Latest news with #Orellana
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ecuador declares national mourning for 11 troops killed by guerrillas
Ecuador's president declared three days of national mourning starting Saturday over the deaths of 11 soldiers who the army said were killed by dissident FARC guerrillas in an ambush near the Colombian border. The attack on Friday comes amid a spike in violence in both nations linked to the trafficking of cocaine produced in Colombia and exported through Ecuadoran ports to the United States and Europe. Around 80 soldiers were carrying out an operation to combat illegal mining in the Ecuadoran Amazon when they were attacked by the guerrillas, leaving 11 soldiers and a militant dead, and one soldier wounded, Ecuadoran officials said. The Ecuadoran military said in a statement Friday that the "ambush" had been carried out with explosives, grenades and firearms. "We will find those responsible and we will finish them off," Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa said on social media platform X. The national mourning period in honor of the slain soldiers will run through Monday, according to the presidency. The office of the prosecutor said a criminal offshoot of FARC called the Comandos de la Frontera, or Border Commandos, was responsible for the attack in the eastern province of Orellana. Some armed factions within FARC, once the largest guerrilla group in Latin America, have rejected its historic peace agreement made with the Colombian government in 2016. Those splinter groups refuse to lay down their arms and pursue criminal activities like illegal mining and drug trafficking. Comandos de la Frontera is involved in drug trafficking in the border region of Colombia and Ecuador. The prosecutor's office said that work had begun to "recover the bodies and secure evidence" at the site of the attack. According to Mario Pazmino, a retired colonel and former head of army intelligence, the area is a "sanctuary for organized crime" where Colombian, Ecuadoran and Brazilian groups operate. After the demobilization of FARC in 2017, the Comandos de la Frontera were able to rearm in about a year and a half and their expansion has accelerated, Laura Bonilla, a researcher at the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, told AFP. "Neither the Colombian nor the Ecuadoran state has been able to guarantee a state presence that provides security, justice or protects the territory from the presence of armed groups," she added. Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said the deadly attack on Friday demonstrated the threat posed by organized armed groups. "Their criminal violence is unacceptable and must be confronted with the full force of the state," he wrote on X. The Ecuadoran military said it would "not rest until those responsible are judged before the law and are held accountable." - A killing every hour - Once-peaceful Ecuador averaged a killing every hour at the start of the year, as cartels battled for control over cocaine routes that pass through the nation's ports. Despite President Noboa's tough-on-crime policies, the country has the highest murder rate in Latin America. There are 40,000 gang members in Ecuador, the president has said -- almost double the 22,000 narco traffickers and rebels in Colombia, according to official figures. The bloodshed in Ecuador has spooked investors and tourists alike, fuelling economic malaise and swelling the ranks of the nation's poor to 28 percent of the population. In Colombia, the Comandos de la Frontera are engaged in peace negotiations with authorities, with a further round of talks set for later this month. The United States is seeking the extradition of the group's detained leader on drug trafficking charges, Colombian officials have said. sp-jbr/jgc/sco/md
Free Malaysia Today
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Ecuador says 11 troops killed in attack by Farc dissidents
Once-peaceful Ecuador averaged a killing every hour at the start of the year. (EPA Images pic) QUITO : Ecuador said today that at least 11 military personnel who were carrying out an operation to combat illegal mining in a region near the border with Colombia were killed by dissident Farc guerrillas. Some armed factions within Farc, once the largest guerrilla group in Latin America, have rejected its historic peace agreement made with the Colombian government in 2016. Those splinter groups refuse to lay down their arms and pursue criminal activities like illegal drug trafficking and illegal mining. 'Eleven soldiers have been killed and one wounded,' the Ecuadoran military said in a statement. It said that dozens of military personnel had been involved in the operation and that the 'ambush' had been carried out with explosives, grenades and firearms. The office of the prosecutor, which earlier gave a toll of eight dead, said a criminal group called the Comandos de la Frontera was responsible for the attack in the eastern province of Orellana. The group is involved in drug trafficking in the border region of Colombia and Ecuador. The prosecutor's statement added that work had begun to 'recover the bodies and secure evidence' at the site of the attack. 'We will not rest until those responsible are judged before the law and are held accountable for this crime,' the military said in its statement. Once-peaceful Ecuador averaged a killing every hour at the start of the year, as cartels battled for control over cocaine routes that pass through the nation's ports. The bloodshed has spooked investors and tourists alike, fuelling economic malaise and swelling the ranks of Ecuador's poor to 28% of the population. In Colombia, the Comandos de la Frontera are engaged in peace negotiations with authorities. The US is seeking the extradition of the group's detained leader, Colombian officials have said.
Entrepreneur
07-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
From Prompt to Profit — How To Build a Side Hustle Using ChatGPT
Discover the AI blueprint that turned a simple sponge idea into a successful business earning $75,000 in this exclusive Entrepreneur+ workshop. Lee Kojanis and Daniele Orellana, founders of Mitts, are revealing the exact prompts and ChatGPT strategies they used to build their $75,000 side hustle. This exclusive Entrepreneur+ workshop is live today at 1 p.m. ET — subscribers, scroll down to watch the full session. Not an Entrepreneur+ member yet? There's still time! Click here to subscribe. Cancel anytime. Kojanis and Orellana used ChatGPT to create the majority of their go-to-market strategy. Here, the couple will share how they used it for product development, branding, pricing strategy and drafting legal documents.
CBS News
02-05-2025
- CBS News
SUV stolen in Brooklyn with 2-year-old inside, police say
A 2-year-old boy is safe after the SUV he was in was stolen while he was still inside. It happened around 10:30 a.m. on Sutter Avenue in Brooklyn. Surveillance video shows two people getting out of the SUV and stepping into a nearby deli as two men stand nearby. One of those two men then walks around the SUV before getting in and driving away. Police say the 2-year-old was in the back seat. According to police, the key was still in the ignition and the car was still running. A witness, who didn't want to be identified, said it all happened in a minute. "They cornered the car, guns drawn" "She started to scream 'Where's my baby? They stole my car! My baby,'" a witness said. The police were called right away, and about 10 minutes later the car was found 15 blocks away on Liberty Avenue and Wyona Street in East New York. Terry Orellana was just getting to work at the time. "They cornered the car, guns drawn, a bunch of other police officers and cars came, they were within eight minutes of each other, so it was swarmed," Orellana said. Maurice Stephens, 34, was arrested. The Brooklyn resident was charged with grand larceny, kidnapping, possession of stolen property and endangering the welfare of a child. CBS News New York Video from Chopper 2 shows the 2-year-old safely being taken to an ambulance to Brookdale Hospital. He was released from the hospital Friday afternoon. His family declined to comment, but they said he's doing OK.
CNN
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Organizer of Target
For the past 40 days, Pastor Jamal Bryant has been leading a Target 'fast' over the retailer's decision to pull back on DEI. He reveals to Victor what came from a meeting with the company's CEO and plans for a 'second phase' of boycotts. Head Start has helped millions of low-income children get access to an early education. Now a Trump Administration budget draft calls for the elimination of federal funding for the program. Dr. Deborah Bergeron, who led the program under the first Trump Administration, tells Victor why the news caught her 'off guard'. Plus, Victor shares the story of Alfredo Orellana. He is a green card holder who helps care for a man with autism, Luke Ferris. Orellana's wife, Anita, is 7 months pregnant. But now Orellana has been detained for months and faces deportation. The father of the autistic young man he is a caregiver for, along with Orellana's wife and their attorney, Ben Osorio, share with Victor the impact this is having for both their families ahead of an upcoming hearing. Later, Victor gets reaction from acclaimed environmental justice activist Catherine Coleman Flowers to news that a Justice Department agreement to help Lowndes County, a majority-Black county in Alabama, deal with harmful sewage issues is being dropped, citing DEI. And you'll hear from 15-year-old Gaby and Miami Arts Studio choral director Cindy Ellis after a video of their high school's performance of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' went viral. All the singers are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. And Gaby reveals that her father nearly died in the recent nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic, which adds to the post-performance emotions.
