International

Former FARC hostage Betancourt ends Colombia presidential bid

AFP

Ingrid Betancourt, who was abducted 20 years ago while campaigning for Colombia’s presidency and held captive by FARC rebels for more than six years, has withdrawn from the race for the May 29 presidential election and thrown her weight behind independent candidate Rodolfo Hernandez.

“Today I made the decision to support the only candidate who can put an end to the system,” said the French-Colombian Betancourt during a press conference in Baranquilla, in northern Colombia, alongside Hernandez.

“The two candidates have signed an agreement to join forces in the first round,” said a joint statement from their two factions.

The decision was “based on the conviction that there are more things uniting the candidates than separating them,” said the text. The statement added that both candidates are committed to governing their country ethically and fighting corruption.

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Betancourt had run on the ticket of her own environmentalist party, with a strong anti-corruption approach. She wanted to be an alternative between the left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro, who is leading in the polls, and the right-wing coalition of Federico Gutierrez.

But her candidacy never really took off, with only 0.8 percent of voters planning to back her, according to the latest poll by the Invamer institute that was published on Friday.

Betancourt started out as part of a centrist coalition but broke with her partners after accusing them of turning a blind eye to corruption.

Betancourt, 60, was captured by the FARC Marxist guerilla group in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency, and was rescued in a military operation six-and-a-half years later, in 2008.

She was chained for much of her captivity after she tried to escape.

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The Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia (FARC) has been disarmed and disbanded under a 2016 peace pact that ended Colombia’s decades-long internal war, and has since converted itself into a minority political party.

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.