内容摘要：Catholicism is thought to be on the decline in Latin America. A survey from the public opinion firm Latinobarometro found that, from 1995 to 2024, the number of self-identified Catholics slipped from about 80 percent to 54.

Catholicism is thought to be on the decline in Latin America. A survey from the public opinion firm Latinobarometro found that, from 1995 to 2024, the number of self-identified Catholics slipped from about 80 percent to 54.

“This network of military routes is clearly visible in the Jenin refugee camp and evidence indicates that the same tactic is, at the time of publication, being repeated in the Nur Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps,” the report’s authors noted.Israeli ministers have previously stated that they planned to use the same methods in the West Bank that have destroyed the Gaza Strip, leading to more than 54,000 Palestinians killed and the majority of buildings damaged or destroyed.

Defence Minister Israel Katzsaid Israel would apply the “lesson” of “repeated raids in Gaza” to the Jenin refugee camp. The following month, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has control over much of the administration of the West Bank,“Tulkarem and Jenin will look like Jabalia and Shujayea. Nablus and Ramallah will resemble Rafah and Khan Younis,” comparing refugee camps in the West Bank to areas in Gaza that have been devastated by Israeli bombing and ground offensives.

“They will also be turned into uninhabitable ruins, and their residents will be forced to migrate and seek a new life in other countries,” Smotrich said.Hamze Attar, a Luxembourg-based defence analyst, told Al Jazeera these tactics are not new in Palestinian territory, having first been deployed by the British during their mandate over historic Palestine, which preceded Israel’s foundation in 1948.

“It’s part of the “counterinsurgency” strategy,” he said. “Bigger roads [mean] easy access to forces – bigger roads, less congested battle management; bigger roads, less ability for fighters to escape from house to house.”

Displacing the displacedFor the majority of Venezuelans like Rivas, that territory — roughly the size of Florida — belongs to their country.

But Venezuela's neighbour Guyana, a former British colony, has administered the region for over a century. It claims Essequibo as its own.As Venezuela prepares for parliamentary and regional elections on May 25, that longstanding territorial dispute has returned to the spotlight. For the first time, Venezuela will elect representatives not only for its 23 recognised states but also for a new state: Guayana Esequiba.

Rivas is standing as a candidate. He’s running on behalf of the socialist coalition led by President Nicolas Maduro.Eight seats in Venezuela's National Assembly have been assigned to Essequibo. But neither Rivas nor any of the other candidates can campaign there.