International
Uribe Reacts to Mancuso’s Return: “Accused of Paramilitarism While Extraditing Them,” States Former President
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe reiterated on Wednesday that he has been accused of paramilitarism throughout his life, but pointed out that he was the one who extradited the top leaders of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) to the United States, in reference to the return of ex-leader Salvatore Mancuso to the country.
“I know I must make a greater effort to combine my defense with my task of argumentative opposition and the fight for Colombia’s future. How strange, they accuse me of being a paramilitary and yet I extradited them, and the only paramilitary who claims to have met with me is Mancuso,” Uribe said in a video posted on his social media.
Mancuso arrived in Bogotá on Tuesday from the United States, deported after serving a sentence for drug trafficking, and stated that he will comply with “the restrictive conditions” imposed by Colombian justice.
The former AUC commander arrived on a chartered flight of deportees that landed at the Military Air Transport Command (Catam) in the Colombian capital and will now have to appear before justice for dozens of crimes committed during the armed conflict.
He then entered La Picota prison in southern Bogotá and was placed at the disposal of the judge in charge of executing sentences of Justice and Peace in the Colombian capital and the magistrate of Guarantees Control in Barranquilla (north), who are the competent authorities to make decisions about his freedom, according to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).
Dangerous Relationships
Last year, the former paramilitary leader stated during a truth-telling hearing before the JEP that the AUC supported political candidates seeking to reach the Colombian Congress in the March 2010 elections and also provided backing for the campaigns of former Presidents Uribe and Andrés Pastrana.
“In 2002, the United Self-Defense Forces directly intervened in the congressional elections on March 10, 2002, and also the presidential elections in May 2002 (won by Uribe),” Mancuso said at the time.
In response, Uribe stated that Mancuso is lying: “He never met with me. We greeted each other a few times because of my connection to Montería (capital of the department of Córdoba). We did not have conversations. During the presidential campaign, I refused to meet with him, as was publicly established, and I also publicly disavowed his support in Barrancabermeja.”
“Mancuso has made a point of accusing me, lying. I have faced everything,” he added.
Mancuso’s Criminal Life
Mancuso laid down his arms in 2006, along with the majority of the AUC members, a group responsible for most of the crimes committed during the armed conflict according to the Truth Commission.
His demobilization took place following negotiations with Uribe’s government (2002-2010), which extradited him to the United States in 2008 along with 13 other paramilitary leaders because they remained involved in drug trafficking.
In the United States, Mancuso was sentenced in 2015 to 15 years and 10 months in prison for drug trafficking.
However, in March 2020, the US judge who sentenced him considered the sentence fulfilled by validating the two years he spent in prison in Colombia as part of the sentence, as well as the time he spent in prison in the United States awaiting trial.
As part of the agreement between the AUC and the government, the paramilitaries availed themselves of the Justice and Peace Law, which provided for maximum sentences of eight years in prison in exchange for collaboration in clarifying crimes.
International
Ecuador declares state of emergency in five provinces to combat organized crime
The Ecuadorian government has declared a state of exception in the provinces of El Oro, Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, and Santa Elena for 60 days to combat organized armed groups amid escalating hostilities, according to Executive Decree 250 published on Tuesday.
The Armed Forces and National Police are jointly working to “maintain sovereignty and the integrity of the state.”
With this measure, the right to inviolability of the home has been suspended, meaning security authorities are permitted to conduct inspections, raids, and searches on properties where they believe members associated with armed groups may be hiding.
Authorities will also seize “materials or instruments” that could be used to commit crimes to neutralize threats.
In response to the criminal activity in the territory, the government will also establish an Anti-Criminal Investigation Force in the coming days aimed at reducing intentional homicides.
The national director of Crimes Against Life, Violent Deaths, Disappearances, Extortion, and Kidnapping of the National Police (Dinased), Freddy Sarzosa, noted that the main cause of criminal violence is linked to drug and arms trafficking.
International
Argentine president criticizes spanish PM amidst political row
Argentine President Javier Milei sharply criticized Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, suggesting he “has more significant issues to address,” in response to comments made by Spain’s Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, on Friday.
“The government of Pedro Sánchez has more significant issues to deal with, such as the corruption allegations against his wife, a matter that even led him to consider resignation,” stated Argentine President Javier Milei.
In this regard, the Argentine leader expressed his expectation that the judiciary would act “swiftly” in this corruption case, which he mentioned “affects the stability” of Spain and relations between the two nations.
Moreover, Milei accused Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of “endangering” the unity of Spain by “negotiating with separatists,” harming women by “allowing illegal immigration of those who threaten their physical integrity,” and damaging the middle class through “socialist policies that only bring poverty and death.”
The Argentine presidency issued these statements in response to remarks from Spain’s Minister of Transport and Mobility, Óscar Puente, who accused Milei of “substance ingestion,” which the Argentine presidency labeled as “slander and libel.”
“I saw Milei on TV and, hearing him, I couldn’t tell in what state he was in, before or after the ingestion of whatever substances, and he came out to say that and I thought, it’s impossible that he wins the elections, he’s dug his own grave, but no,” Puente declared at a colloquium on communication and social media held this Friday in Salamanca.
International
The death toll of the devastating floods in Kenya amounts to 210
The death toll from the devastating floods caused by the torrential rains that hit Kenya since mid-March amounted to 210, while about 165,500 people have been displaced, the Kenyan Ministry of the Interior reported on Friday.
The total death toll increased after 22 more deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours, the Ministry said in a statement collected by local media.
Likewise, the injured and missing remain at 125 and 90, respectively, and a total of 196,000 have been affected by the floods throughout the country, immersed in the long rainy season, which has especially hit the center, south and west of its territory.
To respond to this crisis, the Ministry said, the Kenyan authorities have created at least 115 camps distributed in 19 of the 47 counties of Kenya, where more than 27,500 people have taken refuge.
The Government published these data after the Kenyan Minister of the Interior, Kithure Kindiki, urged on Thursday to move all Kenyans who reside in areas vulnerable to landslides or near dams and rivers.
In a message published on social network X late on Thursday, Kindiki pointed out that all neighbors in those areas are “ordered” to “leave these areas immediately” in the next 24 hours, before a “mandatory evacuation” is launched.
“The Government has adopted adequate measures to provide temporary accommodation, as well as essential food and non-food supplies to all those who will be affected by the eviction,” the minister said.
The truth is, however, that, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization, the Government of Kenya did not act in time or respond adequately to the serious floods, despite the weather predictions it had.
In a statement released on Thursday, the NGO warned that the destruction caused by the rains “has exacerbated socioeconomic vulnerabilities” by more severely hitting the poor population, rural residents, the elderly and people with disabilities.
In the same vein, a report by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) published on Tuesday pointed out that the storms have aggravated the lack of food in Kenya to the point that about two million Kenyans need food aid.
Severe storms will last at least until next week, and the rains will continue to be intense during this month, according to the prediction of the Department of Meteorology of Kenya.
In recent years, the long rainy season, which runs from March to May and also affects other countries in East Africa, has been intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon, a change in atmospheric dynamics caused by the increase in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean.
The west, center and south of the country – including the capital, Nairobi – have so far taken the worst part, and the overflow of a river on Monday especially hit Nakuru County, where at least 71 people died as a result of the tragedy.
Ecuador declares state of emergency in five provinces to combat organized crime
Argentine president criticizes spanish PM amidst political row
The death toll of the devastating floods in Kenya amounts to 210
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
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International2 days agoThe United States accuses Russia of using chemical weapons against Ukraine
-
International2 days ago‘Gaby’ Carrizo, the unpopular ruling presidential candidate for the Presidency of Panama
-
International2 days agoTrump promises the largest deportation of migrants in history, “they are going to destroy the country”
-
International2 days agoRussia destroys postal infrastructure in Odessa in another ballistic missile attack
-
International2 days agoThe trial against Daniel Sancho in Thailand concludes and the reading of the sentence is set for August 29
-
International2 days agoTrump defends that each state can legislate on abortion after the restriction in Florida
-
International20 hours agoDeaths in Gaza rise to 34,622, after the deaths of 26 people in the last few hours
-
International3 days agoThe Biden administration will forgive $6.1 billion in debt of art students
-
International20 hours agoZelenski informs David Cameron of the course of the war in Ukraine
-
International20 hours agoDenmark will raise the limit for abortion from 12 to 18 weeks
-
International20 hours agoThe death toll of the devastating floods in Kenya amounts to 210
-
International20 hours agoStarmer asks Sunak to call elections after the Labour advance in the municipal elections
-
International2 days agoThe polling stations open in the municipal by-elections in England
-
International2 days agoA reputed surgeon from Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital dies in an Israeli prison
-
International3 days agoBlinken praises a truce proposal and Netanyahu gets stuck in his rejection at the end of the war
-
International20 hours agoAt least 20 dead and 21 injured when a bus crashed through a ravine in Pakistan
-
International3 days agoUS lawmakers threaten reprisals to the ICC if it issues orders against Israel
-
International3 days agoIsrael compares the protests in Columbia at the UN with a passage from Nazi Germany
-
International3 days agoNew York Police surround the protest of the Columbia University campus
-
International3 days agoThe United States will take a historic step by classifying marijuana as a low-risk drug
-
International1 hour agoEcuador declares state of emergency in five provinces to combat organized crime
-
International3 days agoNew York puts 282 detainees in pro-Palestinian university protests with “external agitators”
-
Internacionales3 days agoPetro denounces missing more than one million projectiles and ammunition from military bases
-
International1 hour agoArgentine president criticizes spanish PM amidst political row
-
International3 days agoThe debate is growing about whether student protests in the US are anti-Semitic or anti-war