International
Bolivia rejects U.S. criticism of its anti-drug efforts
September 18 |
The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, and the current Minister of Government of that nation, Eduardo Del Castillo, among others, rejected in recent hours a report prepared by the Government of the United States (US), through which disapproves the anti-drug policy of the Latin American nation.
In statements to a local radio station on Sunday, Morales described the report as “political, contradictory and double standards”. He pointed out that the U.S. “is the country that has one of the highest rates of drug consumption and overdose deaths in the world”.
He called attention to the fact that Washington has always decertified peoples like Bolivia and Venezuela because they are free and dignified, and do not submit to its impositions, he said.
For his part, Del Castillo denounced the day before through his social networks that the report was prepared unilaterally, lacks technical support and has clear geopolitical intentions.
He questioned that the White House report is contrary to international treaties on territorial integrity, sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of other States.
He affirmed that La Paz only recognizes the International Narcotics Control Board of the United Nations as a qualified international authority to issue an opinion on the subject.
In this regard, he urged Washington not to assume powers that do not correspond to it and to address the “excessive consumption of illicit drugs” among its population, “which causes an uncontrolled increase in international demand for drugs,” he said.
He stressed that Bolivia’s actions in this area have led to a record number of drug seizures, as well as the destruction of clandestine airstrips and illegal laboratories used to process these substances.
He recalled that La Paz is part of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs and that its work has been recognized by the European Union and other Latin American countries.
Jaime Mamani, Vice-Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, joined the Bolivian Government’s questioning and declared to local media that the document issued by the U.S. is “unilateral, biased and political”. He added that it has no value for Bolivia.
On Friday, President Joe Biden sent to Congress the U.S. Government’s Decertification Memorandum, which disapproves for the sixteenth consecutive time the Andean country’s and Venezuela’s fight in this area.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
International
Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?
This week, you may have noticed that everything—from historical photos and classic movie scenes to internet memes and recent political moments—has been reimagined on social media as Studio Ghibli-style portraits. The trend quickly went viral thanks to ChatGPT and the latest update of OpenAI’s chatbot, released on Tuesday, March 25.
The newest addition to GPT-4o has allowed users to replicate the distinctive artistic style of the legendary Japanese filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away). “Today is a great day on the internet,” one user declared while sharing popular memes in Ghibli format.
While the trend has captivated users worldwide, it has also highlighted ethical concerns about AI tools trained on copyrighted creative works—and what this means for the livelihoods of human artists.
Not that this concerns OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which has actively encouraged the “Ghiblification”experiments. Its CEO, Sam Altman, even changed his profile picture on the social media platform X to a Ghibli-style portrait.
Miyazaki, now 84 years old, is known for his hand-drawn animation approach and whimsical storytelling. He has long expressed skepticism about AI’s role in animation. His past remarks on AI-generated animation have resurfaced and gone viral again, particularly when he once said he was “utterly disgusted” by an AI demonstration.
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