José Mujica, Marxist Guerrilla Who Became Popular President of Uruguay, Dies at 89
José 'Pepe' Mujica, a Marxist guerrilla who became president of the Uruguayan state he had tried to overthrow before transforming into a global phenom for his plain-spoken adages and no-frills lifestyle, has died at his tin-roofed farmhouse outside the country's capital, Montevideo. He was 89 years old.
Uruguay's president, Yamandú Orsi, announced Mujica's death in a post on X Tuesday. The cause of his death was esophageal cancer and its related complications, which Mujica had candidly shared with Uruguayans in interviews in recent months.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘The cartels and clans are ecstatic': How USAID cuts have emboldened Colombia's narcos
US cuts to international aid spending have put Colombia's counter-narcotics operations 'on ice' – a development that experts warn will reenergise the country's notorious cartels. For decades, the US has supported Colombia in its fight against drug trafficking and armed groups through aid spending. Since helping to end the reign of infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar in the 1990s, US defence and intelligence agencies have been instrumental in the country's counter-narcotic operations. Washington has also been instrumental in helping demobilise the leftist FARC rebels since the 2016 peace accord, ushering in a period of relative stability. But now, following the Trump administration's freeze of nearly all funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), along with changes to US State Department spending, analysts and civil society leaders are sounding the alarm. 'The groups that operate outside of the law – the cartels and the clans – are happy. They're ecstatic, because now they have the freedom to do whatever they want,' said León Valencia, director of the Bogotá-based Peace and Reconciliation Foundation. The US State Department has funded major counternarcotics operations in Colombia for years, but when president Donald Trump froze State Department spending in January, the vast majority were immediately halted. 'The entire fleet of Black Hawk helicopters was basically grounded; police units supported and trained by the US were disbanded; and programmes that were building capacity to investigate cases were all just put on ice,' said Elizabeth Dickinson, an analyst at the International Crisis Group. 'It had really wild effects.' Although most of these programmes have resumed under provisional 30-day waivers, Ms Dickinson warned that activities beyond daily maintenance are limited. 'Imagine the uncertainty that comes from knowing that you only have 30 days of funding guaranteed. Anything that's beyond the day-to-day treading water in these counter-narcotic operations is essentially on pause,' she said. 'They're not investing in new programmes, or undertaking new investigations.' The USAID cuts have also been 'catastrophic,' Ms Dickinson, and a dozen other experts and civil society leaders, told The Telegraph. In recent years, Colombia received around $440 million annually in USAID assistance for more than 80 programmes, making it the largest recipient of the agency's funds in the western hemisphere, according to US government data. While most of the programmes are not directly related to counter-narcotics, USAID-backed initiatives have helped stabilise regions still affected by armed conflict. They have created opportunities for young people at risk of recruitment by criminal gangs, supported farmers transitioning away from coca cultivation and aided the reintegration of former combatants into society. Now that funding has ceased. Ms Dickinson said that overnight the humanitarian system here in Colombia lost 70 per cent of its financing. An official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisals, said that more than 50 USAID-funded programmes across the country have already been shuttered. 'It has had a big and deep effect in the most vulnerable territories,' he said. 'You can't imagine the terrible effects happening there.' Officials warn the cuts also endanger the implementation of the peace accord with the leftist FARC rebels. FARC fought the government for more than five decades before most rebels laid down their weapons in 2016. While the deal did not end the conflict entirely, it ushered in a fragile peace. Between 2017 and 2023, the US provided $1.5 billion in support of the deal. 'I think it will create more risk of violence and more vulnerability,' said Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombia's former foreign minister and current lawmaker, in an interview with Reuters. Colombia's conflict began in the 1960s amid demands for land reform, with rebels promising to redistribute land and wealth concentrated among a small elite. As part of the 2016 accord, the government pledged to grant formal ownership to poor farmers willing to stop cultivating coca. Since then, the funding has helped the government map millions of acres in conflict-afflicted territories. But that work is now on hold, according to an anonymous source within the USAID land programme. 'In terms of drug policy, we managed to positively impact the issue from a territorial, transformational perspective,' he said. 'If farmers own their land, they hardly want to risk losing it by planting illicit crops, and if it's done on a massive scale, it becomes more sustainable in the fight against this phenomenon.' Mr Valencia added that the funding cuts have 'rendered it impossible to fulfil the peace agreement,' while Ms Dickinson said there is 'no one who will step into this gap', meaning key parts of the deal 'will not be implemented'. The cuts also come amid a surge in violence between armed groups, which saw tens of thousands of people displaced earlier this year and left more than 100 dead. Colombia is currently grappling with eight separate armed conflicts, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which recently described the situation as its worst humanitarian crisis since the 2016 peace accord. Overall, the 60-year conflict has killed at least 450,000 people; cocaine production and trafficking remain the main drivers of the ongoing violence. But others argue that the US should not be funding programmes or public employees in Colombia at all. 'Trump is right,' President Gustavo Petro said in a televised address earlier this year, where he also characterised US foreign aid as poison. 'Take your money.' Some also question whether the cuts will meaningfully impact drug trafficking, arguing that the US-led war on drugs has already failed, with consumption and cultivation at record highs. Isabel Pereira, a drug policy expert at Colombia-based research organisation DeJusticia, said that such programmes 'will never be enough' to stop drug trafficking. 'Coca as a cash crop will always be more profitable than any other crop,' she said. If the programmes had been successful, she argued, 'we wouldn't be in a situation today where we are at the highest number of hectares grown in Colombia.' 'I don't think it will have much of a differential effect because the fact of the matter is that the drug markets are always thriving,' Ms Pereira added. Although the high profile excesses associated with narcos like Mr Escobar are less prominent. Coca cultivation in Colombia has quadrupled over the last decade, while global cocaine production doubled. Drug use has also grown steadily, with the UN noting in 2024 that 292 million people worldwide reported having consumed narcotics in the previous year. The Colombian government, led by the country's first leftist president, Mr Petro, has already acted to reform drug policy. In October 2023, it launched a new national drug policy that aims to shift the narrative around psychoactive substances – focusing on rural development, reducing coca crops, and helping small farmers transition to the legal economy. In February, Mr Petro said that cocaine is 'not worse than whisky' and said that, like whisky, it should be legalised. 'If somebody wants peace, the business [of drug trafficking] has to be dismantled,' Mr Petro said. 'It could be easily dismantled if they legalised cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine.' In March, Colombia went further, leading a landmark resolution at the UN commission on narcotic drugs, calling for reforms to the existing 60-year-old drug control system. 'The global drug regime has failed to deliver, period,' said Laura Gil, Colombia's ambassador-at-large for global drug policy, speaking on the sidelines of the Harm Reduction International conference. 'In my country, it has meant the fuelling of the internal armed conflict, it has meant thousands of deaths, and it has meant the stigma we carry as Colombians all over the world.' Catherine Cook of Harm Reduction International said US funding had long given Washington an 'element of control' over Colombia's drug policy. 'This is a moment for countries to be able to take back control and decide what they want to prioritise,' she said. Ms Dickinson agreed that drug policies have caused a 'very perverse fallout', but warned that cutting funding overnight 'empowers the criminal groups who are profiting from this business.' The USAID land programme source also acknowledged that 'not everything was perfect with USAID,' but countered that, on balance, 'more good' happened than bad. Mr Valencia, meanwhile, argued that the US's abrupt decision, if nothing else, amounted to a betrayal of its responsibilities. 'The US operation is an obligation. It is not a gift – the US is the main party responsible for consumption and the persecution of our poorest people,' he said. 'These funding cuts hurt efforts to repress trafficking, and the growers that no longer have support from the programmes. They are waiving all liability, and it is a great injustice.' Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Washington Post
9 hours ago
- Washington Post
Peru reinstates full protection of Nazca Lines reserve after controversial cutback
BOGOTA, Colombia — Peru's government has reversed its controversial decision to shrink the protected area surrounding the Nazca Lines, which had faced criticism for opening the area to informal miners. The country's culture ministry on Sunday nullified last week's resolution that had reinstated the boundary map set in 2004. The switch followed severe backlash after the government approved a 42% reduction in the zone — about 2,400 square kilometers (926 square miles) — and to allow miners to seek formal permits in previously restricted areas. The original protected zone — spanning 5,600 square kilometers (2,162 square miles) — will remain in effect. The ministry also ordered an update of the site's management plan within 10 days and the formation of a technical panel, which will include government representatives, academics, UNESCO, and civil society figures to define future use and conservation strategies. The area in question forms part of a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site , home to the Nazca Lines — massive geoglyphs etched into the desert over 1,500 years ago — and one of Peru's most fragile desert ecosystems. 'Thanks to the strong rejection by national and international public opinion, the government revoked the reduction of the area of the Nazca Archaeological Reserve,' Mariano Castro, Peru's former vice minister of the environment, told The Associated Press. Castro said the government justified its decision by saying it had not previously discussed its decision publicly. 'In other words, it (the government) does not go so far as to admit the measure was wrong, despite evidence of the presence of illegal mining, which seriously endangers and threatens the integrity of the Nazca Lines and petroglyphs,' he said. The ministry said a new government entity will be created to oversee the site's management, and technical studies will be published to ensure transparency and accountability. Peruvian environmental lawyer, César Ipenza, who follows the issue closely, welcomes the technical panel, which will include local authorities, but he still has concerns. 'The truth is that the local authority is actually the one that has been calling for the reduction of the boundaries of the Nazca Lines,' Ipenza told the AP. 'There will also be strong pressure from miners for this to go ahead.' Ipenza is concerned that informal mining has been steadily expanding in the area, even though all mining activity is officially banned. 'The government hasn't taken action to remove these miners and as a result, there has been pressure to officially open the area to allow informal and illegal miners to become formalized,' he said. The AP contacted UNESCO for comment. The organization said it would aim to provide information on Tuesday, as Monday was a public holiday in France, where it is headquartered. —- The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at .
Associated Press
10 hours ago
- Associated Press
Peru reinstates full protection of Nazca Lines reserve after controversial cutback
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Peru's government has reversed its controversial decision to shrink the protected area surrounding the Nazca Lines, which had faced criticism for opening the area to informal miners. The country's culture ministry on Sunday nullified last week's resolution that had reinstated the boundary map set in 2004. The switch followed severe backlash after the government approved a 42% reduction in the zone — about 2,400 square kilometers (926 square miles) — and to allow miners to seek formal permits in previously restricted areas. The original protected zone — spanning 5,600 square kilometers (2,162 square miles) — will remain in effect. The ministry also ordered an update of the site's management plan within 10 days and the formation of a technical panel, which will include government representatives, academics, UNESCO, and civil society figures to define future use and conservation strategies. The area in question forms part of a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site, home to the Nazca Lines — massive geoglyphs etched into the desert over 1,500 years ago — and one of Peru's most fragile desert ecosystems. 'Thanks to the strong rejection by national and international public opinion, the government revoked the reduction of the area of the Nazca Archaeological Reserve,' Mariano Castro, Peru's former vice minister of the environment, told The Associated Press. Castro said the government justified its decision by saying it had not previously discussed its decision publicly. 'In other words, it (the government) does not go so far as to admit the measure was wrong, despite evidence of the presence of illegal mining, which seriously endangers and threatens the integrity of the Nazca Lines and petroglyphs,' he said. The ministry said a new government entity will be created to oversee the site's management, and technical studies will be published to ensure transparency and accountability. Peruvian environmental lawyer, César Ipenza, who follows the issue closely, welcomes the technical panel, which will include local authorities, but he still has concerns. 'The truth is that the local authority is actually the one that has been calling for the reduction of the boundaries of the Nazca Lines,' Ipenza told the AP. 'There will also be strong pressure from miners for this to go ahead.' Ipenza is concerned that informal mining has been steadily expanding in the area, even though all mining activity is officially banned. 'The government hasn't taken action to remove these miners and as a result, there has been pressure to officially open the area to allow informal and illegal miners to become formalized,' he said. The AP contacted UNESCO for comment. The organization said it would aim to provide information on Tuesday, as Monday was a public holiday in France, where it is headquartered. —- The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
