Connect with us

International

Five dead in attack on Colombia-Ecuador border

| By AFP |

Gunmen killed five people in southern Colombia on the border with Ecuador, authorities said on Wednesday.

Attackers on motorbikes opened fire indiscriminately at a group of eight people on Tuesday night, said Putumayo department police chief colonel Jorge Salinas.

Five people died at the scene and the other three, including two women, were injured, Salinas told a local radio station.

The area of the attack was known to be frequented by drug addicts.

Advertisement
20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL
previous arrow
next arrow

Police suspect a faction of dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels called the Border Commandos to be behind the attack.

Marxist FARC guerrillas signed a peace treaty with the government in December 2016 to end a half centry of conflict with the state and create a communist political party.

But some dissidents refused to lay down their arms and continue to carry out attacks on the armed forces and civilians, while mostly funding their campaign through drug trafficking.

The Border Commandos were involved in a clash with another group of FARC dissidents in Putumayo a month ago, in which at least 20 suspected fighters died.

Armed groups throughout the country are fighting over territory and the lucrative drug trafficking trade.

Advertisement
20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL
previous arrow
next arrow

Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, much of which is shipped out of Ecuador to the United States — the number one market — and Europe.

Following the murders, Colombia President Gustavo Petro and his Ecuadoran counterpart Guillermo Lasso proposed joint operations along the shared 586-kilometer (364-mile) long border in a Twitter exchange.

Petro said these operations would target the “mafias that use the border as a drug trafficking route.”

Lasso replied that he could “count on our active support.”

Petro, who is Colombia’s first leftist president, has vowed to negotiate with armed groups and drug traffickers in a bid to achieve a “total peace” in a country that has now suffered almost six decades of conflict.

Advertisement
20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL
previous arrow
next arrow

Initial talks with these groups, including the rebel National Liberation Army, or ELN, have not so far resulted in a reduction in violence.

On Wednesday the ELN announced it was launching an “armed strike” in a poor region of northeastern Colombia beginning Thursday evening.

The rise in tensions comes at a poor time for Petro’s government, which had announced early this week it had successfully concluded a first round of negotiations with the guerrillas — although no formal ceasefire was reached.

Colombian officials say the ELN currently has some 2,500 members and is mainly present in the Pacific region and along the 2,200-kilometre border with Venezuela.

According to the Indepaz NGO, there have been 93 massacres this year in Colombia, leaving scores of victims.

Advertisement
20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL
previous arrow
next arrow
Continue Reading
Advertisement
20250301_vacunacion_vph-300x250
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_300x250
20231124_etesal_300x250_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_300X250
MARN1

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.”

Advertisement

20250301_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL

previous arrow
next arrow

Continue Reading

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.

Continue Reading

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.

Continue Reading

Trending

Central News