International
The battle of the tribes of California for Biden to protect their ancestral lands
A coalition of Native American tribes from California is fighting an intense struggle for the president of the United States, Joe Biden, to protect their ancestral lands, a vast territory of 400,000 hectares that treasures not only rare species of flora and fauna, but also the legacy of peoples who have lived for centuries with that sacred nature.
This contest has been ongoing for years but it becomes more urgent in the face of the proximity of the November elections, in which Biden will again face the Republican Donald Trump, who during his term (2017-2021) approved oil projects that harmed the Native Americans.
The lands they are fighting for are “irreplaceable,” Thomas Tortez, president of the Torres Martínez desert indigenous people and who has asked Biden to declare about 267,000 hectares as a national monument in the Chuckwalla Valley, in Southern California, explained to EFE and expand the Joshua Tree National Park.
“When someone goes to a sanctuary and it catches fire or is knocked down, they can erect another temple in another place. But when the site that embodies our culture is intrinsically linked to a place and a specific land like the one we have here, there is no human way to replace it,” Tortez says vehemently.
Therefore, he urges Biden to protect the lands of his tribe using the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president the ability to create national monuments on federal land without having to go through Congress.
The lands that Tortez defends are, in large part, desert. It might seem that they are sterile, devoid of life, but for Native Americans, this area contains a rich history, with plants that can be used for medicinal, food or spiritual purposes, and animals that have coexisted with the community for centuries.
Even the hills, with their tones ranging from magenta to lighter shades of red, are interpreted by Native Americans as a reminder of the stories of creation and the presence of divinity, says Tortez.
In addition to protecting these lands, the tribal coalition seeks Biden to expand and designate four other national monuments in California.
Among them, the effort of the tribes of the Tataviam Fernandeño and Gabrieleno missions to expand the national monument of the San Gabriel mountains, near Los Angeles, on about 44,100 hectares, stands out.
Within this territory are the remains of three indigenous peoples prior to the Spanish colonization and that are of great importance for the tribes, whose families go there to teach their origins to the new generations, the president of the Tataviam Fernandeño missions, Rudy Ortega Jr., explained to EFE.
Ortega Jr., whose father was also the leader of the tribe for five decades, believes that this effort to expand the national monument of the San Gabriel mountains is part of the struggle that his tribe has fought for centuries to protect its territory.
In its beginnings, its land covered more than 600,000 hectares, from the Antelope Valley to the Pacific Ocean. However, by 1900, it was reduced to zero, and since then they have had to fight to recover their lands.
Another objective of the coalition is to achieve the designation as a national monument of almost 81,000 hectares in the mountainous area of Lake Medicine, which would make it possible to safeguard the heritage of peoples with a long history in that area of northern California, such as the Pit River tribe.
The Quechan tribe of Fort Yuma also longs for the Kw’tsán mountains to be established as a national monument, and finally, the yocha dehe wintun nation wants the Berryessa Snow Mountain national monument to be expanded and Molok Luyuk to be permanently protected, which translates as “condor crest.”
These lands embody the soul of the tribes. As Anthony Roberts, leader of the yocha dehe wintun nation, told EFE, ensuring the protection of those territories is part of the “sacred responsibility” that those peoples have with nature, from which all forms of life emanate.
International
Five laboratories investigated in Spain over possible African Swine Fever leak
Catalan authorities announced this Saturday that a total of five laboratories are under investigation over a possible leak of the African swine fever virus, which is currently affecting Spain and has put Europe’s largest pork producer on alert.
“We have commissioned an audit of all facilities, of all centers within the 20-kilometer risk zone that are working with the African swine fever virus,” said Salvador Illa, president of the Catalonia regional government, during a press conference. Catalonia is the only Spanish region affected so far. “There are only a few centers, no more than five,” Illa added, one day after the first laboratory was announced as a potential source of the outbreak.
Illa also reported that the 80,000 pigs located on the 55 farms within the risk zone are healthy and “can be made available for human consumption following the established protocols.” Therefore, he said, “they may be safely marketed on the Spanish market.”
International
María Corina Machado says Venezuela’s political transition “must take place”
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said this Thursday, during a virtual appearance at an event hosted by the Venezuelan-American Association of the U.S. (VAAUS) in New York, that Venezuela’s political transition “must take place” and that the opposition is now “more organized than ever.”
Machado, who is set to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10 in Oslo, Norway — although it is not yet known whether she will attend — stressed that the opposition is currently focused on defining “what comes next” to ensure that the transition is “orderly and effective.”
“We have legitimate leadership and a clear mandate from the people,” she said, adding that the international community supports this position.
Her remarks come amid a hardening of U.S. policy toward the government of Nicolás Maduro, with new economic sanctions and what has been described as the “full closure” of airspace over and around Venezuela — a measure aimed at airlines, pilots, and alleged traffickers — increasing pressure on Caracas and further complicating both air mobility and international commercial operations.
During her speech, Machado highlighted the resilience of the Venezuelan people, who “have suffered, but refuse to surrender,” and said the opposition is facing repression with “dignity and moral strength,” including “exiles and political prisoners who have been separated from their families and have given everything for the democratic cause.”
She also thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for recognizing that Venezuela’s transition is “a priority” and for his role as a “key figure in international pressure against the Maduro regime.”
“Is change coming? Absolutely yes,” Machado said, before concluding that “Venezuela will be free.”
International
Catalonia’s president calls for greater ambition in defending democracy
The President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, on Thursday called for being “more ambitious” in defending democracy, which he warned is being threatened “from within” by inequality, extremism, and hate speech driven by what he described as a “politics of intimidation,” on the final day of his visit to Mexico.
“The greatest threat to democracies is born within themselves. It is inequality and the winds of extremism. Both need each other and feed off one another,” Illa said during a speech at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City.
In his address, Illa stated that in the face of extremism, society can adopt “two attitudes: hope or fear,” and warned that hate-driven rhetoric seeks to weaken citizens’ resolve. “We must be aware that hate speech, the politics of intimidation, and threats in the form of tariffs, the persecution of migrants, drones flying over Europe, or even war like the invasion of Ukraine, or walls at the border, all pursue the same goal: to make citizens give up and renounce who they want to be,” he added.
Despite these challenges, he urged people “not to lose hope,” emphasizing that there is a “better alternative,” which he summarized as “dialogue, institutional cooperation, peace, and human values.”
“I sincerely believe that we must be more ambitious in our defense of democracy, and that we must remember, demonstrate, and put into practice everything we are capable of doing. Never before has humanity accumulated so much knowledge, so much capacity, and so much power to shape the future,” Illa stressed.
For that reason, he called for a daily defense of the democratic system “at all levels and by each person according to their responsibility,” warning that democracy is currently facing an “existential threat.”
Honduras vote vount drags on as Asfura and Nasralla remain in technical tie
Five laboratories investigated in Spain over possible African Swine Fever leak
María Corina Machado says Venezuela’s political transition “must take place”
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
-
International2 days agoWMO predicts 55% chance of weakened La Niña impacting global weather this winter
-
International4 days agoVenezuela authorizes return flights as U.S. continues deportations amid rising tensions
-
Central America2 days agoJuan Orlando Hernández thanks Donald Trump after U.S. pardon
-
International4 days ago20,000 rounds stolen from german army after driver leaves cargo unattended
-
International3 days agoRussian authorities ban Roblox citing child safety and moral concerns
-
Internacionales3 days ago
Juan Orlando Hernández’s family takes time to decide next steps after surprise U.S. release
-
International4 days agoEl Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López pleads guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges
-
International4 days agoTrump convenes National Security Council as U.S.–Venezuela tensions intensify
-
International2 days agoSpain’s PSOE summons Mark Zuckerberg over alleged mass surveillance on Android users
-
International3 days agoClimate-driven rains trigger one of Indonesia’s deadliest flood emergencies in years
-
International2 days agoNew York Times sues Pentagon over new press restrictions, citing First Amendment violations
-
International1 day agoCatalonia’s president calls for greater ambition in defending democracy
-
International1 day agoMaría Corina Machado says Venezuela’s political transition “must take place”
-
Central America6 hours agoHonduras vote vount drags on as Asfura and Nasralla remain in technical tie
-
International6 hours agoFive laboratories investigated in Spain over possible African Swine Fever leak