International
The Brazilian Amazon relives the drama of drought: empty channels and isolated communities
The Brazilian Amazon is once again suffering an extreme drought that threatens to worsen in the coming months.
In Manaquiri, near Manaus, there are already dry riverbeds, cornered fish and about twenty isolated rural communities.
After a dramatic 2023, Brazil faces the worst drought since 1950 this year and one of the most affected parts of the country is the Amazon region, according to the National Center for Surveillance and Alert of Natural Disasters data.
In the state of Amazonas, the Government has decreed an “emergency situation” in its 62 municipalities due to drought and forest fires. The meteorological specialists had already anticipated it and it has been confirmed.
“Everything indicates that we will have a very serious drought. The rivers will go down like never before,” warned the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima.
The Negro River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon, today has a level four meters lower than in the same period last year. Throughout Amazonas, the Brazilian state with the largest number of indigenous population, the drought already directly affects about 80,000 families, according to the Civil Defense.
Several hundred of them are in Manaquiri, where from the end of August you can walk along the dry bed of the river that bathes this town (Paraná Manaquiri).
The footprints are marked on the sandbanks, once covered with fresh water and today naked in the sunlight. Where boats loaded with goods used to sail and today you can ride a horse.
Hundreds of herons take advantage of the drought to feed on fish that are restricted to the little river left.
Meanwhile, Ednaldo Freitas, 35, is busy connecting all the hoses he had at home and thus be able to reach the part where there is still water, according to EFE.
That’s not his only problem. Their children have to walk several kilometers these days to get to school, because the boat that transported them no longer arrives because there is no river.
To go to Manaus, the regional capital, it is still possible to go by another tributary, although it takes an hour longer than usual, which hinders the transport of medicines, food, etc., and harms the local economy.
And with the severe drought, fires have multiplied. This Sunday there were 3,640 active foci throughout Brazil, half of them in the Amazon, the largest tropical forest on the planet. In the state of Amazonas alone there were 237.
In other areas of the country, the flames are also advancing. A fire has burned in four days about 10,000 hectares of the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, near the Federal District of Brasilia, which this Sunday was again shrouded in smoke.
São Paulo and Minas Gerais, the two most populous states in Brazil, have also mobilized a large number of troops to fight forest fires in their territories, on which there are suspicions that many of them have been caused.
International
Trump to decide soon on deportation exemptions for construction and farm workers
U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday in Florida that he will make a decision in the coming weeks regarding exemptions from deportations for workers in the construction and agriculture sectors.
Trump made these remarks to the media during a visit to the new migrant detention center, ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ located in the middle of a wetland in Florida, the White House reported.
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids have targeted many of these workers, sparking fear among them and threatening to slow down two sectors that are vital to the U.S. economy.
In construction, 25.7% of workers are immigrants, and 14.1% of the total workforce nationwide is undocumented, according to the American Immigration Council.
In agriculture, the percentage of undocumented employees rises to 42%, according to data from the Department of Agriculture cited by the New York Times.
International
IDB plans $11 billion in sustainable financing to support countries facing currency risks
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) aims to unlock at least $11 billion in sustainable financing to help countries address challenges including natural disasters that strain their currencies and hinder private sector investment.
As the United States and other wealthier countries reduce official development assistance, multilateral lenders face pressure to find new ways to tackle issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss. During the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, IDB President Ilan Goldfajn stated that the measures adopted by the IDB are expected to inspire more private sector contributions, which is a key priority of the conference.
“We are not just announcing ideas; we are launching what the private sector is asking for: credible tools, scalable platforms, and real opportunities to invest with impact and confidence,” he added.
Support will include a new platform designed to help countries manage the risk of large swings in their national currencies that can deter international investors by making returns harder to predict. Based on a program in Brazil that has already attracted $8 billion from the private sector since its launch last year, the plan is to expand the concept to other regional economies over the next three years and at least double the amount mobilized.
Called FX EDGE, the platform will offer a credit line that activates if a currency drops sharply—a common problem during political or debt crises or after natural disasters—ensuring debtors can continue to service their loans in dollars or other foreign currencies.
The platform also aims to enable greater use of long-term currency hedging instruments, such as derivatives, through local banks and financial institutions, backed by the IDB’s credit rating.
International
Maduro’s government appeals to Vatican for help rescuing migrant children
Este lunes, durante su programa semanal ‘Con Maduro +’, el mandatario venezolano anunció que pediría al sumo pontífice su ayuda para rescatar a 18 niños migrantes.
“Yo sé que el papa es un hombre que comprende estos temas. Le pido ayuda a la Iglesia católica, apostólica y romana, al papa León, para que la Iglesia católica de Estados Unidos y la Iglesia católica de El Salvador proteja a los migrantes y nos ayude con sus gestiones para rescatar a estos niños y a estas niñas”, indicó Maduro en el espacio transmitido por VTV.
Más temprano, Rodríguez había pedido al alto comisionado de la ONU para los Derechos Humanos, Volker Türk, y al coordinador residente de la ONU en Venezuela, Gianluca Rampolla, pronunciarse sobre este hecho y exigió a Washington devolver a los pequeños.
Trump to decide soon on deportation exemptions for construction and farm workers
IDB plans $11 billion in sustainable financing to support countries facing currency risks
Maduro’s government appeals to Vatican for help rescuing migrant children
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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