International
Judge examines Prosecutor’s request for a gag order to Trump for comments about the FBI
Judge Aileen Cannon, in charge of the case of mishandling of classified documents by former president and Republican pre-candidate Donald Trump, examined on Monday a request from prosecutors in which they ask him to be prohibited from making comments that may endanger the lives of the FBI agents who registered their property in Mar-a-Lago.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith asked Cannon, nominated by Trump in 2020, to issue a “limited gag order,” after the former governor claimed, according to the Special Prosecutor’s Office, that the agents who searched his Palm Beach house for classified documents endangered him and his family and had an order to respond violently if necessary.
The agents who carried out the search at his residence in Mar-a-Lago did so at a time when Trump and his family were outside Florida.
In a fundraising email, Trump pointed out that the FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago house for documents were “simply eager to do the unthinkable,” in reference to the use of force, something that does not exceed a normal protocol in a registry.
Trump’s lawyers say that any gag order would unduly silence his defendant in the middle of a campaign in which he is the Republican pre-candidate.
It is not yet known when Cannon could pronounce on this point, after hearing the arguments that are part of a three-day hearing that began last Friday to address several of the unresolved legal issues that have accumulated in this case.
Last May, Judge Cannon indefinitely postponed the date of the trial against Trump in Florida for the mishandling of confidential documents found in her Mar-a-Lago club, in Palm Beach (Florida) after leaving the White House.
A measure that practically guarantees that the trial will not take place before the presidential elections next November, in which the president, Joe Biden, will be met.
Federal Judge Cannon analyzed last Friday a petition from Trump’s defense to dismisal the accusation of mishandling of documents with the argument that the special prosecutor who presented it, Jack Smith, was illegally appointed.
Trump’s defense team maintained that the U.S. Attorney General, Merrick Garland, lacked legal authority to appoint Smith as special prosecutor in charge of the process.
Last Thursday it became known that Cannon rejected the request of two federal judges to resign from presiding over the case, as reported that day by The New York Times newspaper.
In the same case, Trump faces charges of obstruction and deliberate retention of official documents related to U.S. Security, which can result in penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
International
Trump: U.S. has hit three venezuelan narco boats in Caribbean
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that American forces have struck three suspected Venezuelan drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean so far, not two as previously reported.
“We took down boats. It was actually three boats, not two, but you only saw two,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a state visit to the United Kingdom.
The president was asked about remarks by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who accused Washington of plotting to invade his country.
“Stop sending members of the Tren de Aragua to the United States. Stop sending drugs to the United States,” Trump responded.
The Republican leader mentioned this third vessel a day after announcing that U.S. forces had struck a speedboat in which, according to him, three “terrorists” were killed. Later, from the Oval Office, he claimed the boat had been carrying cocaine and fentanyl.
The attacks come amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas, as the U.S. military maintains a Caribbean deployment under the banner of counter-narcotics operations.
The Trump administration accuses Maduro of heading the so-called Cartel of the Suns, which the Venezuelan government denies. Washington has also offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture.
On Monday, Maduro said communications with the U.S. were “broken” in the face of what he called an “aggression” and declared that Venezuela is now “better prepared” in case of an “armed struggle.”
International
Ecuador’s Noboa declares State of Emergency in seven provinces amid fuel price protests
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in seven provinces due to what he described as “serious internal unrest,” as road blockades and demonstrations erupted in response to the elimination of the diesel subsidy and growing concerns over insecurity.
The 60-day measure applies to the provinces of Carchi, Imbabura, Pichincha, Azuay, Bolívar, Cotopaxi, and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.
Since Monday, partial protests have been reported in Pichincha, Carchi, Azuay, and Imbabura. On Tuesday, road blockades extended to northern Pichincha and routes in Carchi, near the Colombian border. In response, the Executive headquarters was temporarily relocated to Cotopaxi and the Vice Presidency to Imbabura.
The presidential decree states that the measure comes amid “strikes that have disrupted public order and provoked acts of violence, endangering the safety of citizens and their rights to free movement, work, and economic activity.”
According to the decree, the goal is to “prevent the radicalization of disruptive actions” in the affected provinces and to limit the impact on the population. It further emphasizes that the situation requires an “exceptional intervention by state institutions to safeguard security, guarantee citizens’ rights, maintain public order, and preserve social peace.”
Social organizations and labor groups, including the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), have strongly rejected the diesel price increase following the subsidy’s elimination.
The decree justifies the two-month duration as necessary “to ensure a strengthened state presence in the affected territories, restore order, and prevent further acts of violence against people, public, and private property.”
International
Colombia’s special peace tribunal hands down first sentence against former FARC leaders
Seven former rebel leaders, including their last known commander Rodrigo Londoño, alias “Timochenko,” have been handed the maximum penalty established in the 2016 peace agreement.
Under the ruling, they will face mobility restrictions and be required to carry out activities aimed at restoring the dignity of victims, such as helping locate missing persons and participating in landmine clearance in territories where they once operated. These alternative sentences to prison were part of the historic deal signed in 2016 between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) —once the most powerful guerrilla group in Latin America— and then-President Juan Manuel Santos, Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) found the ex-commanders guilty of being responsible for the kidnapping of 21,396 people before laying down their arms and transitioning into a political party. “Investigations showed that kidnapping became a systematic practice. These crimes not only broke the law but also left open wounds that persist in families, communities, and the daily life of the country,” a magistrate told reporters in Bogotá, in the absence of the former commanders, who had accepted responsibility for their crimes back in 2022.
It took the tribunal more than seven years to deliver its first ruling, amid criticism from opponents of the peace deal who argue it is too lenient on the rebels. The former commanders still face charges for other crimes against humanity, including the recruitment of minors.
During their decades-long conflict, the FARC held hostage soldiers, police officers, businesspeople, and political leaders, including French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt. Images of emaciated captives chained in jungle camps shocked the world and became symbols of the conflict.
Trump: U.S. has hit three venezuelan narco boats in Caribbean
Ecuador’s Noboa declares State of Emergency in seven provinces amid fuel price protests
Trump files $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times
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