International
Álvaro Uribe, former president of Colombia, affirms that the trial against him has political motivations
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) said on Wednesday that the trial to which he will be called for the crimes of bribery of witnesses in criminal action and procedural fraud has political motivations and lacks evidence against him.
“This trial is brought forward for political presumptions, for personal deception, for political revenge, without evidence to infer that I sought to bribe witnesses or deceive justice,” Uribe said in a statement read on his social networks.
The Prosecutor’s Office yesterday made an accusation against Uribe “as an alleged determiner of the crimes of bribery of witnesses in criminal proceedings and procedural fraud,” in a case that began in 2012 with a complaint against the left-wing senator Iván Cepeda and that, like a boomerang, was returned against him.
Uribe denied that he knew or had had contacts with several criminals cited in the process, some of them prisoners, whom lawyer Diego Cadena allegedly contacted to testify against Cepeda.
“I always asked for the truth, I never asked to lie or shut up,” said the former president and leader of the right-wing party Centro Democrático, who added: “I have never involved people in crime, except people of my children’s age.”
Uribe’s lawsuit against Cepeda, a senator who today is part of the ruling coalition Historical Pact, sought to demonstrate an alleged manipulation of witnesses in a complaint that he prepared 14 years ago in Congress against the former president for alleged links with paramilitarism.
However, the Supreme Court of Justice decided not to open an investigation against Cepeda and, instead, initiated a lawsuit against Uribe for manipulation of witnesses for alleged payments and offers to two prisoners to testify against the left-wing senator.
For that reason, Uribe questioned the actions of the Supreme Court, in particular of magistrates José Luis Barceló, Luis Hernández and César Reyes, some of whom he said that they have some kind of personal or work bond with their political enemies.
“What a difference in treatment; my accusers are allowed of everything and they accuse me without evidence for bribery of witnesses and deception of justice,” he added.
Uribe resigned in August 2020 from the Senate to stop being assed and that his case passed to ordinary Justice and then the Prosecutor’s Office, led at the time by Francisco Barbosa, a friend of the then Uribe president Iván Duque, decided that there was no evidence to prosecute him judicially.
The accusation against Uribe to take him to trial comes two weeks after the new attorney general, Luz Adriana Camargo, took office, which allowed the process to be unlocked, something in which Uribe also sees signs of animosity against him.
“The new attorney general of the nation has worked very close to the Minister of Defense (Iván Velásquez), it was his second in the (UN) mission in Guatemala, which I criticized. For no one is the Minister’s animosity against my family and towards me,” he said.
For Uribe, in this case the political origin of the process against him has become clear, which even linked him to the peace negotiations with the illegal armed groups, of which he has been a severe opponent.
“This manipulation against me gives signs of being part of the motivation to be part of a total peace agreement or for an end point law. So that they forgive the criminals as they did with the FARC and justify it with the fiction of forgiving those of us who have not committed crimes,” he said.
The former president also accused magistrates of the case of depriving him of the right to defend his honor because “if I do it bribe to witnesses and bribery to justice” and assured that “all the new evidence” carried out after the previous Prosecutor’s Office asked on two occasions for the closure of his case favor him, “however they dismissed them.”
“They open the doors of the prison for me without proof, with the evidence on the contrary, for assumptions, political spirits and the need to equalize those who have not committed crimes with those who have done it,” he concluded.
International
Zelenski urges global action after russian ballistic missile strike
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski called on the international community Thursday to “respond” to Russia’s ballistic missile strike on Ukraine, which he said has heightened the “escalation and brutality” of the conflict.
“The world must react. So far, there has been no strong response,” Zelenski lamented in a social media statement.
“We must act. We must pressure. We must push Russia towards real peace, which is only achievable through strength,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Thursday that Russia had launched a new type of hypersonic ballistic missile against Ukraine in its “non-nuclear configuration.”
International
Elon Musk plans sweeping cuts to U.S. bureaucracy and spending
Elon Musk has pledged massive cuts to government programs, subsidies, and bureaucracy in his anticipated role as a “State Efficiency” leader, according to an article published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal.
The billionaire entrepreneur plans to target hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending, including funds for public broadcasting and Planned Parenthood. Musk called government bureaucracy an “existential threat” to American democracy.
Teaming up with fellow businessman and Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk aims to streamline federal regulations and implement significant administrative and cost reductions.
“We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as external volunteers, not federal officials or employees,” Musk and Ramaswamy stated in the article.
International
Putin warns of escalation, suggests strikes on western weapon suppliers
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the conflict in Ukraine is taking on the characteristics of a “global war,” warning that Russia might target Western nations supplying Ukraine with weapons used in attacks on Russian territory.
These remarks come after a day of heightened tensions, during which Russia launched a state-of-the-art medium-range missile designed to carry a nuclear warhead. However, this particular missile was loaded with conventional explosives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the missile strike, calling it the action of a “deranged neighbor” using Ukraine as a “military testing ground.”
Earlier, Ukraine accused Russia of attacking the central-eastern city of Dnipro with a missile exhibiting “all the characteristics” of an intercontinental missile, an unprecedented development in the ongoing conflict.
Zelenski urges global action after russian ballistic missile strike
Elon Musk plans sweeping cuts to U.S. bureaucracy and spending
Putin warns of escalation, suggests strikes on western weapon suppliers
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International5 days agoPedro Sánchez to explain government’s handling of deadly floods in congress appearance
-
International3 days agoMore than 20 dead and a hundred injured in several missile attacks against residential areas of Odessa and Sumi
-
International5 days agoFire in India’s Jhansi Hospital kills 10 newborns
-
International5 days agoSinaloa cartel network dismantled in Spain following kidnapping and ransom incident
-
International23 hours agoThe US claims that China has rejected a meeting between its Defense chiefs in Laos
-
International2 days agoEtruscan artifacts targeted in black market scheme uncovered in Umbria
-
International3 days agoThe number of deaths rises to 111 in Gaza in one of the most violent days of the month
-
International2 days agoIran expands uranium stockpile to near weapons-grade levels
-
Tecnología2 days agoAI chip industry shifts focus as Nvidia faces new competition
-
International3 days agoThe presidential candidates in Uruguay promised in a debate not to raise taxes
-
International3 days agoThe Kremlin accuses the United States of throwing “firewood” by authorizing Ukraine to use long-range missiles
-
International23 hours agoOne-week preventive detention for Princess Mette-Marit’s son of Norway for rape
-
International23 hours agoThe next attorney general Matt Gaetz manages to stop the report on his sex scandal
-
International23 hours ago85% of Haiti’s capital has fallen into the power of gangs, according to UN reports
-
International3 days agoAntónio Guterres asks G20 leaders to “take a step forward” for peace in Ukraine and Gaza
-
International5 days agoSeven british citizens arrested in Spain for hashish trafficking 1.2 tons seized
-
International38 mins agoLebanon reports deadly airstrikes: 40 killed in Bekaa, 12 in southern regions
-
International43 mins agoTrump appoints Pam Bondi as future U.S. attorney general
-
International30 mins agoPutin warns of escalation, suggests strikes on western weapon suppliers
-
International3 days agoHezbulá regrets the death of its spokesman in an Israeli bombing in Beirut
-
International32 mins agoIMF: Spain’s economy remains resilient despite devastating floods
-
International41 mins agoMatt Gaetz withdraws from attorney general nomination amid political tensions
-
International28 mins agoElon Musk plans sweeping cuts to U.S. bureaucracy and spending
-
International21 mins agoZelenski urges global action after russian ballistic missile strike