Bogotá, Colombia – The first global summit on “Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels” kicked off today in Santa Marta, Colombia, with 50 country delegations and dozens of civil society organizations in attendance.

Unlike other climate conferences, the six-day meeting will focus on implementing measures to end dependence on oil, coal, and gas, rather than negotiating international environmental commitments. 

The summit comes at a pivotal time for global energy, with conflict in the Middle East restricting oil and gas supplies and creating economic woes for countries reliant on fossil fuels.

Because of the ongoing oil turmoil, the conference came at the “best possible moment” to shift world opinion towards renewables, said Colombia’s environment minister Irene Vélez.

Talking to the UK’s Guardian newspaper this week, the minister, who was a prime mover of the conference, said nations were “at a fork in the road” in their choices between clean power sources such as solar or wind, or continuing to back fossil fuels that created climate crises and conflict.

It promised to be a “coalition of the willing”, said the minister, providing a road map to support nations already dedicated to transitioning from fossil fuels.

The conference organizers were combative in refusing to invite nations and organizations wedded to climate change denial.   

“Whatever nations have not yet taken that decision, then this is not the space for them. We are not going to have boycotters or climate denialists at the table,” Vélez told the Guardian.

Behind the conference is the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, an alliance of nation states, technical bodies, communities and individuals “working to secure a global just transition from coal, oil and gas”.

According to the initiative, globally nations were planning to extract 120% more fossil fuels by 2030 than the “amount consistent with managing the impacts of climate change” – taking warming past the point of survival.  

“The science is unequivocal. For the last decade, oil, gas, and coal have been responsible for 86% of the CO2 pollution heating our planet, as well as causing one in five deaths worldwide from fossil fueled-air pollution.”

For three decades global climate negotiations had focused on managing the symptoms of the crisis — fossil fuel emissions — while ignoring its root cause: the unchecked proliferation of oil, gas, and coal extraction.

This was a theme picked up by Kevin Koenig, director of climate and energy at Amazon Watch, a California-based nonprofit supporting indigenous communities attending the conference.

The last major summit, COP 30, was held last year in Brazil and saw “fossil fuel lobbyists outnumbering country delegates” he told Latin America Reports, adding that declarations at the end of that meeting “barely mentioned fossil fuels at all”.

In Santa Marta he expected things to be different: “This is the conference that is finally going to address the elephant in the room and get to the source of the climate change problem.”

Several factors were contributing to a momentum towards renewables, added Koenig, with recent data showing that cities and even whole countries have run for weeks off renewable energy as the Middle East crisis exposes the dangers of oil addiction.

“This is the moment where we are seeing both wars linked to fossil fuels politics and dependencies, but also for the first time renewables energies are not just theoretical, they are real, and decision-makers know they are scalable,” said Koenig. 

This was supported by data from the Center for Energy and Clean Air, which reported that global power generation from fossil fuels fell in the first month after the U.S.- Iran conflict closed the Strait of Hormuz – a vital waterway for oil tankers – while energy generated by solar and wind power increased.

Another conference goal was to identify economic and legal barriers to transitioning to renewables, said Koenig.

An example was the hegemony of interconnected global norms feeding fossil fuel dependence, such as arbitration laws that punished small countries in international courts if they attempted to free themselves from big oil contracts. This architecture kept countries dependent, he said.

“Countries transitioning get beat up in arbitration courts or penalized by credit rating agencies. When Ecuadorians voted to keep fossil fuels in the ground, for example, their credit rating went down.”

In countries like Colombia, fossil fuels were also linked to localized conflict and armed groups, explained Koenig; over 30 years Amazon Watch has supported many indigenous communities under attack for defending their territories against drilling.

That dynamic was more visible than ever on the world stage.

“Fossil fuels are fueling dictatorships, violence, conflict and authoritarian regimes,” said Koenig. “The Middle East crisis underscores the urgency to transition.”

“Yes, abandoning fossil fuels is about climate – but also about security and democracy.”

Featured image description: Delegates register at the fossil fuel conference in Santa Marta on April 24, 2026.

Featured image credit: @MinAmbienteCo via X

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Caracas, Venezuela — Nearly a month has passed since the 90-day limit on Delcy Rodríguez’s term as acting president of Venezuela expired. Now, various opposition groups are calling for presidential elections amid political uncertainty in the country. 

The matter of how elections should proceed — if at all — is complicated by a number of issues including disputed results in Venezuela’s 2024 elections and the United States’ capture and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro on January 3. 

Roberto Abdul, a political activist who helped organize primary elections for Venezuela’s opposition movement in 2023 and was detained by the government that same year, told Latin America Reports that the legitimacy of Maduro’s presidency plays a role in the current debate surrounding Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president at the time of his capture. 

He said that “While the [National Electoral Council] did not present the [voter] tally sheet” to prove Maduro’s victory in elections, the opposition did manage “to present nearly 83% of the tally sheets issued by the machines” showing their candidate, Edmundo González, won the elections. 

Because Venezuelan vice presidents are not elected but rather appointed by the president, as a Maduro appointee, the question around the legitimacy of Rodríguez’s position within the government further muddies the waters. 

“Therein lies the problem from a constitutional standpoint,” he said. 

Further, Article 233 of the country’s Constitution distinguishes between the temporary and permanent absence of a president, while Article 234 outlines the procedure for governing the country in the president’s absence. 

According to Article 234, in the event of a temporary absence, the vice president takes control of the government for a period of 90 days — a period which can be extended by the legislature for another 90 days. 

However, if the president’s temporary absence lasts for more than 90 days, the National Assembly (Venezuela’s legislature) must decide by a majority vote whether the president’s absence should be considered permanent, which would initiate new elections within a 30-day period. 

Abdul explained that the unprecedented circumstances surrounding Maduro’s absence are frustrating the very definition of his absence. 

On January 3, U.S. special forces teams assaulted Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and took them by sea and air to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The legality of the dictator’s rendition has been questioned by international legal experts. 

Maduro’s trial could take months, if not years, far exceeding the time limit for a temporary absence (maximum 180 days) afforded by Venezuela’s Constitution.

Due to this unique circumstance, there is a debate over how to apply Articles 233 and 234 to Maduro’s absence. Furthermore, Abdul points out that, given the lack of separation of powers, the interpretations of the Supreme Court and other bodies tend to be “biased” in favor of the Chavista government, rather than strictly adhering to the spirit of Constitutional law. 

The National Assembly slow rolling the debate 

The National Assembly, which is controlled by government loyalists, was supposed to begin debates around the expiration of Rodríguez’s first term as acting president between April 6 and 10. The debate has yet to take place, even though her term expired on April 5. 

Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly and Delcy’s brother, has made comments suggesting that the legislature’s main focus is restarting Venezuela’s economy, and not new elections. 

“The most important thing right now is the economy. It’s essential that the Venezuelan economy grows so dynamically that the population feels this entire process has been worthwhile,” the parliamentary leader told Spanish newspaper El País. “Furthermore, we are engaged in a profound dialogue with all opposition groups that remain within the bounds of the Constitution, including those living abroad. I couldn’t tell you exactly when, or even what the first election will be, because there’s so much to do.”

Other Maduro loyalists are also pushing back on holding elections. Diosdado Cabello, Minister of the Interior and Justice, said last week during an event, “Now they’re [the opposition] calling for elections because President Nicolás Maduro is completely absent. Well, you were telling us that Nicolás Maduro didn’t win [elections in 2024], so how is it that now you’re demanding the complete absence of someone who didn’t win?”

Even if the legislature declares Maduro’s absence permanent, Abdul argues there is much to do to ensure free and fair elections in Venezuela. 

First, he said, the National Electoral Council (CNE) must appoint a new board which is the result of a bipartisan agreement. “We must try to ensure it adheres as closely as possible to the rules to generate the greatest credibility and the highest possible levels of legitimacy,” he stated.

Another important consideration, Abdul argued, is whether to hold only presidential elections, or a wider “mega-election” that would decide National Assembly seats, governorships, and mayoral offices.

Among other challenges facing any impending elections would be facilitating voting for the 4.5 to 5 million eligible Venezuelans living abroad; technical assistance from a foreign body like the United Nations to facilitate observation; and reversing political disqualifications and reinstating political parties that were banned during Maduro’s administration. 

“It is a complex process, but it is achievable; it’s not like you’re sending someone to the moon out of thin air—it’s something we’ve already gone through,” Abdul concluded.

Featured image: Venezuela’s National Assembly votes on a law to streamline administrative procedures in March 2026.

Image credit: The National Assembly of Venezuela via X.

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Medellín, Colombia – Argentine President Javier Milei banned some 60 journalists from the country’s Presidential Palace today.

The formerly accredited reporters had their fingerprint access withdrawn from the building’s security system today, with Milei citing claims of espionage and Russian funding. 

This is the latest in a pattern of repression of press freedom during Milei’s presidency, with rights groups denouncing increased harassment against members of the media. 

According to local media, the journalists who once reported from the government headquarters daily were told that they would not be permitted entry to la Casa Rosada on Thursday morning. 

Milei attacked journalists on his X account, calling them “corrupt, bribed” and accusing them of “breaking security laws”. 

The president and his followers have since circulated the slogan #NOSALP via X, meaning “No odiamos lo suficiente a los periodistas” (“We do not hate journalists enough”). 

Milei justified the ban by citing a recent criminal complaint by the Casa Militar, the presidential security unit, against journalists from Todo Noticias (TN), a local news station. 

Two TN journalists were accused of espionage after pictures from the interior of la Casa Rosada were broadcast on the news channel, something the Casa Militar claims could expose political or military secrets. 

Javier Lanari, a member of Milei’s communications team, similarly claimed via X that today’s ban was a “precautionary measure following allegations of illegal espionage made by the Casa Militar.” No further details explaining the move were given and no official statement has been released. 

This latest blanket ban also follows the prohibition earlier this month of journalists from various Argentinian outlets who were reported to have been involved in an alleged Russian disinformation campaign in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. 

In the wake of Milei’s decision, members of Congress from across the political spectrum denounced the move, presenting a draft resolution calling for the immediate reopening of la Casa Rosada to the media. 

Marcela Pagano – a lawmaker and former member of Milei’s party La Libertad Avanza – also filed a criminal complaint against the libertarian president later in the day, comparing the exceptional decision to the repression of the country’s military dictatorship. 

“Restricting journalists’ freedom of expression is the first step towards silencing any dissenting voice, a situation we in Argentina have experienced during our country’s darkest hours,” she said via X. 

Her criminal complaint accuses Milei, Lanari, and Sebastián Ignacio Ibáñez (head of the Casa Militar) of supporting a decision that constitutes “continuous and irreversible damage” to the “republican system, to freedom of the press, to the right to public information and to the professional practice of journalism.”

Featured image credit: AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko.

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On Monday, El Salvador’s Attorney General announced the beginning of a mass trial of 486 alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, who are accused of more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022.

Among the defendants, 413 are already detained in different penitentiary centers, while 73 have arrest warrants issued against them. 

The Attorney General said that 22 historical kingpins of the Ranfla, MS-13’s top leadership structure, will be prosecuted in the trial, along with 212 other Ranfla members and 152 program coordinators. Charges include aggravated homicide, disappearance of persons, extortion, arms trafficking, and femicide.

MS-13 was founded in Los Angeles as a street gang in the 1980s by Salvadoran refugees who fled the civil war. It spread to Central America when many of its members were deported to their home countries during the 1990s and has been designated as a terrorist organization both by El Salvador and the U.S.

The trial takes place amid El Salvador’s state of emergency, which President Nayib Bukele declared in March 2022 under Article 29 of the country’s Constitution. Under the emergency act, security forces have broader powers to arrest and detain suspects, while certain constitutional protections have been suspended.  

Once among the most violent countries in the world, El Salvador has managed to reduce its murder rate to 1.3 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the lowest in the whole continent. 

More than 91,000 suspected gang members have been arrested since the implementation of the state of emergency, according to the government.

These measures have drawn criticism from several human rights organizations, which accuse Bukele’s government of rights violations and abuses.

In a statement published on April 21, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed concerns that the prolonged state of emergency “suspends the rights to a legal defense and to the inviolability of communications, and also extends administrative detention timelines.”
In a report published last March, Salvadoran rights group Cristosal said that critics of the government, including journalists, activists, and opposition figures, have faced increasing criminalization since 2021.

Despite the critics, the latest data published by CID Gallup show that Nayib Bukele has reached a 94% approval rating, the highest level since he came into power in 2019.

Featured image description: MS-13 gang members sat through a mass trial on April 20.

Featured image credit: El Salvador Attorney General’s Office.

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Bogotá, Colombia – Mexican authorities have said they will tighten security around tourist sites following a shooting on Monday that killed a Canadian tourist and injured twelve others.

The attack at the Teotihuacan pyramids by a lone gunman has renewed concerns about fan safety ahead of the 2026 World Cup Games, which will be co-hosted by Mexico. 

But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sought to re-assure visitors, maintaining that mass shootings are rare in the country and describing the incident as a one-off.

“Our obligation as a government is to take the appropriate measures to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again,” said Sheinbaum on Tuesday morning.

Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch added that state security forces had been ordered to “immediately strengthen security” at tourist destinations across the country.  

The Teotihuacan pyramids are a UNESCO Heritage Site and one of Mexico’s most visited archaeological complexes.

But Sheinbaum was also careful to stress that attacks like the one on Monday are incredibly rare in Mexico: “Clearly, we all know — Mexicans know — that this is something that had not previously taken place.”

Unlike in the United States, guns are difficult to obtain legally in Mexico and mass shootings targeting members of the public are uncommon.

While Mexico has grappled for years with high homicide rates, shootings tend to happen in specific areas marked by cartel violence and rarely affect tourists.

Ideological motivations

Rather than a sign of broader security struggles, authorities maintain that Monday’s shooting was perpetrated by a ‘lone wolf’ actor driven by extremist views.

Sergio Ortiz Borbolla, head of campaigns and communications at the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, maintained that Julio César Jasso Ramírez, 27, was a Nazi sympathizer inspired by other mass shootings. 

“Although the investigation is still ongoing, several factors point to an ideological motive,” said Ortiz.

He noted that Monday’s shooting happened on Adolf Hitler’s birthday and the anniversary of the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in the U.S., which killed 14. 

The perpetrator’s social media included posts where he performed a Nazi salute and a framed AI-generated photo of him side-by-side with the Columbine shooters was found at the scene of the attack, according to authorities. 

“The incident… highlights the growing influence of extremist online communities on acts of violence, a trend that transcends national borders,” noted Ortiz. 

Mexican Attorney-General Cervantes also described “a psychopathic profile of the attacker, characterized by a tendency to imitate situations that occurred in other places, at other times, and involving other individuals – this tendency can be referred to as copycat behaviour”.

Countdown to the games

Monday’s shooting is the latest headache for the Mexican government ahead of this summer’s soccer competition. 

A wave of cartel violence in February, including in World Cup host city Guadalajara, sparked concerns about the threat posed by organized crime in the country. 

But the government has been engaged in a push to assure visitors that the country is safe, announcing plans to mobilize 100,000 security forces this summer. It also said it will deploy an additional 2,100 military vehicles, 24 aircraft, and 33 drones.

But, as Ortiz noted, the type of violence seen in Mexico this week is “not common.” 

“There is no indication that this type of attack poses a widespread risk to tourists,” he concluded.

Featured image description: The Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan – one of the largest in Mesoamerica, México.

Featured image credit: Marcelosan via WIkimedia Commons

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Medellín, Colombia – Hundreds of Mexican human rights groups presented an open letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Monday calling for action to combat forced disappearances.

The letter was signed by over 100 collectives representing disappeared people from Mexico and Central America, over 300 families of the missing, and various civil society organizations, shelters, and individuals. 

According to the NGO Foundation for Justice and the Democratic Rule of Law (FJEDD), one of the signatories of the open letter, over 132,000 people are classed as missing in Mexico. 

“Mexico requires independent mechanisms to establish the truth, locate the disappeared, conduct serious investigations and combat impunity, under the auspices of the United Nations,” said the FJEDD following their meeting with Türk.

They also called on the High Commissioner to raise the issue in his meeting with president Claudia Sheinbaum, and to urge the Mexican state to help affected families “achieve truth, justice, and reparations.”

The letter also requested that Türk back the recent decision by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) to refer the crisis to the General Assembly, the organization’s highest authority. 

When taking the “exceptional step” on April 2 to request that the situation be referred to the General Assembly, the CED also said that the 72,000 unidentified human remains found in 4,500 covert graves suggested the crisis could likely amount to crimes against humanity, something Mexico has since roundly rejected. 

President of the CED, Juan Albán-Alencastro, said that “the magnitude, the pattern of the attacks and the fact that they are directed against the civilian population,” substantiated the view that the crisis meets the definition of crimes against humanity. 

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs repudiated the decision in a press release that argued that the UN had failed to recognize recent advances against the issue. President Sheinbaum also dismissed the CED’s claims, arguing that the data used was extrapolated and didn’t represent Mexico’s current situation. 

In anticipation of her meeting with Türk this Wednesday, Sheinbaum also said that the official had come “to learn about the human rights system in Mexico, not just the issue of disappearances.”

Featured image: Maritza Ríos / Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México.

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Madrid, Spain – A chant at a rally for Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado – referring to interim president Delcy Rodríguez as a monkey — has sparked backlash across political divides and forced a well-known Venezuelan singer to apologize.

The chant of “fuera la mona” (get the monkey out) resounded through Madrid’s Puerta del Sol on Saturday as thousands convened to show their support for Machado.

Although it lasted only seconds, the chant drew widespread criticism from both Venezuelan government supporters and the opposition; some denounced it as racist, while others said that, regardless of intent, it was derogatory and inappropriate to comment on someone’s appearance.

Latin America Reports was a few rows from the stage and observed that Venezuelan singer Carlos Baute had been calling for free elections when a small group began chanting. The slogan quickly spread through parts of the crowd. As it grew louder, Baute joined in and turned his microphone toward the audience, prompting even more people to repeat the chant.

By Sunday afternoon, clips were circulating on social media showing Baute joining in the chant on stage. The singer, who has more than a million followers on Instagram, issued a video apology on Monday. He said he had got caught up in the atmosphere of the rally, but insisted he is not racist.

“I let myself be carried away by the emotion of a very powerful moment… and I also know when something wasn’t right,” the 52-year-old said.

“All my life I have sung about love, life and unity. I am not racist. I am a singer who loves his country, his family and God.”

Some on social media who had been at the rally blamed the incident on “infiltrators” and said only a small number of people had taken part.

Not everyone in the crowd participated and some attendees appeared visibly uncomfortable. 

Although the chanting lasted only seconds and were followed by upbeat performances and Machado’s speech, by the following day the footage had gone viral.

Machado, leader of Venezuela’s opposition, moved quickly to distance herself from the remarks, criticizing the chant in an interview with EFE on Sunday: “No one will ever hear me say anything that judges or disqualifies a person based on their religion, gender or race.”

The same day, the Venezuelan Embassy in Spain condemned the remarks, describing them as “a form of political violence rooted in misogyny and racism.”

Others, however, defended the moment, pointing to what they described as a double standard and to language often used by government supporters against opposition figures, including insults directed at Machado such as “bruja” — meaning witch — and “sayona,” a reference to a Venezuelan legend about an evil female spirit.

Prominent Venezuelan journalist, Nicmer Evans, described Baute’s remarks as “racist” but also criticized the government, particularly Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, for frequently using similar language against opponents.

“Just as I have made clear the racism  and therefore the idiocy of calling Delcy ‘mona’, it is impossible not to point out the cynicism of someone who insults Venezuelan women every day, when he calls Machado ‘sayona’ or ‘bruja,’” he wrote.

Machado is currently in Madrid as part of a European tour, meeting Venezuelan diaspora supporters and political figures. She has not, however, met Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Featured image description: Delcy Rodriguez.

Featured image credit: Government of Russia via Wikimedia Commons

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Madrid, Spain – Venezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado, drew thousands of supporters to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol on Saturday, telling them that they would soon be able to return to Venezuela.

“Today we begin our return home,” she said to raucous applause from the crowd.

Machado appeared on a balcony draped with the Spanish and Venezuelan flags overlooking the square and flanked by members of her team.

It was a moment that felt closer to a presidential address than a political rally, followed by chants calling for elections to vote her in and cries of “president, president, president” filling the square at various points throughout her speech.

The Madrid rally marks an attempt by Machado to build momentum, amid uncertainty over the opposition’s next steps and anticipation about when she will go back to Venezuela.

Machado won the opposition’s 2023 primary by a landslide but was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election. Edmundo Gonzalez ran in her place and is widely believed to have won. 

But since the capture of Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3, many Venezuelans want fresh elections and do consider Delcy Rodriguez, now interim president, to represent them.

A few minutes after Machado’s balcony appearance, she stepped onto a stage in her signature white top and jeans — the same look she wore during dozens of rallies in Venezuela ahead of the 2024 elections — as well as rosary beads around her neck, gifted by supporters.

Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, lifted small children onto the stage to hug them, as various gifts were passed through the crowd towards the stage — pictures, flowers, and more rosary beads.

She said that on January 3 a huge hole opened up, and that force and energy had begun to flow: “Now, having lived through what we’ve lived through, having endured the worst repression and persecution, having overcome fear, we are now unstoppable — unstoppable.”

While she criticized interim president of Venezuela, Rodriguez, she praised the U.S. president.

“There is one leader in the world, one head of state, who has risked the lives of his country’s citizens for the freedom of Venezuela. And that is Donald Trump,” Machado said, referring to the U.S. capture of Maduro in January.

Machado also paid tribute to the city of Madrid, which she said had welcomed and integrated Venezuelans at their time of need — but said soon they would be able to go back to Venezuela.

“Today the whole world has its eyes on this Plaza del Sol, because it knows that here today we are beginning the return home,” she shouted. “Pack your bags, because we’re going back.”

Spain hosts one of the largest Venezuelan communities in Europe, making it a key base of support for the opposition abroad.

Many Venezuelans at the gathering said that they did want to return home.

“We were nurses, eighteen years of service, and we had to leave home, we had to leave work, we had to leave everything,” a woman called Nazareth told Latin America Reports. She had left with her friend in September 2025 because of persecution by authorities in Venezuela. 

But she said she wants to  go back as soon as it is safe enough — and believes Machado can make that happen: “I’m with María Corina to the very end and beyond. She is a warrior woman, a woman who represents all of us.”

Others who had lived in Spain for years said Madrid was now their home, although some were beginning to consider a return. Liliana Urbina came to Spain 20 ago, when Hugo Chávez was still in power. But she said the changes since January 3 and Machado’s leadership now had her considering a permanent return to her home country.

“When I arrived here, I forgot about the idea of returning, but María Corina has changed that. She has shown the world that we can rebuild the country, that we are united, and that we will move forward,” she told Latin America Reports. “So it is feasible, and it is possible, and it is a dream that we too now have — of returning.”

The event was at times more like a concert than a rally, with musical performances from well-known Venezuelan performers such as Carlos Baute and opera singer Víctor García Sierra.

Many Venezuelans had arrived as early as 2 P.M. to secure their spots, bringing supplies as well as musical instruments to play for others around them. Others dressed up as President Trump or Nicolas Maduro, and posed for photos with the crowd.

As the day progressed and the crowd increased, several people fainted due to the heat and lack of shade.

Earlier in the day, Machado had attended a second symbolic ceremony during her visit. This time, she was awarded the Medal of the Community of Madrid. Edmundo González also received the honour but was unable to accept it in person as he is currently in hospital. On Friday she received the “llave de Oro” — golden key — an honour usually reserved for heads of state.

On Friday and Saturday, María Corina met with the country’s two main opposition leaders — Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the PP and Santiago Abascal of Vox. But she did not meet with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was hosting a conference of left-wing leaders — including Petro, Lula and Sheinbaum — in Barcelona. However, Sánchez said he had offered to meet her.

María Corina will visit the Spanish Senate on Monday.

Featured image description: Maria Corina Machado spoke to a crowd of supporters on Saturday, April 18. Featured image credit: Catherine Ellis.

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The leaders of Mexico, Spain and Brazil called for Cuba’s sovereignty to be respected as it continues to face threats by Washington.

The joint statement came during a meeting of left-wing leaders in Spain and also vowed to send humanitarian aid to the crisis-ridden island.

The plea comes as the President Donald Trump administration ratchets up punitive measures on the communist-run island in the hopes of forcing political regime change. 

“We express our deep concern regarding the serious humanitarian crisis the Cuban people faces … [and] we reiterate the need to respect at all times international law and the principles of territorial integrity, sovereign equality and the peaceful settlement of disputes”, said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva in a joint statement on Saturday. 

Although the U.S. was not directly mentioned, the plea appears to be aimed at the White House as tensions rise between the two neighbors. Since news broke on Wednesday that the Pentagon is ramping up preparations for an operation against Cuba, a U.S. Navy surveillance drone has been observed flying over Cuba’s coast for several hours and Trump has promised that “a new dawn for Cuba” is imminent. 

Hope for a peaceful solution, however, remains. Havana and Washington are currently engaged in official diplomatic negotiations; a U.S. government delegation visited Havana earlier in April, marking the first visit of an official U.S. government plane since former President Barack Obama’s trip in 2016.

The U.S. delegation reportedly informed their Cuban counterparts that they saw an end to political repression, the liberation of high-profile political prisoners and economic liberalization as prerequisites for easing the longstanding economic and commercial embargo on the island. 

These sanctions, which have historically been condemned by the vast majority of the international community at the United Nations General Assembly, have caused far-reaching material shortages on the island and hindered the island’s ability to engage in international trade and commerce, according to UN experts. 

Recently, the U.S. intensified sanctions, declaring Cuba a national security threat and blockading the vast majority of oil destined for the island, which is now facing an acute humanitarian and economic crisis as a result of the intensified measures.

Sheinbaum, Lula and Sánchez’s promise of support represents the latest in a series of international offers and shipments of aid. Sheinbaum’s own government has already sent humanitarian shipments to the island, and the Chinese, Chilean and Canadian administrations have also sent or pledged to send aid to the island. 

Furthermore, a civilian humanitarian aid mission to Cuba, which brought food, medicine and solar equipment to the island, was organized in March. 

Featured Image: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva during the former’s visit to Brazil in 2024.

Image Credit: Ricardo Stuckert via Flickr

License: Creative Commons Licenses

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Medellín, Colombia – Four senior officials in Honduras’ leftist opposition party were impeached by the country’s Congress on Thursday, April 16.

The officials – who were members of the Partido Libertad y Refundación, or Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre) – were stripped of their positions after being accused of attempting to undermine the integrity of the November 30 elections in favor of their party.

The impeachments are the latest in a wave of reprisals against political opponents by the newly elected right-wing government, led by President Nasry Asfura.

88 members of congress backed the expulsion, consolidating the alliance between the right-wing Partido Nacional (PN) and Partido Liberal (PL) which has ruled the country since Asfura took power in January.

The ousted politicians were Marlon Ochoa, Mario Morazán, Lourdes Mejía, and Gabriel Gutiérrez, all members of Libre, which governed Honduras from 2022 to 2026. 

Morazán, a former magistrate of the Electoral Justice Tribunal, was the only member to personally appear at the nearly six hour proceeding.

“I am not appealing to you, I am appealing to history. I am appealing to the origin and essence of constitutionalism, constitutional power and hard-won fundamental rights… I am absolutely innocent. I have only acted in accordance with the law and justice,” said Morazán in a speech to lawmakers. 

Meanwhile, Ochoa did not appear at the congressional hearing where the vote took place as he had already left the country due to death threats, according to fellow Libre member Marco Ramiro Lobo. 

“I will continue to fight wherever I am. No matter the difficulties. I will return to Honduras. The struggle is not over,” he said via X on Friday. 

The expulsion marks the latest in a series of impeachment trials in the Central American nation headed by White House ally Asfura. Attorney General Johel Zelaya was removed in March by Congress and immediately replaced by government ally Pablo Emilio Reyes. 

In parallel with today’s expulsion, Zelaya had been accused of abusing his position to favor the former Libre government and was removed only two days after the proceedings began. 

While in office, he opened a criminal case against Asfura and sought the arrest of Juan Orlando Hernández, the former PN president pardoned by Donald Trump for drug trafficking offences last December.

Rebeca Obando, President of the Supreme Court of Justice, faced a similar proceeding but decided to resign from her role before her impeachment even began. 

Current Libre leader and former president Manuel Zelaya accused Congress of enacting a “gag law” following the impeachments. 
“Members of parliament represent the people, and they must defend them. When the Constitution is violated out of revenge through political trials and power is concentrated, absolutism arises—corrupting, dispossessing and plundering with impunity,” he said via X.

Featured image: Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras.

Image credit: Iliana Ochoa. Image license.

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