International
Shock in Haiti over the massacre of more than 70 people at the hands of an armed gang
The massacre perpetrated early last Thursday morning by the armed group Gran Grif in Pont Sondé, about 100 kilometers from Port-au-Prince, left more than 70 dead, including women, children and the elderly, and has shocked depressed Haiti, immersed for years in a crisis that is only worsening.
The balance of the massacre in Pont Sondé, in the commune of Saint-Marc, in Artibonite, could increase with the hours, because sporadic shots are still heard in the area, which cannot be accessed due to violence.
Several houses and vehicles were set on fire, forcing survivors to take refuge in other places or in the public square of Saint-Marc after walking for hours and crossing bodies along the way.
Inhuman and unacceptable acts
The Prime Minister, Garry Conille, visited the victims this Saturday at the Saint Nicolas de Saint Marc hospital, where he sympathized with the families and expressed his deepest indignation for these acts, which he described as inhumane.
“This new act of violence, directed against innocent civilians, is unacceptable and requires an urgent, rigorous and coordinated response from the State,” said Conille, in office since June 12, replacing Ariel Henry, who resigned in the midst of an outbreak of violence.
During his visit, the head of government reiterated his government’s “full commitment” to work “relentlessly” to restore the security and authority of the State and protect all citizens.
Several units of the Haitian National Police (PNH) are deployed in the commune of Saint-Marc, where they have sent armored vehicles and contingents of the Multinational Security Support Force, which is led by Kenya, with the aim of reinforcing police officers who are already on the ground carrying out operations to dismantle criminal gangs, the Police announced on Facebook.
The division commissioner of the Artibonite Police, Jean Louis Paul Ménard, was dismissed after the massacre for his inability to neutralize the armed gangs that control the region. Instead, they appointed Caleb Exantus, who took office yesterday.
A planned massacre in Haiti
Rumors of a planned massacre had been circulating in Pont-Sondé for at least two months, according to a report by the NGO National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (Rnddh), which expressed its dismay at the news on Saturday.
The armed men blamed the local population for joining forces with those of the members of “The Coalition” – a self-defense group – who are trying to stop criminal activities at the Gran Grif base and prevent them from profiting from the toll they have recently installed on the national road,” Rnddh revealed.
This massacre was characterized by murders, injuries caused by bullets and knives, the burning of houses, vehicles and checkpoints, and the forced displacement of the population of Pont-Sondé.
“People with babies and young children were also killed. The corpses lie on the ground, they have not yet been recovered by their relatives,” Rnddh denounced.
The authorities, unable to restore peace
The Pont-Sondé massacre adds to the thousands of victims of acts of violence against people and property perpetrated by armed people, who have enjoyed impunity for several years, the NGO laments in a document.
“The new state authorities put in place by the international community promised to restore order and security in the country,” however, “nothing has changed since they came to power.”
“They are content to empty the coffers of the State by granting themselves all kinds of advantages, while they let the population manage with the armed men,” he says, while assuring that “nothing is being done to regain control of the areas occupied by members of the armed organizations, disarm them, arrest them, try and condemn them in proportion to the acts of which they are accused.”
The Rnddh recommends that authorities actively search for armed members of the Gran Grif base, run by Luckson Elan.
It also calls for psychological and financial assistance programs to be launched for the entire population of Pont-Sondé, in particular the one that is currently in the public square Philippe Guerrier, very shocked by the attack and who could not take anything with him when he was fleeing the attack of the gang members.
International
Zelenski proposes the Minister of Economy, Sviridenko, as the new prime minister
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed on Monday the current Minister of Economy, Yulia Sviridenko, as the new prime minister to replace the current head of government, Denis Shmigal.
“I have proposed that Yulia Sviridenko lead the Government of Ukraine and significantly renew her work. I look forward to the presentation of the new Government action plan in the near future,” Zelenski wrote in X after meeting with Sviridenko.
The Ukrainian president spoke with the current Minister of Economy about “concrete measures to double Ukraine’s economic potential, to expand support programs for Ukrainians and to increase domestic weapons production.”
Zelenski and Sviridenko also reviewed the economic agreements signed by Ukraine at the international conference for the reconstruction of the country held in Rome on Thursday and last Friday.
Several Ukrainian media had advanced weeks ago that Sviridenko would soon replace Denis Shmigal as prime minister. At the head of the Economy portfolio, Sviridenko, 39, has been one of the most visible and active figures in the Government in recent months.
International
Zelenski talks to Kellogg in Kiev about sanctions against Russia and the sale of weapons to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Monday with the special representative for Ukraine of the White House, retired General Keith Kellogg, about the possibility of the US approving new sanctions against Russia and sending new weapons to Ukrainians that would be paid for with European money.
“We have talked about the road to peace and what we can do together from a practical point of view so that it is closer. This includes strengthening Ukraine’s air defense, joint production and acquisition of defensive weapons in collaboration with Europe,” Zelenski wrote in X about the content of the meeting.
The Ukrainian president also mentioned “sanctions against Russia and those who help it” among the actions with which the United States can contribute to ending the war.
“We have hope in the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will never stop if its ambitions, which are not reasonable, are not put to a hold of force,” Zelenski also wrote, who thanked Kellogg for visiting Ukraine and also showed his appreciation for the “important signs of support and positive decisions for both countries” that the US president has made public in recent days.
Kellogg has arrived in Kiev this Monday to spend this week in Ukraine and meet with local leaders. His visit comes after Trump has confirmed that he will send Patriot missile anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine for which several European countries will pay.
Trump has also recently been very critical of the attitude of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he reproaches for not intending to take down his arms despite the pro-peace messages that the Kremlin leader has been launching since the US began its efforts to mediate a negotiated solution to the conflict.
International
Patriot missiles, key anti-missile systems for the defense of the Ukrainian sky
The Patriot missiles, whose shipment to Ukraine has been announced in recent hours by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who specified that his European allies “will pay for it”, are one of the main anti-ballistic defense systems of the United States Army and serve to intercept attacks launched by adversaries by land and air.
The Patriot missile, designed in the late 1970s by Raytheon originally as an anti-aircraft defense weapon, was modified in the late 1980s to counter short-range ballistic missiles.
They were not tested in combat until 1991, during the Gulf War, when they achieved fame by becoming an almost infallible weapon to now intercept and destroy the Scud missiles used by Iraq, of Soviet manufacture and much slower.
His first operation, on February 18, 1991, was the shooting down at about 5,000 meters high of a Scud missile launched from Iraq against the Saudi base in Dahran.
The Patriot system is a 2.25-meter-long missile, powered by a single-stage rocket, which weighs almost a ton and operates at three times the speed of sound (Mach 3) with a range of 70 kilometers.
The Patriot that was used in the Gulf War was carrying a 90-kilogram explosive charge that exploded by a proximity detonator with such force that the explosion and splinters destroyed the missile against which it was fired.
Since then, the system has undergone modifications that have given it greater precision and that have allowed it to increase its effectiveness not only against ballistic missiles but also against the so-called “cruise”, which have their own navigation means and change course during the flight.
Currently, the Patriot ground-to-air guided weapons system can “eliminate aircraft, helicopters and high-speed ballistic and cruise missiles,” which is possible up to “a height of 20 kilometers and a distance of 60 kilometers.”
A Patriot missile costs about 3 million dollars – three times more than a NASAMS missile (Advanced National Ground-to-Air Missile System), another of the systems that Ukraine has been using.
The Patriot system comprises a radar station, a control system and the missile launchers.
In December 2022, the United States Government, under the presidency of Joe Biden, authorized the dispatch of the Patriot missile system to Ukraine.
The supply only included an anti-aircraft battery, which includes a radar that detects and follows the target, computers, generators and a control station, in addition to eight mini-shing with four missiles ready to fire.
The North American shipment was joined by two other Patriot systems from Germany and the Netherlands, which arrived in Ukraine in April 2023.
A month later, Russia claimed to have destroyed a Patriot anti-aircraft battery in Kiev, which, however, was operational again a few days later, according to the Pentagon.
In their first month of activity alone, Patriot systems sent to Ukraine shot down more than 80 targets, including seven Russian Kinzhal supersonic missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
The first Patriots shipments have been followed by others throughout the war, including those supplied by Spain and Romania to Ukraine.
With the arrival of Donald Trump to the US presidency last January, military aid from the United States was suspended, and although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showed his interest in buying ten Patriot systems, Trump disdained the possibility.
However, at the end of June Trump changed his mind and opened up to the possibility of supplying these missiles to Ukraine, and finally last Sunday he announced that he will send them, but that his European allies “will pay for it.”
Zelenski proposes the Minister of Economy, Sviridenko, as the new prime minister
Zelenski talks to Kellogg in Kiev about sanctions against Russia and the sale of weapons to Ukraine
Patriot missiles, key anti-missile systems for the defense of the Ukrainian sky
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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