International
Colombia’s president names ex-guerrilla as intel chief
AFP
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has named a former guerrilla comrade as the conflict-wracked South American country’s intelligence chief, according to an official decree published Monday.
Manuel Alberto Casanova, who like Petro was a member of the long-disbanded M-19 urban guerrilla movement, becomes the first civilian to hold the position as general manager of the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI).
The radical leftist M-19 was active between 1974 and 1990, when it signed a peace deal with the government and became a political party.
Casanova took on the role of head of security for the new party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance.
An almost unknown on the political landscape, Casanova was in charge of spying and financing in the M-19 guerrilla group, local press say.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Casanova has a degree in philosophy and also studied public administration. He has worked as a consultant on social projects and most recently worked for a coffee exporting company.
The DNI reports directly to the president and oversees all intelligence operations. It was created in 2011 to replace the scandal-tainted Administrative Security Department (DAS).
“It’s worrying. (Casanova) is someone with no experience in intelligence management,” Jose Vicente Carreno, a legislator for the right-wing opposition Democratic Center party, told W Radio.
He said it would “demotivate the public security forces.”
For the pro-government senator and human rights activist Gloria Florez, the appointment shows a clear change of direction.
“In the old DAS we were the victims of an infamous persecution, of set-ups for which several people are still in prison. What we want is to give a different direction to state intelligence,” she told W Radio.
The latest appointment follows a complete overhaul of the military and police chiefs since Petro’s election in June as his country’s first ever left-wing president, something which has caused suspicion within the ranks of the security forces.
Around 30 army generals and police chiefs have left their posts.
Petro, who has said he wants to break from the old policy of an “enemy within” that has underscored six decades of internal conflict, wants to transform the security forces.
He has said he wants from them “the reduction of violence and criminality, and a substantial increase in respect for human rights and public liberties.”
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
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
-
Central America4 days agoCosta Rica faces historic vote on lifting presidential immunity for Rodrigo Chaves
-
International2 days agoIsrael says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
-
International4 days agoTrump administration blasts judge’s ruling reinstating TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
-
International4 days agoStudy finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
-
International2 days agoU.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
-
International2 days agoSeven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
-
International2 days ago
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction