A huge brawl broke out in Charlotte between fans and members of Uruguay&#8217;s soccer team after players entered the stands following the team’s 1-0 loss to Colombia in the semifinals.
It happened Wednesday night in North Carolina at the Bank of America Stadium where the city was hosting CONMEBOL Copa America match, that represents all 50 states and around 60 countries, <a href="https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/soccer-fans-fill-charlotte-copa-america-semifinal-bank-america-stadium/3HGUD5HUINDPDFKUBLWTSIVW3Y/">WSOC TV</a> reported. Immediately following Uruaguay’s loss, forward Darwin Núñez and about a dozen of his Uruguay teammates <a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/1811227359217139862">ran into the stands</a> where the major fight broke out.
In <a href="https://x.com/FavianRenkel/status/1811261365849624711">one clip</a>, Nunez can be seen throwing a punch to a fan wearing Colombia colors, the outlet noted. Things then got out of control between fans and players, with beverages and trash being thrown back and forth and people being shoved. 
“This is the best game I’ve ever seen in my life,” Daniel Arias, a fan, said.
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A contentious Copa America match between Colombia and Uruguay led to angry post-match moments. About a dozen Uruguayan players confronted Colombian fans in the stands after Colombia&#8217;s 1-0 semifinal win in Charlotte, North Carolina. <a href="https://t.co/ErTwNlXiDU">https://t.co/ErTwNlXiDU</a> <a href="https://t.co/vghPgTgtfC">pic.twitter.com/vghPgTgtfC</a>
— ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1811482361915113807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
“Whether you were cheering for Colombia or Uruguay the atmosphere at Bank of America Stadium was unmatched,” he added. “It was once in a lifetime.”
Another fan, Jorge Gonzales, said, “When I saw the players running, I was like OK, this is about to get ugly.”
Gonzales said he got out his phone and captured the fight which he said appeared to first start between fans and Uruguay players’ family members, the outlet noted.
“I was able to witness a Colombian fan, you know, start crying as his national anthem was played,” Gonzales said. “So, look more for those moments versus, you know, drinking a little bit too much and letting things spiral into chaos.”
The federation that oversees the match released a statement after the fight in Spanish, then translated into English, that read, “La Conmebol strongly condemns any act of violence.”
“Our work is based on the conviction that soccer connects and unites us through its positive values,&#8221; the organization statement added. &#8220;There is no place for intolerance and violence on and off the field. We invite everyone in the remaining days to pour all of their passion into cheering on their national teams and having an unforgettable party.”
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department was on scene to stop the fight and no one was arrested in connection to the brawl.

Soccer fight

‘Total Disaster’: Brawl Breaks Out With Fans After Uruguayan Players Enter Stands

Colombia

Fight

North Carolina

Soccer

Sports

U.S.

Uruguay

Four children who were missing after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/plane-crash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plane crash</a> in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colombia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Colombia</a> were found alive and rescued after 40 days alone. 
The children who ranged in age from just 11 months to 13 years old <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/10/colombian-children-found-alive-five-weeks-after-amazon-jungle-plane-crash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were found</a> in a remote area of the Amazon jungle in Colombia after surviving storms and avoiding dangerous animals and rebel soldiers. A plane carrying the children, their mother, and two other adults had crashed on May 1, killing everyone but the children. 
“They’ve given us an example of total survival that will go down in history,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro. “A joy for the whole country!”
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeneralGiraldo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GeneralGiraldo</a>: &quot;La unión de esfuerzos hizo posible esta alegría para Colombia&quot; 
Gloria a los soldados de las <a href="https://twitter.com/FuerzasMilCol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FuerzasMilCol</a>, a las comunidades indígenas e instituciones que hicieron parte de la <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Operaci%C3%B3nEsperanza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OperaciónEsperanza</a>&quot; <a href="https://t.co/LO3BPldLgD">pic.twitter.com/LO3BPldLgD</a>
&mdash; Fuerzas Militares de Colombia (@FuerzasMilCol) <a href="https://twitter.com/FuerzasMilCol/status/1667324165278277638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“Their learning from indigenous families and their learning of living in the jungle has saved them,” Petro said of the children, who are ethnically Huitoto. “They are children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia.”
The <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/09/americas/colombia-children-amazon-found-intl-latam/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rescued children were</a>: Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 13,  Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9, Tien Ranoque Mucutuy, 4, and Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy, just 11 months old. 
Rescuers were sent out after the pilot of the plane issued a call for help due to engine failure. Rescuers found the bodies of the adults, but the children were gone leaving only footprints and other small signs of life. 
For days following the crash, a team combed over a jungle area of about 125 square miles. The team included 150 soldiers and 200 locals, according to the Guardian. 
“This isn’t a needle in a haystack, it’s a tiny flea in a rug because they keep moving,” said Brigadier General Pedro Sanchez “But if, God forbid, they were dead we would have already have found them, because they would be still.”
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1685885459858000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0AFvCLn4CIt7S8nPLjhrIg">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Before the children were found, Sanchez said he had a “100% expectation” that his team would be able to rescue the children. 
On Friday, rescuers shouted “Miracle! Miracle! Miracle! Miracle!” as they found footprints that led them to the children. The children were then flown to a hospital for treatment.
“We hope that tomorrow they will be treated at the military hospital,” Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said after the discovery. 
María Fátima Valencia, the children’s grandmother said she was “going to hug all of them” and “thank everyone.” The family lives in Villavicencio, a city in central Colombia not far from Bogota. 
“I’m going to encourage them, I’m going to push them forward, I need them here,” she said.

4 children missing for 40 days in Amazon jungle found alive in Colombia

‘Miracle’: Four Children Found Alive 40 Days After Plane Crash In Remote Jungle

Airplane crash

Plane Crash

South America

World

Two submarines authorities believe were used to transport cocaine were discovered and seized by officials this week in Europe and South America.
The Colombian Navy <a href="https://www.armada.mil.co/es/content/tragico-transporte-alcaloides-en-un-semisumergible" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement this week that it interdicted a semi-submersible approximately 50 feet long in the Pacific Ocean that contained nearly 3 tons of cocaine, which officials valued at $87 million. The value of that cocaine skyrockets into the hundreds of millions of dollars by the time that it hits the streets of the U.S.
The Colombian military found two individuals on the craft who were experiencing serious health conditions due to some sort of accident that occurred onboard involving breathing in toxic fumes. Two more individuals were found dead on board.
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Al interior de la embarcación, fueron hallados dos sujetos en malas condiciones de salud, y dos cuerpos sin vida, al parecer por la inhalación de gases tóxicos. Esta operación evitó el ingreso de más de 87 millones de dólares a estructuras de organizaciones narcotraficantes. <a href="https://t.co/RFfYIvoMu3">pic.twitter.com/RFfYIvoMu3</a>
&mdash; Armada de Colombia (@ArmadaColombia) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArmadaColombia/status/1634972331406917632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2023</a></blockquote>
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On Tuesday, Spain&#8217;s Civil Guard took <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/14/spain-drugs-semisubmersible-vessel-cocaine/4f0c0788-c272-11ed-82a7-6a87555c1878_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">possession</a> of a submarine off the coast of the northwestern region of Galicia. The vessel was spotted on Monday and officials say it may have carried cocaine.
The vessel, about the same size as the one found by Colombia&#8217;s Navy in the Pacific, was empty when authorities seized it from the bottom of the ocean floor.
Spanish authorities seized a similar vessel with three tons of cocaine on it in 2019.
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Finalmente el sumergible hallado en la zona de Vilagarcía de Aurosa (Pontevedra) es traslado al puerto de Xufre.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GEAS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GEAS</a>: Grupo Especial de Actividades Subacuáticas de la <a href="https://twitter.com/guardiacivil?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@guardiacivil</a> <a href="https://t.co/sgBIcCtt6n">pic.twitter.com/sgBIcCtt6n</a>
&mdash; Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) <a href="https://twitter.com/guardiacivil/status/1635679566004903941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The majority of the world&#8217;s cocaine comes from three countries in northern South America: Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.
Colombia produces by far the most cocaine out of three nations, with one estimate in 2017 suggesting that there were 460,000 acres in the country that were growing coca plants, a total much higher than when notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar ran the Medellin Cartel, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/a-side-effect-of-peace-in-colombia-a-cocaine-boom-in-the-us/2017/05/07/6fb5d468-294a-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>.
The amount of cocaine being grown in Colombia is so high that &#8220;unpicked coca leaves are rotting in the fields,&#8221; the report said.
“We’ve never seen anything like it before,” said Luis Carlos Villegas, Colombia’s defense minister.
The drug cartels build submarines and semi-submersible craft largely in the mangrove swamps in Colombia. It can cost $1-2 million to build the vessel, which is then often used only once by the crew to transport hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine to a destination. Once the drugs are offloaded from the vessel it is usually discarded by the crew.

Cocaine Sub

Two Massive Drug Submarines Recovered On Opposite Ends Of The World

Cocaine

Crime

Spain

A South American nation revealed late on Saturday that it detected a possible Chinese spy balloon operating in its airspace last week.
The Colombian Air Force <a href="https://www.fac.mil.co/es/comunicados/comunicado-0032023">said</a> in a statement that on Friday morning, &#8220;the National Air Defense System detected an object above 55,000 feet, which entered Colombian airspace in the northern sector of the country, moving at an average speed of 25 knots, identifying in it, characteristics similar to those of a balloon.&#8221;
&#8220;Through the Defense Systems, the Colombian Air Force followed the object until it left the airspace,&#8221; the statement continued.
The Colombians said that they were launching an investigation to determine the origin of the object, although they did not believe that it presented a risk to their security.
The news out of Colombia comes after the Pentagon said Friday that it had assessed the balloon was a Chinese spy balloon.
https://twitter.com/alvarelm/status/1621501802658111490
“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”
A balloon, potentially the same one discovered over the skies of Colombia, was filmed floating over Costa Rica.
Esteban Carranza, a lawyer from Costa Rica, posted a video of the balloon, writing, &#8220;the same type of balloon spotted in the US was visible all day in the Costa Rican sky.&#8221;
&#8220;I have to say, I was pretty excited as I initially thought I was seeing a UFO because the object was big, bright and absolutely still,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/suspected-chinese-balloon-over-us-02-04-23/h_043789c943b3f4b3dae70b2c0736e6f3">told</a> CNN. &#8220;I looked at the object for around 45 minutes from different locations, completely still, and a few hours later went back out again and it was still there, in the exact same place. Lots of people were looking at it from different parts of the city. Even though not a UFO, it was still very unusual and therefore an exciting experience.&#8221;
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Here is a video I took from the street. <a href="https://twitter.com/SilvaRecord?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SilvaRecord</a> I initially did not think it was a balloon since the wind was around 45 knots and the object remained still for a long time. But yes, it was confirmed a balloon. <a href="https://t.co/I60KGTkWjC">pic.twitter.com/I60KGTkWjC</a>
&mdash; UAP Costa Rica (@UAP_CR) <a href="https://twitter.com/UAP_CR/status/1621341535898931200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The news comes after the U.S. military used an F-22 Raptor to take out a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina using a single air-to-air A9X sidewinder missile that was fired at an altitude of approximately 58,000 feet. The decision to shoot down the spy balloon came after President Joe Biden allowed it to fly thousands of miles over the continental U.S. during the last several days.

CHINA-BEIJING-CPC CENTENARY-GRAND GATHERING-XI JINPING (CN)

South American Nation Detects Another Possible Chinese Spy Balloon

Balloon

China

Communist China

Global Politics

Spying

Leftist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colombia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Colombian</a> Vice President Francia Márquez Mina demanded reparations from the United States over climate change, even as the U.S. sends hundreds of millions of dollars every year to the nation in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/foreign-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic and humanitarian aid</a>. 
In an <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/the-recast/2023/01/20/colombia-vice-president-francia-marquez-00078746" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> this week with POLITICO, Márquez said that the U.S. and other Western countries should pursue reparations in the form of debt forgiveness to Colombia over the issues of climate change and colonialism. 
“There’s no doubt that the United States has a role to play. The United States should be the first country to acknowledge that its global politics have helped keep black people around the world and in Africa in a state of subjugation,” Márquez said when asked if the U.S. should be involved in “global and climate reparations.”
“Countries that have participated in slavery and colonialism are the ones that have their black population living without the barest of necessities, in a state of precarity. Those countries most responsible for colonialism and slavery are today’s developed countries, the world superpowers, which paradoxically also emit the most greenhouse gases,” she added. 
Márquez then claimed that black people, Indigenous people, and women were most impacted by climate change. She said that the U.S. and other countries should institute a debt forgiveness program to free up resources for “marginalized and oppressed communities.”
“The United States should be at the forefront of that policy. I know there’s been some reckoning, some conversations about acknowledging that this country is responsible for slavery and racism and now also climate change. But now it’s necessary to translate that reckoning into concrete action,” said Márquez, who is a member of the leftist Soy Porque Somos party. 
According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. has routinely given <a href="https://www.foreignassistance.gov/cd/colombia/2022/disbursements/0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds of millions of dollars</a> to Colombia in aid. Since 2001, the U.S. has given Colombia over $11 billion in humanitarian, economic, and military aid. 
In fiscal year 2022, the U.S. gave $479,676,863 to Colombia, with most of that money coming from USAID, but also a large chunk from the State Department. Included in this U.S. taxpayer funding was $198 million for emergency responses, $35 million for general environmental protection, and $23 million for disaster prevention and preparation. 
Márquez, who ran for office alongside current Colombian President and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/20/colombia-vp-marquez-00078617" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ex-guerrilla</a> rebel Gustavo Petro, has previously <a href="https://www.wola.org/analysis/colombia-peace-agreement-conclusions-of-the-first-session-of-the-permanent-forum-of-afro-descendants-at-the-un/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded</a> reparations from Western countries at a forum in Geneva, Switzerland.

COLOMBIA-US-DIPLOMACY-BLINKEN-PETRO

Leftist Colombian VP Wants ‘Climate’ Reparations From U.S. — America Already Gives Colombia Hundreds Of Millions Every Year.

Colombian VP Wants Reparations From U.S., Other Western Countries

Foreign Policy

Reparations

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) spoke out against newly elected leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday, predicting the leader would be &#8220;disastrous.&#8221;
DeSantis shared a video of his comments regarding Petro on Twitter.
&#8220;The election in Colombia of a former narco-terrorist Marxist is troubling and disappointing. The spread of left-wing totalitarian ideology in the Western Hemisphere is a growing threat. Florida stands with Colombian Americans on the side of freedom,&#8221; DeSantis said.
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The election in Colombia of a former narco-terrorist Marxist is troubling and disappointing. The spread of left-wing totalitarian ideology in the Western Hemisphere is a growing threat. Florida stands with Colombian Americans on the side of freedom. <a href="https://t.co/0O7UVccH6M">pic.twitter.com/0O7UVccH6M</a>
&mdash; Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1538900964211564544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In the video, DeSantis noted his concern with the Colombia election&#8217;s results.
&#8220;We watched the election results down in Colombia and we have a lot of great Colombian Americans here in our state who were very concerned about what was going on and I think the results of that election have been very, very troubling for people that believe in freedom in the Western Hemisphere,&#8221; DeSantis said.
&#8220;To elect a former narco-terrorist and a Marxist to lead Colombia is going to be disastrous,&#8221; the governor added.
Petro won the nation&#8217;s presidency with 50.48% of the vote on Sunday, with challenger Rodolfo Hernández garnering 47.26%, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-ap-top-news-gustavo-petro-colombia-elections-0d60db5f1fb0c03fc413b0fbd6b5add6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the Associated Press.
“From this government that is beginning there will never be political persecution or legal persecution, there will only be respect and dialogue,” he said, according to the outlet.
In contrast with the approach of DeSantis to speak out against the Marxist leader&#8217;s victory, Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement claiming he is looking forward to working with Petro.
&#8220;On behalf of the United States, I congratulate the people of Colombia for making their voices heard in a free and fair presidential election. We commend the many officials, public servants, and volunteers whose dedication made these elections possible,&#8221; Blinken <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-colombian-election/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>.
&#8220;The United States and Colombia enjoy deep bonds between our peoples, shared values, and shared interests in democracy, security, inclusive economic prosperity, and human rights. Cooperation between the United States and Colombia has improved public health, livelihoods, rule of law and environmental protections in both our countries and throughout the region. We look forward to working with President-Elect Petro to further strengthen the U.S.-Colombia relationship and move our nations toward a better future,&#8221; he added.
Petro <a href="https://twitter.com/petrogustavo/status/1538645778540937217">called</a> the results a cause for celebration for the Colombian people.
The new election result is the latest example of Latin American nations electing <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/20/colombia-picks-1st-leftist-president-in-tight-runoff-contest.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leftist presidents</a>. In 2021, Chile, Peru, and Honduras each elected a leftist leader. In Brazil, former leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is leading in recent polls.

Ron DeSantis

DeSantis Speaks Out Against Newly Elected ‘Marxist’ Colombian President

DeSantis Speaks Out Against Newly Elected Colombian President

Elections

Florida

Leftists

Two Spanish shipwrecks were found off the coast of Colombia near the remains of the “holy grail” of sunken ships, according to government officials. 
The two ships, believed to be hundreds of years old, were discovered by Colombian authorities during an underwater project documenting the wreck of the San Jose galleon (sometimes called the “holy grail of shipwrecks”) which reportedly had about $17 billion of gold onboard. 
&#8220;We have already found two additional vessels: one vessel that is from the colonial period and another that, from the point of view of preliminary analysis, corresponds to the Republican period of our history,” Colombian President Ivan Duque <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/two-ships-found-near-spanish-galleon-full-gold-worth-17-billion-1714432">said</a>. 
The ships were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/08/colombia-shipwreck-san-jose/">found</a> about 3,000 feet under the water off the coast of Cartagena during observation missions by the Colombian navy. Both vessels apparently went down near the 300-year-old wreck of the Spanish ship the San Jose, which was sunk by the British in 1708.
On Monday, Duque unveiled new photos and footage of the two now discovered wrecks as well as the San Jose’s treasure. The footage was taken by a remotely operated vehicle.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Coins found near &#039;holy grail of shipwrecks&#039;" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0AofViHaeiw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In addition to taking footage of the newly discovered schooner and colonial boat, the operation also procured photos of some of the San Jose’s treasure, believed to be one of the largest ever for a shipwreck. 
“The equipment that our army has acquired and the level of precision have kept this treasure intact, but at the same time, we will be able to protect it for later extraction,” the president stated. 
The Colombian Navy also announced that they do not believe that the wreck of the San Jose, first discovered in 2015, had been disturbed. 
“Under the guidelines of the Presidency of the Republic during the last two years, the Colombian Navy and the General Maritime Directorate, in a non-intrusive observation work carried out at the site where the Galleon San José rests, has verified that it has not suffered intervention or alterations by human action,” the Navy said. 
Who gets the treasure of San Jose is still a question up for debate with Spain, Colombia, and others all claiming the rights to the valuable discovery. 
Swords, hand minted coins, crockery, and 17th century cannons were among the items viewed by Colombian authorities. 
&#8220;What we are talking about is an important wealth that has a lot to tell us about our past,&#8221; Colombian Maritime director Jose Joaquin Amezquita said.

Cityscape of Cartagena, Colombia

Two Sunken Ships Found Near ‘Holy Grail’ Of Shipwrecks, Artifacts From Estimated $17 Billion Treasure Revealed

Two Sunken Ships Include Estimated $17 Billion Treasure

History

A Colombian man who entered the U.S. illegally in 1995 after being convicted of murdering his wife and shooting his daughter in Colombia has been caught by FBI special agents, the bureau reported Wednesday.
William Hernando Usma Acosta, 61, shot and killed his wife in June 1994, and also shot his daughter who survived. Acosta fled the country after the murder and made his way to Massachusetts, changing his name to Carlos Alberto Rendon, the FBI’s Boston office said in a <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/boston/news/press-releases/colombian-fugitive-wanted-for-murder-arrested-in-massachusetts-after-27-years-on-the-run">press release</a>.
The FBI received information in 2020 that Acosta was living in the Boston area. Agents eventually tracked Acosta to his home in Belmont, Massachusetts, before they arrested him on Wednesday while he was going to work.
Acosta married an American in 1998 and received permanent resident status in the U.S. He, along with his wife and son, lived in Somerville, Massachusetts, before moving to Belmont, where he lived until his arrest.
FBI agents matched Acosta’s fingerprints to Colombian records and determined he was the man convicted of murder 27 years earlier in the South American country.
“In 2020, Rendon submitted his application for naturalization to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. As part of that application, Rendon submitted a Colombian birth certificate and fingerprints,” the press release stated. “The FBI compared Rendon’s fingerprints against those of Usma Acosta which were provided by the Colombian National Police and determined they were an exact match. Investigators also determined that the Colombian birth certificate that Rendon submitted was fraudulent.”
Acosta’s ability to enter the U.S. illegally, change his name, and start a new life far away from his native country helped him escape justice for so long.
“William Hernando Usma Acosta is a convicted cold-blooded killer who thought he could evade justice by entering the United States and creating a new identity for himself so he could live under the radar. He needs to face justice for what he did, and today’s arrest ensures that he will,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph R. Bonavolonta said. “The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will not be a safe haven for those wanted in their native countries, and the FBI will continue to leverage our international partnerships to remove dangerous fugitives like him from our communities.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will proceed to remove Acosta from the country “for violating the conditions of his legal permanent residency status.” He will then be given over to Colombian law enforcement.
Acosta&#8217;s arrest comes as illegal immigrants continue to stream across the southern border. The Biden administration has also recently planned to end Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allowed Border Patrol expel illegal immigrants due to the COVID-19 pandemic and force them to await their asylum claims outside of the U.S. Experts have criticized the administration for the decision, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/migrant-tsunami-will-worsen-due-to-title-42-rollback-former-trump-and-biden-border-patrol-chief-says">warning</a> that a migrant &#8220;tsunami&#8221; will follow if Title 42 ends.

Revolver

A Man Murdered His Wife And Then Entered The U.S. Illegally. He Was Just Caught After 27 Years On The Run.

Border Crisis

Illegal Immigration

Murder

New details emerged over the weekend about what Colombian law enforcement officials allegedly found in the hotel room of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins as they investigate the cause of the 50-year-old&#8217;s death.
<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10654649/Foo-Fighters-drummer-Taylor-Hawkins-death-Colombian-hotel-room-drugs-related-police-say.html">The Daily Mail</a> and <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/26/taylor-hawkins-death-may-be-tied-to-drugs-police/">New York Post</a> highlighted a report from local journalist Luis Carlos Vélez, who said that law enforcement sources had found a white powder substance when they entered Hawkins&#8217; room at the Four Seasons Casa Medina in Bogota.
Vélez tweeted the following on Saturday:
<ul>
<li>&#8220;A police officer, who entered the room, told @FiscaliaCol he saw a &#8216;cocaine&#8217; looking powder at #TaylorHawkins room. Drug use has not been confirmed yet.&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;At #TaylorHawkins room, Colombian authorities found: an empty beer can, an opened bottle of vodka, a Coca-Cola bottle, and some &#8216;other articles&#8217; being analyzed by authorities.&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;At #TaylorHawkins hotel room, multiple cups were found, suggesting he had visitors before his death. Colombian authorities interrogated the band manager. Investigators are determining if the use of cocaine was a factor.&#8221;</li>
</ul>
Colombia’s attorney general announced on Saturday evening that Hawkins had numerous substances in his system when he died on Friday evening.
The attorney general’s remarks were contained in a press release on the initial forensic examination of the body, found in a hotel room in Bogota.
“Preliminary results of the urine toxicology test indicate the presence of 10 different substances: THX (Marijuana), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and opioids, among others,” the statement said. “The National Institute of Forensic Medicine continues to conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death.”
Hawkins, 50, died <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/foo-fighters-drummer-taylor-hawkins-dies-in-south-america-police-hint-at-potential-cause">while on tour</a> with the band.
“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band said in a statement. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/foo-fighters-drummer-taylor-hawkins-dead-at-50">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Hawkins was Alanis Morrissette’s touring drummer when he joined Foo Fighters in 1997. He played on the band’s biggest albums including “One by One” and “On Your Honor,” and on hit singles including “My Hero” and “Best of You.”
Born Oliver Taylor Hawkins in Fort Worth Texas in 1972, Hawkins was raised in Laguna Beach, California. He played in the small Southern California band Sylvia before landing his first major gig as a drummer for Canadian singer Sass Jordan. When he spent two years in the mid-1990s drumming for Morrissette, he was inspired primarily by the playing of Jane’s Addiction’s Stephen Perkins.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/music-world-reacts-to-death-of-foo-fighters-drummer-taylor-hawkins-in-utter-disbelief-at-the-news">Music World Reacts To Death Of Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins: ‘In Utter Disbelief At The News’</a>

Billboard Women In Music 2019 Presented By YouTube Music

New Details Emerge About What Police Allegedly Found In The Room Of Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins: Report

Drugs

On Monday, Colombia’s Constitutional Court decriminalized abortion during the initial 24 weeks of pregnancy.
The move allows women to seek out an abortion without being prosecuted, and the court also asked Congress to make rules in order to apply the decision. 
As The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/world/americas/colombia-abortion.html">reported</a>, the Constitutional Court magistrates in Colombia have been considering two petitions combatting the part of the penal code that establishes abortion as a crime.
“In one, a lawyer named Andrés Mateo Sánchez Molina said the measure violated rights protected by the Constitution, including the right to human dignity, freedom and equality,” the outlet reported, adding, “In another, brought by Causa Justa, a coalition of abortion rights groups, lawyers argued that criminalization had cast abortion in such a negative light that it prevented even women with a legal right to an abortion from getting one.”
“In some cases, the coalition said, the existence of the criminal penalty led health professionals to deny the procedure to women who qualified for it. In others, women avoided seeking abortions in legal health centers out of fear they would be jailed, instead seeking risky alternatives in underground clinics,” the Times added. 
“These barriers affect mainly women living in rural and remote areas, low-income women, adolescent girls, women and girls living in situations of armed conflict and victims of gender violence, including physical and sexual violence,” representatives of Causa Justa wrote in a summary of the petition. Making abortion a crime in the majority of situations, they claimed, was unconstitutional. 
The court chose to first hear the Causa Justa case, and the second one will be heard at a later time. The first ruling, however, is not able to be reversed.
Abortion has been <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-and-induced-abortion-colombia">allowed</a> in Colombia since 2006 when the Constitutional Court got removed bans in situations of rape or incest, when the fetus was not able to survive due to an abnormality, or when the mother’s life or health was in danger. 
Anybody who had an abortion outside of those restrictions or anyone who assisted a woman in getting one could be sentenced to prison for 16 to 54 months. The court <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/21/colombia-decriminalize-legal-abortion/">reportedly</a> heard that almost 3,000 people were prosecuted for having abortions between 2006 and 2020. 
The Times reported, “Prosecutors in Colombia open about 400 cases each year against women who have abortions or people who help them, according to the attorney general’s office. At least 346 people have been convicted in such cases since 2006,&#8221; adding, &#8220;Nearly all of these abortion-related investigations have been in rural areas, involving girls as young as 11, according to researchers with Causa Justa.&#8221;
Colombia is not the only country in the region to take pro-abortion steps. Mexico’s Supreme Court made a similar move in September, and Argentina’s Congress legalized abortion in 2020.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/21/colombia-decriminalize-legal-abortion/">reported</a>, “Until early last year, elective abortion was legal in Latin America only in Cuba, Uruguay, Guyana and parts of Mexico. Other countries allow the procedure only in cases of rape or when the health or life of the pregnant person is at risk. Seven countries prohibit it under all circumstances: El Salvador, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Suriname and Haiti.”
“Argentine President Alberto Fernández signed legislation last year to allow abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Mexico’s supreme court in September ruled unconstitutional a state law that imposed prison terms for people who had illegal abortions and those who aided them. The ruling is binding on other states,” the outlet added. 
Not everyone agrees with the Colombian court’s ruling, however. Per the Times, Jonathan Silva, an evangelical Christian who works with a pro-life group, said the court had overreached its power and it was something that should be decided by elected leaders.
“What they’re decriminalizing is the killing of human beings,” he said.
Alejandro Ordóñez, Colombia’s ambassador to the Organization of American States, spoke out against the decision on Twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/A_OrdonezM/status/1495884385891069959">writing</a>, “A State that decides to eliminate a portion of human beings, from the first day or until the 24th week, becomes genocidal and totalitarian. It hurts to see how society is subdued by the culture of death. This is an act of violence with appearances of legality.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Un Estado que decide eliminar una porción de los seres humanos, desde el primer día o hasta la semana 24, se convierte en genocida y totalitario. Duele ver cómo la sociedad es sometida por la cultura de la muerte. Esto es un acto de violencia con apariencias de juridicidad.
&mdash; Alejandro Ordóñez (@A_OrdonezM) <a href="https://twitter.com/A_OrdonezM/status/1495884385891069959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Times noted that a <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2021-09/Ipsos%20-%20Global%20Views%20on%20Abortion%20-%20Graphic%20Report_September%202021%20v2_ESP_OK.pdf">poll</a> by Ipsos found that only 26% of Colombian respondents were in support of abortion in all circumstances, while 82% were in support of it in some.
The decision comes as the United States moves in the opposite direction, as the topic of abortion continues to be divisive and contentious across the country with many Americans split on the issue. 
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women&#8217;s Health Organization case out of Mississippi over a law that doesn’t allow abortions after fifteen weeks of pregnancy. The high court could choose to uphold the Mississippi law, cutting away at the precedent established by Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Roe v. Wade. The Justices could also decide to overturn Roe entirely or to strike down the law. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, the decisions regarding abortion would be returned to the states rather than made legal on a broad scale across the country. 
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C660238C-4E65-417B-8CC2-99A0201CE9FB_1_201_a

Colombia Decriminalizes Abortion

Abortion

Colombian Senator Gustavo Petro, one of the leaders of the far-left socialist movement in the country, championed presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden&#8217;s candidacy on Monday, saying that if he were able to vote in U.S. elections that he would vote for Biden.
&#8220;Did you endorse Joe Biden as a candidate for President of the United States?&#8221; CNN host Juan Carlos Lopez asked.
&#8220;Well, if I could vote, which I cannot. I’m not a citizen of the United States,&#8221; Petro responded. &#8220;But if I could vote in the United States, in the interest of my Latin American people, I would vote for Biden, without a doubt.&#8221;
Reuters reported that Petro spent &#8220;years in the now-defunct M19 rebel group &#8211; which stormed the Supreme Court in 1985, leading to the deaths of more than 100 people,&#8221; Reuters <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/uk-colombia-election-petro/colombias-leftist-petro-the-candidate-who-wants-to-upset-the-status-quo-idUKKCN1IP22R">reported</a>.
The Terrorism Research &amp; Analysis Consortium (TRAC) wrote the following brief <a href="https://www.trackingterrorism.org/group/m-19">summary</a> about the terror group:
<blockquote>M19 was founded on 19 April 1970, mostly by students. It became the second largest guerrilla group in Colombia after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In the late 1970s, the M-19 began to kidnap drug traffickers, or their children, for ransom. In retaliation, a group of traffickers, including Pablo Escobar, created the death squad, Death to Kidnappers (Muerte a Secuestradores, MAS). The police cooperated with the traffickers by capturing suspected M-19 guerrillas, their associates, and innocent victims, who were then turned over to MAS to be tortured and killed. M-19 essentially ceased to exist in 1990. M-19, under intense pressure from the Colombian government&#8217;s security forces, as well as right-leaning paramilitary groups, agreed to a ceasefire.</blockquote>
TRAC listed the group under &#8220;Left Wing Terrorist Groups (Maoist, Marxist, Communist, Socialist).&#8221;
When he was Mayor of Bogota, which is the capital of Colombia, Colombian media reported that he was the &#8220;<a href="https://colombiareports.com/bogotas-unpopular-mayor-wants-to-run-for-president-aide/">least popular</a>&#8221; mayor in the entire country.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Progresista" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xPLRN6EJgew?start=2&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

COLOMBIA-ELECTION-VOTE-RUNOFF

Colombian Socialist Leader, Ex-Terrorist Group Member: ‘I Would Vote For Biden, Without A Doubt’

Joe Biden

Socialists

In 2017, speaking to a group of leaders from Central America, Vice President Mike Pence declared, &#8220;To further stem the flow of illegal immigration and illegal drugs into the United States, President Trump knows, as do all of you, that we must confront these problems at their source. We must meet them &#8212; and we must solve them &#8212; in Central and South America.&#8221; What Pence said then was correct. What President Donald Trump is doing now &#8212; cutting aid &#8212; needs to be reconsidered.
Fifteen years ago, Colombia was on the verge of collapse. The nation was overrun with drug traffickers, cartels and local gangs. Crime and violence were rampant, and people were fleeing the nation. The United States deployed its foreign aid budget and military resources to help the Colombian government stabilize, fight its domestic drug war and beat the cartels. The nation went from the brink to being a stable leader in South America and a strategic ally of the United States. In the past decade, trade with Colombia has tripled to $14 billion, benefiting American businesses.
Since 2016, American assistance to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador has declined 20%. Concurrent with that decline in American assistance, those countries have seen an increase in domestic crime, corruption and flight of refugees headed toward the United States.
According to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, &#8220;in neighborhoods where USAID operates in El Salvador and Honduras, homicide rates have plummeted by up to 78%.&#8221; Likewise, &#8220;for every 10 additional murders in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, 6 additional children sought safety in the United States.&#8221;
Notably, the Trump administration itself claims El Salvador has used our aid to stem the tide of illegal immigrants headed to the border. The Washington Post&#8217;s Kevin Sieff wrote last week about remarks made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan: &#8220;&#8216;What (El Salvador is) doing is working, both on the security front and on the economic opportunity front,&#8217; &#8230; McAleenan, speaking last year at the Bipartisan Policy Center, described El Salvador as a model: &#8216;We want to achieve those same successes in Honduras and Guatemala as well.'&#8221;
The last time the United States worked in concert with Central American countries to fund internal projects related to fighting crime, corruption and abuse, those governments committed 10 times as many resources and, with our dollars and direction, saw crime and population flight decrease. In 2017, we spent $420 million in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to help. Those countries combined spent $5.4 billion of their own resources but let the U.S. take the lead in a partnership that benefited us all.
As former White House Chief of Staff and Southcom Gen. John Kelly has noted, &#8220;If we can improve the conditions, the lot in life of Hondurans, Guatemalans, Central Americans, we can do an awful lot to protect the southwest border.&#8221;
I used to believe we should cut foreign aid from our budget. But I have realized we can spend far less in these countries helping stabilize situations than we could on the border wall, a project I support. If we just build a wall, we are going to see an increase in violence, drug trafficking and nation-state collapse. Those problems will eventually penetrate our border with or without a wall. Right now, cutting off funding and having no wall will thoroughly destabilize the situation. On top of that, these countries are, in many cases, desperate. By ignoring them, we are seeding the ground for China to lay down roots in the Western Hemisphere as it and Russia have tried to do in places such as Venezuela.
We risk undermining our long-term national interests by cutting this foreign aid. We should, instead, spend it wisely in those countries to ensure stable governments that view us as allies and work with them to root out crime, corruption and cartels. The present policy to cut foreign aid cuts off our national nose to spite our face.
To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

ERICKSON: Please Reconsider, Mr. President

Donald Trump

Guatemala

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