International
Haiti hospitals and telecoms hit by fuel shortage as gangs tighten grip
AFP
Hospitals and telecommunication services in Haiti have warned that services could be halted due to fuel shortages caused by the growing grip of criminal gangs on the capital Port-au-Prince.
Lives are “likely to be lost” if fuel deliveries do not reach hospitals immediately, warned the acting UN humanitarian coordinator in the country, Pierre Honnorat, in a statement released Sunday.
An association of private hospitals in Haiti, which provides more than 70 percent of emergency and hospital care to the population, said it was issuing “a cry of alarm to the government.”
“With this fuel shortage, the continuation of vital services of 40 hospitals to entire sections of the population is threatened. The poorest people may pay dearly,” said the association on Sunday.
The same concern was expressed by international NGO Medecins sans Frontieres, which has been present in Haiti for 30 years.
“If the situation continues, the trauma/burns hospital in Tabarre in Port-au-Prince, which receives an average of 155 patients per month, may have to reduce its activities and restrict its admission criteria in the coming days,” MSF said.
The gangs that control a large part of Port-au-Prince have been blocking roads leading to the oil terminals, preventing regular supply of gas stations for several months.
The situation is already causing the shutdown of mobile telecommunications services, whose antennas are powered by generators.
“More than 300 sites out of 1,500 of Digicel are affected by the fuel shortage,” said Jean-Philippe Brun, director of operations of the telephone company, which controls 75 percent of the Haitian market.
Schools and businesses were closed Monday in the Haitian capital, and the streets, usually congested by traffic, were deserted following a call for a strike by the public transport unions to protest against growing insecurity.
Since the summer, armed gangs have increased the number of kidnappings across the country.
One of the country’s most powerful gangs is demanding $17 million in ransom to free a group of missionaries and their families — 16 US citizens and one Canadian — who were kidnapped on October 16 east of Port-au-Prince.
International
79-Year-Old ICE Detainee Faces Hearing as Family Warns His Health Is Rapidly Deteriorating
Paul John Bojerski, a 79-year-old man detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Florida, will face a hearing before an immigration judge on Tuesday as his family warns that his health has sharply deteriorated due to detention conditions.
Bojerski was arrested on October 30 during a mandatory ICE appointment in Orlando. Although he has lived in the United States for more than seven decades, he never obtained U.S. citizenship. Born in a refugee camp in Germany after World War II, he legally immigrated with his family in 1952 at the age of five and has lived since then in the city of Sanford.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, his record includes criminal convictions from the 1960s and 1970s, which led to a deportation order that authorities did not carry out at the time.
In July, ICE warned him that he had to leave the country voluntarily. He was instructed to return on October 30 with a travel plan, but was unable to do so because he has no passport and no country willing to receive him. As a result, he was arrested and transported for eight hours to the detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” located in the middle of the Everglades west of Miami.
Immigrant rights organizations have denounced “inhumane” conditions at that facility, which opened in July, reporting issues such as spoiled food, lack of medical care, limited access to drinking water, mosquito infestations, and difficulty contacting the outside world.
His family says Bojerski has lost mobility since being detained. He previously walked unassisted, but now uses a wheelchair, has been left without his usual treatment for chronic back problems, and reportedly fell to the floor of his cell without receiving help for hours.
He is currently being held at the Krome detention center in Miami, where a judge will determine on Tuesday whether he can be released on bond.
International
Trump: “I Don’t Rule Out Anything” When Asked About Troops for Venezuela
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he may speak at some point with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and did not rule out the possibility of sending American troops to the South American nation.
Trump’s remarks come amid heightened tensions over the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean aimed at combating drug trafficking. Venezuela views the operation as a step toward toppling Maduro, whom Washington accuses of leading a “terrorist” organization involved in narcotics trafficking.
“At some point, I will talk to him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Maduro “has not been good for the United States,” he added.
When asked whether he ruled out sending U.S. troops to Venezuela, Trump replied, “No, I don’t rule it out. I don’t rule out anything.”
“We have to take care of Venezuela,” he continued. “They have sent hundreds of thousands of people from their prisons into our country.”
International
Armed Civilians Block Roads in Michoacán Amid Operation Targeting Criminal Leader
Armed civilians blocked several highways in the western Mexican state of Michoacán on Monday in response to a security operation targeting a criminal leader, just a week after President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government reinforced the presence of federal forces in the region.
The federal deployment was increased following the early November shooting death of Carlos Manzo, mayor of the municipality of Uruapan. His killing sparked protests and widespread demands for justice.
Michoacán is home to major drug trafficking groups such as the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and La Nueva Familia Michoacana—both designated as “foreign terrorist organizations” by U.S. President Donald Trump in February.
“Following an operation to apprehend a priority target (a criminal leader), armed civilians set up roadblocks and burned vehicles at various highway points in La Piedad, Zamora, and Pátzcuaro,” the Michoacán Public Security Secretariat reported on X.
“Our Civil Guard is already clearing the roads; two suspected individuals were killed,” the agency added, without specifying the intended target of the operation.
Organized crime groups in Mexico frequently block roads to prevent the capture of their leaders or to hinder law enforcement activities.
The blockades also occurred just hours before a new state public security secretary took office. José Antonio Cruz—a former official of the local prosecutor’s office and former National Guard executive—assumed the position, replacing Juan Carlos Oseguera.
The killing of Mayor Manzo during a public Day of the Dead event on November 1 triggered protests throughout Michoacán. During demonstrations held Saturday in Mexico City, participants also demanded justice for the crime.
79-Year-Old ICE Detainee Faces Hearing as Family Warns His Health Is Rapidly Deteriorating
Trump: “I Don’t Rule Out Anything” When Asked About Troops for Venezuela
Armed Civilians Block Roads in Michoacán Amid Operation Targeting Criminal Leader
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