The Week That Was: Global News in Review
Foreign Policy #197 | By Ibrahim Castro | April 16, 2025
Presidential Elections in Ecuador
Supporters of President Daniel Noboa celebrate early returns showing him in the lead in the presidential election runoff in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. Carlos Noriega/AP
Ecuador President Daniel Noboa has been declared winner of the country’s presidential election, over Luisa González, a protégé of Ecuador’s left-wing former President Rafael Correa. Gonzalez offered an alternative model for security based on what her party described as “prevention, violence reduction and coexistence”. Noboa narrowly beat Ms. González in the first round in February but did not reach the 50 percent threshold required to avoid a second round. Polls show Sunday’s election as a standoff. In the past five years, Ecuador has experienced an explosion in violence linked to drug trafficking. Its justice system is plagued by overcrowding, corruption and has become fertile ground for prison gangs allied with international drug cartels. Noboa declared a state of internal armed conflict last year to address the escalating violence and prison riots, authorizing the military to patrol both the streets and prisons. His victory means he now has a full four year mandate to continue his self-described “war” on narco gangs. He recently signed a security agreement with Erik Prince, the founder of the former U.S. mercenary contractor Blackwater and has proposed changing the constitution to allow foreign military bases in the country again.
Russian Missile Strikes Continue Against Ukraine
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/bded/live/35ee3260-19c5-11f0-a455-cf1d5f751d2f.jpg.webp
Two Russian ballistic missiles slammed into the heart of the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy last week, killing 34 people and wounding 117 in the deadliest strike on Ukraine this year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded a tough international response against Moscow over the attack. Many European leaders condemned the latest attacks. NATO secretary general Mark Rutte visited the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and declared unwavering support for Ukraine. US president Donald Trump, when asked about the Russian strike, commented that “I was told they made a mistake… but it’s terrible”. Zelensky called on the United States to provide forces as part of an international peacekeeping effort, specifically asking for Washington to help protect Ukrainian airspace with aircraft. A request that is unlikely to be fulfilled as analysts worry that, as the United States attempts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, it is set to reward Moscow with territorial and security concessions at Ukraine’s expense.
War in Sudan Nears its Third Anniversary
Fire rages in a livestock market area in al-Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, in 2023 in the aftermath of bombardment by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.AFP – Getty Images
Sudan plunged into civil war on April 15, 2023 after tensions between the Sudanese paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the country’s military boiled over. The fighting began in the capital Khartoum and quickly spread across the country. The conflict has pushed many parts of the country into famine and displaced more than 14 million people from their homes. Many have fled into neighboring countries such as South Sudan, Chad and Egypt. The World Food Program estimates that nearly 25 million people or half of Sudan’s population, face extreme hunger.
Recently the Sudanese government appealed to the International Criminal Court for a case of genocide against the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The claim is that the RSF is responsible for serious human rights violations including mass killings, rape and the forced displacement of the non-Arab Masalit people in West Darfur. The application claims the UAE “is complicit in the genocide of the Masalit people through its direction and provision of extensive financial, political, and military support for the rebel RSF militia”.
International Travel to the US Declines
Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez April 15, 2024 (Getty Images)
According to a recent report by the research firm Tourism Economics, inbound travel to the US is projected to decline by 5.5% this year, instead of growing by 9% as had previously been forecast. Dissuaded by reports of tourists being arrested at the border, Trump’s rhetoric, tariffs and threats of invasions, some citizens of other countries are staying away from the US and choosing to travel elsewhere. Some of the steepest declines in tourism stem from Canada, where Trump’s repeated suggestion that the country should become the 51st state and tariffs have angered Canadian residents. Canada was the largest source of visitors to the US in 2024, with more than 20.2 million. Airline bookings from Canada to the US have sunk 70%compared to the same period last year. Air Canada has reportedly reduced its schedule of spring flights due to lack of demand. The 2024 reelection of Donald Trump and the consequential changes in foreign policy and diplomacy, alongside internal turmoil, has started to change global attitudes towards America, and this shift in attitude has begun affecting tourists’ desire to travel to the United States.