International
Lula da Silva says that Bolivia “can’t fall into the trap again” of coups d’état
The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said on Tuesday that Bolivia “cannot fall back into the trap” of the coups d’état, in reference to the military uprising that occurred on June 26 at the presidential headquarters in La Paz.
Da Silva is in Bolivian territory as part of a two-day official visit, in which he held meetings with his Bolivian counterpart, Luis Arce, to sign bilateral integration agreements.
“On the eve of celebrating its bicentennial, in 2025, Bolivia cannot fall into this trap again. We cannot tolerate authoritarian dreams or coups d’état,” Lula da Silva said in his official statement, after the signing of several agreements and meeting with Arce, in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.
The ruler of Brazil thanked his Bolivian peer for receiving him in the midst of a situation in which Bolivia demonstrated “its courage in the face of a serious threat,” after the armed uprising more than two weeks ago.
“We have the enormous responsibility to defend democracy in the face of attempts to push it back,” said Lula da Silva.
Military personnel under the command of the ousted Army commander Juan José Zuñiga took the headquarters of the Executive in La Paz for a few hours, on June 26.
After the military had a confrontation with the Bolivian president, he withdreted along with tanks and soldiers. Hours later he was arrested and is currently in pre-trial detention in a prison in the center of the country.
The president of Brazil said that his visit not only means the resumption of a friendship, but also represents “the communion of two countries whose trajectories have important parallels.”
Lula mentioned what happened in his country in 2022, when Brazil celebrated its bicentennial. “Instead of celebrating it, we were invaded by a wave of extremism that ended on January 8 with an attempted coup,” he recalled.
He affirmed that, like Brazil, Bolivian democracy “has prevailed after a long journey dotted with coups d’état and dictatorships.”
“All over the world, the disunity of democratic forces has only served the extreme right,” said the Brazilian president.
With Lula da Silva’s visit to Bolivia, bilateral relations were strengthened with the signing of 10 agreements in different areas such as health, migration, energy, security, mining and agriculture, among others.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
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Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction