International
Death toll rises to seven after the passage of tropical storm Oscar in Cuba
The Cuban government raised the death toll to seven on Tuesday after the passage of the tropical storm Oscar in the eastern end of the island.
The island president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, reported in his X account that the seventh fatal victim was located in the town of Imíaz, in the province of Guantánamo, the most punished by the meteorological phenomenon.
“We deeply regret and convey our deepest condolences to family and friends. We point out the effects for each area, the actions that will be taken as soon as it is possible to start the recovery phase, as well as the necessary resources according to the protection of the people and the compensation of the damage in the shortest possible time,” wrote the Cuban president.
A number of rural communities still incommunicado after the passage of the storm has made it difficult for the authorities to make an initial assessment of personal and material damage.
Thousands of homes affected in Cuba by storm Oscar
The Government and the official media have added that, in addition to the loss of life, there are more than a thousand homes affected, damage to state infrastructure and considerable damage to agriculture.
Early Tuesday, the Cuban state press reported that there are 6,000 people affected and about 4,000 “family nuclei” mainly by the floods, which have caused river overflows and sea penetrations in low coastal areas.
Oscar entered Cuba as a category 1 hurricane (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale on Sunday afternoon and spent just over 24 hours on the island, accompanied by strong winds, heavy rains and tides.
According to the Insmet, it made landfall near Baracoa (east) at 18:10 local time on Sunday and left Cuban territory in the vicinity of Gibara (east) around 19:20 local time this Monday.
In that sense, Civil Defense decided this Tuesday to declare the return to the phase of “normality” in the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguín and Las Tunas “as it did not have any effects.”
Fifteenth tropical storm
Oscar is the fifteenth tropical storm of the current cyclonic season in the Atlantic and the first to hit land in Cuba.
The U.S. weather services The US and Cuba warned months ago that this season of hurricanes in the Atlantic, which runs from June 1 to November 30, was going to be especially active.
The last time a major hurricane hit Cuba was in September 2017 when Irma advanced parallel to the north coast of the island and caused ten deaths and material losses officially valued at 13,185 million dollars.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
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