International
Chilean mother travels 1,300 kilometers on foot to try to save her son with dystrophy
In the city of Ancud, one of the most important of the Chiloe archipelago, in the south of Chile, there is no hospital, so if one of its about 165,000 inhabitants gets sick, he must take the ferry and travel about 50 kilometers to reach the neighboring city of Puerto Montt, the nearest place.
Camila Gómez, a young mother, decided to take a trip but this time to walk to the Palacio de la Moneda, in Santiago de Chile, more than 1,300 kilometers from her home, to raise funds and make visible the drama of her son Tomás, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, one of the so-called “rare diseases”, which almost no one worries and no one finances.
Its main objective is to help collect the nearly four million dollars that costs a vital treatment that does not exist in Chile – it must be imported from the United States – and that would help stop the progression of the child’s ailment, barely five years old.
“Tomás has Duchenne muscular dystrophy in a neuromuscular degenerative disease that gradually weakens the muscles, the respiratory system and the heart, which leads to premature death,” he explains in one of the highs of his journey.
“In Chile there is no type of treatment for this disease, but in the United States there are several treatment options, there are three and here they told me that it was not possible to cover a medicine that is abroad. And it motivated me to do this walk, this physical effort,” he adds.
Gómez regrets that no one, neither the precarious public service nor the greedy private insurance, has offered him an exit in the country, although his son “does have options abroad.
“That’s why we decided to walk, to make the disease visible and take it very particularly to collect the 3.9 million dollars that the drug that is administered for the only time in a lifetime costs. So far (its administration) is approved until the age of four and five. Tomás is five and a half years old. So we are against time,” she urges in anguish.
Even so, hope has not been erased from his face and sometimes, especially when asked about solidarity, he outlines a smile of love and trust.
“We are all aware of the great health deficit, that Chile is a country very backward in health, unlike other more developed countries and we are all aware of that. So people have empathized, supported and contributed to the campaign,” he says.
Along with this mother, who left Ancud on April 28, her husband and father of Tomás, Alex Ross, a friend Álvaro Neira and Marco Reyes, president of the Duchenne Families corporation in Chile, who has two teenage children with the same disease and who proposed the Ross Gómez family to the odyssey.
“I am the logistical support for Camila and Marco who have been walking from Chiloé. I assist them on the way, usually with a change of clothes, food, food, I manage the lodging,” explains Alex.
“(Camila) Walk through Tomás, because we are against time, but he also does it so that no mom has to do it,” he says.
Camila’s third objective is to be able to speak in person with the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, to urge him to promote a bill to Congress that allows improving the coverage of rare diseases in the country, and medical assistance in rural areas, abandoned by the state in a country where the privatization of health care prevails.
Neira joined the walk because he was moved by Tomás’ suffering but also because he is worried that “in Chile we do not have the means, a clinic where we can have these medicines, that we have to go to this.”
Tomás was diagnosed in March 2023 with Duchenne’s syndrome, the most common but also most severe form of this type of muscular dystrophy that is triggered by a defective gene that affects dystrophin, a protein that helps keep the body’s cells intact.
It causes problems when walking and running, fatigue, learning difficulties and heart and respiratory deficiencies, and those who suffer from it usually have a life expectancy of between 20 or 30 years in difficult conditions.
With more than 700 kilometers of love in her terrified legs, this mother hopes to arrive in the Chilean capital at the end of this month of May from Chiloe, where there is a movement so that the spending on a bridge that they believe is unnecessary, is dedicated to the construction of a perentory hospital
International
Petro accuses top guerrilla leader of bribing officers to evade military strikes
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said Saturday that the country’s most wanted guerrilla leader is bribing members of the security forces to obtain advance information and evade military operations.
According to the government, Iván Mordisco, a dissident leader of the now-defunct FARC, is currently on the run in the जंगल following an الجيش bombardment last week that killed six of his closest collaborators in the department of Vaupés.
Authorities believe the guerrilla commander had been at the site shortly before the operation. “He buys off the commanders who are supposed to capture him; that’s how he escapes the bombings, but leaves his own people to die. He is warned before every strike,” Petro wrote on social media platform X.
The six individuals killed in the strike were part of Mordisco’s security ring, according to Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Local media reported that one of those killed was a woman known as “alias Lorena,” who was allegedly Mordisco’s partner and the mother of his child.
After failed attempts to negotiate peace, Petro’s administration has shifted to a more aggressive military strategy against the guerrilla leader. In recent months, three of Mordisco’s brothers have been captured and now face charges including homicide, kidnapping, and arms trafficking.
Central America
Costa Rica urges China to halt actions against Panama-flagged vessels
The government of Costa Rica on Saturday called on China to halt retaliatory actions against vessels flying the Panamaflag, amid escalating tensions over control of two strategic ports linked to the Panama Canal.
In a statement shared on social media, Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry warned that the situation “puts global trade at risk” and expressed its “deep concern and strongest condemnation” over what it described as “arbitrary and unjustified delays and inspections in Chinese ports.”
The Costa Rican government urged “full respect for international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” while reaffirming its “unconditional support and solidarity” with Panama.
San José’s position aligns with growing international criticism from countries including Honduras, Peru, Paraguay, Israeland Ukraine.
Paraguayan authorities described the detentions as “unacceptable” and pointed to what they called “undue pressure” on the Panamanian government.
International
Mexico leads global cases of enforced disappearances, UN report finds
Mexico accounts for the highest number of urgent actions related to enforced disappearances worldwide, according to the latest report by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
The report, released by I(dh)eas, indicates that Mexico has accumulated 819 cases between 2012 and February 2026, representing 38% of the global total.
In the past five months alone, 40 new urgent requests have been recorded — more than one-third of all such actions worldwide during that period.
The report warns that this trend reflects a structural problem, as the urgent action mechanism — originally intended as an exceptional measure — has become routine in Mexico.
Although the Mexican state formally complies with response deadlines, the Committee identified significant shortcomings in the implementation of these measures. These include the lack of comprehensive search plans, delays in key investigative procedures such as video surveillance and phone data analysis, and insufficient inquiries into possible links involving state agents.
The report also highlights inadequate protection for relatives and individuals involved in search efforts, including cases of reprisals.
Among the most serious incidents documented is the disappearance of a father who had denounced alleged involvement of authorities in his son’s case in the state of Guanajuato.
The accumulation of cases could lead to the application of Article 34 of the Convention, which would allow for the launch of an international investigation into systematic enforced disappearances.
Geographically, the state of Chiapas accounts for 30% of the new urgent actions, many of them linked to collective disappearances of migrants.
Petro accuses top guerrilla leader of bribing officers to evade military strikes
Costa Rica urges China to halt actions against Panama-flagged vessels
Mexico leads global cases of enforced disappearances, UN report finds
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Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
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