ADELE’s Theatre of the Macabre
As Abelardo de la Espriella completes his first month as President in Colombia this week, he is stepping up rhetoric against criminal and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in the country. His most recent obsession has been posing with body bags containing alleged combatants killed by state forces and bellicose statements that are inspiring controversy.
Though official numbers of those killed by security forces are not yet available for his short time in office, he has listed at least 72 people killed in actions against NSAGs on his social media accounts.
Often accompanied by the phrases “firm for the fatherland” and “the impunity is over,” photos and descriptions of those security forces have killed and captured make up the majority of his official statements, in fact.
One bombing carried out under de la Espriella’s orders killed three children who were present at an NSAG camp — an illegal action under Colombian law.
Colombia’s Defensoria has asked him to stop posing with corpses, warning that the Presidency should not “compete with armed groups over who instills the most fear, who humiliates the adversary the most, or who turns death into a display of power.”
Opposition politicians have also demanded an end to the practice. Body counts and images of those killed by Colombia’s military have a dark past, and for many conjure memories of the “false positives” cases, in which thousands of civilians were killed to inflate casualty statistics of rebel fighters during the country’s civil war.
Milei is getting noisy over the Falklands; Trump has hinted he may support Argentina
Javier Milei in Argentina has been getting noisier and noisier over an old claim to the Malvinas, or the Falklands islands, though his version of events tends to be a bit revisionist.
During an interview with the British channel GB News, US President Donald Trump states that the U.S. would not back the UK. If Argentina again tried to stake its claim to the islands by force.
Trump stated that the UK “wasn’t there” for him in Iran, and again brought up NATO spending by the country, which he has long claimed is overpaid by the US.
Milei immediately seized on the comments by his US counterpart, and has stated repeatedly in recent days that the “winds of change” are coming for Argentina’s claim to the Malvinas.
In a 2013 referendum, residents of the islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory — with 99.8% voting in favour and just three voting against.
We’ll be talking about the dispute this week on Pirate Wire Radio. Tune in!
Bombing attacks are on the rise in Mexico
Organized criminal groups in Mexico are increasingly using carbombs and drone explosives to conduct attacks on security forces and infrastructure. The devices, which were previously relatively uncommon in Mexico, mirror long-held tactics by NSAGs in Colombia.
So far in 2026, one state alone, Zacatecas, has reported more than 23 explosive attacks. The attacks have steadily risen in recent years, and as they reach new heights, they are likely to attract attention from the US administration of Trump, who has often criticized Mexico’s efforts against criminal groups domestically.
The US has openly admitted to carrying out CIA operations in Mexico, including the targeted killings of criminal figures. Trump has threatened to deploy the US military and drones against ‘cartels’ as well.
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Hasta pronto, piratas!
