International

The U.S. Supreme Court says that the Prosecutor’s Office overtooke itself by accusing the Capitol assailants

The United States Supreme Court decided this Friday that accusing the assailants of the January 6, 2021 Capitol of obstruction of justice was inappropriate and that the Department of Justice was overdone.

By six votes to three, the country’s highest court ruled that the Prosecutor’s Office went overboard by accusing hundreds of people who moted at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, of obstruction.

The decision implies that the lower courts will now apply that standard and will probably dismiss the charges against many defendants.

This ruling could also interfere in one of the judicial proceedings against former Republican President Donald Trump – that of his involvement in the assault on the Capitol and his alleged attempt to interfere in the elections – since special prosecutor Jack Smith included the obstruction of an official procedure among the four charges that weigh against him in this trial.

Although Smith, who carries out the investigation, alleges that Trump’s obstruction of the Congressional procedure is much broader than that of the assailants, it is likely that the legal team of the former president will try to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s decision.

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That January 6, about 10,000 people – most of them Trump followers – marched towards the Capitol and about 800 broke into the building while Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 elections was being certified. There were five dead and about 140 officers injured.

Since then, more than 1,000 people have been arrested practically in the 50 states of the country for crimes related to the attack and more than 350 have been charged with assault or obstruction of law enforcement, according to data from the Department of Justice.

The Supreme Court decided this Friday that charges could be filed against the rioters if the prosecutors can prove that they were not only trying to enter the building by force, but also to prevent the arrival of the certificates that confirmed the results of the election.

The president of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, wrote the majority opinion, which included a liberal judge, Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett presented a dissident opinion that was joined by Judges Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

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The Supreme Court’s decision outraged the US Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who claimed to be “disappointed.”

This limits “an important federal statute that the Department has tried to use to ensure that those primarily responsible for that attack face the appropriate consequences,” Garland said.

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.