I found the Honduran congressman arrest over drug trafficking quite interesting because the US has now moved on to arresting those traffickers of higher power in their country. Honduras has, and still is, dealing with an influx of drug trafficking. This “business” is one of the only ways many people living in Honduras make money. I’d expect to see a trial… Read more »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Federal authorities announced drug trafficking and weapons charges against a congressman from Honduras on Friday, the latest U.S. case accusing current and former officials of the Central American country of involvement in the drug trade. Fredy Renan Najera Montoya, 41, was charged with conspiring to import “huge quantities of cocaine” into the United States, according to… Read more »
SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Three conservative candidates lead the race to win Costa Rica’s presidential election next month, but none of them is likely to garner enough votes to avoid a second-round runoff, according to a poll published on Friday. Costa Ricans will vote for their next president and 57 lawmakers on Feb. 4, but many voters in the coffee-exporting… Read more »
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban actress Aniet Hernandez lost all hope that she and her two children would ever join her husband in Miami when the Trump administration slashed staffing at the U.S. embassy in Havana in September and stopped almost all visa processing. “When I heard the news, I thought my marriage was over, that my family was being destroyed,”… Read more »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s attorney general’s office said on Friday it had requested the extradition of a former ruling party governor accused of corruption and electoral crimes, though it did not identify the country involved. Separate requests were made for the extradition of Cesar Duarte, who governed the northern state of Chihuahua from 2010 to 2016, a source in… Read more »
BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Born into Nicaragua’s indigenous Miskito community, Rose Cunningham was only too well aware of the challenges girls faced in getting their voices heard in a culture dominated by men. But against the odds, in November Cunningham was elected the first indigenous women mayor of Waspam, a municipality of about 60,000 people on Nicaragua’s impoverished Atlantic… Read more »
QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s comptroller’s office on Monday announced it will open an audit of debt contracted in the last five years of the government of former President Rafael Correa to determine the legality of the operations and the use of the funds. The move follows a report by the comptroller’s office revealing that some documentation relating to debt operations… Read more »
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras’ murder rate fell by more than a quarter in 2017 to 42.8 killings per 100,000 people, the security ministry said on Tuesday, attributing the decline to a government onslaught against drug traffickers and gangs. The Central American country, which has been engulfed in a political crisis since a disputed Nov. 26 presidential election, had a 2016… Read more »
SAO PAULO/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Brazilian police have arrested an alleged Mexican drug boss, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday, in a blow to one of the most powerful organizations in Mexico’s criminal underworld. According to the arrest warrant, police detained Jose Gonzalez Valencia, 42, a leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), with the intention of fulfilling a U.S…. Read more »
CARACAS, Dec 28 (Reuters) – Venezuela’s cryptocurrency will launch within days and be backed by 5.3 billion barrels of oil worth $267 billion, in a bid to offset a deep financial crisis, the socialist government said on Thursday. President Nicolas Maduro surprised many earlier this month when he announced the “petro” cryptocurrency, to be backed by OPEC member Venezuela’s oil,… Read more »