International
Ecuador’s president seeks cabinet change amid rise in gang violence

AFP
Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso on Thursday demanded the resignation of his cabinet almost a year into a term that has been marked by a crisis of bloody prison violence.
The right-wing president intended to renew his team and make new appointments specifically in the portfolios of energy and mines, agriculture, and human rights, the communications secretariat said.
On Tuesday, he changed his defense chief.
“The national government, in its first year of office, is carrying out an evaluation of its entire cabinet and making the changes it considers relevant,” the secretariat announced on Twitter.
As a result, Lasso has “requested the resignation of ministers,” it added, in an effort to “guarantee the welfare of each citizen.”
Lasso’s government has declared a war on drug trafficking blamed for an explosion of violence in the streets and in prisons.
Some 350 prisoners have been killed since February last year in Latin America’s worst jail massacres.
Criticized for not sufficiently addressing the issue, Lasso has released additional funding for prisons and said extra guards would be hired.
He also created a commission to study the issue in December and its first report was damning.
Despicable conditions had turned prisons into “human warehouses and centers of torture,” the committee said.
Last week, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo said the country was in the grips of a “crisis of insecurity” linked to crime, which has claimed nearly 1,200 lives so far this year.
Situated between Colombia and Peru — the two largest producers of cocaine in the world — Ecuador seized a record 210 tons of drugs in 2021.
In the first quarter of 2022, seizures exceeded 75 tons, according to the government.
International
Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.
The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.
The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).
“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.
Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”
International
Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.
Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.
A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”
According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.
International
Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.
Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.
“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.
“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.
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