International

Colombian government and ELN resume round of talks in Mexico

Photo: Mpdl

December 5 |

The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), began this Monday the fifth round of peace talks in Mexico, a country that has hosted the negotiation processes between the participating delegations.

In a message from the Mexican Foreign Ministry, Mexico reiterates its permanent commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the promotion of peace and security in Latin America, as well as its firm and unequivocal support to the peace process between the Government of Colombia and the ELN.

Likewise, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged that this new round of dialogues and negotiations contribute to open ways to reach a definitive and lasting solution to the conflict.

For its part, the ELN from its Twitter account stated that “our delegation is back in Mexico to start the V Cycle of talks of the Dialogue Table. Here we sign the Mexico Agreement, which contains a different model of Peace negotiation, which is distinguished because it demands changes and transformations for Peace”.

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In the joint declarations issued by both negotiating countries, it is stated that they will continue to count on the accompaniment of the host country and the Governments of Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Norway and Venezuela; of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Colombia and of the Colombian Episcopal Conference.

According to the Head of Delegation of the National Liberation Army ELN, Peace Dialogues, Pablo Beltrán, and published by Colombia Informa, “to date no public statement has been made by the national government, the ELN, friendly countries or the monitoring mechanism on the allegations made by the communities on the collusion of paramilitaries with the security forces”.

These statements have taken place after what happened with Luis Manuel Díaz, “who was kidnapped and later released by that insurgent group”, while “the issue of how to resolve the ELN’s support returned to the center of the debate”.

Likewise, Colombia Informa stated that the Government and ELN will resume the Fifth Cycle of Peace Talks in Mexico in the midst of tensions, “where the issue of kidnapping and ELN financing will be mandatory topics, however, little is known about what priority will be given to the complaints against the Colombian army for collusion with paramilitary groups, as denounced by the communities”.

The platform, which permanently addresses these issues within its informative agenda, emphasized that “it is also unclear when there will be results from the Colombian State to resolve the humanitarian crisis that is being experienced in the regions”.

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According to Indepaz, a few days before the end of 2023, more than 150 social leaders, 39 peace signatories and 90 massacres have been assassinated in Colombia.

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”

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

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.