International
Bolivian Public Prosecutor’s Office requests 20 years in prison for Jeanine Áñez
December 27 |
Bolivia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office presented on Tuesday the formal accusation against the ex-civic Luis Fernando Camacho, the former de facto president, Jeanine Áñez, and six other defendants for the violent actions that resulted in the ouster of former president Evo Morales from power in 2019.
As part of the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the formal accusation was also made for the former Potosí civic official Marco Pumari, the former Minister of Defense, Luis Fernando López, the former commanders of the Armed Forces Williams Kaliman and of the Police Yuri Calderón, as well as the former inspector of the Armed Forces, Jorge Fernández, and the former commander of the armed institution, Carlos Orellana.
The agency requested a 20-year prison sentence for Luis Fernando Camacho and three other defendants. Camacho has been in preventive detention since December 28, 2022 in the maximum security prison of Chonchocoro in La Paz, for the “Coup d’Etat I” case. López, Kaliman and Calderón are fugitives from justice.
Prosecutor Omar Mejillones communicated the presentation of the formal accusation after the investigative process was carried out, in which evidentiary elements were gathered, such as the bank movements of Luis Fernando Camacho during the 2019 conflict, as well as the statement of assistant Williams Kaliman, who denounced the links with Luis Fernando López.
The Prosecutor’s Office also provided evidence in which Luis Fernando Camacho revealed in a video that his father, José Luis, arranged with military and police officers not to support Evo Morales. Previously, the police officers, in charge of internal security, were insubordinate and the military leadership suggested Morales to abandon the responsibility.
Likewise, 131 declarations of witnesses who participated in meetings and actions during the conflicts of 2019 were contributed to the process, as well as declarations of the accused.
The prosecution has 133 pieces of documentary evidence, including forensic technical reports, hotel invoices, bank statements of money transfers, official letters, responses from State institutions to fiscal requirements, and other evidentiary elements that support the formal accusation.
According to the investigation, it was reported that Jeanine Áñez and Marco Pumari are in preventive detention.
In the case of Áñez, she has an executed sentence of 10 years for the case of Coup d’Etat II or the way in which she took power, in sessions of the Senate and the Legislative Assembly without quorum and outside the line of succession.
The former deputy of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), Lidia Patty, at the end of 2020, filed the accusation to which the Ministry of Government was added. The formal accusation leads to the criminal trial for crimes such as terrorism, which has a sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison, financing of terrorism, active bribery, seduction of troops, public incitement to commit a crime, criminal association and improper use of public goods and services.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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
-
Central America4 days agoCosta Rica faces historic vote on lifting presidential immunity for Rodrigo Chaves
-
International2 days agoIsrael says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
-
International4 days agoTrump administration blasts judge’s ruling reinstating TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
-
International4 days agoStudy finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
-
International1 day agoU.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
-
International2 days agoSeven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
-
International1 day ago
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction