International
Colombia militant jailed for 28 years for Ecuador press murders
AFP
A member of a splinter group from Colombia’s FARC ex-guerrilla organization was sentenced Friday to 28 years in prison for the kidnap and murder of an Ecuadoran press team in 2018, prosecutors said.
Gustavo Angulo Arboleda, also known as “Cherry”, confessed to participating in the abduction and killing of two journalists from the daily El Comercio, as well as their driver, on the border between Ecuador and Colombia. He was also fined the equivalent of $1.2 million.
“The victims were kidnapped by members of the Oliver Sinisterra group, a breakaway group of the FARC, in the province of Esmeraldas (Ecuador) on March 26, 2018,” then “transferred to Colombian territory and delivered to Cherry,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Prosecutors said Angulo Arboleda was part of the group in charge of guarding the hostages, until the Ecuadoran head of the splinter group, known as “Guacho,” ordered the murder of reporter Javier Ortega, 32, photographer Paul Rivas, 45, and driver Efrain Segarra, 60.
Their bodies were found three months after the kidnapping in a pit dug on the Colombian side of the border, in the southern region of Narino, one of the largest areas under drug cultivation in the world.
Guacho, whose real name was Walther Arizala, was killed by Colombian soldiers in December 2018.
Angulo Arboleda asked for forgiveness from the families of the victims, the prosecution said.
In March, another member of the same group, Jesus Vargas, also known as Reinel, was sentenced to 28 years and eight months in prison.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said in a report that the measures taken by Ecuador to protect the El Comercio press team had “been insufficient.”
The various armed groups that broke away from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, after it signed a historic peace deal in 2016, lack a unified command structure but number around 2,500 combatants.
They are financed mainly by drug trafficking as well as clandestine gold mines, according to the military intelligence service.
International
Judge declares Donald Trump not guilty in Stormy Daniels case
Judge Juan Merchan acquitted U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the case involving former porn actress Stormy Daniels.
“At this moment, I am issuing this verdict to cover all 34 charges,” Merchan stated. The judge also wished Trump good luck in his second term as president.
Trump will now become the first criminal president.
Merchan declined to impose any punishment. This decision strengthens Trump’s acquittal and clears the way for his return to the White House without the threat of prison or a fine.
“Never before has this court faced such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Judge Merchan said.
International
Canada imposes sanctions on 14 venezuelan officials for human rights violations
Canada imposed sanctions on 14 high-ranking officials of the Venezuelan “regime” this Friday, including prominent members of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM), for their involvement in human rights violations in Venezuela.
Among those sanctioned are DGCIM prosecutors Dinorah Yoselin Bustamante Puerta and Farik Karin Salcedo Mora; the director of criminal investigations at the agency, Asdrubal José Brito Hernandez, as well as its former deputy director, Rafael Ramón Blanco Marrero.
The sanctions also target several members of the Bolivarian National Guard: its general commander, Elio Ramón Estrada Paredes; the commander of the capital region, Johan Alexander Hernández Lárez, and lieutenant colonel, Alexander Enrique Granko Arteaga.
Other individuals sanctioned include the director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Alexis José Rodríguez Cabello, and his deputy director, Miguel Antonio Muñoz Palacios; Brigadier General of the Bolivarian National Police, Rubén Darío Santiago Servigna, and Domingo Antonio Hernández Lárez, commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.
International
María Corina Machado urges Edmundo González Urrutia not to return to Venezuela for his safety
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Friday that she asked Edmundo González Urrutia, former candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), not to return to Venezuela to avoid putting himself at risk.
In a video message, Machado explained that the opposition evaluated the situation and concluded that González Urrutia would be in danger if he tried to enter Venezuela as he had planned.
González Urrutia, who claims to have won the July 28 elections with the support of more than 85% of the official voting records, had announced that he would return to Venezuela on January 10 to assume the presidency.
Earlier, Nicolás Maduro, who was declared the winner of those elections, took the oath of office for a third term.
Judge declares Donald Trump not guilty in Stormy Daniels case
Canada imposes sanctions on 14 venezuelan officials for human rights violations
María Corina Machado urges Edmundo González Urrutia not to return to Venezuela for his safety
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
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