International
Jury finds Hunter Biden guilty of illegal possession of a firearm
The jury of the trial of Hunter Biden for illegal possession of a firearm in 2018 found him guilty on Tuesday, in a historic ruling of the first trial of the son of a sitting United States president.
Hunter, the 54-year-old son of President Joe Biden, was found guilty of the three charges against him, in a context of drug addiction, CNN and other American media reported.
The president’s son was accused of lying about his drug use in order to buy a 38-caliber revolver in 2018.
The verdict comes at a time when his father seeks re-election and less than two weeks after the guilty sentence on charges of business fraud against Donald Trump, the probable Republican presidential candidate in November.
Hunter Biden did not testify during the trial held in Wilmington (Delaware), his hometown.
He faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison, although a lighter sentence is expected, even without prison, for not having a criminal record.
The first lady, Jill Biden, attended the trial for several days to support him. The president did not show up but said that he is “proud” of his son.
“As president I do not or comment on pending federal cases, but as a father, I have an infinite love for my son, confidence in him and respect for his strength,” Biden said in a statement last week.
The process, along with another case in which Hunter faces tax evasion charges in California, complicates the efforts of the Democrats to keep the focus on Trump, the first former president to be found guilty of criminal offenses.
Hunter Biden’s past addictions were the central issue of the trial, which included the testimony of ex-partners of the president’s son.
Last week, the prosecutor reproduced fragments of Hunter Biden’s memoirs “Beautiful Things”, recorded by himself, in which he remembers moments of his addiction in which he was desperately looking for crack.
“I was cooking (the crack) and smoking. He cooked and smoked,” says the fragment reproduced in the court, extracted from the audiobook.
In addition to being a political distraction, Hunter Biden’s legal problems have reopened old family wounds, derived from his drug problems and other previous situations.
Her brother Beau died of cancer in 2015 and her sister Naomi died when she was a child, in 1972, in a car accident in which her mother, Neilia, the president’s first wife and mother of the three, also died.
Hunter, a Yale-trained lawyer and a lobist turned artist, had the firearm in his possession for eleven days after the purchase.
The president’s son, who has written profusely about his addiction, said that at the time he bought the revolver he did not consider himself addicted. Hunter assures that he has not used drugs since 2019.
Hunter Biden has long been in the sights of the Republicans, who promoted an exhaustive investigation within Congress pointing out corruption and influence peddling, although charges were never filed against him for that.
His businesses in China and Ukraine also served as a basis for Republicans to try to open impeachment proceedings to dismiss their father, but those efforts did not succeed.
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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