International
Donald Trump wins the elections in the United States after a close campaign and will be president again
The Republican candidate, Donald Trump, was proclaimed this Wednesday the winner of the elections in the United States and will return to the White House, after a close electoral campaign, to become the 47th president of the country.
Trump exceeded the 270 electoral votes necessary to proclaim himself victorious against his rival, the Democratic candidate and vice president of the Government, Kamala Harris.
According to the US suffrage system, the president is proclaimed by the Electoral College, a body made up of 538 delegates who elect the states according to their population.
The winning candidate in each state, even by a single vote, takes all his compromises with the exception of Nebraska and Maine and the one who reaches 270 wins the elections.
Before the total results were known, the former president had already attributed the victory against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris during a rally before his followers in Palm Beach (Florida), after checking his good partial results and winning the popular vote.
It will be the first time in more than a century that a former president becomes one again (he already ruled between 2017 and 2021) after losing elections (those of 2020) and also the first time that a convicted criminal reaches the Presidency of the country.
First conciliatory speech
Accompanied by his family and campaign managers, the former president assured from Palm Beach that he will govern for everyone and that “together” they will make a better United States.
“Success will unite us, and we will start by putting the United States first. I won’t let them down,” he said during a speech of less than half an hour at the Palm Beach Convention Center (on the east coast of Florida).
The former Republican president thanked each of his family members and Americans in a statement that had a mostly conciliatory tone and in which he invited to “put behind the divisions of recent years.”
Trump celebrated his good results in key states such as North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and boasted himself for having regained the majority in the Senate for the Republicans, while control of the House of Representatives remains in the air.
Before finishing the recount and after some important data on the voting trend throughout the country became known, Harris decided to cancel the speech he was scheduled to offer at the end of the election day and postponed it until this Wednesday, according to his campaign.
Trump gets the popular vote
The Republican has also won the popular vote (more than 71 million votes compared to Harris’ 66, according to preliminary ballot data), something that the Republicans had not achieved in 20 years, since the 2004 elections in which the Republican George W. Bush achieved 59 million votes against the democrat John Kerry’s 55.4.
In the 2016 elections, Trump arrived at the White House after having won the electoral vote (306 votes), but in popular vote he was almost three million below (63 against 65.8 million) of his then rival, the Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The billionaire’s victory has been met with increases in the stock markets around the world, while most political leaders have congratulated Trump and wished that his mandate prioritize international cooperation.
International
Peruvian Court Orders Definitive Dismissal of Money Laundering Case Against Keiko Fujimori
A court of Peru’s National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice ordered the definitive dismissal of the criminal proceedings for alleged money laundering and criminal organization against presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, authorities reported on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
The ruling was issued by the Tenth National Preparatory Investigation Court in compliance with a previous decision by the Constitutional Court (TC). The decision was confirmed by Fujimori’s attorney, Giuliana Loza, who said on social media platform X that “there was no money laundering nor criminal organization.”
According to the defense, the case was closed for lacking legal grounds and for violating due process. “The proceedings concluded because they lacked a legal basis and constituted clear prosecutorial persecution,” Loza stated.
Judge Wilson Verastegui, whose ruling was reported by local media, said the Constitutional Court determined that the facts alleged in the so-called ‘Cocktails Case’ do not constitute a criminal offense under the principle of legality. The court noted that the crime of illegal financing of political organizations was not in force at the time the alleged acts occurred.
The dismissal also applies to other leaders of the Fuerza Popular party, including Pier Figari, Ana Rosa Herz, Jaime Yoshiyama and José Chlimper, as well as the party itself.
Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), had been under investigation for the alleged irregular financing of her 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns, a case that exposed her to a possible 30-year prison sentence. However, one year ago the National Superior Court annulled the trial and returned the case to the intermediate stage.
Fujimori is currently pursuing her fourth presidential bid, ahead of Peru’s general elections scheduled for April.
International
Colombian Defense Chief Meets U.S. Officials to Advance Bilateral Narcotics Strategy
Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez Suárez, is in the United States this Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking, Colombian officials said, in a visit that comes as ties between Bogotá and Washington begin to ease after a period of diplomatic tension.
The trip is seen as a prelude to a scheduled visit by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to Washington, where he is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in early February. Sánchez will remain in Washington through Wednesday, according to Colombian government sources.
During his stay, Sánchez is slated to meet with senior U.S. officials, including representatives from the Department of Defense, members of the U.S. Senate, and White House advisors, to outline a joint strategy to “defeat drug trafficking” and expand cooperation on intelligence against transnational crime.
According to a statement from the Colombian Defense Ministry, the agenda will include strengthening collaboration on technology, intelligence sharing, and efforts to disrupt criminal networks that operate across borders. Officials said the discussions will also help set the stage for Petro’s upcoming talks with Trump.
The visit follows a period of strained U.S.–Colombia relations last year, when Washington revoked Petro’s visa and withdrew Colombia’s certification as a key partner in anti-drug efforts — moves that coincided with disagreements over counter-narcotics strategy and broader diplomatic frictions. However, a recent phone call between Petro and Trump, described as cordial by officials, helped lower tensions and reopened channels for dialogue ahead of the presidential meeting.
International
Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case
A Dominican court on Monday postponed until March a preliminary hearing against the owners of a nightclub that collapsed last year, killing more than 200 people.
The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8, 2025, during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who died along with 235 other people.
Jet Set owner and manager Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, who served as the club’s administrator, were arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter but were later released on bail after posting approximately $842,500.
Both appeared at the Palace of Justice, where they were met by a small protest from relatives and friends of the victims.
“Thirty years in prison is not enough” and “President, we want JUSTICE,” read signs held by demonstrators.
The preliminary hearing determines whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. The court decided to reschedule the hearing for March 16.
“We don’t want money and we’re not demanding anything else, only justice for those who died,” said Secundino Pérez, a 75-year-old shopkeeper who lost 12 friends in the Jet Set tragedy.
“Antonio and his family celebrated Christmas sitting at a table, celebrating their freedom,” said Edgar Gómez, who lost his daughter in the collapse.
The Dominican Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants “significantly altered” the structure of the nightclub. Prosecutors filed formal charges in November and requested that the case proceed to trial.
The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of three months to two years in prison.
“May your conscience never let you sleep. I lost my son,” a woman shouted through tears before the hearing, while others chanted, “Murderers, murderers, murderers.”
Peruvian Court Orders Definitive Dismissal of Money Laundering Case Against Keiko Fujimori
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