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).

International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.