Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos sent a letter to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, in which he assures that the peace agreement signed in 2016 with the then FARC guerrillas does not contemplate a Constituent Assembly, as the current Government defends.
“No one apart from the Final Agreement proposes or insinuates that the rules established in the current Constitution may be unknown in the future,” Santos (2010-2018) said in the letter dated May 31.
Ten days ago, in a public event in Popayán, capital of the department of Cauca (southwest), the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, said that the peace agreement with the FARC has the strength to convene a Constituent Assembly that would allow him to make the social reforms that Congress has not approved.
Petro also said on May 14 that he will denounce to the UN that the Colombian State, which he represents, does not comply with the peace agreement with the FARC and predicted that this may lead to “bloodsheds.”
In his letter to Guterres, Santos reminds him that on March 29, 2017, he sent the full text of the peace agreement to the UN in which he referred “expressly to the principle of good faith, of enormous importance in the interpretation and application” of the agreement.
Advertisement
20260330_renta_mh_728x90
20250701_dengue_728x90
20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90
20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90
20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90
20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL
“I emphasize this because Colombian officials and former officials have attributed to some paragraphs of the agreement a meaning that is contrary to its object, scope and purpose, which is possibly incompatible with the principle of good faith,” adds the former president.
According to Santos, the peace agreement, “far from providing for extra-institutional mechanisms or seeking to circumvent the procedures established in the Constitution of Colombia,” was ratified by the Senate and the House of Representatives on November 29 and 30, 2016, respectively.
“The Constitutional Court reviewed the compatibility with the Constitution not only of the laws that developed the agreement, but also of the constitutional reforms, in accordance with the constitutional rules and doctrines commonly accepted in that matter in Colombia, a country that prides itself on a more than a century-old tradition of respect for the principle of constitutional supremacy,” Santos adds in the letter.
After pointing out that “the letter and spirit of the agreement have been attempted to be unknown,” Santos recalls that the former president of the Spanish Government Felipe González and the former Uruguayan president Pepe Mujica, who exercised the function of “notable verifiers” of the peace agreement, “are totally in agreement with the spirit and content of this communication.”
Therefore, it concludes with the request to Guterres to communicate the content of the letter to the UN Security Council and to insist, “once again and hopefully more forcefully, on the need to implement the peace agreement.”
Mexico Arrests CJNG Leader “El Jardinero” in Nayarit
Mexican authorities arrested Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero,” on Monday during a naval operation in the western state of Nayarit, delivering another major blow to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).
Flores was considered one of the top regional leaders within the cartel and had reportedly overseen criminal operations along Mexico’s Pacific coast. Security analysts viewed him as a potential successor to slain drug kingpin Nemesio Oseguera.
The arrest was carried out by Mexico’s Navy Special Forces in a planned operation, according to Security Minister Omar García Harfuch.
The United States Department of the Treasury had previously identified Flores as a “significant foreign narcotics trafficker,” while U.S. authorities offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture and extradition.
A U.S. grand jury indicted Flores in 2021 on charges including conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin.
Advertisement
20260330_renta_mh_728x90
20250701_dengue_728x90
20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90
20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90
20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90
20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL
His capture comes months after the reported death of “El Mencho,” an operation that Mexican authorities considered a priority due to the cartel leader’s alleged involvement in a 2020 assassination attempt against García Harfuch.
Suspect Armed With Shotgun and Knives Detained at White House Correspondents Dinner
U.S. authorities confirmed Saturday that the suspect who stormed into the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner while President Donald Trump was attending acted alone, adding that there is no ongoing threat to the public following the incident, which left one Secret Service agent injured.
Acting Metropolitan Police Department chief Jeff Carroll said during a press conference that the suspect was carrying “a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives” when he attempted to pass through a Secret Service security checkpoint inside the hotel lobby at approximately 8:36 p.m. local time.
“At this point, everything indicates that this was a lone actor, a lone gunman,” Carroll stated, adding that investigators have found no preliminary evidence suggesting the involvement of additional suspects.
During the exchange of gunfire inside the hotel corridors, the suspect was not struck by bullets but was subdued by law enforcement officers and later transported to a hospital for medical evaluation.
A member of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division was shot during the incident, though the bullet was stopped by the officer’s ballistic vest, preventing serious injuries. The agent was taken to a hospital and is reportedly “in good spirits,” according to Carroll.
Advertisement
20260330_renta_mh_728x90
20250701_dengue_728x90
20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90
20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90
20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90
20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL
The shooting prompted the immediate evacuation of President Trump, Melania Trump, and several senior officials attending the event after multiple gunshots were heard outside the hotel’s main ballroom.
U.S. allows Venezuela to fund Maduro and Cilia Flores’ legal defense
Until now, the U.S. administration had blocked the Venezuelan government from covering the legal fees of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is also jailed and facing drug trafficking charges, due to international sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
The couple’s legal team had relied on that argument in an attempt to have the indictment dismissed, claiming that preventing a defendant from accessing counsel of their choice violates rights guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department will now allow “defense attorneys to receive payments from the Government of Venezuela under certain conditions,” New York prosecutor Jay Clayton wrote in a letter dated Friday to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case.
According to the letter, the funds must have become available after March 5, 2026, and cannot come from Venezuelan oil sales regulated in the United States.
Since Maduro’s removal from power in early January, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has served as Venezuela’s interim leader.
Advertisement
20260330_renta_mh_728x90
20250701_dengue_728x90
20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90
20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90
20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90
20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90
20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
CEL
The United States effectively controls Venezuelan crude exports, with revenues deposited into special accounts supervised by Washington.
Court documents filed on Friday show that the defense acknowledged the sanctions exemption and, for now, withdrew its motion seeking dismissal of the charges.
