International
Colombian JEP orders the arrest of Cauca’s governor

December 28 |
Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) on Wednesday morning ordered the arrest of Clara Luz Roldan, governor of Valle del Cauca, in a case regarding the lack of protection for victims.
According to the sentence of the transitional jurisdiction, which emerged after the 2016 agreements, the local policy “puts at risk the guarantee of victims’ rights and the materialization of the Final Peace Agreement.”
In that sense, the JEP points out that Roldán would have incurred in lack of control in the fulfillment of the functions delegated to the Governor’s Office by the JEP to protect areas of forensic interest where victims of enforced disappearance could be found in that department.
Given this, the magistrates considered that “his lack of care puts at risk the guarantee of the rights of the victims and the materialization of the Final Agreement for Peace”, signed in 2016 between the Colombian State and the then FARC-EP.
According to the sentence Roldán will be deprived of her liberty for two days by order of the JEP, although in the interim hearings will be held between the jurisdiction and the Governor’s Office to review compliance with precautionary measures.
The Governor’s Office of Valle, as well as those of other departments, had committed with the JEP to advance actions for “the protection of the rights to truth and guarantees of satisfaction for the victims of forced disappearance”.
The particular case in which Roldán will be deprived of her liberty for two days by order of the JEP is about hearings between the jurisdiction and the Governor’s Office to review compliance with precautionary measures. The Governor’s Office of Valle, as well as those of other departments, had committed with the JEP to advance actions for “the protection of the rights to truth and guarantees of satisfaction for the victims of forced disappearance”.
The judicial proceeding was to take measures in 36 cemeteries in Valle del Cauca since there could be bodies of the so-called “false positives” or other victims of the armed conflict in Colombia.
The so-called “false positives” were extrajudicial executions of civilians by members of the Colombian Army who were then presented as guerrillas killed in combat in order to receive rewards or benefits.
According to the JEP, at least 6,402 innocent young people were deceived with promises of false jobs and executed by members of the Army to improve anti-guerrilla statistics and receive rewards in return.
International
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.
“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.
“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.
Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
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