International
Nine out of 10 climate catastrophe survivors in Brazil suffer from psychological disorders
Nine out of 10 inhabitants of Rio Grande do Sul, a state in southern Brazil that has been suffering for 43 days from the worst climate catastrophe in history, are psychologically affected by the tragedy, suffering from anxiety and depression linked to losses and the fear of suffering new floods, according to a study released on Tuesday by the local press.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and exhaustion (burnout syndrome) are mental health diseases cited by those who responded to a survey carried out by professional psychologists from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, which borders Argentina and Uruguay.
According to the varied responses of the survivors to the floods that began on April 29 and began to recede at the beginning of June, anxiety is generated for example when finding an open faucet and listening to the noise of water or with nightmares that the house is being flooded.
Among the data collected by the researchers, anxiety stands out with 91 percent, followed by exhaustion 60 percent and depression, with 50 percent.
The coordinator of the study, psychiatrist Simone Hauck, told the RBS news network, in Porto Alegre, that the environmental catastrophe that caused at least 175 deaths, 38 missing and from which almost 450,000 people are still being evacuated, affected even those who were not victims of the floods.
There are similar reactions between the victims and the volunteer rescuers, who responded that they dream of water entering the apartment and think that “few things will be worth obtaining in life if they can be lost at any time,” he explained.
The specialist said that these symptoms appear temporarily, with which they should decrease as the tragedy passes, with the resolution of housing problems or other problems related to the flood.
According to the television network, experts warned that the highest suicide rate in Brazil is that of Rio Grande do Sul, even before the tragedy.
The Ministry of Health of the federal government of Brazil formed a team of 300 mental health professionals to attend to those affected by storms and floods in Rio Grande do Sul since the end of last April.
The survey on the mental health of survivors aims to make a map of the neighborhoods and regions that should receive priority in public investment in the area of mental health, such as the construction of care centers and the hiring of psychologists and psychiatrists.
International
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
A 65-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested at a border checkpoint in Croatia after attempting to enter the country in his car with a deceased woman sitting as a passenger, police announced on Tuesday.
The man was detained in a routine check in late November in Gunja, a border area separating Bosnia from Croatia, the police told AFP. Suspicious because they saw “no consciousness or movement” from the passenger, Croatian officers called a doctor, who confirmed the death of the 83-year-old woman, also Austrian, according to her identification.
The woman’s relationship to the suspect is unknown. She had died in Bosnia, and the man intended to repatriate her body to Austria to “avoid the formalities related to transporting a corpse,” according to the police. Croatian media reported that the man was her legal guardian.
Once her death was confirmed, a funeral service took charge of the body.
International
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Colombian authorities arrested two nationals accused of the illegal trafficking of migrants to the United States and of endangering lives due to the disappearance of a boat with 40 people aboard, U.S. Department of Justice officials reported on Tuesday.
Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, 52, and Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 40, both Colombian citizens, were arrested on December 13 in Colombia at the request of the United States for their alleged involvement in a “transnational human trafficking operation,” the department said in a statement.
According to the charges, the detainees were transporting migrants to San Andrés Island in the Caribbean, where they would then be taken by boat to Nicaragua. The goal was to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
The accused are said to have advised the migrants on how to reach San Andrés Island, where they personally received them, arranged accommodations, and “took them to the boats that transported them to Nicaragua so they could enter the United States illegally,” the statement reads.
“These defendants put several migrants on the boat that disappeared off the coast of Nicaragua in 2023,” said Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, as cited in the statement.
Both men are “directly and personally responsible for the illicit trafficking of migrants on that vessel,” according to the indictment dated October 23.
International
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Two soldiers were killed and five others were injured by the explosion of homemade landmines planted by a criminal group in a mountainous area of the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), the Secretary of Defense reported on Tuesday.
The attack occurred on Monday morning in the municipality of Cotija, a border area between Michoacán and the state of Jalisco, when the military was conducting a reconnaissance mission after receiving information about an armed camp in the area, explained Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla.
“At that moment, an improvised explosive device detonated. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives, and five others were injured,” the military leader detailed. The affected soldiers were airlifted to hospitals in the region by a military helicopter, while the rest of the team continued with the reconnaissance of the area.
Trevilla stated that before the explosion, the military unit had located the dismembered bodies of three people, and upon continuing the mission, they confirmed the camp was abandoned.
Asked about the individuals responsible for placing the explosives, the general suggested they could be criminals linked to the local group Cárteles Unidos, which operates in Michoacán and uses these tactics in their territorial dispute with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country.
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
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