At Least 216 Dead In Colombia's Strongest Quake In Years

At Least 216 Dead in Colombia’s Strongest Quake in Years COLOMBIA Colombia Rescuers continued to search for thousands of missing people Tuesday after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia earlier this week, killing at least 216 people, injuring almost 2,600 more, leaving nearly 4,000 unaccounted for and collapsing structures across the country. The quake struck shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time Monday, hitting cities including Cali, Pereira, Quibdó and Manizales, with tremors also felt in neighboring Ecuador and Panama. The US Geological Survey said the epicenter was near San José del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people in the Chocó region, about 250 miles west of Bogotá. The Colombian Geological Service described it as the country’s strongest recorded earthquake “in the 21st century.” Several aftershocks followed. Officials said around 1,600 buildings were damaged or had collapsed across the country. In Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city, search teams and civilians formed lines to remove concrete and rubble from destroyed buildings. Pereira, another of the hardest-hit cities, was plunged into darkness Monday evening as volunteers searched for survivors. Authorities had little information about the full extent of damage in Chocó, one of Colombia’s poorest regions, where dense jungle and limited road access are complicating efforts to assess the toll. The disaster presents the first major challenge for President Abelardo de la Espriella, who was sworn in over the weekend and had been in office for only three days. De la Espriella declared a state of emergency and said he had personally taken charge of the response, mobilizing the military and police. The earthquake follows two powerful quakes in neighboring Venezuela in late June, killing more than 6,300 people and destroying hundreds of buildings. International assistance began mobilizing Monday night, with the US State Department announcing $15.5 million for emergency shelter, food and other aid. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Chilean President José Antonio Kast also offered assistance.

Iran's IRGC Plans To Launch Attacks In The US!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9lNAlMITxE

Argentina, U.S. In Diplomatic Fight with Brasil Over Election Interference

Argentina, US in Diplomatic Fight With Brazil Over Election Interference BRAZIL Brazil Brazilian fears of interference in its upcoming presidential election are causing a severe diplomatic brouhaha on two continents, with the country recalling its ambassador to Argentina and accusing the US of attempting to manipulate the vote results in favor of the current president’s right-wing opponent. On Tuesday, Brazil recalled its ambassador and downgraded its diplomatic relations with Argentina following a fresh round of remarks by Argentine President Javier Milei criticizing his Brazilian counterpart, leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula. At a rally over the weekend in the Brazilian city of São Paulo to launch the campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro and Lula’s main opponent in Brazil's October presidential vote, the Argentine leader referred to Lula as a "thief." He also criticized Brazil's Supreme Court over its decision to sentence Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years for his role in a failed coup attempt after he lost the 2022 elections to Lula. Lula reacted to the comments by saying, "In Brazil, we do not accept anyone sticking their nose where it doesn't belong." Meanwhile, in a separate diplomatic dispute over the elections, the Trump administration on Tuesday revoked the visa of Brazil's ambassador after Brazil denied visas to two US diplomats on the grounds that Washington was seeking to interfere in Brazil's elections. The US is also upset by what it sees as Brazil stalling on approving President Donald Trump’s nominee to become ambassador in Brasilia. Trump has had a fractious relationship with the Lula administration, which has opposed him on numerous policies, but also because of Trump’s close relationship with Jair Bolsonaro. Trump imposed sanctions on Brazilian officials and tariffs to punish the country for its prosecution of the former president and his allies. As a result, Lula, who was recently confirmed as his party's candidate in the upcoming presidential vote, has increasingly portrayed himself as a defender of Brazilian sovereignty against foreign interference.

Brasilian President Lula To Run Again

Brazilian President Lula to Run Again to ‘Protect Fatherland’ From Foreign Interference BRAZIL Brazil Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched his bid for a fourth and final term in the upcoming presidential election over the weekend, casting the election as a choice between national independence and submission to foreign interests. The president, 80, also known as Lula, was officially confirmed as the candidate for the leftist Workers’ Party in October’s elections, in what will be his seventh race for the country’s top job. The election is expected to pit Lula against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup after he lost the 2022 elections to Lula. Right-wing political leaders such as Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Argentina’s Javier Milei and US President Donald Trump have expressed support for Bolsonaro’s campaign. In a speech announcing his run, Lula promised to protect Brazil’s reserves of rare earths and other critical minerals from foreign control. “I want to be prepared, so that no one invades this country,” he said. He also warned against foreign interference in the election, particularly by the Trump administration, casting himself as the defender of the fatherland. For the past 18 months, Lula’s popular support has grown as Brazilians have soured on the Bolsonaros after the Trump administration, at their urging, imposed steep tariffs on Brazil and sanctioned its officials to protest the legal proceedings against Jair Bolsonaro. Flávio Bolsonaro has requested the Trump administration delay its new tariffs on Brazil as he believes it will help Lula, a conclusion analysts agree with. More recently, while Lula is still ahead in the polls, the gap has narrowed significantly: One recent poll showed that 46 percent of Brazilian voters support the current president and 45 percent favor Bolsonaro. Other recent polls show Lula ahead by more than 10 percentage points if the Oct. 4 election goes to a second round, to be held on Oct. 25. That would occur if neither candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote. The election, meanwhile, is being closely watched across Latin America, where several countries including Peru, Colombia and Chile have recently ejected left-wing governments in favor of conservative leaders aligned with the US.

Ecuador "Canal Of Death"

Ecuador’s ‘Canal of Death’ Underscores How Its War on Crime Is Flailing ECUADOR Ecuador The canal in the Nueva Prosperina district of Guayaquil on Ecuador’s western coast was built more than a decade ago for agricultural irrigation, forming part of a 45-kilometer aqueduct. It was once a quiet, peaceful, if polluted, waterway in a city once known as the "Pearl of the Pacific." These days, the bodies of more than 100 murder victims thrown into the canal's murky waters have resurfaced – stripped naked or stuffed into burlap sacks, often bound and showing signs of torture and sometimes decapitated. Locally, the waterway has been dubbed the “Canal of Death,” a dumping ground for the bodies of drug runners, their associates and their many unfortunate victims in what has become the most violent neighborhood in the city. The waterway has become a symbol of the massive drug-related crime problem that continues to plague Ecuador, a country that over the past few years has become a haven for cartels seeking to ship their narcotics and other illicit products to Asia, Europe and North America. “(Ecuador has become) a critical link in the global drug trade,” said CNN. As a result, “Ecuador is turning into a war zone.” The consequences of that role are stark. Six Ecuadorian cities were ranked among the top 10 most dangerous in the world in 2025, according to the Mexico-based Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice. Three years ago, Ecuadorans hailed the arrival of President Daniel Noboa, who promised to crack down on crime. But analysts say that his tough-on-crime efforts haven’t been as impactful as Ecuadorans had hoped. “Once one of South America’s safest countries, Ecuador has in under a decade become its most violent, transforming into a hub of the drug trade to Europe,” wrote the International Crisis Group. “President Daniel Noboa’s iron-fist approach brought murder rates down at first, but violence has since soared again and crime continues unabated.” It’s also spreading to regions in Ecuador that had long managed to escape it. And as analysts note, it’s changing Ecuadoran society and its economy. Now, many people are afraid to go out to bars or restaurants or go shopping. It’s now become normal to refrain from greeting people in the street. As a result, businesses are struggling. Attacking the crime issue, meanwhile, is coming with costs. Human rights activists, for instance, have raised concerns about Ecuadoran security forces cracking down on drug gangs, often with the help of American military advisers. Human Rights Watch found that Ecuadoran security forces “tortured four Colombian farm workers during a joint operation with the US,” wrote the Miami Herald. The troops beat them, shocked them with electricity and conducted mock executions without ever charging the workers with a crime. “The two countries’ security relationship is deepening at a moment when both governments have engaged in serious human rights violations fueled by their insistence on framing their confrontations with organized crime groups as a kind of war,” wrote Human Rights Watch. This close cooperation could take a political toll on Noboa, who has pushed his close relationship with US President Donald Trump. Last year, Ecuadoran voters rejected Noboa’s proposal to allow foreign military bases in the country, illustrating their reluctance to allow him to take the alliance with the US military and private contractors too far. Despite that referendum and as the human rights activists’ complaints show, Noboa’s administration is working more closely than ever with US authorities, according to InSight Crime. American officials recently added Chone Killers, an Ecuadorian gang, to the US list of foreign terrorist organizations, freeing up funds, enabling sanctions and giving them authority to help local security forces hunt down its members, InSight Crime added. Meanwhile, Noboa’s administration is insisting that crime rates are falling. But Ecuadorans like Luis of Quevedo, in the agricultural province of Los Ríos, aren’t buying that. He says that he grew up in a peaceful, rural region surrounded by banana, plantain and coffee farms. Now, he and his family fear for their lives: He was kidnapped. So was his elderly father-in-law in a different incident. After paying ransoms, armed men came to their home and began shooting because they said they miscalculated and wanted more money. “We want to think that life goes on as usual,” he told El País. “But we no longer have that peaceful life we ​​once had.”

Mexico Begins Legal Action In US Over Deaths Of Citizens in ICE Custody

Mexico Begins Legal Action in US Over Deaths of Citizens in ICE Custody and During Raids MEXICO Mexico formally asked US state attorneys general this week to open criminal investigations into the deaths of Mexican citizens in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody or during raids, marking its strongest response yet to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the move Tuesday and said the government also plans to file a similar complaint with the US Department of Justice. The United States is not legally required to act on the requests. The ministry added that the government has also sent cease-and-desist letters to detention facilities where Mexicans have died, including California’s Adelanto center, where four citizens reportedly died. Officials described the letters as a first step toward “the eventual filing of civil lawsuits” against the companies operating the detention centers in an effort to stop alleged human rights violations. The move comes a week after Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed during an ICE raid in Houston. Salgado Araujo had no criminal record and had lived in the US for 35 years. According to Mexico’s government, 17 Mexican migrants have died during immigration enforcement operations or while in custody since US President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025. The complaints mark an escalation in Sheinbaum’s response to Washington’s immigration policies. Earlier this year, Mexico instructed its diplomatic missions in the United States to regularly check on Mexican nationals held in ICE custody. In addition to Tuesday’s complaints, Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Álvarez sent a letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk asking his office to seek information from US authorities and assess whether the deaths are consistent with Washington’s international obligations.

In Venezuela Earthquake Survivors Say They Can Only Count On themselves

In Venezuela, Earthquake Survivors Say They Can Only Count on Themselves VENEZUELA Venezuela Single mother Astrid Arnaude, 35, and her eight-year-old daughter, Jade Hernández, endured 60 hours trapped under the rubble after two earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24. They distracted themselves by talking to each other. “We had deep conversations about spirituality and life,” Arnaude told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “(Jade) told me, ‘I don’t want to suffer, Mama. If we die, I don’t want that we suffer.’ And that was like the faith that maintained us, that allowed us to hold on through so much.” Luckily, they survived thanks to rescue teams and volunteers, including heroes like Darwin Rodriguez, a mechanic nicknamed Culebrita (Little Snake) for his skill in slithering into tight spaces to save his fellow citizens. “I’m not afraid,” Rodriguez, 32, said in an interview with the Guardian about his rescue missions. “But you need to be brave to do this.” The 7.2-magnitude and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck within a minute of each other around 100 miles west of the capital of Caracas around dinnertime. The quakes brought down buildings, ignited fires and trapped thousands in rubble. By mid-July, more than 4,500 people had been confirmed dead. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed office after American special forces seized her predecessor, former President Nicolás Maduro, in early January, declared a state of emergency and sent appeals to US President Donald Trump for assistance. About 2,000 US service members supported the relief effort. These efforts have made little impact on the ground, however. Years of economic mismanagement, corruption and poor oversight under Rodríguez and Maduro’s socialist governments, and the toll of American sanctions imposed over alleged corruption and repression, have eroded public services. It’s not clear if the Venezuelan government can weather the housing and public health crisis that it is now facing. Currently, thousands of survivors remain outdoors, afraid of damaged homes, looting and heavy rains. Those in makeshift, crowded camps face disease outbreaks, doctors warned. Maria Piñate, a 64-year-old pensioner, was living in an apartment in downtown Caracas when the earthquakes hit. “We don’t dare go back in – the walls will fall on top of us,” she told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, pointing to cracks in the façade of the building. Living in her car, she is better off than many of her neighbors, whose tents fill with water when the heavy rains fall. “There are lots of people – far too many people – who have truly lost everything,” she added. Following the disaster, the future of tens of thousands of people is up in the air. Many have lost homes and jobs in a country where the majority was already struggling to survive. Meanwhile, many Venezuelans are furious at the government’s tepid response, pointing at a failure to mobilize the heavy machinery and manpower needed to rescue survivors, and at poorly built public housing, insufficient safety regulations and disaster preparation. They say the first responders were fishermen, doctors and émigrés returning from abroad to help. Citing what she called the government’s incompetence, corruption, and slow disaster response, exiled Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado called on the Venezuelan and American governments to allow her to return and help lead a transition in a time of tragedy. Nearly half of Venezuelans said holding new elections was more urgent than rebuilding, Bloomberg reported, citing polls. More than 63 percent disapproved of Rodríguez’s job performance. Whether a new government can solve the enormous problems the country currently faces is an open question. At the moment, many Venezuelans say they feel deserted and can only rely on themselves. As a result, neighbors, friends and strangers – even those abroad – organized themselves, conducted rescues and provided shelter, food and hope to many hurt by the quakes. They realized, they said, they only have each other to count on. “Where is the government, the president, the helicopters, the aid?” asked Sabrina Carranza, 21, who lost her home in the disaster, in an interview with the Washington Post. “The police come, take pictures and leave. They are making fun of us.”