International

Thousands of people in Chile ask Boric for “concrete actions” after a year of war in Gaza

Thousands of people in Chile joined this Saturday in Santiago the global mobilization for the anniversary of the war in the Gaza Strip and asked the Government of Gabriel Boric for “concrete actions and not just words” and urged him to break diplomatic relations with Israel.

The march, which started from the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center and in which chants such as “Israel kills and the Yankees sponsor” were heard, was called by the Palestinian community in Chile, considered the largest outside the Arab world, with about 500,000 people.

“Our country has always stood by Palestine and has always carried the name of human rights ahead. But we need concrete actions and not just words,” Nadia Gharib, of Palestinian descent and who attended the march with her family, told EFE.

What is the position of the president of Chile on Gaza?

Boric, a renowned defender of the Palestine cause, has repeatedly described the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip as “barbarism” and “criminal violence,” which has already left more than 41,000 people killed, mostly civilians.

During his speech at the last UN General Assembly, the president urged to “rebel against the double standard in human rights” and said that he refuses “to choose between Hamas terrorism or the massacre and genocide of Netanyahu’s Israel.”

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“We don’t have to choose between barbarisms. I choose humanity,” added Boric, who has so far refused to break diplomatic relations with Israel.

In January, Chile, along with Mexico, presented a request to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate probable war crimes in the context of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Chile also formally joined on September 12 the accusation of genocide against Israel that South Africa presented before the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations that is also located in The Hague.

More forcefulness against Israel

For Felipe, another demonstrator, the actions carried out so far are not enough and he asked to go further: “Any type of economic, military and political relationship with a State that is complying with a real genocide must be cut. And that is the first point in the table of all of us who have focused today on this mobilization,” he added.

A few meters later, the embroiderer Rosa Esther carried with a classmate a loom with children’s faces and the slogan “The children of Gaza are not a threat.”

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“We, through embroidery, capture that children are not a threat. Enough of making these innocent children suffer for a fight of egos, of adults,” he told EFE.

Chile recognized Palestine as a “free, independent and sovereign” state in 2011, during the first government of the conservative Sebastián Piñera (between 2010 and 2014).

International

Winter Storm Fern Leaves 30 Dead and Over One Million Without Power Across the U.S.

The massive winter storm Fern, bringing polar temperatures, battered large portions of the United States for a third consecutive day on Monday, leaving at least 30 people dead, more than one million households without electricity, and thousands of flights grounded.

In the Great Lakes region, residents awoke to extreme cold, with temperatures dropping below -20°C. Forecasts indicate that conditions are expected to worsen in the coming days as an Arctic air mass moves south, particularly across the northern Great Plains and other central regions, where wind chills could plunge to -45°C, temperatures capable of causing frostbite within minutes.

Across the country, heavy snowfall exceeding 30 centimeters in roughly 20 states triggered widespread power outages. According to PowerOutage.com, nearly 800,000 customers remained without electricity on Monday morning, most of them in the southern United States.

In Tennessee, where ice brought down power lines, approximately 250,000 customers were still without power. Outages also affected more than 150,000 customers in Mississippi and over 100,000 in Louisiana, as utility crews struggled to restore service amid dangerous conditions.

International

Spain approves plan to regularize up to 500,000 migrants in Historic Shift

In November 2024, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a reform of the country’s immigration regulations aimed at regularizing 300,000 migrants per year over a three-year period, in an effort to counter population aging in a country where births have fallen by 25.6% since 2014, according to official data.

Going against the trend in much of Europe, Spain’s left-wing government has now approved an exceptional migrant regularization plan that could benefit up to 500,000 people, most of them from Latin America.

The measure will allow the regularization of around “half a million people” who have been living in Spain for at least five months, arrived before December 31, 2025, and have no criminal record, Migration Minister Elma Saiz explained on public television.

The plan, approved on Tuesday by the Council of Ministers, establishes that applications will be processed between April and June 30, enabling beneficiaries to work in any sector and anywhere in the country, Saiz said.

“Today is a historic day for our country. We are strengthening a migration model based on human rights, integration, and one that is compatible with economic growth and social cohesion,” the minister later stated at a press conference.

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The socialist government of Pedro Sánchez stands out within the European Union for its migration policy, contrasting with the tightening of immigration measures across much of the bloc amid pressure from far-right movements.

Central America

Honduras swears in conservative president Asfura after disputed election

Conservative politician Nasry Asfura assumed the presidency of Honduras on Tuesday with an agenda closely aligned with the United States, a shift that could strain the country’s relationship with China as he seeks to confront the economic and security challenges facing the poorest and most violent nation in Central America.

Asfura’s rise to power, backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, marks the end of four years of left-wing rule and secures Trump another regional ally amid the advance of conservative governments in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina.

The 67-year-old former mayor and construction businessman was sworn in during an austere ceremony at the National Congress, following a tightly contested election marred by opposition allegations of fraud and Trump’s threat to cut U.S. aid if his preferred candidate did not prevail.

Grateful for Washington’s support, Asfura—who is of Palestinian descent—traveled to the United States to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, before visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We need to strengthen relations with our most important trading partner,” Asfura said after being declared the winner of the November 30 election by a narrow margin, following a tense vote count that lasted just over three weeks.