Internacionales
Petro denounces missing more than one million projectiles and ammunition from military bases
The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, denounced on Tuesday that two inspections made at two military bases in the country found that more than one million projectiles and ammunition are missing, including missiles, and assured that these materials may be in the hands of international arms trafficking networks or illegal armed groups.
“The only way to explain this type of missing is that there have been for a long time networks made up of people from the Military and Civil Forces dedicated to a mass trade in weapons using the legal weapons of the Colombian State,” the president said in a statement at the Casa de Nariño.
Petro explained that the inspections carried out in the Fort of Tolemaida, located in the central department of Tolima, and at the base of the 10th Brigade of the Army, in the north of the country.
In Tolemaida, according to the president, “746 calibre 81-millimeter grenades are needed; 3,712 M-26 hand grenades; 2,880 40-millimeter grenades; 1,590 60-millimeter grenades; 797 40-millimeter grenades slaboned; 8,203 7.62 caliber ammunition; 41,745 5.56 caliber ammunition; 131,577 7.62-mped-caliber ammunition and 626,614 5.56-caliber ammunition”.
While at the base of Brigade 10 they did not find “two Spike missiles; 37 Nimrod missiles (both Israeli-made); 550 RPG rockets; 22 155-millimeter grenades; 621 106-millimeter grenades; 1,077 105-millimeter grenades for howitzer grenades; 1,077 90-millimeter caliber grenades; 960 81-millimeter-caliber grenades,” and “1,218 60-millimeter grenades.”
Also missing in the tanks are “4,171 40-millimeter caliber grenades; 24 40-millimeter L70HE caliber cartridges; 1,494 40-millimeter sloon grenades; 3,694 M-26 hand grenades; 17,456 anti-tank charges; 22,293 anti-tank loads .50 TAP; 330,419 7.62 Slap caliber ammunition; 9,829 162 caliber ammunition; 761,551 5.56 ammunition; 5,992 caliber 5.56 Slap and 1,262 special caliber .38 ammunition.
“As you can see, only among 5.56 ammunition there are more than a million lost ammunition,” added the president, who was accompanied in the statement by the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, and by the commander of the military forces, General Helder Giraldo Bonilla.
The president explained that the networks that allegedly stole their weapons were sold “to armed groups in Colombia” or possibly provide “foreign conflicts, the closest to Haiti.”
This is because that country is “hours away by speedboat” from the base of Brigade 10, located in the Colombian Caribbean region.
Petro also lamented that “with these same ammunition they end up injuring and killing the same members of the Military Forces” and warned that they will continue to carry out this type of inspections in other bases in the country.
“This type of gang must be dismantled,” concluded the head of state.
Internacionales
Cuban Supreme Court Confirms Successful Completion of Prisoner Release
The People’s Supreme Court of Cuba announced on Monday that it has successfully completed the release of 553 prisoners, a process first announced on January 14. Among those freed were political prisoners, including opposition figures José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro.
The announcement came shortly after Washington, in the final days of the Biden administration, decided to remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
While Havana has insisted that the releases were a unilateral and sovereign decision, the United States maintains that the measure was part of an agreement mediated by the Vatican. According to U.S. sources, many of those released were participants in the July 11, 2021, anti-government protests, the largest demonstrations Cuba has seen in decades.
Cuban authorities have not provided a list of the released prisoners or a timeline for the implementation of the measure, despite multiple requests for information from EFE.
Internacionales
Russia calls Zelensky’s Washington visit a “complete failure” after altercation with Trump
Russia stated on Saturday that Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington was a “complete failure” following the altercation with Donald Trump, accusing the Ukrainian leader of being “obsessed with continuing the war” with Moscow.
The visit “was a complete political and diplomatic failure of the Kiev regime,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in a statement. Zakharova accused Zelensky of being “incapable of demonstrating a sense of responsibility,” of “rejecting peace,” and of using “lies and manipulations to justify the continuation of hostilities and the reception of military and financial aid from the West.”
Zelensky’s visit to Washington on Friday turned into a verbal brawl before cameras worldwide, when his counterpart, Donald Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being ungrateful for U.S. aid and rejecting peace talks. Zelensky was prematurely escorted out of the White House without signing the agreement he had gone to Washington for, which involved giving up the exploitation of Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for security guarantees.
“With his excessively rude behavior during his visit to Washington, Zelensky confirmed that he is the most dangerous threat to the international community as an irresponsible warmonger,” Zakharova stated.
She also accused European leaders of “political weakness” and “baseness” for backing Zelensky after the “moral lesson” he received in Washington.
Internacionales
Lula criticizes Trump-Zelensky meeting: “Grotesque and disrespectful”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated on Saturday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was humiliated during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, calling the scenes broadcast live by the media “grotesque.”
“I’m not a diplomat, but since diplomacy was created, there has never been such a grotesque and disrespectful scene as the one that took place in the Oval Office of the White House,” Lula told reporters in Montevideo, where he was attending the inauguration of Uruguay’s president-elect, Yamandú Orsi.
“Honestly, I believe that part of society thrives on disrespecting others, and it is impossible to talk about democracy without respecting other human beings. I think Zelensky was humiliated, and I believe that in Trump’s mind, Zelensky deserved it,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, Lula met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier for a bilateral discussion. During their meeting, Lula stated that Europe would likely bear the responsibility for rebuilding Ukraine and maintaining NATO.
“It is very likely that Europe will be blamed for the disaster happening now, when in reality, it is not the fault of any specific country. It is a matter of irresponsible leaders who refuse to discuss peace and instead prefer to talk about war,” he argued.
Lula also reiterated Brazil and China’s proposal for a negotiated peace process, which would bring Ukraine and Russia to the table with other countries acting as mediators.
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