International

Milei rams at the press linking it to “extortion” and defamation operations

The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, published this Wednesday an extensive statement on his social networks, where he says that “extortion is common currency” in the press and that his party, La Libertad Avanza, will not remain silent in the face of “operations, lies, slander, insult or defamation.”

“As has happened with all the rest of the issues related to politics, journalism has been corrupted, dirty and prostituted in the heat of the envelopes and the official pattern,” Milei said in his X account, while adding that “extortion is common currency. Lies, defamation, slander are common.”

“First they hit you, and then they pass the bill. Sidereal figures,” accused the president, who begins this Wednesday an international trip that will take him to the United States and Denmark.

The president differentiated himself from the “majority of politicians” who pay journalists and are “convised” of their own trap, “since they can never answer the attacks at the risk of their businesses being exposed.”

“Those of us who are part of La Libertad Avanza are that we do not owe anything to anyone. We don’t have business with anyone. And we are not going to remain silent in the face of operations, lies, slander, insult or defamation,” so Milei warned “we are going to answer.”

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“Journalism has become accustomed, over the last decades, to the fact that they must be treated as prophets of the unique and unstoppable truth, who cannot be criticized, denied or corrected,” he said.

But he issued a warning: “Freedom of expression means that no one can prevent us from talking. Not even the sacred journalists.”

The content of the president’s text that he took over on December 10 is not new in the president’s speech and has been previously questioned by journalism associations.

The Association of Argentine Journalistic Entities (Adepa) had pronounced on Tuesday regarding the “insulting presidential disqualifications of the media and journalists” from an interview it had given last Monday.

The president has not given a single press conference or has appeared before the media – beyond quick questions at the entrance or exit of an event – since he took over the Presidency; he has given interviews to some national television and radio channels and, even, to some international media; and his favorite way of communicating is through social networks.

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International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.