International
The German far-right approves an electoral program with promises of “remigration” and exit from the euro
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party approved this Sunday an electoral program that includes promises of border closure and “remigration”, as well as exit from the euro and reintroduction of compulsory military service, at a time when the polls give it its best results in a year and place it as the second force in the elections of February 23.
After long debates, the program was unanimously approved on the second day of the federal congress held this weekend in Riesa (east Germany), where on Saturday the AfD co-leader, Alice Weidel, was officially nominated as a candidate for the chancellor’s office.
“We are getting stronger,” Weidel exclaimed at the end of the congress, before the German national anthem sounded.
Unlike the initial draft, the program approved today includes the controversial term “remigration”, coined by right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis to denote the massive expulsion of migrants and people with foreign roots, after Weidel – who until now had avoided it – used it publicly yesterday.
AfD officially maintains that with “remigration” it alludes only to the expulsion by legal means of migrants in an irregular situation, but in its circles the use of the term in the first sense is frequent, together with racist iconography.
The programme promises, among other things, the closure of borders to migrants and asylum seekers, a large-scale “deportation offensive” of people in an irregular situation, the withdrawal from the European asylum system and the acquisition of German nationality only for children of German parents and extraordinary cases.
In addition, it contains the ban on the construction of minarets in Germany and the use of the Islamic veil in public buildings.
The AfD also maintains its project to abandon the euro, although it does not explicitly demand the exit from the EU, but proposes to transform it or replace it with an “alliance of European nations” with a common market and that in the long term represents an alternative to NATO for the defense of the continent.
The program also promises to lift sanctions on Russia and re-import gas from that country, while delegates rejected a motion to include a condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A motion to include the reintroduction of compulsory military service was also approved at the last minute, against the wishes of co-leader Tino Chrupalla, who strives to profile the AfD as a “peace party.”
Despite the fact that candidate Weidel has another woman as a partner, with whom she is a mother of two children, the delegates voted in favor of including in the program that the family composed of “father, mother and children” is the basic cell of society.
They also spoke out against the mandatory measles vaccination for school-age children in force in Germany.
Finally, the congress approved the foundation of a new youth organization integrated within the party, after tensions grew with the Alternative Youth (JA), which was classified as extremist by the German authorities in 2023.
Between 21 and 22%
According to the most recent polls, AfD enjoys its highest popularity in a year, with an increase of two points in the last month to 21-22% in voting intention.
The formation, which is receiving the explicit support of tycoon Elon Musk, an ally of US president-elect Donald Trump, would thus be the second force behind the Christian Democratic bloc of Friedrich Merz, which is at 30%.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s social democrats and his green government partners are currently competing for third place with values between 13 and 16%, while the Liberals and the populist left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) Alliance could stay below the 5% threshold for parliamentary representation.
Internacionales
Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site
A mass grave was discovered in a residential area under construction in the municipality of Zapopan, part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco.
“After analyzing the recovered remains, they correspond to 34 individuals,” said a state official during a press conference. Jalisco has one of the highest numbers of missing persons in Mexico, largely due to the activity of drug cartels.
As of May 31, official data shows that Jalisco has recorded 15,683 missing persons, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Authorities attribute most of these cases to criminal organizations, which often bury or cremate their victims clandestinely.
“The construction company notified us at the end of February after discovering some remains,” explained the official, González, adding that excavation efforts have been ongoing since then.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in the region and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has accused CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel of being the main sources of fentanyl trafficking, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S.
Mexico has accumulated more than 127,000 missing persons, most of them since 2006, when the federal government launched a heavily criticized military-led anti-drug offensive.
International
U.S. targets families of sanctioned drug traffickers with new Visa restrictions
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday a new visa restriction policy targeting the family members and close associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking, as part of efforts to combat the spread of fentanyl.
Overdoses from this synthetic opioid remain the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 44. According to official sources, more than 220 overdose deaths are reported daily in 2024, and over 40% of Americans know someone who has died from opioid-related causes.
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy (…) which will apply to close family members and personal or business associates of individuals sanctioned for drug trafficking,” Rubio said in a statement.
International
White House claims challenged as most ICE arrests in LA involve non-criminals
Nearly seven out of ten people arrested during immigration raids in Los Angeles from June 1 to June 10 had no criminal record, contradicting White House claims that the raids targeted “criminals,” according to an analysis published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times.
Around 722 individuals were detained in the Los Angeles metropolitan area during the first ten days of June, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated the raids, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project of the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that 69% of those arrested during this period had no criminal record, and 58% had never been charged with any crime.
These figures contradict the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which said in a statement Tuesday that since June 6, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an operation “to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin warned that the arrests are part of President Donald Trump’s promise to secure the border by deporting criminals, including drug traffickers in Los Angeles, without providing further details.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass criticized last week in a CNN interview that although the White House said it would target violent criminals, the raids had focused on workers.
“This wasn’t a drug den, it was a Home Depot,” Bass said, questioning the locations where raids were conducted.
Activists have also denounced the raids for targeting vulnerable workers who are easy to detain.
The Los Angeles Times analysis found that the average age of those arrested was 38, mostly men. Nearly 48% were Mexican, 16% Guatemalan, and 8% Salvadoran.
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