International

Migrants at the border suffer post-traumatic stress after the violence in Mexico

Citizen associations warn of an increase in post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) in migrants stranded on the northern border of Mexico in the face of cases of kidnapping, abuse and exploitation they experience when crossing Mexican territory.

Migrants present this psychological disorder that arises in response to extremely stressful events, and is characterized by symptoms such as retrospective sequences or flashbacks, nightmares, intense anxiety and difficulties in sleeping or concentrating.

The biggest trigger is kidnappings, Sara Villegas Torres, a lawyer for the Jesuit Refugee Service in Ciudad Juárez, one of the epicenters of migration on the border of Mexico with the United States, told EFE.

“What we have mostly detected is the issue of kidnappings, not only here in the entity (Chihuahua) but throughout Mexico, it is inevitable to encounter these stories because it is something that happens to most of the people with whom we have contact,” he described.

In July alone, there were two massive kidnappings of a total of 36 migrants in Chihuahua, according to the organization Alto al Secuestro, which documented a total of 196 foreigners kidnapped in the seventh month of the year, a monthly increase of more than 20%.

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This organization reported 772 kidnappings of migrants in 2023, representing about a third of the total national victims of this crime.

This leaves sequelae in people like Cindy Vázquez, from Honduras, who told EFE how a crime cartel kidnapped the group with which she was traveling in Mexico.

“They told us ‘drem down’. But we thought it was the Police or Migration, because we had no problems with migration. But when they got us down and got us up, I lost all my belongings, I lost everything because I didn’t have time to take anything out of the lower part of the bus. And when they got us into a car, even then I knew we were kidnapped,” he said.

They were transferred to a warehouse, 15 minutes away before reaching the state of Chihuahua, where there were also many people kidnapped, according to him, and his family had to give a rescue.

“They told us that we were deprived of our freedom and that we were going to be there as long as our family paid a ransom. Our family had to pay a lot of money,” he said.

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He mentioned that the kidnappers were wearing a uniform, brown pants and a navy blue shirt with a shotgun on the back, but without official logos.

In the end they were able to leave with a payment of 10,000 dollars for her and her family, so she warned her compatriots that it is very dangerous to go through Mexico.

“We just wanted to get to a better place, that we could work, that we could start from scratch, but no, the truth is that I wouldn’t stay living in Mexico,” Cindy said.

Another case is that of Roxana Yamilet Velázquez, originally from El Salvador, who described the difficult road she and two other relatives, her cousins Diego José and Adriana Elizabeth, who died in the desert of the northern border of Mexico.

“It gave him like a heat respiratory arrest and from there we were transferred, well, Migration grabbed them and took us to a hospital because we were dehydrated,” he said.

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He said that the sand was very hot to the point of burning his skin, and the water they carried in bottles boiled after a short time due to temperatures that reached 40 degrees.

“It was boiling, already very hot, we couldn’t drink or anything and my cousin started fighting about halfway. Even me too, and she couldn’t resist, because she was the one who fought the most,” Roxana recalled about how her cousin’s life was going.

These events occur in the midst of a 193% year-on-year increase in irregular migration through Mexico in the first half of the year to over 712,000 people, according to the Government’s Migration Policy Unit.

International

Marco Rubio warns Venezuela against military action against Guyana

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Venezuela on Thursday that a military attack on Guyana would be “a big mistake” and “a very bad day for them,” expressing his support for Georgetown in its territorial dispute with Caracas.

“It would be a very bad day for the Venezuelan regime if they attacked Guyana or ExxonMobil. It would be a very bad day, a very bad week for them, and it would not end well,” Rubio emphasized during a press conference in Georgetown alongside Guyanese President Irfaan Ali.

International

Ecuador oil spill worsens as containment dam collapses

The collapse of a containment dam holding back part of the 25,000+ barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline rupture nearly two weeks ago has worsened the environmental crisis in northwestern Ecuador, contaminating rivers and Pacific beaches.

The Ecuadorian government attributed the March 13 pipeline rupture—which led to the spill of 25,116 barrels of crude—to an act of sabotage. The spill affected three rivers and disrupted water supplies for several communities, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, due to heavy rains that have been falling since January, a containment dam on the Caple River collapsed. The Caple connects to other waterways in Esmeraldas Province, a coastal region bordering Colombia, state-owned Petroecuador said in a statement on Wednesday.

Seven containment barriers were installed in the Viche River, where crews worked to remove oil-contaminated debris. Additional absorbent materials were deployed in Caple, Viche, and Esmeraldas Rivers, which flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities are also working to protect a wildlife refuge home to more than 250 species, including otters, howler monkeys, armadillos, frigatebirds, and pelicans.

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“This has been a total disaster,” said Ronald Ruiz, a leader in the Cube community, where the dam was located. He explained that the harsh winter rains caused river levels to rise, bringing debris that broke the containment barriersthat were holding the accumulated oil for extraction.

International

Federal court blocks Trump’s use of Enemy Alien Act for deportations

A federal appeals court upheld the block on former President Donald Trump’s use of the Enemy Alien Act on Wednesday, preventing him from using the law to expedite deportations of alleged members of the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua.

With a 2-1 ruling, a panel from the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed previous decisions by two lower court judges, maintaining the legal standoff between the White House and the judiciary.

On March 14, Trump invoked the 1798 Enemy Alien Act, a law traditionally used during wartime, to deport hundreds of Venezuelans whom he accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that originated in Venezuelan prisons.

The centuries-old law grants the president the power to detain, restrict, and expel foreign nationals from a country engaged in a “declared war” or an “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States, following a public proclamation.