International
Noboa sends to Parliament reform to re-establish foreign military bases in Ecuador
The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, sent this Thursday to the National Assembly (Parliament) the constitutional reform project to open the door to the re-establishment of foreign military bases in Ecuador, prohibited by the Constitution promulgated during the term of former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), which forced the United States to leave the Manta base in 2009.
Noboa had already announced last September its intention to promote this constitutional reform to allow the installation of foreign permanent military bases in the country again, as part of its actions in the “internal armed conflict” that it declared at the beginning of the year against organized crime.
The National Assembly must process the constitutional reform project, which if approved must be endorsed in a referendum whose celebration could coincide with one of the voting dates of the general elections scheduled for early 2025.
The reason for the re-establishment of foreign bases in Ecuador
The Presidency of Ecuador assured in a statement that it has the favorable resolution of the Constitutional Court so that this change in the magna carta is processed as a partial reform, considering the court that it does not restrict constitutional rights and guarantees, but refers only to security in Ecuador.”
“Now the process will pass into the hands of the Legislature, who must decide which side of history it will be on regarding the proposal that will strengthen international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and crime,” said the Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency.
Following the announcement of this approach made by Noboa, the United States Embassy in Ecuador clarified in September that its Government does not plan to request authorization to establish a permanent military base in the Andean country.
Agreements between Ecuador and the United States
Ecuador and the United States currently maintain maritime cooperation agreements for the capture of vessels that transport large amounts of cocaine from the Ecuadorian coast to North America.
Some of these prohibitions have been made in recent days by the United States Coast Guard in international waters, to later hand over the detainees and narcotics to the Ecuadorian authorities within their jurisdictional waters, as the Ecuadorian Navy pointed out in a recent statement.
Likewise, both countries also recently signed a commitment act for the delivery to Ecuador of two 33.5-meter-long patrol boats of the United States Coast Guard, on the condition that Ecuador takes charge of their reconditioning and transport.
Noboa’s strategy
Since the beginning of the year, Noboa raised the fight against organized crime to the category of “internal armed conflict”, with which he went on to catalog these gangs as terrorist groups and non-state belligerent actors, while decreeing a state of emergency with which, among other actions, he militarized the prisons controlled by these organizations, which he also points out for being related to drug trafficking.
Surrounded by Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest producers of cocaine, with several ports on its coasts, such as Guayaquil, and a dollarized economy, Ecuador has become in recent years an important step for the trafficking of that drug that is mainly directed to Europe and North America.
Ecuador is listed as the third country in the world that confiscates the most drugs – only behind Colombia and the United States – with about 200 tons of narcotics per year that have been seized in each of the last three years, while in 2024 it has already exceeded that figure.
At the same time, Ecuador was positioned in 2023 as the country with the most homicides per capita in Latin America, with a rate of 47.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in 2024 the authorities claim to have reduced homicides by 18%.
International
Concerns persist as Pope Francis faces complications amid hospitalization
Pope Francis, who remains hospitalized in critical condition due to pneumonia affecting both lungs, had a good night and is “resting,” the Vatican reported on Monday morning as concerns over the 88-year-old pontiff continue to grow.
“The night went well; the pope slept and is resting,” stated a Vatican communiqué on the 11th day of his hospitalization, the longest since his election in 2013. “The complexity of his clinical condition and the time required for pharmaceutical treatments to take effect necessitate caution regarding his prognosis,” the report added.
While his anemia has improved and his thrombocytopenia—a decrease in blood platelet count—has remained stable thanks to blood transfusions received on Saturday, “some blood tests indicate a mild initial kidney insufficiency, which is currently under control,” according to his medical team.
International
Armed group kills eight in Mexico’s most violent state, Guanajuato
An armed group shot and killed eight people in the state of Guanajuato, the most violent region in Mexico, authorities reported on Sunday.
The victims—five women and three men—were in the street when they were gunned down on Saturday night, according to the state prosecutor’s office. The attack took place in the municipality of Cortázar, where in 2023, armed men stormed a water park and killed seven people, including a child.
Also in Guanajuato, on Sunday, authorities arrested Christian Alejandro “N,” known as “Cholo,” whose last name has been withheld due to ongoing legal proceedings.
The suspect, captured by the National Guard, has been identified by local media as a top hitman leader for the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel.
Guanajuato accounted for the highest percentage of homicides in Mexico in January, making up 13.3% of the total, according to official figures.
The state, home to major industrial and tourist hubs—including manufacturing plants for Mazda and Toyota—has become a battleground between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, recently designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, and the Santa Rosa de Lima gang.
International
Newborn dies after being thrown from hotel window in Paris
A newborn died on Monday in Paris after being thrown from a hotel window by its mother, an 18-year-old American student, with the umbilical cord still attached, according to the prosecutor’s office and a police source.
The young woman threw the baby from the second floor of a hotel in eastern Paris, the prosecutor’s office stated. “The newborn received emergency medical care but did not survive,” it confirmed, as first reported by Paris Match. The infant was pronounced dead at 7:45 AM (6:45 AM GMT) at the Robert Debré Hospital in Paris, a police source told AFP.
Authorities were alerted after the baby was discovered wrapped in a cloth, with the umbilical cord still attached, according to the police source. The mother had given birth in a second-floor hotel room before throwing the baby out of the window, the source added.
Officials have launched a homicide investigation and have taken the mother into custody. She was reportedly part of a group of young adults traveling through Europe.
The young woman was transported to the hospital for surgery following the childbirth, the police source said.
According to Paris Match, the mother was in Paris on a study trip with other American students.
Concerns persist as Pope Francis faces complications amid hospitalization
Armed group kills eight in Mexico’s most violent state, Guanajuato
Newborn dies after being thrown from hotel window in Paris
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
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