International

Chilean mother travels 1,300 kilometers on foot to try to save her son with dystrophy

In the city of Ancud, one of the most important of the Chiloe archipelago, in the south of Chile, there is no hospital, so if one of its about 165,000 inhabitants gets sick, he must take the ferry and travel about 50 kilometers to reach the neighboring city of Puerto Montt, the nearest place.

Camila Gómez, a young mother, decided to take a trip but this time to walk to the Palacio de la Moneda, in Santiago de Chile, more than 1,300 kilometers from her home, to raise funds and make visible the drama of her son Tomás, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, one of the so-called “rare diseases”, which almost no one worries and no one finances.

Its main objective is to help collect the nearly four million dollars that costs a vital treatment that does not exist in Chile – it must be imported from the United States – and that would help stop the progression of the child’s ailment, barely five years old.

“Tomás has Duchenne muscular dystrophy in a neuromuscular degenerative disease that gradually weakens the muscles, the respiratory system and the heart, which leads to premature death,” he explains in one of the highs of his journey.

“In Chile there is no type of treatment for this disease, but in the United States there are several treatment options, there are three and here they told me that it was not possible to cover a medicine that is abroad. And it motivated me to do this walk, this physical effort,” he adds.

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Gómez regrets that no one, neither the precarious public service nor the greedy private insurance, has offered him an exit in the country, although his son “does have options abroad.

“That’s why we decided to walk, to make the disease visible and take it very particularly to collect the 3.9 million dollars that the drug that is administered for the only time in a lifetime costs. So far (its administration) is approved until the age of four and five. Tomás is five and a half years old. So we are against time,” she urges in anguish.

Even so, hope has not been erased from his face and sometimes, especially when asked about solidarity, he outlines a smile of love and trust.

“We are all aware of the great health deficit, that Chile is a country very backward in health, unlike other more developed countries and we are all aware of that. So people have empathized, supported and contributed to the campaign,” he says.

Along with this mother, who left Ancud on April 28, her husband and father of Tomás, Alex Ross, a friend Álvaro Neira and Marco Reyes, president of the Duchenne Families corporation in Chile, who has two teenage children with the same disease and who proposed the Ross Gómez family to the odyssey.

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“I am the logistical support for Camila and Marco who have been walking from Chiloé. I assist them on the way, usually with a change of clothes, food, food, I manage the lodging,” explains Alex.

“(Camila) Walk through Tomás, because we are against time, but he also does it so that no mom has to do it,” he says.

Camila’s third objective is to be able to speak in person with the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, to urge him to promote a bill to Congress that allows improving the coverage of rare diseases in the country, and medical assistance in rural areas, abandoned by the state in a country where the privatization of health care prevails.

Neira joined the walk because he was moved by Tomás’ suffering but also because he is worried that “in Chile we do not have the means, a clinic where we can have these medicines, that we have to go to this.”

Tomás was diagnosed in March 2023 with Duchenne’s syndrome, the most common but also most severe form of this type of muscular dystrophy that is triggered by a defective gene that affects dystrophin, a protein that helps keep the body’s cells intact.

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It causes problems when walking and running, fatigue, learning difficulties and heart and respiratory deficiencies, and those who suffer from it usually have a life expectancy of between 20 or 30 years in difficult conditions.

With more than 700 kilometers of love in her terrified legs, this mother hopes to arrive in the Chilean capital at the end of this month of May from Chiloe, where there is a movement so that the spending on a bridge that they believe is unnecessary, is dedicated to the construction of a perentory hospital

International

Ninth Victim Recovered After Deadliest U.S. Avalanche in Decades

Rescue teams in California on Saturday recovered the body of the ninth and final victim of a deadly avalanche in the Sierra Nevada mountains, according to the local sheriff’s office.

The avalanche struck a group of 11 skiers and four guides on Tuesday as they were returning from a three-day backcountry trip near Castle Peak, a 2,777-meter (9,111-foot) mountain and popular tourist destination on the U.S. West Coast.

Six people were rescued alive on Tuesday. Authorities said the incident marks the deadliest avalanche in the United States since 1981.

“All nine individuals who lost their lives in the February 17 Castle Peak avalanche have been safely recovered from the mountain,” the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“There are no words that can truly capture the magnitude of this loss, and our hearts grieve alongside the families affected by this catastrophic event,” Sheriff Shannan Moon said.

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Officials had warned on Thursday that search operations would likely continue through the weekend due to severe weather conditions in the area.

Survivors were able to call for help shortly after the avalanche occurred. However, near-zero visibility and the risk of additional snow slides prevented rescue teams from reaching them for several hours.

International

Trump Defies Supreme Court With New 10% Global Tariff

Defiant in the face of a judicial setback, Donald Trump on Friday imposed a new across-the-board 10% tariff after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that he does not have the authority to levy customs duties under the guise of a national emergency.

The Republican president signed the order in the Oval Office and announced on social media that the measure would take effect “almost immediately.” According to a statement from the White House, the decree will formally enter into force on February 24 for a period of 150 days.

It remains unclear whether the new tariff will apply to countries that have already negotiated trade agreements establishing rates higher than 10%.

Earlier in the day, the conservative-majority court ruled that a 1977 law cited by Trump to abruptly impose tariffs on individual countries — disrupting global trade — “does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.”

Trump said he was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and accused some justices of being influenced by “foreign interests.”

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Although he has made variable tariffs a cornerstone of his foreign policy, Trump acknowledged that it is uncertain whether the government will have to refund revenue already collected. A study by the University of Pennsylvaniaestimated that the amount at stake could reach as much as $175 billion.

“That issue was not addressed by the Court,” Trump told reporters, warning that the legal battle could drag on for “years.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who dissented from the Court’s 6–3 majority opinion, cautioned that the legal process could become a “mess.”

Trump denied any error or haste in using tariffs as a policy tool, arguing instead that the six justices who ruled against him were motivated by “political correctness.” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that the Court had acted “outside the law.”

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International

U.S. Targets Members of Outgoing Boric Administration With Visa Revocations

The United States government announced on Friday the revocation of visas for three Chilean officials—whose identities were not initially disclosed—citing activities that allegedly “undermined regional security,” an accusation that Chile denies.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of State did not provide specific details about the individuals involved but criticized the outgoing administration of leftist President Gabriel Boric.

“The legacy of the Boric government will be further tarnished by actions that undermine regional security to the ultimate detriment of the Chilean people,” the statement read. It was signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Chile’s Minister of Transport, Juan Carlos Muñoz, later confirmed in a video message to the press that he is among those sanctioned.

“I was recently informed that my visa to enter the United States has been revoked by that country, which I deeply regret,” Muñoz said.

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The U.S. statement also noted that Washington hopes to “advance shared priorities, including those that strengthen security in our hemisphere, with the upcoming Kast government.”

The electoral victory of ultraconservative leader José Antonio Kast was welcomed in Washington, which has been building alliances with like-minded governments in the region to reinforce its diplomatic and economic agenda—particularly in response to China’s growing investment presence in Latin America.

“We remain committed to promoting accountability for Chilean individuals who deliberately work to destabilize our hemisphere,” the statement concluded.