International
Noboa insists on a new state of emergency in Ecuador after the previous two were invalidated
The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, again decreed on Tuesday for the third time a state of emergency in part of the country’s territory, after the previous two declarations were revoked by the Constitutional Court, considering that the measure was not sufficiently argued.
This new state of emergency for 60 days covers six provinces (Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, Orellana, Santa Elena and El Oro) and the municipality of Camilo Ponce Enríquez, a mining enclave in the southern Andean province of Azuay where the mayor was murdered in April and this week eight bodies with signs of torture were found in a mining concession.
In these territories the measure contemplates the suspension of the rights of inviolability of the domicile, inviolability of correspondence and freedom of assembly, according to the decree, which extends for more than 50 pages to support this declaration.
It also implies the mobilization of the Armed Forces and the National Police to carry out operations against organized crime gangs, to which Noboa has declared “war” since the beginning of the year by raising the fight against them to “internal armed conflict,” with which he has come to classify them as terrorist groups and non-state belligerent actors.
The Presidency of Ecuador stressed in a statement that on this occasion the decree of the state of emergency “has the support of the World Association of Jurists (WJA, for its acronym in English),” in view of the analysis of the legality of the measure that must be carried out again by the Constitutional Court.
On this occasion, the decree of the state of emergency establishes that the Constitutional Court may have access to secret reports from the Government authorities in case they need to review them to evaluate the relevance of the measure, without this implying the declassification and public access of them.
The Constitutional Court validated the first state of emergency decreed by Noboa at the beginning of the year and that was in force for 90 days throughout the country, broadcast as a result of a spiral of violence by criminal gangs that included simultaneous riots in several prisons in the country with about 200 hostages and the taking of the TC Television channel by a group of armed men during a live broadcast.
Subsequently, Noboa issued two focused states of emergency that covered several provinces, but in both cases the constitutunal court considered that “the facts mentioned in the decree do not specifically constitute the cause of internal armed conflict.”
The magistrates stressed that, for the most recent decree, the argument of the internal armed conflict “was the only (reason) invoked by the President of the Republic.”
“It should be remembered that, due to its important legal implications, both the reiterated jurisprudence of this Court and international law, have established that in order to configure the cause of internal armed conflict, two parameters must be considered that address the seriousness of the situation of violence,” the Court said.
Between those two parameters cited by the court is “the level of organization of the armed group and the intensity of hostilities.”
“However, in the decree and in the reports that support it, no indications related to these parameters are mentioned,” he concluded.
However, the Court clarified that “the finding that the declaration of a state of emergency does not meet the requirements provided for in the Constitution does not imply a lack of knowledge of the serious acts of violence and the complex circumstances that the country is going through.”
He also recalled that his decision does not affect the powers provided for in the ordinary legal system for the Executive to use the Armed Forces to fulfill its constitutional mission, since the Ecuadorians approved by a large majority in a referendum held in April that the military support the Police in operations against organized crime without the need to issue states of emergency.
Organized crime gangs, mainly dedicated to drug trafficking, are credited with the wave of violence that plagues Ecuador and that has led it to be the first country in Latin America in homicides per capita, with a rate of about 47.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime (OECO).
International
Seven bodies found with signs of torture in Sinaloa
Mexican authorities discovered seven lifeless bodies on Wednesday, showing clear signs of torture, in the rural area of Culiacán, Sinaloa, just one day after the same number of bodies was found in several municipalities in the western state of Mexico.
Six of these seven victims were found along the side of the highway that connects Culiacán to Mazatlán, near Laguna de Canachi, according to local media reports, which also noted that messages addressed to a criminal group were found near the bodies.
This brings the total number of violent deaths in the region to seven within just 24 hours. On Tuesday, authorities reported more victims found in the municipalities of Culiacán, Elota, and Mazatlán.
Among the victims identified was a local cattle rancher named Ramón Velázquez Ontiveros, as well as a police officer from Mazatlán, who was killed by a motorcyclist outside his home in San Marcos.
International
Málaga paralyzed by new storm as torrential rains hit Spain
Thousands of people were evacuated and trains were suspended as torrential rains once again struck Spain on Wednesday, following the devastating floods that killed at least 223 people two weeks ago, most of them in the Valencia region.
The national meteorological agency (Aemet) issued a maximum, red-level alert for the Andalusian province of Málaga in the south, and for Tarragona in the northeast, due to the new DANA (isolated depression at high levels), also known as a cold drop.
The city of Málaga appeared to be the hardest hit by the rains, with more than 3,000 people evacuated from 1,000 homes near rivers, flooded streets, and the suspension of urban transport and train services to Madrid.
“Today Málaga is paralyzed,” said Andalusia’s regional president, Juan Manuel Moreno, to reporters. “I know it is a problem for citizens not being able to take their children to school or go to work, but after what we saw in Valencia, we need to ‘prevent’ and minimize the impact in terms of loss of life,” he added.
The storm also led to the postponement of a match between Spain and Poland in the Billie Jean King Cup women’s tennis competition, which was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Málaga.
International
Hezbollah launches explosive drone strike on Israel’s defense headquarters
The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah claimed on Wednesday that it launched an attack with explosive drones against the Israeli army’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The Iran-backed organization reported in a statement that it had carried out “an aerial attack with a squadron of explosive drones” targeting the site that houses Israel’s main defense institutions.
Hezbollah later stated that it also fired a barrage of rockets at the Glilot military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli military indicated that “sirens sounded in several areas of northern and central Israel following the launch of projectiles from Lebanon.”
It later clarified that “five projectiles were identified over the territory, and some were intercepted.”
-
Central America3 days ago
Bukele begins official visit to Costa Rica based on security, cooperation and trade
-
Central America2 days ago
Nicaraguan Naval Force seizes cocaine on Pacific Coast, suspects escape
-
Central America2 days ago
El Salvador delivers aid to Costa Rica amid severe flooding and red alerts
-
Central America2 days ago
Bukele urges Costa Rica to reform prison system amid rising crime rates
-
International2 days ago
Marco Rubio considered for Secretary of State in Trump administration, reports say
-
International3 days ago
Daniel Ortega turns 79: 29 in power, 17 “governing from below”, and 7 in prison
-
International2 days ago
Sheinbaum pledges support for mexican migrants amid U.S. border enforcement plans
-
International3 days ago
Le procureur vénézuélien dénonce une campagne visant à présenter les “criminels” comme prisonniers politiques
-
International3 days ago
Les migrants qui ont été retenus en Albanie par le gouvernement de Meloni arriveront ce soir en Italie
-
International3 days ago
Shooting at Tuskegee University leaves one dead and several injured
-
International3 days ago
A US flight to Haiti is deflected after being shot when approaching Port-au-Prince
-
International2 days ago
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency
-
International2 days ago
President-elect Trump chooses Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense
-
International17 hours ago
Málaga paralyzed by new storm as torrential rains hit Spain
-
International17 hours ago
Ecuadorian judge orders preventive detention for nine inmates after deadly prison clashes
-
Internacionales2 days ago
Mexico deploys 12,000 security agents to Guerrero amid escalating violence
-
International3 days ago
Irish mobster Hutch is rending for general elections after arrest in Spain
-
Internacionales3 days ago
Tropical storm Rafael weakens over gulf of Mexico after devastating Cuba
-
International17 hours ago
Seven bodies found with signs of torture in Sinaloa
-
International17 hours ago
Hezbollah launches explosive drone strike on Israel’s defense headquarters
-
International3 days ago
Trump appoints an ally without experience in the sector to the environmental agency
-
International17 hours ago
Trump nominates Matt Gaetz as attorney general
-
International17 hours ago
Santiago Uribe cleared of homicide and paramilitary charges
-
International3 days ago
The court of El Salvador postpones the preliminary hearing for the massacre of Jesuit parents in 1989
-
International17 hours ago
Marco Rubio to become first latino U.S. diplomacy chief under Trump