International

Boluarte promises to reduce citizen insecurity in Peru this year

The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, promised to reduce this year in a “considerable and significant” way the rates of citizen insecurity, by participating this Monday in the inauguration of laboratories of the Integrated System of Ballistic Identification of the National Police.

The head of state said that this 2025 her commitment will lead her to “intensify actions against crime,” after the National Police managed to arrest 362,000 criminals and dismantle 13,000 criminal gangs in 2024.

“This year every day will be dedicated to achieving the security of every Peruvian and we will also be in December celebrating that we have hit organized crime, advancing in having a safer homeland,” said Boluarte.

Peru and an investment with a view to boosting the fight against insecurity

The president indicated that the ballistic identification laboratories, modernized after eight years, will strengthen the fight of the National Police against crime.

“This repowering of this laboratory cost 21 million soles (5.5 million dollars), but it is not an effort, it is an investment to guarantee the security of the entire territory,” Boluarte added.

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The president explained that this investment not only optimizes ballistic apperisats, but is a more agile system to prevent the misuse of weapons.

For the first time, the identification of weapons used in crimes and the registration of new weapons will be integrated, the president said.

A message for the country’s Justice

In that sense, Boluarte insisted that, with the integrated system, the Police will respond quickly to the requirements of the Prosecutor’s Office so that “criminals go to jail and do not release them.”

“Mr. judges and prosecutors, may criminals not return to the streets to commit crimes again,” said the president in a new criticism of the work of justice operators.

Boluarte pointed out that “there is much to do” in the fight against citizen insecurity, but that his government is concerned with giving the necessary logistics to the National Police, an institution he recognized for its work.

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International

Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case

10 reported dead after explosion in Dominican Republic

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.

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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.

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“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.”

International

Venezuelan opposition leader dedicates Nobel Prize to Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that he was “eager” to welcome the opposition leader, who left Venezuela clandestinely with U.S. assistance, to receive her Nobel Prize in Oslo.

Machado dedicated her Nobel Prize to Trump, who nevertheless showed a very cautious attitude toward including her in any potential political transition in Venezuela.

The opposition leader said on Monday, after an audience with Pope Leo XIV, that “the defeat of evil is closer” in Venezuela following the U.S. military operation that overthrew and removed President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the country.

Trump has claimed that he is now in control of the South American nation, stating that the primary objective at this stage is to stabilize the country before considering elections.

Venezuelan oil is Washington’s main objective, Trump added after Maduro’s overthrow.

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International

Police hunt gunmen after fatal shooting in Corsica

A man was shot dead on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, local media reported. The victim was identified as Alain Orsoni, former president of local football club AC Ajaccio, according to sources close to the investigation cited by French news channel BFMTV.

Orsoni, 71, was killed in the town of Vero, near Ajaccio, the island’s capital, while attending his mother’s funeral.

He was also a former member of the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), a nationalist organization that has long sought independence for the island, reports said.

BFMTV reported that the gunmen fled the scene and remain at large. Local police have opened an investigation into the shooting.