UN envoy for Cyprus pushes for trust-building measures ahead of talks

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A newly appointed U.N. envoy for Cyprus said Saturday she’ll work hard to ensure concrete progress in measures to build trust between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in hopes of reviving moribund talks to heal the island nation's half-century ethnic division.

Maria Angela Holguin said her weeklong stay in Cyprus aims to generate tangible results ahead of a July meeting in Geneva that will bring together U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, along with top diplomats from Greece, Turkey and the U.K.

Negotiations have been stalled since 2017.

Trust-building measures include talks on opening new crossing points along a 180-kilometer (120-mile) U.N. control buffer zone that divides a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north from a Greek Cypriot south, where the internationally-recognized government is seated.

Other measures that Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar agreed to implement in front of Guterres during a March meeting in Geneva included work on a photovoltaic park inside the buffer zone, demining and restoration work on cemeteries on either side of the divide.

Cyprus was split in 1974, when Turkey invaded following a coup by Athens junta-backed supporters of uniting the island with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and maintains more than 35,000 troops in the island’s northern third.

Holguin said Guterres “continues to push” for a resumption of Cyprus peace talks. But that prospect faces a difficult hurdle in the form of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot insistence on a peace deal based on two equal states, instead of a federation composed of Greek and Turkish speaking zones that formed the basis of decades of U.N.-mediated negotiations.

While Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots say the federation idea is now bankrupt, Greek Cypriots say they won’t assent to any accord that formally partitions the island, allows for a permanent Turkish troop presence, gives Turkey rights to militarily intervene and offers the minority Turkish Cypriots a veto right on all government decisions.

Cyprus government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said despite any hurdles, the fact of Holguin’s appointment indicates that the U.N. consider the resumption of peace talks “completely feasible.”

U.N. chief's personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, left, and Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides talk during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

U.N. chief's personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, arrives for a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

U.N. chief's personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, arrives for a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

U.N. chief's personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar talks with the Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

U.N. chief's personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, left, talks with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Men who were part of the group of Venezuelan migrants that the United States government transferred earlier this year to a prison in El Salvador demanded justice on Friday, days after a federal judge in Washington ruled that the Trump administration must give them legal due process.

The men told reporters in Venezuela’s capital that they hope legal organizations can push their claims in court. Their press conference was organized by Venezuela’s government, which had previously said it had retained legal services for the immigrants.

On Monday, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government to give legal due process to the 252 Venezuelan men, either by providing court hearings or returning them to the U.S. The ruling opens a path for the men to challenge the Trump administration’s allegation that they are members of the Tren de Aragua gang and subject to removal under an 18th century wartime law.

The men have repeatedly said they were physically and psychologically tortured while at the notorious Salvadoran prison.

“Today, we are here to demand justice before the world for the human rights violations committed against each of us, and to ask for help from international organizations to assist us in our defense so that our human rights are respected and not violated again,” Andry Blanco told reporters in Caracas, where roughly two dozen of the migrants gathered Friday.

Some of the men shared the daily struggles they now face — including fear of leaving their home or encountering law enforcement — as a consequence of what they said were brutal abuses while in prison. The men did not specify what justice should look like in their case, but not all are interested in returning to the U.S.

“I don’t trust them,” Nolberto Aguilar said of the U.S. government.

The men were flown to El Salvador in March. They were sent to their home country in July as part of a prisoner swap between the Trump administration and the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Camilla Fabri, Venezuelan vice minister of foreign affairs for international communications, said Maduro's government is working with a bar association in the U.S. and “all human rights organizations to prepare a major lawsuit against Trump and the United States government, so that they truly acknowledge all the crimes they have committed against” the men.

Tito Martinez, a Venezuelan migrant sent by the U.S. to El Salvador and later deported to Venezuela, walks with his family after reading a statement at a government building in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Arturo Suarez, a Venezuelan migrant sent by the U.S. to El Salvador and later deported to Venezuela, walks with his family after reading a statement at a government building in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)