International
Refugees from the Sudan war rebuild their lives between fear and hope
Every afternoon, a group of women fleeing the conflict in Sudan gather in a tent in the transit center of Renk, a border town in the territory of South Sudan, to participate in a workshop on gender violence, where they share their testimony, receive the attention of professionals and begin to heal the wounds that the war left them in body and mind.
Some of the attendees are South Sudanese returnees; others, Sudanese refugees, and all try to overcome the fear, suffering and violence, in many sexual cases, that they lived during their escape from the war that broke out more than a year ago between the Army of Sudan and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (FAR).
They sit in a circle and listen in silence to one of the women who decides to explain her story. Some nod, a tear runs down the cheek of another who plays with the hem of her colorful dress, while a woman decides to add her experience.
The safety and well-being of their children was the first thing, despite being paralyzed by fear. Salma, a fictitious name, tells EFE that his three children were unable to sleep due to the fear of bombs and gunfire. Now they sleep a little better, but they are still restless.
“We fled our home in Khartoum (capital of Sudan) around midnight. No car. We walked in silence to another town and another and another,” Salma says about the nightmare of leaving his house behind and crossing the Joda border crossing to apply for refuge in South Sudan.
He doesn’t talk about her. She doesn’t feel prepared. She explains that she lost her husband along the way, without giving details, and is grateful because the little ones can go to a kind of nursery in the center, but regrets that the elderly cannot continue studying.
Dunia, also a pseudonym, feels lucky to have her husband, but shares her concern for minors. “I want my children to be able to go back to school. We want them to open a school here, we don’t want to go to the Mabán refugee camp,” he explains.
After spending half a month in the Renk transit center, the refugees are transferred to the Mabán camp, a nearby location, but neither Dunia nor other women want to: “The facilities are not good and they rape girls and women when they move away to the latrines or to look for firewood in the outskirts,” he says.
Sexual violence against women is a common weapon in all wars. It’s not easy to talk about this episode in their lives. None of them do it. Shame and social and community rejection weighs, and they do not want to reopen wounds that are still healing.
According to a report issued in February by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “at least 118 people were exposed to sexual violence, including rape, gang rape and attempted rape,” while Sudanese human rights organizations raise the figure to more than 370 in just over a year of war in the African country.
However, these figures are only the tip of the iceberg. The director of the government Department for the Fight against Violence against Women and Children, Salima Ishaq, told EFE that only 2% of the victims of sexual violence have dared to report it to the authorities, while the rest avoid it because of “social restrictions” or “for fear of reprisals.”
“The estimates indicate that the complaints we receive do not exceed 2% of the actual incidents of sexual violence, which means that the total number could reach 7,000 cases of sexual violence,” he added.
Sexual violence has another retaliation: unwanted pregnancies. The Sudanese authorities announced in mid-May that they had taken in a dozen babies abandoned by women raped by FAR fighters, although they did not disclose possible cases resulting from alleged rapes committed by members of the Army.
Yamila was robbed of everything during her escape. Some armed men took her husband and demanded a ransom. He doesn’t have money or know where he is, not even if he’s still alive. “I want him to come back. I’ve thought about killing myself because my children ask me about him and I don’t know what to answer, but I have to move on for them,” he says in tears.
“They are the future. I want you to study and go to university. They are sad because they don’t go to class. One wants to be a teacher, the other wants to be a doctor,” he adds. Despite everything, he appreciates the company of the other women because they give him strength.
It agrees with her Nouran, who recognizes the positive effect that this therapy group has among the participants: “We talk about our problems and look for solutions. Together we are stronger and we help and advise each other, we talk about the children…”
The session ends, but they all feel a little lighter and more lively. They think that when they say something out loud, they take a weight off their back. Tomorrow they will return and little by little they will reinforce this network of women with which they are rebuilding their lives with a shared desire: that the war ends to return to their home, Sudan.
International
Bayly Says Trump ‘Gets Along Better With Dictators’ and Criticizes U.S.–Venezuela Policy
Peruvian author and journalist Jaime Bayly said Tuesday in Madrid that U.S. President Donald Trump “gets along better with dictators than he does with democrats” and that his administration is experiencing “a honeymoon with the Venezuelan dictatorship,” according to a report on his remarks during the launch of his new novel Los golpistas (Galaxia Gutenberg).
Bayly made the comments while presenting the book, which reconstructs the turbulent three days in April 2002 when Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez briefly lost power. He also sharply criticized the current Venezuelan leadership, saying that Delcy Rodríguez should be recognized as a dictator and “a continuation of Maduro’s dictatorship.”
The writer lamented that the failed 2002 coup — which he described as carried out by “amateurs” — did not lead to free elections that might have restored democracy to Venezuela. He argued that, even now, U.S. policy under Trump seems more focused on securing access to Venezuelan oil than on supporting Venezuelans’ freedom. “Venezuela could have chosen a free, clean and legitimate government — which we still impatiently await despite Trump, who only seems interested in freeing Venezuelan oil, not Venezuelans,” Bayly said.
Bayly also claimed that “every day that passes, Trump seems more enchanted with Delcy,” suggesting that Washington might leave Venezuelan leaders in power so long as they cooperate on economic interests.
A U.S. citizen who has lived in Miami for decades, Bayly said he is proud never to have voted for Trump, whom he described as “servile with the powerful and cruel with the weak.” He also criticized U.S. immigration enforcement as abusive.
Regarding the book’s creative process, Bayly said he combined extensive documentation and interviews with historical events, weaving fictional dialogue and narrative into real episodes without altering core facts. Los golpistas explores why the April 2002 coup attempt against Chávez failed and how key figures such as Chávez and Cuban leader Fidel Castroshaped modern Venezuelan history.
International
Maduro and Cilia Flores Receive Consular Visit in U.S. Jail Ahead of March 26 Hearing
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is detained in the United States, and his wife, Cilia Flores, received a consular visit from a Venezuelan government official on January 30 while they remain in a New York jail awaiting their next court appearance, scheduled for March 26, 2026, according to a court filing.
The notification, submitted to the judge by prosecutors and the defense and now part of the digital case file, states that Maduro and Flores were visited by “an official representing the Republic of Venezuela to help facilitate any services the accused needed.”
The document also notes that U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered the U.S. prosecutor’s office at the couple’s first court appearance on January 5 to ensure they had access to consular services and to inform the court when such access was provided.
Their next hearing was postponed by the court from an original date of March 17 to March 26 at 11:00 a.m., after prosecutors, with the consent of the defense, requested extra time to gather evidence, allow the defense to review it, and determine which pretrial motions they will file, the filing says.
Maduro has denied wrongdoing, calling himself “innocent” of the narcotics charges authorities have brought in federal court.
International
Rubio Engages in Quiet Discussions With Castro Family as U.S. Pressures Havana
El secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, Marco Rubio, sostuvo conversaciones secretas con Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nieto y actual cuidador del expresidente cubano Raúl Castro, según reveló este miércoles el medio estadounidense Axios. Los contactos se producen en un contexto de fuerte presión de Washington sobre el Gobierno de La Habana.
De acuerdo con la publicación, los diálogos han evitado los canales oficiales del Ejecutivo cubano y reflejan que la administración del Presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, considera al exmandatario de 94 años como la figura que aún influye en las decisiones clave de la isla. Un alto funcionario citado por Axios matizó el carácter de los encuentros al afirmar: «Yo no las llamaría ‘negociaciones’, sino ‘discusiones’ sobre el futuro».
Rubio, de ascendencia cubana, y su equipo ven en Rodríguez Castro, de 41 años, y su entorno a una generación más joven y con mentalidad empresarial, que percibe agotado el modelo comunista tradicional y valora un eventual acercamiento con Estados Unidos. “Nuestra postura —la postura del gobierno estadounidense— es que el régimen tiene que irse”, declaró el funcionario a Axios, al tiempo que agregó que “pero cómo se verá eso exactamente depende del presidente Trump y aún no lo ha decidido. Rubio sigue en conversaciones con su nieto”.
Según fuentes citadas por el medio, asesores de Trump han mantenido contactos con otros actores influyentes en Cuba, pero consideran al nieto de Castro una figura clave por su cercanía con el exmandatario y sus vínculos con el conglomerado militar-empresarial GAESA. Una fuente describió los intercambios como “sorprendentemente” amistosos.
Las revelaciones surgen mientras el Presidente de Estados Unidos confirmó recientemente que su Gobierno mantiene conversaciones con altos funcionarios cubanos, aunque La Habana lo ha negado. “Estamos hablando con Cuba ahora mismo. (El secretario de Estado de EE.UU.) Marco Rubio está hablando con Cuba ahora mismo, y deberían totalmente llegar a un acuerdo, porque es… realmente, una amenaza humanitaria”, declaró el mandatario a bordo del avión presidencial.
El endurecimiento del bloqueo energético estadounidense ha profundizado la crisis en la isla, con apagones prolongados, reducción de servicios en hospitales y oficinas públicas, y limitaciones en el abastecimiento de productos, lo que añade presión a un eventual diálogo entre Washington y La Habana.
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