International

Bolsonaro says he does not fear “any trial” after being accused of coup by ex-military

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said this Saturday that he was not afraid of “any trial” and declared himself a victim of a “persecution,” after the testimony of two former commanders of the Armed Forces who accused him of attempting a coup d’état to annul the 2022 elections.

“It could be very good in other countries, but I preferred to return to Brazil with all the risks it entails. I am not afraid of any trial, as long as the judges are impartial,” the far-right leader said at a political event in Rio de Janeiro.

The former governor (2019-2022) participated in the launch of the candidacy for mayor of Rio of Deputy Alexandre Ramagem, who was head of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency during his Government and is in turn investigated in the Supreme Court for illegal espionage during that period.

Making a parallel with his difficult judicial situation, Bolsonaro told Ramagem: “There will be no shortage of people to chase you, to try to defeat you and to accuse you of the most absurd things, even to annoy a whale.”

The former head of state thus alluded to a case in which he is investigated for allegedly intentionally “annoying” a whale last year during an excursion on the coast of São Paulo.

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Faced with this, Bolsonaro declared himself a victim of judicial “persecution”.

“But we are good citizens, we are the majority, we are the part that works the most in relation to the left,” he said.

Bolsonaro did not explicitly mention the revealing testimonies of the former heads of the Army and the Air Force, released on Friday by the Supreme Court and that place him at the center of the coup plot that sought to prevent the Government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking power on January 1, 2023.

Marco Antonio Freire Gomes and Carlos Baptista Júnior, former commanders of the Army and Aeronautics, declared to the Police that they met several times with Bolsonaro and his closest advisers, and that they proposed to join their plan to annul the 2022 elections and keep the far-right leader in power.

In those meetings, according to their testimonies, they were asked to activate various constitutional devices, such as a military intervention under the pretext of an alleged “serious disturbance of public order,” or a decree of the state of siege to investigate the legality of the electoral process that Lula won.

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In this Saturday’s act, Bolsonaro, who barely appears as investigated in the case for coup d’ass, also questioned his eight-year disqualification dictated by the Superior Electoral Tribunal, which on June 30, 2023 condemned him for launching hoaxes and leading a discredit campaign against the institutions.

“Venezuela disqualified opponents, Nicaragua arrests them… And in Brazil, why was I declared ineligible, why?” he asked.

Despite this, he expressed his intention to “continue in politics” so that “no one outside the people decides who will be a candidate or not.”

In a more electoral tone, Bolsonaro criticized the policies of Lula’s government, which he accused of “threatening freedom,” “wanting to censor cell phones,” “increasing the tax burden” and putting restrictions on the sale of firearms for the civilian population.

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International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.