Gustavo Petro

Goods, oil transporters strike continues

KARACHI: A driver passes between trucks parked at the Shireen Jinnah colony terminal, as a wheel-jam strike called by goods transporters affected the movement of cargo across the country for a third consecutive day. Talks between transporters and the government are expected to continue today.—PPI • Next round of talks with govt today • KCCI offers to mediate between both sides ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Talks between striking transporters and the government continued until late Monday night with both sides holding firm on their demands as the deadlock persisted, mainly over fuel pricing and taxes. The next round of negotiations will be held today. As oil tankers, edible oil tankers, trailers, goods transport trucks, etc. went off the road on Friday night ahead of the scheduled strike from Saturday, the government offered talks with the collective body of the striking transporters. As the first round of talks held on Monday morning remained inconclusive with both sides unwilling to yield any ground, the second round of negotiations commenced later in the afternoon. The transporters have presented three main demands, each related to different ministries. The first demand, to increase the permissible weight for 10-wheeler vehicles to 35 tonnes from the current 27.5 tonnes, as well as reduce toll tax rates, relates to the National Highways Authority (NHA) and the communications ministry. The other demand was that diesel pricing should be revised on a monthly basis, as daily price revisions disturb their business planning. The third demand of the transporters relates to customs duties and income tax. The government side was jointly led by Communi­cations Minister Aleem Khan and Petro­leum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik. It included relevant officers from the FBR, ministries, ports and shipping, federal secretaries, and transport secretaries of the four provinces. Meanwhile, the strikers gathered under the platform of the All Pakistan Goods Transport Ittehad alliance, which includes representatives of various associations. The spokesman for the alliance, Advo­cate Moham­mad Owais Chaudhry, told Dawn that negotiations between the transporters and the government were underway, but no decision had been reached so far. “We have clearly presented our position before the government and will not show any flexibility on it,” he said. He added that the government had to accept the transporters’ demands for the strike to end. Meanwhile, a senior official in the government negotiating team said the daily fuel adjustment had been made due to volatility in international markets and was not a local issue. However, the government was considering lowering toll tax for heavy vehicles, while the axle load could also be amended. KCCI offer In Karachi, businessmen and exporters have warned that continued suspension of cargo movement would hit industrial production, supply chains, exports and the country’s overall economic activities. Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Muhammad Rehan Hanif, in a statement issued on Monday, urged the federal as well as all provincial governments to immediately engage representatives of the transport sector at the highest level. He warned that any prolonged disruption in the movement of goods and petroleum products could have a cascading impact on industrial production, availability of raw materials, delivery of finished products, fuel supplies, domestic commerce and export shipments. He asked stakeholders in the transport sector to consider the enormous damage being caused to the country by the strike. He urged them to call off the strike in the larger interest of Pakistan, expressing hope that the government would engage with them and that their legitimate demands could be discussed and resolved through negotiations. “The KCCI is ready to play its role as a mediator,” Mr Hanif said. Pakistan Textile Council (PTC) Chairman Fawad Anwar, in a letter to the prime minister, said the strike from Saturday could severely affect Pakistan’s textile and apparel supply chains and export shipments. He highlighted that Pakistan’s textile and apparel industry relies heavily on uninterrupted transportation to move imported and locally sourced raw materials to manufacturing units and to ensure finished export consignments reach ports on time. The PTC chairman acknowledged that the transporters’ demands involved matters requiring coordination among different levels and departments of the government. However, he cautioned that the economic cost of the continuing deadlock would increase with every passing day. He requested PM Shehbaz Sharif to bring the relevant government authorities and representatives of the transport sector together to secure an early resolution of the strike. Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026

Colombia's new government announces plans for Israel economic panel after rupture over Gaza genocide

New government under now-President De la Espriella plans October visit as Bogota restores ties severed by predecessor Petro over Israel's genocide in Gaza that has claimed tens of thousands of lives

De la Espriella sworn in as Colombia’s leader, vows armed group crackdown

New president, who replaces leftist Gustavo Petro, continues rightward political shift in Latin America.

Kolombiya Cumhurbaşkanı Petro'dan Netanyahu'ya zehir zemberek sözler! 'Beni susturmak istiyorlar'

Kolombiya Cumhurbaşkanı Gustavo Petro, sosyal medya platformundaki hesabından yaptığı açıklamada, Netanyahu'ya Sebte'deki düzensiz göç girişimleriyle ilgili suçlamalarda bulundu. 'KANLA YAZILMIŞ TARİHİ HATIRLAYIN' Petro, şunları kaydetti: "Faslıların Ceuta'ya yönelik sivil istilası, (Francisco) Franco'nun özgürlükçü cumhuriyeti devirmek ve İspanya'ya yeniden girmek için kadim Kurtuba Halifeliği'nin torunlarıyla yaptığı ittifakı taklit etmektedir. Fas halkı gözünü İspanya'dan ayırmalı ve dünyada firari bir soykırımcı olan Netanyahu’nun emellerine teslim edilmiş olan Fas'ın kendi gücüne odaklanmalıdır. İspanya kanla yazılmış tarihini hatırlamalıdır; İspanyol halkını faşizme sürüklemek istiyorlar ve İspanyol halkı 'Geçit yok!' demelidir, Arap medeniyeti de 'Geçit yok!' demelidir." 'BATI KÜLTÜRÜNÜN ÖZÜNÜ YOK ETMEK İSTİYORLAR' Avrupa ve Arap halklarına İsrail'in Gazze'deki saldırılarını hatırlatan Petro, "Bebekleri, kadınları ve yaşlıları öldürmek için Gazze'ye atılan füzelerin parasını ödedikleri, Filistin'in özgürlüğünü elinden aldıkları aynı parayla, şimdi de Avrupa'nın demokratik ilerici yapısını yok etmek istiyorlar. Filistin'i ve tüm Avrupa'nın demokratik, özgürlükçü özünü, yani Batı kültürünün özünü yok etmek istiyorlar" açıklamasında bulundu. Petro, saygı duyulması gereken tarafın İspanya olduğunu belirterek, özgürlükçü Cumhuriyet'e karşı saldırıları finanse eden veya Guernica'nın bombalanması için faşist Franco'ya destek veren tarafın İspanya olmadığını savundu. Petro, bu desteği veren tarafın, Kudüs'ün bulunduğu bölgede "22 bin kutsal Filistinli bebeği öldüren" Netanyahu olduğunu öne sürdü. 'BENİ SUSTURMAK İSTİYORLAR' Kolombiya'da 21 Haziran'da düzenlenen seçimleri hatırlatan Petro, "Kolombiya'daki seçim hilesinin parasını ödeyen de Netanyahu'dur ve bu yüzden beni susturmak istiyorlar. Kolombiya seçimlerindeki dijital müşahitlerin koordinasyonundan, egemen Kolombiya halkının kararları üzerinde algoritmalar vasıtasıyla dayatılan istatistiksel şablonu pazartesini beklemeden hemen şimdi ifşa etmelerini talep ediyorum. Şimdi medeniyetler arası diyalog vaktidir ve faşizm durdurulmalıdır" ifadelerini kullandı. NE OLMUŞTU? Fas'taki Fenidek kenti kıyılarından İspanya'nın Sebte kentine yüzmeye çalışan 800'ü aşkın düzensiz göçmene 30 Temmuz'da müdahalede bulunulmuştu. İspanya Başbakanı Pedro Sanchez, olaya ilişkin hükümetin mevcut tüm kaynaklarını seferber ettiğini bildirmişti. İspanya hükümeti, Sebte'ye yönelik düzensiz göç girişimlerinin artması üzerine güvenliğin sağlanması amacıyla silahlı kuvvetlerin bölgeye konuşlandırılmasına karar vermişti. Fas'tan İspanya'ya geçmeye çalışırken hayatını kaybeden düzensiz göçmenlerin sayısı 88'e yükselmişti. Hiç gitmedikleri ülkeden plaka alıyorlar! On binlerce sürücü aynı yöntemi seçti, sebebi duyanları şaşırttı İsrail'den 'Neden Türkiye'yi takip ediyoruz?' itirafı! Tek tek sıraladılar: 'Yeni baş ağrımız'

11 injured in Colombia bombing days before presidential inauguration

CUCUTA: Eleven people were injured in Colombia on Saturday when a truck packed with explosives detonated next to a police station near the border with Venezuela, six days before president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella’s inauguration. Eyewitnesses saw the vehicle in flames, damaged building facades and police, soldiers and residents gathering around the scene of the attack in the northern city of Cucuta before security officials confirmed the number of injured. “At this time, we have eight police officers and three civilians who have been injured,” George Quintero, security secretary for the department of Norte de Santander where the attack occurred, told reporters. “This was an atrocious, violent act… and what happened is regrettable.” De la Espriella condemned the bombing “in the strongest terms,” adding that “terrorism will not intimidate Colombia”. The government offered a reward equivalent to more than $32,000 for information leading to the capture of those responsible. The right-wing De la Espriella will take office on Aug 7 in the city of Cali, succeeding Gustavo Petro, the first leftist president in the Colombia’s history. With the support of US President Donald Trump’s government, the millionaire lawyer promised to intensify the fight against guerillas and other drug trafficking organisations fu­­­e­­lling the country’s worst violence in a decade. Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine. Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2026

Director of Environment and Society Centre gives evidence to UK Parliament Energy Committee

Director of Environment and Society Centre gives evidence to UK Parliament Energy Committee News release jon.wallace 23 July 2026 Ana Yang gave evidence to the UK Parliament’s Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on 8 July, discussing the UK’s role in international climate policy. Ana Yang, Director of Chatham House’s Environment and Society Centre, gave evidence to the UK Parliament’s Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on 8 July, as part of an inquiry examining the UK’s priorities and global standing as a leader on climate action. In the second session, Ana discussed how the UK can build on and strengthen its climate leadership on the global stage in an increasingly challenging fiscal, economic and political environment. Ana described the changed geopolitical environment since the 2015 Paris Agreement, where climate change action is completely entangled with geopolitics – including rivalry between the US and China, US disengagement with the COP climate process and the war with Iran. — Chatham House’s Ana Yang speaking at the UK Parliament committee. During her evidence Ana said: ‘What we also see with the Strait of Hormuz…is almost this bifurcation of the petro states and electro states. ‘And then the question is what can you do in terms of the UNFCCC and COP negotiation in setting targets and sending the signals? But then the biggest question is, what does implementation look like? Implementation needs to link to national interests. It needs to link to prosperity…it needs to also link to the security issue.’ Addressing UK climate policy she said: ‘What is the re-industrialization story for the UK… there is a missing story. In the process of clean transition, can the UK reinvent itself and think about what are the next generation of green industrial policies that will transform this country? That will inspire people, have more jobs…that is the story that is missing that connects climate to everybody’s daily life…’ Watch the session in full.

Kolombiya'da İsrail kavgası: Cumhurbaşkanı Petro ateş püskürdü

Kolombiya Cumhurbaşkanı Gustavo Petro, 7 Ağustos'ta görevi devredeceği Abelardo de la Espriella hükümetinin, İsrail ile ilişkileri yeniden tesis etme vaadini "ulusal onura hakaret" olarak nitelendirdi. Petro, "soykırıma alkış tutmanın faşizm olduğunu" belirtti.

Las razones por las que la cúpula militar y de Policía se retiró tras el desfile y no estuvo durante el discurso del presidente Petro

State violence in Bolivia is ramping up. The US is helping.

In May and June, Bolivian police violently dispersed massive demonstrations in La Paz, detaining hundreds of protesters and injuring many more. The crackdown, capping over 50 days of protests demanding President Rodrigo Paz’s resignation, marked the sharpest escalation yet in a standoff between the government that took office late last year and the mostly Indigenous social movements that have long shaped Bolivian politics. The crisis convulsing Bolivia did not begin with the 2025 election, or with the 2019 coup to deny Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, a fourth term after a disputed election. Its roots go back to at least 2016 when Morales, who came to prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the coca-growers’ union and later founder of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party, lost a referendum that would have removed presidential term limits. Backed by a friendly constitutional court, however, Morales ran anyway three years later and claimed a razor-thin first-round victory. The opposition, encouraged by a flawed initial report by the Organization of American States, claimed fraud. Weeks of violent unrest ensued, followed by the military’s “suggestion” that Morales resign as president, and his exile to Mexico. A repressive, right-wing interim government under Jeanine Áñez subsequently oversaw extrajudicial killings of unarmed Indigenous protesters at Sacaba and Senkata, massacres that still cast a shadow over Bolivian politics. Morales’s ouster, which was supported by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, was the latest turn in a centuries-old struggle between Bolivia’s Indigenous and peasant majority and its predominantly white European elite, which has controlled the country’s resources and government since the Spanish conquest. Morales’s rise in the 1990s and 2000s was the high-water mark of a decades-long push to force that elite to share power. His fall in 2019, and Áñez’s talk of restoring “Christian civilization” to government – a phrase used by U.S.-backed dictator Hugo Banzer during the Cold War – was widely understood as a restoration of the old order. Since then the pendulum has swung again, though unevenly. MAS regained the presidency in 2020 under Luis Arce, but his term ended in economic crisis, fuel shortages, and an open rupture with Morales, splitting the party’s base. Barred from the 2025 election by a court-ordered term-limit ruling, Morales urged his followers to spoil their ballots, and the election became a contest among a badly weakened left, a market-friendly Christian Democrat in Rodrigo Paz, and Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, Banzer’s former vice-president and a right-wing hardliner. Facing that choice, much of the MAS backed Paz as the least-bad option. Since he took office, however, much of his Indigenous voter base feel, as protesters in La Paz put it, “betrayed” by the government’s inability to solve longstanding economic problems, its right-wing policies inconsistent with Paz’s campaign as a moderate, and his sidelining of his populist vice-president. In early June, Paz called on citizens to confront blockaders themselves, setting off clashes between anti-riot police and protesters. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has denounced the police’s excessive use of force, in some cases coordinated with right-wing vigilante groups. After seven weeks of paralyzing protests and road blockades that worsened an already ongoing economic and energy crisis, Paz declared a 90-day state of exception, granting security forces broad new powers, though the blockades had already begun to fade before the declaration. The last time a Bolivian president invoked emergency powers, in 2019, soldiers killed at least 23 people and injured over 230 with impunity, incidents the IACHR called “massacres.” Thomas Becker, the Legal and Policy Director at the University Network for Human Rights who led a successful prosecution against a former Bolivian president for human rights abuses, calls the pattern familiar and alarming: rising violent clashes, arbitrary detentions, and abuse by police alongside illegal paramilitaries, compounded by branding demonstrators as “narco-terrorists,” a term echoed by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Trump officials. New U.S. Chief of Mission Erik Martini has also called for more counter-narcotics work, echoing Reagan-era policy by saying “the U.S. is worried, coca comes from cocaine.” For Becker, the atmosphere recalls the volatile months before 2019 and the killings that followed under Áñez. Violeta Tamayo was injured in May while covering the protests for the leftist news site La Izquierda Diario. Tamayo says police, without warning, “fired tear gas point-blank, aiming right at waist-height into the crowd.” She was hit at short range in the arm by what she believes was a tear gas canister, leaving a wound that exposed bone. Underlying the crackdown is the rapid militarization of Bolivia’s drug war. Earlier this month, the U.S. and Bolivia signed a $20 million agreement to train and arm Bolivian security forces, following Paz’s decision to restore cooperation with the DEA, which Morales had expelled two decades ago. “The return of the DEA in Bolivia marks the resurrection of a security paradigm that has led to gross violations of human rights, and filled prisons and cemeteries in Bolivia and across Latin America, while leaving the international drug trade largely intact,” said Guillame Long, a former Ecuadorian foreign minister and senior fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Long lamented that this approach will replace a less violent strategy “starting to show clear signs of success.” Since Paz took office, the DEA returned officially to Bolivia, with a new La Paz office announced in May. In March, Uruguayan drug kingpin Sebastián Marset was captured in Bolivia and extradited to the U.S. in a DEA-backed operation, and in April Bolivian police took part in U.S.-sponsored training run by Colombian instructors, the region’s most experienced in counterinsurgency. During the blockades, right-wing allies including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Chile’s José Antonio Kast sent what they called “humanitarian aid” to Bolivia, deliveries Bolivian and Argentine lawmakers are now investigating for allegedly including “repressive material” like tear gas. At the height of the protests, which led to 583 arrests, Hegseth described the demonstrators as “narcoterrorists” whose aim was to “overthrow democratically elected leaders.” For Becker, this evokes past U.S. interference in Bolivia that criminalized coca growing and caused the disappearances of political dissidents, the same violence that helped the MAS and Morales rise in the first place. In June, the Trump administration designated Brazil’s largest criminal organizations, which are also active in Bolivia, as narcoterrorist groups, unlocking new legal authority near the Brazilian and Paraguayan borders, where DEA activity is expected to concentrate. Across the region, U.S. operations against “narcoterrorist” cartels have already killed more than 200 civilians, through strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific and on what turned out to be an Ecuadorian dairy farm. The Bolivian government’s rhetoric mirrors this broader shift, folding protest movements, criminal organizations, and political opposition into a single, elastic category of threat, one now shaping Bolivia’s use of emergency powers, too. Even with blockades largely lifted, the government says it won’t lift the state of exception until it is “no longer needed.” Bolivia is hardly alone in this pattern of executive overreach, which spans the region’s left and right alike, from Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa to Colombia’s Gustavo Petro. Meanwhile, Morales and Paz now publicly call each other “narcos,” and Paz officials have suggested Morales’s days “are numbered.” Morales remains protected by armed loyalists in his Chapare bunker. Officials in Paz’s government and in Santa Cruz say they already have grounds to prosecute him, and Morales claims a parallel U.S. process is underway for his capture or extradition, feeding speculation he could face a fate resembling Nicolás Maduro’s. Still, he retains far more political backing than Maduro did, and would be much harder to remove without serious bloodshed. It remains to be seen how far this war on drugs, and on political dissidents, will go, and whether Bolivia’s fragile democratic institutions can withstand the pressure. But for Long, one thing is certain: “history has already shown that a return, now under Rodrigo Paz, to a militarized approach of fighting drugs while criminalizing coca-growing communities does not defeat organized crime.”