International
H: the heroin derivative ravaging Ecuador’s poor
January 20 | By AFP | Karla Pesantes |
Shaking and delirious, Rina ambles half-dressed beside a dump in Ecuador’s port city of Guayaquil.
She is under the psychotropic effects of “H,” a cheap and addictive drug that is ravaging the poorest sectors of Ecuadoran society.
The scene was captured on video on New Year’s Eve and relayed to the municipal health center, which came to her aid.
“When I consume (the drug) I hear voices,” the 24-year-old, who is using a pseudonym, told AFP.
For the second time in less than a year she is following a drug rehabilitation program.
In her desperation, Rina stole and even worked as a prostitute to buy H, a heroin-based white powder that can be snorted or smoked and is sold for $1 a gram.
It is much cheaper and much more toxic than cocaine, which goes for $3 to $5.
H is cut with all sorts of toxic materials that can harm humans.
“We have found lime, cement, ether, rat poison and even ketamine, an analgesic used on horses,” in the white powder, said psychiatrist Julieta Sagnay, from the Guayaquil-based Neuroscience Institute, an NGO that supports drug addicts.
Guayaquil, a city of almost three million people, has become a hub of drug trafficking and addiction.
Officials say 162 kilograms of H were seized in 2022.
Sagnay, an expert with more than 30 years of experience treating addicts, says the number of patients she treats for H use is increasing every day.
And their physical condition deteriorates quicker than other patients.
In just six months, H addicts are constantly moving their legs, scratching, and not sleeping or eating.
Withdrawal symptoms are so severe, says Sagnay, that it is unbearable without at least eight days of pharmaceutical treatment.
‘They beat me’
There are three public clinics in Guayaquil for addicts and there are more than 30 private ones but they can cost up to $700 a month in a country where the minimum wage is just $450.
Some addicts turn to back-alley detox centers.
“They beat me, they poured a bucket of cold water on me and we ate chicken heads every day,” said Hugo Mora, who was treated four years ago in a dirty, dark, illegal center with no windows.
It only cost $150 but it was a failure.
After trying out two such clinics, the 24-year-old street vendor spent a week in a municipal hospital, where he was treated in a large room with more than a dozen beds.
The hospital takes in up to 150 daily patients, 90 percent of whom are suffering from an H addiction.
The InSight Crime think tank says H arrived in Guayaquil in 2011, pushed by Colombian cartels hoping to develop the heroin market.
But the H powder contains less than three percent heroin, according to forensic psychologist and retired police officer Segundo Romero.
“As there is so little pure drug, the addict needs to consume more and buy more,” said the forensic psychologist.
He told a story about meeting addicts in prison whose faces were covered in dust.
“As they no longer had any drugs, they had scratched the walls and put white paint in their nostrils,” he said.
With just one gram of heroin, a dealer can make 40 grams of H, with the mix of ingredients provoking psychotic symptoms and hallucinations.
In Cerro las Cabras, the drug supermarket in Duran, a town opposite Guayaquil along the Guayas river, H sales bring in $1 million a month, according to official estimates.
International
Putin calls U.S.-Russia summit a “mistake” without guaranteed results
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Wednesday that holding a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump would be a “mistake” without certainty of concrete results, following the cancellation of the planned meeting in Budapest.
“Without a doubt, such a meeting must be well-prepared. For me and the U.S. president, it would be a mistake to treat it lightly and come out of that meeting without the expected outcome,” Putin told local media from the Kremlin.
The Russian leader said the initiative for the summit came from the U.S. side and that he had accepted the proposal. “In our last phone conversation, both the meeting and its location were proposed by the U.S. side. I agreed,” he said.
Putin added that Moscow continues to support dialogue, even in the current context. However, he admitted uncertainty about whether a meeting with Trump could take place later. “Now I see that, in his statement, the U.S. president has decided to cancel or postpone the meeting. Most likely, it is a postponement, since dialogue is always better than confrontation, disputes, or especially war,” he emphasized.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reaffirmed that Moscow does not consider a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine that does not meet its original demands. “We see no alternative other than achieving the objectives of the special military operation,” Zakharova stated.
Among the conditions Russia has set for resuming dialogue with Washington and other international actors are: ensuring Ukraine’s neutral and non-aligned status, its demilitarization, the removal of elements considered “Nazis,” full respect for the rights of Russian-speaking populations, and unrestricted operation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
International
Colombia ready to replace suspended U.S. support, President Petro asserts
Colombian President Gustavo Petro downplayed on Thursday the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend all economic aid to the country, asserting that the measure “changes nothing” structurally, although he acknowledged potential effects on military resources.
“What happens if they take away our aid? In my opinion, nothing (…) I have never seen a single dollar of aid in Colombia’s budget,” Petro said during a press conference at the Casa de Nariño, a day after Trump publicly announced the suspension of all payments and subsidies to Colombia.
The Colombian leader explained that U.S. funds are not allocated directly to the government but rather to organizations linked to the now-defunct USAID. “U.S. aid is not for the government; it is for the NGOs managed by USAID, that is, for themselves,” he argued.
Petro also questioned the effectiveness of this cooperation, stating that Washington’s decades-long anti-drug strategy has failed by focusing on forced eradication of illicit crops, which, according to him, has perpetuated violence in Colombia. “They have condemned us to violence,” he asserted.
Although he acknowledged that the suspension could create difficulties in the military sector—such as the withdrawal of combat helicopters and limitations in arms supply—he assured that his government is prepared to replace that support with the national budget. “Colombia buys its own weapons,” he emphasized.
International
Cristina Fernández calls Argentina’s legislative elections “decisive” to stop Milei
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández (2007–2015) described this Thursday as “decisive” the legislative elections taking place this Sunday in Argentina, urging voters to support Peronism as a way to put a “brake” on Javier Milei’s government.
“The brake on Milei starts this Sunday, but the work continues the next day to think about how to get Argentina out of the disaster this government will leave. This October 26 is Milei and permanent austerity, or Argentina, our common home,” Fernández said in a recorded message from her Buenos Aires residence, where she is serving a six-year prison sentence for irregularities in the awarding of road construction contracts during her presidency.
Fernández emphasized that the elections are not only about choosing deputies and senators but also represent “a great democratic opportunity” to “set limits on Milei’s mismanagement.”
“The libertarian experiment has failed, and everyone knows it. People cannot make ends meet, they have to go into debt to pay for electricity, buy food, or medicine,” she added.
The former president also criticized the government for changing the voting system “without proper training, putting transparency at risk,” referring to the introduction of the Single Paper Ballot, which lists all candidates, offices, and political parties on a single sheet.
Putin calls U.S.-Russia summit a “mistake” without guaranteed results
Colombia ready to replace suspended U.S. support, President Petro asserts
Cristina Fernández calls Argentina’s legislative elections “decisive” to stop Milei
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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