Redcuban1959

The right to legal defense for detainees and the inviolability of telecommunications will remain suspended. On Tuesday night, the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly, dominated by the ruling party Nuevas Ideas (NI), approved the thirty-second extension of the “State of Emergency.”

The extension of the state of emergency was approved without debate by 57 out of 60 legislators. It means that for another 30 days, the right to legal defense for detainees, the inviolability of telecommunications, and the maximum administrative detention of three days will remain suspended. This new extension is set to last until December 6.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele requested a further extension of the state of emergency, justifying it by stating that the state still needs to carry out an extraordinary intervention to counter the threat of criminal groups regrouping, stemming from remaining gang members in neighborhoods and communities.

His administration claims that the states of emergency have enabled it to eradicate gangs and reduce the homicide rate in this Central American nation.

However, a group of 2,500 members of the Armed Forces and the National Police were deployed on October 28 to a densely populated neighborhood in El Salvador to implement a “security cordon” due to the alleged presence of gang members. This security cordon adds to others set up in different areas of the Central American country to fight gangs in the context of the state of emergency.

This measure was approved following the killing of about 80 people over a weekend in late March 2022. With over 83,100 detentions, the state of emergency has become the government’s primary and only approach against gangs, which also helped President Bukele secure immediate reelection, despite constitutional prohibition.

Meanwhile, various human rights organizations have received more than 6,400 reports of human rights violations, mainly due to arbitrary detentions and torture, and report over 300 deaths of detainees in state custody, most showing signs of violence.

According to Ukraine, North Korea has already deployed around 11,000 soldiers in Russia. On Wednesday, the Russian Senate ratified the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” signed between Russia and North Korea in June, which includes a clause for mutual military assistance in the event of aggression.

According to this document, if one of the signatory parties is subjected to an armed attack, the other will immediately provide military and other forms of assistance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean President Kim Jong-un signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty during the Kremlin leader’s first visit to Pyongyang in nearly a quarter of a century.

The ratification of the treaty by the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the first encounters between his troops and North Korean soldiers.

“The first clashes with North Korean soldiers open a new chapter of instability in the world,” Zelensky said in a message to the nation, urging the international community to “do everything possible to ensure this Russian step to expand the war fails.”

According to Ukraine and some of its allies, North Korea has already deployed around 11,000 soldiers in Russia. Some of them are said to have joined Russian troops fighting the Ukrainian Army in the Russian region of Kursk, which has been partially occupied by Ukrainian forces since August.

Russia, which has so far neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops on its territory, maintains that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty with North Korea is “defensive in nature and is not directed against the security of third countries.”

The MAS leader went on hunger strike to pressure for the release of social activists detained during road protests. On Friday, former Bolivian President Evo Morales ended his hunger strike after his supporters announced a temporary suspension of road blockades to begin talks with President Luis Arce’s administration.

After six days, the leader of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) ended a hunger strike he had started to pressure Arce into initiating discussions on the release of nearly 100 social activists who were detained during 24 days of road protests.

Morales is also demanding that the judicial proceedings against him for alleged human trafficking and statutoryremoved be stopped, and that he be allowed to run as a presidential candidate in the 2025 elections.

Next Sunday, the Pact of Unity, a coalition of social and political organizations supporting Morales, will hold a meeting to assess the progress of the dialogue with representatives of the Arce administration.

Dieter Mendoza, secretary of the Mamore Bulo Bulo Federation, which represents coca growers, stated that the Pact of Unity will reactivate the road blockades if the detained are not immediately released.

“We have always viewed Brother Morales as a leader in the struggle since his days as an activist. And this time was no exception,” Mendoza emphasized, referring to the hunger strike upheld by the MAS leader. “If our demands are not met within the next 72 hours, we will resume the road blockades,” he added.

The dialogue between the Arce administration and Bolivian social organizations began on Friday at the offices of the Ombudsman, where representatives from both sides set up working groups to address issues related to the economic and political crisis in the Andean country.

“We will not address matters related to electoral institutions or the authorization of candidacies. Those issues fall under the jurisdiction of other institutions,” said Deputy Minister of Autonomy, Alvaro Ruiz.