Just today, Brazilian prosecutors offered former president Lula Da Silva a shocking offer. He could choose to serve the rest of his prison sentence from his home, in São Paulo, instead of the Curitiba prison where he is currently confined. He was imprisoned in 2018 as a result of the Lava Jato investigation (Operation Car Wash), and was convicted by… Read more »
US prosecutors say jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán gave $1m (£810,000) to the brother of the Honduran president, a bribe that was meant to reach the country’s leader. The charge was read out at the start of the trial of President Juan Orlando Hernández’s brother in New York. Juan Antonio Hernández was arrested in an anti-drugs operation… Read more »
QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno declared a state of emergency on Thursday as protesters hurled stones and erected burning barricades after the end of decades-old fuel subsidies as part of a $2 billion government fiscal reform package. Police responded with tear gas in the worst unrest for years in the oil-producing Andean nation. “Down with the package!” demonstrators… Read more »
(The Intercept) THE SAME BRAZILIAN PROSECUTORS who for years exhibited a single-minded fixation on jailing former President Lula da Silva are now seeking his release from prison, requesting that a court allow him to serve the remainder of his 11-year sentence for corruption at home. But Lula — who believes the request is motivated by fear that prosecutorial and judicial improprieties in his… Read more »
(The Intercept) THE SUMMARY OF A call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released on Wednesday not only confirmed reports that Trump repeatedly pressured the foreign leader to uncover damaging information about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, but also thrust Attorney General William Barr into the center of a rapidly unfolding scandal. In the… Read more »
The United States has recently been in talks with the government of Saudi Arabia over the issue of nuclear technology. The Saudi government has been seeking the technology from the US, which it claims is solely for use by the civilian energy sector. However, they have refused multiple requests by the US to comply with comprehensive nonproliferation rules, such as… Read more »
(Democracy Now) In Colombia, another candidate in the municipal elections has been killed. Hernando Orley García Vásquez, who was running for mayor of a town in the region of Antioquia, was shot 13 times over the weekend. He died as he was transported to Medellín for treatment. This comes just weeks after mayoral candidate Karina García was brutally murdered along… Read more »
(Democracy Now) In Central America, a massive blackout Monday left millions of people without power for hours in Nicaragua and Honduras, as well as parts of El Salvador and Guatemala. The blackout was reportedly caused by a failure in the region’s electrical grid, which is located in Honduras. In Nicaragua, internet services and water distribution were also affected by the… Read more »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s president on Thursday welcomed a proposal to give the alleged fortune of drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the country’s indigenous people, and said the wealth of Mexican criminals in the United States should be returned to Mexico. Jose Luis Gonzalez Meza, a lawyer for Guzman, said this week his client had proposed that… Read more »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two Democratic U.S. senators on Wednesday urged Trump administration officials to halt talks with Saudi Arabia on building nuclear reactors after weekend attacks that halved the country’s oil output and increased instability in the Middle East. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told reporters on Tuesday at a nuclear power conference in Vienna the United States would only… Read more »