International

Peru militarizes its borders in response to the arrival of migrants

Photo: Mega

April 27 |

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte decreed on Wednesday a state of emergency on its borders and ordered the deployment of the military to reinforce controls in the face of the arrival of hundreds of migrants, mostly from Chile.

The troops will support surveillance at border crossings with Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia.

In principle, the state of emergency will be in force as of Thursday. However, the executive has not specified its duration nor whether rights will be restricted at the border crossings.

Relying on press reports stating that “those who commit daily assaults, robberies and other criminal acts are foreigners”, Boluarte claimed that his decision is aimed at combating insecurity.

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“That is why we have to speak almost in unison of migration and citizen insecurity”, he said.

In this sense, his Minister of Defense, Jorge Chavez, said that the state of emergency has the “purpose” of avoiding “the irregular and illegal entry” of people.

Under the desert sun and cold, hundreds of migrants who left Chile have been crowded for weeks at the border crossing between the Peruvian city of Tacna and the Chilean city of Arica, where the Peruvian authorities are preventing them from passing for lack of a stamped passport and valid visa.

Women, men and children are trapped between Chilean and Peruvian police officers guarding the border crossing, 1,500 km south of Lima.

The Peruvian government cut them off and sent 200 troops to reinforce migration controls, which had already been tightened by Chile.

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According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the majority are Haitians and Venezuelans. The migrants claim that they only intend to cross Peruvian territory to their countries of origin or to the United States, in order to reunite with their families.

“We are between a rock and a hard place, we are doing this because we have our needs, but waiting here for a week, two weeks (…) nobody would want to do that”, said Venezuelan Yosier Canelón to AFP.

UNHCR issued a statement on Wednesday night where it advocated for a humanitarian solution to the situation of migrants on the border with Chile because while “it is the legitimate duty of States to control their borders; it is also important to have regular channels for people in need of international protection, family reunification and other humanitarian issues to access the territory through checkpoints”.

The UN agency welcomed some of the measures announced by Lima, including an “amnesty of fines that will allow 100,000 refugees and migrants in the country to regularize and update their data.”

“Regularization is a lifesaver: regular status is a door to local integration”, he added.

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Between Tacna and Arica there has been a daily average of 150 to 200 people.

“They are changing flows, there has been a peak of about 400 people, of different nationalities,” Federico Agusti, UNHCR’s representative in Peru, told AFP on Friday.

Migrants rejected by Peru have improvised camps at an intermediate point, in a sort of geographical limbo between the two countries, and others have returned to Arica.

With the measures announced by Lima “it is going to be more difficult for people to pass (to Peru), and we are going to have a situation of encampment at the border, which is what we have been warning about”, assured Gerardo Espíndola, mayor of Arica, to Biobío radio.

In addition to the state of emergency, Boluarte also announced that those who have entered Peru irregularly in recent years “will have a period of six months to go to the Peruvian authorities to regularize their situation”.

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It is estimated that the Venezuelan population in Peru, which represents almost 9 out of 10 foreigners, is close to 1.3 million people, of which one third do not have a migratory permit to stay in the country, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INEI).

Central America

U.S. extradites Iranian man over alleged sanctions evasion scheme

The United States has extradited from Panama an Iranian national accused of evading economic sanctions against Iran by illegally exporting U.S. technology. He is scheduled to appear this Monday before a court in Seattle.

Reza Dindar, 44, was extradited on April 17 after being detained in Panama since July 2025 on charges related to export control violations between 2011 and 2012, allegedly carried out through companies based in China.

The defendant appeared before a U.S. district court in Seattle, where he faces charges of violating sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran in 1995 during the administration of Bill Clinton. These sanctions prohibit the unauthorized export, re-export, or supply—directly or indirectly—of U.S. goods, technology, or services to Iran or its government.

According to the indictment, between 2010 and 2014, Dindar led the company New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, which allegedly concealed the procurement of U.S. products for shipment to clients in Iran.

International

Elon Musk skips French court appearance over X investigation

Billionaire Elon Musk did not appear this Monday before French authorities, who had summoned him for a voluntary statement as part of an investigation into his social media platform X, prosecutors told AFP.

The platform has been under investigation since early 2025 following complaints from lawmakers alleging bias in its algorithms, which may have altered its functioning and interfered in politics in France.

The probe has since expanded to include other alleged offenses, such as complicity in the distribution of child sexual abuse material, as well as the role of Grok in spreading denialist content and sexually explicit fake images.

In early February, investigators raided X’s offices in Paris. The company has denied any wrongdoing, describing the searches as “political” and “abusive.”

At that time, the Paris prosecutor’s office summoned Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino to provide voluntary testimony as those responsible for the platform during the period under investigation.

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Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau also stated that X employees were called to testify as witnesses between April 20 and April 24.

International

Four injured in shooting at Teotihuacán archaeological site in Mexico

Four more people were injured by gunfire during the ആക്രമ attack at Teotihuacán, one of the most emblematic archaeological complexes in Mexico, authorities confirmed.

The Secretary of Security of the State of Mexico, Cristóbal Castañeda, reported that the victims include two Colombian nationals, one Russian, and one Canadian. Additionally, two other individuals were injured due to falls, according to a statement from local authorities.

President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed concern over the incident, stating on social media that “what happened today in Teotihuacán deeply pains us.”

Federal authorities recovered a firearm, a knife, and ammunition at the scene, which remains under the protection of state police and the Guardia Nacional, according to the federal Security Cabinet.

Located about 50 kilometers from Mexico City, Teotihuacán is a major tourist destination frequently visited by both domestic and international travelers.