International
Sunday of apparent tranquility in Haiti allows you to go to the market or to the church
Port-au-Prince seems to live a truce of the struggle between the armed gangs and the National Police that has allowed the population to carry out some daily activities, in the context of the state of emergency decreed for the West department, which houses the capital of Haiti.
EFE was able to verify the movement in certain streets of the capital, even more than other Sundays, with people taking advantage of this relative tranquility to shop and stock up on basic products. There are also those who go to the church and others simply seek to leave the city.
Since last Thursday, the recurring armed clashes and the siege of public institutions recorded in recent weeks have not been recorded, a calm that has been maintained after the announcement, on Friday night, that the Presidential Transitional Council of Haiti finally reached a political agreement that outlines the road map to follow to return the country to the path of stability.
That does not mean that the police forces do not continue their fight against the gangs, which in recent days has found their stage at sea, allowing the recovery of the freight transport ship Magalie, the National Police of Haiti (PHN) reported on Sunday.
The Magalie cargo aircraft carrier, which was kidnapped by armed bandits of the Izo and Jeff gangs shortly after leaving the port of Varreux last Thursday with a shipment of rice, was recovered on Saturday with the logistical support of the National Port Authority.
After more than five hours of maneuvers and intense fighting by the intervention units of the Haitian National Guard, the operation resulted in the neutralization of several bandits, although two policemen were injured in the operation.
Another success of the security forces was the seizure of weapons and ammunition carried out on Friday in the Port of Cape Haitiano, a shipment that, as reported this Sunday by the PHN, came from the United States specifically from the company Alliance Int’l Shipping, from Miami.
The arsenal was intended for Jean Wilmane, Customs Commissioner, against whom the PNH has issued a search warrant, as well as against an individual identified as Barthol, who was listed as the recipient of the shipment, both known for their alleged participation in the trafficking of weapons and ammunition, the institution of order said.
During the operation, 26 firearms were seized, including 12 rifles and 14 pistols; 999 cartridges and 34 magazines discovered in two cardboard boxes.
However, despite the apparent calm, no one is safe from looting by the bandits, not even religious temples, such as the First Baptist Church of Port-au-Prince, which this Sunday expressed its sadness and shock for the acts of looting it has been suffering.
“La Pastoral informs you that the direct attacks of armed gangs against the Church since Sunday, March 24, continued and resulted this week in the looting of the temple. The sanctuary is stripped of all the equipment related to sound, projection, computers, ventilation, music, electronics, etc.,” the congregation said in a statement.
In the face of these acts, which they described as “sad, disgusting and shocking,” from the church called “a union of prayers, inviting the faithful to attend, if possible, the Evangelical Church closest to their place of refuge and to follow the services broadcast on radio and online.”
Praying is what is left for Haitians in the current situation that the failed nation is experiencing, where not even health care is guaranteed, since almost half of the health professionals left the country and those who stay have great difficulties to go to work.
The Ministry of Health highlighted the health crisis in Haiti coinciding with World Health Day on April 7.
In a statement, the institution highlighted that the stress resulting from violence and uncertainty “makes those who were not sick sick or at risk” of doing so and aggravates the state of those who already suffer from a pathology, prevents the progress of those who are in the process of recovery and leads to the death of seriously ill people.
International
Australia asks the population to write down their flatulence to study intestinal health
An Australian government scientific agency asked the population of the oceanic country on Friday to make an exhaustive record of their flatulence, in order to better understand how the excessive expulsion of gases impacts intestinal health.
‘Chart your fart’ campaign (Register your fart)
Through the ‘Chart your fart’ campaign, researchers from the Australian scientific and industrial government agency (CSIRO) invited people over the age of 14 to keep track of their winds in a free cell phone app for at least three days.
These data, which include the amount and quality of flatulence, including attributes such as smell, volume, duration, persistence and detectability, will help create a graph of what can be a ‘normal’ wind in the different groups of Australians, according to a statement from CSIRO.
“The expulsion of gases is a natural fact and a sign that our digestive system is functioning as it should to expel the excess gas that is produced by breaking down and processing the food we eat,” explained Megan Rebuli, a nutrition expert who participates in CISRO’s research.
Excessive flatulence, according to 60%
The characteristics of the winds vary by the intake of “different foods, medical conditions or even the way we chew or swallow can influence the way our body processes excess gases, which translates into odors, frequencies or even different volumes,” said Rabuli.
For her part, the project director and CISRO scientist, Emily Brindal, explained that this citizen research will be “as good as the data we obtain,” by trusting that the population will contribute to this study on the health and well-being of citizens, despite the fact that some people feel embarrassed or uncomfortable by this body function.
According to a study on CSIRO’s intestinal health in 2021, more than 60% of Australians reported experiencing what they identified as excessive flatulence, and up to 43% said they experienced it most days.
International
Israel bombs Lebanon again after a wave of attacks with dozens of dead
The Israeli Army bombed Dahye on Friday, a suburb in southern Beirut considered a stronghold of the Shiite group Hezbula, after ordering residents to evacuate the area and among a wave of attacks in Lebanon that have caused at least 43 deaths in recent hours.
The bombings took place on Friday morning, according to the Lebanese media Al-Mayadeen, and for the moment it is clear whether they caused deaths or injuries.
Shortly before, the Arabic spokesman of the Israeli Army, Avichay Adraee, urged the neighbors of several buildings located in the Ghobeiry area to evacuate “immediately and stay away from them at a distance of no less than 500 meters.”
Air planes against Hezbulá command centers
The Israeli Army already bombed the Dahye, including two Civil Defense centers, last Wednesday and Thursday, also after requesting the evacuation of several buildings in the area.
The armed forces then claimed in a statement that they had destroyed nine weapons warehouses and command centers of the Shiite group “embedded” in civilian areas, an argument that Israel repeats to justify its attacks on civilian infrastructure in Gaza and Lebanon.
This Friday, their fighter jets attacked the command centers of the elite force of the Shiite group Hizbulá (Radwan) in the Nabatieh area, in southern Lebanon.
Among the targets attacked is a terrorist infrastructure site used by the elite force of Hezbullah “to carry out terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and our troops,” according to a military statement.
He also said that yesterday the troops attacked more than “120 terrorist targets” throughout the neighboring country, including weapons storage facilities, command centers and a large number of launchers, including some from which Hezbulah fired rockets towards Haifa and the area of Upper Galilee, in northern Israel.
Early this Friday, the Army also bombed south of Beirut, a bastion of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbula known as the Dahye, after a wave of attacks in Lebanon that have left at least 43 dead in recent hours.
Shortly before the attacks, the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli Army, Avichay Adraee, urged the neighbors of several buildings located in the Ghobeiry area to “evacuately and stay away from them at a distance of no less than 500 meters.”
According to a military statement, these attacks against the capital were targeted at weapons warehouses, a command center and other unspecified infrastructures of Hizbulá.
On the other hand, the Army also detected about five projectiles fired from Lebanon towards the district of Haifa and Alta Galilee, which were intercepted or fell in the open air.
Likewise, the military note assured that last night Israeli planes attacked “several smuggling routes of the Syrian regime” on the Syrian-Lebanese border, allegedly used for the illegal introduction of weapons to Hezbulah.
Negotiations for a ceasefire
This crossfire is maintained while in recent hours reports have continued to arrive disseminated by Israeli and American media indicating that the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon could be closer.
This Thursday, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, reiterated in a conversation he had with his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, that there is “a desire to achieve a ceasefire” in Lebanon to allow the more than 60,000 evacuees from the north to return to their homes, and that “progress” is being made in the negotiations.
Although, Saar also wanted to point out that an agreement is not enough if the international community does not guarantee that Lebanon “is returned to the Lebanese people instead of being controlled by the Iranian regime.”
In more than a year of conflict, at least 3,386 people have died in Lebanon and another 14,417 have been injured, including 220 minors and 658 women, according to the latest update from the Lebanese government, prior to these latest attacks.
Lebanon: “The US truce proposal is not acceptable”
The President of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, confirmed on Friday that he has received a proposal from the United States for a truce between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbulá, but indicated that “it is not acceptable” in its current terms.
“The US proposal includes a text that is not acceptable to Lebanon, which is the question of the formation of a committee to oversee the implementation of Resolution 1701 (which ended the war between Israel and Hezbula in 2006), which includes several Western countries,” he said in a written interview with the London-based Arab newspaper Al Sharq al Awsat.
Likewise, Berri – the main mediator figure in the truce, being the one in whom Hizbulá trusts for the negotiations – said that “the proposed alternative mechanism is currently being debated,” and that “the work is progressing, in an environment that is positive.”
“Americans and others know that it is unacceptable, and that it cannot even be discussed in principle, and that we cannot accept any violation of our sovereignty,” he said in reference to the “freedom of movement” of the Israeli Army in Lebanon.
He also denied that the proposal includes “the deployment of NATO or other forces” in the country.
Regarding the possible arrival of the envoy of the administration of US President Joe Biden, Amos Hochstein, pointed out that his visit to Beirut “depends on the development and progress of the negotiations,” without giving further details.
A French blue helmet dies in a traffic accident
A French blue helmet died this Friday in a traffic accident while traveling in a convoy to the headquarters of the UN mission in Lebanon (UNFIN) in Naqoura, in the south of the country.
According to a brief statement from the FINUL, which does not give details about the circumstances of the accident, three other Gallic members of the peacekeeping forces “suffered minor injuries.”
“This morning, a FINUL convoy heading to the FINUL headquarters in Naqoura was involved in a traffic accident on the coastal road, near the village of Shama,” the note says.
The victims were cared for by the staff of the peace mission and the Red Cross at the scene, according to the FINUL, who conveyed their condolences to the family of the deceased blue helmet and expressed their wishes that the injured recover soon.
International
Latin America will once again be in the sights of the United States with Rubio at the head of diplomacy
Marco Rubio, of Cuban origin and first Hispanic appointed as US Secretary of State, promises to redirect Washington’s attention to Latin America under a second term of Donald Trump, at a critical moment marked by the immigration issue and Chinese investments in the region.
The great campaign promise of the president-elect is to carry out the largest deportation in the history of the country, which anticipates that “Latin America will have the most central role in US foreign policy of the last 30 years,” says Brian Winter, expert of the Americas Society organization.
Latin America waiting for US actions.
At the head of US diplomacy, Rubio “will bring enormous attention to a region that the United States has overlooked on many occasions,” adds Henry Ziemer, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Considered a ‘hawk’ in foreign policy, this Florida senator born in Miami 53 years ago has distinguished himself for being a supporter of the hard line with China and Iran, as well as a strong defender of Israel.
He has also paid great attention to Latin America, being a strong supporter of US sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, as well as being critical of the left-wing governments of Mexico and Colombia, and a supporter of Javier Milei’s Argentina.
“Rubio sees the region with a strong ideological spectrum: he divides it between left and right leaders, between rivals and friends,” Winter explains.
The unknown of Venezuela or the end of “Florida politics”
One of the unknowns that Trump’s team has not cleared is the policy it will maintain towards Venezuela, after the president, Nicolás Maduro, proclaimed his re-election in elections questioned by the international community.
During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, the Republican chose to apply maximum pressure on the Caribbean country with sanctions to overthrow Maduro, but the president is still in power and the crisis in the country has caused thousands of Venezuelans to migrate to the United States.
The main reason for the insistence on Venezuela was not so much a desire for interventionism but a desire to win votes in the key state of Florida, with an important population of Cuban and Venezuelan voters, Michael Shifter, former director of the Inter-American Dialogue analysis center, tells EFE.
US in search of accelerating deportations to Latin America
With the electorate in the state already solidly republican, Trump does not have that incentive now. On the contrary, the future president could try to “give in to Maduro and perhaps recognize him to reach an agreement on migration and give business opportunities to his friends” in the country with the largest oil reserves in the world.
The truth is that in order to deport Venezuelan migrants, against whom Trump has led a stigmatization campaign and promised mass deportations, the United States needs to reach an agreement with Venezuela, a country with which it has no diplomatic relations.
Joe Biden’s Administration resumed deportation flights after a brief pause in the oil sanctions imposed on the country.
According to Adam Isacson, an expert at the Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA) center, the other option to accelerate deportations would be to pressure Mexico, and other countries such as Colombia, to accept Venezuelan migrants.
Mexico and the review of the T-MEC
What seems very clear is that “Mexico will be at the forefront of the policies of the second Trump Administration in terms of both migration and the economy,” Ziemer highlights.
Washington is increasingly concerned about Chinese investments in strategic industries such as electric vehicles in Latin America and especially in Mexico, a country with which the United States has the T-MEC free trade agreement.
Trump himself said in the campaign that he wanted to open the T-MEC review process in 2026 and Rubio has been one of the legislators who has positioned himself most in favor of countering Chinese operations in the region.
The Republican, who already threatened Mexico with tariffs in his first term to force greater control of migratory flows, will use this letter again in trade negotiations.
“I don’t think the break of the agreement is the most likely way, but it is possible. Companies are underestimating it,” warns Winter.
Australia asks the population to write down their flatulence to study intestinal health
Israel bombs Lebanon again after a wave of attacks with dozens of dead
Latin America will once again be in the sights of the United States with Rubio at the head of diplomacy
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