International

Former argentine president seeks brazilian leader’s visit amid house arrest

Former Argentine president Cristina Fernández hopes that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, her longtime ally in the region, will visit her at her Buenos Aires apartment, where she is serving house arrest for corruption. The final decision rests with the court that sentenced her and sets the terms of her six-year confinement.

Alberto Beraldi, Fernández’s lawyer, made the request on Tuesday before the three judges of the Federal Oral Court No. 2 for Lula to visit her, taking advantage of the fact that the leftist leader will be in Buenos Aires from Wednesday afternoon to attend the Mercosur Summit, which will bring together the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The regional bloc meeting is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Fernández, who began serving her six-year sentence in mid-June for a corruption case during her administration, is allowed visits from a group of family members, security police, doctors, and lawyers at her apartment in an old building in the south of the capital. One of the rules she must follow is to request permission for extraordinary visits and justify the reasons.

This is the first such request Fernández has made, and it concerns Lula, with whom she maintained strong political and ideological ties during their respective administrations.

The Brazilian president called Fernández to express his support after Argentina’s Supreme Court upheld the conviction last month, which had been imposed by the federal court in 2022. The Workers’ Party leader said on social media that during the call he told Fernández “how important it is for her to remain strong during these difficult times.”

20250701_dengue_728x90

20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90

20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90

20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

Lula himself has experienced imprisonment. While confined in a police station in Curitiba in 2019 on corruption charges, he received a visit from then-presidential candidate Alberto Fernández, who later led the government in which the now-convicted Peronist leader served as vice president (2019–2023).

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.

20250701_dengue_728x90

20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90

20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90

20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

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.”

International

Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains

Thousands of military personnel and civilians in Mexico worked tirelessly on Tuesday to clear roads blocked by the torrential rains of recent days, which have left more than 300 communities cut off across central and eastern regions of the country. Authorities also launched mass fumigation efforts in several affected areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever.

The official death toll remains at 64, though dozens of people are still missing. President Claudia Sheinbaumacknowledged that the government does not yet know the full situation in many of the isolated villages, which range in population from 500 to 1,000 inhabitants.

“The reopening of roads is one of the greatest urgencies,” Sheinbaum said. “It’s essential to guarantee air bridges, food supplies, clean water, and a proper census of the isolated communities so we can determine the condition of every person living there.”

Private construction companies are also assisting the effort with heavy machinery and technical support to help reopen highways and reconnect rural areas.