International

The Foreign Ministry of Chile protests against Colombia for Petro’s controversial statements about Jadue

The Foreign Minister of Chile, Alberto van Klaveren, delivered on Monday a harsh note of protest to Colombia in which he described as “unacceptable” and “imprudent” the statements of the president of this country, Gustavo Petro, who asked for the release of the mayor of the municipality of Recoleta in Santiago de Chile, the communist Daniel Jadue.

“They do not know the democratic trajectory of our country, as well as the existence of a rule of law,” the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs added in his account of X.

Petro said on his social networks that Jadue, in pretrial detention for more than a month accused of several crimes of corruption, is “prisoned by Pinochet’s jurisprudence imposed on free beings.”

In addition, he published a video of Gabriela Rivadeneira, one of the members of the International Justice Committee for Daniel Jadue, who demands his release and assures that imprisonment is because it can “end the great business of pharmaceutical companies.”

The president of Colombia released his statements on the same day that the hearing of review of the mayor’s precautionary measures was held at the request of the defense, but the court decided to keep the maximum and leave him in prison because he considers it “a danger to the security of society.”

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

In the morning, the spokeswoman for the Government of Chile, Camila Vallejo, said that Chile “has a rule of law” and “separation of powers,” and stressed that the changes in the Chilean political system “determine” by Chile, “not authorities from other countries.”

“The Executive cannot be giving its opinion, or less intervening on judicial proceedings that are underway, either for the commune of Recoleta or for another case,” he added.

Petro’s words put at risk the good relations between the governments of both countries and the mutual admiration that both presidents – Petro and that of Chile Gabriel Boric – have expressed several times.

Petro’s second and most recent visit to La Moneda in Chile took place in September last year, in the context of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Augusto Pinochet’s coup d’état.

Jadue, a 56-year-old graduate in architecture and sociology of Arab origin, is one of the main leaders of Chilean communism. He played the presidential primaries of the left against Boric and, from his hand, the Communist Party settled on the front line of Chilean politics.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The politician of Chile is prosecuted for unfair administration, fraud, bribery, bankruptcy crime and tax fraud. All this within the framework of the management of the Chilean Association of Municipalities with Popular Pharmacies (Achifarp), of which he was president.

International

Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío

Wildland firefighting crews are battling 19 forest fires across the country, 12 of them concentrated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, located about 500 kilometers south of Santiago.

“In light of the severe fires currently underway, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are now available,” the president announced in a post on X.

Authorities have not yet released an official report on possible casualties or damage to homes.

According to images broadcast by local television, the fires have reached populated areas, particularly in the municipalities of Penco and Lirquén, in the Biobío region, which together are home to nearly 60,000 people. Burned vehicles were also reported on several streets.

“The Penco area and the entire Lirquén sector are the most critical zones and where the largest number of evacuations have taken place. We estimate that around 20,000 people have been evacuated,” said Alicia Cebrián, director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), in an interview with Mega TV.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

In recent years, forest fires have had a severe impact on the country, especially in the central-southern regions.

On February 2, 2024, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar, located 110 kilometers northwest of Santiago. Those fires resulted in 138 deaths, according to updated figures from the public prosecutor’s office, and left approximately 16,000 people affected, based on official data.

International

Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other charges, concluding the first in a series of trials stemming from his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

The sentence is shorter than the 10-year prison term sought by prosecutors against the 65-year-old conservative former leader, whose move against Parliament triggered a major political crisis that ultimately led to his removal from office.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, is still facing seven additional trials. One of them, on charges of insurrection, could potentially result in the death penalty.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on one of the multiple secondary cases linked to the affair, which plunged the country into months of mass protests and political instability.

International

U.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster

A new flight carrying 231 Venezuelans deported from the United States arrived on Friday at the airport serving Caracas, marking the first such arrival since the military operation that ousted and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

On January 3, U.S. forces bombed the Venezuelan capital during an incursion in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured. Both are now facing narcotrafficking charges in New York.

This was the first U.S.-flagged aircraft transporting migrants to land in Venezuela since the military action ordered by President Donald Trump, who has stated that he is now in charge of the country.

The aircraft departed from Phoenix, Arizona, and landed at Maiquetía International Airport, which serves the Venezuelan capital, at around 10:30 a.m. local time (14:30 GMT), according to AFP reporters on the ground.

The deportees arrived in Venezuela under a repatriation program that remained in place even during the height of the crisis between the two countries, when Maduro was still in power. U.S. planes carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued to arrive throughout last year, despite the military deployment ordered by Trump.