International

An official plane from Venezuela makes an emergency landing in the Colombian city of Cúcuta

An official plane from Venezuela made an emergency landing this Friday at the airport of the Colombian border city of Cúcuta, apparently due to a confusion with the destination runway, official sources said.

The device is a Cessna 550 Citation II, with Venezuelan license plate YV3226, which landed this morning at the Camilo Daza International Airport in Cúcuta, the main border city between the two countries.

“The information we have about the landing of the Venezuelan plane in Cúcuta is that it is an emergency. We expect a report from the Civil Air Force, which is the competent authority for the case,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on his X account.

According to the FlightAware flight tracking page, the plane with license plate YV3226 took off this morning from Maiquetía International Airport, in Caracas, and landed an hour and 20 minutes later at Camilo Daza, in Cúcuta.

So far the reason for the flight and how many people were on board are unknown, but Colombian media claim that the aircraft was carrying five people, two of them armed soldiers.

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The Civil Aeronautics (Aerocivil) issued a statement indicating: “the YV3226 aircraft has the proper authorization from the Colombian civil aviation authority” in accordance with the provisions of the Chicago Convention, which “recognizes the right to perform technical stopovers on Colombian territory, as well as the use of airfields in emergency situations.”

Apparently the destination of the flight was the neighboring Venezuelan city of San Antonio del Táchira, located on the border, but the crew had to land in Cúcuta.

According to Aerocivil, in this case the emergency landing was “derived from a circumstance of confusion between nearby runways” which confirms the version that the plane was heading to San Antonio del Táchira, a city separated from Cúcuta only by the Táchira River.

Aerocivil added that he was given permission to land because the fact “corresponds to an aircraft that was in danger.”

“In consideration of international law that the YV3226 aircraft has in that condition, the information collected about the operational incident, the takeoff of said aircraft is authorized to continue its flight to its final destination,” Aerocivil added.

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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.