International
Terrorism, prisoners and the Vatican: autopsy of the agreement between the US and Cuba that was born dead
The agreement, mediated by the Vatican, between the United States and Cuba lasted just six days by which Washington took the island off the terrorist list in exchange for a massive release of prisoners in the country.
In the avalanche of executive orders signed by Republican Donald Trump in his early hours in the Oval Office was the one who immediately returned to Cuba to the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, a measure with serious financial consequences.
The decision had been anticipated by the new Secretary of State, the Cuban-American Marco Rubio, in favor of the hard line with the Cuban government.
In his confirmation appearance before the Senate, Rubio said that he had “zero doubts” that Cuba was a country promoting terrorism and said that the decisions of the Biden Administration did not link those of the new Republican cabinet at all.
For his part, the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, called the revocation of one of the last decisions of Democrat Joe Biden just six days later as “mockery”.
In his opinion, it is an “act of arrogance” by Trump who despises “the truth” and only seeks to strengthen “the cruel economic war against Cuba for domination.”
What the Cuban government has not yet pronounced on is whether it will comply with its part of the deal, since it agreed with the Vatican. Officially, Havana has never linked the list and the release: only Washington has agreed.
So far and according to the human rights NGOs on the island that count prisoners for political reasons -Justicia 11J, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) and Prisoners Defenders-, about 150 prisoners had been released from prison until Monday thanks to this trilateral understanding.
However, there is also an undetermined number of common inmates who have benefited from this measure.
The Cuban government had announced the release of 553 people “sanctioned for various crimes,” but has not made public a list of names and has not updated in recent days on the total number of graces. Last Thursday he talked about 127.
Among those released registered by NGOs, young men without a previous activist history who participated in the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021 – the largest in decades – and who have officially been on probation (without the extinction of sentence) predominate.
Among the beneficiaries there are also historical opponents, such as Félix Navarro and José Daniel Ferrer, and activists such as Pedro Albert Sánchez, Luis Robles and the lady of Blanco Tania Echeverría.
However, many prisoners considered political are still in prison, including some with international recognition such as the artists and activists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo, qualified as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International.
Most are unknown to the international audience. Prisoners Defenders registered a total of 1,161 prisoners for political reasons in Cuba at the end of 2024. Justice 11J figures the sentenced 11J demonstrators at 549.
The future of these imprisoned people is now uncertain, as well as that of Cuba as a whole with the arrival of Trump.
The island was already immersed in a serious economic and energy crisis, with shortages of food, medicine and fuel, prolonged daily blackouts and inflation that has tripled prices since 2021.
The country’s difficulties in stabilizing its economy, securing basic products and growing again – its gross domestic product (GDP) is below 2019 levels – could be further aggravated by a US Administration openly against it.
In fact, the current situation in the country is due to the consequences of COVID-19 and several failed economic and monetary policies implemented by Havana, but also to the tightening of US sanctions during Trump’s first term (2017-2021).
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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