International
Colombia probes murder of two young Venezuelan migrants

AFP
Colombian authorities are investigating the murder of two young Venezuelan migrants in the northeast of the country, sources said on Monday.
Authorities said the two youngsters, one of whom was allegedly only 12 years old, were murdered by an “illegal armed group”.
Videos and photos shared on social media appeared to show them on Saturday trying to steal clothing from a shop in Tibu, on the border with Venezuela — an area rife with criminal gangs.
“They were taken away… by an illegal armed group that took them to an unknown destination where they were murdered,” Jaime Marthey, the ombudsman in the Norte de Santander department, told Blu Radio.
Images seemingly from after they were caught, show the youngsters with their wrists bound with tape, surrounded by people giving them a warning: “We don’t want to see you lying by the side of a road tomorrow. We’re handing you over to authorities.”
The younger of the two was pictured carrying a red school backpack.
Other images show their bodies covered in blood by the side of a rural path after they were apparently shot in the stomach.
A piece of cardboard with the words “thieves” had been placed on the younger Venezuelan.
Tibu is the site of Colombia’s largest plantation of coca leaves, the main ingredient used in the fabrication of cocaine.
Various armed groups in the country are battling for control of the lucrative drug trafficking market.
Shopkeepers claim they called the police but no one came to take custody of the two youngsters.
Police colonel Carlos Martinez promised there would be an “internal investigation” and claimed the youngsters were killed by dissidents from the left-wing rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Martinez claimed the shopkeepers had beaten the Venezuelans, something the local shopkeepers’ federation denied, saying they tried to protect the youngsters and stop them from being taken away by unidentified men.
Venezuela’s attorney general Tarek Saab sent a letter to his Colombian counterpart, Francisco Barbosa, to request “clarification” of the situation and “any responsibilities that may arise.”
Earlier, Saab said on Twitter that “the full identification of the bodies has not been achieved and they have not been claimed by any family members.”
Colombia’s representation to the UN Commission on Human Rights posted a statement on Twitter denouncing the “murder of a 12-year-old child,” and calling on authorities to investigate.
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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