International

FAO: Latin America facing “very worrying” scenario due to high numbers of hunger and obesity

Latin America and the Caribbean face a “very worrying, but with positive elements” panorama, given the 41 million people who suffer from hunger and a third of the population dealing with obesity problems, said this Monday in Honduras the deputy director general and regional representative of the FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mario Lubetkin.

“It is worrying because we still have 41 million people who go hungry, that is dramatic if we think that in Latin America there are people who do not eat,” Lubetkin stressed to EFE after participating in Honduras in the inauguration of a meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

However, Lubetkin stressed that in the last two years, hunger has decreased, which has allowed 4.5 million people to emerge from food poverty; which “forces” countries to strengthen their public policies to further reduce these figures.

Latin America and the Caribbean also face “bad food”, a problem that affects 140 million people, said the representative, who highlighted that the region has the capacity to produce food for 1.3 billion people.

Lubetkin said that following a healthy diet carries a daily cost of “$3.96” per person in Latin America and the Caribbean, after highlighting that the region has made progress in reducing hunger but records an increase in overweight.

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CEL

“Almost a third of the region’s population is currently in the obesity scenario,” a problem that also affects “8% of children over 5 years of age,” he added.

In this sense, Lubetkin urged the region to look for “solutions” to eradicate both hunger and overweight and climate change, and warned that Latin America is beginning to fragment into three different realities, something that cannot be allowed.

“Not the whole region is in the same scenario and that is an alarm signal because today Latin America begins to divide into three Latin Americas, in other regions of the world there are subregions with different realities and we did not have that,” he explained.

Neither South America nor Central America can “allow there to be another subregion, to go backwards because it will affect us all,” the official insisted, after calling on the nations to “act together.”

Likewise, Lubetkin demanded greater investments to face climate change, strengthen the region’s agri-food systems and reduce food waste.

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Faced with the seriousness of climate change, he said that it is necessary to implement “insurance” for producers that guarantees them the possibility of future production, even in adverse situations, he emphasized.

Finally, the FAO representative asked to create “new conditions” to improve food security in the region and assured that the value of food lost between harvest and sale exceeds “a quarter of all food production”.

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.