Netanyahu and Milei endorse Jair Bolsonaro’s son for President at election launch

Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, celebrated the official launch of his presidential campaign with an event in Sao Paulo Sunday night.

He will be challenging current left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in elections in October.

The event featured endorsements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentinian President Javier Milei. Milei sparked an international incident when he referred to current president Lula as a “thief” and a “convict,” causing Brazil to withdraw its ambassadors in Buenos Aires.

Flavio currently trails Lula in polls as he continues to fight back scandals in the country.

Flavio’s father – currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for a coup attempt following his loss to Lula in 2022 – was present at the convention only in the form of a video made with AI.

US President Donald Trump, long an ally of the Bolsonaro family, is also expected to endorse Flavio. In recent days, US officials have cast doubts on the legitimacy of Brazilian elections, repeating false accusations made by both Jair and Flavio Bolsonaro.

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Colombian President-elect Espriella will join “the Shield of the Americas”

Ultra-right wing Abelardo de la Espriella has announced Medellin as the headquarters for Colombian membership in the US-led Shield of the Americas — a security and political alliance launched by U.S. President Donald Trump in March.

The initiative, formed exclusively of right-wing governments, includes initiatives to encourage sharing intelligence, coordinating of law enforcement, and using joint military force against drug cartels and transnational crime.

The announcement followed calls between De la Espriella, US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump endorsed de la Espriella in elections that he won by less than 1%.

De la Espriella also announced a “Plan Patriota 2.0”, a military crackdown on non-state armed groups and organized crime modelled after an identically named US-backed military strategy that was implemented by former President Alvaro Uribe between 2003 and 2006.

De la Espriella’s “iron fist” policies will be a big story to watch in coming months and years. The president-elect assumes leadership of Colombia in August.

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JOH back in Honduras after Trump pardon

Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez returned to Honduras this week after being pardoned by Donald Trump after being convicted of narco-trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in a US prison.

He was extradited for his role in cocaine smuggling during his time as president, and was extradited to the US four years ago. He is also accused in Honduras of fraud and money-laundering.

Trump claims that Hernandez did not receive a fair trial under former US President Joe Biden. Hernandez claims Biden “fabricated” the charges that got him convicted in a federal court in New York City.

Hernandez is expected to appear in court on August 3 to face the Honduran charges

But most analysts expect the charges to be dropped due to his powerful allies in Honduras

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The other big stories in LATAM

• Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has accused the United States of carrying out a “political genocide” against his people and seeking to seize the Caribbean island nation. The US has imposed an oil embargo that has produced regular blackouts and economic hardship: including in hospitals.

• Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will finally face trial in the US next June on charges of weapon and drug sales along with his wife. Both deny the charges. Maduro's attorney argues that the couple have sovereign immunity, which makes any actions they undertook as part of governing Venezuela irrelevant to US criminal law.

• Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega promised last week to ban all opposition parties from elections in the country. This week, lawmakers will debate the initiative, but Nicaragua's National Assembly is dominated by Ortega’s party, and largely rubber-stamps his decrees.

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Lord Marco Rubio, Viceroy of Venezuela

​A story this week by the New York Times divulged details about the relationship between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez. Rubio controls all money dispensed by the US to Venezuela, a leverage he uses, along with the implicit threat that the US removed her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, to control even minor decisions made by the government there.

​Details of their communications include Rodriguez asking for Rubio’s approval on even routine official statements, such as praising US President Donald Trump for US rescue efforts following twin earthquakes in the city.

​The report also offers further evidence that Rodriguez was aware of US plans to capture Nicolas Maduro before they were carried out, and promised full cooperation with US rule.

​In Washington, senior officials in the Trump administration jokingly refer to Rubio as the “viceroy” of Venezuela — a term used by governors in Latin America who represented the interests of Spain when the region was largely Spanish colonies.

​The nickname may have been given in jest, but Venezuela is indeed now the protectorate nation of the United States, as the US demonstrates that modern colonialism is alive and well.

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Criminal Armed groups push into protected state parks in Ecuador

​Illegal mining has soared in Ecuador in recent years, especially in Amazonian regions in the country’s interior. Criminal armed groups have increasingly turned to mining to diversify their income streams in the country, which previously relied completely on extortion and cocaine smuggling.

​The illegal mining has even pushed into protected state parks and wilderness reserves. Park rangers find themselves unable to enter vast regions of the country they used to protect, and sometimes even detained by criminal groups Los Lobos, Los Choneros, Los Galarza and Los Sao Box —  a former faction of Los Lobos.

​“Iron fist” security policies imposed by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa have failed to stem the growth of criminality in the country, though they have resulted in numerous human rights violations against the civilian population.

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Mexico demands criminal investigations into DHS personnel

Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco announced on Thursday that they will request a formal investigation into the cases of 14 Mexicans who have died while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and another three during ICE “arrest operations”.

The demand carries no legal weight. It will be submitted to the US Department of Justice, which is controlled by the Trump administration.

Mexico seeks criminal charges for the deaths, especially the recent high-profile shooting of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by DHS officials in Houston.

Mexico has sent similar requests before through diplomatic channels. The formal request to the US Department of Justice marks an escalation.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday criticized “the human rights violations” of Mexican citizens in the US.

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As Colombia’s ultra-right President-elect prepares to take power, details about his agenda are finally emerging

As Colombia prepares to transfer presidential powers to President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, the ultra-right-wing populist is finally starting to release details of campaign promises that were often so vague as to be almost meaningless.

​In recent days, he has promised an expansion of military numbers, which, as PWS has reported before, are stretched to their limits, currently carrying out operations against non-state armed groups (NSAGs).

​To that end, de la Espriella has promised to reinstate mandatory military service in the country. “Here we need committed people, people of conviction. When the homeland calls upon its good children, we must step forward,” said De La Espriella in recent public comments.

​He offered an ultimatum to criminal groups in the country to stand down or be “crushed.” None have taken him up on his offer. The aggressive military strategies de la Espriella wants to implement have failed for decades, and NSAGs seem to be betting that they can outlast his presidency.

​He also plans to ramp up oil production via cooperation with US companies and by permitting fracking in the country.

​Current leftist President Gustavo Petro has sharply criticized the move, which runs contrary to his vision of the country as a potential bastion of clean energy. Petro is cooperating with the transition of power, but has publicly stated that he will not recognize de la Espriella as president.

​Following the elections, which de la Espriella won by less than 1%, Petro alleged fraud in the process. He offered no proof of his claims, and the accusation was not repeated by leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda.

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As the US continues to throttle Cuba, blackouts worsen

Cuba suffered another island-wide blackout this week, the third since 2026 began. The country continues to struggle with fuel shortages as a result of the naval blockade imposed by the US.

By Monday evening, despite attempts by the state-owned energy company to continue providing electricity at least to hospitals, only 1% of the capital had power on Monday evening.

The fuel shortages have created a humanitarian emergency in the country as well as an economic one. Rolling blackouts have decimated tourism and made even food production impossible.

Trump has pointed to the invasion of Venezuela and the removal of its then-president Nicolas Maduro, as a possible blueprint for Cuba. He has sometimes contradicted himself on this count as well, however, and suggested that there may be room for negotiation.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the US of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply”.

International rescue teams have left Venezuela, now comes the aftermath

The confirmed death toll continues to rise in Venezuela as residents dig through rubble searching for loved ones, friends, and neighbors. International rescue teams have left the country, with few expected survivors so long after the initial disaster.

But humanitarian needs continue. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans are sleeping in parks and public spaces and large portions of affected areas still lack water and electricity.

The United Nations now estimates $37 billion in direct property damage. UNICEF warns that the full fallout from the crisis has yet to reveal itself, and estimates that more than a quarter of a million children will be in need in coming months.

The US has promised more aid, following $300 million it has promised to pay for immediate rescue relief. That number is a drop in the bucket.

Whether US President Trump, who has often bragged about how much money the US is earning in Venezuela, is willing to fund a true reconstruction in the country remains to be seen.

But the US has made it clear they back current interim-president Delcy Rodriguez, who the US installed after capturing Maduro.

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Venezuela

Double earthquakes in Venezuela have dominated headlines in Latin America since the tragedy struck on June 24. Venezuelan officials now put the number of confirmed deaths above 1,700. Anger is mounting among civil society over a slow state disaster response and even overt interference in rescue efforts.

​Things are unlikely to get better in the short term as 1000’s of people left without homes sleep in public spaces and streets near Caracas. I wrote about some of the possible next steps at America Community Media. Will the Rodriguez government withstand growing pressure? And will the US aid in reconstruction efforts or simply continue plundering Venezuela?

​Among the developing stories, 146 Venezuelans, including 19 women and children, who were deported from the U.S on the day of the quakes, remain missing. The hotel where they were being temporarily held collapsed in La Guaira during the first earthquake.

Families have spent almost a week desperately searching for loved ones they expected, shortly before, to be reunited with.

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Peru finally has another president, again

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has formally been declared the victor in presidential elections after weeks of recounts and disputes. Fujimori won the second round on June 7 by a razor-thin margin of 50,000 votes out of 18 million ballots.

​Her rival, the left-wing Roberto Sanchez, has previously stated that he would not recognize the result of elections, citing issues with overseas voting and claims of irregular ballots.

​Fujimori takes power amidst security concerns and a deeply divided electorate. Peru has had 8 presidents in less than a decade, but counter-intuitively, Fujimori may be the president who breaks that streak. Her party is the largest coalition in Congress, which has been responsible for removing 6 of the 8 previous heads of state.

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Milei’s top aide, and Cabinet Chief resigns over growing scandals

Argentine President Javier Milei’s Cabinet chief and close ally, Manuel Adorni, who has been the face of anti-corruption and austerity efforts by the Libertarian government, has dominated headlines for months over his extravagant spending and jet-setting lifestyle.

Adorni is being investigated for corruption charges. He denies the accusations, explaining his apparent overnight transformation into a well-heeled big spender as the result of “careful saving” and “finding a thumb drive filled with Bitcoin” that he had forgotten he purchased.

The scandal presents a sharp contrast to drastic cuts in public services and programs for the poor in Argentina as part of Milei’s efforts to reduce state spending.

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This piece is by Adriaan Alsema, from our sister-org Colombia Reports

The leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda conceded defeat in Colombia’s presidential election ahead of the end of the formal vote count.

At a press conference, Cepeda said he accepted the results of the formal count that changed little to the preliminary count that was announced on Sunday.

I have decided to accept the result of that process, which designates Abelardo de la Espriella as the new president of the Republic.

Ivan Cepeda

Cepeda, who will be granted a Senate seat, confirmed that he will lead the opposition to De la Espriella from congress.

“I am doing this as an act of democratic responsibility. I am doing this to contribute to harmony, peace, and dialogue among Colombians,” said the former candidate.

Cepeda denounced the “open and undue foreign interference” in the election process, “particularly the actions taken by the U.S. government, and in particular those of President Donald Trump.”

The former candidate also confirmed accusation made by his allies about the “massive vote-buying operation intended to undermine the free expression of the will of the people” and De la Espriella’s employment of “sophisticated manipulation strategies using artificial intelligence technologies.”

We do not accept these practices that have undermined the transparency of this process and call into question the legitimacy of the new government. We will, of course, continue to shed light on these events.

Ivan Cepeda

According to Cepeda, his own campaign had been “totally clean, transparent and respectful” and “made no concessions to politics turned into a spectacle, nor to unscrupulous alliances, nor to the buying of votes, nor to practices that undermine democracy and debase the will of the people.”

The left will take a lead in the congressional opposition and “if necessary, resistance and peaceful civil disobedience” against the counter revolution announced by the far-right president-elect.

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Ultra-right, Trump-endorsed candidate headed for likely win in Colombia

Abelardo de la Espriella, who has promised “Total War” against criminal groups in the country, won the quick count in Colombian elections on Sunday by a razor-thin margin.

With a mandate of less than 1%, de la Espriella takes office after a campaign filled with violent rhetoric towards his critics, and promises to greatly expand the power of the presidency.

Whether he will be successful or not is another question. If his victory is confirmed by the slower official count in coming days, he will lack a coalition in Congress, and any clear election mandate.

Protests have already developed spontaneously in Bogota and Cali. De la Espriella’s campaign promises to invite US military actions into the country as part of “Plan Colombia 2.0” is also highly likely to face domestic pushback.

No matter what happens next, Colombia is headed for a rough period.

has a great breakdown of non-state armed groups at his Substack this week that is highly relevant in coming days and weeks. “The Colombian Armed Groups Catalogue” breaks down the largest NSAGs currently operating in the country, describes their origins, and their goals.

We highly recommend it.

”State of Exception” in Bolivia

President Paz declared a “State of Exception” in Bolivia. The decree grants broad powers to the military to dismantle blockades in the country which have stretched in their third month.

The decision has been publicly considered by the government for weeks, and now occurs after most of the social groups protesting have agreed to negotiations with the Paz government in return for standing down.

Some hard-line groups declared a “pause” to blockades shortly after the government announcement. Protests in Bolivia are likely effectively over, with only a few holdouts facing a military that has been known for its brutality towards protesters historically.

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World Cup! World Cup! World Cup! Whenever the World Cup is happening LATAM is an amazing place to be. And all the football drama is currently capturing headlines, but there are still some crucial stories happening in the region worth keeping track of.

Bolivia considers negotiation or Martial Law as protests continue

Protests in Bolivia show no signs of losing momentum as protesters continue to man blockades across the country while demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz.

Some unions in the country have called for a formal negotiation process with the government. However, they do not have universal support and some hard-line social organizations reject the idea of any compromise short of a new government.

Meanwhile, legislation allowing the government the option to declare a “state of emergency” has passed, and the government is using the threat of effectively declaring martial law to bring those in the streets to the negotiating table.

Chile sent six metric tons of humanitarian aid as urban areas in Bolivia continue to suffer both food and medical shortages.

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Venezuelan goes after illegal mining in Orinoco

The Venezuelan military conducted an operation against criminal groups engaged in illegal mining in the Orinoco region, in the south of the state of Bolivar, on June 9. The targeted operations encountered armed resistance near the Las Brisas-Las Cristinas mining complex in Las Claritas, an area that is controlled by non-state armed actors.

The military operation by the Venezuelan government represents a symbolic milestone for the Venezuelan government to demonstrate security gains as they face considerable pressure from the United States to exert control of copper,gold and rare earth mineral reserves in the country. The deployment was carried out just days after a group of international investors visited the region.

The deployment is even more curious on the news that a joint Venezuelan-US operation killed the leader of the Tren de Aragua in the same region at roughly the same time.

Is Venezuela bowing to US pressure to secure valuable mining resources for foreign investors? Yes. Will they follow through? We have no idea. It very much bears watching. Notable, however, is that Venezuela has so far not gone after Colombian rebel groups ELN or Segunda Marquetalia in the region, who have tenuous alliances with Caracas and far more capable militarily than Venezuelan prison gangs.

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Ultra-right Trump endorsed Colombian Presidential candidate faces investigation into his paramilitary ties

The leftist candidate in Colombia’s election race, Senator Ivan Cepeda, announced a criminal complaint against his far-right opponent, Abelardo de la Espriella, for allegedly belonging to the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC.

In a press conference, Cepeda said that his team filed a criminal complaint before the Prosecutor General’s Office and the International Criminal Court to investigate whether De la Espriella “directly belonged to and acted as part of the AUC” as the then-director of FIPAZ.

FIPAZ was an NGO that was created by the AUC commanders “to expand their social influence and by utilizing the organization’s resources” while they were negotiating their demobilization with the government of former President Alvaro Uribe.

De la Espriella’s history as a representative and founder of FIPAZ is public knowledge, but he claims he only advocated for them and was never a member. Cepeda’s formal accusation goes further, saying that he was an active beneficiary and member of one of Latin America’s most infamous death squads.

De la Espriella is currently leading in polls for elections to be held June 21.

reporting from our sister organization Colombia Reports

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The Other Big Stories in LATAM

• US musician Oliver Tree died in a helicopter collision in Brazil. The alt-pop US musician and internet personality Oliver Tree was among six people who died when the helicopter he was travelling in collided with another in Brazil. (BBC)

• Colombia has become the first Latin American country to ban female genital mutilation. The indigenous-led movement has a fascinating history, and Al Jazeera has a great feature on how, among the Embera people especially, this has been a years-long feminist struggle.

• Milei’s Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni is embroiled in a massive scandal due to investigations into his lavish lifestyle in Argentina. Former aides describe a life of relative poverty that changed radically once he entered government. He claims he found a bunch of bitcoin on a flash drive that he forgot he bought (haha.)

​The US and Venezuela conducted a joint military operation in Venezuelan territory that killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, better known as “Niño Guerrero”, the leader of Tren de Aragua.

US President Donald Trump announced the killing on Friday afternoon on his social media website Truth Social, accompanied with xenophobic and bigoted statements about migrants, and a video he claimed showed the assasination.

At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth. Before I returned to office, Joe Biden opened our Southern Border to millions of Illegal Criminals, and allowed this foreign army to rape, maim, and murder American Citizens with total impunity. During my Campaign, I pledged to expel these monsters from our Country, and bring Justice to the families of those they slaughtered

-US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump has often exaggerated the power of the Tren de Aragua as a rationalization for migration crackdowns, and as a justification for the US attack on Caracas that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.

Venezuela confirmed the operation shortly afterwards in a statement by the Ministry of Popular Power, saying the mission was “a joint operation between Venezuelan and U.S. security agencies in the southeastern part of Bolívar State.”

“We commend the work of all the officials, security agencies, and institutions that participated in this successful operation,” continued the public statement.

The operation represents a dramatic shift in relations between the Venezuelan and US governments. Since current interim President Delcy Rodriguez was installed by the US, she has taken a submissive attitude to US demands, unlike her predecessor.

Venezuelan security forces also undertook a special operation targeting illegal mining in the Orinoco region of Bolivar State this week ahead of a visit by potential US investors who want to exploit mineral reserves in the region.

​Most of the region is currently controlled by non-state armed actors, including Colombian rebel groups. The Venezuelan operation did not target rebel groups, however, rather a Venezuelan prison gang that exerted effective control over the Las Claritas Mine in the south of the country.

​Rodriguez seems eager to please Washington DC. But there is a large difference between prison gangs like the Tren de Aragua, and ELN and FARC dissident rebels, who have decades of experience waging asymmetrical warfare against capable military forces and relatively good relations with the Venezuelan government.

​Nonetheless, the killing is a symbolic victory for the Trump administration as well as a powerful example of the attitude the new Venezuelan client state is taking towards US policy.

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Peruvian elections go to a recount

The final round of Peruvian elections is almost certain to go to a recount that could last days or even weeks. After the initial “fast-count” showed leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez with a narrow lead over his right-wing opponent, Keiko Fujimori.

​The official “slow-count,” as of 5:42 a.m. Peruvian time, showed Fujimori with a less than 1-point lead, with 90% of the vote counted (50.3% for Fujimori, 49.8% for Sánchez).

​Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of controversial strongman President Alberto Fujimori, who was jailed for crimes against humanity. She has run on a platform of security crackdowns on organized crime and extortion, as well as

​Early voting data showed Fujimori dominating the capital, Lima, carrying the urban vote and the coast, while Sánchez swept the rural vote and the mountainous Andes.

Following the completion of the fast-count, Sánchez told supporters Sunday afternoon that he maintained an “important lead that reaffirms the will of the people, who want democracy and justice.”

Fujimori described the initial results as a “technical tie.” She did not claim victory, instead telling supporters, “Every single tally sheet must be counted.”

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Bolivia passes law allowing use of military against protesters

Bolivia’s legislature has passed a law granting President Rodrigo Paz the authority to use the military to clear roadblocks set up by antigovernment protesters.

Protests, which have now stretched into their second month, have erected 100’s of roadblocks, which authorities claim is causing food and fuel shortages in the interior of the country.

The law also grants broad powers to military forces, and “presumed legality” for their actions, including utilizing violence against protesters.

The US has expressed strong support for Bolivian protesters, falsely accusing them of links to narco-traffickers in the country.

Election board rules out any possibility of fraud in first round of Colombian elections

Colombia’s top electoral authority, the National Electoral Council (CNE), confirmed the outcome of the presidential election’s first round after finding no evidence of the fraud alleged by outgoing President Gustavo Petro.

In a ruling that followed the scrutiny of votes, the CNE confirmed that far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda were elected to the second round of the election.

The scrutiny, which corrects wrongly counted tally sheets, found no evidence of mass fraud that could have changed the outcome.

President Petro Gustavo has accused the electoral board of fraud via voiding the registration of thousands of voters. Leftist presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda initially supported the claims, but quickly abandoned them after a cursory examination by his election campaign.

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Colombia’s leftist presidential candidate, Senator Ivan Cepeda, said Sunday that he does not accept the preliminary results of the first round, which saw far-right attorney Abelardo de la Espriella outperform polls to win.

In a speech before supporters, Cepeda called on electoral authorities to scrutinize the alleged last-minute registry of hundreds of thousands of citizens to the National Registry, which organizes the election rolls.

There is a discrepancy that we want to verify regarding the electoral census. And that is not just any discrepancy. we are talking about 885,000 people or ID cards. We want — because we are serious people — is that to be clarified.

Senator Ivan Cepeda

The leftist candidate, who was considered the frontrunner in the polls, said that his political party was verifying the results in response to “atypical voting” reported by an “indeterminate number of polling stations.”

“Only when the scrutiny commissions leave this matter completely clarified, clearly and rigorously clarified, will we make a statement on tonight’s results,” said Cepeda.

The leftist leader additionally claimed that hundreds of thousands of people were denied the right to vote because polling stations were moved to different locations. He also condemned “undue intervention by foreign governments,” mentioning Ecuador by name.

According to the preliminary count, Cepeda received 41% of the votes against 44% of De la Espriella, who had been trailing the leftist candidate in virtually all the polls.

President Gustavo Petro also refused to accept the results after months of clashing with the National Registry over the outsourcing of the election logistics to a company that is owned by convicted fraudsters.

Human Rights Watch called the rhetoric an “attack” of Colombia’s Registraduría, the body which oversees the National Registry.

Observers and NGOs who monitored elections stated during the pre-count that elections occurred without incident.

De la Espriella condemned Cepeda and Petro for asking that the vote be scrutinized.

“Petro and Cepeda, you two criminals—don't you dare, don't even think about disregarding the will of the people, because there is a people here who will stand up to you and defeat you,” said De la Espriella in a speech from Barranquilla, after the preliminary results of the first round were announced.

He further referred to Cepeda as a “narco-trafficker,” and Petro as a “drug addict.”

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Colombian Presidential Elections Sunday

The formerly three-way race in Colombia, according to recent polls, has likely come down to a face-off between leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda and ultra-right outsider Abelardo de la Espriella.

De la Espriella has surged recently in polls at the expense of his main opponent on the right, right-wing Senator Paloma Valencia.

At PWS we did a profile on the self-proclaimed “Tiger" yesterday, but the developments keeps rolling in. Sunday night de la Espriella was endorsed by right-wing businessman and notorious vote-buyer, Alex Char.

The Char clan holds considerable power on the northern coast, including a sophisticated “get-out-the-vote” machine that has often veered into the gray areas of electoral law. The endorsement is much more than symbolic — it puts right-wing “machinaría,” built over decades, behind the ultra-right wing candidate in the second round.

Meanwhile, Sunday night Colombian journalists exposed payments of over a quarter of a million dollars to Abelardo from Chavista minister Alex Saab, now detained in the US after being extradited from Venezuela over money-laundering charges.

De la Espriella, a defense attorney, represented Saab in Colombian courts over similar charges..

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Cuba: blockade tightens as does rhetoric

Trump’s fuel blockade on the Caribbean country has depleted critical fuel and food supplies. This week, Cuba received the first of three humanitarian shipments from China, expected to total 60,000 tons of rice.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel thanked China in public statements, as well as the European Union, which has condemned the illegal US blockade.

In response the the statement, Colombian President Gustavo President called on his government to “spare what can be spared” in a humanitarian mission to Cuba as well, congratulating China on their efforts.

Rubio called Cuba a “threat” to the entire hemisphere this week, and Trump again dropped cryptic comments about a potential “deal”, or regime change. He isn’t sure.

Aggressive US “Gunboat Diplomacy” in Latin America seems well received by leaders who consider themselves Trump allies, like Milei and Bukele, but it is polarizing much of the rest of the region, who resent what they view as Imperialistic efforts to impose US priorities on the country through violence and threats.

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Bolivia: Protests aren’t ending any time soon

Growing protests in Bolivia have blocked roads across the country and effectively shut down the capital, La Paz. Demonstrators are hoping to put pressure on Bolivia’s right-wing President Rodrigo Paz to resign just six months after taking office over his government’s austerity measures, with his alignment with the US another divisive issue.

The government has increasingly demonized the mostly indigenous led movement in recent weeks as “criminals” and “narco-terrorists,” and portrayed them as led by former Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Though Morales does indeed command influence among some unions and trade groups, particularly in Cochabamba, most of Bolivia’s left abandoned the former leader after MAS splintered.

We have a feature due out this week from a reporter on the ground in La Paz about how much influence Morales really carries. More on that soon. But for now, he makes a convenient scapegoat for a government in danger of being toppled by its own people.

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The Other Big Headlines in LATAM

• In Ecuador, right-wing President Daniel Noboa took advantage of his State of the Union address to promise further extraditions of criminals to the US, and assured voters that his crackdowns on civil society are providing security gains. They are not.

• The US indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro over his role in the shooting down of a plane in Cuban airspace carrying anti-government exiles more than 30 years ago. The BBC has a piece this week explaining the incident in detail: it didn’t happen quite as DC claims.

• US Senator Bernie Moreno is advocating for the nullification of voting rights for large swathes of Colombia in upcoming elections. In a conversation with the Atlantic Council think tank, Moreno said that “I want to encourage the government, the CNE specifically, to consider voter intimidation as a disqualifying event for some of the ballot results in some parts of the country that are not secure.” Our sister-org Colombia reports has more on the topic.

• The US carried out a military training exercise in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas which included the deployment of Osprey helicopters and military personnel. It was widely viewed as a show of power in a country they attacked in January.

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Colombia’s oldest guerrilla organization, the ELN, said Tuesday that it had sentenced two captured prosecution investigators to “revolutionary prison” sentences of up to six years.

In a video, a spokesperson of the ELN’s Eastern War Front said that Jesus Antonio Pacheco and Rodrigo Antonio Lopez were spared capital punishment after being found guilty of spying and fabricating evidence against civilians.

The two officials are forensic investigators who work for Technical Investigations Unit (CTI) were kidnapped by ELN guerrillas in May last year while investigating a homicide in Arauca, one of the ELN’s strongholds in northeast Colombia.

Usually, ELN frees state employees quickly, or tried to trade them for captured guerrilla fighters.

ELN said the two men were convicted for “belonging to a state agency dedicated to committing crimes against humanity, for carrying out espionage operations against the ELN by involving civilians and minors, and for staging judicial fabrications or “false positives” against the civilian population.”

Pacheca and Lopez were sentenced to 60 and 55 months in prison respectively.

These sentenced were reduced by 60% because of the CTI investigators’ cooperation with the guerrillas’ investigations.

The ELN often hold trials in the areas it controls to settle disputes, or punish perceived wrongdoing — in many ways serving as the de facto state in the regions they control.

According to Caracol Radio, the ELN proposed to swap its captives for imprisoned guerrillas.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez rejected the ELN’s allegations against the officials, and stressed that the guerrilla organization “is no judicial authority” but a “drug trafficking cartel.”

The ELN’s decision to try captives for alleged crimes instead of securing their release to humanitarian organizations “is a threat against the Colombian people,” added Sanchez.

The minister called on international humanitarian organizations and the Catholic Church to mediate the release of the CTI officials as well as two police officers who have been held by the guerrilla group.

The ELN announcement came after the guerrillas sent out a press release in which they suggested that they would maintain a suspension of peace talks until after President Gustavo Petro leaves office in August.

Petro embarked on peace talks with the guerrilla group, but these negotiations collapsed.

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The organization that has kidnapped tens of thousands of people, killed scores, lied publicly more times than we can count, and terrorized millions across the world, wants you to refer to them as “NICE.”

Trump apparently floated the renaming last week, but in the meantime, official Department of Homeland Security accounts have embraced the rebranding in a flurry of public statements and social media posts.

It’s the latest PR pivot to put a less fascist face on controversial policies that inspired uprisings across the nation after Minneapolis residents stymied a DHS crackdown in the city last year during protests in which DHS agents shot three people to death, including two US citizens.

The popular rebellion was too much even for some Trump allies who support his draconian migration policies, and led to the forced resignation of then-chief Gregory Bovino as acting head of operations for the department.

Secretary Markwayne Mullin. who has since taken over the masked US police force, pledged during his March confirmation hearing to lower the DHS’s public profile, stating that his goal was for the agency to no longer be “in the lead story every day” as it recalibrates its enforcement approach.

But though splashy public round-ups have largely ceased, ICE, which is under DHS control, has largely carried on business as usual — averaging 1,286 removals a day in March. Nearly 70,000 people are currently in DHS custody. The vast majority have no criminal record.

Crackdowns on migrants more broadly have continued, including on DACA recipients. More than 6,000 children have also been detained by DHS since Trump assumed office.

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The agency has also continued stepping up its mass surveillance on US citizens and non-citizens alike.

The administration is reacting to recent polling, in which only 35% of people in the US say they support Trump’s migration policy, compared with more than 60% who “disapprove” or “strongly disapprove.”

The abysmal polling has worried many of Trump’s Republican allies as midterm elections approach. They have called for a softer public tone, worried that all the murder, racism, and kidnappings might affect their re-election chances among Latinos.

The PR charge, however, remains just that. Despite no longer conducting highly-publicized random sweeps in which they invite sympathetic journalists, as DHS did for all of 2025, Border Patrol and ICE operations have quietly continued without the fanfare.

The administration has also quietly continued tightening laws against migrants who entered the country “legally”, stacked migration courts with sympathetic judges, and stepped up other strategies for ICE to detain suspected migrants.

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As the DHS “shutdown” fails to shut down anything, Trump allies move to fund the agency for 10 more years

As we have previously reported, DHS core operations are largely unaffected by a Democratic “shutdown” that has been ongoing for weeks (TSA being the one occasional exception.) Now Republicans are using an archaic funding procedure to push a measure that would fully fund the agency for ten years through both US legislative chambers.

The bill would authorize $70 billion dollars in funding for DHS as part of reconciliation processes in a simple up-down vote that could pass with a simple majority.

The Senate has already approved the bill. It now moves to the House, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority.

The procedure is the latest in moves in which Republicans have simply side-stepped tepid Democratic efforts to offer token opposition to Trump’s migration policies.

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The Round-Up

• The ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good after calling her a “dyke bitch” — Jonathan Ross —has been quietly relocated to a different state and allowed to resume work with DHS, according to internal documents from the organization.

• DHS is increasingly sending migrants, including asylum seekers who entered the US formally, to third countries with which they have no relationship, including dozens of Colombians and Ecuadorians who have been deported to the Congo with no way to return home.

• DHS is increasingly forcing local police to work with ICE. Louisiana now makes it a crime for police to refuse ICE cooperation. Florida created a board to punish officials who don’t comply with ICE. Texas forced nearly all sheriffs to become immigration enforcers. And the crackdown on resisting ICE is spreading.

• California’s mask law, which lawmakers knew would not affect ICE using masks, has predictably been struck down by courts. The majority of Democratic lawmakers continue to engage in theatrics and symbolic actions rather than active opposition against DHS.

• US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were told verbally by superiors weeks ago to stop entering homes without judicial warrants, marking a shift away from some of the agency’s most aggressive enforcement tactics, according to a report from Bloomberg.

• Florida may ban undocumented students from public colleges, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

• If you want to learn about all the different field agents that DHS employs, from ICE, to CPB, to HSI, the Guardian has a great visual breakdown that also describes DHS command structure.

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Political news website La Silla Vacia has been linked to a far-right propaganda campaign that has been paid for by some of Colombia’s most reactionary corporations.

The campaign, “Project Jupiter,” has been organizing “democracy workshops” for tens of thousands of workers and has been publishing content online to generate “fear / indignation / uncertainty” among voters ahead of the presidential vote.

Among Project Jupiter’s “digital agencies” is La Silla Vacia, according to a flyer that was made public by Raya magazine and the investigative journalism program of public television network RTVC.

In an audio, the director of the propaganda campaign, former Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez, said that “we have digital agencies—namely [libertarian think tank] Libertank and La Silla Vacia—which are enabling us to scale up at an incredible rate.”

Project Jupiter was able to reach 17 million people in all of Colombia’s 32 provinces because of the collaboration of the digital platforms, which also included several public relations firms, Bermudez said.

When asked about the collaboration with La Silla Vacia, the former foreign minister told Raya that Project Jupiter was allowed to publish their content on platforms owned by the political news website.

In a response, La Silla Vacia denied being a part of the propaganda efforts that seek to promote libertarian ideals and dissuade people from voting for the leftist frontrunner in the elections, Ivan Cepeda, and his far-right opponent Abelardo de la Espriella.

According to the website, “these so-called journalistic exposés are part of a smear campaign.”

The scandal broke days after the campaign of far-right candidate Paloma Valencia published images of a meeting between campaign managers and investor of Banco Santander, including La Silla Vacia founder Juanita Leon.

In response to those images, Leon said that she accidentally ended up at the campaign meeting.

La Silla Vacia had already come under fire after Cepeda accused them of being part of an opposition campaign to smear him, a claim also denied by Leon and her influential website.

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Ecuadorian-Colombian border dispute continues to escalate: Petro threatens legal action

As elections approach in Colombia, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa is ratcheting up attacks on his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro. Following Ecuador raising tariffs on Colombian imports into the country to 100%, Naboa has now accused Petro of indirect connections to the accused Ecuadorian narco Adolfo Macías, alias “Fito.”

Naboa claims that Petro knows members of the Ecuadorian opposition, who in turn know Fico. He presented no proof for his admittedly somewhat childish accusation.

Petro has denied the claims and threatened to sue Noboa for libel. Under Ecuadorian law, libel is illegal and punishable by up to a 6-month jail term, though it is unlikely prosecutors would go after a sitting president.

Colombia has imposed retaliatory sanctions on Ecuador.

Meanwhile, the trade war between the two countries is increasing clandestine smuggling of goods across the border as transporters and merchants try to avoid the sanctions.

Residents in the borderlands say the increased traffic of irregular crossings is aiding cocaine smugglers who operate in the region. Noboa and Petro have both accused each other of aiding criminality on their respective frontiers.

The story bears watching as Ecuador conducts aggressive military operations that have at times spilled over into Colombia and violated the human rights of Ecuadorians. They have also not resulted in security gains within Ecuador.

US eases sanctions on Venezuela as IMF and World Bank say they will open up credit lines

The United States has eased sanctions on Venezuela’s central bank that the country imposed in 2019. The moves allow for formal financing between the two countries as well as increased US dollar flows for trade.

Now that Venezuela is effectively a US protectorate, The US treasury department issued a licence authorizing commercial links with the Venezuelan state-run central bank and a number of other major state-run Venezuelan financial institutions.

The sanctions had put considerable pressure on Venezuelan international finance, forcing the country to find ways to import US dollars. They also greatly exacerbated the country’s ongoing financial crisis.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Thursday that they would also resume business with the country in an announcement that was followed shortly by the World Bank as well.

Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who was installed by the US after former president Nicolas Maduro was captured in an attack on Caracas by US forces, hailed the announcements as “a grand diplomatic victory for Venezuela.”

It would seem that the US has formally decided Venezuela is open for business.

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Peruvian election update: it ain’t over yet

After challenges by candidates, balloting problems in Lima, and the arrest of at least election officials, Peru’s electoral authority has announced that presidential election results will not be finalized until at least mid-May.

With 93 percent of ballots counted, right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori leads with 17 percent, according to officials.

The second-place position, however, has been fraught with dramatic turns as well as dramatic accusations. Left-wing candidate, Roberto Sanchez, on 12 percent, and ultra-conservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga close behind on 11.98 percent — they are separated in the latest count by a mere 13,000 votes.

There are currently 15,000 ballots being challenged.

Aliaga, the ultra-right former mayor of the capital Lima, has been the most vocal critic of the delay. He has alleged fraud without presenting evidence and called for the election to be annulled.

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DHS is spying on US Citizens with powerful Israeli cyber weapon

DHS is using powerful spyware cyber weapon Graphite to surveil suspected migrants, journalists, activists, and critics, according to an official DHS response to members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform after they requested information on surveillance by ICE.

Graphite is a more modern and powerful version of Pegasus, which is banned in the United States. The app can be deployed remotely, physically, embedded in texts or photos, or installed over networks, and can hide on smartphones and record user activity, including within encrypted apps, and then delete itself.

His letter, dated April 1, was a belated response to an October inquiry from three Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expressing concern about the agency’s potential use of the spyware Graphite, which was created by Israeli company Paragon Solutions.

According to NPR, which reviewed the documents, DHS wrote that ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is using various tools as part of its mission to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations, “particularly those involved in the trafficking of fentanyl.”

Justifying the decision to spy on US citizens, the agency stated ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is using various tools as part of its mission to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations, “particularly those involved in the trafficking of fentanyl.”

DHS has used false claims about gang affiliations, terrorism, and fentanyl to justify surveillance of both activists and migrants in the past. Perhaps most worryingly, however, the agency is deploying the tool through the use of administrative warrants, which do not require a judge to sign off, but rather can be approved by low-level officials within the agency.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., one of the authors of the request for information about ICE’s use of spyware, told NPR in a statement, “The response I received from ICE makes one thing clear. They are moving forward with invasive spyware technology inside the United States.

“The people most at risk, including immigrants, Black and brown communities, journalists, organizers, and anyone speaking out against government abuse, deserve more than secrecy and deflection from an agency with a long record of overreach and abuse,” Lee’s statement said.

The news follows confirmation that DHS has been assembling a database of activists and critics, with help from infamous tech company Palantir, as part of a list of “potential terrorists.”

The agency has also been using data harvested from other government agencies to identify critics and migrants, as well as private data brokers.

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ICE shoots another man. They swear this time they’re telling the truth about it

ICE shot another man last week in Stanislaus County, California. Carlos Ivan Mendoza was in critical condition at the hospital after a shooting involving federal agents Tuesday morning in Stanislaus County, the sheriff’s office said.

Federal agents claimed the man tried to “weaponize” his vehicle and run them over. It is a claim DHS has made often over the last two years. Often, they are lying.

DHS agents have shot 14 people since Trump took office, killing at least 4. Agents claimed that all of their victims but one tried to run them over, but dashcam and body camera footage have often disproven their claims.

In related news, new surveillance camera footage released by Minneapolis officials shows that DHS lied about the shooting of a Venezuelan man in the city earlier this year.

DHS agents claimed that Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and his cousin ambushed agents, and they were forced to shoot him in self-defense. Newly released footage showed that DHS officers and higher-ups “gave false testimony,” according to Minneapolis officials.

The video directly contradicts claims that DHS agents were “violently beaten” by Sosa-Celis and his cousin.

We at PWS have lost track of how many lies we have caught DHS in. Maybe we should start a weekly infographic documenting that.

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The Round-UP

• The United States has admitted 4,499 refugees into the country since October — all but three were South African. Asylum has been effectively dismantled within the US.

• ICE is attempting to force Reddit to reveal the identity of an anonymous user who has criticized the agency. The Intercept obtained a subpoena issued by federal prosecutors to the management of Reddi. Representatives of the site have been ordered to appear before a grand jury with an April 14 deadline set in an attempt to compel Reddit to volunteer personal data and the identity of a user who criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the platform. It is entirely unclear what “illegal” activity this specific user is supposed to have engaged in, other than simply expressing opinion and repeating information that had already been widely published.

• We’ve already reported that DHS is taking a softer approach after their decisive defeat by activists in Minneapolis resulted in national outrage, but the new DHS director confirmed as much in internal comments this week. NPR has more details.

• A group of 36 House Democrats has accused ICE of “disappearing“ people in their custody, as information on their whereabouts is often unavailable to their attorneys or loved ones, much less the public. DHS has responded that they cannot update their localizer software for detainees as long as the “shutdown” is in effect. All of their other activities, miraculously, are unaffected by the symbolic block.

• Migrants of irregular status are dying rather than seeking medical care and risking detention by ICE. The family of Jesús Juárez Cruz told the story of the slow death of the Mexican national, likely by alcohol poisoning, to El País. His family blames US President Donald Trump for his lack of ability to seek care.

• ICE is withdrawing from airports. They didn’t accomplish anything, but they are declaring “mission accomplished” and going home. The “shutdown”, which absolutely did not affect them, continues. More than 800 migrants were detained at airports during their deployment.

• Information continues to emerge about DHS plans to buy and rent warehouses across the country to be used as impromptu detention centers. Human Rights Watch put out a long report this week about the risks these centers pose to the rights of detainees. Meanwhile, some communities are blocking DHS from opening the concentration camps.

Resistance Photo of the Week

A DHS bid to rent a warehouse near Hagerstown, MD was fallen cancelled after tribal opposition to the project. Protests lasted for weeks before the city cancelled building permits.

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Cuba releases political prisoners as oil blockade continues: Russian tankers make deliveries

The Cuban government has begun releasing what it says will be 2,010 prisoners in a move that comes while the Trump administration puts extreme pressure on the island’s government with a suffocating oil blockade that has caused shortages and blackouts.

The Cuban announcement said the pardons were a “humanitarian gesture” in connection with Holy Week and didn’t mention mounting pressures with the U.S.

The US has been pressuring Cuba with an oil blockade that has paralyzed large sections of the country and created a humanitarian emergency.

As the US faces rising oil prices domestically, while it wages war with Iran, however, Trump has ended sanctions on Russian oil vessels in Latin America.

Russia has sent two oil tankers to Cuba in recent days to alleviate the ongoing energy crisis.

The US has been unclear about its intentions in Cuba in recent months. In mid-March, Trump stated he would “have the honor of taking the island.” Trump has threatened to remove the current leadership in Cuba. But he has also suggested he could work with the current government if the island opens itself to US investment and reforms.

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US lifts sanctions on Venezuelan interim President

The US has ended sanctions on Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodriguez.

Rodriguez assumed office after the US captured former President Nicolas Maduro in January.

In comments to the press shortly after the announcement, US President Donald Trump said that Rodriguez is “doing a great job and is working with the United States very well.”

The lifting of sanctions is the latest sign of warming relations between the Trump administration and Rodríguez’s team.

Her government has been largely subservient to US requests and interests since January, and has initiated efforts to open the mining and oil industries to US companies.

The US last month formally resumed diplomatic relations with Venezuela, reopening the US embassy in Caracas.

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Peru heads to elections, and Peruvians hate all the candidates

Peru will vote for a new president on April 12, amid a deep political and institutional crisis.

The Andean country held its last presidential elections in 2021, in which Pedro Castillo won. However, Castillo remained in power for only a year and a half. Since then, Peru has had three presidents, two of them chosen by Congress.

Current leader José María Balcázar is not eligible to run, as presidents need to have completed a full 5-year term to be reelected.

Peru’s crisis of representation is reflected in the highly fragmented field of candidates in the election: an unprecedented number of 35 contenders will compete. A 36th candidate died in a car crash on March 15.

None of the candidates surpass 13% of vote intention. A presidential candidate needs at least 50% of the vote to win, so there will likely be a runoff in June.

Keiko Fujimori, former congresswoman and daughter of the controversial late president Alberto Fujimori, leads the crowded field. This is her fourth presidential run.

As Peru runs through presidents, however, Congress has grown in power and become more corrupt.

The legislature has actively protected illicit economies by enacting a series of dubious reforms between 2023 and 2025. Colloquially known as the “pro-crime laws,” these have severely curtailed the investigative capacity of Peru’s Attorney General’s Office.

Congress holds a 3% approval rating in the country.

Other stories in LATAM

• The US is continuing military operations in Ecuador, despite accusations that Ecuadorian forces bombed a dairy farm and tortured workers there. Last week SOUTHCOM announced a joint land operation, presumably against narcotraffickers on the northern coast. These claims should be taken with skepticism.

• Residents in Central Mexico are blaming state owned oil company PEMEX for a massive oil spill off the coast which has killed sealife in the region. They accuse the government of lying about the origin of oil which has destroyed fishing and contaminated beaches. The spill of off the coast of the southern Veracruz state has spread more than 373 miles and into seven nature reserves.

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National Blackouts in Cuba as aid flotilla arrives

Cuba suffered an island-wide blackout on Sunday for the second time in a week on Saturday night. A US-imposed oil blockade has prevented the Caribbean nation from running generators which help support Cuba’s power grid and created a humanitarian crisis.

A coalition of international socialist groups also arrived in Cuba over the weekend, bringing with them solar panels, food supplies, and basic medicines. A flotilla carrying a larger shipment of humanitarian aid from Mexico is set to arrive in the following days.

The collapse of the electric grid also inspired protests, and some frustrated residents attacked Communist Party headquarters in the town of Morón, eventually setting fire to the building.

US President Donald Trump last week suggested there could be a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, and confirmed reports that the two countries have been holding bilateral talks.

The Cuban government has announced that they are preparing “to defend” the country from any potential US attack.

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More details emerge in DEA investigation into Petro in Colombia

The US Drug Enforcement Agency leaked information about two investigations into Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Documents sent to the Associated Press state that the DEA considers Petro a “priority target” in ongoing drug trafficking investigations.

The DEA has provided no evidence to support the allegations. Petro’s party meanwhile claims the leak is an attempt at campaign interference by the US ahead of Colombian Presidential elections which begin in May.

We broke down the details of the accusations, and the history of drug accusations against Petro by right-wing opposition politicians in Colombia, in this week’s Pirate Wire Radio episode.

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Mexican teen in DHS custody found dead

A 19-year-old Mexican national died while being held in detention by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency has confirmed.

DHS claimed that Royer Perez-Jimenez was found “unconscious and unresponsive” on Monday at the Glades County Detention Center in Florida.

“He died of a presumed suicide; however, the official cause of his death remains under investigation,” the statement adds. DHS has lied about the circumstances of deaths of people in their custody before.

Perez-Jimenez is the youngest prisoner to die in ICE custody since Donald Trump returned to office.

Perez-Jimenez was found in his cell at 02:34 on 16 March, according to ICE, which added that prison staff “immediately” began life-saving efforts.

The Mexican government denounced the death, and the deaths of other Mexican citizens, and demanded a full investigation.

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This piece is republished from our sister org Colombia Reports

At least two US federal prosecutors have opened preliminary investigations into Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Friday.

According to the US newspaper, the criminal investigations were being conducted by the US attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and would be supported by agents of Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The investigations have been trying to establish, among other things, if Petro has met with drug traffickers and if his campaign sought mafia campaign donations, three anonymous sources told the NYT.

The investigations would be in their early stages, according to the US newspaper.

It is unclear if the investigations will result in criminal charges, the NYT added.

The criminal investigations followed unsubstantiated claims of US President Donald Trump, who called his Colombian counterpart a “drug trafficking leader” amid tensions over the US involvement in the Gaza genocide and US air strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea.

The Trump administration subsequently put Petro on a blacklist for drug traffickers, claiming that the Colombian president “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity.”

Petro has arguably been the most active Colombian politician when it comes to fighting the influence of organized crime in politics.

In response to allegations made by the president when he was a senator, more than 80 congressmen and governors were sent to prison because of their ties to paramilitary groups that controlled Colombia’s cocaine exports at the time.

The Truth Commission that was set up as part of a peace process with the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC confirmed that these paramilitary organizations and their drug trafficking associates worked together with US intelligence agencies like the CIA and the DEA.

The Trump administration has tried to undermine the war crimes tribunal that came with the peace process since taking office for the first time in 2017.

Supporters of Petro have framed the investigation as an attempt by the US to meddle in upcoming Colombian presidential elections.

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At a televised cabinet meeting Monday evening, Colombian President Gustavo Petro revealed the discovery of a 250 kilogram (552 pound) bomb in the municipality of Ipiales, Colombia, near the Ecuadorian border.

“We’re being bombed,” he said, explaining that the explosive artifact was Ecuadorian in origin, and linked to recent bombings Ecuador has carried out near the Colombian border in cooperation with the US military.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa denied the accusations repeatedly even as photos of the bomb circulated in the press and social media.

The bomb was discovered by a resident of Ipiales, who told AFP that he discovered the unexploded ordinance “50 or 60 meters” from his home after seeing Ecuadorian aircraft conduct a bombing near the border on March 3.

Since Monday, Petro has insisted that the bomb is from Ecuador, and continued to provide new information to support those claims, even as Noboa doubled down on his denials.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been strained since late last year, when Ecuador imposed tariffs on all Colombian goods as Noboa blamed Colombia for recent increases in crime in Ecuador.

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High-level meeting presents new hypothesis

In an effort to defuse the conflict, Colombia’s Defense Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and Ecuador’s Defense Minister, Gian Carlo Loffredo, held a 90-minute discussion about the incident on Wednesday evening, according to statements from both governments.

Following the meeting, Colombian Minister of Defense Pedro Sanchez said the explosive was the same as explosives used by Ecuador in a military action on March 3 near the Colombian border.

Sanchez wrote that “the leading theory suggests that the bomb did not enter Colombian territory deliberately.”

Sanchez and Ecuadorian officials said their preliminary theory is that the bomb was dropped on the Ecuadorian side of the border, just a few meters from Colombia, and after it failed to detonate “bounced” into Colombian territory.

“When (the bomb) fails to explode, it continues on its trajectory due to the laws of physics.” That could explain why “it strayed several meters into Colombian territory,” said Carlos Fernando Silva, commander of the Colombian Air Force, at a press conference following the meeting.

“We do not believe anyone did this deliberately, but rather that it was due to a physical effect,” he added, explaining that the device weighs 250 kilograms and measures approximately 1.50 meters.

Although Ecuador did not specifically admit that the explosive device originated from their military forces, they did not deny statements made by Colombian officials following the meeting.

Both countries have agreed to a full investigation, with details to be made public in upcoming days.

Noboa has promised more bombings against non-state armed actors and organized crime groups in the borderlands in operations carried out in cooperation with US military forces.

The device was detonated in a controlled manner by explosives experts, Sánchez reported.

“The investigation is ongoing to determine how and why that explosive device ended up on Colombian territory,” he added on X.

In 2008, Ecuador and Colombia experienced a similar diplomatic crisis following a bombing ordered by then-Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Ecuadorian soil, where one of the commanders of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group was killed.

Amid statements about the bomb, Petro mentioned the existence of “27 charred bodies,” raising questions about whether the two incidents were related.

Minister Sánchez clarified that the president was referring to another incident in January, when three explosions at cocaine laboratories killed at least 14 people in a border area.

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