Medellín, Colombia – Colombian politician Germán Vargas Lleras died Friday in the capital Bogotá, according to Semana magazine. His death brings an end to a political career spanning more than 30 years, including as a senator, minister, vice president, and two-time presidential candidate.
On Monday, Vargas Lleras was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Cancer Treatment and Research Center in Bogotá. He was later transferred to another hospital where he
Medellín, Colombia – Colombian politician Germán Vargas Lleras died Friday in the capital Bogotá, according to Semana magazine. His death brings an end to a political career spanning more than 30 years, including as a senator, minister, vice president, and two-time presidential candidate.
On Monday, Vargas Lleras was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Cancer Treatment and Research Center in Bogotá. He was later transferred to another hospital where he lost a battle with cancer he had been fighting for years. He was 64 years old.
Political career
Born in Bogotá on February 19, 1962, Vargas Lleras grew up in a political family. His grandfather, former President Carlos Lleras Restrepo, was a pillar of the country’s Liberal Party.
He would go on to make a name for himself on his own, serving as a city councilman, congressman, minister, and ultimately leader of the Cambio Radical political party.
Vargas Lleras first ran for president 2009. He traveled the country, participated in debates, and garnered nearly 1.5 million votes. It wasn’t enough to win, but he finished third.
The winner of the election, Juan Manuel Santos, would later call on him to serve as a minister in his cabinet.
In 2014, Santos chose him as his running mate for reelection. Together they won in the runoff, and Vargas Lleras took office as vice president on August 7 of that year.
Once his term as vice president ended, Vargas Lleras did not sit idle. In 2018, he ran again for president, this time with the “Mejor Vargas Lleras” coalition backed by Cambio Radical.
His policy proposals included infrastructure, housing, and a more efficient public administration.
In the first round, he received over 1.4 million votes but finished fourth, knocking him out of the runoff race. His campaign stated that he would not officially endorse either of the remaining candidates, Iván Duque and Gustavo Petro.
Over time, he kept a lower profile, though he never completely stepped away from politics.
During his career, Vargas Lleras would survive two assassination attempts and a “parapolitics” scandal in which he was accused, but never charged, with benefitting politically from his connections to warlord “Martin Llanos”.
Health issues
In his later years, his health gradually got in the way of politics; reportedly, he suffered from a benign meningioma, a tumor in the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, which was detected in 2016 after a fainting spell.
On March 11, former President Álvaro Uribe commented on his condition, saying, “My best wishes for the health of Dr. Germán Vargas Lleras, a distinguished patriot whom I respect despite our occasional disagreements.”
During his final months, the former vice president stayed out of the public eye, though he briefly reappeared on March 3 in a video concerning the March 8 parliamentary elections.
Upon learning of his death, former President Santos wrote on X that he is “deeply saddened” and described Vargas Lleras as “an exceptional colleague.”
Current President Gustavo Petro also mourned the political leader’s death: “Both in the Senate and on the campaign trail, he behaved like a gladiator. As someone who often disagreed with him, I regret that his seriousness in debate will be lost,” he said on his X account.
Bogotá, Colombia – Authorities in Colombia confirmed the discovery of the body of Mateo Pérez Rueda, an independent journalist and Political Science student at the National University in Medellín, who had traveled to Briceño, Antioquia, to document the security situation in that region, where the 36th Front of the dissidents of the former FARC operates.
The body has been released to the family following dialogues between organized crime groups and humanitarian organizations, including the
Bogotá, Colombia – Authorities in Colombia confirmed the discovery of the body of Mateo Pérez Rueda, an independent journalist and Political Science student at the National University in Medellín, who had traveled to Briceño, Antioquia, to document the security situation in that region, where the 36th Front of the dissidents of the former FARC operates.
The body has been released to the family following dialogues between organized crime groups and humanitarian organizations, including the ICRC. The family wasn’t allowed to enter the zone either.
“He was murdered by Jhon Edison Chalá Torrejano, from the Darío Gutiérrez front, which is a divided group from the 36th Front, fragmented into various criminal groups,” stated President Gustavo Petro through his X account.
The 25-year-old reporter had become an important voice for the communities of northern Antioquia, founding and serving as the director of the digital media outlet El Confidente de Yarumal.
In this role, he covered issues related to organized crime, administrative corruption, public order, security, and local politics in municipalities where organized crime and illegal armed groups operate actively, such as Valdivia, and Ituango. Because of this, he faced legal prosecutions, conciliation summons, and other hostile acts against him.
The country entered into an active search for Mateo following the report of his disappearance on May 5 in the rural hamlet of Palmichal, where local residents and relatives of the victim had reported that the journalist had been murdered by members of the criminal group led by alias Calarcá Córdoba.
Alias Calarcá is a guerrilla leader participating in President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” negotiations, and his arrest warrant was suspended by the government to facilitate talks with the armed group.
According to local media, Mateo contacted several officials seeking someone to accompany him to a rural area to get information about the ongoing armed conflict in the region.
Reports state that authorities and neighbors reportedly recommended that he should not leave the urban center, as no one, even government officials, have guaranteed safety going into these sectors; the journalist reportedly ignored these warnings and set off on his motorcycle.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez initially handled the case as a disappearance, but Mateo’s loved ones pointed out that it could be a kidnapping and murder just a few hours after losing contact with him, when his vehicle, wallet, cell phone, and keys were found abandoned.
Sánchez also offered a 300 million COP (around $80,500 USD) reward for information leading to those responsible for Mateo’s suspected murder.
This situation also highlights the ongoing risks for those practicing journalism in Colombia, mostly in rural territories and conflict zones.
According to the FLIP, a press freedom foundation, since 2022, armed groups have attacked the press 387 times, using threats and displacement to force silence.
São Paulo, Brazil – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump met yesterday at the White House.
The meeting lasted about three hours and was attended by Brazilian ministers, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representatives.
While the two leaders have disagreed on a range of issues – from tariffs to extraditions – since Trump took office last year, they reported that the meeting was productive.
“Just concluded my meeti
São Paulo, Brazil – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump met yesterday at the White House.
The meeting lasted about three hours and was attended by Brazilian ministers, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representatives.
While the two leaders have disagreed on a range of issues – from tariffs to extraditions – since Trump took office last year, they reported that the meeting was productive.
“Just concluded my meeting with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the very dynamic President of Brazil,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “We discussed many topics, including Trade and, specifically, Tariffs. The meeting went very well.”
The representatives from both countries still have meetings scheduled to discuss other topics that have not been publicly disclosed. Other meetings will be scheduled in the coming months as needed, the Republican president noted.
For his part, Lula provided more details in a press conference after the meeting, which was broadcast online.
According to the South American president, he proposed creating a working group for representatives of both countries to discuss trade differences over the next 30 days.
As was the case with many countries, Brazil was in the crosshairs of Trump’s aggressive trade policy for much of last year.
In July 2025, the U.S. imposed a 40% tariff on Brazilian imports. After months of negotiating, the White House withdrew the tariffs in November, keeping just a 10% tax.
The Brazilian government aims to remove the remaining tariffs and, in addition, discuss the investigation opened by the Americans regarding Pix (an instant payment method created by the Central Bank of Brazil). The investigation arose because of Section 301, a provision of the United States Trade Act of 1974 that allows the American government to investigate and retaliate against countries that adopt trade practices considered unfair.
Also on social media, Lula commented on the meeting between the two. The Brazilian said that he left the meeting with the perception of having taken an important step between the two countries, and that Brazil is prepared to discuss, in addition to tariffs, critical minerals, the fight against organized crime and drug and arms trafficking.
“We have no veto or forbidden subject. The only thing we will not give up is our democracy and our sovereignty,” Lula concluded.
Featured image: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump met at the White House on May 6, 2026.
High-ranking members of the Trump administration have intensified their rhetoric towards Cuba in recent days, with President Donald Trump himself joking last week that the U.S. Navy would attack the communist island after it has completed its operations against Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that Cuba was a “failed regime” run by “incompetent communists” while dismissing the significance of a months-long U.S. fuel blockade against
High-ranking members of the Trump administration have intensified their rhetoric towards Cuba in recent days, with President Donald Trump himself joking last week that the U.S. Navy would attack the communist island after it has completed its operations against Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that Cuba was a “failed regime” run by “incompetent communists” while dismissing the significance of a months-long U.S. fuel blockade against the island nation of 10 million.
The threats, however, are not merely rhetorical. Trump also signed an executive order on Friday introducing further sanctions against the Cuban government.
These measures target officials deemed to be working in the security, energy, defense, financial services and mining sectors of the Cuban economy. The order also authorized secondary sanctions against anyone accused of facilitating transactions with these officials.
This weekend’s announcement marks the latest example of a series of punitive measures that the U.S. has introduced against the island since the beginning of the year.
In addition to restricting the island’s oil supply, the U.S. has declared Cuba an extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and pressured countries in the region to cancel decades-old medical agreements with Cuba.
Domestic attempts to prevent military action fail
Some members of the Democratic party, however, have been urging the Trump administration to show restraint towards Cuba.
Last week, the majority-Republican Senate blocked a Democrat-backed resolution which would have prevented Trump from authorizing military action against Cuba without congressional approval.
The resolution lost by a vote of 51-47, with all Senators voting along party lines with the exception of Republican Senators Rand Paul and Susan Collins, who supported the resolution, and Democrat John Fetterman, who opposed it.
This is not the first time that Democrats have attempted to limit Trump’s capacity to circumvent congress and approve military action abroad; the U.S. Senate has rejected resolutions seeking to block U.S. military action against Venezuela and further action in Iran.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine cited the economic blockade as a key reason for his sponsorship of the resolution, calling the sanctions tantamount to an “act of war”.
Republican Senator Rick Scott, who has been an outspoken supporter of U.S.-backed political regime change on the island, introduced the point of order which stopped the resolution’s adoption.
Scott asserted that the resolution was unnecessary as Trump has thus far not deployed any troops to the island and, this notwithstanding, argued that “President Trump is doing everything he can to bring back freedom and democracy all across Latin America, and we should do everything we can to support him”.
Probability of political conflict grows
The Cuban and U.S. governments are currently negotiating a potential solution to the brewing tensions between the two nations, but sources close to the Trump administration’s negotiating team have revealed that the U.S. sees the removal of current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel as key to any successful deal.
However, the Cuban government has been emphatic in its opposition to any form of U.S.-enabled political change on the island: Díaz-Canel told NBC that he would not step down as a result of U.S. pressure under any circumstances.
In light of this political impasse, the recent escalation of rhetoric by the Trump administration and the failure of the U.S. Senate to restrict Trump’s capacity to strike the island, a U.S.-instigated attempt at forcing political regime change appears increasingly likely.
Stephanie Cepero, the co-founder of the Florida-based Cuban dissident organization Cuban Freedom March, spoke to Latin America Reports about the implications of the recent Senate ruling and increasing U.S. sanctions, as well as her hopes for comprehensive political change.
“When you cut off GAESA [the Cuban military conglomerate that controls a large portion of the Cuban economy], when you sanction Díaz-Canel directly, when you choke the regime’s access to hard currency — you are hitting the people responsible, not the people suffering”, Cepero argued.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla disagrees, calling the sanctions “illegal and abusive” and tantamount to “collective punishment against the Cuban people”.
Cepero also characterized the Senate ruling as “the right outcome”, accusing the proponents of the Democrat-led resolution of attempting to “tie the President’s hands at a moment when U.S. leverage over the regime is arguably stronger than it’s been in decades.”
“The Cuban dictatorship has survived for over 60 years in part because of predictable, toothless U.S. policy. Uncertainty is a tool. Removing it prematurely would have been a gift to Havana, not to the Cuban people,” she continued.
Large elements of the sizable Florida-based Cuban-American community have long pressured successive U.S. administrations to take more decisive action against the Cuban state, citing its human rights abuses, imprisonment of dissidents and restriction of civil liberties.
Cepero believes that the change long sought after by the Cuban-American constituency could be imminent given the Trump administration’s current harsh stance towards the Cuban government.
“A U.S. administration willing to hold firm on pressure without blinking creates real conditions for change … pressure [must be] sustained and intensified until there is meaningful, verifiable political change on the island. Half-measures and relief valves only delay the inevitable. The Cuban people deserve freedom now,” the dissident concluded.
The Cuban government, however, has promised to resist any attempts to force political change upon the island; Díaz-Canel warned that millions of Cubans, including him, would be willing to sacrifice their lives to resist a U.S. attack on Cuba and its Revolution.
Featured Image: Pro-Trump Cuban Americans celebrate his first inauguration in 2017.
Buenos Aires, Argentina – President Javier Milei arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday to speak at the Milken Institute’s annual conference, marking his 17th official trip to the United States since taking office.
Michael Milken, famous for his central role and subsequent conviction in one of Wall Street’s biggest financial scandals, invited Milei to return to the conference, having already spoken there in 2024.
In his speech, the self-proclaimed libertarian president commemorated the 250th ann
Buenos Aires, Argentina – President Javier Milei arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday to speak at the Milken Institute’s annual conference, marking his 17th official trip to the United States since taking office.
Michael Milken, famous for his central role and subsequent conviction in one of Wall Street’s biggest financial scandals, invited Milei to return to the conference, having already spoken there in 2024.
In his speech, the self-proclaimed libertarian president commemorated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, taking the opportunity to trace similarities between Argentina and the US.
“The American dream is not dead […] It is being reborn, and it is being reborn in two places at the same time: in the United States, under President Trump […] and in Argentina, where 48 million Argentinians chose to put an end to a century of decline and embrace once more the ideals that also led us to greatness,” Milei said.
While praising the liberal ideals of the founding fathers, he also warned of “the path of tyranny and socialism,” claiming that “Argentina is a harbinger of the dystopian future that awaits the West if it continues down the path it began to tread some years ago, seduced by the siren song of stability and security versus uncertainty and free-market economy.”
After listing off his achievements as president, Milei concluded the sales pitch: “The convergence between two sister republics reopens the possibility of a free trade agreement that should have been signed two decades ago […] Once again, I invite you to invest in Argentina, not to replace the American dream, but to make it greater, to expand it across the globe.”
With Argentina recording negative foreign investment last year for the first time in over two decades, Milei will be desperate for takers.
Having returned on Thursday, he now faces an increasingly dire political and economic situation.
A corruption scandal involving his chief of staff, Manuel Adorni, has continued to escalate, with a contractor testifying this week that Adorni had paid him around US$250,000 in cash to do work on one of his properties. This follows complaints first made in March about other expenses that amount to over US$800,000.
Investigators are now looking into how Adorni can afford spending such figures on his official salary of 7.65 million Argentine pesos, equivalent to about US$5,480.
Milei’s continued support of Adorni throughout the scandal, coupled with persistent economic woes, has led the president’s disapproval ratings to reach 63.5% in AtlasIntel’s latest polling- the highest figure since he took office in December 2023.
The survey found that over half of Argentines rate corruption as one of the biggest problems facing Argentina, while unemployment and inflation trailed in second and third. With monthly inflation on the up and economic activity having shrunk in the year to February, Milei will need to find solutions fast ahead of next year’s presidential elections.
Featured image: President Javier Milei speaking at the Milken Institute’s annual conference on May 6.
Image credit: Argentina’s Presidential Office via YouTube
An explosion yesterday at a coal mine near Bogotá, Colombia has left nine miners dead and six more in hospital, with one in a serious condition.
The incident took place at the La Trinidad mine at 3PM local time in the town of Sutatausa, 44 miles north of Bogotá.
The accident happened despite the National Mining Agency (ANM) saying it warned of gas leaks at the site after an inspection of the mine on April 9.
Following the explosion, fifteen miners were trapped at a depth of around 600m
An explosion yesterday at a coal mine near Bogotá, Colombia has left nine miners dead and six more in hospital, with one in a serious condition.
The incident took place at the La Trinidad mine at 3PM local time in the town of Sutatausa, 44 miles north of Bogotá.
The accident happened despite the National Mining Agency (ANM) saying it warned of gas leaks at the site after an inspection of the mine on April 9.
Following the explosion, fifteen miners were trapped at a depth of around 600m below the surface. Three of the miners were able to exit the mine by their own means, while a further three were brought out alive after around an hour, according to the mayor of Sutatausa, Jhonatan Ojeda, speaking to El Dorado Radio.
The six surviving miners were taken to Ubaté Regional Hospital, where five were found to be in a stable condition, though showing signs of inhalation of toxic gases.
But the sixth survivor was reported this morning to be in a grave condition with possible central nervous system damage. He was kept alive by means of invasive mechanical ventilation until he could be transported to a critical care center at the Fundación Santa Fe in Bogotá.
The manager of the hospital at Ubaté thanked the governor and the ambulance service for the speed of their response.
A press release from the ANM confirmed that the emergency was caused by an accidental explosion inside the gallery of the section called La Ciscuda.
“The National Mining Agency expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and regrets this mining accident in which, thanks to timely rescue efforts, six miners were rescued alive.”
The ANM have confirmed that their operatives visited the mine in question on April 9 and noted issues concerning the accumulation of gas, management of coal dust, and ventilation processes.
The inspectors delivered a list of safety recommendations to be enacted within thirty days. Twenty-five days had passed between the inspection and the accident. It is not yet clear which of the recommended safety measures had been taken. The mine is operated by the company Carbonera Los Pinos.
This is the second mining-related tragedy to afflict the town of Sutatausa in recent years. In March 2023, 21 miners were killed in an explosion at the El Hoyo coal mine, also caused by a build-up of gas.
Featured image description: Photograph of a section of the remaining tunnel at State Mine.
Caracas, Venezuela — Relations between Venezuela and the United States have taken a dramatic turn following the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3. As of last Thursday, those changes include the resumption of flights between Miami and Caracas, putting an end to a seven-year span without commercial flights between the two countries.
An American Airlines jet departed from Miami’s international airport at 10:16 a.m. ET and landed near Caracas at Simón Bolívar International Airport at 1:
Caracas, Venezuela — Relations between Venezuela and the United States have taken a dramatic turn following the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3. As of last Thursday, those changes include the resumption of flights between Miami and Caracas, putting an end to a seven-year span without commercial flights between the two countries.
An American Airlines jet departed from Miami’s international airport at 10:16 a.m. ET and landed near Caracas at Simón Bolívar International Airport at 1:36 p.m. local time.
1:15 aterrizó el avión de American Airlines en el Aeropuerto Internacional Simón Bolívar de Maiquetía pic.twitter.com/Jeb0HUvTqU
Several officials from Delcy Rodríguez’s government attended the inaugural ceremony, including Transportation Minister Jacqueline Faría and Oliver Blanco, Venezuela’s Vice Minister for Europe and North America.
Representing the U.S. administration were John Barrett, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires, and Jarrod Agen, Director of the U.S. National Energy Council.
In the U.S., there was also great fanfare for the resumption of flights. The White House shared on its Instagram account an image created with artificial intelligence showing an airplane against a backdrop of several iconic Venezuelan landmarks, such as Angel Falls, Los Roques, and Mount Ávila, among others.
Accompanying the post, they wrote: “American Airlines is resuming direct flights from the U.S. to Venezuela for the first time in seven years. This would not be possible without President Trump’s courageous leadership in Operation Absolute Resolution.”
The U.S. Department of State commented that this change was made possible by the military intervention Trump ordered in Caracas to capture Maduro, who faces trial in New York for crimes linked to alleged drug trafficking.
‘They’re here to stay’
Jacqueline Faría, Minister of Transportation in Delcy Rodríguez’s government, commented that American Airlines’ return to the country is intended to expand and that they are pleased to welcome this major airline.
“They haven’t visited the country in over seven years, and they’re here to stay with two daily flights,” she stated at a press conference at Simón Bolívar International Airport.
She said they hope other airlines will join the Venezuelan airspace to strengthen the country’s connectivity. She also noted that they expect 1,000 passengers on the route this year.
On May 15, 2019, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an order suspending all commercial passenger and cargo flights between the two countries. This decision was based on a report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that determined conditions in Venezuela threatened the safety of passengers, aircraft, and crews.
Shortly after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announcement in 2019, Venezuela’s National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC) also officially banned U.S. aircraft operations in its airspace “for safety reasons,” although in practice this was merely a formalization of the severance that Washington had already implemented.
Featured image: Screenshot of video shared by the U.S. State Department of the first commercial flight leaving Miami in seven years on April 30.
Buenos Aires, Argentina – The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments on Wednesday regarding the Trump administration’s attempts to end Haitians’ Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which defends Haitian migrants from deportations.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, which is likely to be made in the coming months, could affect around 350,000 Haitians who are currently living in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security, then headed by Kristi Noem, justified February’s deci
Buenos Aires, Argentina – The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments on Wednesday regarding the Trump administration’s attempts to end Haitians’ Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which defends Haitian migrants from deportations.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, which is likely to be made in the coming months, could affect around 350,000 Haitians who are currently living in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security, then headed by Kristi Noem, justified February’s decision saying that Noem “determined that there are no extraordinary or temporary conditions in Haiti that prevent Haitian nationals […] from returning to safety,” and that “it is contrary to the national interests of the United States to permit Haitian nationals […] to remain.”
Immigrant rights advocates, however, paint a different picture.
Daniel Berlin, policy director for protection pathways at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), told Latin America Reports that “Haiti continues to face a compounding crisis marked by food insecurity, displacement, deadly disease outbreaks, and surging gang violence, making it dangerous for anyone forced to return.”
“There are groups of people at particularly high risk, notably women and children as gangs increasingly use sexual violence to strike fear in communities and forced child recruitment has risen 200%,” he added.
Haitians were first granted TPS in 2010 following a devastating earthquake and have seen their protections extended multiple times since, including after the assassination of Jovenel Moise, the Caribbean country’s last elected president.
Since Moise’s assassination in 2021, Haiti has suffered from institutional collapse and rife gang violence.
As a result, the IRC reports that 73% of households feel unsafe where they sleep and 60% of households do not have their children in school due to fears of kidnapping, recruitment, and crossfire.
Berlin warns that “if TPS is ended, the administration could begin the legal process to remove people without other status immediately.”
The reality on the ground has led the plaintiffs to argue that the Trump administration did not follow due process in evaluating the conditions in Haiti.
The New York Timesreported earlier this week that government officials had distorted evidence in order to justify removing Haitians’ TPS. Internal emails show that data that did not support the administration’s argument was removed from research reports.
Moreover, the lawyers also referenced President Trump’s frequent usage of inflammatory language against Haitian people to contend that the administration was racially motivated in its decision, which would violate the constitutional prohibitions of discriminatory government actions.
Trump has previously described Haitian immigrants as undesirable because they come from a “filthy, dirty, disgusting” country and claimed that they had been eating their neighbors’ pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Lower court judges who dealt with the case found that Noem’s decisions were in fact predetermined and not informed by meaningful analysis, thus postponing the terminations of Haitians’ TPS.
The government’s lawyers asked the conservative-dominated Supreme Court to intervene as a result, arguing that the courts have no right to review Noem’s decisionmaking.
In the same session, the Supreme Court also heard arguments regarding the TPS of 6,100 Syrians in the US.
Featured image description: Protest at the US Capitol against the removal of Haitian migrants’ Temporary Protected Status, March 6th 2026.
Bogotá, Colombia – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has demanded that United States authorities provide evidence for their claims that several senior politicians have ties to drug cartels.
Yesterday, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha, Senator Enrique Inzunza, and eight other current and former officials for drug trafficking and weapons offenses.
Sheinbaum said that without proof, the charges would be treated as politically motivated, marking the latest fl
Bogotá, Colombia – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has demanded that United States authorities provide evidence for their claims that several senior politicians have ties to drug cartels.
Yesterday, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha, Senator Enrique Inzunza, and eight other current and former officials for drug trafficking and weapons offenses.
Sheinbaum said that without proof, the charges would be treated as politically motivated, marking the latest flashpoint in tense relations between the two neighbors.
“If there isn’t clear evidence, it is obvious that the objective of these indictments by the Department of Justice is political,” said Sheinbaum at a press conference this morning.
Her statement came a day after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the indictments against the ten officials from Sinaloa.
In addition to the governor and senator, justice officials charged Sinaloa’s deputy attorney general, several former police officials, and the current Mayor of Culiacán – the state capital.
“These politicians and law enforcement officials have abused their authority in support of the cartel, exposed and subjected victims to threats and violence, and sold out their offices in exchange for massive bribes,” read the indictment.
Rocha was charged with narcotics importation conspiracy and weapons possession, which carry a minimum sentence of 40 years and up to life in prison.
In the indictment, authorities accused the governor of receiving help from a faction of the Sinaloa cartel in his 2021 election campaign.
They alleged that “Los Chapitos”, a group run by the sons of jailed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, had kidnapped and threatened Rocha’s political rivals in exchange for guarantees of impunity.
But Rocha denied the charges, writing on X, “They lack any truth or foundation whatsoever.”
Both the governor and Senator Inzunza are members of Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena party, threatening to embarrass the president as she leads a crackdown on organized crime.
In February, authorities killed “El Mencho”, the head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), in an operation with U.S. intelligence assistance. Last week, they took out a possible successor to lead the CJNG, alias “El Jardinero”.
The Mexican government’s offensive comes amid U.S. pressure to deliver results on drug trafficking as the Donald Trump administration takes a renewed interest in tackling hemispheric organized crime.
During his election campaign, Trump pledged to stop the flow of illegal drugs, primarily Fentanyl, which contributed to the nearly 80,000 deaths from overdose in the U.S. in 2024.
In addition to pressuring regional governments to take firmer action against organized crime, Washington has overseen a boat bombing campaign in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific aimed at stopping drug trafficking.
But drug experts note that the use of military force has failed to stem the illegal narcotics trade during the decades-long U.S.-led ‘war on drugs’.
Featured image description: Claudia Sheinbaum pictured at her desk on April 30, 2026.
Medellín, Colombia – Chihuahua state Attorney General César Jáuregui, resigned on Monday following the death of two CIA agents in a car crash in Mexico on April 19.
In a press conference announcing his resignation on Monday, Jáuregui admitted that there had been “omissions” in relation to the presence of the American agents in the country.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier ordered an investigation into why the U.S. agents – who were apparently working with local authorities – wer
Medellín, Colombia – Chihuahua state Attorney General César Jáuregui, resigned on Monday following the death of two CIA agents in a car crash in Mexico on April 19.
In a press conference announcing his resignation on Monday, Jáuregui admitted that there had been “omissions” in relation to the presence of the American agents in the country.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier ordered an investigation into why the U.S. agents – who were apparently working with local authorities – were in the country.
The two spies were returning from a drug raid in the El Pinal area of Chihuahua alongside Mexican security forces when the fatal crash occurred.
Following the crash, Sheinbaum said, “neither had formal accreditation to participate in operational activities” and one had entered the country as a tourist.
Attorney General Jáuregui had initially claimed that the U.S. operatives had been giving drone lessons in the mountains of Chihuahua, and had coincidentally got a ride with the police convoy..
U.S. President Donald Trump has long advocated for Washington’s involvement in Mexican anti-drug operations, but Sheinbaum has been opposed to U.S. forces or agents participating in domestic security operations, though she welcomes intelligence sharing.
Trump has threatened that the U.S. could “go it alone” in the case that Washington deems Mexico’s anti-cartel efforts insufficient.
Jáuregui is not the only Mexican official facing scrutiny for his involvement in covering up the unregulated presence of the CIA agents. The Governor of the state of Chihuahua, Maru Campos, was supposed to meet with the Senate of the Republic on Tuesday to clear up unknown details regarding the presence of the CIA agents in Mexico.
She was expected to explain the level of their participation in the operations, whether there were formal or informal agreements with U.S. agencies, the extent of the knowledge of the Mexican federal government, and if there was a potential exchange of sensitive information.
However, on Tuesday, Campos announced that she would not be attending the meeting, in order to “ensure the proper development of the ongoing proceedings, avoiding at all times the compromising of information of a confidential or classified nature.” She also reiterated that her conduct has “always been under the principles of legality and transparency.”
The deaths of the two agents and the circumstances surrounding it have raised tensions between Mexico and Washington, but Sheinbaum highlighted on Tuesday in her daily press conference that she does not desire “conflict” between the two nations.
Featured image description: Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua
Features image credits: On^ste82 via Wikimedia Commons
The Mexican military captured Audias Flores Silva, alias ‘El Jardinero’, on Monday – one of the top leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Flores Silva was considered to be one of the key candidates to succeed alias ‘El Mencho’, the former leader of the CJNG who was killed by authorities in February.
The drug lord’s arrest comes amid a wider crackdown by Mexican security forces against organized crime, driven partly by pressure from Washington.
According to authorities, Mo
The Mexican military captured Audias Flores Silva, alias ‘El Jardinero’, on Monday – one of the top leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Flores Silva was considered to be one of the key candidates to succeed alias ‘El Mencho’, the former leader of the CJNG who was killed by authorities in February.
The drug lord’s arrest comes amid a wider crackdown by Mexican security forces against organized crime, driven partly by pressure from Washington.
According to authorities, Monday’s operation did not involve any shooting, injuries, or collateral damage. The military deployment included 120 direct action troops, four close air support helicopters, four fixed-wing aircraft, and two troop transport helicopters, with 400 naval personnel providing support.
The CJNG leader’s more than 60-strong escort group dispersed in different directions upon the arrival of security forces, attempting a tactical distraction maneuver, but the target was located through air and ground tracking.
Official footage of the operation shared by Omar García Harfuch, Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of Mexico, shows the moment of the capture, with Flores Silva extracted from a roadside drainage conduit, where he was hiding. The arrest happened near El Mirador, a rural community in the western state of Nayarit.
Hours after the news became public, several stores and vehicles were set on fire across Nayarit. While the unrest fell short of the level of retaliation following the killing of ‘El Mencho’ in February 2026, the Government of Nayarit urged citizens to stay in their homes as a preventative measure.
A major blow to CJNG
The arrest was praised by the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, who congratulated Mexico’s Security Cabinet and Secretary of the Navy.
In 2021, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency offered a US$5 million reward for information leading to Audias Flores Silva’s arrest or conviction. Flores Silva was defined as “closely aligned” with former CJNG leader ‘El Mencho’, whose real name is Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.
In June 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Flores Silva, identifying him as a CJNG regional commander in charge of significant portions of territory in the states of Zacatecas, Guerrero, Nayarit, Jalisco, and Michoacán.
According to U.S. authorities, Flores Silva was in control of clandestine laboratories producing methamphetamine and other illicit drugs in central Jalisco and southern Zacatecas. In addition, Silva managed the logistics of cocaine trafficking operations from Central America through Mexico to the United States, including the supervision of several clandestine airstrips.
‘El Jardinero’ was also believed to have coordinated a deadly 2015 attack against Mexican police forces in Jalisco that left 15 agents dead.
Flores Silva’s arrest is a hard hit to CJNG, as security analysts considered him a potential successor to the group’s command after the death of ‘El Mencho’ last February.
“Flores Silva was the closest thing the CJNG had to a chief operating officer, the man who once ran Mencho’s personal security, managed the Pacific corridor’s labs and airstrips, oversaw a timeshare fraud network and U.S. money-laundering pipeline, and brokered the alliance with Los Chapitos after the Sinaloa civil war,” Chris Dalby, director of World of Crime and senior analyst at Dyami Security Intelligence, told Latin America Reports.
Authorities dealt a second blow to CJNG yesterday when the Special Forces of the Mexican Army and the National Guard detained César Alejandro N, alias “El Güero Conta”. He was identified as the main financial operator for ‘El Jardinero’ and accused of laundering money through companies and frontmen.
“Losing Silva alongside his financier on the same day hits the CJNG operationally and financially simultaneously. It doesn’t spell an end to the CJNG, however, and may actually help Juan Carlos Gonzalez Valencia secure leadership by removing a rival,” said Dalby.
Featured image description: Wanted poster for Audias Flores Silva, alias ‘El Jardinero’.
Featured image credit: Omar García Harfuch via Facebook.
Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago — The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is grappling with a protracted period of regional tensions, tied to the new normal in international politics. In some respects, this moment is the bloc’s toughest test yet.
At a time when the unity of CARICOM is under growing strain, marked by a discernible shift in respect of interactional norms and diplomatic coherence pertaining to the foreign policy realm, St. Kitts and Nevis took up the mantle of Chair of the bloc.
Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago — The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is grappling with a protracted period of regional tensions, tied to the new normal in international politics. In some respects, this moment is the bloc’s toughest test yet.
At a time when the unity of CARICOM is under growing strain, marked by a discernible shift in respect of interactional norms and diplomatic coherence pertaining to the foreign policy realm, St. Kitts and Nevis took up the mantle of Chair of the bloc.
Arguably, the impacts of that strain on the regional grouping have had a profound effect on how Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis Terrance Drew has approached his leadership role in CARICOM — on behalf of his country.
Drew is the Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM — for a six-month term that got underway this past January. As the bloc’s constituent treaty notes: “The Conference shall be the supreme Organ of the Community.”
In this framing, regional priorities are the rotating chairmanship’s main focus. Perhaps most consequentially, Drew is discharging his regional leadership responsibilities at a juncture when CARICOM member states are facing up to emergent geopolitical dynamics that have driven a wedge between them.
A wide (foreign policy) gap
CARICOM member states’ duelling perspectives on the high-stakes “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine became a consequential, foreign policy-related sticking point that placed the bloc in a months-long diplomatic rut.
This situation has weighed down the regional grouping, making its members’ efforts to cohesively contend with an international order that is undergoing a seismic change that much more difficult. (The international system last experienced change on such a scale at the Cold War’s end, which also precipitated the demise of bipolarity and ushered in the now erstwhile unipolar moment.)
While most CARICOM member states have responded to that Doctrine with suspicion and trepidation, some have offered full-throated support. The former subset of member states are standing their ground in respect of long-established CARICOM foreign policy-related principles, which hinge on the shared desire of such small states to respect processes of international cooperation and multilateralism.
In contrast, Trinidad and Tobago has controversially thrown its support behind Washington in respect of the spiralling U.S.-Israeli war with Iran — which has been quelled by a tenuous cease-fire for now. Instructively, early on in that conflict, Barbados called for “restraint as Middle East tensions intensify.”
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has raised serious concerns about the conflict, too, as have many other stakeholders. Of note, legal experts have been sounding the alarm about what has transpired in the Middle East.
At the core of such concerns are breaches of the UN Charter — a document whose normative and legal standards are the traditional bedrock of the conduct of CARICOM member states’ international relations as small states. This is precisely why breaches of this Charter endanger these states in respect of the anarchic international system.
Few dynamics in this system undercut the UN Charter more than great powers behaving as if they have a license to do what they want without fear of the consequences.
This is why the U.S. military campaign that, according to the U.S. administration, sought to target illegal drug trafficking in the Caribbean by going after alleged “narco-trafficking” boats raised so many eyebrows within the CARICOM fold. (All along, of course, Venezuela’s Maduro regime was in Washington’s crosshairs.)
US Air Force special missions aviators display a US flag on a helicopter flying over the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico, Jan. 23, 2026. Image credit: U.S. Southern Command via X.
Trinidad and Tobago did not share those concerns, unequivocally supporting the U.S. military action that laid the groundwork for and resulted in the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
The U.S. administration has rewarded Port-of-Spain for its foreign policy positioning, deepening security cooperation. This was a priority area of the most recent bilateral engagement between Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio — convened on the margins of the Fiftieth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM.
What also stands out is Trinidad and Tobago’s inclusion in the Shield of the Americas initiative. Indeed, Port-of-Spain is over the moon with its participation in the recently held Shield of the Americas summit. Guyana is the only other CARICOM member state that the U.S. has included in this high-profile initiative.
With the two camps of CARICOM member states being far apart on key demands of the U.S., the status quo has fuelled mutual mistrust among members of the now five-plus-decade old grouping. It did not help that Washington operationalized the aforesaid Doctrine in invasive, heavy-handed security and foreign policy-related terms.
It is also the case that regional politics have focused intently on seeing the way forward, amidst widespread dissatisfaction with this difficult situation. Notably, upon the start of his term as CARICOM Chair, Drew sought to shift the situation in a positive direction. With an eye to preparing the ground for the success of the Fiftieth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, held under his chairmanship this past February, he piloted “a series of high-level engagements with regional leaders.”
Drew’s intent was to build goodwill among his fellow regional leaders, with a view to creating the conditions for them to all gather at this summit. In effect, those high-profile, face-to-face bilateral meetings held the promise of building “trust” and “shared purpose” in respect of the region’s leaders. He said as much.
Beyond ensuring that all CARICOM members’ respective leaders were at ‘the (summit) table’, Drew was also committed to having them primed for a productive exchange on key issues on the regional agenda.
Drew got his wish — at least in part. All his regional counterparts took part in the said summit; although, leaders of three of the bloc’s 14 sovereign member states departed early.
Consequently, closed-door deliberations that took the form of the leaders’ Retreat did not benefit from a full house.
The Retreat was a key component of the summit’s proceedings. This one-day, all-important session partly focused on geopolitical developments.
CARICOM member states did close ranks on some of the issues arising, which include Cuba policy. Their respective long-standing and wide-ranging bilateral relations with the Communist island have emerged as a diplomatic pressure point. In fact, several hold outs in the CARICOM fold have little choice but to accept Washington’s foreign policy line on how they should treat Havana vis-à-vis facets of those relations.
One day prior to that leaders’ Retreat, and as part of the summit’s proceedings, Rubio met in-person with CARICOM leaders. One important take away from these talks is that they resulted in an agreement on a contemporary Cooperation Framework, which is now earnestly in the works.
Signals emanating from the summit in question also called attention to the limits of CARICOM-based regionalism, with member states reaffirming their pragmatic approach to integration.
It is important to note that, with a nod to the Rose Hall Declaration on ‘Regional Governance and Integrated Development’, Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness drove this point home at the formal start of that very summit.
Regarding regional governance, the so-called Rose Hall Declaration states (in part): “The reaffirmation that CARICOM is a Community of Sovereign States, and of Territories able and willing to exercise the rights and assume the obligations of membership of the Community, and that the deepening of regional integration will proceed in this political and juridical context.”
Put differently, and as Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts notes in a 2013 scholarly work, there is a “strong aversion among political elites to delegating authority to supranational institutions — a legacy of the Federal Experiment.”
Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness addresses the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM. Image credit: Office of the Prime Minister of Jamaica.
In his address to the Opening Ceremony of the summit under reference, Holness underscored the following: “For decades, an idealised narrative around Caribbean integration, while well-intentioned, has framed perhaps unrealistic expectations within our respective populations. It has also perhaps unintentionally diminished the genuine strengths of our existing arrangement, an association of independent states bound not by uniformity, but by shared purpose, mutual regard, and a deep history of collaboration.”
Yet it is equally important to recognize the tremendous achievements of a cohesively functioning CARICOM, as advanced (in large part) by regional summitry. Such summitry has long played a key role in member states’ broader efforts to coordinate with each other and partners, enabling dialogue that has paid off in spades over several decades.
Meetings of this kind are crucial for strengthening bilateral and multilateral ties and contributing to diplomatic solutions, now more than ever.
Holness himself seemed to signal as much, conveying the following perspective at the opening of the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM: “We meet at a time when the speed of global change is outpacing the speed of regional coordination.”
This summit, per its communiqué, represents an important win for St. Kitts and Nevis and CARICOM as a whole.
Unity hopes suffer another blow
Yet what brought opportunity for coordination at a time of sharp tensions that are the cause of a foreign policy-related rift in CARICOM has also created yet another point of contention: The much-publicized controversy that has arisen surrounding the reappointment of the Secretary-General of CARICOM during the leaders’ Retreat.
This controversy has been brewing ever since Drew’s initial statement — issued on March 25th — regarding the reappointment of incumbent Secretary-General of CARICOM Carla Barnett for a second term of office beginning in August 2026.
The impasse runs deeper than procedural concerns over the reappointment of the Secretary-General and attendant matters, with CARICOM’s governance and operations having also come under the spotlight.
The headlines create the impression that there is little sign yet that a resolution is imminent.
The parties out-front on the matter have apparently doubled down on their respective positions, which have only hardened. In this regard, the latest missives (as of this writing) penned by Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Minister Sean Sobers (dated April 9th) and Drew (dated April 11th), respectively, come to mind. Although dispatched via diplomatic channels, the correspondence in question is now in the public domain.
While some political leaders are clashing publicly, others in the CARICOM fold are walking a tightrope on this issue.
High-level diplomatic efforts to see a way forward on what has become a significant bone of contention — with the potential to stymie CARICOM regionalism — will no doubt continue.
Opening Ceremony of the 50th Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, St Kitts and Nevis. Image credit: CARICOM via Flickr
Rising to the challenge
And yet, CARICOM has not a moment to lose in effectively marshalling member states to contend with the resurgence of great-power politics. This spheres of influence-related development carries serious risks, which undercut a cornerstone of the postwar international order: multilateral cooperation.
These dynamics of contemporary international politics continue to turn the screws on CARICOM — and fast.
We are already seeing a key consequence of this turn of events: A new reality now shapes CARICOM diplomacy — already under strain from the aforementioned foreign policy-related rift in the bloc.
In short, the shift within the grouping in respect of interactional norms and diplomatic coherence pertaining to the foreign policy realm exposes seemingly deep divisions in relation to worldviews.
History shows that such moments do not augur well for the bloc. One could draw a historical parallel with the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983, which stoked tensions within and had far-reaching impacts on the region.
Clearly, key foreign policy-related setbacks within today’s CARICOM fit a longer pattern. Even so, their ever-widening rifts ought not to become a fixture in the scheme of things either.
While there was much-needed discussion at the summit under reference about geopolitical developments, along with a nod to the rationale qua nature of the bloc itself, CARICOM needs to work through how it can better rise to the challenge of navigating the return of great-power politics.
In years ahead, the new normal in international politics will likely continue to undermine the UN Charter.
The stakes are high for such small states at this moment, and all concerned need to take a long, hard look at the issues arising.
There is increasing recognition in CARICOM foreign policy circles that, facing rising risks, the bloc needs to get a handle on the current state of affairs.
When CARICOM foreign ministers meet next month, they will likely continue to try to work things through.
Featured image: 50th Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM. Photo of CARICOM Leaders with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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