International
The Court urges the judge to continue proceeding in the case of Obiang’s son
The National Court has urged Judge Santiago Pedraz to carry out a series of pending proceedings in the open investigation of a son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, and two other members of his government for the alleged kidnapping and torture of four opponents in November 2019.
The second section of the Criminal has considered the appeal of relatives of the victims, which was adhered by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Movement for the Liberation of Equatorial Guinea-Third Republic (MLGE3R), against the order of the magistrate who refused to practice those proceedings having ceded jurisdiction to Guinea.
In its order, to which EFE has had access, the court recalls that that decision to cede jurisdiction has already been revoked, so that in the same way the denial of evidence agreed by the judge must be understood to be revoked.
And he specifies that these evidentiary proceedings requested by the accusations “had already been previously admitted” by the judge and therefore “must be practiced” unless, “for a reason other than the revoked transfer of jurisdiction, they were not considered necessary.”
Among the proceedings requested are the statements of several members of the working group on arbitrary arrests of the UN or that of a former UN rapporteur against torture.
The order of the Chamber, dated April 19, arrives a few days after the magistrate declared the summary concluded and raised it to the Criminal Chamber.
Judge Pedraz adopted that decision after the Chamber, also when resolving an appeal from the relatives of the opponents, warned him that he, as an investigating judge, was not competent to cede jurisdiction in this case to Guinea as he had agreed in January, but responded in “exclusively” to the Criminal Chamber itself.
In addition, last February, the Chamber forced him to issue European and international arrest and prison orders against those investigated.
These are the son of Obiang, current Secretary of State for the Presidency of Equatorial Guinea; the director of Presidential Security, Isaac Nguema; and the Minister of State, Nicolás Obama.
According to the complaint filed with Pedraz, the four victims, the deceased Julio Obama, Martín Obiang, Bienvenido Ndong and Feliciano Efa, left on a trip in November 2019 from Madrid to Juba (South Sudan), but were arbitrarily detained and transferred to Equatorial Guinea on a presidential plane to be imprisoned and tortured. EFE
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
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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