International
The FARC dissident ‘Iván Márquez’ reappears in a video after being presumed dead

The FARC dissident ‘Iván Márquez’, leader of the Second Marquetalia and who was the chief peace negotiator of the former guerrilla, reappeared in a video after being presumed dead in an attack in Venezuela in July 2022.
In the video ‘Márquez’, reappeared for the first time in an audio and whose survival was confirmed by several authorities, he spoke about different issues of conjuncture such as the proposal of the Constituent Assembly of President Gustavo Petro.
Precisely what shows that the video is recent are the statements he made regarding Petro’s initiative, presented last March during a government act in Cali, the main city in southwestern Colombia, given the difficulty he has in getting Congress to approve its reforms, where his support has diminished.
“On March 15, President Petro (…) spoke of opening a constituent process in Colombia. Let’s go for the all or nothing, no more decades and centuries of deception and oppression,” added ‘Márquez’.
The video published during the ´ Vichada Binational Forum: Territory of Peace, Life and Biodiversity´, held in the municipality of Puerto Carreño, capital of the department of Vichada (border with Venezuela).
During the event, in which national, regional and local authorities participated, as well as representatives of the public forces, the attendees saw the 17 minutes of the intervention of the head of the Second Marquetalia.
In August 2019, almost three years after signing the peace ‘Iván Márquez’, who was also number two of the FARC, announced that he was taking up arms at the head of a dissidence called Second Marquetalia, in reference to the birthplace of the FARC more than half a century ago, for alleged non-compliance by the Government.
In 2022, his alleged death was reported in an attack perpetrated by another armed group with which the Second Marquetalia was disputing the Colombian-Venezuelan border, where the groups are hidden, and the illicit businesses that circulate there.
However, that dissidence attributed the attack to the Colombian security forces and denied the death, and in September 2022 the Colombian Government confirmed that ‘Márquez’ was alive, but “sick, convalescent.”
Then the ‘Márquez’ himself reappeared in an audio on August 2, 2023 in a speech ahead of the first year of the president’s government, in which he claimed that he was alive.
In October 2023, the then High Commissioner of Peace, Danilo Rueda, confirmed that ‘Márquez’ “is in Colombia” and his state of health is good.
Luciano Marín Arango, 68 years old, was born on June 16, 1955 in Florence, capital of the southern department of Caquetá, and his history indicates that in the early 1980s he was linked to the 14 Front of the FARC, where he climbed positions until he became part of the guerrilla leadership.
At the beginning of February, the Colombian Government and the Second Marquetalia announced the start of a peace process, which will be the third to be undertaken by the current Executive, after those installed with the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Central General Staff (EMC), the main group of dissidents of the FARC.
The statement, signed on February 1, also points out that the Second Marquetalia undertakes not to kidnap civilians, although there is still no date or more details about the start of the dialogues with the dissent led by ‘Márquez’.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
International
Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?

This week, you may have noticed that everything—from historical photos and classic movie scenes to internet memes and recent political moments—has been reimagined on social media as Studio Ghibli-style portraits. The trend quickly went viral thanks to ChatGPT and the latest update of OpenAI’s chatbot, released on Tuesday, March 25.
The newest addition to GPT-4o has allowed users to replicate the distinctive artistic style of the legendary Japanese filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away). “Today is a great day on the internet,” one user declared while sharing popular memes in Ghibli format.
While the trend has captivated users worldwide, it has also highlighted ethical concerns about AI tools trained on copyrighted creative works—and what this means for the livelihoods of human artists.
Not that this concerns OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which has actively encouraged the “Ghiblification”experiments. Its CEO, Sam Altman, even changed his profile picture on the social media platform X to a Ghibli-style portrait.
Miyazaki, now 84 years old, is known for his hand-drawn animation approach and whimsical storytelling. He has long expressed skepticism about AI’s role in animation. His past remarks on AI-generated animation have resurfaced and gone viral again, particularly when he once said he was “utterly disgusted” by an AI demonstration.
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