International
Trump aides blocked accurate Covid information: US probe
AFP
Former US president Donald Trump’s administration prevented health officials from providing accurate information about Covid-19 in a bid to back up his overly optimistic view of the outbreak, according to a congressional report released Monday.
Senior staff at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told investigators Trump aides bullied staff and tried to rewrite their reports in a bid to align guidance with the president’s public downplaying of the crisis.
Officials took “unprecedented steps to insert political appointees into the publication process and rebut CDC’s scientific reports, including drafting op-eds and other public messaging designed to directly counteract CDC’s findings,” the report said.
Investigators interviewed a dozen current and former CDC officials as well as senior administration figures for the 91-page document released by the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis.
The panel describes how Trump appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) tried to take over the CDC’s weekly scientific journal, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), editing or blocking articles they believed might prove harmful to Trump.
Trump appointees had sought to “alter the contents, rebut, or delay the release” of 18 MMWRs and a health alert, succeeding on at least five occasions.
The report quoted a CDC communications officer who complained that a Trump ally in HHS had used “bully-ish behavior” that made CDC officials “feel threatened.”
Jay Butler, the CDC’s deputy director of infectious diseases, said he was “not really asked back to do telebriefings” after his statements were deemed “too alarming.”
“The Select Subcommittee’s investigation has shown that the previous administration engaged in an unprecedented campaign of political interference in the federal government’s pandemic response, which undermined public health to benefit the former president’s political goals,” panel chairman Jim Clyburn, a Democrat, said in a statement.
“As today’s report shows, President Trump and his top aides repeatedly attacked CDC scientists, compromised the agency’s public health guidance, and suppressed scientific reports in an effort to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus.”
A previous report outlined the Trump administration’s bid to block government health officials from speaking publicly about the pandemic.
And another described its pressure on the US Food and Drug Administration to reissue emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug Trump was promoting despite its ineffectiveness in treating Covid-19.
Republicans dismissed the latest report as partisan and have vowed to conduct their own inquiry if they win back the House or the Senate in November’s midterm elections.
International
Costa Rica hails appointment of Japan’s first female Prime Minister, Takaichi Sanae
The Government of Costa Rica on Tuesday congratulated Japan on the appointment of Takaichi Sanae as the country’s first female prime minister and reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening bilateral relations in multiple areas.
“The Government of Costa Rica extends its warmest congratulations to the Government and people of Japan on the election of Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae. Costa Rica celebrates this decision, made by the Japanese Parliament, which for the first time places a woman in such a high office,” the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry said in an official statement.
Costa Rica also reiterated its “strong commitment to further strengthening the traditional bonds of friendship and cooperation between both nations,” and to promoting joint initiatives “based on mutual respect, multilateralism, and shared democratic values.”
The statement also conveyed Costa Rica’s “best wishes for success” to Prime Minister Takaichi and expressed its “hopes for the well-being and prosperity of the Japanese people.”
Takaichi officially became Japan’s first female head of government on Tuesday after winning a parliamentary vote to succeed Shigeru Ishiba, who resigned in September following poor electoral results during his little more than a year in office.
International
Colombian court overturns ex-president Uribe’s conviction for witness tampering
Colombia’s judiciary overturned on Tuesday a conviction against former President Álvaro Uribe for witness tamperingin a case linked to his alleged ties with anti-guerrilla paramilitary groups.
The 73-year-old right-wing leader had become in August the first Colombian ex-president to be criminally convictedand sentenced to 12 years of house arrest for bribery and procedural fraud, following a first-instance ruling that his defense immediately appealed.
However, a judge from the Bogotá Superior Court annulled the conviction, ruling that there was insufficient evidenceto incriminate Uribe. The court also deemed the wiretaps used as evidence illegal and pointed to methodological flaws in the original ruling.
Leftist Senator Iván Cepeda, who filed the complaint against Uribe, announced he will file an appeal in cassation before the Supreme Court of Justice. Speaking at a press conference, Cepeda said he received the decision with “calm and respect,” though he disagreed with it.
After a six-hour reading of the verdict, the hearing concluded with Uribe attending virtually.
Uribe, who governed from 2002 to 2010, spent about 20 days under house arrest before being released on a previous court decision—the same court that has now overturned his conviction.
International
Venezuela accuses U.S. of using anti-drug operations as pretext to target Maduro
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino criticized on Tuesday what he described as the greater lethality of U.S. anti-drug operations in the Caribbean compared to those in the Pacific, where most drug trafficking routes are concentrated.
Venezuela maintains that the real goal of the U.S. military deployment in the region is to oust President Nicolás Maduro, rather than to combat drug trafficking as claimed by the White House.
Since September, the United States has reported seven attacks in the Caribbean against vessels allegedly linked to Venezuelan drug trafficking. President Donald Trump himself has shared videos of airstrikes on speedboats, with at least 32 people killed in these operations.
“The interdictions carried out in the Pacific do not receive the same treatment as those here in the Caribbean Sea,” Padrino said during a state television broadcast. “What is the real purpose behind this U.S. air and naval deployment in the Caribbean? Is it really about drug trafficking?” he asked.
Venezuelan authorities argue that only 5% of the drugs produced in Colombia leave through Venezuelan territorytoward the Caribbean, claiming that most shipments travel through the Pacific on their way to the United States.
The government also reports an increase in domestic anti-drug operations, showcased by state media, involving the destruction of clandestine airstrips and laboratories, and the seizure of boats, vehicles, and weapons, as well as the shooting down of aircraft allegedly used by traffickers.
On Tuesday, Padrino presented a report on several of these operations alongside the military commanders who led them.
Costa Rica hails appointment of Japan’s first female Prime Minister, Takaichi Sanae
Colombian court overturns ex-president Uribe’s conviction for witness tampering
Venezuela accuses U.S. of using anti-drug operations as pretext to target Maduro
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
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