International

Rwanda begins the commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the 1994 genocide

Rwanda began this Sunday the hundred days of mourning established by the country to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the 1994 genocide in which more than 800,000 moderate Tutsis and Hutus were killed, a massacre that still shookes the world and Rwandan society.

To begin the commemoration, the country’s president, Paul Kagame, lit accompanied by the first lady, Jeannette, the traditional flame of remembrance at the Center in Memory of the Genocide in the capital, Kigali, where more than 250,000 victims of the massacre lie in mass graves.

In a solemn act with moments of silence only interrupted by the commemorative songs singed by a military band and by the protocol instructions, a dozen heads of state and government paid their respects to the white cement blocks where the graves of the victims are housed.

Among the leaders present were the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, and the presidents of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa; Central African Republic (RCA), Faustin-Archange Touadera; Madasgascar, Andry Rajoelina; South Sudan, Salva Kiir; Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso; Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan; and the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel.

Likewise, the head of state of Mauritania and current president of the African Union (AU), Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, and the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, attended on the same day that it is precisely six months since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, for which Tel Aviv faces accusations of genocide in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

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Several former presidents, including the American Bill Clinton or the French Nicolás Sarkozy, as well as the president of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, also traveled to Kigali to join the memory acts.

The commemoration program that starts today throughout the country includes the prohibition of large celebrations, such as weddings or sports competitions, and the organization of concerts and other cultural or leisure events not related to genocide in bars and public spaces.

In addition, within the framework of these events, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has issued new certificates to register four other monuments commemorating the genocide as world heritage sites, in Kigali, Bisesero (west), Nyamata (southeast) and Murambi (south).

“This means the international recognition that what happened in Rwanda is a tragedy, not only for Rwanda but also for the entire international community, all of humanity,” the director general of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, told the press on Friday.

The one hundred days of mourning marked by the Rwandan Government will conclude on April 13 with an act at the Center for the Memory of the Genocide of Rebero (Kigali), in memory of the politicians who were killed for opposing the massacre.

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The genocide began on April 7, 1994 after the murder the day before of the presidents of Rwanda, Juvénal Habyarimana, and Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira (both Hutus), when the plane in which they were traveling was shot down over Kigali.

The massacre that followed – the Rwandan Government accused the Tutsi rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) of the murder, against whom it had been waging a war since 1990 – caused the death of at least 800,000 moderate Tutsis and Hutus in just over three months.

The genocide was one of the worst ethnic killings in the recent history of humanity.

Paul Kagame warned this Sunday in his speech that the conditions for an ethnic killing can occur anywhere if they are not controlled.

“The process of division and extremism that leads to genocide can occur anywhere if it is not controlled,” the president said in a forceful intervention before about 3,500 people gathered at the imposing BK Arena stadium in Kigali.

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He defined any “ambiguity” about who were the victims of the genocide as “a form of denialism, which constitutes a crime.”

The president referred to the situation in the east of the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), whose Kigali Army he accuses of supporting the rebel group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), founded in 2000 by leaders and other Hutu Rwandans exiled in that country.

“The remains of those forces (perpetrators of the killing) are still in the east of the Congo today,” Kagame said, assuring that they have the “full support of the blue helmets of the United Nations” and that “their objectives have not changed.”

International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.