International
Oil cleanup crews replace bathers on Peru beaches
AFP
At Miramar Beach in Peru’s popular resort of Ancon, there are no bathers despite the summer heat. Instead, it teems with workers in coveralls cleaning up an oil spill.
Almost a million liters (264,000 gallons) of crude spilled into the sea on Saturday when a tanker was hit by waves while offloading at La Pampilla refinery in Ventanilla, 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Lima.
Its owner, Spanish oil company Repsol, attributed the accident to the swell caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga, thousands of miles away.
“Oil reaches the beach during high tide at night… and deposits the oil on the shore,” Martin Martinez of the NGO AMAAC Peru, supervising the cleanup, told AFP.
“We take advantage to remove it from the sea, that and the saturated sand,” he said.
The spill has dealt a blow to tourism in the popular resort, and to businesses who make most of their money in the summer season.
“There were many people until Sunday; the stain arrived on Monday, and since then, no one is swimming anymore,” said 48-year-old Richard Gutierrez, who has a food and soda stand on Miramar beach.
“We cannot sell anything, there are no vacationers, there is no one” apart from about 100 cleanup workers — soldiers, Repsol hired hands and volunteers — removing the polluted sand with spades to be taken to a toxic waste treatment facility.
– ‘Ecological disaster’ –
Peru’s government has declared the spill of some 6,000 barrels of oil an “ecological disaster” and has demanded compensation from Repsol.
The company denies responsibility, saying maritime authorities had issued no warning of freak waves after the Tonga eruption.
The task, which began Tuesday, is an arduous one.
The workers deposit the polluted sand onto blue tarps, which are dragged to a pile further inland, awaiting removal to another site.
Work begins at 8:00 am and finishes at 6:00 pm, with a 30-minute break for lunch.
No one knows how long it will take to clean up the affected stretch of coastline, but in Miramar, it is estimated it will last at least two weeks.
The environment ministry said 174 hectares — equivalent to 270 football fields — of coast were affected, and some 118 hectares at sea.
Marine currents have dispersed the oil all the way to the coast of Chancay district, more than 40 kilometers from where the spill occurred.
The health ministry has identified 21 affected beaches and warned bathers to stay away.
The spill has also affected hundreds of artisanal fishermen who operate on the central Peruvian coast.
They rely on catches of sole, lorna drum and Peruvian grunt — fish commonly used in the local delicacy ceviche, a marinated raw fish dish Peru is famous for.
Central America
Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras Loses Bid for Constitutional Court Seat
Guatemala’s attorney general, Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States over corruption allegations, lost a key vote on Monday in which a public university selected two of the 10 magistrates for the country’s highest constitutional court. However, she could still seek a seat through another nominating body.
The election of five full magistrates and five alternates to the Corte de Constitucionalidad (CC) is taking place gradually over more than two months and is considered crucial in the ongoing struggle for control of Guatemala’s judiciary, which critics say has long been influenced by a political and economic elite accused of corruption.
According to results announced at a press conference, the governing council of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) rejected Porras, who had applied as either a full or alternate magistrate, and instead chose two candidates aligned with the university rector. The vote was held at a hotel in Antigua, about 35 kilometers from the capital.
Despite the setback, Porras — whose term as attorney general ends on May 16 — could still be nominated to the Constitutional Court by the Corte Suprema de Justicia, which appoints two magistrates. The remaining six are selected by the president, the bar association and Congress.
“It’s always a possibility,” the 72-year-old lawyer said days earlier when asked by reporters whether she would seek nomination through another institution if she lost the USAC vote.
Porras has been sanctioned by Washington and the European Union for allegedly attempting two years ago to block the inauguration of President Bernardo Arévalo and for pursuing legal actions against anti-corruption prosecutors, judges, journalists and social leaders since taking office in 2018.
The USAC vote was controversial because most members of the university’s governing council are serving beyond the expiration of their terms. Students, academics and social activists staged protests against Porras’ candidacy.
International
Florida judge sets 2027 trial in Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against BBC
A federal judge in Florida has scheduled February 2027 for the trial in the lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump against the BBC, in which he is seeking $10 billion in damages for defamation.
Trump accuses the British broadcaster of airing a misleading edit of a speech he delivered on January 6, 2021, which, he says, made it appear that he explicitly urged his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
The president filed the suit in December in federal court in Florida, alleging defamation and violations of a law governing business practices when the program was broadcast ahead of the 2024 election.
Trump is seeking $5 billion in damages for each of the two claims.
Lawyers for the BBC unsuccessfully asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Trump had not suffered a “legally recognizable harm,” since the investigative program Panorama, which included the edited footage, aired outside the United States.
International
Head-of-state diplomacy key to guiding China–U.S. ties, Beijing says
Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China–United States relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday during a regular press briefing, when asked about high-level exchanges between the two sides.
Lin added that in a recent phone call, U.S. President Donald Trump once again expressed his intention to visit China in April, while Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated his invitation.
Both sides remain in communication regarding the matter, the spokesperson said.
Lin noted that the essence of China–U.S. economic and trade ties lies in mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
“Both parties should work together to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, injecting greater certainty and stability into China–U.S. economic and trade cooperation, as well as into the global economy,” he said.
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