International
Fear and anguish for the future reign among the displaced of the Catatumbo in Ocaña
Fear and anguish reign among the thousands of displaced people who arrived at the Ocaña coliseum after leaving behind their lives in the Colombian region of Catatumbo where a confrontation between the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and a dissent of the FARC, which has already lasted a week, forced them to flee their land.
Coming from different hamlets in the area, the displaced people pile up in the Algerian coliseum Durán Quintero, so named in memory of that politician and former minister born in Ocaña and who, like them, was a victim of the armed conflict because he was kidnapped by the guerrilla of the People’s Liberation Army (EPL) in January 1992 and died in captivity a month and a half later, at the age of 77.
Many of the newcomers agree to talk to the press, but few give their name for fear of suffering reprisals if they return home, a possibility that for now they see remote.
“No, it’s very difficult for me to go back there, very difficult, you have to fix a lot for one to return because (…) there is a lot of violence,” Delma Martínez (name changed) tells EFE.
The 66-year-old woman says that last Thursday, when the clashes between the ‘elenos’ and the 33rd Front of the FARC dissidents began, she left the sidewalk (village) of Piedras de Moler, in the jungle area of Teorama, one of the municipalities of Catatumbo.
“The shooting was formed and I had to come to (the hamlet) Las Chircas because the situation got angry,” he says in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the coliseum.
According to the Ombudsman’s Office on Tuesday, of the 32,000 displaced people, 15,086 arrived in Cúcuta, capital of Norte de Santander; 11,503 to Ocaña, the second city in that department, and 5,300 in Tibú, a town located in the Catatumbo.
Upon arriving at the coliseum, they are directed to some attention stations marked with the names of the municipalities from which they come where officials take the data in the midst of a constant hustle and bustle for the arrival of food and mats.
Entities such as the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), which takes care of children and adolescents; firefighters, the Ombudsman’s Office, the Colombian Red Cross and the Emiro Quintero Cañizares Hospital, participate in this assistance.
There are also “sycological care” and “spiritual care” points, and on a soccer field located at the back of the coliseum, some boys play while adults prepare food in large pots.
“One is stigmatized, with nerves because of so much violence and so many children suffering,” adds the woman.
As he explains, his group was composed of “six people, three women and three boys”, who walked in the direction of Ocaña, but halfway she injured her leg in a fall, so they had to ask a motorcyclist for help to raise it in the back.
The woman adds that although they have received the first aid, they fear for their future if the crisis continues.
“They are behaving well with us because they are giving us ‘room’ and food,” he says, adding that they also need clothes and toiletries. “I am a person who doesn’t have a job here, I don’t even get (the subsidy for) the elderly anymore (…) they took that away from us,” he says.
In the same situation is Torcoroma, 37, who arrived in Ocaña along with her husband and two children, aged 16 and 11, from San Pablo, a district of Teorama, with fear in his body for “the crossfire between the FARC and the ELN”.
This housewife tells EFE that the outbreak of violence was not a surprise because “there was one or two rumors that there was a ceasefire only for the December season, but we do not know why they are in this fight” because until now, in São Paulo “both groups lived together.”
“At all,000 people came,” he says, adding that they left “with the only thing we could put in some backpacks and the papers (documents).”
On the possibility of returning to San Pablo, a farmhouse that in recent years experienced a bonanza for coca, Torcoroma responds: “No, we have to wait for something else to normalize and that we do not run the risk of returning to our homes.”
“You know that there is a saying ‘he who owes nothing, fears nothing’, but for killing another they come out by killing someone who owes nothing,” he concludes.
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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