International
The Government of Colombia presents twelve questions that it will propose in a popular consultation to promote its reforms

The Government of Colombia announced this Tuesday the twelve questions that will be included in the popular consultation that President Gustavo Petro will file on May 1 before the Senate to achieve the approval of the stagnant reforms in Congress.
The twelve questions are focused on the labor reform proposed by the Government and which was archived after its third debate in the Seventh Senate Commission last month.
“If we were not sure that these questions would get the yes, we would not be proposing them, it was that simple,” said the Minister of Labor, Antonio Sanguino, at a press conference with the Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti.
For his part, Benedetti said: “If the consultation is won, Congress has two periods before then to pass the law based on what was approved in the consultation or if not the president takes it out by decree.”
The consultation is binding if it obtains the necessary majorities and is declared valid in terms of participation.
In Colombia there are 40,963,370 people qualified to vote, so at least 13,654,456 citizens must pay for the popular consultation to be valid and for half plus one of the votes to be expressed in favor of each question of the Government.
Therefore, the consultation is “mandatory, first for Congress and then for the President of the Republic,” Benedetti added.
These questions “constitute the soul and backbone of the labor reform that will be proposed in the popular consultation that we hope will be endorsed or facilitated with the approval of the Senate of the Republic in its plenary,” explained Minister Sanguino at the press conference.
The consultation will consist of closed-answer questions: Colombians must vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ before each initiative and to move forward, “each question has to pass the threshold” required, Benedetti added.
The questions are aimed at improving the labor rights of all Colombians with proposals such as the regulation of the working day with a maximum of eight hours a day or the guarantee of medical permits, including licenses for disabling menstrual pain.
In addition, they have a section focused on the business world with proposals such as the elimination of outsourcing and abusive intermediation in employment contracts, minimum hiring quotas for people with disabilities or the guarantee of fair wages for rural workers.
The complete content of the questionnaire, according to the ministers, was built from more than 20,000 proposals sent by citizens through the portal enabled until last Monday, April 21.
The popular consultation must be officially filed by President Gustavo Petro, on May 1, as, as he said, a tribute to the working class of Colombia within the framework of International Labor Day.
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.
International
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win

Venezuela has announced the closure of its embassy in Norway, just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Venezuelan diplomatic mission provided no explanation for its decision on Monday.
“It is regrettable,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will continue to work in that direction.” The ministry also emphasized that the Nobel Committee operates entirely independently from the Norwegian government.
In its announcement, the Nobel Committee stated that Machado met the criteria established by Alfred Nobel, “embodying the hope for a different future, where the fundamental rights of Venezuelans are heard.”
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