House, BMW unsold in Maradona auction

AFP

An online auction of some 90 items owned by the late football icon Diego Maradona has closed with a house and BMW unsold, but most other keepsakes spoken for, its organizer said Tuesday.

The December 19 auction had been prolonged by several days after the most expensive pieces failed to attract buyers at first.

The initial, three-hour auction had brought in just $26,000 with more than $1.4 million worth of assets owned by the former Barcelona and Napoli star receiving no bids, according to AFP calculations.

By the end of the new deadline, the Buenos Aires house Maradona had gifted his parents, put up for a minimum $900,000, still did not find a buyer, nor did a luxury 2017 model BMW priced at $225,000.

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Another BMW, a 2016 model, sold for $165,000.

“For the rest, we have received bids” in the second round, which will now be presented to a judge for approval, auctioneer Adrian Mercado of the Grupo Adrian Mercado Subastas house told AFP.

These included televisions, gym equipment and a treadmill.

The auction had attracted bidders from several Latin American countries, Italy, France, Britain, Russia and Dubai.

The largest single offer of $2,150 on the first auction day was for a painting of the former World Cup winner by artist Lu Sedova.

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The second most expensive piece was a photograph of Maradona with late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, purchased for $1,600 by a buyer in Dubai.

Other items sold included a Napoli team jacket, training pants and a box of Cuban cigars.

Mercado said he was optimistic of selling an apartment Maradona had owned in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata ($65,000), for which he was awaiting a formal offer.

He also hoped the second BMW will receive a bid in the coming days.

This would leave only the 700 square-meter (7,500 square foot) Buenos Aires house, on a property with 500 square meters of park, where Maradona’s parents had lived for 30 years.

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The sale had been ordered by a judge to pay the debts and expenses accrued by the estate of Maradona, who died of cardiac arrest on November 25, 2020, aged 60.

Guatemala considers sending high-risk gang members to military prisons

Amid the escalating crisis in Guatemala’s prison system, the government is considering transferring high-risk gang members to military-run detention facilities, a move that analysts say could help address overcrowding and the lack of control in civilian prisons.

The debate has gained urgency following the killing of ten police officers by gang members, reportedly in retaliation after the government refused to meet demands made by Aldo Dupie Ochoa, alias “El Lobo,” leader of the Barrio 18 gang, which authorities identified as responsible for the attack.

Guatemala’s Minister of Defense, Henry David Sáenz, told local media that the possibility of relocating high-danger inmates to military brigades has not been formally discussed. However, he noted that the practice is not new to the Armed Forces and said it is something that “was already being done.”

One example is the detention center located within the Mariscal Zavala Military Brigade, in Zone 17 of Guatemala City, where several inmates are held under military supervision. The facility also houses high-profile detainees, including former official Eduardo Masaya, who faces corruption charges.

In 2015, a ministerial agreement authorized the establishment of the Zone Seventeen Detention Center within the brigade, with a maximum capacity of 114 inmates in Area A and 21 in Area B. The agreement specified that the facility would be used exclusively for civilians or military personnel considered at risk of assassination.

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Additionally, since 2010, a prison has operated within the Matamoros Barracks in Zone 1 of Guatemala City, holding dangerous or high-profile inmates. However, media outlets have described these military detention centers as “VIP prisons,” particularly for former government officials such as ex-president Otto Pérez Molina.

International

Rights group says over 5,000 killed in Iran protests, mostly civilians

A U.S.-based human rights group said on Friday it has confirmed that more than 5,000 people were killed during the recent protests in Iran, most of them civilians allegedly shot by security forces.

Non-governmental organizations monitoring the toll from the crackdown on what have been described as the largest demonstrations in Iran in years said their work has been hampered by an internet shutdown imposed by authorities since January 8. They warned that the actual death toll is likely significantly higher.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), based in the United States, reported on Friday that it had verified the deaths of 5,002 people, including 4,714 protesters, 42 minors, 207 members of the security forces, and 39 bystanders.

The group added, however, that it is still investigating an additional 9,787 possible deaths, underscoring the difficulty of independently confirming information amid ongoing restrictions and repression.

International

Japan reopens Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Plant despite public concerns

La centrale nucléaire japonaise de Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, la plus grande au monde, a repris ses activités mercredi pour la première fois depuis la catastrophe de Fukushima en 2011, malgré les inquiétudes persistantes d’une partie de la population.

La remise en service a eu lieu à 19h02 heure locale (10h02 GMT), a indiqué à l’AFP Tatsuya Matoba, porte-parole de la compagnie Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco).

Le gouverneur de la préfecture de Niigata, où se situe la centrale, avait donné son feu vert à la reprise le mois dernier, en dépit d’une opinion publique divisée. Selon une enquête menée en septembre par la préfecture elle-même, 60 % des habitants se déclaraient opposés au redémarrage, contre 37 % favorables.

Mardi, plusieurs dizaines de manifestants ont bravé le froid et la neige pour protester près de l’entrée du site, sur les rives de la mer du Japon.

« L’électricité de Tokyo est produite à Kashiwazaki. Pourquoi seuls les habitants d’ici devraient-ils être exposés au danger ? Cela n’a aucun sens », a déclaré à l’AFP Yumiko Abe, une riveraine de 73 ans.

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La centrale de Kashiwazaki-Kariwa avait été mise à l’arrêt lorsque le Japon a fermé l’ensemble de ses réacteurs nucléaires à la suite du triple désastre de mars 2011 — un séisme, un tsunami et un accident nucléaire — survenu à Fukushima.