International
Ecuador drug violence: six police wounded in prison riot

| By AFP |
Six police were wounded Thursday in the latest prison riot to hit Ecuador, officials said, as the country is gripped by violence blamed on organized crime groups waging a deadly drug war.
The six were hurt while trying to put down an uprising at the infamous Guayas 1 prison in southwestern port city Guayaquil, police said on Twitter.
A source at the SNAI prison authority who asked not to be named told AFP that the police officers were confronted by inmates with guns and explosives.
Ecuador — once a relatively peaceful neighbor of major cocaine producers Colombia and Peru — has seen a wave of violent crime that authorities blame on turf battles between gangs with ties to Mexican cartels.
Civilians have increasingly been caught up in the bloodshed that has claimed more than 60 police lives since last year.
Hundreds of inmates have died in Ecuador’s overcrowded prisons since February last year — many beheaded or burned as the gang war is waged also behind bars — especially at Guayas 1.
Widespread corruption among guards allows inmates to lay their hands on guns and explosives, among other contraband.
Following attacks Tuesday in which five police officers and a civilian were killed, President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency and nightly curfews in the western provinces of Guayas, of which Guayaquil is the capital, and Esmeraldas.
Groups armed with weapons including car bombs hit more than 18 targets in the two provinces, including police and gas installations, a clinic — where a civilian was critically wounded — and a bus terminal.
Prisoners at a facility in Esmeraldas also took hostage eight guards on Tuesday to protest the inmate transfer, but later freed them. In the same city on Monday, two headless bodies were found hanging from a pedestrian bridge.
Tuesday’s attacks were said to be in response to a mass transfer of inmates from the Guayas 1 prison, which is largely in the control of gangs.
Clashes at the prison on Wednesday left two inmates dead and six wounded.
Ecuador has gone from being a drug transit route in recent years to an important distribution center in its own right.
The United States and Europe are the main destinations of drugs from Latin America.
The murder rate in Ecuador nearly doubled in 2021 to 14 per 100,000 inhabitants, and reached 18 per 100,000 between January and October this year, according to official data.
In 2021, law enforcement seized a record 210 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine. So far this year’s seizures total 160 tons.
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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