International

Argentina asks to be a “global partner” of NATO

Argentina requested to be a “global partner” of NATO in the framework of a meeting held this Thursday by its Minister of Defense, Luis Petri, and the deputy secretary general of the multilateral organization, Mircea Geoana, official sources reported.

As published by the holder of the portfolio on social network X and disseminated his ministry, Petri presented “the letter of intent that expresses Argentina’s request to become a global partner of this organization.”

“We will continue to work on recovering links that allow us to modernize and train our forces to the NATO standard,” concluded the Argentine Minister of Defense.

Petri accompanied his publication with several photographs – including that of the delivery of the official letter – of his meeting with Geoana in Brussels, where the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is located.

Argentina’s rapprochement with NATO is linked to the new foreign policy developed by the Government of the ultraliberal Javier Milei, which has as references the United States and Israel.

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In addition to the recent visit to Argentina of the commander of the Southern Command of the United States, Army General Laura Richardson, with a vocation to expand collaboration in defense, the South American country is clearly aligned with Israel both in the war in the Gaza Strip against the armed wing of Hamas and in the recent crisis unleashed with Iran.

Petri is this week in Europe, where on Monday he signed an agreement for the purchase of 24 used F-16 fighter planes from the Danish Army.

Milei was going to travel to Denmark to meet with the Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and celebrate the signing of the agreement, but suspended the visit following Iran’s attack on Israel and returned from the United States – where he had traveled to receive a tribute from a Jewish organization – to organize a “crisis committee” in Buenos Aires.

Argentina keeps in its memory the memory of two serious attacks against the interests of the Jewish community: in 1992 against the Embassy of Israel; and in 1994 against the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA). Both left more than 100 dead and hundreds of injured.

As its official website shows, NATO has 32 full members. Born after World War II (1939-1945), twelve countries signed their accession in 1949: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the United States, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

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They were joined, in various expansions, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden – the last two incorporations, in 2023 and 2024, respectively, against the background of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In addition, it has several allies qualified as global partners, the same status that Argentina now intends: Australia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Colombia, the only country in Latin America, admitted in 2017.

Undoubtedly, an important aspect that could generate some internal conflict is the diplomatic dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands between the United Kingdom – one of the founding members of NATO – and Argentina, which caused a war in 1982.

International

Marco Rubio warns Venezuela against military action against Guyana

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Venezuela on Thursday that a military attack on Guyana would be “a big mistake” and “a very bad day for them,” expressing his support for Georgetown in its territorial dispute with Caracas.

“It would be a very bad day for the Venezuelan regime if they attacked Guyana or ExxonMobil. It would be a very bad day, a very bad week for them, and it would not end well,” Rubio emphasized during a press conference in Georgetown alongside Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.

International

Ecuador oil spill worsens as containment dam collapses

The collapse of a containment dam holding back part of the 25,000+ barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline rupture nearly two weeks ago has worsened the environmental crisis in northwestern Ecuador, contaminating rivers and Pacific beaches.

The Ecuadorian government attributed the March 13 pipeline rupture—which led to the spill of 25,116 barrels of crude—to an act of sabotage. The spill affected three rivers and disrupted water supplies for several communities, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, due to heavy rains that have been falling since January, a containment dam on the Caple River collapsed. The Caple connects to other waterways in Esmeraldas Province, a coastal region bordering Colombia, state-owned Petroecuador said in a statement on Wednesday.

Seven containment barriers were installed in the Viche River, where crews worked to remove oil-contaminated debris. Additional absorbent materials were deployed in Caple, Viche, and Esmeraldas Rivers, which flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities are also working to protect a wildlife refuge home to more than 250 species, including otters, howler monkeys, armadillos, frigatebirds, and pelicans.

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“This has been a total disaster,” said Ronald Ruiz, a leader in the Cube community, where the dam was located. He explained that the harsh winter rains caused river levels to rise, bringing debris that broke the containment barriersthat were holding the accumulated oil for extraction.

International

Federal court blocks Trump’s use of Enemy Alien Act for deportations

A federal appeals court upheld the block on former President Donald Trump’s use of the Enemy Alien Act on Wednesday, preventing him from using the law to expedite deportations of alleged members of the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua.

With a 2-1 ruling, a panel from the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed previous decisions by two lower court judges, maintaining the legal standoff between the White House and the judiciary.

On March 14, Trump invoked the 1798 Enemy Alien Act, a law traditionally used during wartime, to deport hundreds of Venezuelans whom he accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that originated in Venezuelan prisons.

The centuries-old law grants the president the power to detain, restrict, and expel foreign nationals from a country engaged in a “declared war” or an “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States, following a public proclamation.