International
Brazil leader promises Yanomami no unwanted mining on their lands
AFP/Editor
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro promised the Yanomami indigenous people in remarks released Sunday that there will be no mining on their land unless they want it.
The right-wing president’s remarks come amid charges by the Yanomami that their lands are being seized and they themselves are coming under attack, from people doing mining illegally.
“If you do not want mining, there will be no mining. There are indigenous brothers in other places, inside and outside the Amazon that do want mining, that want to cultivate the land, and we are going to respect their wishes,” Bolsonaro said in a video released Sunday of a meeting he held last week with Yanomami leaders.
The government is preparing a law to regulate mining on lands assigned to indigenous peoples.
The Yanomami people have been warning since last year of tense conditions on their vast reserve of 96,000 square kilometers spread over the states of Roraima and Amazonas and home to some 27,000 indigenous people.
Indigenous advocacy groups and conservation organizations say native peoples’ lands are being invaded with encouragement from public comments by Bolsonaro.
In the meeting last week, the president said the army would defend Yanomami rights but he made no mention of attacks by wildcat miners.
Illegal mining, one of the main causes of the destruction of the Amazon basin region, surged by 30 percent last year in Yanomami land, ruining an expanse equivalent to 500 football fields, said a report published in March by the Hutukara Yanomami Association.
For weeks, indigenous people on Yanomami and Mundurucu territories have been denouncing attacks by illegal miners.
A Supreme Court judge last week ordered the Bolsonaro government to take “necessary measures” to protect these lands.
International
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday (April 19, 2025) in major cities like New York and Washington, as well as in small communities across the United States, in a second wave of demonstrations against President Donald Trump. The crowds denounced what they view as growing threats to the country’s democratic ideals.
In New York City, demonstrators of all ages rallied in front of the Public Library near Trump Tower, holding signs accusing the president of undermining democratic institutions and judicial independence.
Many protesters also criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policies, including mass deportations and raids targeting undocumented migrants.
“Democracy is in grave danger,” said Kathy Valyi, 73, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She told AFP that the stories her parents shared about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany “are happening here now.”
In Washington, demonstrators voiced concern over what they see as Trump’s disregard for long-standing constitutional norms, such as the right to due process.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
UN complaint filed against Costa Rica over detention of migrant children
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
Central America5 days agoPetro questions Ecuador’s vote, cites reports of military control and arrests
-
International4 days agoArsenal stun Real Madrid at the Bernabéu to reach Champions League semifinals
-
International3 days agoDominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
-
Central America3 days agoNicaraguan Exiles to Mark 7th Anniversary of 2018 Protests with Global Commemorations
-
International4 days agoBogotá residents line up for yellow fever vaccine amid national alert
-
International2 days agoACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
-
International4 days agoDeSantis’ immigration crackdown sparks alarm in Venezuelan Communities in Doral
-
Central America2 days agoUN complaint filed against Costa Rica over detention of migrant children
-
International4 days agoMexico refuses to restore ties with Ecuador while Noboa remains in office
-
International17 hours agoThousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
-
International5 days agoColombia: Search continues for missing limb of italian scientist found dismembered