International
Bolivia ex-leader tried to ‘take her own life’ in prison, lawyer says
AFP
Bolivia’s jailed former president Jeanine Anez attempted to take her own life in prison on Saturday, her lawyer said, a day after prosecutors charged her with “genocide” over the 2019 deaths of protesters.
Anez has been jailed since March, originally on charges — trumped up, her defenders say — of staging a coup against her predecessor and rival, former president Evo Morales.
One of Anez’s lawyers, Jorge Valda, said the former leader, despondent over her legal situation, had “attempted to take her own life… an attempt in which, thank God, she failed.”
Bolivian officials had announced Anez tried to harm herself, with Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo saying she had suffered only “scratches” on her arm in the attempt early Saturday and is in stable condition.
The opposition deplored the government’s treatment of Anez and called for her release.
Former centrist president Carlos Mesa said official explanations of her injury were “not serious” and demanded an end to her “political jailing.”
Anez’s family has repeatedly asked the government to transfer the 54-year-old to a hospital for treatment of hypertension and other conditions.
That request has been denied, as have her lawyers’ requests that she be granted home detention.
The conservative Anez came to power in November 2019 after Morales resigned and fled the country following weeks of violent protests over his controversial re-election to an unconstitutional fourth term.
The specific accusation against Anez relates to two incidents in November 2019 in which a total 22 people died.
Attorney General Juan Lanchipa said Friday he had presented documents against her in which the incidents were “provisionally classified as genocide, serious and minor injury and injury followed by death.”
After Morales resigned, Anez, as the most senior parliamentarian left, was sworn in as interim president, but her political opponents denounced this as a coup.
Under Anez’s administration, Bolivia held peaceful, transparent elections in October 2020 in which Morales’s leftist protege Luis Arce stormed to a landslide victory.
He subsequently vowed to pursue those he accused of staging a coup.
Anez, arrested in March on accusations of leading a coup, also faces charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy.
Bolivia’s opposition has decried the lack of separation of powers in the country, saying the courts, electoral body and public prosecutor’s office are all loyal to leftist President Arce.
Anez’s detention has elicited widespread international condemnation.
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.
International
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Venezuela has announced the closure of its embassy in Norway, just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Venezuelan diplomatic mission provided no explanation for its decision on Monday.
“It is regrettable,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will continue to work in that direction.” The ministry also emphasized that the Nobel Committee operates entirely independently from the Norwegian government.
In its announcement, the Nobel Committee stated that Machado met the criteria established by Alfred Nobel, “embodying the hope for a different future, where the fundamental rights of Venezuelans are heard.”
International
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
Thousands of military personnel and civilians in Mexico worked tirelessly on Tuesday to clear roads blocked by the torrential rains of recent days, which have left more than 300 communities cut off across central and eastern regions of the country. Authorities also launched mass fumigation efforts in several affected areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever.
The official death toll remains at 64, though dozens of people are still missing. President Claudia Sheinbaumacknowledged that the government does not yet know the full situation in many of the isolated villages, which range in population from 500 to 1,000 inhabitants.
“The reopening of roads is one of the greatest urgencies,” Sheinbaum said. “It’s essential to guarantee air bridges, food supplies, clean water, and a proper census of the isolated communities so we can determine the condition of every person living there.”
Private construction companies are also assisting the effort with heavy machinery and technical support to help reopen highways and reconnect rural areas.
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
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