International
The pro-Palestinian student movement in the United States looks at itself in history to continue
Opposition to the war in Gaza has triggered a student movement in the United States not seen since the protests against apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s and in rejection of the Vietnam War in the 60s, although the difference is the strong police reaction to more peaceful rallies.
The one that has already been called by historians such as Robert Cohen, of New York University, as the largest university movement in the United States in the 21st century has parallels with the uprisings of the past, but is also unique in forcing Washington to “be more careful with what it does with its military help.”
For Juan González, who was one of the leaders of the 1968 protests at Columbia University (New York), today’s demonstrations are much more peaceful but are facing more immediate repression.
“Never in the history of student protests has a protest been suppressed for so little violation of the law,” said Cohen, an expert in social movements, in a recent interview.
“Basically they are setting up camps in public spaces, they are not interfering with classes (…) we took several buildings in a single day,” he said in an interview with EFE González, 76, who considers that the police response is being much more severe on this occasion, with eviction of peaceful camps and more than 2,000 arrested.
Authorities from both New York City in the United States and the university were willing to negotiate with González and the other student leaders, he explained, something that has only happened in a handful of educational centers during the current movement.
In educational centers such as the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Texas in Austin or the University of South Florida in Tampa in the United States, state and local law enforcement agencies have entered to evict the camps and forcibly expel the students shortly after they congregated with the approval of the university authorities.
Another of the main differences is the historical context: the student protests of 1968 against the Vietnam War were included in a much larger movement that transcended the campuses and that included other causes such as the rejection of racial discrimination.
“Our strike in Columbia began only a couple of weeks after Martin Luther King was killed (…) there were riots and riots in more than 100 cities across the country,” explained González, who recalls that the worst moment of police repression was when in 1970 the Ohio National Guard killed four students at Kent State University.
The students’ requests, however, have similarities. Currently, university students ask educational centers to cut all kinds of ties with Israel and its military industry, while in 1968 they asked the institution to cut ties with the IDA, a center that was investigating weapons to be used in Vietnam.
The protests of now are also loaded with an “internationalist perspective” something that for the historian of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Tanalís Padilla did not happen years ago in the United States.
“Within the empire, the country’s actions are rarely taken aware of,” Padilla said of these protests against injustices that are happening “in another part of the world.”
The author of “After Zapata” indicated that this student movement has similarities with the fight against the Vietnam war in the 70s and the civil rights claims in the 60s, but contrary to the first case, “U.S. soldiers are not dying” and, in the second, there was no internationalist vision and solidarity with the suffering of the people of Palestine.
“It is a movement of international solidarity that has not been seen in a long time, which gives hope and it is very important that it happens in the most powerful country in the world,” said the teacher, a Jewish descendant of victims of the Holocaust and who has participated in the MIT student camp.
International
Mexico’s president blasts ‘Inhumane’ U.S. migration law
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated on Friday that any Mexican detained in the United States should be “immediately” returned to Mexico. Her remarks come in the wake of the opening of a new migrant detention center in Florida earlier this week.
Speaking during her daily press conference, known as La Mañanera del Pueblo, Sheinbaum emphasized that so far, no Mexican national has been held in the facility, which has already sparked controversy and has been nicknamed “the Alcatraz of the Alligators.”
She also criticized the new fiscal law signed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, passed by Congress just a day earlier. The law, which Trump dubbed the “great and beautiful tax reform,” includes significant tax cuts and sweeping reductions in public policies, reallocating billions toward national security and defense—including $170 billion to enhance border security, deportations, and the expansion of detention centers.
“We do not agree with a punitive approach to migration. Migration must be addressed through its structural causes, with cooperation for development,” Sheinbaum asserted.
The Mexican president labeled the Trump administration’s view of migrants as criminals as “inhumane,” and warned that such policies ultimately harm the U.S. economy. She pointed to the mass deportation of agricultural workers as an example of how these actions are already backfiring.
“These are hardworking people—people of good will—who contribute more to the U.S. economy than they do to Mexico’s,” Sheinbaum said, announcing that her government will strengthen support programs to ensure that affected migrants can return home safely and reintegrate into the workforce.
International
Julio César Chávez Jr. faces charges in Mexico after U.S. arrest
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Friday that the country is expecting the deportation of boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. so he can face legal proceedings in Mexico, following his arrest in the United States and confirmation by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) of an arrest warrant for organized crime and arms trafficking.
“This is an arrest warrant stemming from an investigation that began in 2019 and was granted by a judge in 2023 (…). We are expecting his deportation so he can serve his sentence in Mexico,” Sheinbaum stated during her daily press briefing.
The president said she was unaware of the case until speaking with Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero, who confirmed an investigation linked to organized crime. She also noted that authorities had been unable to execute the warrant earlier because Chávez Jr. had spent most of his time in the United States. “His deportation to Mexico is now being pursued,” she added.
Sheinbaum said there is no confirmed date yet for the boxer’s return to the country, as the process involves “specific protocols” that the FGR is currently handling.
Her statement follows the announcement by U.S. authorities on Thursday of Chávez Jr.’s arrest. The boxer, son of Mexican boxing legend Julio César Chávez, is accused of involvement in organized crime and arms trafficking allegedly tied to the Sinaloa Cartel.
“This Sinaloa Cartel affiliate, wanted for trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” said Tricia McLaughlin, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in an official statement.
International
Europe faces a summer of heatwaves and wildfires, Red Cross warns
The heatwave sweeping across Europe — accompanied by wildfires in countries such as Greece and Turkey — is “just the beginning” of a summer season expected to see extreme conditions lasting through September, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned.
In a statement, the IFRC stressed the urgent need for governments and communities to shift from a reactive to a preventive approach to safeguard lives.
The organization reported that wildfires in the Turkish region of Izmir, on the country’s western coast, have already claimed at least two lives and forced the evacuation of 50,000 people. Meanwhile, on the Greek island of Crete, around 5,000 residents and tourists have also had to flee due to encroaching fires.
Smaller-scale evacuations and wildfires are also being reported in other countries, including eastern Germany and North Macedonia, with Red Cross volunteers actively involved in firefighting and relief operations.
“Heatwaves and wildfires — increasingly frequent and deadly — are no longer isolated events. They are becoming the new reality for millions,” said Birgitte Bischoff, IFRC’s Regional Director for Europe.
Mexico’s president blasts ‘Inhumane’ U.S. migration law
Julio César Chávez Jr. faces charges in Mexico after U.S. arrest
Europe faces a summer of heatwaves and wildfires, Red Cross warns
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
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