International
Murderers of Mapuche youth sentenced to prison in Argentina
November 30 |
The Federal Oral Court of General Roca in Argentina sentenced Wednesday the prefects involved in the murder of young Mapuche Rafael Nahuel, who was attacked during a police operation on November 25, 2017.
Said court on Wednesday sentenced the five prefects who were involved in the death of Rafael Nahuel, the 22-year-old Mapuche youth, to sentences of four and a half and five years in prison.
Six years later, the entity sentenced prefect Sergio Cavia, author of the shooting, to five years in prison for the crime of “aggravated homicide committed in excess of legitimate self-defense”.
The prefects Francisco Javier Pintos, Juan Ramón Obregón, Carlos Valentín Sosa and Sergio García received sentences of four and a half years as they were considered necessary participants in the murder of Nahuel during “a special operation” of the Albatros Group, carried out in 2017 in the Mapuche community Lafken Winkul Mapu, in the locality of Villa Mascardi, located in the department of Bariloche.
After more than a year of court hearings, the court has announced its verdict in a hearing, where in addition to the sentences issued, the five convicted were also handed a seven-year disqualification from holding public office.
“We are not happy with the ruling but we value that there was a conviction, the court considered that the five committed a crime, and we must remember that the political authority at that time had vindicated their actions, that same person (Patricia Bullrich) will be the official of the area as of December 10, so they were defending five criminals”, shared the lawyer Mariano Przybylski, plaintiff of the Secretariat of Human Rights.
In this sense, Patricia Bullrich had stated on that occasion that the authorities had acted legally and legitimately.
For her part, Nahuel’s mother, Graciela Salvo expressed that “justice is making fun of the family, they do not feel our pain, the prefects are going to continue free as if nothing had happened, they did not even come to show their faces after having entered the community and having shot my son, Rafael Nahuel, in the back, as a mother I will continue asking for justice because we are not satisfied with the sentence given to the Albatros”.
Not even to hear the verdict did the five members of the Albatros Group of the Argentine Naval Prefecture show up in person at the hearing. Sergio Cavia, Francisco Javier Pintos, Juan Ramón Obregón, Carlos Valentín Sosa and Sergio García were present remotely, as was the case throughout the trial.
Rafael Nahuel’s family, represented by attorneys Rubén Marigo and Ezequiel Palavecino, had requested that the aggravation for “racial hatred” be added to the case and that it be considered a case of “institutional violence comparable to State terrorism”.
The 22-year-old Mapuche young man was killed from behind during the pursuit with firearms of the Albatros of the Prefecture, on November 25, 2017, two days after the violent eviction of his community Lafken Winkul Mapu of Villa Mascardi, in the framework of a case initiated by National Parks for usurpation.
International
Maduro accuses U.S. of aggression over Caribbean military drills
The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced on Sunday what it called a “military provocation” following the start of joint military exercises between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago off the coast of Venezuela.
Caracas reacted to the arrival of the U.S. warship USS Gravely in Trinidad and Tobago — a small Caribbean archipelago located just off Venezuela’s coast — as U.S. President Donald Trump steps up pressure on his Venezuelan counterpart.
The Venezuelan government also announced the capture of a group of alleged mercenaries it claims were linked to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
According to AFP journalists in Port of Spain, the U.S. destroyer was visible off the coast of the Trinidadian capital on Sunday morning.
In an official statement, Caracas asserted that the maneuvers “are not defensive exercises, but rather a colonial military operation aimed at turning the Caribbean into a space for lethal violence and U.S. imperial domination.”
International
Argentina’s Milei secures strong victory and calls for dialogue after election surge
Argentine President Javier Milei secured a surprising and resounding victory in Sunday’s legislative elections, vowing to push forward with his ultraliberal reform agenda during the second half of his administration.
The result brought relief to the government after weeks of intense pressure on the Argentine peso, which had forced Milei to seek financial assistance from U.S. President Donald Trump, who had reportedly made his support contingent on the outcome of the vote.
“Today we passed the turning point; today begins the construction of a great Argentina,” Milei declared in his victory speech, where he entered to rock music but adopted a more measured and conciliatory tone once at the podium.
The ruling party, La Libertad Avanza (LLA), won 40.8% of the vote, outperforming the Peronist (center-left) coalition, which garnered 31.6% across its various factions.
In third place came Provincias Unidas, a bloc promoted by provincial governors seeking to break the country’s political polarization, with 7.1% of the vote, according to preliminary data from the National Electoral Directorate, with over 90% of ballots counted.
With this outcome, the ruling coalition expanded its presence in Congress, approaching the one-third threshold needed in both chambers to uphold presidential vetoes on contested bills. However, Milei will still need to forge alliances to advance deeper structural reforms that require broader majorities.
“We will undoubtedly have the most reformist Congress in Argentina’s history,” Milei predicted from his campaign headquarters, adopting an unusually conciliatory tone as he called for dialogue with governors and other political forces.
International
Trump to Meet Qatari Leaders During Asia Stopover to Discuss Gaza Peace
U.S. President Donald Trump will meet on Saturday with the Emir and Prime Minister of Qatar during a stopover on his trip to Asia, officials reported. Qatar plays a key role in maintaining the fragile peace agreement in Gaza.
The Qatari leaders will board Air Force One at the end of the day when it lands for refueling at Al Udeid Air Base, the regional headquarters of U.S. military forces, a White House official said.
This marks Trump’s first trip to Asia since taking office in January. His agenda includes two regional summits, a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and planned encounters with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In Qatar, the previously unannounced meeting will also include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who recently returned from Israel after working to maintain the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Qatar has been a key mediator in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas since the conflict began and is one of the guarantors of the peace deal alongside the United States, Turkey, and Egypt.
This week, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss critical next steps in the agreement, including the establishment of a security force in Gaza and the future of Hamas. Meanwhile, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has been a central negotiator since the outbreak of the war following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Maduro accuses U.S. of aggression over Caribbean military drills
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