Ecuador’s navy circles a Chinese fishing vessel suspected of fishing illegally (Image: Alamy)
On a sunny day in June 2019, the seven crew members of the artisanal fishing boat Mercedes Rosario spotted big international vessels off Peru’s Pacific coast. Captain Jorge Jacinto Galán decided to anchor nearby and wait for nightfall, when these vessels turn on their powerful lights to attract Humboldt squid in large numbers.
“These boats were 50 miles off the coast of Callao,” Jacinto recalls, well within Peru’s 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which foreign vessels cannot enter without permission.
Jacinto, who is also the president of the Association of Shipowners and Artisanal Fishermen of San José, recorded the encounter in two photographs that he later showed at a meeting with Peruvian authorities. The vessels did not carry flags, Jacinto said, a practice common among vessels suspected of engaging in illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU) fishing.
5:37 AM MYT SANTIAGO, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) The Chilean government confirmed on Tuesday the country s first case of the new coronavirus strain found in the United Kingdom. The Chilean Undersecretary of Public Health, Paula Daza, said at a press conference that on Dec. 22, a Chilean passenger arrived on a flight from Madrid of Spain, and tested positive after taking a COVID-19 PCR test at the airport. She spent a week in London visiting relatives and on Dec. 23, she tested positive, the official said. After further analysis, it was determined that she carried the new coronavirus strain, which UK authorities say is transmitted more easily and quickly.
ESO Director General awarded Order of Bernardo O’Higgins
On behalf of the Organisation, Xavier Barcons was honoured with an important award by the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs
16 December 2020
On Friday 11 December, ESO Director General Xavier Barcons received the Order of Bernardo O’Higgins Grand Cross, at a ceremony chaired by Carolina Valdivia, the Chilean Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs.
The Order Bernardo O’Higgins is a recognition by the Chilean State for foreign citizens’ outstanding work in the fields of art, science, education, industry, commerce or humanitarian or social cooperation.
During the ceremony, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Barcons received the award for paving new ways towards a deeper understanding between Chile and ESO.