International
Putin’s top candidates won’t take parliament seats

AFP
Candidates who topped the electoral lists of Russia’s ruling party in this month’s legislative elections will not take their seats in parliament, officials said on Wednesday.
The announcement prompted opposition figures to accuse the Kremlin of duping voters, on top of allegations of widespread electoral fraud.
On Wednesday, the Central Election Commission said four of the five candidates who headed the list of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party would not be serving as deputies.
“They are not on a list of lawmakers,” a commission spokeswoman told AFP.
The ruling party turned to popular figures including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, 71, and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, 66, to head its list, as pre-election polls saw its support as low as 30 percent.
The figures asked to take part in the campaign also included a popular doctor in charge of Moscow’s main Covid-19 hospital, who has become a symbol of Russia’s fight against the coronavirus.
The doctor, Denis Protsenko, initially refused the nomination, but after a call from President Vladimir Putin, the 45-year-old took part in the campaign.
Of the five, only the children’s rights ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova will take up a seat in parliament’s lower house, the State Duma.
Activist Elena Shmelyova, who heads a popular children’s centre, will also give up her mandate.
The team of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said it was “clear from the very beginning” that prominent figures were on the unpopular United Russia election list only to boost support and “cheat voters.”
“United Russia is spinning voters a line to remain in power,” Navalny’s team said on Telegram.
United Russia claimed a two-thirds majority in the lower house after a massive crackdown on the opposition. Kremlin critics have accused the authorities of mass voter fraud.
Official results gave United Russia 49.8 percent of the vote, down from 54.2 percent in the last parliamentary election in 2016.
Critics say online voting, new limits on election observers and the polls being spread over three days — a move officials said was to reduce coronavirus risks — all presented opportunities for fraud.
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.”
-
Central America5 days ago
Nicaragua denounces Costa Rica’s position in SICA as aligned with foreign interests
-
Central America5 days ago
Nicaragua’s new judicial law consolidates power in Ortega and Murillo’s hands
-
Central America5 days ago
Panama’s president declares Darién gap ‘closed’ amid sharp drop in migrant flow
-
International3 days ago
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
-
International5 days ago
Marco Rubio warns Venezuela against military action against Guyana
-
International3 days ago
Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?
-
Central America2 days ago
Panama police clarifies that Interpol alert for Martinelli is still pending
-
International2 days ago
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
-
Central America14 hours ago
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary urges Mexico to strengthen Guatemala border
-
International14 hours ago
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal
-
Central America14 hours ago
Panama grants Martinelli 72-hour extension to travel to Nicaragua
-
Central America4 days ago
Nicaragua revokes legal status of 10 more NGOs, bringing total to over 5,600