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Category: Latin America

  • MIL-OSI USA: After GOP Cuts Threaten Rural Healthcare, Luján and Heinrich Demand Transparency on Administration’s Inadequate Rural Health Slush Fund and Backroom Deals

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), joined Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with 12 of their Democratic colleagues, to demand accountability from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on how the rural health slush fund will be distributed to states and what guidance will be considered in this decision:

    In a letter to Mehmet Oz, the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Senators demanded clarity on how the rural health slush fund will be distributed across the country. Earlier this month, Senate Republicans passed their “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” which delivered devastating cuts to the U.S. health care system – slashing funding by over $1 trillion dollars, the largest cut to healthcare in history. To try and cover up the damage of these cuts, they included a $50 billion rural health slush fund. However, this temporary fund only accounts for 5 percent of the cuts, which will have devastating, irreversible impacts. Perhaps even more alarming is the potentially blatant political distribution of this fund, underscoring the importance of accountability as to how CMS plans to award this money to states.

    “We are alarmed by reports suggesting these taxpayer funds are already promised to Republican members of Congress in exchange for their votes in support of the Big, Ugly Betrayal. In addition, the vague legislative language creating this fund will seemingly function as your personal fund to be distributed according to your political whims. As states, patients, hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers brace for devastating cuts, we urge you to provide straightforward, detailed answers on how you plan to administer these funds,” the Senators wrote. “Republicans in Congress hastily developed the rural health slush fund to buy their members’ votes and give their caucus political cover for voting for the Big, Ugly Betrayal. Several Members of Congress have already touted your promises about the funding their states and districts will receive from the rural health slush fund.”

    Moreover, there are many questions about how the funds will be distributed. Shortly after the passage of the “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” Republican Senators took to “X” (formerly known as Twitter) to celebrate specific money for their states to support rural hospitals. Senator Britt (R-AL) tweeted: “the Senate just amended the Big Beautiful Bill to invest over $500M in Alabama’s rural hospitals.” Senator Husted (R-OH) said: “I’m proud to have secured $1.3 billion in funding for rural hospitals across Ohio—because every Ohioan deserves access to quality care close to home.” Senator Cassidy (R-LA) even noted an inequity, tweeting: “We secured a $50 billion fund to support rural hospitals. Louisiana is set to receive about 2% of that money, despite having only 1% of the U.S. population—a double share.” Since CMS has yet to release the criteria for how the funding will be awarded, there are questions about if this slush fund constituted a political pay-off.

    Additionally, the Senators noted the hasty and ill-conceived wording of the fund, which leaves it open to abuse, fraud, and re-appropriation.

    “Not only does the Republican rural health slush fund provide a meager amount of funding that fails to plug the $1 trillion hole caused by the Big, Ugly Betrayal, the fund is drafted in such a vague and open-ended manner that it is not even guaranteed to support rural health care. States are not required to use this funding to support rural hospitals or other rural health care providers. In fact, states can use funds to pay any health care providers, support technology-driven efforts like wearable devices, or fund unproven models of care that have nothing to do with rural health,” the Senators continued. “Further, there are no parameters outlined in the legislative language for how CMS should award, distribute, or rescind funding from the rural health slush fund, making it even more susceptible to abuse.”

    To combat this apparent political giveaway, the Senators demanded answers on several questions, including:

    • When will CMS provide guidance to states on criteria for an application?
    • Will they commit to clear defined criteria before distributing these funds, and an appeals process related to funding award decisions? 
    • Will CMS prioritize rural providers receiving these funding awards?
    • How will CMS define proper vs improper use of funds and accountability for how CMS will hold states accountable for improper use? 
    • What states/districts has the Trump administration already promised funding to?

    In addition to Luján, Heinrich, Schumer, and Wyden, other Senators who signed on to the letter include Senators Alsobrooks (D-MD), Blumenthal (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Gillibrand (D-NY), Kim (D-NJ), Markey (D-MA), Merkley (D-OR), Padilla (D-CA), Sanders (I-VT), Smith (D-MN), Van Hollen (D-MD), and Warren (D-MA).

    The full text of the letter can be seen here and below.

    Dear Administrator Oz:

    As you know, the Republican reconciliation bill cuts funding to the U.S. health care system by over $1 trillion, and will devastate communities nationwide, with disproportionate, negative impacts on health care access in rural America. To cover up the harms of these catastrophic cuts, Trump and Republicans stood up a temporary $50 billion rural health slush fund. This meager investment amounts to just five percent of the Big, Ugly Betrayal’s largest health care cuts in history. 

    We are alarmed by reports suggesting these taxpayer funds are already promised to Republican members of Congress in exchange for their votes in support of the Big, Ugly Betrayal. In addition, the vague legislative language creating this fund will seemingly function as your personal fund to be distributed according to your political whims. As states, patients, hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers brace for devastating cuts, we urge you to provide straightforward, detailed answers on how you plan to administer these funds.

    Republicans in Congress hastily developed the rural health slush fund to buy their members’ votes and give their caucus political cover for voting for the reconciliation bill. Several Members of Congress have already touted your promises about the funding their states and districts will receive from the rural health slush fund. Before the Big, Ugly Betrayal was even signed into law, Senator Husted celebrated the $1.3 billion he claims is promised to rural hospitals in Ohio,[1] and Senator Hawley said the bill will give $1 billion to rural hospitals in Missouri.[2]

    Other reports suggest you promised to send funding from the rural health slush fund to districts in Pennsylvania that are not even rural.[3] The Trump Administration’s explanation that this fund can and will be used for more than rural areas was a key fact that swayed Republicans to vote for the bill.[4] The rural health slush fund appears to be nothing more than a political parachute to pay off members of Congress for their unpopular votes.   

    Rural communities will suffer greatly because of the health care cuts enacted in the Republican reconciliation bill. One-third of all rural hospitals are already at risk of closing, and the bill will force over 330 rural hospitals to reduce service lines, convert to other types of hospitals with fewer services, or close altogether.[5] The Big, Ugly Betrayal makes no meaningful investments in rural hospitals, rural health centers, and other rural health care providers, which have some of the most fragile operating margins in the nation, and often are the largest employers and economic engines of their communities. 

    Not only does the Republican rural health slush fund provide a meager amount of funding that fails to plug the $1 trillion hole caused by the reconciliation bill, the fund is drafted in such a vague and open-ended manner that it is not even guaranteed to support rural health care. States are not required to use this funding to support rural hospitals or other rural health care providers. In fact, states can use funds to pay any health care providers, support technology-driven efforts like wearable devices, or fund unproven models of care that have nothing to do with rural health.

    Further, there are no parameters outlined in the legislative language for how CMS should award, distribute, or rescind funding from the rural health slush fund, making it even more susceptible to abuse. There is no clear definition of an appropriate state application for the rural health slush fund, CMS is not required to follow a clear formula for distribution of funds, and there are no guardrails on how CMS should claw back funding from states in cases of inappropriate use. Without more clarity, this rural health slush fund is vulnerable to the very abuse of taxpayer spending that Republicans purport to care about.

    To provide states, rural hospitals, and other health care providers clarity on the available use of funding from the rural health slush fund in advance of the December 31, 2025 deadline for CMS to approve or deny state applications, we request that you provide a staff-level briefing on the parameters of this fund as well as detailed, written responses to the following questions by August 15, 2025:

    1. When will CMS provide states with guidance on the components that should be included in an appropriate state application for funding from the fund? 
    1. Will CMS provide guidance to states on applications for use of funds that are required to be distributed equally among states with an approved application?
    2. Will CMS provide guidance to states on applications for use of funds that are not required to be distributed equally among states?
    3. What percentage of program funding will CMS allocate to rural health care providers?
    1. How will CMS ensure that states use this federal funding to benefit rural hospitals and other health care facilities, providers, and patients?
    2. What is the breakdown of funding that CMS anticipates allocating across the different categories of eligible providers?
    3. How will CMS make sure that states use the funds for purposes that support the financial viability of rural hospitals and other health care providers, including by providing funding to address high fixed costs and low volumes, improve health care workforce retention and recruitment in rural areas, and replace aging infrastructure?  
    1. The Big, Ugly Betrayal outlines several metrics that CMS may consider when distributing funding to states. How will CMS apply these metrics—the number of people who live in rural communities, the number of rural health facilities in a state, and the number of Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) in a state—when distributing funding to states?
    2. Will CMS commit to make the formula for awarding and distributing funds to states public before making any commitments to states and before formally distributing funding? 
    3. Will CMS commit to creating a public website outlining state applicants for funding, the funding formula and criteria for distributing funds, and approved state applications? 
    4. How will CMS define and determine improper uses of funding? How will CMS monitor funds to ensure appropriate spending and use?
    5. Will CMS commit to establishing an appeals process for states to provide an opportunity to contest decisions made on award, distribution and/or clawback of funding?  
    6. Given the ongoing hiring freeze at CMS, it appears that the agency cannot hire more people to distribute this funding. How will CMS use the $200 million in implementation funding tied to the rural health slush fund? 
    1. Will CMS hire a third party to administer this fund?
    2. If yes, has CMS already committed to a hire a specific third party to administer this fund and, if so, which vendor?
    3. What other states or districts have Trump Administration officials already promised funding from the rural health slush fund to? Which states and districts have received this promised funding?

    While this taxpayer-supported rural health slush fund is wholly insufficient to plug the massive hole created by the Big, Ugly Betrayal including the 15 million people expected to lose insurance coverage, it is critical that CMS move with urgency to provide clarity to rural communities, states, hospitals, and other health care providers about the fund. We look forward to your prompt response.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Update 16: Alberta wildfire update (July 25, 3 p.m.)

    Source: Government of Canada regional news (2)

    MIL OSI Canada News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Brazilian National Indicted for Selling Firearms

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    BOSTON – A Brazilian national unlawfully living in the Clinton and Framingham areas has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for trafficking firearms.

    Patrick Rodrigues DeOliveira, 25, was indicted on one count of dealing firearms without a license and one count of conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license. He will be arraigned in federal court in Boston on July 30, 2025. Rodrigues DeOliveira had previously been charged by criminal complaint Sept. 18, 2024.

    According to the charging documents, between August and September 2024, Rodrigues DeOliveira conspired to obtain firearms in South Carolina and sell them in Massachusetts. Specifically, in August 2024, Rodrigues DeOliveira allegedly traveled with others to South Carolina to obtain firearms. Additionally, it is alleged that Rodrigues DeOliveira sold a shotgun and a pistol outside of a motel in Framingham on Sept. 10, 2024 for $3,500.  

    The charges of conspiracy and engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license each provide for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Bryan DiGirolamo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Patricia H. Hyde, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Framingham Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Reynolds of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

    The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News in Brief: USNS Comfort Arrives in Limón, Costa Rica for CP25

    Source: United States Navy

    LIMÓN, Costa Rica – The Mercy-class hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrived in Limón, Costa Rica, July 24, 2025, for the fifth mission stop of Continuing Promise 2025 (CP25). This visit marks the sixth CP mission stop to Costa Rica since its inception in 2007, and the third visit aboard Comfort in support of CP.

    MIL Security OSI –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE Buffalo arrests Salvadoran national, convicted child predator

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Buffalo arrested Salvadoran national Jacobo Argueta Fuentes pursuant to a warrant of deportation upon his release from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision July 23 in Ossining.

    This 33-year-old illegal alien and child sexual predator has been convicted of seven counts of rape; two counts of using a child in a sexual performance; four counts of sexual abuse; two counts of promoting prostitution; criminal sex act and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

    “This criminal alien is a vile human who depravedly victimized and sexually exploited innocent children in the state of New York,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Buffalo Deputy Field Office Director Joseph Freden. “ICE will not tolerate those who engage in this despicable and horrific behavior against children. We will pursue these loathsome criminals and seek their removal from the United States with the utmost urgency.”

    Argueta illegally entered the U.S. at an unknown date and location without inspection or admission by an immigration official. On March 1, 2019, immigration officers encountered Argueta at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County, where he admitted he entered the U.S. by illegally crossing the international U.S.-Mexico land border around 2011. The New York State county court convicted Argueta Jan. 9, 2020, and sentenced him to six years in prison.   

    ICE lodged an immigration detainer with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision May 16, 2023, against Argueta’s release from custody. An immigration judge ordered him removed from the U.S. Dec. 17, 2024. He is in ICE custody pending execution of that order.

    Learn more about ERO Buffalo’s mission to preserve public safety on X at @EROBuffalo.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Country heat policy review: Argentina

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Argentina has adopted several governance structures to address the impacts of extreme heat, focusing on integrating efforts into broader climate adaptation and disaster management frameworks.

    The National Weather Service (SMN) first introduced an early warning system for extreme heat in Buenos Aires in 2009, which has now expanded to cover 71 meteorological stations for country-wide alerts issued year-round due to changing climate patterns. These alerts are disseminated through various channels, including email systems and media partnerships, ensuring broad coverage across regions.

    The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with SMN, leads public health campaigns and has developed a sentinel surveillance system to monitor heat-related morbidity, tracking the health impacts of extreme temperatures across provinces. Argentina also involves provincial and local governments in implementing heat action plans and managing hospital responses during heatwave alerts, with emergency services playing a critical role in the outreach and protection of vulnerable populations.

    Early warning systems are further integrated into workplace regulations, adapting work hours and hydration protocols during extreme heat events, particularly in sectors like construction and agriculture, where workers are at higher risk. While not formalized, coordination with the energy and agricultural sectors helps manage the impacts of blackouts and other heat-related disruptions.

    Public-private partnerships play an increasing role in Argentina’s heat resilience efforts, including collaborations with organizations like the Argentine Red Cross and professional medical associations to improve emergency care and healthcare system capacity.

    Partnerships are also emerging in urban planning and energy sectors, including projects to develop green spaces and cool roofs to mitigate the urban heat island effect in low-income areas, such as the Cool Roofs Initiative, which targets temperature reduction in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

    An important actor in these efforts is the Centre for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC), an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to policy innovation. Through its “Cities” Programme, CIPPEC conducted dialogues on urban heat resilience to support climate adaptation at the municipal level and was instrumental in presenting a forthcoming project with Wellcome Trust, which aims to enhance Argentina’s heat resilience framework through strengthened municipal engagement.

    Argentina’s key achievements include expanding the early warning system to cover the entire population, developing the sentinel surveillance project to improve data on heat-related health impacts, and leveraging international funding for research.

    Additionally, Argentina’s public-private partnerships have enhanced its ability to respond to heat risks, and collaborations with international organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Bank, continue to strengthen the country’s capacity to manage extreme heat effectively. Argentina has also begun discussions around integrating heat resilience measures into long-term urban development plans, aiming to create a sustainable framework for heat adaptation in the years to come.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Country heat policy review: Ecuador

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Ecuador has integrated measures to address extreme heat within its broader climate change adaptation and disaster risk management frameworks.

    Key national strategies include the National Climate Change Strategy (ENCC), which outlines resilience building across sectors like agriculture, health, and urban planning, and the National Plan for Good Living, which incorporates environmental sustainability and climate resilience. The National Adaptation Plan(NAP) focuses on adapting to climate change impacts, including extreme weather events like heat waves, by enhancing early warning systems and promoting public awareness.

    The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition (MAATE) leads climate policy development, while the National Risk and Emergency Management Service (SNGRE) manages disaster risk, including preparedness and response to extreme heat. Local initiatives, especially in cities like Quito and Guayaquil, include municipal climate action plans aimed at mitigating the urban heat island effect through green spaces and improved urban planning. Community-based adaptation programmes, supported by NGOs and international organizations, focus on local resilience through education and infrastructure improvements.

    Public private partnerships (PPPs) do play a role in Ecuador, though perhaps not as robust as in other case study nations. For example, in Guayaquil, the local government partners with construction companies and paint manufacturers to promote the installation of cool roofs in residential and commercial buildings. These roofs use reflective materials to reduce indoor temperatures and energy consumption.

    In addition, utility companies in Ecuador, in partnership with local governments and international organizations, promote energy efficiency programmes that help residents and businesses reduce their energy consumption during heatwaves. These programmes include incentives for installing energy-efficient cooling systems and improving building insulation. And, the Ministry of Agriculture works with agribusinesses and NGOs to promote sustainable farming practices that can withstand extreme heat. This includes the development and distribution of heat-resistant crop varieties and the implementation of water-efficient irrigation systems.

    Key measures include developing early warning systems, conducting public awareness campaigns, and incorporating green infrastructure in urban planning. The healthcare sector is being strengthened to handle heat-related illnesses through training and improved infrastructure. Ecuador collaborates with international organizations like the UNDP and the World Bank for technical assistance and funding and conducts research to better understand and mitigate the impacts of extreme heat.

    These integrated efforts aim to build resilience against the impacts of extreme heat in Ecuador.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Brazilian National Indicted for Selling Nearly a Dozen Firearms

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    BOSTON – A Brazilian national unlawfully residing in Marlborough was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for trafficking firearms.

    Guilherme Fernandes-Tavares, 31, was indicted on one count of dealing firearms without a license. He will be arraigned in federal court on July 30, 2025. Fernandes-Tavares was previously charged by criminal complaint on March 7, 2025.

    According to the charging documents, between December 2023 and May 2024, Fernandes-Tavares sold 11 firearms and ammunition across 10 different dates and offered others for sale. It is alleged that the firearms sold were pistols, some of which were privately manufactured firearms without serial numbers and one of which had an obliterated serial number. It is further alleged that one of the firearms was sold with a large capacity magazine that could hold 28 rounds of ammunition. In addition, a package intended for Fernandes-Tavares sent from Florida was intercepted and allegedly found to contain an additional firearm.

    The charge of engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Bryan DiGirolamo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Patricia H. Hyde, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Massachusetts State Police; and the Westborough Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Reynolds of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.

    The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: 170 companies from all over the world participated in all eight CIIEs

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    SHANGHAI, July 25 (Xinhua) — A total of 170 overseas companies and 27 institutions have joined the eight China International Import Expos (CIIE), the organizer of the expo announced at a press conference on Friday.

    According to the organizer, more than 50 countries and international organizations have confirmed their participation in the national comprehensive exhibition, which will be held within the framework of the upcoming 8th CIIE this year. Sweden, the UAE and other countries will act as honorary guest countries, and Kyrgyzstan will participate for the first time.

    This year, the volume of reserved exhibition space for the CIIE commercial exposition has exceeded 330,000 square meters, the organizer added.

    As CIIE Deputy Bureau Director Wu Zhengping noted, companies from Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Peru and other countries set a record in participation, which clearly demonstrates their confidence in the Chinese economy and enthusiasm for the CIIE.

    This year, CIIE will for the first time include a special zone for products from participating least developed countries. The expo will also expand and upgrade the existing African products zone and launch a “cross-border e-commerce product selection platform” to help overseas SMEs successfully enter the Chinese market. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Women and girls of African descent: Celebrating contributions, recognising challenges

    Source: APO

    This Friday marks the first observation of the International Day of Women and Girls of African Descent, following a declaration last year by the UN General Assembly.

    It recognises their immense contributions to society, but also acknowledges the challenges they face due to the double burden of racism and sexism.

    Although woman and girls of African descent embody strength, resilience and untapped potential, they remain among the most marginalised groups globally due to the intersection of racial, gender and socioeconomic discrimination.

    For example, they suffer alarming maternal mortality rates, according to the UN’s reproductive health agency, UNFPA. Oftentimes, cases are not related to income or education, but rather to racism and structural inequality stemming from a legacy of slavery and colonialism.

    “The good news is these things are not irreversible,” Patricia DaSilva, a senior programme adviser with the agency told UN News.

    “We can fix them. We have the solutions for many of the problems that we are facing in terms of maternal health for women and girls of African descent.”

    Data and solutions

    UNFPA advocates for stronger health systems and investment in midwifery programmes, culturally sensitive training for healthcare providers and improvements in data collection.

    The agency also invests in partnerships such as an initiative in the Pacific region of Colombia, home to large communities of people of African descent.

    “We have worked with the traditional midwives for them to integrate ancestral knowledge with modern health practices. This includes supporting accurate birth registration,” she said.

    “It sounds like a really simple thing, but when you are in a remote community without access to technology, without access to administrative offices, it becomes this really, really important issue.”

    Agents of change

    Ms. DaSilva upheld the theme for the International Day, which focuses on women and girls of African descent as leaders, not just beneficiaries.

    “I think it is important that the international community, the global community, understands that women and girls of African descent are not recipients of aid. They are leaders. They are innovators. They are agents of change,” she said.

    “We have an opportunity and even an obligation and a responsibility to support the efforts to resource their solutions, to elevate their voices and continue to really double our efforts to dismantle the structural barriers that continue to impede their progress.”

    The first celebration of the International Day coincides with the start of the Second International Decade for People of African Descent, which runs through 2034.

    The aim is to take concrete actions to confront the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, deliver reparatory justice, and secure the full human rights and freedoms of people from the African diaspora worldwide, building on the previous Decade, which ended last year.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.

    Media files

    .

    MIL OSI Africa –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Peters’ Statement on Administrator Zeldin’s Visit to Mexico

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District of California)

    Washington, DC –  Today, Representative Scott Peters (CA-50) released the following statement regarding Administrator Zeldin’s visit to Mexico City:

    “Today, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin held a news conference to announce that the United States and Mexico have signed a new memorandum of understanding that further commits Mexico to completing the projects agreed to in the Minute 328 Treaty. I very much appreciate the consistent, persistent focus that the EPA and the International Boundary and Water Commission continue to give the cross-border sewage crisis that plagues South San Diego County and our coast. In particular, I thank both agencies for their ongoing work with the design and engineering consulting team to find ways to shorten the timeline for progress. I’ll continue to work with anyone and everyone who wants to help us fix this mess.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: How to reduce the hidden environmental costs of supply chains

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Benjamin Selwyn, Professor of International Relations and International Development, Department of International Relations, University of Sussex

    Me dia/Shutterstock

    Global supply chains account for 70% of world trade. They are the arteries of global capitalism, moving goods and services across borders multiple times before reaching consumers.

    Since the early 1990s — as part of economic globalisation — these networks have enabled mass consumption by delivering cheap goods made using cheap labour and shipped globally at minimal cost. But this convenience comes at a catastrophic environmental price.

    The infrastructure that supports global supply chains — ports, highways, railways, data servers — has expanded dramatically, increasing the distance goods travel from production to consumption to disposal. These “supply chain miles” are a major contributor to ecological degradation.

    Worse still, managing these sprawling networks depends on energy-intensive digital technologies, produced and distributed through global supply chains. Electronic waste is soaring, reaching 62 million tonnes in 2022 and projected to increase to 82 million tonnes by 2030.

    Global supply chains have also driven the expansion of global markets. Argentina’s soy industry is a case in point: production surged from under 30,000 tonnes in 1970 to over 60 million tonnes in 2015, largely to feed the world’s growing livestock population.

    Consequently, much of the Argentinian pampas region – previously renowned for its rich biodiversity – has been decimated by soy monocultures.

    As an expert on global supply chains, I study what can be done to remedy this environmentally damaging situation. My research shows that this problem runs deeper than logistics.

    Global supply chains are a key part of the capitalist system that thrives on endless economic growth. Competitive capital accumulation (where profits are reinvested to generate more profits) drives this cycle.

    The global economy is forecast to more than double by 2050. This entails an accelerated use of resources and waste generation, in a world that has already transcended an increasing number of planetary boundaries or safe limits of consumption.



    Read more:
    Society needs a systems update to cope with climate crisis – my new film explains why

    While green technologies can hypothetically make supply chains more efficient, enhanced efficiency under capitalism often leads to more production, not less. Efficiency gains can reduce costs, make goods more profitable and stimulate greater investment. Energy-saving lightbulbs and digital tools, for example, have led to broader adoption and higher overall energy use, rather than a decrease in energy demand.

    Better tech alone won’t reduce environmental harm. We need a shift toward a low-energy economy that prioritises human and ecological wellbeing over profit.

    Public transport, healthcare, open-source software and urban food systems are examples of social provision that are often cheaper, more inclusive and more environmentally sustainable than their profit-orientated alternatives.

    Greening supply chains

    I’ve identified five practical steps that can reduce the environmental footprint of supply chains.

    First, accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewables is essential. The Danish Island of Samsø went from fossil fuel dependence to 100% renewable energy by the early 2000s in the space of a decade by constructing and deploying on- and off-shore wind-power and biomass boilers. Scaling up such transitions could power cleaner supply chain infrastructure.

    Second, the electrification of shipping means that battery-powered shipping is no longer science fiction. The Yara Birkeland, the world’s first fully electric cargo ship, recently launched with a 100-container capacity. One study suggests that 40% of container traffic could be electrified this decade using existing technology.

    Third, by designing for durability and repair, digital and electronic products can be built to last and easy to repair. The “right to repair” movement advocates for consumer rights to fix and repair products rather than having to buy new ones and is gaining traction.

    It is challenging corporate control over who can fix what. Six US states have passed laws giving consumers the right to repair their own devices. In the UK, a community initiative called the Restart Project is pushing for stronger regulations and promoting community-based repair initiatives and digital technology sharing.

    Designing products that last and can easily be repaired helps create a more circular and less wasteful economy.
    Natali Ximich/Shutterstock

    Fourth, urban transport needs a rethink. Road transport accounts for about 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That sector could be streamlined by shifting supply chains from manufacturing millions of cars to investing in efficient and affordable bus, train and bike networks. Car-free cities and expanded electric public transport networks could slash emissions from road transport. This is already happening in places like Ghent in Belgium, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Lamu Island in Kenya and Fes el Bali in Morocco.

    Fifth, supply chains can be shortened by shifting diets. Reducing meat consumption could shrink the global feed-livestock chain the vast complex of animal feed production (such as soy) underpinning the burgeoning world cattle population and its associated transport emissions.

    Countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have already seen declines in meat consumption over the past decade as plant-based diets have gained popularity. The UK is also experiencing a fall in per capita meat consumption

    These strategies are all tiny steps in the right direction. But, as the US author and environmentalist Bill McKibben says, “winning slowly is the same as losing”. We need much greater and more rapid transformations.

    So, while parts of supply chains can become more sustainable, any efforts will be counterproductive as long as governments and firms continue chasing endless economic growth. What’s needed now is the political and cultural will to prioritise people and the planet over profit.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Benjamin Selwyn 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. How to reduce the hidden environmental costs of supply chains – https://theconversation.com/how-to-reduce-the-hidden-environmental-costs-of-supply-chains-259595

    MIL OSI Analysis –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Cuban government scrambling to deal with outrage about country’s economic crisis

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Emily Morris, Research Associate, Institute of the Americas, UCL

    Cuba doesn’t have any beggars, according to the country’s minister of labour, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera. In a speech to the national assembly on July 15, she denied the existence of destitution in the communist country, claiming the problem was actually people “disguised as beggars”.

    Her words were greeted by public outcry on social media. They also prompted a swift rebuke from her peers and the president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who said leadership could not “act with condescension”. The next day, the Cuban government published an official note saying Feitó Cabrera had resigned.

    The political vulnerability of the Cuban government explains the urgent need to respond to missteps such as Feitó Cabrera’s. The country is enduring an acute economic crisis, which has seen living standards plummet and over 1 million Cubans leave the country since 2020.

    Cubans are leaving en masse:

    A severe economic crisis in Cuba has prompted a mass exodus from the island.
    Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas e Información

    The recession has severely strained the system of social protection that the government points to as one of its main achievements since taking power more than 60 years ago. Despite food subsidies and the efforts of welfare services, a growing number of people are now going hungry.

    Public confidence in the government has been severely weakened as a result, particularly among young Cubans. The risk of escalating popular protest is magnified by the proliferation of social media channels, emanating from inside and outside the country.

    These channels air the many complaints about daily frustrations in Cuba and highlight any failings or signs of hypocrisy on the part of officials. So when Feitó Cabrera’s speech went viral, it was met with inevitable public outrage.

    Díaz-Canel’s reaction can be seen as urgent damage limitation. But it is also consistent with his broader approach to managing the crisis facing his country. He has worked tirelessly to try and defuse anger through engagement, touring Cuba for local meetings to search for solutions.

    In his comments after Feitó Cabrera’s speech, he insisted that officials should acknowledge the scale of hardship being suffered, and “help, support and show solidarity” with the disadvantaged and most vulnerable.

    This need to reach out was all the more important given the grim tone of the national assembly meeting where Feitó Cabrera made her remarks. Ministers appeared one after the other to present dismal reports on the state of almost all sectors of the Cuban economy.

    The electricity system remains plagued by breakdowns caused by chronic underinvestment as well as difficulties in obtaining fuel and spare parts. The resulting daily power outages ensure that the sense of crisis is ever-present and frustrate all efforts to boost production.

    Doubting official data

    While full official national income data for 2024 has not yet been released, Cuba’s economy ministry estimates that real national income contracted by 1.1% in 2024. This leaves it more than 10% below its pre-pandemic level, and 2025 is not expected to show much improvement.

    The decline in real disposable income for Cuban households since 2021 has, in reality, been far greater. The official inflation rate indicates that consumer prices have risen fourfold over the past five years. At this rate, living costs would have increased broadly in line with salaries.

    Consumer prices have risen fourfold since 2020:

    Official inflation data for Cuba. The spike in early 2021 was the result of a monetary reform, which involved a big jump in wages in December 2020 followed by a currency reform in January 2021.
    Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas e Información

    But official figures systematically understate the actual increase in prices faced by Cuban households, due to the weightings used. In 2021, for example, research estimated the inflation rate to be between 174% and 700% – well above the government’s estimate (77.3%).

    The rising market prices have put many essential goods beyond the reach of most people who depend on state incomes. This has forced many households to depend on remittances or the informal economy to survive.

    Thanks to tight fiscal restraint, the official annual rate of inflation eased to 15% in June. But the wide gap between the increase in the actual cost of living and official inflation index continues to compound distrust of the government and the perception that the country’s leaders are out of touch.

    A lack of transparency and long delays in the publication of economic data, together with restrictions on the scope for private enterprise, are widely attributed to the government’s incompetence and reluctance to enact liberalising reforms.

    Recovery blocked by US sanctions

    For these reasons, the government’s insistence that US sanctions are to blame for limiting the possibilities for economic recovery is increasingly regarded with scepticism. However, the constraint on economic growth imposed by US measures is real and severe.

    It is also the deliberate aim of US policy. The unilateral sanctions not only block trade, as well as financial and international travel between the US and Cuba. They also severely hamper all kinds of transactions between Cuba and the rest of the world.

    Every branch of the Cuban economy has been affected, including the health service, social safety nets, agriculture and industry. And the lack of hard currency has, in turn, limited the scope for the investments and reforms needed for economic recovery.

    The easing inflation rate, together with some new investments in renewable energy, an improved fiscal balance and a recent small increase in pensions, may signal that the end of the economic downturn may be approaching. But neither the government nor the population have any confidence that the crisis will come to an end this year.

    No one is expecting US sanctions to be lifted while Donald Trump is president. Before Trump first stood for the presidency he hadn’t given Cuba his attention, but as president he has aligned himself firmly with hardliners.

    In his first term, Trump reversed the opening with Cuba initiated by Barack Obama. And his current secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is one of the architects and leading proponents of economic sanctions against Cuba. Trade and investment will thus remain depressed, while shortages, power cuts, a lack of transport and crumbling public services will persist.

    But by demanding the resignation of the minister of labour, perhaps Díaz-Canel hopes to demonstrate that his government understands what that the economic asphyxiation means for a majority of Cubans struggling to survive.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Emily Morris 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. Cuban government scrambling to deal with outrage about country’s economic crisis – https://theconversation.com/cuban-government-scrambling-to-deal-with-outrage-about-countrys-economic-crisis-261702

    MIL OSI Analysis –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Cuban government scrambling to deal with outrage about country’s economic crisis

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Emily Morris, Research Associate, Institute of the Americas, UCL

    Cuba doesn’t have any beggars, according to the country’s minister of labour, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera. In a speech to the national assembly on July 15, she denied the existence of destitution in the communist country, claiming the problem was actually people “disguised as beggars”.

    Her words were greeted by public outcry on social media. They also prompted a swift rebuke from her peers and the president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who said leadership could not “act with condescension”. The next day, the Cuban government published an official note saying Feitó Cabrera had resigned.

    The political vulnerability of the Cuban government explains the urgent need to respond to missteps such as Feitó Cabrera’s. The country is enduring an acute economic crisis, which has seen living standards plummet and over 1 million Cubans leave the country since 2020.

    Cubans are leaving en masse:

    A severe economic crisis in Cuba has prompted a mass exodus from the island.
    Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas e Información

    The recession has severely strained the system of social protection that the government points to as one of its main achievements since taking power more than 60 years ago. Despite food subsidies and the efforts of welfare services, a growing number of people are now going hungry.

    Public confidence in the government has been severely weakened as a result, particularly among young Cubans. The risk of escalating popular protest is magnified by the proliferation of social media channels, emanating from inside and outside the country.

    These channels air the many complaints about daily frustrations in Cuba and highlight any failings or signs of hypocrisy on the part of officials. So when Feitó Cabrera’s speech went viral, it was met with inevitable public outrage.

    Díaz-Canel’s reaction can be seen as urgent damage limitation. But it is also consistent with his broader approach to managing the crisis facing his country. He has worked tirelessly to try and defuse anger through engagement, touring Cuba for local meetings to search for solutions.

    In his comments after Feitó Cabrera’s speech, he insisted that officials should acknowledge the scale of hardship being suffered, and “help, support and show solidarity” with the disadvantaged and most vulnerable.

    This need to reach out was all the more important given the grim tone of the national assembly meeting where Feitó Cabrera made her remarks. Ministers appeared one after the other to present dismal reports on the state of almost all sectors of the Cuban economy.

    The electricity system remains plagued by breakdowns caused by chronic underinvestment as well as difficulties in obtaining fuel and spare parts. The resulting daily power outages ensure that the sense of crisis is ever-present and frustrate all efforts to boost production.

    Doubting official data

    While full official national income data for 2024 has not yet been released, Cuba’s economy ministry estimates that real national income contracted by 1.1% in 2024. This leaves it more than 10% below its pre-pandemic level, and 2025 is not expected to show much improvement.

    The decline in real disposable income for Cuban households since 2021 has, in reality, been far greater. The official inflation rate indicates that consumer prices have risen fourfold over the past five years. At this rate, living costs would have increased broadly in line with salaries.

    Consumer prices have risen fourfold since 2020:

    Official inflation data for Cuba. The spike in early 2021 was the result of a monetary reform, which involved a big jump in wages in December 2020 followed by a currency reform in January 2021.
    Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas e Información

    But official figures systematically understate the actual increase in prices faced by Cuban households, due to the weightings used. In 2021, for example, research estimated the inflation rate to be between 174% and 700% – well above the government’s estimate (77.3%).

    The rising market prices have put many essential goods beyond the reach of most people who depend on state incomes. This has forced many households to depend on remittances or the informal economy to survive.

    Thanks to tight fiscal restraint, the official annual rate of inflation eased to 15% in June. But the wide gap between the increase in the actual cost of living and official inflation index continues to compound distrust of the government and the perception that the country’s leaders are out of touch.

    A lack of transparency and long delays in the publication of economic data, together with restrictions on the scope for private enterprise, are widely attributed to the government’s incompetence and reluctance to enact liberalising reforms.

    Recovery blocked by US sanctions

    For these reasons, the government’s insistence that US sanctions are to blame for limiting the possibilities for economic recovery is increasingly regarded with scepticism. However, the constraint on economic growth imposed by US measures is real and severe.

    It is also the deliberate aim of US policy. The unilateral sanctions not only block trade, as well as financial and international travel between the US and Cuba. They also severely hamper all kinds of transactions between Cuba and the rest of the world.

    Every branch of the Cuban economy has been affected, including the health service, social safety nets, agriculture and industry. And the lack of hard currency has, in turn, limited the scope for the investments and reforms needed for economic recovery.

    The easing inflation rate, together with some new investments in renewable energy, an improved fiscal balance and a recent small increase in pensions, may signal that the end of the economic downturn may be approaching. But neither the government nor the population have any confidence that the crisis will come to an end this year.

    No one is expecting US sanctions to be lifted while Donald Trump is president. Before Trump first stood for the presidency he hadn’t given Cuba his attention, but as president he has aligned himself firmly with hardliners.

    In his first term, Trump reversed the opening with Cuba initiated by Barack Obama. And his current secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is one of the architects and leading proponents of economic sanctions against Cuba. Trade and investment will thus remain depressed, while shortages, power cuts, a lack of transport and crumbling public services will persist.

    But by demanding the resignation of the minister of labour, perhaps Díaz-Canel hopes to demonstrate that his government understands what that the economic asphyxiation means for a majority of Cubans struggling to survive.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Emily Morris 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. Cuban government scrambling to deal with outrage about country’s economic crisis – https://theconversation.com/cuban-government-scrambling-to-deal-with-outrage-about-countrys-economic-crisis-261702

    MIL OSI –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Activities of Secretary-General in Brazil, 5-9 July

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday evening, 5 July, to attend the Seventeenth Summit of the BRICS [Brazil, Russian Federation, India and China] countries.

    On Sunday afternoon, 6 July, after being welcomed by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, the Secretary-General addressed an outreach session on “Strengthening multilateralism, economic-financial affairs and artificial intelligence”.  He highlighted that artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping economies and societies, and that the fundamental test is how wisely we guide this transformation.

    The Secretary-General also emphasized that AI cannot be a club of the few, but must benefit all, and in particular developing countries, which must have a real voice in the governance of artificial intelligence.

    In the evening, the Secretary-General attended an official cocktail on the occasion of the BRICS Leader’s Summit, hosted by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Janja Lula da Silva.

    On Monday morning, 7 July, soon after his arrival at the 17th Summit of the BRICS venue, the Secretary-General took part in the family photo. He then addressed an outreach session on “Environment, COP30 [Thirtieth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] and global health”, warning that our environment is being attacked on all fronts.  Mr. Guterres pointed out that across the world, lives and livelihoods are being ripped apart, and sustainable development gains left in tatters as disasters accelerate.

    The Secretary-General noted that the most vulnerable and the poorer pay the highest price and stressed that we need to tackle the point where climate and health meet.  He also emphasized that we need Governments to build on the progress of last year’s biodiversity COP, particularly reaching an ambitious agreement on finance, adding that we need to make COP30 a success.

    In the afternoon, in a bilateral meeting on the margins of the BRICS Summit, the Secretary-General and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iran, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, discussed the situation in the Middle East.  The Secretary-General noted the importance of the consolidation of the ceasefire to lay the groundwork for the resumption of negotiations.

    Immediately after, the Secretary-General held a bilateral meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, Hakan Fidan.  The Secretary-General and the Minister discussed the strong partnership between the United Nations and Türkiye.  They also exchanged views on the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and the next round of meetings on Cyprus.

    Also in the afternoon, the Secretary-General met Sergio Diaz-Granados, the Executive President of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.

    On Tuesday morning, 8 July, the Secretary-General met with the Premier of the State Council of China, Li Qiang.  They discussed cooperation between the United Nations and China, sustainable development, climate change and financing.

    The Secretary-General commended China for its commitment to multilateralism and thanked China for its valuable contribution to the United Nations and its activities.

    The Secretary-General departed Rio de Janeiro in the afternoon of Tuesday, 8 July.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Laredo, Texas, Man Sentenced to 63 Months for Smuggling Over 100 Illegal Aliens in Locked Trailer

    Source: US FBI

    LAREDO, Texas – A 49-year-old resident of Laredo has been ordered to federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Juan Manuel Aguirre pleaded guilty Feb. 6.

    U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison has now ordered Aguirre to serve 63 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court considered Aguirre’s history of smuggling aliens on multiple occasions and the danger he posed by transporting them in a sealed, locked, dark and unventilated trailer that required authorities to open with a bolt cutter. 

    “Human smuggling is an incredibly dangerous enterprise, and it requires the trafficker to care absolutely nothing about the lives and safety of those they transport,” said Ganjei. “Fortunately, there were no deaths in this case, but the underlying facts indicate that several of those transported had difficulty breathing and feared for their life. The Southern District of Texas will make sure that all human smugglers pay a serious price for their callousness.”

    On Dec. 2, 2024, law enforcement observed several individuals being loading into a white trailer in a warehouse parking lot. Aguirre was the driver of the truck hauling it. After he departed the location, authorities conducted a traffic stop which resulted in the discovery of 101 aliens locked inside the trailer, 13 of whom were children as young as 13 years old.

    Multiple illegal aliens reported they had difficulty breathing and feared for their life due to the conditions in the trailer. They were from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Honduras.

    Aguirre will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, Texas Department of Public Safety and Border Patrol conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation with the assistance of Customs and Border Protection, Drug Enforcement Administration and Webb County Sheriff’s Office. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Scott Bowling is prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Laredo, Texas, Man Sentenced to 63 Months for Smuggling Over 100 Illegal Aliens in Locked Trailer

    Source: US FBI

    LAREDO, Texas – A 49-year-old resident of Laredo has been ordered to federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Juan Manuel Aguirre pleaded guilty Feb. 6.

    U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison has now ordered Aguirre to serve 63 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court considered Aguirre’s history of smuggling aliens on multiple occasions and the danger he posed by transporting them in a sealed, locked, dark and unventilated trailer that required authorities to open with a bolt cutter. 

    “Human smuggling is an incredibly dangerous enterprise, and it requires the trafficker to care absolutely nothing about the lives and safety of those they transport,” said Ganjei. “Fortunately, there were no deaths in this case, but the underlying facts indicate that several of those transported had difficulty breathing and feared for their life. The Southern District of Texas will make sure that all human smugglers pay a serious price for their callousness.”

    On Dec. 2, 2024, law enforcement observed several individuals being loading into a white trailer in a warehouse parking lot. Aguirre was the driver of the truck hauling it. After he departed the location, authorities conducted a traffic stop which resulted in the discovery of 101 aliens locked inside the trailer, 13 of whom were children as young as 13 years old.

    Multiple illegal aliens reported they had difficulty breathing and feared for their life due to the conditions in the trailer. They were from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Honduras.

    Aguirre will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, Texas Department of Public Safety and Border Patrol conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation with the assistance of Customs and Border Protection, Drug Enforcement Administration and Webb County Sheriff’s Office. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Scott Bowling is prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Luján, Markey Slam FCC’s Partisan Approval of Paramount, Skydance Merger

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)
    Merger approval comes 2 days after Paramount settles with Trump for $36 million 
    Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Telecommunications and Media Subcommittee, and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted today to approve a merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. 
    “The FCC’s approval of the Paramount-Skydance merger reeks of the worst form of corruption. The timing speaks for itself: Paramount settled with Trump for $36 million on Tuesday and the FCC approved the merger on Thursday. While we’re glad that the Commission took a vote on the deal, as we have repeatedly called for, the partisan vote is a dark day for independent journalism and a stain on the storied history of the Federal Communications Commission. The stench of this transaction will linger over the Commission for years.” 
    Senators Markey and Luján have aggressively pushed back on the Trump administration’s efforts to attack news organizations and intimidate the media. On July 18, Senator Markey wrote to Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone, demanding answers on the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” specifically requesting whether anyone in the Trump administration asked for the show to be cancelled. On July 10, Senators Markey and Luján wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Olivia Trusty, urging the FCC to hold a full Commission vote on the Paramount and Skydance merger. In May 2025, Senators Markey and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) wrote to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, urging the FCC to take a vote on the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: July 25th, 2025 Heinrich Announces Committee Passage of Over $69 Million for New Mexico

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich

    Investments Heinrich championed support homeownership & homebuilding, rental & homelessness assistance, Tribal health & education, Southwest Border Regional Commission, & more

    WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced the bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Interior, Environment and Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Bills. With Committee approval of these bills, Heinrich secured support for over $65 million for New Mexico, including $52 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for 39 local projects between these bills and their House-companions.

    “While these Appropriations bills aren’t perfect, they include resources and investments I negotiated for New Mexico that will fund Tribal health care and education, help Tribal law enforcement officers solve and reduce violent crime, and continue funding for the Institute of American Indian Arts for the 2026-2027 school year,” said Heinrich, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This legislation will help over 11,000 families in New Mexico afford rent, build new housing, and invest in border communities through the Southwest Border Regional Commission. Additionally, the bill protects the Amtrak Southwest Chief train service in New Mexico, restores waterfowl habitat, and builds on my work to clean up abandoned hardrock mines. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will always fight for investments that put New Mexico first.”

    Additionally, Heinrich offered an amendment to require the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service to hire and maintain a minimum number of Full Time Employees in order to manage wildfire preparedness, suppression, and other mission-critical support, in the FY26 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. Heinrich’s amendment would have also required the National Park Service to hire and maintain a minimum number of Full Time Employees for the operation of national park units, including administrative services. Despite Heinrich’s attempt to include the amendment in the Appropriations bill, the amendment was rejected by Republicans on the Committee.

    Heinrich is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

    Next, the two bills passed out of the Appropriations Committee will be considered by the full United States Senate.

    Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Key Points and Highlights

    Congressionally Directed Spending

    Heinrich successfully included $7.1 million in investments for the following ten local projects in the bill:

    • $1,075,000 for the City of Truth or Consequences to replace aged and damaged waterlines.
    • $1,000,000 for Zuni Pueblo to make improvements to their drinking water system.
    • $1,000,000 for Pueblo of Tesuque to remove Siberian elm trees to restore the Rio Tesuque bosque to its natural vegetation.
    • $1,000,000 for the Village of Questa to construct a well house to prevent contamination of their municipal well.
    • $1,000,000 for Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority to conduct wastewater system improvements in Carnuel.
    • $700,000 for the Mescalero Apache Tribe to restore coniferous forest and promote aspen stand growth along the Rio Ruidoso to prepare for the reintroduction of beavers, a culturally significant species.
    • $525,000 for Taos Pueblo to purchase wildfire preparedness equipment.
    • $500,000 for Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council for a Caja del Rio Ethnographic Study.
    • $150,000 for the Desert Tortoise Council to work on Bolson tortoise recovery efforts.
    • $150,000 for the Bureau of Land Management to work with existing partners to replace barbed-wire fences with wildlife-friendly fences on the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

    Heinrich and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) successfully included $3.39 million for the following three projects:

    • $2,090,000 for the City of Rio Rancho to expand their aquifer reinjection system.
    • $800,000 for the Enchanted Forest Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association to develop a new water source pump house and appurtenances and to replace distribution lines.
    • $500,000 for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs to make water system improvements at the Fort Selden Historic Site.

    Heinrich also successfully worked with his colleagues in the N.M. Delegation to include $2.18 million for the following two projects in the House-companion bill:

    • $1,092,000 for the Town of Bernalillo will rehabilitate their current wastewater facilities.
    • $1,092,000 for the City of Belen to rehabilitate their wastewater treatment plant.

    Heinrich also successfully included three amendments into the Manager’s Package. These include:

    1. An amendment for a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study comparing the per-patient funding levels for health care services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS). Additionally, the study would analyze potential recruitment and retainment strategies utilized by the VA that could be extended to IHS.
    2. An amendment ensuring that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is included in reference to the reauthorization of the Legacy Restoration Fund to address deferred maintenance.
    3. An amendment for a Fish and Wildlife Service report on staffing levels and positions at National Wildlife Refuge System units and complexes.

    Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act Implementation: Heinrich successfully included $500,000 to implement the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act, a bipartisan law that Heinrich championed and passed in 2022 to prohibit the exporting of sacred Native American items and increase penalties for stealing and illegally trafficking Tribal cultural patrimony. Representing the first dedicated funding for this program, it would be used to halt the trade of culturally significant items and repatriate stolen pieces to the Tribal communities where they belong. Heinrich first introduced the STOP Act in 2016 after he helped halt the auction of a shield, stolen from the Pueblo of Acoma. Heinrich played a role in the effort to bring the shield home to Acoma by working with Governors Kurt Riley and Brian Vallo to call for its return.

    Tribal Programs: Heinrich fought for and successfully included $13,482,000 to the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development (IAIA). After the administration threatened to withhold IAIA’s funding earlier this year, Heinrich secured the release of FY 2025 funds earlier this month. This bill will ensure continued investment for IAIA through FY26, supporting its mission to advance Indigenous arts, culture, and education for future generations.

    Heinrich also successfully included funding to protect several Tribal programs, including $23,750,000 for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, $2,658,289,000 for Indian Health Services (IHS) Hospitals and Health Clinics, and funding for IHS Facilities and Construction. He also protected funding for Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Law Enforcement and included report language to ensure the continuation of the Tribal law enforcement training program in New Mexico.

    Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation Program: Heinrich successfully included continued funding for the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation Program, after championing the creation of the program in the Infrastructure Law. Hardrock mines and mining features are related to the extraction of metals like copper, gold, silver, and uranium. When not reclaimed, many hardrock mines pose a hazard to public health and the environment. This funding will be used to clean up federal, state, Tribal, and private land and water resources affected by abandoned hardrock mines.

    Southwest Ecological Research Institutes: Heinrich fought for and successfully maintained funding for the Southwest Ecological Research Institutes (SWERIs). Last month Heinrich pressed the U.S. Forest Chief on the Administration’s plan entirely to cut funding for the program in FY26. SWERIs offer unique opportunities for dedicated research in forest science and watershed health and represent the future of science in forest management. New Mexico Highlands University houses one center along with Colorado State University and Northern Arizona University. This funding would ensure the continuation of valuable research in southwestern forest and fire management.

    Conservation: Heinrich successfully protected funding for the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund, which leverages private dollars to restore waterfowl habitat across the country. Senator Heinrich led the reauthorization of this fund last congress. He also protected core wildlife management and science capabilities at the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey from the steep cuts proposed by the Trump administration.

    Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Key Points and Highlights

    Congressionally Directed Spending

    Heinrich successfully included $17.1 million in investments for the following 11 local projects in the bill:

    • $4,000,000 for Homewise to help moderate-income, first-time homebuyers purchase entry-level homes.
    • $2,300,000 for the City of Socorro to replace aged and damaged waterlines.
    • $2,073,000 for the City of Raton to upgrade its municipal airport infrastructure.
    • $1,500,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of San Juan County to renovate a community center.
    • $1,500,000 for DreamTree Project to complete the final phase of renovations to the Navigating Emergency Support Together (NEST) building and purchase land for on-site permanent supportive housing.
    • $1,000,000 Serenity Mesa Youth Recovery Center to expand their facilities to support increased substance use crisis stabilization, treatment, and housing for adolescents and young adults.
    • $850,000 for the Albuquerque Housing Authority will invest in necessary upgrades at public housing properties.
    • $692,000 for the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area to conduct an affordable housing pilot project.
    • $440,000 for Deming Silver Linings to provide emergency temporary housing for unhoused individuals.
    • $200,000 for Mesilla Valley Community of Hope to support individuals and families experiencing poverty and homelessness by providing affordable housing and wraparound services.

    Heinrich and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) successfully included $16.3 million for the following nine projects:

    • $3,000,000 for Youth Development, Inc. for an early childhood development center.
    • $3,000,000 for the Agri-Cultura Cooperative Network and La Cosecha Community Supported Agriculture to create a Food Hub at the Sacred Roots farm site to create economic development opportunity in the local food system, provide education to students and community members, and increase access to healthy foods.
    • $2,500,000 for Santa Fe County to develop a Permanent Supportive Housing project designed to meet the urgent needs of the region’s unhoused population.
    • $1,800,000 for the Town of Mountainair to rebuild, repave, and upgrade approximately two miles of downtown Mountainair’s roadways.
    • $1,600,000 for the City of Raton to conduct an interchange alignment study as part of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor Interstate Planning process.
    • $1,500,000 for Tierra Del Sol Housing Corporation to complete the first phase of construction for an affordable housing project in Vado, New Mexico.
    • $1,210,000 for the City of Bloomfield to plan, design, and construct the expansion of East Blanco Boulevard in Bloomfield.
    • $1,000,000 for the Pueblo of Acoma to construct new single-family homes for low-to-moderate income families on the Housing Authority’s waiting list.
    • $700,000 for Cuidando Los Niños of Albuquerque to expand its facility to house early childhood education and family wraparound services.

    Heinrich also successfully worked with his colleagues in the N.M. Delegation to include $8.4 million for the following four projects in the House-companion bill:

    • $2,900,000 for the Pueblo of Acoma to repair housing for senior community members and provide ADA accommodations.
    • $2,000,000 for the City of Albuquerque Health, Housing and Homelessness Department to improve security and accessibility at the city’s largest homeless shelter.
    • $2,000,000 for the City of Albuquerque to establish a modular Shelter Stability site for seniors.
    • $1,512,000 for Jemez Pueblo to demolish hazardous buildings within the Pueblo.

    Rental Assistance: Heinrich successfully secured increased funding for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (Housing Choice Vouchers) and Project-Based Rental Assistance, despite the administration’s attempts to completely defund both programs. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program helps over 11,000 families in New Mexico afford rent. Heinrich also secured language urging HUD to expand resources to train public housing staff on how to use housing choice vouchers to make homeownership an attainable goal for residents of public housing.

    Tribal Programs: Heinrich successfully included a $25 million investment for Tribal Transportation Program High Priority Projects, a set-aside that provides funds to Tribes or a governmental subdivision of a Tribe whose annual allocation of funding received under the Tribal Transportation Program is insufficient to complete the highest priority project of the Tribe. Heinrich secured an increase in funding for Tribal housing programs. Heinrich also secured a legislative proposal that would make certain home loans on Tribal lands easier to keep if homeowners are delinquent on payments.

    Southwest Border Regional Commission: Heinrich successfully included a $5 million investment in the Southwest Border Regional Commission (SBRC) for transportation infrastructure planning to support supply chain connectivity and economic development in southern New Mexico and along the southern border.

    Homelessness Assistance: Heinrich successfully secured an increase in funding for grant programs that address homelessness through emergency shelter, transitional and supportive housing, rapid re-housing, rental assistance and prevention, and supportive services. Heinrich successfully pushed back against the Trump administration’s attempts to curtail homelessness assistance funding by making grant match requirements overly burdensome for New Mexican service providers.

    Homebuilding and Homeownership: Heinrich secured funding for the HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME), a critical program that helps New Mexicans purchase or rehabilitate homes. The Trump administration also sought to cut all funding for this program. In New Mexico, HOME also provides gap funding for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects, which increases the supply of affordable rental units.

    Amtrak Southwest Chief: Heinrich secured language that protects existing Amtrak Southwest Chief train service in New Mexico from cuts and closure.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Haiti

    Source: Council of the European Union

    Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/1429 of 15 July 2025 amending Decision (CFSP) 2022/2319 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Haiti.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Bitget Wallet Joins Malaysia Blockchain Week as Web3 Gains Ground in the Multicultural Market

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitget Wallet, the leading non-custodial crypto wallet, joined founders, builders, and investors at Malaysia Blockchain Week to explore the country’s growing role in shaping Southeast Asia’s Web3 future. With over 3,300 participants from 20 countries gathering in Kuala Lumpur, the event marked a high point in Malaysia’s ongoing effort to position itself as a nexus of blockchain innovation and financial inclusion.

    Bitget Wallet’s Head of Growth, Will Wu, spoke at two panels during the week, including a main stage discussion on community-building and the Web3 Infra Day, where he was joined by representatives from Aptos, Polkadot, and Manta Network. The conversation focused on simplifying fragmented blockchain experiences, improving interoperability, and designing tools that lower barriers to entry for everyday users. “In Malaysia, you see communities where crypto is not just investment — it’s part of how people save, send, and increasingly, spend,” Wu said. “The momentum here is being driven not just by capital, but by local builders creating products that reflect how people actually live and transact.”

    While Singapore often dominates the regional narrative, Malaysia is quietly building a complementary path — one rooted in grassroots adoption, multicultural participation, and a younger, mobile-first demographic. The country’s multi-ethnic population, spanning Malay, Chinese, Indian, and indigenous communities, offers a uniquely diverse testing ground for Web3 use cases that range from retail payments to creative economy tools.

    Bitget Wallet also joined Blockchain & AI Summit hosted by Pushpendra Singh as a supporting partner during the week. The summit drew over 300 builders for focused discussions on real-world adoption, decentralized identity, and the convergence of AI and Web3. Bitget Wallet’s involvement reflected its ongoing engagement with Southeast Asia’s grassroots developer and creator communities. In a setting that prioritized pragmatic use cases, the event reinforced a key theme of the week: Malaysia’s strength lies in its culturally rooted, multilingual builder ecosystem — one ready to localize blockchain for everyday use.

    Bitget Wallet’s participation underscored this shift from speculation to infrastructure. The wallet has leaned into utility-focused tools — from stablecoin payments to token discovery — that resonate with local behaviors. As Malaysia continues to carve out its place on the global Web3 map, its value may lie less in being the next crypto capital, and more in showing how diverse communities can make decentralized technology part of ordinary life.

    For more information, visit the Bitget Wallet official channels.

    About Bitget Wallet
    Bitget Wallet is a non-custodial crypto wallet designed to make crypto simple and secure for everyone. With over 80 million users, it brings together a full suite of crypto services, including swaps, market insights, staking, rewards, DApp exploration, and payment solutions. Supporting 130+ blockchains and millions of tokens, Bitget Wallet enables seamless multi-chain trading across hundreds of DEXs and cross-chain bridges. Backed by a $300+ million user protection fund, it ensures the highest level of security for users’ assets. Its vision is Crypto for Everyone — to make crypto simpler, safer, and part of everyday life for a billion people.

    For more information, visit: X | Telegram | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn | TikTok | Discord | Facebook

    For media inquiries, contact media.web3@bitget.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7bbbc4fe-79ed-4819-bedd-8919feaff3df

    The MIL Network –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Bitget Wallet Joins Malaysia Blockchain Week as Web3 Gains Ground in the Multicultural Market

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitget Wallet, the leading non-custodial crypto wallet, joined founders, builders, and investors at Malaysia Blockchain Week to explore the country’s growing role in shaping Southeast Asia’s Web3 future. With over 3,300 participants from 20 countries gathering in Kuala Lumpur, the event marked a high point in Malaysia’s ongoing effort to position itself as a nexus of blockchain innovation and financial inclusion.

    Bitget Wallet’s Head of Growth, Will Wu, spoke at two panels during the week, including a main stage discussion on community-building and the Web3 Infra Day, where he was joined by representatives from Aptos, Polkadot, and Manta Network. The conversation focused on simplifying fragmented blockchain experiences, improving interoperability, and designing tools that lower barriers to entry for everyday users. “In Malaysia, you see communities where crypto is not just investment — it’s part of how people save, send, and increasingly, spend,” Wu said. “The momentum here is being driven not just by capital, but by local builders creating products that reflect how people actually live and transact.”

    While Singapore often dominates the regional narrative, Malaysia is quietly building a complementary path — one rooted in grassroots adoption, multicultural participation, and a younger, mobile-first demographic. The country’s multi-ethnic population, spanning Malay, Chinese, Indian, and indigenous communities, offers a uniquely diverse testing ground for Web3 use cases that range from retail payments to creative economy tools.

    Bitget Wallet also joined Blockchain & AI Summit hosted by Pushpendra Singh as a supporting partner during the week. The summit drew over 300 builders for focused discussions on real-world adoption, decentralized identity, and the convergence of AI and Web3. Bitget Wallet’s involvement reflected its ongoing engagement with Southeast Asia’s grassroots developer and creator communities. In a setting that prioritized pragmatic use cases, the event reinforced a key theme of the week: Malaysia’s strength lies in its culturally rooted, multilingual builder ecosystem — one ready to localize blockchain for everyday use.

    Bitget Wallet’s participation underscored this shift from speculation to infrastructure. The wallet has leaned into utility-focused tools — from stablecoin payments to token discovery — that resonate with local behaviors. As Malaysia continues to carve out its place on the global Web3 map, its value may lie less in being the next crypto capital, and more in showing how diverse communities can make decentralized technology part of ordinary life.

    For more information, visit the Bitget Wallet official channels.

    About Bitget Wallet
    Bitget Wallet is a non-custodial crypto wallet designed to make crypto simple and secure for everyone. With over 80 million users, it brings together a full suite of crypto services, including swaps, market insights, staking, rewards, DApp exploration, and payment solutions. Supporting 130+ blockchains and millions of tokens, Bitget Wallet enables seamless multi-chain trading across hundreds of DEXs and cross-chain bridges. Backed by a $300+ million user protection fund, it ensures the highest level of security for users’ assets. Its vision is Crypto for Everyone — to make crypto simpler, safer, and part of everyday life for a billion people.

    For more information, visit: X | Telegram | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn | TikTok | Discord | Facebook

    For media inquiries, contact media.web3@bitget.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7bbbc4fe-79ed-4819-bedd-8919feaff3df

    The MIL Network –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI China: Laos, Cuba reaffirm commitment to deepen ties

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Laos and Cuba on Friday reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening and further developing the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two states and peoples, Lao News Agency reported.

    Officials from the two countries held a political consultative meeting here on Friday, which was hailed by both sides as a positive step toward strengthening bilateral ties.

    Discussions centered on enhancing political cooperation, exchanging views and information, and reviewing past achievements to guide future collaboration. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of mutual support and solidarity that has long defined their relationship.

    The two sides agreed to continue implementing existing agreements and promoting cooperation in key sectors such as economy, health, education, agriculture, sports, and culture. They also discussed expanding collaboration into new and mutually beneficial areas, and enhancing trade and investment opportunities.

    Meanwhile, both parties shared updates on domestic developments and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

    MIL OSI China News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: UN chief welcomes China, EU commitment to strengthen cooperation on climate change

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    UNITED NATIONS, July 25 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the commitment of China and the European Union (EU) to strengthen cooperation on climate change and ensure a global just transition, Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq said on Thursday.

    “The Secretary-General believes that it is critical for China and the European Union, as the world’s two largest economies, to continue working together to ensure that the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil becomes a major turning point in global efforts to tackle the climate crisis,” Hack said in a statement.

    “The Secretary-General reiterates his call for all G20 countries to submit NDCs [nationally determined contributions to combat climate change by 2035],” he said.

    On Thursday, leaders of China and the EU issued a joint statement on stepping up efforts to combat climate change following the 25th China-EU summit in Beijing. At the meeting, the two sides acknowledged that strengthening China-EU cooperation on climate change will benefit the well-being of both peoples and is of great and special significance to upholding multilateralism and advancing global climate governance. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Press Release: FDIC Publishes Enforcement Orders for June 2025

    Source: US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC

    CategoriesBusiness, Commerce, MIL-OSI, United States Federal Government, United States Government, United States of America, US Commerce, US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC, US Federal Government, US Insurance Sector, USA

    Post navigation

    WASHINGTON – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today published a list of orders of administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in June 2025. There are no administrative hearings scheduled for August 2025.

    Order Terminating Consent Order:

    • Citizens State Bank, Ganado, Texas

    Order Terminating Order to Pay Civil Money Penalty:

    • CNB Bank, Carlsbad, New Mexico

    Orders to Pay Civil Money Penalties:

    • Royal Bank, Elroy, Washington
    • Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Orders of Prohibition from Further Participation:

    • One American Bank, Centerville, South Dakoka
    • Watermark Bank, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

    Orders of Termination of Insurance:

    • Community Bank, Joseph, Oregon
    • First Financial Northwest Bank, Renton, Washington
    • Mid-Southern Savings Bank, FSB, Salem, Indiana
    • Republic Bank of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona
    • Security State Bank, Centralia, Washington

    Orders Terminating Orders Relating to Section 19 of the FDI Act (Section 19):

    • Six Orders Terminating Orders Issued Pursuant to Section 19 

    Notices of Charges:

    • Truist Bank, Charlotte, NC

    # # #

    MEDIA CONTACT: 
    LaJuan Williams-Young
    lwilliams-young@FDIC.gov

    The FDIC does not send unsolicited email. If this publication has reached you in error, or if you no longer wish to receive this service, please unsubscribe.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Plastic Greenpeace climbers abseil from Forth Bridge to block INEOS tanker in plastics protest An international team of Greenpeace activists has abseiled from Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge to block an INEOS tanker from delivering its cargo of fracked American gas to the Grangemouth petrochemical… by Graham Thompson July 25, 2025

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    An international team of Greenpeace activists has abseiled from Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge to block an INEOS tanker from delivering its cargo of fracked American gas to the Grangemouth petrochemical facility. 

    The Greenpeace protest is aimed at chemicals giant INEOS, owned by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, which is opposing efforts by UN Member States to secure a Global Plastics Treaty to curb plastic pollution [1]. INEOS is the UK’s biggest plastics manufacturer, producing 30-35 billion nurdles (pellets) daily at its Grangemouth plant – enough to make 60 million plastic bottles.

    The action comes less than a fortnight before governments meet in Geneva, Switzerland, for the sixth and final round of negotiations on the Global Plastics Treaty (5-14 August). Greenpeace is calling for these talks to agree to a cut in global plastic production of at least 75% by 2040, and for the UN to exclude lobbyists from INEOS and other fossil fuels companies from the treaty negotiations. Plastics producers including INEOS have collectively sent hundreds of lobbyists to exert their influence at every stage of the talks so far. Lobbyists have used tactics such as intimidation and harassment, to block an agreement that includes caps on plastic production.

    The 10 climbers are confronting the giant INEOS tanker ‘INDEPENDENCE’. The vessel spent the last 10 days crossing the Atlantic carrying 27,500 cubic metres of ethane bound for Grangemouth where it will be used by INEOS in the production of virgin plastic.

    Amy Cameron, Programme Director at Greenpeace UK said:

    “Plastic pollution has reached a crisis point: it’s poisoning our land, seas, air, even our bodies. The Global Plastics Treaty offers us a once in a generation chance to tackle the problem for good, so it’s no surprise INEOS and its billionaire boss, Jim Ratcliffe, are doing everything they can to stop it.

    Ratcliffe tries to distract us with sports teams and sponsorships, but we’re not going to let him fill our planet with plastic, so he can fill his pockets with profit. Ratcliffe is trying to block a strong Global Plastics Treaty, so today we’re blocking him.”

    An international team of Greenpeace activists abseil from Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge to block an INEOS tanker from delivering its cargo of fracked American gas to the Grangemouth petrochemical facility. The Greenpeace protest is aimed at chemicals giant INEOS, owned by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, which is opposing efforts by UN Member States to secure a Global Plastics Treaty to curb plastic pollution. INEOS is the UK’s biggest plastics manufacturer, producing (pellets) daily at its Grangemouth plant – enough to make 60 million plastic bottles.© Luca Marino / Greenpeace

    The highly-trained Greenpeace climbers [2] abseiled from beneath the bridge’s service walkway, unfurling six giant ‘Plastics Treaty Now’ banners. They will remain suspended 25 metres above the main shipping lane of the River Forth [3], preventing the tanker from reaching port with its hazardous cargo. They are supported by a rescue crew on the bridge and a boat team in the river below. 

    The Greenpeace protest comes during Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland. Over the past three years, INEOS Energy has made investments exceeding $3bn in the US oil and gas sector, and the US petrochemicals industry is investing heavily in new chemical and plastics production projects. Like INEOS, US Fossil Fuel giants are attempting to weaken the Global Plastics Treaty to avoid caps on virgin plastic production. 

    ENDS

    Contact: 

    Greenpeace UK press office: press.uk@greenpeace.org / 020 7865 8255

    Greenpeace press officer on the ground at Forth Road Bridge: Kai Tabacek – 07984 127025

    Greenpeace spokespeople are available for interviews on the ground in Scotland and in London

    Please find all photos and videos of the protest HERE. Additional pictures and footage will be added as they become available.

    Notes to editors

    1. Speaking at the EFRA Parliamentary Committee on 8th July, on the UK Government’s priorities for the final plastics treaty negotiations, INEOS’s Technology Director, Peter Williams firmly opposed production caps because of potential “unintended consequences.”
    2. The international team of Greenpeace activists include climbers from: UK, Argentina, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands and Taiwan.
    3. The main span of the iconic Forth Road Bridge is a little over a kilometre long, around 50 metres above water level. The highly-trained Greenpeace climbers are spaced at intervals of around 20 metres in an attempt to block the INEOS tanker. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: United Kingdom helps Guatemala to combat plastic pollution

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    World news story

    United Kingdom helps Guatemala to combat plastic pollution

    • English
    • Español de América Latina

    Deputy Head of Mission (DHM) Paul Huggins participated in the launch of Guatemala’s National Plastics Action Partnership (NPAP).

    During the event, he offered closing remarks highlighting the United Kingdom’s commitment to the Global Plastics Action Partnership (GPAP), of which Guatemala has been a member since January 2025, and underscored the importance of international collaborations in addressing global environmental challenges. 

    DHM Huggins praised Guatemala’s leadership in creating inclusive, evidence-based policies and welcomed its recent membership in the UK-founded High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution (HAC). He also reaffirmed the United Kingdom’s commitment to concluding negotiations for a legally binding global treaty on plastics by August of this year. 

    The event was attended by the Minister of Environment, Patricia Orantes; the Vice Minister for Climate Change, Edwin Castellanos, and representatives of partner organizations and implementers of the NPAP in Guatemala.

    The UK, through the Blue Planet Fund and in collaboration with other partners has contributed £24 million to the GPAP program since 2018, supporting initiatives that promote the circular economy and improve the conditions of informal waste workers.

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    Updates to this page

    Published 25 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Deportation tactics from 4 US presidents have done little to reduce the undocumented immigrant population

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kevin Johnson, Dean and Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, University of California, Davis

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents escort a detained immigrant into an elevator on June 17, 2025, in New York. AP Photo/Olga Fedorova

    All modern U.S. presidents, both Republican and Democratic, have attempted to reduce the population of millions of undocumented immigrants. But their various strategies have not had significant results, with the population hovering around 11 million from 2005 to 2022.

    President Donald Trump seeks to change that.

    With harsh rhetoric that has sowed fear in immigrant communities, and policies that ignore immigrants’ due process rights, Trump has pursued deportation tactics that differ dramatically from those of any other modern U.S. president.

    As a scholar who examines the history of U.S. immigration law and enforcement, I believe that it remains far from clear whether the Trump White House will significantly reduce the undocumented population. But even if the administration’s efforts fail, the fear and damage to the U.S. immigrant community will remain.

    Presidents Bush and Obama

    To increase deportations, in 2006 President George W. Bush began using workplace raids. Among these sweeps was the then-largest immigration workplace operation in U.S. history at a meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa in 2008.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deployed 900 agents in Postville and arrested 398 employees, 98% of whom were Latino. They were chained together and arraigned in groups of 10 for felony criminal charges of aggravated identity theft, document fraud and use of stolen Social Security numbers. Some 300 were convicted, and 297 of them served jail sentences before being deported.

    Men wait in a holding cell on June 21, 2006, in Nogales, Arizona.
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    In 2008, Bush also initiated Secure Communities, a policy that sought to deport noncitizens – both lawful permanent residents as well as undocumented immigrants – who had been arrested for crimes. Some 2 million immigrants were deported during Bush’s two terms in office.

    The Obama administration limited Secure Communities to focus on the removal of noncitizens convicted of felonies. It deported a record 400,000 noncitizens in fiscal year 2013, which led detractors to refer to President Barack Obama as the “Deporter in Chief.”

    Obama also targeted recent entrants and national security threats and pursued criminal prosecutions for illegal reentry to the U.S. Almost all of these policies built on Bush’s, although Obama virtually abandoned workplace raids.

    Despite these enforcement measures, Obama also initiated Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, in 2012. The policy provided relief from deportation and gave work authorization to more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children.

    Obama deported about 3 million noncitizens, but the size of the undocumented population did not decrease dramatically.

    The first Trump administration and Biden

    Trump’s first administration broke new immigration enforcement ground in several ways.

    He began his presidency by issuing what was called a “Muslim ban” to restrict the entry into the U.S. of noncitizens from predominantly Muslim nations.

    Early in Trump’s first administration, federal agents expanded immigration operations to include raids at courthouses, which previously had been off-limits.

    In 2017, Trump tried to rescind DACA, but the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s effort in 2020.

    In 2019, Trump implemented the Remain in Mexico policy that for the first time forced noncitizens who came to the U.S. border seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their claims were being decided. He also invoked Title 42 in 2020 to close U.S. borders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Trump succeeded in reducing legal immigration numbers during his first term. However, there is no evidence that his enforcement policies reduced the size of the overall undocumented population.

    President Joe Biden sought to relax – although not abandon – some immigration enforcement measures implemented during Trump’s first term.

    His administration slowed construction of the border wall championed by Trump. Biden also stopped workplace raids in 2021, and in 2023, he ended Title 42.

    In 2023, Biden sought to respond to migration surges in a measured fashion, by temporarily closing ports of entry and increasing arrests.

    In attempting to enforce the borders, his administration at times pursued tough measures. Biden continued deportation efforts directed at criminal noncitizens. Immigrant rights groups criticized his administration when armed Border Patrol officers on horseback were videotaped chasing Haitian migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border.

    As of 2022, the middle of the Biden’s term, an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants lived in the U.S.

    Immigration-rights activists stage a rally outside President Barack Obama’s Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser in Los Angeles, after the president signed a bill that tightened security at the Mexico border in August 2010.
    Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

    A second chance

    Since his second inauguration, Trump has pursued a mass deportation campaign through executive orders that are unprecedented in their scope.

    In January 2025, he announced an expanded, expedited removal process for any noncitizen apprehended anywhere in the country – not just the border region, as had been U.S. practice since 1996.

    In March, Trump issued a presidential proclamation to deport Venezuelan nationals who were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, designated a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department. In doing so, he invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 – an act used three times in U.S. history during declared wars that empowers presidents to remove foreign nationals from countries at war with the U.S.

    Declaring an “invasion” of migrants into the U.S. in June, Trump deployed the military to assist in immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.

    Trump also sought to dramatically upend birthright citizenship, the Constitutional provision that guarantees citizenship to any person born in the U.S. He issued an executive order in January that would bar citizenship to people born in the U.S. to undocumented parents.

    California National Guard members stand in formation during a protest in Los Angeles on June 14, 2025.
    David Pashaee/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

    The birthright executive order has been challenged in federal court and is mostly likely working its way up to the Supreme Court.

    Under the second Trump administration, immigration arrests are up, but actual deportation numbers are in flux.

    ICE in June arrested the most people in a month in at least five years, roughly 30,000 immigrants. But deportations of noncitizens – roughly 18,000 – lagged behind those during the Obama administration’s record-setting year of 2013 in which more than 400,000 noncitizens were deported.

    The gap between arrests and deportations shows the challenges the Trump administration faces in making good on his promised mass deportation campaign.

    Undocumented immigrants often come to the U.S. to work or seek safety from natural disasters and mass violence.

    These issues have not been seriously addressed by any modern U.S. president. Until it is, we can expect the undocumented population to remain in the millions.

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

    – ref. Deportation tactics from 4 US presidents have done little to reduce the undocumented immigrant population – https://theconversation.com/deportation-tactics-from-4-us-presidents-have-done-little-to-reduce-the-undocumented-immigrant-population-261640

    MIL OSI Analysis –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How bachata rose from Dominican Republic’s brothels and shantytowns to become a global sensation

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Wilfredo José Burgos Matos, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies, Lehman College, CUNY

    Once viewed by elites with disdain, bachata has become popular worldwide. Erika Santelices/AFP via Getty Images

    What began as songs about heartbreak in the brothels and barrios of the Dominican Republic in the 1960s has become a worldwide sensation.

    Even the Bee Gees have gotten a bachata spin. Prince Royce’s bilingual take on the 1977 hit “How Deep Is Your Love” has topped the Latin music charts this summer and proves bachata is no longer chasing the mainstream but reimagining the pop canon.

    Bachata dance classes, parties and festivals have sprung up across the U.S. in recent years, everywhere from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, and Omaha, Nebraska, to Oklahoma City.

    It’s easy to find abroad as well. Upcoming bachata festivals are happening in cities in Austria, Egypt, Australia and China.

    Instructors teach a bachata class in Warsaw, Poland, in July 2025.
    Neil Milton/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    I’m a scholar of Dominican culture and the senior researcher for the History of Dominican Music in the U.S. project at the City University of New York’s Dominican Studies Institute. I see bachata as a revealing window into modern post-1960s Dominican history – and one that spotlights the emotional truths and everyday experiences of poor and Black Dominicans in particular.

    Music from the margins

    Bachata was born in the Dominican countryside and later developed in the shantytowns of Santo Domingo, the capital. In most Latin American dictionaries, the word “bachata” is loosely defined as “revelry” or “a spree.”

    The distinctive sound is formed from guitars, bongos, bass and the güira – a percussion instrument also used in merengue music – and accompanied by typically romantic or bittersweet lyrics.

    The music was long associated with the lower classes and Black Dominicans.

    The genre’s first recording came in 1962, just over a year after Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, a brutal dictator who ruled the island for 31 years, was assassinated. Trujillo’s death marked the beginning of a new cultural and political era in the Dominican Republic, although democratic hopes were soon shattered by a military coup, civil war and a second U.S. intervention following an earlier one between 1916-1924.

    Urban and middle-class Dominicans looked down on bachata as the music played in brothels and favored by poor, rural people who started to migrate to urban areas in large numbers in the 1960s. It was played almost exclusively on Radio Guarachita, a Santo Domingo station run by Radhamés Aracena, a key promoter of the genre.

    Amid a country reeling from political upheaval, bachata emerged as a soundtrack to working-class survival. The guitar-based rhythms were shaped by Cuban bolero and son and Mexican ranchera music, while the lyrics chronicled daily struggles, grief and marginalization.

    In most Latin American dictionaries, the word ‘bachata’ is loosely defined as ‘revelry’ or ‘a spree.’ This reflects its early development in informal social spaces where friends gathered to sing their hearts out, share drinks and escape daily hardships.
    CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Library, The Deborah Pacini Hernández Bachata Music Collection

    Bachata’s shifting language

    In the 1960s, bachata lyrics centered on heartache and were often directed at a romantic partner.

    “Understand me, you know I love only you. Don’t deny me the hope of kissing you again,” Rafael Encarnación sang in Spanish in his 1964 song “Muero Contigo,” or “I Die With You.”

    By the late 1970s and early 1980s, sexual innuendos were common, adding to the genre’s low standing among Dominican elites.

    “I gave you everything you ever wanted, but it was all useless because you went looking for another man,” Blas Durán sang in 1985. “I was left like the orange vendor – peeling so someone else could suck the fruit.”

    To reclaim respect for bachata, some artists, such as Luis Segura and Leonardo Paniagua, in the mid-1980s began calling their music música de amargue, or “music of romantic bitterness.”

    What began as a genre label gradually transformed into a sensibility. “Amargue” came to name a feeling marked by longing, loss and quiet introspection – akin to “feeling the blues” in the U.S.

    American blues similarly emerged from the hardships faced by Black Americans in the South and expressed themes of sorrow, resilience and reflection.

    By the 1990s, the stigma surrounding bachata began to fade, partly due to the international success of Dominican star Juan Luis Guerra and his album Bachata Rosa. The album sold more than 5 million copies worldwide by 1994, earned Guerra a Grammy Award for best tropical Latin album, and was certified platinum in the U.S.

    As acceptance of the genre grew, traditional bachateros in the Dominican Republic continued releasing bachata albums. However, Dominican pop, rock and other artists also began recording bachatas – such as 1990’s “Yo Quiero Andar” by Sonia Silvestre and 1998’s “Bufeo” by Luis “El Terror” Días.

    Aventura performs for a crowd in Madrid in 2024. It was the group’s first tour since their split in 2011.
    Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images

    Bachata goes mainstream

    Migration to the U.S. is a pivotal chapter in Dominican history after the 1960s. The U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 functioned as a de facto immigration policy and encouraged a large-scale exodus from the Dominican Republic.

    By the mid-1990s, a strong and vibrant Dominican diaspora was firmly established in New York City. The Bronx became the birthplace of Grupo Aventura, a group that revolutionized bachata by blending its traditional rhythms with urban genres such as hip-hop.

    “Obsesión,” released in 2002, was an international hit.

    Their music reflected the bicultural diaspora, often torn between nostalgia for their homeland and everyday challenges of urban American life. Against the backdrop of city life, bachata found a new voice that mirrored the immigrant experience. The genre shifted from a shared feeling of loss and longing to a celebration of cultural community.

    In 2002, the song “Obsesión” by Aventura and featuring Judy Santos topped music charts in France, Germany, Italy, the U.S. and elsewhere. The group Aventura and, later, lead singer Romeo Santos as a solo artist sold out Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium, respectively.

    As they rose in fame, Aventura became global ambassadors for Dominican culture and made bachata mainstream.

    Puerto Rican bachatero Toby Love performs during an event held by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on April 9, 2016, in New York City.
    Andrew Renneisen via Getty Images

    Global spin on bachata

    Bachata’s popularity has also spread to other countries in Latin America, and especially among working-class and Afro-descendant communities in Central America that see their own realities reflected in the music.

    At the same time, Dominican diasporic communities in countries such as Spain and Italy carried the genre with them, where it continued to evolve.

    In Spain, for example, bachata experienced a creative transformation. By the mid-2000s, bachata sensual had emerged as a dance style influenced by zouk and tango, emphasizing smooth, body-led movements and close partner connection.

    Around the same time, modern bachata also developed between Spain and New York City. This style is a departure from traditional bachata, which focuses on the box step and fast footwork, and incorporates more turns and other elements from salsa.

    In 2019 bachata was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which also lists Jamaican reggae and Mexican mariachi.

    Today, bachata’s influence is truly global. International conferences dedicated to the genre attract dancers, musicians and scholars from around the world. Puerto Rican, Colombian and other artists from diverse cultural and racial backgrounds continue to nurture and reinvent bachata.

    At the same time, more women, such as Andre Veloz, Judy Santos and Leslie Grace, are building careers as bachata performers and challenging a traditionally male-dominated genre.

    Natti Natasha performs at an album release party for ‘En Amargue,’ her 2025 album produced by bachata icon and former Aventura singer Romeo Santos.
    John Parra/WireImage via Getty Images

    Bachata holds a place not only on the world stage but in the hearts of Latino, Black, Asian and many other communities in the U.S. that recognize the genre’s power to tell stories of love, loss, migration and resilience.

    Wilfredo José Burgos Matos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How bachata rose from Dominican Republic’s brothels and shantytowns to become a global sensation – https://theconversation.com/how-bachata-rose-from-dominican-republics-brothels-and-shantytowns-to-become-a-global-sensation-260886

    MIL OSI –

    July 26, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Trump’s push for more deportations could boost demand for foreign farmworkers with ‘guest worker’ visas

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Scott Morgenstern, Professor of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh

    Mexican farmworkers with H-2A visas weed a North Carolina tobacco field in 2016. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

    The U.S. has an important choice to make regarding agriculture.

    It can import more people to pick crops and do other kinds of agricultural labor, it can raise wages enough to lure more U.S. citizens and immigrants with legal status to take these jobs, or it can import more food. All three options contradict key Trump administration priorities: reducing immigration, keeping prices low and importing fewer goods and services.

    The big tax-and-spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, included US$170 billion to fund the detention and deportation of those living in the U.S. without authorization. And about 1 million of them work in agriculture, accounting for more than 40% of all farmworkers.

    As the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants ramps up, one emerging solution is to replace at least some deported farmworkers with foreigners who are given special visas that allow them to help with the harvest but require them to go home after their visas expire.

    Such “guest worker” programs have existed for decades, leading to today’s H-2A visa program. As of 2023, more than 310,000 foreigners, around 13% of the nation’s 2.4 million farmworkers, were employed through this program. About 90% of the foreign workers with these visas come from Mexico, and nearly all are men. The states where the largest numbers of them go are California, Florida, Georgia and Washington.

    As a professor of Latin American politics and U.S.-Latin American relations, I teach my students to consider the difficult trade-offs that governments face. If the Trump administration removes a significant share of the immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission from the agricultural labor force to try to meet its deportation goals, farm owners will have few options.

    Few options available

    First, farm owners could raise wages and improve working conditions enough to attract U.S. citizens and immigrants who are legal permanent residents or otherwise in the U.S. with legal status.

    But many agricultural employers say they can’t find enough people to hire who can legally work – at least without higher wages and much-improved job requirements. Without any undocumented immigrant farmworkers, the prices of U.S.-sourced crops and other agricultural products would spike, creating an incentive for more food to be imported.

    Second, farm owners could employ fewer people. That would require either growing different crops that require less labor or becoming more reliant on machinery to plant and harvest. But that would mean the U.S. could have to import more food. And automation for some crops is very expensive. For others, such as for berries, it’s currently impossible.

    It’s also possible that some farm owners could put their land to other uses, ceasing production, but that would also necessitate more imported food.

    Trump administration’s suggested fixes

    U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has predicted that farm owners will soon find plenty of U.S. citizens to employ.

    She declared on July 8 that the new Medicaid work requirements included in the same legislative package as the immigration enforcement funds would encourage huge numbers of U.S. citizens to start working in the fields instead of losing their health insurance through that government program.

    Farm trade groups say this scenario is far-fetched.

    For one thing, most adults enrolled in the Medicaid program who can work already do. Many others are unable to do so due to disabilities or caregiving obligations.

    Few people enrolled in Medicaid live close enough to a farm to work at one, and even those who do aren’t capable of doing farmwork. When farm owners tried putting people enrolled in a welfare program to work in the fields in the 1990s, it failed. Another experiment in the 1960s, which deployed teenagers, didn’t pan out either because the teens found the work too hard.

    It seems more likely that farm owners will try to hire many more foreign farmworkers to do temporary but legal jobs through the H-2A program.

    Although he has not made it an official policy, Trump seems to be moving toward this same conclusion.

    In June, for example, Trump said his administration was working on “some kind of a temporary pass” for immigrants lacking authorization to be in the U.S. who are working on farms and in hotels.

    Farmworkers with H-2A visas spend time in their employer-provided dormitory on April 28, 2020, in King City, Calif.
    Brent Stirton/Getty Images

    Established in 1952, numbers now rising quickly

    The guest worker system, established in 1952 and revised significantly in 1986, has become a mainstay of U.S. agriculture because it offers important benefits to both the farm owners who need workers and the foreign workers they hire.

    There is no cap on the number of potential workers. The number of H-2A visas issued is based only on how many employers request them. Farm owners may apply for visas after verifying that they are unable to locate enough workers who are U.S. citizens or present in the U.S. with authorization.

    To protect U.S. workers, the government mandates that H-2A workers earn an “adverse effect wage rate.” The Labor Department sets that hourly wage, which ranges from $10.36 in Puerto Rico to about $15 in several southern states, to more than $20 in California, Alaska and Hawaii. These wages are set at relatively high levels to avoid putting downward pressure on what other U.S. workers are paid for the same jobs.

    After certification, farm owners recruit workers in a foreign country who are offered a contract that includes transportation from their home country and a trip back – assuming they complete the contract.

    The program provides farm owners with a short-term labor force. It guarantees the foreign workers who obtain H-2A visas relatively high wages, as well as housing in the U.S. That combination has proven increasingly popular in recent years: The annual number of H-2A visas rose to 310,700 in 2023, a more than fivefold increase since 2010.

    Possible downsides

    Boosting the number of agricultural guest workers would help fill some gaps in the agricultural labor force and reduce the risk of crops going unharvested. But it seems clear to me that a sudden change would pose risks for workers and farm owners alike.

    Workers would be at risk because oversight of the H-2A program has historically been weak. Despite that lax track record, some unscrupulous farmers have been fined or barred from participating in the H-2A program because of unpaid wages and other abuses.

    Relying even more on guest farmworkers than the U.S. does today would also swap workers who have built lives and families north of the border with people who are in the U.S. on a temporary basis. Immigration opponents are unlikely to object to this trade-off, but to immigrant rights groups, this arrangement would be cruel and unfair to workers with years of service behind them.

    What’s more, the workers with guest visas can be at risk of exploitation and abuse. In 2022, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia described conditions for H-2A workers at an onion farm the government had investigated as “modern-day slavery.”

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has researched the H-2A visa program and observed many problems it recommends be fixed.

    For farm owners, the downside of ramping up guest worker programs is that it could increase costs and make production less efficient and more costly. That’s because transporting Mexican farmworkers back and forth each year is complicated and expensive. Farm groups say that compliance with H-2A visa requirements is cumbersome. It can be particularly difficult for small farms to participate in this program.

    Some farm owners have objected to the costs of employing H-2A workers. Rollins has said that the Trump administration believes that the mandatory wages are too high.

    To be sure, these problems aren’t limited to agriculture. Hotels, restaurants and other hospitality businesses, which rely heavily on undocumented workers, can also temporarily employ some foreigners through the H-2B visa program – which is smaller than the H-2A program, limits the number of visas issued and is available only for jobs considered seasonal.

    Home health care providers and many other kinds of employers who rely on people who can’t legally work for them could also struggle. But so far, there is no temporary visa program available to help them fill those gaps.

    If the U.S. does deport millions of workers, the price of tomatoes, elder care, restaurant meals and roof repairs would probably rise substantially. A vast increase in the number of guest workers is a potential but partial solution, but it would multiply problems that are inherent in these temporary visa programs.

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

    – ref. Trump’s push for more deportations could boost demand for foreign farmworkers with ‘guest worker’ visas – https://theconversation.com/trumps-push-for-more-deportations-could-boost-demand-for-foreign-farmworkers-with-guest-worker-visas-259868

    MIL OSI –

    July 26, 2025
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