Category: Latin America

MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Joint statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Charlevoix
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3

Press release

Joint statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Charlevoix

A joint statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Charlevoix
We the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, met in Charlevoix on March 12 to 14, 2025.

Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security

We reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence.

We welcomed ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and in particular the meeting on March 11 between the U.S. and Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We applauded Ukraine’s commitment to an immediate ceasefire, which is an essential step towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the Charter of the United Nations.

We called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a ceasefire on equal terms and implementing it fully. We discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a ceasefire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means. This includes the use of extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilized Russian Sovereign Assets. We underlined the importance of confidence-building measures under a ceasefire including the release of prisoners of war and detainees—both military and civilian—and the return of Ukrainian children.

We emphasized that any ceasefire must be respected and underscored the need for robust and credible security arrangements to ensure that Ukraine can deter and defend against any renewed acts of aggression. We stated that we will continue to coordinate economic and humanitarian support to promote the early recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine, including at the Ukraine Recovery Conference which will take place in Rome on July 10-11, 2025.

We condemned the provision to Russia of military assistance by DPRK and Iran, and the provision of weapons and dual-use components by China, a decisive enabler of Russia’s war and of the reconstitution of Russia’s armed forces. We reiterated our intention to continue to take action against such third countries.

We expressed alarm about the impacts of the war, especially on civilians and on civilian infrastructure. We discussed the importance of accountability and reaffirmed our commitment to work together to achieve a durable peace and to ensure that Ukraine remains democratic, free, strong and prosperous.

Regional peace and stability in the Middle East

We called for the release of all hostages and for the hostages’ remains held by Hamas in Gaza to be returned to their loved ones. We reaffirmed our support for the resumption of unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza and for a permanent ceasefire. We underscored the imperative of a political horizon for the Palestinian people, achieved through a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that meets the legitimate needs and aspirations of both peoples and advances comprehensive Middle East peace, stability and prosperity. We noted serious concern over the growing tensions and hostilities in the West Bank and calls for de-escalation.

We recognized Israel’s inherent right to defend itself consistent with international law. We unequivocally condemned Hamas, including for its brutal and unjustified terror attacks on October 7, 2023, and the harm inflicted on the hostages during their captivity and the violation of their dignity through the use of ‘handover ceremonies’ during their release. We reiterated that Hamas can have no role in Gaza’s future and must never again be a threat to Israel. We affirmed our readiness to engage with Arab partners on their proposals to chart a way forward on reconstruction in Gaza and build a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.

We expressed our support for the people of Syria and Lebanon, as both countries work towards peaceful and stable political futures. At this critical juncture, we reiterated the importance of Syria’s and Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We called unequivocally for the rejection of terrorism in Syria. We condemned strongly the recent escalation of violence in the coastal regions of Syria, and called for the protection of civilians and for perpetrators of atrocities to be held accountable. We stressed the critical importance of an inclusive and Syrian-led political process. We welcomed the commitment by the Syrian interim government to work with the OPCW in eliminating all remaining chemical weapons.

We stressed that Iran is the principal source of regional instability and must never be allowed to develop and acquire a nuclear weapon. We emphasized that Iran must now change course, de-escalate and choose diplomacy. We underscored the threat of Iran’s growing use of arbitrary detention and foreign assassination attempts as a tool of coercion.

Cooperation to increase security and resilience across the Indo-Pacific

We reiterated our commitment to upholding a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific, based on sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful resolution of disputes, fundamental freedoms and human rights.

We remain seriously concerned by the situations in the East China Sea as well as the South China Sea and continue to oppose strongly unilateral attempts to change the status quo, in particular by force and coercion. We expressed concern over the increasing use of dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against Philippines and Vietnamese vessels as well as efforts to restrict freedom of navigation and overflight through militarization and coercion in the South China Sea, in violation of international law. We emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues and reiterated our opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. We also expressed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations.

We remain concerned with China’s military build-up and the continued, rapid increase in China’s nuclear weapons arsenal. We called on China to engage in strategic risk reduction discussions and promote stability through transparency.

We emphasized that China should not conduct or condone activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities and the integrity of our democratic institutions.

We expressed concerns about China’s non-market policies and practices that are leading to harmful overcapacity and market distortions. We further called on China to refrain from adopting export control measures that could lead to significant supply chain disruptions. We reiterated that we are not trying to harm China or thwart its economic growth, indeed a growing China that plays by international rules and norms would be of global interest.

We demanded that the DPRK abandon all its nuclear weapons and any other weapons of mass destruction as well as ballistic missile programs in accordance with all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. We expressed our serious concerns over, and the need to address together, the DPRK’s cryptocurrency thefts. We called on DPRK to resolve the abductions issue immediately.

We denounced the brutal repression of the people of Myanmar by the military regime and called for an end to all violence and for unhindered humanitarian access.

Building stability and resilience in Haiti and Venezuela

We strongly denounced the ongoing horrifying violence that continues to be perpetrated by gangs in Haiti in their efforts to seize control of the government. We reaffirmed our commitment to helping the Haitian people restore democracy, security and stability, including through support to the Haitian National Police and Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission and an increased role for the UN. We expressed support for Haitian authorities’ efforts to create a specialized anti-corruption jurisdiction that complies with the highest international standards.

We reiterated our call for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela in line with the aspirations of the Venezuelan people who peacefully voted on July 28, 2024, for change, the cessation of repression and arbitrary or unjust detentions of peaceful protestors including youth by Nicolas Maduro’s regime, as well as the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners. We also agreed Venezuelan naval vessels threatening Guyana’s commercial vessels is unacceptable and an infringement of Guyana’s internationally recognized sovereign rights. We reaffirmed respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations as an enduring value.

Supporting lasting peace in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

We unequivocally denounced the ongoing fighting and atrocities in Sudan, including sexual violence against women and girls, which have led to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and the spread of famine. We called for the warring parties to protect civilians, cease hostilities, and ensure unhindered humanitarian access, and urged external actors to end their support fueling the conflict.

We condemned the Rwanda-backed M23 offensive in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the resulting violence, displacement and grave human rights and international humanitarian law violations. This offensive constitutes a flagrant disregard of the territorial integrity of the DRC. We reiterated our call for M23 and the Rwanda Defence Force to withdraw from all controlled areas. We urged all parties to support the mediation led by the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, to promote accountability for human rights abuses by all armed actors, including M23 and the FDLR, and to commit to a peaceful and negotiated resolution of the conflict, including the meaningful participation of women and youth.

Strengthening sanctions and countering hybrid warfare and sabotage

We welcomed efforts to strengthen the Sanctions Working Group focused on listings and enforcement. We also welcomed discussions on the establishment of a Hybrid Warfare and Sabotage Working Group, and of a Latin America Working Group.

Share this page

The following links open in a new tab

Share on Facebook (opens in new tab)

Share on Twitter (opens in new tab)

Updates to this page

Published 14 March 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Joint statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Charlevoix (14 Mar. 2025)

Source: Republic of France in English
The Republic of France has issued the following statement:

We the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, met in Charlevoix on March 12 to 14, 2025.

Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security

We reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence.

We welcomed ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and in particular the meeting on March 11 between the U.S. and Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We applauded Ukraine’s commitment to an immediate ceasefire, which is an essential step towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the Charter of the United Nations.

We called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a ceasefire on equal terms and implementing it fully. We discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a ceasefire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means. This includes the use of extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilized Russian Sovereign Assets. We underlined the importance of confidence-building measures under a ceasefire including the release of prisoners of war and detainees—both military and civilian—and the return of Ukrainian children.

We emphasized that any ceasefire must be respected and underscored the need for robust and credible security arrangements to ensure that Ukraine can deter and defend against any renewed acts of aggression. We stated that we will continue to coordinate economic and humanitarian support to promote the early recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine, including at the Ukraine Recovery Conference which will take place in Rome on July 10-11, 2025.

We condemned the provision to Russia of military assistance by DPRK and Iran, and the provision of weapons and dual-use components by China, a decisive enabler of Russia’s war and of the reconstitution of Russia’s armed forces. We reiterated our intention to continue to take action against such third countries.

We expressed alarm about the impacts of the war, especially on civilians and on civilian infrastructure. We discussed the importance of accountability and reaffirmed our commitment to work together to achieve a durable peace and to ensure that Ukraine remains democratic, free, strong and prosperous.

Regional peace and stability in the Middle East

We called for the release of all hostages and for the hostages’ remains held by Hamas in Gaza to be returned to their loved ones. We reaffirmed our support for the resumption of unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza and for a permanent ceasefire. We underscored the imperative of a political horizon for the Palestinian people, achieved through a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that meets the legitimate needs and aspirations of both peoples and advances comprehensive Middle East peace, stability and prosperity. We noted serious concern over the growing tensions and hostilities in the West Bank and calls for de-escalation.

We recognized Israel’s inherent right to defend itself consistent with international law. We unequivocally condemned Hamas, including for its brutal and unjustified terror attacks on October 7, 2023, and the harm inflicted on the hostages during their captivity and the violation of their dignity through the use of ‘handover ceremonies’ during their release. We reiterated that Hamas can have no role in Gaza’s future and must never again be a threat to Israel. We affirmed our readiness to engage with Arab partners on their proposals to chart a way forward on reconstruction in Gaza and build a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.

We expressed our support for the people of Syria and Lebanon, as both countries work towards peaceful and stable political futures. At this critical juncture, we reiterated the importance of Syria’s and Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We called unequivocally for the rejection of terrorism in Syria. We condemned strongly the recent escalation of violence in the coastal regions of Syria, and called for the protection of civilians and for perpetrators of atrocities to be held accountable. We stressed the critical importance of an inclusive and Syrian-led political process. We welcomed the commitment by the Syrian interim government to work with the OPCW in eliminating all remaining chemical weapons.

We stressed that Iran is the principal source of regional instability and must never be allowed to develop and acquire a nuclear weapon. We emphasized that Iran must now change course, de-escalate and choose diplomacy. We underscored the threat of Iran’s growing use of arbitrary detention and foreign assassination attempts as a tool of coercion.

Cooperation to increase security and resilience across the Indo-Pacific

We reiterated our commitment to upholding a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific, based on sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful resolution of disputes, fundamental freedoms and human rights.

We remain seriously concerned by the situations in the East China Sea as well as the South China Sea and continue to oppose strongly unilateral attempts to change the status quo, in particular by force and coercion. We expressed concern over the increasing use of dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against Philippines and Vietnamese vessels as well as efforts to restrict freedom of navigation and overflight through militarization and coercion in the South China Sea, in violation of international law. We emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues and reiterated our opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. We also expressed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations.

We remain concerned with China’s military build-up and the continued, rapid increase in China’s nuclear weapons arsenal. We called on China to engage in strategic risk reduction discussions and promote stability through transparency.

We emphasized that China should not conduct or condone activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities and the integrity of our democratic institutions.16. We expressed concerns about China’s non-market policies and practices that are leading to harmful overcapacity and market distortions. We further called on China to refrain from adopting export control measures that could lead to significant supply chain disruptions. We reiterated that we are not trying to harm China or thwart its economic growth, indeed a growing China that plays by international rules and norms would be of global interest.

We demanded that the DPRK abandon all its nuclear weapons and any other weapons of mass destruction as well as ballistic missile programs in accordance with all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. We expressed our serious concerns over, and the need to address together, the DPRK’s cryptocurrency thefts. We called on DPRK to resolve the abductions issue immediately.

We denounced the brutal repression of the people of Myanmar by the military regime and called for an end to all violence and for unhindered humanitarian access.

Building stability and resilience in Haiti and Venezuela

We strongly denounced the ongoing horrifying violence that continues to be perpetrated by gangs in Haiti in their efforts to seize control of the government. We reaffirmed our commitment to helping the Haitian people restore democracy, security and stability, including through support to the Haitian National Police and Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission and an increased role for the UN. We expressed support for Haitian authorities’ efforts to create a specialized anti-corruption jurisdiction that complies with the highest international standards.

We reiterated our call for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela in line with the aspirations of the Venezuelan people who peacefully voted on July 28, 2024, for change, the cessation of repression and arbitrary or unjust detentions of peaceful protestors including youth by Nicolas Maduro’s regime, as well as the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners. We also agreed Venezuelan naval vessels threatening Guyana’s commercial vessels is unacceptable and an infringement of Guyana’s internationally recognized sovereign rights. We reaffirmed respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations as an enduring value.

Supporting lasting peace in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

We unequivocally denounced the ongoing fighting and atrocities in Sudan, including sexual violence against women and girls, which have led to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and the spread of famine. We called for the warring parties to protect civilians, cease hostilities, and ensure unhindered humanitarian access, and urged external actors to end their support fueling the conflict.

We condemned the Rwanda-backed M23 offensive in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the resulting violence, displacement and grave human rights and international humanitarian law violations. This offensive constitutes a flagrant disregard of the territorial integrity of the DRC. We reiterated our call for M23 and the Rwanda Defence Force to withdraw from all controlled areas. We urged all parties to support the mediation led by the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, to promote accountability for human rights abuses by all armed actors, including M23 and the FDLR, and to commit to a peaceful and negotiated resolution of the conflict, including the meaningful participation of women and youth.

Strengthening sanctions and countering hybrid warfare and sabotage

We welcomed efforts to strengthen the Sanctions Working Group focused on listings and enforcement. We also welcomed discussions on the establishment of a Hybrid Warfare and Sabotage Working Group, and of a Latin America Working Group.

MIL OSI Europe News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The White House press pool became a way to control journalists – Trump is taking this to new levels

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Colin Alexander, Senior Lecturer in Political Communications, Nottingham Trent University

The recently appointed White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has begun her tenure combatively, aggressively defending the Trump administration’s policies and, at times, mimicking Donald Trump’s methods of dealing with the mainstream news media.

Faced recently with a legitimate question by an Associated Press (AP) reporter who challenged Trump’s introduction of tariffs against several countries, she accused the reporter of doubting her knowledge of economics. She then dismissed him, saying: “I now regret giving a question to the Associated Press.”

AP is one of the key media organisations reporting on the White House. The largest news agency in the US, its stories are carried by news groups around the world. But recently, AP was ejected from the “press pool” that covers White House business

It was excluded in mid-February for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico “the Gulf of America”, after Trump changed its name by executive order. This was followed by an announcement that the White House would take greater control of the press pool and choose which outlets would be given most access to the president. This is likely to be based on favourable coverage rather than quality of reporting.

To appreciate how significant this is, it is important to first state the fundamental purpose of journalism in a democratic society, which is to hold the powerful to account. This is known as its “watchdog” function.

The work of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in exposing the Watergate scandal during the 1970s is often held up as the gold standard of watchdog journalism. It ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon as president and the imprisonment of his lawyer, John Dean.

“Pooling” describes the process by which a prominent organisation or individual attempts to oversee journalistic scrutiny by managing access. King Charles, for example, also operates a press pool.

It works in two stages. First, news organisations or individual journalists apply to be members of the pool. Then, a handful of journalists from the pool are selected each day or week for access. These journalists – through their pool contract – are required to share the information they gather with the other journalists in the pool, which often leads to a genericisation of the content.

Thus, while political organisations or elite individuals might claim the pooling system is used as a benign and fair tool to manage consistent press interest, in reality it is a weapon of communications control.

The White House’s press pool was first established under President Dwight Eisenhower as a reflection of the growing number of journalists based in Washington. But in the modern era, the use of pooling was most controversial during and after the first Gulf War of the early 1990s.

Rather than roaming the battlefields of Iraq and Kuwait, most western reporters spent the conflict at the media centre in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, some 250 miles from the Kuwait border. Here they were fed the information that the US military wanted the public to know. A small number of pooled journalists were then occasionally accompanied by US troops to the battlefield in what was a clear case of censorship by access and perspective limitation.

This military-media power dynamic – and the subsequent mismatch between the actuality of the war and the reporting of it – led the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard to declare in a 1991 essay, published by Liberation and The Guardian, that “The Gulf war did not take place”.

General “Stormin” Norman Schwarzkopf’s famous “luckiest man in Iraq” briefing is indicative of the close relationship that developed between military and media professionals during the conflict. Schwarzkopf showed journalists footage taken through the crosshairs of a US bomber of an Iraqi private car driving over a bridge moments before a US airstrike destroys it. You can hear the journalists laughing with Schwarzkopf as they watch this lucky escape.

Legacy of Vietnam

Despite widespread understanding that scrutiny is an important part of public officialdom, the legacy of the Vietnam War – a conflict the US was perceived both at home and around the world to have lost – led to a significant amount of distrust of journalists. US media analyst Daniel Hallin referred to Vietnam as the “uncensored war”. By this he meant that journalists enjoyed an unprecedented amount of freedom – exacerbated by the relatively new medium of television, which brought stark images of war directly into people’s living rooms.

By February 1968, the US military’s daily briefings from the Rex Hotel in Saigon had become known as the “five o’clock follies”, on account of the gulf between official claims of the war’s “progress” and what was being reported by journalists who had ventured into the field. The military consistently presented a positive narrative – in stark contrast to the esteemed CBS reporter Walter Cronkite’s analysis that: “To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion.”

Vietnam could have been an opportunity for governments to think about their obligation to truth and the requirement to be more ethical in their approach. Instead, the feeling in Washington was that unfavourable press coverage had lost the war, and that journalists needed to be curtailed.

Controlling the message

The recent decision by the Trump administration to take over selection of pool journalists from the notionally independent White House Correspondents’ Association is unsurprising. The approach is consistent with the first Trump presidency’s refusal to answer questions from journalists who tried to carry out the press’s watchdog function.

It also fits with Trump’s electioneering approach during 2024 when he shunned traditional news outlets, focusing instead on social media and appearing on the podcasts of Joe Rogan and Andrew Schulz, for example.

To this end, the White House’s decision amounts to a power grab against the institution of modern journalism – even if much of the US media has been in thrall to the powerful ever since Vietnam.

Colin Alexander does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The White House press pool became a way to control journalists – Trump is taking this to new levels – https://theconversation.com/the-white-house-press-pool-became-a-way-to-control-journalists-trump-is-taking-this-to-new-levels-250960

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: The Palo Verde Generating Station

Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)

The Palo Verde Generating Station is one of the largest power plants in the U.S. and the nation’s only nuclear plant not located by a body water.

The plant’s 3 reactors are cooled by treated wastewater that’s sourced from nearby cities, recycling more than 20 billion gallons of wastewater each year.

Palo Verde generates enough electricity to power 2.5 million homes in Arizona and also provides reliable and low-cost power to parts of California, New Mexico, and Texas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPRPu3ncw90

MIL OSI Video –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: Syria, Sudan/Security Council & other topics – Daily Press Briefing | United Nations

Source: United Nations (Video News)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
Secretary-General
Syria
Treaty on state border between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan
Haiti
Sudan/Security Council
Sudan / Humanitarian
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Yemen
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ethiopia
Measles / European Region
Journalism Fellowship

SECRETARY-GENERAL The Secretary-General just arrived in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to start off his Ramadan solidarity visit. Tomorrow, he will meet with the Chief Adviser of the government, Muhammad Yunus and travel with him to Cox’s Bazaar. They will meet there with Rohingya refugees who have been forcibly displaced from their homes in Myanmar and also, they will meet with the host Bangladeshi communities who have been so generous in hosting them. The Secretary-General will also share an Iftar with the refugees, and he will also issue a call to the international community to step up their humanitarian assistance for these men, women and children who have already suffered so much. And on Saturday in Dhaka, the Secretary-General will meet with youth and representatives from civil society. He will also have a joint press conference with the Foreign Adviser, Touhid Hossain.
SYRIA Following the Constitutional Declaration issued by the Caretaker Authorities in Syria, the Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he welcomes moves toward restoring the rule of law and notes that this development potentially fills an important legal vacuum.  The Special Envoy hopes the declaration can be a solid legal framework for a genuinely credible and inclusive political transition. Proper implementation will be key, he said, along with continued efforts to ensure transitional governance in an orderly manner. In a statement, the Secretary-General said that 14 years have now passed since the Syrian people stood up in peaceful protest for their universal rights and freedoms, only to be met with brutal repression. Mr. Guterres added that what began as a call for peaceful change turned into one of the world’s most devastating conflicts, with an incalculable human cost. The Secretary-General spoke about the millions of men, women and children who were displaced and subjected to unimaginable hardship. Yet, the Syrian people never wavered in their steadfast and courageous calls for freedom, for dignity, and for a just future. Since 8 December, however, we saw renewed hope that Syrians can chart a different course and the chance to rebuild, the chance to reconcile, and the chance to create a nation where they can all live peacefully and in dignity. The Secretary-General said nothing can justify the killing of civilians, that we have been reporting in recent days. He stressed that all violence must stop, and there must be a credible, an independent, an impartial investigation of violations and those responsible must be held to account. He added that the caretaker authorities have repeatedly committed to building a new Syria based on inclusive and credible foundations for all Syrians. Now is the time for action, he said. He concluded by reiterating that we stand ready to work alongside the Syrians and support an inclusive political transition and we stand with the Syrian people towards the promise of a better Syria – for all Syrians.
TREATY ON STATE BORDER BETWEEN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC AND THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN The Secretary-General warmly welcomes the signing of the Treaty on the State Border by the Presidents of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan, and that took place today in Bishkek. He congratulates the two countries on this historic achievement and commends their leadership, their determination and their political will to bring the decades-long negotiation process to a successful conclusion. The Secretary-General looks forward to a sustained constructive engagement between the two countries towards fostering mutual trust, good-neighbourly relations and a peaceful future for their people and the broader region.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=13%20March%202025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyL8dWzt2kI

MIL OSI Video –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: March 14th, 2025 Heinrich Discusses Need to Bring Hardrock Mining Law into the 21st Century & Re-Shore Critical Minerals Supply Chain

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
VIDEO
WASHINGTON — At a hearing this week, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, discussed the need for legislation to bring public land mining into the 21st century and re-shore the critical minerals supply chain.

VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, delivers opening remarks at a hearing on March 12, 2025.
At the hearing, Heinrich underscored how the Mining Law that governs metal mining on most public lands in the West was written more than 150 years ago.
Heinrich stated, “Our hardrock mining law remains stuck in the 19th Century, right when we need to build the energy infrastructure of the 21st Century. Updating the 1872 Mining Law could bring public land mining into the 21st century and provide the minerals we need for the energy technologies of today.”
Additionally, Heinrich pointed out the urgent need to re-shore our nation’s supply chain away from dependence on foreign adversaries by investing in the entire lifecycle of minerals.
“This includes increasing our domestic mineral processing capacity, continuing the onshoring of manufacturing through the CHIPS and Science Act, and investing in recycling technologies so that we can reuse the minerals we already have,” Heinrich said.
Heinrich continued, “The fact that we export copper and rare earth minerals to China in the form of electronic waste is one of the more infuriating realities of our current system. We should be capturing and reusing the minerals present within our borders in devices, vehicles, batteries and machinery rather than paying to ship them overseas.”
Heinrich also emphasized the importance of securing minerals critical for new energy technologies while also protecting our water, air, and public lands.
“I believe it’s possible to open new mines while giving local communities a say in whether a particular location on public land is an appropriate place for a mine, just like we do with oil and gas. And I am confident we can find a way to finally fund the cleanup of legacy mine pollution that contaminates streams and rivers across the West,” Heinrich said.
Heinrich’s full opening remarks are below:
I’m glad we’re holding this hearing today on a set of issues that are critically important to people and communities across the nation, but especially in the West.
However, before turning to the topic of today’s hearing, it’s impossible to talk about any natural resource issue today without talking about the incredible damage being done to the workforce that manages those lands and resources for the American people.
The illegal firings of probationary staff—rumored to be just the beginning of staffing reductions—is already reducing access to public lands, with locked gates and closed visitor centers at parks across the country.
What’s more, as we’re considering legislation intended to increase mineral production on public lands, this administration is cutting staff and the land agencies that process those same permits.
With a voluntary resignation offer that encouraged some of the most experienced, highest performing staff at these agencies to leave public service, along with illegal firings of staff who were recently promoted because of their high performance, this administration is crippling the very public land agencies that evaluate plans for new mines.
Anyone one who was hoping for “government efficiency” out of this administration can see what we’re getting is government dysfunction instead.
Now to today’s hearing.
Modern technologies involve a lot of raw materials—and as our scientists and engineers find new and cheaper ways to generate and store energy, the types and quantities of minerals used in energy technologies will only continue to grow.
Responsible domestic mining and processing can be part of the solution—but we can’t get there with outdated laws that don’t reflect the nation’s needs and priorities today.
The law that governs metal mining on most public lands in the West was written in 1872—more than 150 years ago.
Yellowstone had been a national park for barely two months when the Mining Law was signed, and New Mexico would still be a territory for another 40 years.
We’ve learned a lot since 1872:
How to manage public land for public benefit;
How to conserve habitat for sustainable fish and wildlife populations;
How to protect our drinking and irrigation water from heavy metals pollution; and
How to ensure a fair return for the commercial development of resources that belong to the American people.
And yet our hardrock mining law remains stuck in the 19th Century, right when we need to build the energy infrastructure of the 21st Century.
Updating the 1872 Mining Law could bring public land mining into the 21st century and provide the minerals we need for the energy technologies of today.
But we’re here today to talk about more than mining, because mining alone won’t solve our supply chain dependence on adversaries unless we also invest in the entire lifecycle of minerals.
This includes increasing our domestic mineral processing capacity, continuing the onshoring of manufacturing through the CHIPS and Science Act, and investing in recycling technologies so that we can reuse the minerals we already have.
The fact that we export copper and rare earth minerals to China in the form of electronic waste is one of the more infuriating realities of our current system.
We should be capturing and reusing the minerals present within our borders in devices, vehicles, batteries and machinery rather than paying to ship them overseas.
I firmly believe we can find ways to secure the minerals we need for new energy technologies while also protecting our water, air, and public lands.
I believe it’s possible to open new mines while giving local communities a say in whether a particular location on public land is an appropriate place for a mine, just like we do with oil and gas.
And I am confident we can find a way to finally fund the cleanup of legacy mine pollution that contaminates streams and rivers across the West.
I hope that today’s hearing can be a step toward those goals.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA’s 2025 National Small Business Week Will Take Place May 4-10

Source: United States Small Business Administration

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced its list of state and territory Small Business Persons of the Year ahead of this year’s National Small Business Week, which will take place May 4-10, 2025. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler will kick off the week with a ceremony in Washington, D.C., where she will name the National Small Business Person of the Year before embarking on a national small business roadshow. Over the course of the week, she will visit four cities to highlight the impact, economic contributions and importance of small business owners in communities across the nation.

“For more than 60 years, National Small Business Week has honored the risk takers, innovators and job creators who are the backbone of the American economy,” Administrator Loeffler said. “I congratulate the more than 50 state and territory winners on their recognition and look forward to this week of education and appreciation for entrepreneurship – as we highlight the small business owners who fuel prosperity, growth, and opportunity in communities across our country.”

After the Washington, D.C., ceremony on May 5, which will crown the National Small Business Person of the Year and other national award winners, Administrator Loeffler plans to visit Boise, Idaho; Phoenix, Ariz.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Hartford, Conn. While on the road, she will meet with local entrepreneurs, lenders and other community leaders to share SBA’s mission of empowering job creators, delivering disaster relief and driving economic growth.

Along with the awards and roadshow, National Small Business Week is slated to feature a two-day virtual summit, community events across the country honoring small businesses, educational sessions featuring key topics such as manufacturing, digital marketing, cybersecurity and cryptocurrency, as well as online business resources and renowned speakers.

State and territory awardees in consideration for the National Small Business Person of the Year and runner-up include:

Alabama: Kimberly Lewis, ProjectXYZ Inc., Huntsville

Alaska: Christine Hopkins, ASCI Federal Services LLC, Anchorage

Arizona: Virginia Saldivar, Metro Accounting and Professional Services, Goodyear

Arkansas: Kimberly Stinson, Lil Lions Daycare LLC, Bismarck

California: Qais Salem Alkurdi, HQE Systems, Temecula

Colorado: Larisa Hegenbarth, Novastar, Englewood

Connecticut: Michelle Nicholson, The Flour Girl Bakery Cafe, Hebron

Delaware: Alison Schuch, Tangerine Goods, Bethany Beach

District of Columbia: Craig Williams, Cyber Synergy Consulting Group LLC

Florida: Benjamin Nagengast, Point Summit, Largo

Georgia: Patrick Wells, Piedmont Landscape Management, Augusta

Guam: Robert Salas II, Pacific Federal Management Inc., Tumon

Hawaii: Pamela Cariaga, P&S Plumbing LLC, Kailua-Kona

Idaho: Patrick Buchanan, Buchanan Insurance and Financial Services Inc., Hailey

Illinois: Eric Cup, Bridgewater Studios, Chicago

Indiana: Sudhansu (Sam) Yadav, Quest Safety Products Inc., Indianapolis

Iowa: Jamie Jackson, Jake Oakland and Joni Campidilli, Percival Scientific Inc., Perry

Kansas: Cang Quoc Phu and Tuan Lai, QuikTek Machining LLC, Wichita

Kentucky: Crinda Francke, ExecuTrain Corp., Lexington

Louisiana: Ronald “Rocky” Ortego III, Red Bison Services LLC, Kenner

Maine: Carrie Gervais and Jennifer Cousins, Stepping Stones Montessori School, Chelsea

Maryland: Jaqueline Lopez, Premier Enterprise Solutions, Upper Marlboro

Massachusetts: Pablah Ferraz Schwartz-Linhares, Fresscafe Inc., Framingham

Michigan: Greg McArthur and Shelly McArthur, NTL Industries, Sterling Heights

Minnesota: Beth Benike, Busy Baby, Oronoco

Mississippi: David Kittrell and Karen Kittrell, Kittrell’s Industrial and Supply, Petal

Missouri: Tamara Keefe, Clementine’s Creamery, St. Louis

Montana: Jerry Stroot, Superior Meats Inc., Superior

Nebraska: Joseph Hodges Jr., Lion’s Gate Security Solutions Inc., Omaha

Nevada: Kristen Corral-Marin, Carlos Corral-Marin, Dan Simmons and Regina Simmons, Tacotarian, Las Vegas

New Hampshire: Tanya Lawson, Inbloom Health and Medispa, Londonderry

New Jersey: Nichole Ann Bryson, FT Mobility LLC, Saddle Brook

New Mexico: Victor D’Andrea and Jeffrey Giangiuli, TechSource Inc., Los Alamos

New York: Melissa Baidme, C.K. Natural Fruit Juice, LLC, Westfield

North Carolina: Mamie Hoffer and Jason Futrell, Hoffer Flow Controls Inc., Elizabeth City

North Dakota: Dee Decimus, All Embrace Home Caring, Grand Forks

Ohio: Victor Omar D’Angelo, Barroluco LLC, Columbus

Oklahoma: Shawn Collins, Sisemore & Associates, Tulsa

Oregon: Tadd Mick, Tradewinds Charters, Depoe Bay

Pennsylvania: Sheree Beth Thomas, SB Thomas & Associates Inc., Pittsburgh

Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands: Yoel Rivera Santos, Ultimate Solutions Corp., Caguas, P.R.

Rhode Island: Kaitlyn Roberts, Easy Entertaining Inc., Providence

South Carolina: Michael Haldeman, SpokeWorks Bicycle Workshop, Summerville

South Dakota: Tara Olson, Valley Ag Supply Inc., Gayville

Tennessee: Reggie Polk, Polk & Associates Construction Inc., Brentwood

Texas: Gabe Wander, Wander Staffing, Austin

Utah: Alfonso Porras, Sir Walter Candy Corp., South Salt Lake

Vermont: Christopher Swasey, Lewis Creek Builders, Essex Junction

Virginia: Donald Mills, Mills Marine and Ship Repair, Suffolk

Washington: Courtni Doherty and Stephen Doherty, Circle Creek Therapy PLLC, Auburn

West Virginia: Cathy Jo Higgins, The Developmental Advantage LLC, Charleston

Wisconsin: Mark Bula and Shawn Bula, Signature Farms II LLC, Grand Marsh

Wyoming: Lauren Heerschap, Brunton International LLC, Riverton

Details on National Small Business Week, the virtual summit, registrations and speakers are featured on National Small Business Week and will be updated as additional information and activities are confirmed. Local events will be featured on Find upcoming events and identifiable by searching with #SmallBusinessWeek.

# # #

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Ricketts: Strong U.S.-Japan Alliance “Fundamental” to Deterring Communist China, Promoting Economic Prosperity

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Pete Ricketts (Nebraska)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, highlighted how a strong alliance between the United States and Japan can deter Communist China and promote economic prosperity, including in Nebraska.

“For more than 80 years, the U.S.-Japan alliance has acted as the cornerstone of peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” said Ricketts. “With Communist China, Russia, the Korean Peninsula, and the Taiwan Strait all within 200 miles of Japanese soil, our forward deployed presence in Japan is fundamental to deter aggression in the region. This is especially pertinent given Beijing’s dramatic military buildup and increasingly provocative actions, grey-zone activity tactics, saber rattling – all to force our allies and partners to bend to its will. Additionally, the alliance forms the foundation of vital multilateral cooperation, from the Quad to trilaterals to South Korea, Australia and the Philippines. I was pleased to see President Trump and Prime Minister Ishiba commit to ‘pursue a new golden age’ for U.S.-Japan relations when they met in February.”

Ricketts also praised President Trump for deepening the economic ties between Japan and Nebraska.

“Thanks in part to President Trump’s trade deals with Japan during his first term, Japan is one of our largest export markets, and certainly the largest for pork and eggs, our second largest for beef, our third largest for corn and overall ag exports,” said Ricketts. “Japan is also a promising market for grain-based fuels. I was encouraged by Japan’s recent announcement that it intends to blend 10% ethanol in gasoline by 2030, and 20% by 2040. And of course, Japan is positioned to become one of the largest export markets for Sustainable Aviation Fuel that rely on grain-based ethanol as feedstock.”

Watch the video HERE

Ricketts made the comments in a hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing considered the nominations of George Glass to be the Ambassador to Japan, Pete Hoekstra to be the Ambassador to Canada, and Ron Johnson to be the Ambassador to Mexico.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Joint statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Charlevoix

Source: Government of Canada News

March 14, 2025 – Charlevoix, Quebec – Global Affairs Canada

1. We the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, met in Charlevoix on March 12 to 14, 2025.

Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security

2. We reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence.

3. We welcomed ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and in particular the meeting on March 11 between the U.S. and Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We applauded Ukraine’s commitment to an immediate ceasefire, which is an essential step towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the Charter of the United Nations.

4. We called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a ceasefire on equal terms and implementing it fully. We discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a ceasefire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means. This includes the use of extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilized Russian Sovereign Assets. We underlined the importance of confidence-building measures under a ceasefire including the release of prisoners of war and detainees—both military and civilian—and the return of Ukrainian children.

5. We emphasized that any ceasefire must be respected and underscored the need for robust and credible security arrangements to ensure that Ukraine can deter and defend against any renewed acts of aggression. We stated that we will continue to coordinate economic and humanitarian support to promote the early recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine, including at the Ukraine Recovery Conference which will take place in Rome on July 10-11, 2025.

6. We condemned the provision to Russia of military assistance by DPRK and Iran, and the provision of weapons and dual-use components by China, a decisive enabler of Russia’s war and of the reconstitution of Russia’s armed forces. We reiterated our intention to continue to take action against such third countries.

7. We expressed alarm about the impacts of the war, especially on civilians and on civilian infrastructure. We discussed the importance of accountability and reaffirmed our commitment to work together to achieve a durable peace and to ensure that Ukraine remains democratic, free, strong and prosperous.

Regional peace and stability in the Middle East

8. We called for the release of all hostages and for the hostages’ remains held by Hamas in Gaza to be returned to their loved ones. We reaffirmed our support for the resumption of unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza and for a permanent ceasefire. We underscored the imperative of a political horizon for the Palestinian people, achieved through a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that meets the legitimate needs and aspirations of both peoples and advances comprehensive Middle East peace, stability and prosperity. We noted serious concern over the growing tensions and hostilities in the West Bank and calls for de-escalation.

9. We recognized Israel’s inherent right to defend itself consistent with international law. We unequivocally condemned Hamas, including for its brutal and unjustified terror attacks on October 7, 2023, and the harm inflicted on the hostages during their captivity and the violation of their dignity through the use of ‘handover ceremonies’ during their release. We reiterated that Hamas can have no role in Gaza’s future and must never again be a threat to Israel. We affirmed our readiness to engage with Arab partners on their proposals to chart a way forward on reconstruction in Gaza and build a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.

10. We expressed our support for the people of Syria and Lebanon, as both countries work towards peaceful and stable political futures. At this critical juncture, we reiterated the importance of Syria’s and Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We called unequivocally for the rejection of terrorism in Syria. We condemned strongly the recent escalation of violence in the coastal regions of Syria, and called for the protection of civilians and for perpetrators of atrocities to be held accountable. We stressed the critical importance of an inclusive and Syrian-led political process. We welcomed the commitment by the Syrian interim government to work with the OPCW in eliminating all remaining chemical weapons.

11. We stressed that Iran is the principal source of regional instability and must never be allowed to develop and acquire a nuclear weapon. We emphasized that Iran must now change course, de-escalate and choose diplomacy. We underscored the threat of Iran’s growing use of arbitrary detention and foreign assassination attempts as a tool of coercion.

Cooperation to increase security and resilience across the Indo-Pacific

12. We reiterated our commitment to upholding a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific, based on sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful resolution of disputes, fundamental freedoms and human rights.

13. We remain seriously concerned by the situations in the East China Sea as well as the South China Sea and continue to oppose strongly unilateral attempts to change the status quo, in particular by force and coercion. We expressed concern over the increasing use of dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against Philippines and Vietnamese vessels as well as efforts to restrict freedom of navigation and overflight through militarization and coercion in the South China Sea, in violation of international law. We emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues and reiterated our opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. We also expressed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations.

14. We remain concerned with China’s military build-up and the continued, rapid increase in China’s nuclear weapons arsenal. We called on China to engage in strategic risk reduction discussions and promote stability through transparency.

15. We emphasized that China should not conduct or condone activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities and the integrity of our democratic institutions.16. We expressed concerns about China’s non-market policies and practices that are leading to harmful overcapacity and market distortions. We further called on China to refrain from adopting export control measures that could lead to significant supply chain disruptions. We reiterated that we are not trying to harm China or thwart its economic growth, indeed a growing China that plays by international rules and norms would be of global interest.

16. We demanded that the DPRK abandon all its nuclear weapons and any other weapons of mass destruction as well as ballistic missile programs in accordance with all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. We expressed our serious concerns over, and the need to address together, the DPRK’s cryptocurrency thefts. We called on DPRK to resolve the abductions issue immediately.

17. We denounced the brutal repression of the people of Myanmar by the military regime and called for an end to all violence and for unhindered humanitarian access.

Building stability and resilience in Haiti and Venezuela

18. We strongly denounced the ongoing horrifying violence that continues to be perpetrated by gangs in Haiti in their efforts to seize control of the government. We reaffirmed our commitment to helping the Haitian people restore democracy, security and stability, including through support to the Haitian National Police and Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission and an increased role for the UN. We expressed support for Haitian authorities’ efforts to create a specialized anti-corruption jurisdiction that complies with the highest international standards.

19. We reiterated our call for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela in line with the aspirations of the Venezuelan people who peacefully voted on July 28, 2024, for change, the cessation of repression and arbitrary or unjust detentions of peaceful protestors including youth by Nicolas Maduro’s regime, as well as the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners. We also agreed Venezuelan naval vessels threatening Guyana’s commercial vessels is unacceptable and an infringement of Guyana’s internationally recognized sovereign rights. We reaffirmed respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations as an enduring value.

Supporting lasting peace in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

20. We unequivocally denounced the ongoing fighting and atrocities in Sudan, including sexual violence against women and girls, which have led to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and the spread of famine. We called for the warring parties to protect civilians, cease hostilities, and ensure unhindered humanitarian access, and urged external actors to end their support fueling the conflict.

21. We condemned the Rwanda-backed M23 offensive in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the resulting violence, displacement and grave human rights and international humanitarian law violations. This offensive constitutes a flagrant disregard of the territorial integrity of the DRC. We reiterated our call for M23 and the Rwanda Defence Force to withdraw from all controlled areas. We urged all parties to support the mediation led by the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, to promote accountability for human rights abuses by all armed actors, including M23 and the FDLR, and to commit to a peaceful and negotiated resolution of the conflict, including the meaningful participation of women and youth.

Strengthening sanctions and countering hybrid warfare and sabotage

22. We welcomed efforts to strengthen the Sanctions Working Group focused on listings and enforcement. We also welcomed discussions on the establishment of a Hybrid Warfare and Sabotage Working Group, and of a Latin America Working Group.

MIL OSI Canada News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: G7 Foreign Ministers’ Declaration on Maritime Security and Prosperity

Source: Government of Canada News

March 14, 2025 – Charlevoix, Québec – Global Affairs Canada

1. We, the Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, reaffirm the G7’s steadfast commitment to contribute towards a free, open, and secure maritime domain based on the rule of law that strengthens international security, fosters economic prosperity, and ensures the sustainable use of marine resources.

2. Maritime security and prosperity are fundamental to global stability, economic resilience, and the well-being of all nations, and the conservation and sustainable use of ocean ecosystems is essential to all life on Earth. Over 80% of global trade is transported by sea, and 97% of global data flows through submarine cables. Disruptions to maritime routes pose a direct threat to international food security, critical minerals, energy security, global supply chains, and economic stability. We express deep concern over the growing risks to maritime security, including strategic contestation, threats to freedom of navigation and overflight, and illicit shipping activities. State behaviour in these areas has increased the risk of conflict and environmental damage, and imperils all nations’ prosperity and living standards, especially for the world’s poorest.

3. We recognize the role of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the legal framework for governing all activities in the oceans and the seas.

4. We recall the G7 Statements on Maritime Security adopted in Lübeck (2015) and Hiroshima (2016). We welcome related work presently underway through other G7 ministerial tracks and working groups, on a range of issues including securing undersea cable networks and combating abandoned fishing gear. We welcome, as well, G7 work relating to transnational organized crime and terrorism that touches on the maritime domain, including in relation to piracy and armed robbery at sea, trafficking in persons, and strengthening the maritime law enforcement capabilities of coastal states. We acknowledge the importance of regional maritime security frameworks, to support coastal states to address collectively threats to their maritime security. We welcome existing initiatives, such as the G7++ Friends of the Gulf of Guinea (G7++ FoGG, that Canada chairs this year), which has been the primary forum for dialogue among G7 members and partners on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.

Emerging Threat on Safe Seas and Freedom of Navigation and Overflight

5. Enhancing Stability: We underscore the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the high seas and the exclusive economic zones as well as to the related rights and freedoms in other maritime zones, including the rights of innocent passage, transit passage and archipelagic sea lanes passage, as provided for under international law. We share a growing concern at recent, unjustifiable efforts to restrict such freedom and to expand jurisdiction through use of force and other forms of coercion, including across the Taiwan Strait, and the South China Sea, the Red Sea, and the Black Sea. We condemn China’s illicit, provocative, coercive and dangerous actions that seek unilaterally to alter the status quo in such a way as to risk undermining the stability of regions, including through land reclamations, and building of outposts, as well as their use for military purpose. In areas pending final delimitation, we underline the importance of coastal states refraining from unilateral actions that cause permanent physical change to the marine environment insofar as such actions jeopardize or hamper the reaching of the final agreement, as well as the importance of making every effort to enter into provisional arrangements of a practical nature, in those areas. We condemn, as well, dangerous vessel maneuvers, the indiscriminate attacks against commercial vessels and other maritime actions that undermine maritime order based on the rule of law and international law. We reiterate that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on 12 July 2016 is a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties. We reaffirm that our basic policies on Taiwan remain unchanged and emphasize the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to international security and prosperity. We welcome the resumption of exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Freedom of navigation for commercial shipping in the Black Sea must be upheld.

6. Attempts to Change the Status Quo by Force: We oppose unilateral attempts to change the status quo, in particular by force or coercion including in the East and South China Seas. We undertake to implement means through which to track systematically and report on attempts to change the status quo by force and by the establishment of new geographical facts, including through coercive and dangerous actions on the oceans and seas that might threaten regional and international peace and security.

7. Protecting Critical Maritime and Undersea Infrastructure: We are seized of the fact that vital energy and telecommunications infrastructure under the oceans and seas connects our economies and is vital to our prosperity. We recall the G7 Joint Statement on Cable Connectivity for Secure and Resilient Digital Communications Networks (2024) and the New York Joint Statement on the Security and Resilience of Undersea Cables in a Globally Digitalized World (2024). We share a growing concern that undersea communications cables, subsea interconnectors and other critical undersea infrastructure have been subject to critical damage through sabotage, poor seamanship or irresponsible behaviour which have resulted in potential internet or energy disruption in affected regions, delays in global data transmission, or compromised sensitive communications. We will enhance our cooperation with industry to mitigate risks, reduce bottlenecks to operational tasks while strengthening repair capacities in order to improve the overall resilience of critical undersea and maritime infrastructure. In this respect, we welcome the EU Action Plan on Cable Security adopted in February 2025 by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

8. Maritime Crime: Maritime crime, including piracy, armed robbery at sea, maritime arms trafficking and sanctions evasion, human trafficking, illegal drug trafficking and Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated (IUU) fishing, continues to impede maritime security, freedom of navigation, and our economy and prosperity. We have been working together to tackle these maritime crimes, but maritime illegal activities have extended into new areas, to become an urgent issue to be addressed. We welcome the G7 Action Plan to combat migrant smuggling adopted under Italy’s 2024 G7 Presidency.

9. Protecting Freedom of Trade: In the past year, indiscriminate Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have endangered maritime security of vessels and their crews, disturbed international trade, and exposed neighboring countries to environmental hazards. Enabled by Iran’s military, financial, and intelligence support, these illegal attacks have also contributed to increased tension in the Middle East and Yemen, with severe repercussions on the intra-Yemeni peace process. The vessel “Galaxy Leader” seized by the Houthis must be released immediately. We appreciate the efforts of all those countries that have engaged to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, protecting crucial shipping lanes and helping to restore regular flows of trade through the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In this regard, we commend the efforts of EU’s maritime operation “Aspides” and U.S.-led operation “Prosperity Guardian”.

Safe Shipping and Supply Chain Security

10. Curtailing Unsafe and Illicit Shipping Practices: The rise of unsafe and illicit shipping practices, including fraudulent registration and registries, poses a significant threat to global trade and environmental sustainability. We are concerned that unsafe and illicit shipping imposes heavy costs on industry, governments and citizens. Russia’s ability to earn revenue has been sustained through its extensive effort to circumvent the G7+ oil price cap policy through its shadow fleet of often older, underinsured, and poorly maintained ships that routinely disable their automatic identification systems or engage in “spoofing” to avoid detection and circumvent international safety, environmental, and liability rules and standards. North Korea continues to pursue its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and evade sanctions, particularly through its illicit maritime activities, including prohibited ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum and other UN-banned commodities. Through G7 coordination, we have exposed North Korea uses of “dark” vessels – those that engage in illicit activity – to circumvent United Nations Security Council mandated sanctions. Russia and North Korea are strengthening their economic relations including through maritime routes, such as the reported transfer of petroleum products from Russia to North Korea. Unregulated, “dark” vessels undertake IUU fishing, destroying marine habitats and depleting fish stocks, with negative impacts for biodiversity and food security. Unregulated, inadequately insured “dark” vessels also pose a high risk of maritime accidents, including in fragile ecosystems such as the Arctic and Antarctic. We commit to strengthening our coordination, amongst the G7 and with other partners, to prevent the use of unregistered or fraudulently registered, uninsured and substandard vessels engaged in sanctions evasion, arms transfers, illegal fishing and illicit trade. We encourage relevant International Organizations to improve maritime domain awareness by expanding satellite-based vessel tracking and establishing comprehensive data records of the movement of individual ships and of ship-to-ship transfers, as a means of identifying and tracking illicit maritime activities. We are also committed to capacity building of the countries in the region in law enforcement and Maritime Domain Awareness.

11. Shadow Fleet Task Force: We invite members of the Nordic-Baltic 8 (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden), and possibly others, to join participating G7 members in a Shadow Fleet Task Force to enhance monitoring and detection and to otherwise constrain the use of shadow fleets engaged in illegal, unsafe or environmentally perilous activities, building on the work of others active in this area. The Task Force will constitute a response by the participating States to the call by the International Maritime Organization in its Resolution A.1192(33) of 6 December 2023 for Members States and all relevant stakeholders to promote actions to prevent illegal operations in the maritime sector by shadow fleets and their flag states, including illegal operations for the purposes of circumventing sanctions, evading compliance with safety or environmental regulations, avoiding insurance costs, or engaging in other illegal activities.

12. Enhancing Maritime Supply Chain Resilience and Energy and Food Security: Maritime supply chains will continue to underpin the global economy, but these face a variety of threats, both present and future, stemming from both geopolitical tensions and environmental factors. Maritime disruptions raise consumer costs, increase transit times, and can reduce demand in importing countries, which in turn means lower revenues and diminished competitiveness for producers in exporting countries. Such vulnerabilities in maritime transport can undermine energy and food security, particularly for developing nations reliant on stable shipping routes, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). We welcome maritime initiatives involving and supported by G7 partners intended to promote energy and food security, such as the Grain from Ukraine scheme, and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. We invite cooperation with the African Union (pursuant to Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050) and other relevant International Organizations to identify best practices for enhancing maritime supply chain resilience and for safeguarding energy and food security, including in times of geopolitical crisis.

13. Promoting Safe and Resilient Ports and Strategic Waterways: Port ownership and operational control matter to national security, as foreign control or influence over critical port infrastructure can create vulnerabilities in trade, in defence and security, and in economic stability. Port resilience is also crucial to economic stability and global trade and yet ports face growing risks from environmental degradation, extreme weather events and geopolitical conflicts. Strengthening port security and modernizing infrastructure are essential to maintaining safe and efficient maritime trade. Ensuring that the ownership and management of strategic waterways and key maritime choke points are not vulnerable to undue influence by potential adversaries is also essential to national security. We underscore the importance of scrutiny of ownership structures and port management and resilience within our own national jurisdictions, including with regard to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems, to ensure that adversaries do not gain leverage over supply chains, military operations, or the flow of strategic resources. We will work with partners and with relevant International Organizations to encourage robust cybersecurity standards for port ICT infrastructure, to increase resilience against malicious cyber incidents on maritime logistical networks, to reduce monopolistic power over key supply chain nodes, to promote secure and transparent port ownership, to limit unsolicited or undue foreign influence over critical infrastructures and strategic waterways, and to otherwise encourage greater focus on such potential vulnerabilities.

14. Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) at sea poses a significant hazard to the marine environment, to the safety of fishermen and other users of the maritime space, and to various marine economic activities. We commit to enhancing diplomatic efforts and to exchanging best practices among national authorities, relevant international and regional organizations, and relevant industry sectors to accelerate the clean-up of UXO from the seas and ocean.

Sustainable Stewardship of Maritime Resources

15. Strengthen Enforcement Against IUU Fishing: IUU fishing is a major contributor to declining fish stocks and to marine habitat destruction. It may account for a third of all fishing activity worldwide, at a cost to the global economy of more than US$23 billion per year and with negative consequences for fisheries as an enduring economic asset, including for developing countries. We welcome the Canadian-led Dark Vessel Detection System in Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, the Philippines, and members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and would see value in replicating the model to support other partners whose fisheries are under threat from IUU fishing. We recognize that data sharing and transparency play a key role in this fight by exposing bad actors and that technological advances can support a robust Monitoring, Control and Surveillance and enforcement landscape. We encourage further progress in addressing IUU fishing, working with and through relevant International Organizations to establish and strengthen rules to sustainably manage fish stocks on the high seas and to improve the enforcement of these measures, including through the further development of detection technologies, aircraft patrols and high seas boarding and inspection of vessels, building upon the 2022 G7 Ocean Deal.

16. We welcome the Third UN Ocean Conference, in Nice, France, from 9 to 13 June 2025.

PARTNERSHIPS

17. This G7 Maritime Security and Prosperity Declaration provides a framework for cooperation with non-G7 partners, including countries hosting major ports, large merchant fleets, or extensive flag registries as well as relevant regional and International Organizations, such as the International Maritime Organization and ASEAN. We would welcome robust cooperation with partners to take forward the goals set out in this Declaration, consistent with the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, under the efforts of the G7 countries, including a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific region, to build a free and open maritime order based on the rule of law, and of commitment to the sustainable development of the world’s maritime spaces.

18. We welcome the cooperation on Coast Guard Functions, including the Global Coast Guard Forum hosted by Italy in 2025, as well as the Arctic Coast Guard Forum, which could also support the objectives of this Declaration.

[14] March 2025

Charlevoix, Canada

MIL OSI Canada News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE arrests former Cuban intelligence officer for allegedly obtaining legal status through fraudulent means

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

March 14, 2025Miami, FL, United StatesDocument and Benefit Fraud

MIAMI – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the FBI, administratively arrested a Cuban national who allegedly gained Legal Permanent Resident status through fraudulent means.

Tomas Emilio Hernandez Cruz, 71, from West Park was arrested at his residence after an investigation into fraudulent claims he made on his immigration application. In September 2023, ICE Homeland Security Investigations Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force alongside FBI Miami Division, initiated an investigation regarding inconsistencies in Hernandez Cruz’s immigration application that warranted further investigation.

During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Hernandez Cruz was a member of Cuban intelligence at various high-level posts overseas. Hernandez Cruz knowingly and willfully withheld his true position and profession within the Cuban Communist Party to deliberately deceive U.S. authorities when he applied for and obtained his LPR status.

Hernandez Cruz was arrested, processed and is currently in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

For more news and information on HSI efforts to enforce our nation’s immigration laws follow us on X at @HSI_Miami.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE Houston deports 8-time removed criminal alien convicted of kidnapping to Mexico

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

HOUSTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Baltazar Pantoja Calderon, a 43-year-old eight-time removed criminal alien convicted of kidnapping and several other criminal offenses in the U.S., to his home country of Mexico March 13.

Pantoja has illegally entered the U.S. at least eight times. Each time he was caught by U.S. immigration officials and voluntarily departed to Mexico May 27, 1999; and was deported on July 1, 2008; Sept. 1, 2010; Oct. 29, 2014; March 18, 2015; May 3, 2017; and Feb. 2, 2018.

Pantoja has also been convicted of numerous criminal offenses while in the U.S. illegally including kidnapping May 12, 2010; driving while intoxicated May 29, 2008; illegal entry July 3, 2018; and resisting arrest March 10, 2025.

“The complete lack of respect for our nation’s system of laws that this criminal alien has displayed over the past quarter of a century has in recent years, unfortunately, become more commonplace,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford. “The law enforcement community in South Texas is united in our determination to restore sovereignty over our southern border and has banded together to remove these dangerous criminal aliens from our country to restore law and order in our communities.”

For more news and information on ICE’s efforts to enforce our nation’s immigration laws in Texas follow us on X at @EROHouston.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Q&A: Be The One

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

Q: What is “Be The One” campaign all about?

A: This grassroots effort raises public awareness about veteran suicide and facilitates training and prevention strategies using one-on-one connections with at-risk veterans in local communities across the country. The nationwide outreach is coordinated by the American Legion, the patriotic veterans organization with a membership of more than 1.6 million individuals and local posts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Latin America and the Philippines. The nonprofit organization will observe its 106^th birthday on March 15, celebrating the first caucus of the American Legion held in Paris, France after World War I. The 66^th Congress issued a national charter for the veterans-led group on September 16, 1919. Throughout its history, the member-based veterans organization seeks to help fellow veterans reintegrate to civilian life and serves as a resource for community-based services for those seeking employment, education, health care, housing, disaster assistance and more. Since its founding, improving access to education, disability benefits and mental health services have helped marshal legislative victories and improve the quality of life for veterans. A tenet of its founding charter is to “cement the ties and comradeship born of service.” That mission is manifested in the Be The One campaign currently underway to stop veteran suicide. Through its grassroots system of Buddy Checks and efforts to train members for its Be The One QPR (question, persuade and refer) Teams, the American Legion of Iowa is working to expand its suicide prevention services at the post level and raise public awareness in local communities.

In February, I met with Iowa leaders representing the American Legion, and I was impressed to learn more about this community outreach program. Making personal connections can mean the difference between life and death for veterans suffering from loneliness, despair or depression. Raising public awareness will help alert neighbors to be mindful of warning signs to strengthen suicide prevention for hometown heroes in our veterans communities. I appreciate the advocacy of our veterans organizations and will continue working with them on behalf of those who answered the call to serve in uniform and those currently serving in the Armed Forces.

Q: What efforts have you pushed in Congress to lower veterans suicide?

A: Tragically, this issue hits close to home for too many Iowa families. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), suicide death rates among Iowa veterans is significantly higher than the rates among the nation’s general population. As Iowa’s U.S. Senator, I’ve worked for decades to raise public awareness, conduct rigorous oversight to root out shortcomings at the VA and implement comprehensive suicide prevention reforms to improve mental health services for our nation’s veterans. Years ago, alongside former Sen. Tom Harkin, we steered bipartisan legislation into law named after a young Iowan named Josh Omvig from Grundy Center who died by suicide after returning home from duty in Iraq. Our bill developed a peer support program tapping veterans as volunteer peer counselors. Building on that legislative victory on behalf of veterans, I also supported the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act and co-sponsored legislation to help reduce backlog appeals to the Veterans Benefits Administration and introduced legislation to address the increase in suicide among female veterans. I’ve worked to expand services for veterans experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders and who sustained Traumatic Brain Injuries in the line of duty and teamed up with Sen. Amy Klobuchar to give veterans health facilities better tools to recruit well-trained health professionals, particularly for mental health care. Sen. Joni Ernst and I have pushed the VA to address wait times for mental health appointments, as well. In addition, I co-sponsored legislation that improved the responsiveness and performance of the Veterans Crisis Line. In his first term, President Trump signed into law the three-digit number to simplify access to this confidential, 24/7, lifesaving tool for Americans experiencing a mental health emergency. I encourage veterans and their families to dial 9-8-8 in times of crisis for immediate access to lifesaving support from trained professionals.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE Houston deports 6-time removed criminal alien to Mexico with 6 convictions for DWI, 6 for theft

Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

HOUSTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a six-time removed criminal alien to Mexico March 13 who has been convicted six times of driving while intoxicated and six times for theft while she was illegally in the U.S.

ICE transported Leticia Caballero Guadarrama, a 53-year-old criminal alien from Mexico, from the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, to the Laredo Port of Entry where she was released into Mexico.

Caballero has illegally entered the U.S. at least six times and was voluntarily returned to Mexico July 5, 2002; and deported to Mexico on May 27, 2003; Feb. 14, 2009; Dec. 30, 2009; Sept. 30, 2010; and March 13, 2025.

Caballero has been convicted of 14 criminal offenses while in the U.S. illegally including six convictions for DWI (April 2, 2004; Feb. 10, 2006; Jan. 13, 2009; Jan. 21, 2009; May 11, 2011; and June 12, 2024); six convictions for theft or larceny (Sept. 2, 2003; Jan. 20, 2006; Jan. 9, 2009; Dec. 20, 2009; Sept. 10, 2010; and Sept. 24, 2021); and twice for refusing to provide identification to law enforcement (Jan. 20, 2006, and June 2, 2006).

“I have served in law enforcement for more than 30 years and few things surprise me, but the level of disrespect that this criminal alien has shown for our system of laws and for the brave men and women who risk their lives every day to uphold those laws is shocking,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford. “After repeatedly entering the country illegally and getting behind the wheel intoxicated, she has victimized hard-working Texans over and over again by stealing their money and property and then attempted to avoid accountability by refusing to provide law enforcement with identification after she was caught. By carelessly flaunting our system of laws, her actions endangered everyone in the community and have wasted significant taxpayer-funded government resources.”

For more news and information on ICE’s efforts to enforce our nation’s immigration laws in Southeast Texas follow us on X at @EROHouston.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Picturing the Pandemic

Source: US State of Connecticut

A new exhibit of words, images, and audio collected from around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic now on display at Homer Babbidge Library offers a rare glimpse at how people captured history even as it was being made.

Picturing the Pandemic, created by the Pandemic Journaling Project (PJP) and Seeing Truth: Art, Science, Museums, and Making Knowledge, opened at UConn Storrs on Thursday, Mar. 6.

Anthropologists Sarah Willen (UConn) and Katherine Mason (Brown University) started the PJP five years ago to collect people’s reflections on how the pandemic was affecting their lives as it happened.

“We cared about giving people a space to reflect and we cared about documenting, chronicling, and preserving people’s real-time record of their experiences during a time that none of us understood,” said Willen, a professor of anthropology at UConn and co-director the Research Program on Global Health and Human Rights at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.

From May 2020 to May 2022, the PJP collected weekly journal entries that allowed people to chronicle the countless ways the pandemic and its attendant disruptions manifested in their lives. In its first wave, the project collected nearly 27,000 entries from 1,800 people around the world.

Sarah Willen, co- creator of the Pandemic Journaling Project, describes the new exhibit at Homer Babbidge Library (Danielle Faipler / UConn Photo)

The goal was to create an archive that would exist into the future so people could better understand how the pandemic was experienced by people living through it.

“We wanted to make an archive that would last and that would be useful to other people in the future, and we made a promise that people would be able to keep everything that they contributed,” said Willen.

The exhibit at Babbidge Library consists of panels featuring photographs and excerpts from journal submissions, highlighting a key component of the project: the variety of ways participants were able to express themselves and document their lives.

“We wanted ‘journaling’ to be defined as broadly as possible. People could write, they could upload audio journal entries, or they could upload photographs,” said Willen.

At the opening ceremony, Willen and other members of the UConn community who supported the development of the project spoke about its growth since the start of the pandemic.

Willen thanked the University and other sponsors for supporting the project, including the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, the Humanities Institute, and the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP).

“Documents, diaries, letters, drawings and memoirs created by those who participated in or witnessed events of the past tell us something that even the best written article or book may not convey,” said Anne Langley, Dean of UConn Library.

“Its global dimension is really critical; The multiple languages which were used, the fact that you could audio journal or video journal,” said Kathryn Libal, professor of social work and human rights and director of the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute. “It opens up a new way for us to think about collective archiving in the present for future commemoration and scholarly works.”

Kathryn Libal, director of the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, speaks at the opening of the new Pandemic Journaling Project exhibit at Homer Babbidge library (Danielle Faipler / UConn Photo)

The exhibition was curated by Willen, Mason, and Alexis Boylan, professor of art and art history at UConn, along with PJP postdoctoral fellow Heather Wurtz and a large team of students and curation partners.

“The images will not let us forget. They remind us of feelings that we had that we maybe put away, of ideas of things and people that we wanted to be but maybe did not work out in that moment, but that we still remember and hold on to,” said Boylan.

With the exhibit located in the middle of a heavily visited area at UConn, many students, faculty, staff, and visitors will have a chance to reflect on their lives in the five years since the pandemic.

Globally, as well as in the United States, people are repressing a lot about the impact the pandemic had, and continues to have, on our lives, said Willen. By offering visitors a chance to look back on this time, the exhibition invites people to consider how their own lives, and the broader world, have changed.

Before coming to Storrs, the exhibition made earlier stops in Hartford, Providence, Heidelberg (Germany), Mexico City and Toronto. For this new iteration, the curators added a new center panel that recognizes the importance of science and of having an infrastructure for knowledge building and social interaction.

“If we pull apart the components of that infrastructure, a lot of things fall apart,” said Willen. “Our capacity to do science falls apart. Our capacity to prepare people for their careers falls apart. Our capacity to provide public spaces in which we can come together and interact with each other – like libraries and museums – falls apart.”

“We’re hoping that this will be a chance for people to see the structures we’ve built in our society to support, connect with, and nurture each other, and to help each other understand who we are in the world, will only exist if we protect them,” said Willen.

Willen especially urges student visitors to the exhibit to think deeply about how their majors, fields, and research can help us collectively confront the problems that society is facing.

“Let’s not lose sight of those values, of how we can put our tools to work to grapple with real-life problems using data and our capacities for analysis and reflection,” said Willen.

The Pandemic Journaling Project and the Picturing the Pandemic exhibition were only possible because UConn believed in them, said Willen.

“We brought our skills to the table, and our students brought theirs, and many different institutes and departments at the university said, yes, this is worthwhile, and they gave us the resources to start collecting people’s narratives and experiences,” said Willen. “Bringing the exhibit to Babbidge Library is our thank you note to UConn.”

Picturing the Pandemic: Images from the Pandemic Journaling Project will be on display in the entryway to the Homer Babbidge Library from March 5 to March 20.

MIL OSI USA News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE, law enforcement partners arrest more than 200 alien offenders during enhanced gang operation in Northern Virginia
Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

CHANTILLY, Va. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and law enforcement partners apprehended 214 illegal aliens during an enhanced targeted enforcement operation focusing on transnational organized crime, gangs, and egregious illegal alien offenders in Northern Virginia March 1 to 13.

“Our communities in Virginia are safer today because our law enforcement officers stood between them and the danger. During this enforcement operation, ICE and our law enforcement partners targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most gang-infested neighborhoods in Northern Virginia, and this resulted in 214 arrests,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russ Hott. “Over 200 arrests in such a brief time is an impressive number by any measure. It is truly awe-inspiring to see what can be accomplished with the level of cooperation shared among our federal, state and local law enforcement partners. Everyone was truly invested in the success of this joint operation. ICE will continue our mission to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing illegal alien offenders from our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities.”

ICE and their law enforcement partners targeted transnational criminal organizations known to operate in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. These organizations include the notorious MS-13 and 18th Street gangs.

“The agents and officers involved in this enhanced operation truly made a difference in the Northern Virginia communities. The apprehension of 214 alien offenders is impressive and was only made possible through strong partnerships,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C. acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Heck. “The level of dedication to this operation by the entire team was impressive to witness. Each of our law enforcement partners brought their own expertise to the mission. This was truly a team effort. ICE will continue to work tirelessly to dismantle transnational criminal organizations working in our neighborhoods.”

“The level of support ICE received from our partner law enforcement organizations was inspiring,” said Hott. “In the spirit of illicit gang activity, we are making gang members an offer they can’t refuse; leave the United States now. If you don’t, we will find you, and there will be consequences. We will arrest and prosecute you to the full extent of the law.”

Among those arrested during the enhanced targeted operation include:
- A 26-year-old Salvadoran alien and member of MS-13 previously convicted for malicious wounding and larceny.
- A 46-year-old, previously removed Salvadoran alien and member of MS-13 previously convicted for carrying a concealed weapon, trespassing, illegal re-entry after removal, and disorderly conduct.
- A 40-year-old Salvadoran alien and member of MS-13 who is wanted by authorities in El Salvador for aggravated extortion.
- A 37-year-old Jamaican alien previously convicted for second-degree murder and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
- A 46-year-old Mexican alien previously convicted for indecent liberties with a minor and soliciting a minor for prostitution.
- A 27-year-old Honduran alien previously convicted for object sexual penetration. The alien is currently detained pending removal proceedings.
Partner law enforcement participating in the operation were: U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia; FBI; U.S. Marshals Service; Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Office of the Governor; the Office of the Attorney General; Virginia State Police; and Virginia Department of Corrections.

Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our communities on X: @EROWashington.

MIL OSI USA News –
March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement between Hong Kong and Bahrain to enter into force on March 21

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) signed between Hong Kong and Bahrain in March last year will enter into force on March 21, following the completion of the two sides’ respective internal procedures required.

Under the IPPA, the two governments undertake to provide investors of the other side with fair, equitable and non-discriminatory treatment of their investments, compensation in the event of expropriation of investments, and the right to free transfers abroad of investments and returns. The IPPA also provides for settlement of investment disputes under internationally accepted rules, including arbitration.

The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, said, “By enabling investors of Hong Kong and Bahrain to enjoy corresponding protection of their investments in the host economies, the IPPA will enhance confidence of investors, expand investment flows and further strengthen the economic and trade ties between the two places.

“The Government has been actively seeking to expand Hong Kong’s global economic and trade networks with a view to assisting enterprises and investors in opening up markets. We are exploring the signing of IPPAs with Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Egypt and Peru, as well as exploring IPPAs or free trade agreements with emerging markets including potential partners in the Middle East and other regions along the Belt and Road,” he added.

The IPPA with Bahrain is the second of its kind signed by the current-term Government, following the IPPA signed with Türkiye. It is also the 24th investment agreement that Hong Kong has signed with a foreign economy.

The other foreign economies that have signed IPPAs with Hong Kong are the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia, Austria, the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

March 15, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Ecuadorian Citizen Sentenced to 18 Months for Alien Smuggling

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Edgar Placencia-Guaillas, age 22, and a citizen of Ecuador, was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in prison for alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. Acting United States Attorney Daniel Hanlon and Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert N. Garcia of the United States Border Patrol, Swanton Sector, made the announcement.

As part of his earlier guilty plea, Placencia-Guaillas, an illegal alien who entered the United States unlawfully in 2022, admitted that on August 25, 2024, he traveled to the northern border in Chateaugay, New York, where he smuggled two people – one from Mexico, the other from the Dominican Republic – into the United States for profit. Placencia-Guaillas admitted that he had smuggled other people across the border in the past.

Placencia-Guaillas will be taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for deportation proceedings following his release from prison.

Border Patrol investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Paulbeck prosecuted the case.

MIL Security OSI –

March 14, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Talks begin in South Korea to clinch ‘essential’ deal on plastics pollution

Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

25 November 2024 Climate and Environment

Talks began in Busan, South Korea, on Monday aiming to clinch a legally binding deal on plastics pollution, led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

The meeting follows two years of intergovernmental negotiations to develop a legally binding global instrument that covers land and the marine environment – a blink of an eye in diplomatic circles, where multilateral deals can be decades in the making.

“Our world is drowning in plastic pollution. Every year, we produce 460 million tonnes of plastic, much of which is quickly thrown away,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres via video message, as he urged delegates to push for a deal.

“By 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Microplastics in our bloodstreams are creating health problems we’re only just beginning to understand.”

Cautious optimism

Expressing hope for a potentially historic deal, UNEP Executive Director Inger Anderson insisted that it was “the moment of truth” to take action.

“Not a single person” on the planet wants plastic washing up on their shores or plastic particles circulating in their bodies, or their unborn babies, she maintained, adding that it was a sentiment shared by the G20 group of industrialized nations.

“Waste pickers, civil society groups are fully engaged; businesses are calling for global rules to guide this future; indigenous people are speaking out; scientists are calling out the science,” Ms. Anderson said.

“The finance sector is beginning to make the moves at the international level. There’s also been clear signals that a deal is essential, including the G20 declaration last week, which said that G20 leaders were determined to land this treaty by the end of the year.”

Broad support

More than 170 countries and over 600 observer organizations have registered for one week of talks in the large port city of Busan, where South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol urged delegates to agree on a path to zero plastic pollution, for the sake of future generations.

“The excessive reliance of humanity on the convenience of plastics has resulted in an exponential increase in plastic waste; the waste accumulated in our oceans and rivers now jeopardizes the lives of future generations,” he said, via video link.

“I sincerely hope that over the coming week all Member States will stand together in solidarity – with a sense of responsibility for future generations – to open a new historic chapter by finalizing a treaty on plastic pollution.”

Coming full circle

Officially, the talks are known as the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee discussions (INC-5) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The session follows four previous rounds which began exactly 1,000 days ago in Uruguay.

By contrast, “some plastics can take up to 1,000 years to decompose”, UNEP chief Ms. Anderson said, and even then, “they break into ever smaller particles that persist, pervade and pollute…Damaging ecosystem resilience, blocking drainage in cities and also very likely harming human health and growth in plastic pollution is emitting more greenhouse gases, pushing us further into climate disaster. That is why public and political pressure for action has risen into a crescendo.”

In his message to the Busan meeting, the UN Secretary-General underscored the need for a treaty that is “ambitious, credible and just”.

Any deal must address the life cycle of plastics – “tackling single-use and short-lived plastics, waste management and measures to phase out plastic and promote alternative materials”, Mr. Guterres insisted.

These should enable all countries to access technologies and improve land and marine environments, while also ensuring that the most vulnerable communities who rely on plastic collection are not left behind, such as waste pickers.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

March 9, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Security Council: Put young women at the heart of peace and security efforts

Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

3 December 2024 Women

Peace is in peril worldwide and avenues for diplomatic dialogue are shrinking, but young women peacebuilders are demonstrating that a better world is possible, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, was speaking during a debate on investing in the transformative power of intergenerational leadership on the women, peace and security agenda, where she urged ambassadors to “open doors for the next generation”.

“Investments in women, peace and security agenda are not an option; they are a necessity for preventing conflict and achieving sustainable and inclusive peace,” she said.

‘Bucking the status quo’

Ms. DiCarlo listed Malala Yousafzai, the girls’ education champion from Pakistan and youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate ever, climate activist Greta Thunberg from Sweden, and Ilwad Elman from Somalia who works to rehabilitate child soldiers and counter violent extremism, as examples of young women who are envisioning and demanding a world of justice and peace.

“These remarkable leaders remind us that transformation requires bucking the status quo,” she said.

In this regard, she pointed to the UN Secretary-General’s policy brief on A New Agenda for Peace which calls for dismantling entrenched patriarchal systems that perpetuate inequality and exclusion.

Reimagine power structures

“It underscores the urgent need to reimagine global power structures and place women and girls – especially young women – at the centre of our efforts to address the root causes of conflict and insecurity,” she said.

“If we do not break free from patriarchal norms, true peace and inclusive security will remain out of reach,” she warned.

Furthermore, the recently adopted Pact for the Future underlines the importance of ensuring that women’s leadership and participation are integrated into all aspects of conflict prevention and sustaining peace, she added.

Ms. DiCarlo highlighted three key areas in advancing intergenerational leadership: facilitating dialogues, fostering inclusive peace processes, and investing in young women’s leadership.

Foster dialogue and inclusion

She said intergenerational dialogues are critical opportunities for building trust and articulating shared aspirations.

She cited an example from Chad, where the UN Peacebuilding Fund supported local dialogue platforms that brought together youth associations with traditional authorities. This ultimately strengthened social cohesion and reduced intercommunal tensions and conflicts in the Nya Pendé and Barh Sara regions.

Ms. DiCarlo also stressed the need to advance inclusive, multi-track peace processes that prioritize diverse groups of women, including young women, and promote their leadership and rights at every level. At the same time, she also recognized “the diverse and changing mediation landscape today”.

UN Photo/Gregorio Cunha

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) hosts a workshop on key peace and security issues for Yei women and youth.

Promote peace from the bottom-up

She recalled that during the Council’s annual open debate on women, peace and security, the Secretary-General launched an initiative that invites mediators from a cross section of society to join the UN in taking concrete actions to ensure women’s participation in peace processes.

Moreover, she noted that the UN actively backs multi-track efforts that promote peace from the bottom up, emphasizing young women’s leadership.

She witnessed this recently in Colombia, where the UN Mission verifying the 2016 peace deal supports women and men from all backgrounds and ages, addressing stigmatization of ex-combatants in reintegration areas.

“Third, our investments must be aligned with our priorities. Significant and sustained resources are essential to support young women peacebuilders and ensure their work flourishes,” she said.

Building from the ground up

For example, through a Peacebuilding Fund initiative in Somalia, young men and women worked together in managing and restoring water canals across clan lines, overcoming historical grievances and mitigating inter-clan conflicts driven by resource scarcity.

Ms. DiCarlo said that as the 25^th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security approaches, along with the 30^th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, “we must open doors for the next generation.”

“Together, we must cultivate leadership from the ground up, placing young women and women’s rights at the heart of our efforts,” she concluded.

Appeal from Sudan

The Council also heard from Tahani Abbas, a human rights defender, legal representative, and peace advocate from Sudan, where rival military forces have been locked in a brutal war since April 2023.

She said women have been on the frontlines of conflict response, creating “networks of resistance” such as Emergency Response Rooms that provide medical services, daycare, communal kitchens and more.

She was adamant that supporting women peacebuilders before, during, and after crises pays peace dividends.

“When the war broke out in Sudan, we found that the women who had participated in de-escalation and dialogue processes at the local levels prior to the war had used their skills and capacities to mediate, negotiate, and manage tensions and conflicts in their communities during the war,” she said.

Ms. Abbas called for the Council’s ongoing support to women “who are fighting for peace and security every day”, saying “even though it may be logistically and politically difficult, the decisions made within the United Nations will have a direct impact on the lives of the Sudanese population and women peacebuilders around the world.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

March 9, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Mexican National Involved in Smuggling and Labor Trafficking Scheme Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Prison

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that PORFIRIA MARIBEL RAMOS SANCHEZ, 47, a citizen of Mexico last residing in Vernon, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 36 months of imprisonment for her involvement in a scheme to smuggle aliens into the U.S., harbor them at Hartford area residences, force them to work, and threaten to harm them in various ways if they failed to pay exorbitant fees, interest, and other living expenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning in September 2022, the FBI and Hartford Police interviewed several Mexican nationals who disclosed that they were smuggled from Mexico into the U.S. and transported to Hartford. The investigation revealed that victims typically arranged with Ramos’s mother, Maria Del Carmen Sanchez Potrero, and others in Connecticut and Mexico, to cross the border into the U.S. in exchange for a fee of between $15,000 and $20,000 that each would need to pay once they were in the U.S. In most cases, the victims were required to turn over a property deed as collateral before leaving Mexico. They were then smuggled across the border and transported to Hartford area residences, often at a substantial risk of bodily injury or death.

After the victims arrived in Connecticut, they were told that they would have to pay approximately $30,000, with interest, and that they would have to pay Sanchez, Ramos, and their co-coconspirators for rent, food, gas, and utilities. The co-conspirators created false documents for the victims, including Permanent Residence cards and Social Security cards, and helped the victims find employment in the Hartford area. In addition to their own jobs, some victims were required to perform housework and yardwork without compensation and without having their debt reduced.

Victims were rarely provided with an accounting of their debt. If victims failed to make regular payments, or in amounts that the co-conspirators expected, they were sometimes threatened, including with threats to harm family members in Mexico, to take property in Mexico that had been secured as collateral, to reveal victims’ immigration status to U.S. authorities, and to raise their interest payments.

To date, investigators have identified 19 victims of this scheme. Multiple victims were minors, and at least two were smuggled into the U.S. unaccompanied by a relative or legal guardian.

Ramos has been detained since her arrest on October 5, 2023. On October 4, 2024, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to encourage and induce, bring in, transport, and harbor aliens.

Judge Dooley ordered Ramos to pay restitution of $574,608. As a condition of her plea agreement, in partial satisfaction or her restitution obligation, Ramos and her husband agreed to sell a house they owned at 74 Burnside Avenue in East Hartford, which was used to facilitate this criminal offense. However, in violation of her plea agreement, Ramos did not inform the government of the pending sale and sold the house in November 2024 to a relative of her husband for $75,000 less than its appraised value.

Ramos faces immigration proceedings when she completes her prison term.

Sanchez pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

This investigation has been conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hartford Police Department, U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angel Krull and Shan Patel.

MIL Security OSI –

March 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed More than 100 Border-Related Cases This Week
Source: Office of United States Attorneys

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed more than 100 border-related cases this week, including charges of transportation of illegal aliens, reentering the U.S. after deportation, deported alien found in the United States, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A representative sample of border-related arrests this week, includes:
- Mexican nationals Isay Edel Ramos-Chaparro and Omar Alvarado-Ignacio were arrested March 4, 2025, by El Centro-based U.S. Border Patrol agents and charged with crimes relating to their alleged attempt to cross illegally into the United States on motorcycles through a breach in the border fence in Mexicali. Both defendants had previously been deported after entering the United States illegally.
- On March 6, 2025, Jason Kristopher Lowe attempted to enter the United States from Mexico via the San Ysidro Port of Entry driving a BMW X5, bearing California plates. Lowe was arrested when two individuals, both of whom admitted to being citizens of China without lawful documents allowing them to enter the United States, were found inside a secret compartment in the undercarriage of the BMW.
- Fernando Medina Rodriguez, Gustavo Camacha Medina and Carlos Cardenas Medina – all drivers of separate tractor-trailers attempting to cross into the U.S. from Mexico at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry – were arrested on March 4, 2025, on drug importation charges. According to a federal complaint, all three were sent to secondary inspection around the same time, where Customs and Border Protection officials found hidden compartments containing a total of approximately 171 pounds of cocaine.
Federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –
March 8, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Governor Polis Celebrates International Women’s Day

Source: US State of Colorado

GLENDALE – Today, Governor Polis and WorldDenver celebrated International Women’s Day, and presented Maria Garcia Berry with the Individual Award for International Women’s Day.

“International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on the achievements of the remarkable women in Colorado and around the world. I am honored to recognize my friend Maria Garcia Berry, a woman who has been a driving force in our state, by expanding leadership opportunities and global connections for women in Colorado,” said Governor Polis.

Maria Garcia Berry, a founding partner of CRL Associates, has been a driving force in expanding leadership opportunities and global connections for women in Colorado. A Cuban-American immigrant, she has led efforts to support immigrants and refugees in Denver while holding key leadership roles with the Cuba Study Group, the Cuba Emprende Foundation, and the Biennial of the Americas, where she serves as Board Chair. Maria played a crucial role in bringing Denver to the global stage at the first Cities Summit of the Americas in 2023.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

March 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: International Women’s Day

Source: France-Diplomatie – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development

France launches its international strategy for a feminist foreign policy (March 7, 2025)

On this International Women’s Day, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot reaffirmed our priority focus on women’s rights by launching the first international strategy for a feminist foreign policy (2025-2030). Developed through a participatory process involving more than 200 national and international partners, this strategy sets a clear and ambitious course to place women’s rights and equality at the heart of our foreign policy and reaffirms its basic priorities: defending sexual and reproductive rights and health; support for feminist organizations; the education of girls; the fight against gender-based violence; women’s economic independence; and women’s participation in public life and decision making.

On March 7, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs announced several important measures to step up our efforts in this area.

To begin with, our diplomatic and consular network is accelerating its efforts to implement its feminist foreign policy on the ground and protect citizens who suffer violence abroad. In 2025, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs will sign an agreement with SaveYou, a platform that offers support for French families that have experienced violence at the hands of spouses or relatives abroad. A guide that provides information to consular services on welcoming and supporting these victims will also be made available to French representatives elected by citizens living abroad.

The Minister also joined the coalition supporting the She Decides initiative, which works to ensure that women are free to make decisions about their own bodies, lives and future. Our feminist foreign policy is part of France’s commitment to strong and effective multilateralism, which raises up the voices of women and girls in the UN and in all forums. Women must be able to play an essential role in negotiation and mediation processes.

France reiterated its commitment to support women’s rights via feminist organizations. Since 2020, we have directly supported more than 1,400 feminist organizations in 73 countries through the Support Fund for Feminist Organizations (FSOF).

While maintaining our commitment to women’s rights in the face of such contemporary challenges as climate change, global health and food security, France is also working in the digital field and on artificial intelligence. In 2024, we joined with the Netherlands to present the first UN resolution on online violence against women and girls; it was adopted. At the AI Action Summit, we originated the first statement on the consideration of gender equality in the development of AI, which was adopted by 12 countries. This effort also translates into work on the ground: the Laboratory for Women’s Rights Online, launched in 2024, supported five innovative projects on different continents aimed at assisting women who have suffered violence in the digital environment.

France actively promotes a response to gender issues in armed conflicts and peacekeeping. On March 7, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot announced France’s first contribution to the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, the largest UN fund devoted to supporting women and civil society organizations in crisis situations.

The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs also actively implements a feminist foreign policy with regard to professional equality between male and female employees. It continues to combat gender stereotypes and to fight all forms of discrimination, sexist and sexual violence, and harassment, including in a private context. It is working to improve support for parents and to better support employee health. The “J’attends un enfant” (“I am Expecting a Child”) booklet, which informs employees of their rights as parents, was published this month.

France is fully committed to this effort and in 2025 it will host its first Feminist Foreign Policy Summit, following the one held in Mexico last year.

MIL OSI Europe News –

March 8, 2025

MIL-OSI Security: Multiple Members of Transnational Criminal Organization ‘18th Street’ Sentenced for Roles in Various Violent Crimes Committed During Their Gang Involvement

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

WASHINGTON – Elvis Mauricio Maradiaga, 23, of Bladensburg, Maryland, was sentenced today to 108 months in federal prison for his participation in a violent, transnational criminal enterprise known as the 18th Street gang. Maradiaga was one of the last of 11 other defendants sentenced for crimes related to their involvement in 18th Street. His sentencing marks the conclusion of a sprawling, multi-year investigation into the gang’s criminal activities throughout DMV-area and abroad.

In sum, in February 2023, a grand jury returned an indictment against 12 of the 18^th Street members, charging them with participating in a years’ long racketeering conspiracy as well as with murders, attempted murders, and kidnapping. Of the 12 charged defendants, six proceeded to trial in April and May 2024 before the Honorable Trevor N. McFadden, were found guilty by a jury of nearly every offense with which they were charged, and were each sentenced to life imprisonment. Five defendants pleaded guilty and received sentences ranging from 96 to 480 months in prison.

The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, ICE Deputy Director Russ Hott of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

The 18th Street organization engages in a variety of criminal activities abroad and throughout the United States, including in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. Its activities include acts of murder, kidnapping, assault, robbery, witness intimidation, and firearms and narcotics trafficking to fuel the gang’s violent operations. The gang is active throughout Central and South America, particularly in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. It uses violence to maintain control over specific geographical areas.

“The sentencing of these violent criminals should send a clear message: transnational gangs like 18th Street have no place in our communities and we will not tolerate the brutality, fear, and lawlessness they spread,” said U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. “Through relentless cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement, we are dismantling these dangerous organizations piece by piece. Our commitment to public safety is unwavering, and we will continue to pursue and prosecute those who threaten our neighborhoods with violence and crime.”

According to court documents, members of 18th Street are required to commit acts of violence to further the interests of the gang and to maintain or increase their status within it. These violent acts are often directed against rival gang members, 18th Street members who violate gang rules or otherwise disrespect the gang, and persons who are suspected of cooperating with law enforcement. Additionally, 18th Street members sell and transport narcotics, weapons, and other contraband to generate money to support the gang and its criminal activities. Some of the proceeds of this criminal activity are wired to members of the gang’s leadership in other countries. 18th Street members control geographical areas and use violence to maintain their control.

18th Street – which was founded in Los Angeles and now includes up to 50,000 members – is organized into “cliques,” or smaller groups operating within specific cities or regions under the umbrella rules of 18th Street. Such cliques include the Tiny Locos Sureños (TLS), Los Crazy Brothers (LCB), and the Revolucionarios.

This investigation began in 2019 and covered the full breadth of criminal activity 18th Street was involved in within the greater D.C. metropolitan area. Ultimately, numerous 18th Street gang members were arrested as part of the investigation and either pled guilty or were found guilty at trial in May 2024. Regarding these sentences in particular, the charges focused on the shooting and attempted murder of C.H. on May 21, 2021, within the 5700 block of 14th Street NW, Washington, DC; the kidnapping and execution of Carlos Ramos Martinez on July 14, 2021, in a wooded area off the side of I-95 in Elkton, MD; and the murder of Danis Alcides Salgado Mata on December 19, 2021, in Rockville, MD as well as the attempted murders of his mother and stepfather. The sentences also included defendants who pled guilty to participating in a racketeer influenced and corrupt organization (RICO) related to their involvement and knowledge of kidnappings, robberies, weapons trafficking, and narcotic trafficking committed at the behest of the gang.

A final defendant, Milton Benjamin Guevara-Villatoro, has been extradited from El Salvador and is pending trial on two indictments related to his alleged involvement in a shooting at the Petworth Metro Station on September 17, 2019, and the murder of Carlos Ramos Martinez.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The case was investigated by the Northern Virginia Safe Streets Task Force, the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Enforcement Removal Operations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and the Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department. The District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, and the Montgomery County, Maryland State’s Attorney’s Office provided valuable assistance.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack F. Korba, Will Hart, and Sitara Witanachchi and former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gilead Light and Christopher Marin.

18th STREET DEFENDANTS

NAME	AGE	AKA	CLIQUE	CHARGES/SENTENCES
Jose Santos Alvarado-Velasquez, Takoma Park, MD	24	“Vago”	Los Crazy Brothers	Sentenced November 21, 2024, to life in prison for conspiracy to participate in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO-Conspiracy), Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR)- Murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death; and sentenced to 120 months for discharge of a firearm – crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm – illegal alien
Gerlin Neptali Diaz-Lopez Washington, D.C.	23	“Sicario”	Tiny Locos Sureños	Sentenced October 11, 2024, to life in prison Imprisonment for RICO-conspiracy, VICAR-Murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death; and sentenced to 120 months for discharge of a firearm – crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm – illegal alien
Jose Anselmo Ibarra-Cristales Beltsville, MD	24	“Chemo”	Los Crazy Brothers	Sentenced September 27, 2024, to 20 years in prison for RICO-conspiracy; and life in prison for VICAR-murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death
Carlos Rolando Martinez-Mora Hyattsville, MD	25	“Crosty”	Los Crazy Brothers	Sentenced November 14, 2024, to two consecutive life sentences for RICO-conspiracy, VICAR-murder x2, conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, and kidnapping resulting in death
Bradley Andree Martinez-Mora Hyattsville, MD	22	“Joker”	Los Crazy Brothers	Sentenced December 23, 2024, to 20 years in prison for RICO-conspiracy; and a life sentence for conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death
Jexon Madrid-Flores Boston, MA	23	“Spooky”	Tiny Locos Sureños	Sentenced October 11, 2024, to 20 years in prison for RICO-conspiracy; and life in prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death; also sentenced to 20 years for VICAR-assault with a dangerous weapon (ADW); 204 months for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence; 120 months for VICAR-attempted murder; and 80 months for aggravated assault while armed
Bryan Delfino Vasquez-Izara Washington, DC	22	“Smokey”	Tiny Locos Sureños	Sentenced October 4, 2024, to 96 months for RICO-conspiracy; and 12 months for carrying a pistol without a license
Elvis Mauricio Maradiaga Bladensburg, MD	23	“Smokey”	Los Crazy Brothers	Sentenced March 7, 2024, to 108 months for RICO-Conspiracy
Carlos Giovani Linares Boteo Hyattsville, MD	28	“Tiny”	Los Crazy Brothers	Sentenced August 1, 2024, to 216 months imprisonment for RICO-conspiracy
Cesar De la O Rodriguez Washington, DC	21	“Lunatico”	Tiny Locos Sureños	Sentenced January 21, 2025, to 40 years in prison for RICO-conspiracy; and 10 years for conspiracy to commit VICAR-murder
Emerson Aguirre-Morales[1] Washington, DC	21	“Mota”	Tiny Locos Sureños	Sentenced February 3, 2025, to 102 months for VICAR-attempted murder

[1] Aguirre-Morales was initially charged by Information in 22-cr-218 as a juvenile. As part of his guilty plea, he agreed to be charged as an adult.

###

23cr43

22cr190

22cr218

[1] Aguirre-Morales was initially charged by Information in 22-cr-218 as a juvenile. As part of his guilty plea, he agreed to be charged as an adult.

MIL Security OSI –

March 8, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Luján, Heinrich Join Colleagues in Urging USDA to Reinstate Hispanic-Serving Institution Fellowship Program That Has Served New Mexico Students and Educational Institutions

US Senate News:

Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján
Senators to USDA: “The Department’s decision to suspend EKDLG Fellowship Program threatens the U.S. agricultural workforce pipeline and the opportunities this program provides educators and students nationwide”
NMSU Was Part of 2024 Fellowship Program That Supported our Nation’s Agricultural Workforce
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and 9 of their colleagues in calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately reinstate its HSI E. Kika De La Garza (EKDLG) Fellowship Program. The program, suspended by the Trump administration, supports the nation’s agricultural workforce while uplifting professionals and students of all backgrounds at HSIs, including non-Latino students. Last year, staff at NMSU was selected for the 2024 EKDLG Fellowship Program.
USDA established the nonpartisan EKDLG Fellowship Program in 1998, designing the program to strengthen educational partnerships between faculty, staff, and administrators from HSIs and USDA. These partnerships support professional development, workforce development, and exposure opportunities for Hispanic-Serving Institutions nationwide, offering critical insight and understanding of the federal government.
“USDA’s partnership with HSIs and Hispanic Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACUs) plays a vital role in establishing a collaborative relationship and creating a nationwide network of educators working with USDA to help grow the next generation of the American agricultural workforce,” wrote the Senators.
“The Department’s decision to suspend EKDLG Fellowship Program threatens the U.S. agricultural workforce pipeline and the opportunities this program provides educators and students nationwide,” continued the Senators. “We urge you to immediately reinstate the E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship Program, similar to Department’s reinstatement of the 1890 National Scholars Program, and to collaborate with Congress to ensure its long-term stability.”
Programs like the USDA EKDLG Fellowship Program are built to help students reach their full potential and reinforce America’s agricultural workforce pipeline. The 2024 EKDLG Program included eight fellowships in Texas, six in Arizona, five in California, four in New York, two in Illinois, one in New Mexico, one in Colorado, one in New Jersey, one in Florida, one in Connecticut, and one in Washington.
Hispanic-Serving Institutions are not-for-profit institutions of higher learning with 25 percent or higher total undergraduate Hispanic or Latino full-time students. There are 600 HSIs in the United States that enroll over 5.2 million Hispanic students, two-thirds of all Hispanic undergraduates, and 32.2 percent of total Pell Grant recipients — empowering and improving communities.
In addition to Senators Luján, Heinrich, Padilla, and Klobuchar, the letter is also signed by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
The letter is endorsed by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and UnidosUS.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
Dear Secretary Rollins,
We write to express our significant concerns about the suspension of the USDA Hispanic-Serving (HSI) E. Kika De La Garza (EKDLG) Fellowship Program and to ask that you immediately reinstate it.
The EKDLG Fellowship Program was established in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the program has had consistent support from every presidential administration since its establishment. The program strengthens educational partnerships between faculty, staff, and administrators from HSIs and USDA.
The EKDLG Fellowship Program is non-partisan and supports increasing the professional development, workforce development, and exposure opportunities for faculty, staff, and students nationwide. USDA’s partnership with HSIs and Hispanic Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACUs) plays a vital role in establishing a collaborative relationship and creating a nationwide network of educators working with USDA to help grow the next generation of the American agricultural workforce. These fellowships are open to faculty, staff, and administrators of all backgrounds that are employed at HSIs or Hispanic-Serving School Districts and students of all backgrounds are eligible to participate.
HSIs are economic engines and shape our nation’s agricultural workforce. In 2022, HSIs enrolled 5.2 million students, including 66% of all Hispanic undergraduate students and over 31% of all college students in non-profit postsecondary institutions in the country. Programs like the EKDLG Fellowship Program equip educators with the tools to help students reach their full potential and support the nation’s agricultural workforce pipeline. For example, the list of 2024 EKDLG participants shows the program’s nationwide impact:
1. University of Houston, Sugar Land, Texas
2. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico
3. The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
4. Arizona Western College, Yuma, Arizona
5. Coastal Bend College, Beeville, Texas
6. Adams State University, Alamosa, Colorado
7. California State University, Chico, Chico, California
8. Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey
9. Texas A&M University, Kingsville, Texas
10. Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona
11. Hartnell College, Salinas, California
12. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
13. City Colleges of Chicago, Harold Washington College, Chicago, Illinois
14. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
15. Maricopa Community Colleges, Tempe, Arizona
16. University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
17. Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, Illinois
18. Northern Arizona University, Yuma, Arizona
19. University of California, Santa Barbara, California
20. Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, California
21. University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas
22. CUNY New York City College of Technology, Brooklyn, New York
23. CUNY Hunter College, New York, New York
24. Florida International University, Miami, Florida
25. California State University, Fresno, California
26. Arizona State University, Mesa, Arizona
27. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
28. The University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas
29. Mt. Adams School District #209, White Swan, Washington
30. The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, New York, New York
31. John Bowne High School, Flushing, New York
The Department’s decision to suspend EKDLG Fellowship Program threatens the U.S. agricultural workforce pipeline and the opportunities this program provides educators and students nationwide.
We urge you to immediately reinstate the E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship Program, similar to Department’s reinstatement of the 1890 National Scholars Program, and to collaborate with Congress to ensure its long-term stability.
Sincerely,

MIL OSI USA News –

March 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Illegal aliens arrested for or convicted of violating immigration, firearms crimes

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced today new immigration charges or convictions in four cases in the District.

On Monday, task force agents arrested Sergio Diego-Sevilla, 35, and charged him with being an illegal reentrant into the United States. Diego-Sevilla is a Mexican national with no legal status in the United States. He has been apprehended in Arizona in the past and deported to Mexico.

According to court documents, on Jan. 23, investigators with the Licking County Sheriff’s Office received information from Customs and Border Patrol located in Southern Arizona that a Toyota Highlander with an Arizona license plate was allegedly involved in human smuggling.

Sheriff’s deputies stopped the vehicle in Licking County and discovered Adalberto Calixto Tolentino, 21, was transporting four individuals in the vehicle, including Diego-Sevilla. Investigators also discovered an envelope with $8,000 cash in the car. When interviewed by law enforcement, one passenger said he had paid $10,000 to be helped crossing the border of Mexico into the United States. He was picked up in the desert in Arizona and eventually transported by Tolentino. These related cases are being prosecuted in Columbus.

On Tuesday, in Cincinnati, Edgar Palomares-Ventura, 38, pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States. Palomares-Ventura is a citizen of Mexico and had been previously deported from the United States in 2022 from Texas. In February 2025, agents discovered the defendant in West Chester.

Palomares-Ventura has previous convictions in the United States, including trafficking marijuana in Hamilton County, and federal convictions in Ohio and Kentucky for visa, permit and passport fraud, as well as aggravated identity theft.

On Wednesday, another defendant pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati to illegally reentering the United States. Brayan Castaneda-Juarez, 32, also admitted to illegally possessing a firearm. Illegal aliens are prohibited from possessing firearms. The defendant forfeited a 9mm pistol.

Castaneda-Juarez is a Mexican national with no legal status in the United States. He had been previously removed from the country from a Port of Entry in Texas.

In December, loss prevention employees at Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati stopped the defendant because he was attempting to shoplift. Fairfield police officers were dispatched to the scene and discovered the 9mm pistol in a bag that Castaneda-Juarez was carrying. He was later arrested by ICE officers.

Today, new charges and a plea document were filed in the case against Ismael Rodriguez-Mojica, 47, a national of El Salvador with no legal status in the United States. A bill of information charges Rodriguez-Mojica with illegally reentering the United States. The defendant had been deported from the United States three times before, including once after being booked into the Franklin County Jail. In his current case, ICE officers encountered Rodriguez-Mojica in Columbus in January 2025. He was originally charged by a criminal complaint.

Illegally reentering the United States is a federal crime punishable by up to two years in prison. If the offender has a prior felony conviction (or multiple prior misdemeanor convictions of certain types), the penalty is increased to 10 years in prison, and if the offender has been previously convicted of an aggravated felony, the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.

Kelly A. Norris, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jared Murphey, acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit; and Robert Lynch, Field Office Director, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit Field Office; announced the charges. Criminal Chief Christy L. Muncy, Deputy Criminal Chief Brian J. Martinez, and Assistant United States Attorneys Tyler J. Aagard and Matthew C. Singer are representing the United States in these cases.

Charging documents merely contain allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

These cases are being prosecuted as part of the Southern District of Ohio Immigration Enforcement Task Force, which dedicates agents, attorneys and other staff to investigating and prosecuting immigration violations.

# # #

MIL Security OSI –

March 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Strengthening ties across the ocean: Latin American ministers visit Eurojust

Source: Eurojust

The visit to the Eurojust headquarters in The Hague is part of a mission from the Latin American Internal Security Committee to the European Union institutions (CLASI). The committee brings together policymakers from 12 Latin American countries to fight serious organised crime together. The committee regularly meets with EU ministers to enhance law enforcement cooperation and tackle internal security threats posed by global organised criminal networks.

The representatives, including ministers from Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama and Peru, were welcomed by Eurojust Vice-President, José de la Mata, who presented the unique position Eurojust has as a key player in global criminal justice cooperation. The Agency provides hands-on support to prosecutors in Europe and beyond during their cross-border investigations. Eurojust Vice-President, José de la Mata, commented: We are honoured to welcome the CLASI ministerial delegation, recognising the critical role Latin America plays in the fight against organised crime. A key focus of our cooperation is tackling drug trafficking, one of the most lucrative criminal activities that causes immense harm to societies in both Europe and Latin America. To address this challenge, our response must be effective and collaborative. This visit marks a key step towards even stronger cooperation in the future.

To fight the increasing threat of criminal activities globally, Eurojust has stepped up its cooperation with Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Peru. In 2024, the Agency signed working arrangements with the six countries to make strategic cooperation between these authorities and Eurojust more effective. The working arrangements strengthen cooperation in crime areas that affect both the EU and Latin American countries, such as drug and arms trafficking, money laundering and cybercrime.

The visit of the ministers was organised by the international cooperation programme, EL PacCto, the EU programme aimed to strengthen EU and Latin American partnership in the field of justice and security.

MIL Security OSI –

March 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Working group on MSMEs focuses on good regulatory practices and informal economy

Source: WTO

Headline: Working group on MSMEs focuses on good regulatory practices and informal economy

Good regulatory practices and the informal economy
The United Kingdom provided an overview of its Better Regulation Framework (BRF), launched in September 2023, which aims to manage the flow of regulation and assess its impact on business. The UK outlined its approach to regulatory impact assessment and stakeholder consultation to ensure MSMEs’ input is included in policy development and review to maintain regulatory effectiveness.
Participants exchanged views on the involvement of MSMEs in trade regulation and legislative processes, the communication of regulatory changes, and whether impact studies have been conducted to assess the effects of new regulations on MSMEs. Discussions also covered the inclusion of good regulatory practices in regional trade agreements, particularly in relation to MSMEs and inclusive trade.
As an outcome of the discussions, the Group agreed to develop a compendium on good regulatory practices for MSMEs.
The session also featured presentations from the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Trade Centre (ITC), the World Bank and Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas (SEBRAE, Brazil) on business informality, focusing on challenges faced by MSMEs in transitioning from the informal to the formal economy. Presentations also covered how informal trade takes place in practice in some regions. The discussion, initiated by a proposal from Mexico, highlighted key barriers to formalization and the role of legal frameworks and international cooperation in addressing these challenges.
Global SME Ministerial Conference
H.E. Dr. Mzukisi Qobo, Ambassador of South Africa, briefed the Group on the upcoming Global SME Ministerial Conference, which will take place in Durban, South Africa, from 22 to 24 July. He highlighted that the conference will provide opportunities to MSMEs to engage with investors, showcase success stories and learn from small businesses that have successfully entered global value chains.
Ms Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director of International Trade Centre, stated that the conference aims to bring together 47 dedicated ministers on SMEs to exchange best practices and discuss key emerging issues that affect small businesses.
Success stories
In line with the Group’s efforts to strengthen private sector engagement, the meeting featured a presentation from Fairafric, a Ghanaian-German chocolate producer. The company shared insights on overcoming supply chain challenges in West Africa and at a global scale by prioritizing local value addition in Ghanaian communities and investing in capacity building and finding creative solutions. Fairafric operates the first solar-powered organic chocolate factory and utilizes biodegradable packaging, showcasing sustainability in its business model.
Updates
The World Customs Organisation provided an update on the joint report on the integration of MSMEs into Authorized Economic Operator Programmes. The joint report builds on the compendium on the topic and incorporates findings from a 2024 survey. The report is jointly prepared by the WCO, the WTO and the International Chamber of Commerce.
Brunei Darussalam, Paraguay and Ukraine shared updates on the implementation of the December 2020 MSME package of recommendations. They highlighted how their latest trade policy reviews have incorporated information on measures taken to integrate their micro small and medium-sized enterprises into global trade.
The Coordinator, Ambassador Matthew Wilson of Barbados, drew members’ attention to the 2025 Small Business Champions competition. The title of this year’s competition is “Completing the Loop: Helping small businesses contribute to the circular economy”. The competition was launched on 28 January and is open for applications until 28 March.
Preparations for MC14
The Group exchanged views on advancing its work in preparation for the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in March 2026. The Coordinator suggested drawing lessons from past thematic discussions. Other ideas included the development of a handbook based on private sector engagements organized by the Group. Members were encouraged to submit concrete proposals reflecting topics discussed in Group meetings. The Coordinator will consult further with members to determine the best way forward.

Share

MIL OSI Economics –

March 8, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: WTO Chairs Programme event in Mexico stresses importance of advancing inclusive trade

Source: WTO

Headline: WTO Chairs Programme event in Mexico stresses importance of advancing inclusive trade

WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang delivered opening remarks via video link . He reaffirmed the WTO’s commitment to advancing inclusive trade and praised the active role of the Latin American and Caribbean Network, particularly those from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru, in helping to achieve this goal at this workshop. “The Latin American and Caribbean Network of the WTO Chairs Programme has once again brought us together through their work on trade and inclusivity — and their efforts on this topic have boosted its visibility,” he said. His full remarks are available here.
France’s Permanent Representative to the WTO, Ambassador Emmanuelle Ivanov-Durand, also expressed her support for strengthening inclusive trade, stating: “This workshop looks at each of the vulnerabilities related to gender, disability or belonging to a minority community and sees how trade policy can restore equal opportunities to start to ensure that these groups can actively participate in the productive and export activities of their countries.”
Director-General Cynthia Zimmermann of the Austrian Ministry for Labour and Economic Affairs said: “Austria is proud to play a role in strengthening academic capacity and creating opportunities for trade that uplift all members of society. This is our investment dedicated to maintaining and enhancing trade expertise in regions where it is particularly relevant. Together, I am confident that we will influence how ‘inclusive trade’ is perceived, discussed, and negotiated in both academic and policy-making corridors.”
The workshop explored various aspects of inclusive trade, including conceptualizing inclusive trade policies for indigenous communities, trade law related to disability, addressing the needs of least developed countries (LDCs), and trade policies for youth and other marginalized groups. Participants also examined the intersection of these aspects, and are preparing a joint publication on the topic. Their work will consolidate diverse perspectives and share experience from different regions.
Deputy Director-General Zhang also commended the Latin American and Caribbean Network for championing work on trade and gender, with several workshops in the region yielding prominent outcomes. Four members from the Chairs Programme institutions in Barbados, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico are currently part of the WTO Gender Research Hub.
On the sidelines of the workshop, Dr. Amrita Bahri, Associate Professor of International Trade Law at ITAM and Co-Chair of the WTO Chairs Programme in Mexico, launched her latest publication titled “Trade Agreements and Women: Transcending Barriers.” The book offers guidance for policymakers on how to incorporate gender considerations into trade negotiations.
For more information on the work of the Chairs, please visit the WTO Chairs Programme e-Platform.

Share

MIL OSI Economics –

March 8, 2025

Category: Latin America

Joint statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Charlevoix

Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security

Regional peace and stability in the Middle East

Cooperation to increase security and resilience across the Indo-Pacific

Building stability and resilience in Haiti and Venezuela

Supporting lasting peace in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Strengthening sanctions and countering hybrid warfare and sabotage

Share this page

Updates to this page

Legacy of Vietnam

Controlling the message

Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security

Regional peace and stability in the Middle East

Cooperation to increase security and resilience across the Indo-Pacific

Building stability and resilience in Haiti and Venezuela

Supporting lasting peace in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Strengthening sanctions and countering hybrid warfare and sabotage

Cautious optimism

Broad support

Coming full circle

‘Bucking the status quo’

Reimagine power structures

Foster dialogue and inclusion

Promote peace from the bottom-up

Building from the ground up

Appeal from Sudan