International
HRW assures that Sheinbaum “inherited a crisis” from López Obrador due to “extreme violence” in Mexico
The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday that the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, “inherited a crisis” from her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024), due to the “extreme violence” of criminal groups and “abuses” of the State.
HRW in its annual report on Mexico, the association maintained that Sheinbaum, “who took office in October, inherited a human rights crisis created by the extreme violence of organized crime groups and widespread abuses committed by state agents with almost total impunity.”
“His predecessor, López Obrador, made little progress to face these challenges,” he said.
In addition, he warned that Congress approved constitutional reforms in September, the last month of López Obrador’s presidency, which expand the role of the military in public security and “radically” transform the Judiciary, which could “perpetuate abuses and seriously undermine the rule of law.”
The New York-based group said that the homicide rate “fell slightly for the third consecutive year” in 2023, to 24.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 25.9 the previous year, but six cities had rates above 100 in 2022.
Two out of three murders are committed by organized crime and, in the same proportion, firearms are used, of which 70% “arrive in Mexico through smuggling from the United States”.
Despite the “slight” reduction in homicides, “the number of reports of disappearances has increased,” said the association, which reported a total of more than 115,000 people missing in September, based on official figures.
“Many could have been killed and buried in the almost 5,700 clandestine graves that activists and authorities have discovered. Around 53,000 human remains were stored, waiting to be identified by the end of 2022,” the report noted.
HRW criticized López Obrador’s constitutional reform in September to remove the ban on soldiers from performing non-military functions in peacetime, give the Ministry of Defense control of the National Guard and empower the Executive to “deploy indefinitely” the Armed Forces.
In the last month of the previous government there were 232,761 soldiers, sailors and national guards deployed in the country, according to the report, which cited the death of almost 5,700 people in Army operations from 2007 to July 2024.
“The military has obstructed investigations and criminal proceedings into human rights violations committed in the past,” HRW said.
The document also cited the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which in 2023 pointed out that “it remains a widespread practice in Mexico and is too often the catalyst for mistreatment, torture, enforced disappearance and arbitrary executions.”
About 37% of those in prison that year were not convicted of any crime and more than 20% of those in pre-trial detention had been in this situation for more than two years.
HRW also documented almost 830,000 arrests of migrants between January and July 2024, “the highest figure ever recorded,” while in the north of the country the Mexican authorities arrest about 10,000 a month, including some with an appointment in the United States, and send them to the south by bus.
Although there was a record of more than 140,000 asylum seekers in 2023, “the highest figure in history,” the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar) resolved less than 26,000 requests.
On the other hand, the association reiterated that “Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists and human rights defenders.”
Based on figures from the organization Article 19, there were 3,408 attacks or threats against journalists, 46 journalists killed and four missing from December 1, 2018 to March 31, 2024.
And in 2023, there were 14 murders of human rights defenders, according to the Cherry Committee, and 18 of environmental defenders, according to Global Witness.
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.
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U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
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