International
Argentine president testifies for deputy in corruption trial
AFP
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez came to the defense Tuesday of his deputy Cristina Kirchner, testifying in a trial for alleged corruption committed when she was at the country’s helm from 2007 to 2015.
Fernandez appeared as a defense witness in a court in Buenos Aires, giving evidence of events that occurred when Kirchner was president and he her chief of staff.
The president could have provided testimony in writing, but opted to attend the hearing in person in what is interpreted as a show of support for his deputy.
The partnership of Fernandez and Kirchner was severely tested when their center-left Frente de Todos (Everyone’s Front) coalition suffered a battering in parliamentary primary elections in September.
Kirchner pressured her boss into a cabinet reshuffle in the hopes of appeasing an electorate increasingly frustrated with escalating economic woes.
But in a vote in November, their coalition lost control of the Senate — the upper house of Congress. The lower house was already in opposition control.
The pair have a bit more than a year left in office until the next presidential election in 2023.
– Several investigations –
Kirchner is on trial for the alleged fraudulent awarding of public works contracts in her fiefdom in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, which allegedly benefited businessman Lazaro Baez.
Prosecutors say Baez overcharged for the projects, several of which remain unfinished.
Kirchner, 68, is the target of about a dozen investigations for crimes including bribe-taking, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Some cases have been thrown out, but at least five are at the trial phase.
She claims political persecution and abuse of a politicized and right-leaning judicial system that her and Fernandez’s coalition have set out to reform.
Fernandez told the court Tuesday there had been no “arbitrary” spending under Kirchner’s presidency.
“Those decisions that were made in budgetary matters and in public works, were never arbitrary,” he testified.
Asked about decisions made to benefit Baez, Fernandes replied: “I am not aware that this is the case.”
He also argued it was impossible for a president to know the nitty gritty of each spending decision.
Fernandez left the court after three hours, without talking to waiting journalists.
Last year, a court dismissed a case alleging that Kirchner, as president, had obstructed an investigation into an attack on a Jewish center in 1994 that killed 85 people.
International
Merengue concert turns to mourning as Jet Set collapse claims 136 lives
Dominican rescue teams will end search and recovery operations on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the Jet Set nightclubin Santo Domingo, where the building collapsed during a live concert.
Authorities estimate that the final 20 bodies will be recovered from the rubble today, bringing the official death toll to 136. This includes 12 additional bodies found overnight in the disaster zone, adding to the previously confirmed 124 fatalities.
Outside the collapsed nightclub, desperate relatives of the missing continue to gather, clinging to hope for news. Many also visited nearby hospitals and morgues in search of their loved ones.
A list of confirmed victims has been posted on a tent set up near the site, where the bodies are being transferred for identification.
The tragedy occurred during a performance by renowned merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among the deceased.
Central America
Colombia to host fourth EU-CELAC Summit in November
The Fourth Summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will take place on November 9 and 10 in Santa Marta, Colombia, according to a joint statement released Wednesday by the Colombian government and the European Council.
The summit will be co-chaired by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in his role as pro tempore president of CELAC, and European Council President António Costa, the statement added.
The last EU-CELAC summit took place in July 2023 in Brussels, when both blocs agreed to hold these meetings every two years.
The summit brings together the 27 EU member states and the 33 CELAC countries, representing 14% of the global population, 21% of global GDP, and one-third of the members of the United Nations, the communiqué noted.
International
Russia and US to Meet in Istanbul for Diplomatic Talks on April 10
The Kremlin confirmed today a forthcoming meeting with the United States to discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations, which will take place in Istanbul.
“Our participation will be through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Dmitry Peskov, the presidential spokesperson, during his daily telephone press conference.
Peskov was responding to a question about who would represent Russia in the new round of negotiations, which is supposedly scheduled for April 10.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the delegations will be led by the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Alexandr Darchiev, and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Sonata Coulter.
These are the same negotiators who met in late February in Istanbul, where the expert-level negotiation format was the same, according to the source.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said a few days ago that the next meeting would be held in the Turkish city, though he did not confirm a date.
Lavrov, who participated in only one of these meetings, clarified that the upcoming discussions would address the issues still dividing Moscow and Washington diplomatically, referring to the operations of both countries’ embassies.
The Kremlin asserted that Washington has not yet responded to Russia’s security concerns, preventing a ceasefire declaration on land, sea, and air.
Meanwhile, Trump expressed discontent with Russia’s recent attacks, including one last week that killed 20 people in Krivi Rig, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
So far, Russia has rejected a cessation of hostilities and only declared a 30-day ceasefire on March 18 against attacks on energy infrastructure, which was extended by Kyiv a week later.
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