International
Chile sinks controversial mining project over environmental concerns
January 19 | By AFP | Paulina Abramovich |
Chile’s government on Wednesday torpedoed a controversial billion-dollar mining project due to be built near a nature reserve that is home to a rare species of penguin.
Environmentalists had criticized the proposed open-pit mine and port project in the north of Chile close to the National Humboldt Penguin Reserve due to its potential ecological impact on a unique area known for its natural diversity.
The $2.5 billion project was unanimously rejected by left-wing President Gabriel Boric’s cabinet.
“We are confident that a robust, traceable, evidence-based (decision) has been adopted here,” said Maisa Rojas, the environment minister.
The project aimed at extracting millions of tons of iron ore and thousands of tons of copper in an impoverished area of northern Chile around 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Santiago, the capital.
But the area comprises a nature reserve encompassing three islands that are home to 80 percent of the world’s Humboldt penguins, which are an endangered species, as well as whales, sea lions and the world’s smallest otter species.
‘Unique ecological value’
Chilean company Andes Iron, which also wanted to build a treatment and deposits plant, a water desalination plant and a port for loading minerals, said it would appeal the decision.
“The port is in a place that has an absolutely unique ecological value,” said Rojas.
When taking office in March 2022, Boric’s government had expressed its rejection of the port’s construction.
“The Dominga project doesn’t just comply, but exceeds all standards and is aligned with principles established by the government for sustainable industrial and mining projects,” Andes Iron said in a statement.
That was disputed by Matias Asun, the director of Greenpeace Chile.
“It’s a project that not only does not meet the norms required for approval, but was also pushed by the main groups associated with corruption in our country,” said Asun.
Right-wing opposition senator Matias Walker branded the decision as political.
Activists, though, applauded the decision.
“I’m defending my home, the place where I live, which is pristine,” Maud Ferres, an activist who opposed the project and had traveled to Santiago to hear the decision, told AFP.
However, Alexis Sanchez, spokesman for a community association in La Higuera, where the mine would have been, said the project would have provided economic opportunities for the village of 3,700 people.
“This is project we want to achieve our development to stop being one of the poorest communes in the country,” Sanchez told AFP.
Had it been approved, the Dominga project would have involved the extraction of 12 million tonnes (tons) of iron ore a year along with 150,000 tonnes of copper, over a 22-year period, making it the biggest such venture in Chile.
Andes Iron promised to create 10,000 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect ones during the construction phase of the project.
Once operational, the company said the mine would have created 1,500 direct jobs and 4,000 indirect ones.
Pandora Papers scandal
Andes Iron’s Dominga mine project has had a controversial history in Chile.
It first underwent an environmental impact evaluation a decade ago before it was rejected in 2017 by the socialist government of then-president Michelle Bachelet.
But under her conservative successor Sebastian Pinera, the supreme court ordered a new evaluation.
The controversy then turned into a scandal in 2021 when leaked documents known as the Pandora Papers implicated Pinera — then serving his second nonconsecutive term as president — in a seemingly shady deal surrounding the Dominga project.
Dominga was sold through a company owned by Pinera’s children to a businessman close friend of his for $152 million.
The leaked papers said a large part of the operation was carried out in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven.
Despite the embarrassing revelations, the Senate voted against impeaching Pinera — it failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to do so — thus sparing him a potential jail sentence of up to five years.
International
Mexico Arrests CJNG Leader “El Jardinero” in Nayarit
Mexican authorities arrested Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero,” on Monday during a naval operation in the western state of Nayarit, delivering another major blow to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).
Flores was considered one of the top regional leaders within the cartel and had reportedly overseen criminal operations along Mexico’s Pacific coast. Security analysts viewed him as a potential successor to slain drug kingpin Nemesio Oseguera.
The arrest was carried out by Mexico’s Navy Special Forces in a planned operation, according to Security Minister Omar García Harfuch.
The United States Department of the Treasury had previously identified Flores as a “significant foreign narcotics trafficker,” while U.S. authorities offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture and extradition.
A U.S. grand jury indicted Flores in 2021 on charges including conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin.
His capture comes months after the reported death of “El Mencho,” an operation that Mexican authorities considered a priority due to the cartel leader’s alleged involvement in a 2020 assassination attempt against García Harfuch.
International
Suspect Armed With Shotgun and Knives Detained at White House Correspondents Dinner
U.S. authorities confirmed Saturday that the suspect who stormed into the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner while President Donald Trump was attending acted alone, adding that there is no ongoing threat to the public following the incident, which left one Secret Service agent injured.
Acting Metropolitan Police Department chief Jeff Carroll said during a press conference that the suspect was carrying “a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives” when he attempted to pass through a Secret Service security checkpoint inside the hotel lobby at approximately 8:36 p.m. local time.
“At this point, everything indicates that this was a lone actor, a lone gunman,” Carroll stated, adding that investigators have found no preliminary evidence suggesting the involvement of additional suspects.
During the exchange of gunfire inside the hotel corridors, the suspect was not struck by bullets but was subdued by law enforcement officers and later transported to a hospital for medical evaluation.
A member of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division was shot during the incident, though the bullet was stopped by the officer’s ballistic vest, preventing serious injuries. The agent was taken to a hospital and is reportedly “in good spirits,” according to Carroll.
The shooting prompted the immediate evacuation of President Trump, Melania Trump, and several senior officials attending the event after multiple gunshots were heard outside the hotel’s main ballroom.
International
U.S. allows Venezuela to fund Maduro and Cilia Flores’ legal defense
Until now, the U.S. administration had blocked the Venezuelan government from covering the legal fees of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is also jailed and facing drug trafficking charges, due to international sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
The couple’s legal team had relied on that argument in an attempt to have the indictment dismissed, claiming that preventing a defendant from accessing counsel of their choice violates rights guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department will now allow “defense attorneys to receive payments from the Government of Venezuela under certain conditions,” New York prosecutor Jay Clayton wrote in a letter dated Friday to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case.
According to the letter, the funds must have become available after March 5, 2026, and cannot come from Venezuelan oil sales regulated in the United States.
Since Maduro’s removal from power in early January, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has served as Venezuela’s interim leader.
The United States effectively controls Venezuelan crude exports, with revenues deposited into special accounts supervised by Washington.
Court documents filed on Friday show that the defense acknowledged the sanctions exemption and, for now, withdrew its motion seeking dismissal of the charges.
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