending external aggression.
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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