International
Argentine president testifies for deputy in corruption trial
AFP
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez came to the defense Tuesday of his deputy Cristina Kirchner, testifying in a trial for alleged corruption committed when she was at the country’s helm from 2007 to 2015.
Fernandez appeared as a defense witness in a court in Buenos Aires, giving evidence of events that occurred when Kirchner was president and he her chief of staff.
The president could have provided testimony in writing, but opted to attend the hearing in person in what is interpreted as a show of support for his deputy.
The partnership of Fernandez and Kirchner was severely tested when their center-left Frente de Todos (Everyone’s Front) coalition suffered a battering in parliamentary primary elections in September.
Kirchner pressured her boss into a cabinet reshuffle in the hopes of appeasing an electorate increasingly frustrated with escalating economic woes.
But in a vote in November, their coalition lost control of the Senate — the upper house of Congress. The lower house was already in opposition control.
The pair have a bit more than a year left in office until the next presidential election in 2023.
– Several investigations –
Kirchner is on trial for the alleged fraudulent awarding of public works contracts in her fiefdom in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, which allegedly benefited businessman Lazaro Baez.
Prosecutors say Baez overcharged for the projects, several of which remain unfinished.
Kirchner, 68, is the target of about a dozen investigations for crimes including bribe-taking, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Some cases have been thrown out, but at least five are at the trial phase.
She claims political persecution and abuse of a politicized and right-leaning judicial system that her and Fernandez’s coalition have set out to reform.
Fernandez told the court Tuesday there had been no “arbitrary” spending under Kirchner’s presidency.
“Those decisions that were made in budgetary matters and in public works, were never arbitrary,” he testified.
Asked about decisions made to benefit Baez, Fernandes replied: “I am not aware that this is the case.”
He also argued it was impossible for a president to know the nitty gritty of each spending decision.
Fernandez left the court after three hours, without talking to waiting journalists.
Last year, a court dismissed a case alleging that Kirchner, as president, had obstructed an investigation into an attack on a Jewish center in 1994 that killed 85 people.
International
Erin brings strong winds and storm surge despite weakening offshore
Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday but continues to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. East Coast with potentially dangerous flooding, according to meteorologists.
Although the hurricane’s eye is expected to remain offshore, experts are concerned about Erin’s size, as strong winds extend hundreds of kilometers beyond the storm’s center.
In its 18:00 GMT bulletin, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) lifted tropical storm warnings for the Bahamasand Turks and Caicos Islands, but kept them in effect for parts of North Carolina.
Erin was located several hundred kilometers southeast of North Carolina and was moving northwestward.
“This means there is a risk of potentially life-threatening flooding of 60 to 120 centimeters above ground level,” said NHC Director Michael Brennan.
He also warned of the possibility of destructive waves, combined with storm surge, that could cause severe damage to beaches and coastal areas, making roads impassable.
International
Three U.S. Warships deploy near Venezuela to combat drug trafficking
Three U.S. naval vessels are moving toward the coasts of Venezuela, according to international media reports on Tuesday, after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump is ready to combat and curb international drug trafficking.
Reports indicate that the ships will reach Venezuelan waters within the next 36 hours as part of a recent U.S. deployment aimed at countering international narcotics operations.
The announcement coincides with Leavitt’s statement that Trump is prepared to “use the full extent of his power” to halt drug flows into the United States. The naval deployment involves approximately 4,000 military personnel.
“The President has been clear and consistent. He is ready to use every element of U.S. power to prevent drugs from flooding our country and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela—it is a narco-terror cartel,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
International
Cuban authorities free salvadoran convicted in 1997 hotel bombing
Salvadoran national Otto René Rodríguez Llerena was released after serving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a terrorist attack at a hotel in Cuba in 1997, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
During his trial, Rodríguez Llerena admitted to placing an explosive device at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel under the orders of anti-Castro exile leaders. He was arrested the following year when he returned to Havana with another load of explosives that failed to detonate.
“The Cuban government reiterates its commitment to combating terrorism, respecting human rights, and the need for the international community to hold accountable those who promote such acts,” the statement read.
He was released on August 15 and is the second Salvadoran to complete his sentence. In December of last year, another Salvadoran, Ernesto Cruz León, was released after planting bombs at tourist centers, one of which killed an Italian tourist identified as Fabio Di Celmo.
A third Salvadoran, Francisco Chávez Abarca, also received a 30-year sentence from Cuban courts in 2010 after being extradited from Venezuela through Interpol for actions against Cuba.
Rodríguez Llerena had requested conditional release in 2016, arguing that his actions had not caused any direct fatalities, but no further information was released about his situation until now.
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