Fujimori announces intention to resume ties with Mexico

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz decided to extend the fuel price freeze for six months. The measure responds to the prolonged protests and blockades in May and June that demanded his resignation.

Official measure

The decree was issued after a review of the subsidy scheme. Last December, the president withdrew almost all state support for fuel, as part of his anti-crisis plan, and established a mechanism for semiannual adjustments.

“We already had a previous decree that had frozen prices, what has been done is to modify it so that it is extended for another six months,” explained the presidential spokesperson, José Luis Gálvez.

A liter of gasoline remains at 6.96 bolivianos (0.71 dollars) and diesel at 9.80 bolivianos (more than a dollar). The price of gas also remains frozen.

Economic context

The government seeks to normalize supply after the blockades. The mobilizations aggravated the economic situation, with depleted international reserves. Bolivia depends on fuel imports, according to experts.

The country maintained a subsidy for about 20 years, which generated a strong outflow of foreign currency in a context of dollar illiquidity, according to the government.

Former Hydrocarbons Minister Álvaro Ríos criticized the decision as political: with it, the State would pay a higher price than what it sells to the final consumer.

Women fishermen in Kenya: from the sea to ecotourism due to the climate crisis

Nuru Mohammed, 54, leads a group of women hanging fishing nets as decorations at her new restaurant in Malindi, northeast of Mombasa. In a few days it will open its doors. “For us women, this is hope,” she says. “It will help support many families who have depended on the ocean for decades.”

Along the East African coast, fishermen are reinventing themselves. Climate change, overfishing and ocean deterioration threaten their livelihoods. In Kenya, women transform restored mangroves into sources of income through beekeeping and ecotourism. In Zanzibar, communities protect reefs with locally managed closures. In Mozambique, seagrass restoration creates jobs.

“Communities that depend on the ocean are also its best guardians,” says Andréanne Martel, project director of the ReSea conservation program. “When local people, especially women, lead in conservation, they protect biodiversity and create more resilient livelihoods.”

Mohammed says that his boats have been stolen and that it is difficult for him to compete with industrial trawlers. A nearby Chinese processing plant reflects the changes. “I can’t compete with that power,” he says. “It’s been hard. I fought to stay a fisherman, but I think it’s a battle I can’t win anymore.”

10 kilometers away, Beatrice Mwanyiro oversees a mangrove nursery and restaurant for Samahco, a self-help group of 30 women supported by the Canadian government. “We have to adapt. The number of fish decreases every year. Without another source of income we will not be able to feed our families,” he explains.

Mohamed Somo, a fishing leader in Lamu, says that they used to catch up to 100 kilos of fish per boat; now less than 30. Kenyan law prohibits trawling within 9 kilometers of the coast, but some vessels operate closer. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs $23 billion annually, according to the FAO.

“The trawlers fish on the high seas during the day, but at night they enter the shallow waters where we artisanal workers work. There is very little left in the morning,” adds Somo.

Jerry Mang’ena of Action for Ocean in Tanzania says: “Coastal communities are on the front lines of climate change, but they are also drivers of resilience. If we want to protect the ocean, we must invest in those who have cared for it.”

At the recent Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, organizations called for ratifying the BBNJ (high seas) treaty, which came into force in January and has been signed by 145 countries and ratified by 81. Aliou Ba of Greenpeace Africa says: “The agreement offers a historic opportunity to protect the high seas and tackle illegal fishing that deprives communities of food and income. Governments cannot delay.”

Key call between Georgieva and Rodríguez

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed this Thursday that its managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, spoke by phone with the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez. The central issue was access to the country’s reserve tranche in the organization, an immediate liquidity mechanism valued at approximately $350 million, intended to cover urgent humanitarian needs.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack explained that both officials analyzed the economic impact and humanitarian needs caused by the twin earthquakes of June 24. So far, the earthquakes have caused more than 3,800 deaths, nearly 17,000 injuries and have left almost 18,000 people homeless in the north of the country.

“It is an important and easily available source of liquidity that can be mobilized quickly to help meet urgent humanitarian needs arising from the disaster,” Kozack explained.

Available resources and political context

This reserve tranche is independent of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) retained by the IMF, which amount to about $4.5 billion. In total, Venezuela’s assets in the organization add up to nearly $5 billion. The IMF indicated that it has worked with counterparts to facilitate access to the country’s own resources.

The conversation occurs as emergency response efforts and damage assessment continue in several regions. Days before the earthquakes, Venezuela fully reestablished its membership in the IMF, after years of distancing during the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. This approach occurs in the new political context after the capture of Maduro by US forces on January 3.