International

Ecuador mourns the deaths of four teenagers after military detention

The four Ecuadorian teenagers apprehended by soldiers and found dead near a military base were buried on Wednesday in the port city of Guayaquil, amid outrage over the incident that has “grieved” the country, according to the government.

The families of the minors, including two brothers, held their wake in their modest homes in the populous Las Malvinas neighborhood in southern Guayaquil, where they were detained by a military patrol on December 8 for an alleged robbery, and had been missing ever since.

The Prosecutor’s Office reported on Tuesday that the bodies found on December 24 near an Air Force base in the town of Taura, about an hour from Guayaquil, belonged to the teenagers apprehended by 16 soldiers, who are now in prison, initially accused of forced disappearance, a crime punishable by up to 26 years in prison. Several hundred people attended the wakes of Saúl Arboleda, Steven Medina, and the brothers Josué and Ismael Arroyo (ages 11 to 15), in their homes, from where they had left to play soccer on the day they disappeared, according to relatives.

Some young people cried around the coffins of Josué and Ismael, placed together and covered with soccer shirts of their respective teams, as observed by AFP.

The Prosecutor’s Office revealed on Tuesday the identification of the charred bodies, shortly after the 16 military personnel under investigation for forced disappearance were ordered into 90-day preventive detention by a civil judge in Guayaquil, one of the main cities affected by drug-related violence, where the government has deployed the Armed Forces in the streets.

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Internacionales

Erik Prince Backs Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa in Fight Against Crime and “Narcoterrorism”

Erik Prince, the founder of the private security firm Blackwater (now called Academi), expressed his support for Daniel Noboa, the president and re-election candidate in Ecuador, and stated that he hopes to continue working together in the fight against crime.

“I hope Ecuador chooses law and order. We are here to help, to combat gangs, and to provide the tools for the government to restore law and order, peace, and prosperity,” said the former U.S. military member, who arrived in Guayaquil to participate in an operation alongside the Ministers of the Interior, John Reimberg, and Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo.

Prince did not hold back in his criticism of left-wing governments, such as Venezuela, which he described as a “narco-state with mass drug processing,” while also linking the party Revolución Ciudadana, of which the Correista Luisa González is a member (and who faces Noboa in the second electoral round), as an “ally of Nicolás Maduro.”

Minister Loffredo had already announced on Tuesday that a team from Prince would arrive in the country in the coming days to provide “advisory and training” to security forces, as part of the “strategic alliance” that President Noboa agreed upon with the Blackwater founder to fight against “narcoterrorism,” details of which have not been disclosed.

International

Javier Milei vows to work ‘side by side’ with the U.S. on trade rules

Determined to work “side by side” with the United States, Argentine President Javier Milei announced in Mar-a-Lagothat his government will modify trade regulations to meet the requirements of Donald Trump’s newly imposed tariffs.

Milei arrived in Florida amid the trade war triggered by the latest round of tariff hikes announced by the Republican leader. While many countries are considering retaliation, Milei’s ultraliberal Argentina has opted to adapt instead.

“Argentina will move forward in adjusting its regulations to comply with the reciprocal tariff proposal drafted by President Trump,” Milei stated at the Gala of American Patriots, organized by the Make America Clean Again (MACA) Foundation and the We Fund the Blue NGO, according to his office.

He further explained that Argentina has already met nine out of the 16 necessary requirements and has instructed his administration to comply with the remaining ones in order to resolve trade asymmetries with the U.S. in a short time frame.

International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”