International
Argentine ex-policeman jailed for student’s disappearance in 1976
| By AFP |
A former Argentine police officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for the torture and disappearance of a student 46 years ago under the South American country’s last military dictatorship.
Mario Sandoval, 69, stood accused of having participated in hundreds of abductions, torture and disappearances committed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.
He was extradited from France in 2019 after a long period of exile and a legal battle, and put on trial for only one such case: the death of then 24-year-old architecture student and left-wing activist Hernan Abriata in 1976.
Sandoval was found guilty of “illegitimate deprivation of liberty” and “torture” of a political prisoner. He participated in the sentencing proceedings from his cell in a military prison.
Sandoval is accused of having been one of the most active agents of the notorious Navy Mechanics School (ESMA), which served as the country’s largest detention and torture facility.
Some 5,000 people were sent there and most disappeared, taken by airplane on “death flights” and dumped into the River Plate. Only about 100 people detained in ESMA survived.
Survivors say Sandoval, apparently given the nickname “grilled steak” for torturing prisoners tied to a metal bed frame with electricity, was particularly active in the ESMA. He has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.
Sandoval fled to France in 1985, two years after the military junta fell, and built a new life there as a defense and security consultant.
He taught at the Sorbonne and the Institute of Higher Latin American Studies in Paris.
He was discovered by a student at the Sorbonne after ex-ESMA prisoners recognized him from photos.
Sandoval was arrested at his home in the Paris suburbs.
Although he gained French nationality in 1997, Argentina successfully obtained Sandoval’s extradition as he was not French at the time of the alleged crimes.
He had unsuccessfully petitioned France’s Council of State in a bid to prevent his extradition. France agreed to his extradition to stand trial only in the Abriata case.
Since the prosecution of dictatorship figures resumed in 2006 after a decade of controversial amnesties, more than 1,000 people have been convicted of crimes against humanity.
Cases and investigations are ongoing against about another 500 people.
International
Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been diagnosed with skin cancer while serving a historic sentence for attempting a coup d’état. His medical team confirmed that the lesions have been removed and that, for now, he does not require further procedures, though he will need regular monitoring.
On Wednesday, September 17, Bolsonaro’s doctors confirmed the diagnosis. The announcement comes shortly after the former leader was convicted of orchestrating an attempted coup.
According to his physician, Claudio Birolini, Bolsonaro has “squamous cell carcinoma, which is neither the most benign nor the most aggressive form — it is intermediate.” Birolini warned, however, that this type of skin cancer “can carry more serious consequences.”
International
Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
Argentine President Javier Milei praised Paraguay’s economic growth over the past two decades during a speech before the Paraguayan Congress on Wednesday (Sept. 17, 2025), crediting it to incentives that favored capitalism. At the same time, he contrasted that progress with what he described as Argentina’s deepening “decline” during the same period.
“If we compare the last 20 years of Paraguay with those of the Argentine Republic, we will find almost diametrically opposite results,” Milei told lawmakers during a special session of Parliament on the second and final day of his official visit to Asunción.
“While you have not stopped growing, we have deepened our decline. If we understand incentives as the engine of capitalism, Paraguay focused on preserving and strengthening them, while Argentina dedicated itself to chaining, directing, and suffocating them,” the right-wing leader stated.
International
Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump intensified a large-scale immigration operation in the Chicago area with the arrival of additional Border Patrol agents on Tuesday and the presence of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem during a raid.
Noem posted a video on her X account showing the immigration operation, in which DHS reportedly removed “violent criminals” from the streets. The footage shows Noem observing the arrest of a man taken into custody at his home early Tuesday morning at an undisclosed location.
“I was in Chicago today to make it clear that we will not back down,” the secretary wrote. “Our work is just beginning,” she added.
The warning from Noem was echoed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Gregory Bovino, who posted a video on X Tuesday showing multiple Border Patrol vehicles arriving in the city with the caption: “Chicago, we are here!”
Bovino, who led the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles implemented since last June, said the team will remain in Chicago to continue the mission they started in California.
Operation “Midway Blitz” is currently focused on the Chicago metropolitan area and its suburbs. Activists and residents have reported sightings of masked agents and unmarked vehicles in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.
Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction
Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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