Police in Guatemala have announced the capture of one of the most feared leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha gang – a criminal cartel that has terrorised Central America and the United States, and whose destruction has been prioritised by President Donald Trump. Angel Gabriel Reyes Marroquin, known as Blanco or White, was captured in the early hours of Friday at his… Read more »
Major political parties in Argentina have suspended election campaigning after the discovery of a body thought to be that of a missing activist. Santiago Maldonado, 28, was last seen in August during a confrontation between police and indigenous rights activists at a protest in Patagonia. Mr Maldonado’s disappearance caused a national outcry and has since become highly politicised. The news… Read more »
Cauca, Colombia – Against the blue outline of the distant mountains of Cauca, black smoke is billowing upwards from dozens of fires burning in the densely planted sugarcane crops that spread out as far as the horizon in every direction. In the fields, dozens of protesters are dotted about methodically starting new fires and slashing at the crops with machetes. One… Read more »
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Al Jazeera- The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti lowered its blue flag on Thursday, 13 years after it began. While the mission has been credited with helping bring stability to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, it has also been mired in controversy. The mission is blamed for bringing cholera to the country, and at least 134 of its peacekeepers… Read more »
Al Jazeera- President Michel Temer of Brazil has been charged with obstruction of justice and racketeering, according to a statement posted on the prosecutor general’s office website. It is the second set of criminal charges filed against Temer on Thursday based on the plea-bargain testimony of the owners of the world’s largest meatpacker, JBS SA. They accused Temer of taking bribes in… Read more »
Insight Crime- September in El Salvador saw 435 homicides — almost 15 per day — making it the country’s most violent month in 2017, according to official figures. And this escalation in bloodshed comes against a backdrop of contradictory public policies promoted by the government of President Salvador Sánchez Cerén. Most of the murders occurred in the last 10 days of the… Read more »
France24- The Congress of Guatemala has voted against lifting President Jimmy Morales’ immunity from prosecution, hours after a congressional commission recommended the protection be withdrawn to open the way for a possible trial on campaign finance accusations. Congress voted overwhelmingly on Monday not to lift the leader’s immunity, but since the measure failed to meet a threshold of 105 votes… Read more »
Al jazeera- Brazil has formally charged two former presidents, Dilma Rousseff and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with racketeering for plotting to skim funds from Petrobras, the state-owned oil firm. Brazil’s top prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, alleged on Tuesday that eight members of the Workers Party, including Lula and Rousseff, committed a series of crimes involving Petrobras, including cartel formation, corruption and money laundering. They were… Read more »
The Atlantic- It’s hard to pick the Venezuelan president’s greatest flaw. Which is more serious: his cruel indifference to the suffering of his people, or his brutal autocratic behavior? Which is more outrageous: his immense ignorance or the fact that he dances on television while his henchmen murder defenseless young protesters in the streets? The list of Nicolas Maduro’s failings is long,… Read more »