International
The Argentine Anti-Corruption Office will investigate Milei and his cabinet for the fiasco of a cryptocurrency
The Anti-Corruption Office (OA) of Argentina will investigate President Javier Milei and members of his cabinet, at the request of the head of State himself, after he promoted a cryptocurrency on his social networks with possible links to virtual scams.
“President Javier Milei has decided to give immediate intervention to the Anti-Corruption Office (OA) to determine if there was improper conduct on the part of any member of the National Government, including the President himself,” the President’s Office said in a statement.
The OA, a decentralized entity but dependent on the Executive Branch under the Ministry of Justice directed by Mariano Cúneo Libarona, is led by Alejandro Melik, who was a partner of the minister when he worked as a defense lawyer.
Milei decided to create a Research Task Unit (UTI) to investigate ‘$LIBRA’ – the digital currency he advertised – along with all the companies or people involved in his operation.
The UTI, which will be under the President’s orbit, will be composed of representatives of organizations linked to crypto assets, financial activities, money laundering, and other related areas.
“All the information collected in the investigation will be delivered to the Justice to determine if any of the companies or people linked to the KIP Protocol project committed a crime,” they added in the document.
According to the presidential office, the representatives of the KIP Protocol company had a meeting with Milei on October 19, where they told him about the idea of developing a project called “Viva la Libertad” with the intention of financing private ventures in the country using blockchain technology.
“In that meeting, which was duly settled in the Register of Public Hearings, was attended by the President of the Nation; the representatives of the company KIP Protocol, Mauricio Novellli and Julian Peh; and the presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni,” they listed.}
On January 30 of this year, Milei met at Casa Rosada – headquarters of the Executive – with businessman Hayden Mark Davis, who, according to KIP Protocol, would provide the technological infrastructure for this project.
“Mr. Davis had and has no connection with the Argentine government and was presented by the representatives of KIP Protocol as one of its partners in the project,” the statement said.
From Casa Rosada they established that the Argentine president shared the launch publication of ‘$LIBRA’ on his “personal accounts,” but that it was not “part of the development of cryptocurrency” in any instance.
After the repercussions, Milei decided to delete the publication to avoid spreading it, but in the hours it took, the demand for the cryptocurrency exploded, its price inflated, moved millions, its initial investors withdrew the money obtaining about 87.4 million dollars and it collapsed.
Both KIP Protocol and Davis issued statements on their social networks, where they passed on blame for what happened to each other, although the latter accused Milei’s team of charging against Julian Peh to avoid taking responsibility for what happened.
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
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction