International
Chile will resort to the ICC if Diosdado Cabello’s participation in a crime is confirmed
The Government of Chile will appeal to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if the participation of the number two of Chavismo, Diosdado Cabello, in the murder almost a year ago of the former Venezuelan soldier who took asylum in Chile, Ronald Ojeda, is confirmed, the Chilean Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, said on Thursday.
“They are preliminary antecedents because the investigation is still ongoing, but we take them with all their seriousness because they are relevant and repeated. If the investigation confirms them, the State of Chile will not let it pass,” Tohá said in statements to the media.
“There will be many definitions to take, but one of the things we are clear about is that we will resort to the International Criminal Court,” also known as the International Criminal Court and based in The Hague (Netherlands), the minister added.
The announcement comes after the national prosecutor of Chile, Ángel Valencia, confirmed hours earlier to a local radio that one of the witnesses of the crime points out that “the order and payment would have come from Diosdado Cabello.”
Valencia’s statements thus support the thesis that the prosecutor in charge of the case, Héctor Barros, has maintained since the early stages of the investigation and that links officials of Nicolás Maduro and the transnational organization Tren de Aragua with the murder of Ojeda last February.
Ojeda, a Chavista dissident and political asylum in Chile, was kidnapped on February 21, 2024 at his home in Santiago and ten days later they appeared in a town in the capital, buried under a cement block.
“The State of Chile has shown how seriously it takes these issues and the persistence with which we work so that justice works and there is no impunity, even when there are so many obstacles as there have been in this case,” Tohá concluded.
The Chilean Prosecutor’s Office reported on Wednesday the arrest of a man belonging to the group ‘Los Piratas’, a faction of the Aragua Train that is “directly related” to the homicide of Ojeda.
The Aragua Train, born in the Venezuelan prison of Tocorón, has spread to Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, where the authorities accuse it of committing numerous crimes, such as drug trafficking, extortion, kidnappings and homicides.
For the crime of Ojeda there are also at least two other people arrested, a 17-year-old Venezuelan and one of the main perpetrators of the crime.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
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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