El 90% de las muestras de agua analizadas en ríos y esteros de la provincia amazónica de Napo presenta niveles de toxicidad que evidencian un escenario de contaminación crónica, una de las alertas ambientales más graves registradas en esta región del Ecuador.

El dato se desprende de un estudio académico local y se produce en un contexto de expansión sostenida de la minería legal e ilegal en la cuenca del río Napo, uno de los principales afluentes del Amazonas.

Un estudio realizado por investigadores de la Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam determinó que cerca del 90% de las muestras analizadas demostraron toxicidad, lo que indica una exposición continua a contaminantes y no episodios aislados. El informe advierte que metales pesados como cobre, hierro, plomo, aluminio y manganeso superan los límites permitidos para la preservación de la vida acuática, comprometiendo la salud de los ecosistemas fluviales y de las comunidades que dependen directamente de estos ríos.

Un reportaje de Dialogue Earth señala que uno de los indicadores más críticos es la ausencia de macroinvertebrados acuáticos en el 35% de los puntos muestreados. Estos organismos son considerados bioindicadores esenciales para evaluar la calidad del agua. Su desaparición sugiere un deterioro severo del sistema ecológico, con efectos directos sobre la cadena alimenticia y la biodiversidad de la Amazonía ecuatoriana.

La contaminación está estrechamente vinculada a la actividad minera que se ha intensificado en Napo durante la última década. De acuerdo con Dialogue Earth, la superficie dedicada a la minería en la provincia creció más de 200 veces en 24 años, pasando de 2,6 hectáreas en 1996 a más de 550 hectáreas en 2020, según datos del Proyecto de Monitoreo de la Amazonía Andina (MAAP). Gran parte de esta actividad es artesanal o semimecanizada, con altos impactos ambientales y escasos controles.

Otro reportaje de GK, publicado a inicios de febrero de 2026, contextualiza este escenario al detallar que el Ministerio de Energía y Ambiente resolvió suspender toda actividad minera en Napo tras reconocer afectaciones ambientales asociadas a la minería ilegal en la cuenca del río Napo. Según GK, la resolución ordena detener la extracción en concesiones cercanas al río y responde a la contaminación visual, la alteración del cauce y la presencia de metales pesados en el agua.

Sin embargo, GK advierte que esta no es la primera vez que se anuncia una suspensión. En 2022, tras denuncias ciudadanas en sectores como Yutzupino, se incautaron cerca de 150 retroexcavadoras utilizadas en minería ilegal. Pese a ello, las promesas de remediación ambiental no se cumplieron y, tres años después, no existen procesos efectivos de restauración ni sentencias judiciales definitivas. Según testimonios recogidos por el medio, la actividad minera no se detuvo, sino que se desplazó hacia otras zonas de la provincia.

El impacto ya es visible en la vida cotidiana de las comunidades indígenas y rurales. De acuerdo con el medio ecuatoriano, pobladores de sectores como Capirona y Ahuano reportan que ríos antes cristalinos se tornaron turbios, dejaron de tener peces y ya no pueden ser utilizados para consumo o higiene. Algunas comunidades dependen actualmente del abastecimiento de agua mediante tanqueros, pese a vivir rodeadas de ríos.

A este deterioro ambiental se suma un componente de inseguridad. Dialogue Earth documenta que la minería ilegal en Napo ha comenzado a operar bajo esquemas de control territorial, con presencia de grupos armados que custodian las zonas de extracción y amenazan a quienes intentan registrar la actividad. Líderes comunitarios y activistas citados por el medio advierten que la minería se ha entrelazado con estructuras del crimen organizado, agravando la violencia en una provincia que concentra cerca del 70% de las áreas protegidas del país.

A progressive candidate backed by champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is close to pulling off an upset victory with votes still being counted in a Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey.

Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, has a slight lead — nearly 900 votes out of more than 63,000 votes counted — ahead of former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the battle for their party’s nomination in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

Mejia and Malinowski are the leaders among a field of 11 Democratic candidates in the race to fill the seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning the November 2025 gubernatorial election in the Garden State.

The results in the primary showdown are being closely watched by the political world as an early testing ground in the debate between progressives versus the more mainstream elements of the Democratic Party.

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And a victory by Mejia, who worked as national political director on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, would be the latest boost for the left against the establishment since now-New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

«She stands for a progressive populist economic agenda,» progressive leader Rep. Ro Khanna of California emphasized Friday in a social media post. «She is the future!» 

And Mejia, speaking to supporters on primary night, highlighted that «we have to rebuild our party, we have to rebuild what is happening in our nation. We have to reclaim our democracy. We know that our economy is rigged to suit the billionaires.»

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Here’s a closer look at where Mejia stands on some key issues.

Immigration enforcement

During her primary campaign, Mejia took aim at President Donald Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration and has called for scrapping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency most visible in the aggressive tactics used in the administration’s massive deportation effort.

«I say abolish ICE now,» Mejia said on the campaign trail in January. «You can’t reform it. It’s not fixable. Get it out.» 

Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia of New Jersey has called for the scrapping of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Speaking with reporters Friday about her overperformance in the primary, Mejia gave credit to her stance on immigration in the wake of backlash against the Trump administration following the fatal shootings in Minnesota by federal agents of two U.S. citizens protesting immigration operations.

«I think the fact that I was bold and unafraid to speak the truth was incredibly important,» she told reporters. «I think voters feel that they want to have a representative that actually represents them, and they cannot watch what’s happening in Minnesota, what happened in Chicago, what happened in California, what happened in Morristown across this district.» 

Supreme Court

Mejia, like many on the left, has railed against rulings by the conservative-dominated court.

«The Supreme Court has been captured by right-wing radicals who care more about doing Trump’s bidding than the rule of law,» Mejia charges on her campaign website.

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She supports «articles of impeachment against Justices Thomas and Alito» for what she says is «their corruption and conflicts of interest.»

Mejia also backs «term limits for newly appointed Supreme Court justices, a binding code of ethics with real enforcement for all federal judges.»

Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia of New Jersey supports term-limits for newly appointed justices on the Supreme Court. (Valerie Plesch/picture alliance via Getty Images)

And Mejia says she would support «expanding the courts if necessary to restore balance.»

Student loan debt

On her campaign website, Mejia states, «We’re going to cancel all student loan debt.»

And she pledges that she’ll «fight to make college tuition free at community colleges and trade schools for everyone.»

Taxes and minimum wage

As part of her «economy for everyone agenda,» Mejia argues, «If you work 40 hours a week, you should make at least $40,000 a year, and you shouldn’t pay a dime in federal taxes on that first $40,000.»

And she highlights that she helped lead the fight in New Jersey to «win the $15 minimum wage.»

If she makes it to Congress, Mejia says, «with the cost of living rising every day, it’s time to raise the minimum wage at the national level to $25/hour.»

Israel

Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in former President Barack Obama’s administration who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day.

But Malinowski was the target of a slew of attack ads put out by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which opposed Malinowski because he said he supports conditions on aid to Israel.

Tom Malinowski was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day. (Michael Karas / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The AIPAC-aligned super PAC United Democracy Project dished out more than $2.3 million to take aim at Malinowski, even though AIPAC had previously supported Malinowski in his past congressional elections.

But the strategy may backfire, because Mejia is much tougher on Israel than Malinowski.

Mejia was the only candidate in the race who raised her hand at a forum in January when asked if they agreed with human rights groups who charge Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in its war with Hamas in Gaza.

Mejia was boosted by the support on the left. Sanders headlined a virtual rally for her on the eve of the primary.

And besides Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, she also was endorsed by a large list of other progressive leaders, including Khanna, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Pramilla Jayapal of Washington State, the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

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The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) a leading group on the left, said in a statement that «Analilia Mejia’s momentous showing proves that voters, when given a choice, want Democrats with an inspiring vision who will boldly challenge powerful interests on behalf of working families.»

PCCC co-founder Adam Green, a New Jersey native who knocked doors for Mejia and spoke at a rally with Mejia and Sanders on primary eve, added that primary voters «made clear they want Democrats who will shake up a broken political and economic system – not just be anti-Trump.»

While Mejia was the clear choice of the left flank of the party’s base, the rest of the field appeared to divide the more moderate and center-left vote.

The primary winner will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held April 16.

Hathaway will be considered the underdog in the race, in the suburban district in northern New Jersey.

Sherrill won re-election in the district in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she carried the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown.

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But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat.

The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House of Representatives.

María Corina Machado said Monday that a Venezuelan opposition leader was seized in Caracas shortly after being released from jail.

Machado wrote in a post on X that Juan Pablo Guanipa, a key ally, was kidnapped by heavily armed men in civilian clothing in the Los Chorros area of the capital.

«We demand his immediate release,» she said.

Alfredo Romero, the president of the Venezuelan human rights group Foro Penal, said 35 political prisoners were released on Sunday, including Guanipa, who was initially arrested in May.

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Reuters reported that Venezuelan authorities were seeking court approval to place Guanipa under house arrest.

The country’s Public Ministry alleged that he violated the terms of his release but provided no additional details and did not say whether he had been re-arrested.

Guanipa’s Primero Justicia party said on X that he was forced into a silver Toyota Corolla during the incident.

Juan Pablo Guanipa, opposition leader and recently released from prison, visits relatives of political prisoners near the El Helicoide detention center in Caracas on Feb. 8, 2026. (Jesus Vargas/picture alliance via Getty Images)

«We hold Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge Rodríguez, and Diosdado Cabello responsible for any harm to Juan Pablo’s life,» the party wrote. «We call on the international community for the immediate release of Juan Pablo Guanipa and for an immediate and unconditional end to the persecution of the opposition.»

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Rodríguez has been serving as the interim president of Venezuela since the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores earlier this year.

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez speaks during the presentation of the 2025 budget bill at the National Assembly in Caracas on Dec. 3, 2024. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

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In late January, President Donald Trump said Venezuela was releasing political prisoners at a «rapid rate,» praising the move as a «powerful humanitarian gesture» by the country’s leadership.

An estimated 687 political prisoners remain in custody in Venezuela as of Feb. 2, according to Foro Penal.