International
Ex-security chief ‘betrayed’ Mexico, drugs trial hears

January 23 | By AFP |
A once-powerful Mexican government minister “betrayed” his country by engaging in the very drug trafficking he was in charge of stopping, US prosecutors told his trial Monday.
Genaro Garcia Luna is accused of receiving vast sums of money to allow the notorious Sinaloa cartel to smuggle cocaine when he was public security minister between 2006 and 2012.
“The defendant took millions of dollars of bribes again, again and again,” government attorney Philip Pilmar said in opening arguments at Brooklyn federal court.
“He is a man who betrayed his country and ours,” added the prosecutor, as the 54-year-old Garcia Luna looked on from the dock, sometimes blowing kisses to his wife and daughter.
Garcia Luna has pleaded not guilty to five counts that carry possible sentences of between 10 years and life in prison.
US prosecutors accuse him of looking the other way as drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s cartel shipped tons of drugs into the United States between 2001 and 2012.
Guzman is currently serving a life sentence in the United States after being convicted by a jury in Brooklyn in 2019.
The US government alleges that Garcia Luna became a member of Sinaloa around January 2001 when he was working in police intelligence.
From 2006 to 2012 he was the architect of then-president Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on Mexico’s drug gangs.
But prosecutors say that in exchange for millions of dollars, Garcia Luna agreed not to interfere with drug shipments, tipped off traffickers about law enforcement operations, targeted rival cartel members for arrest and placed other corrupt officials in positions of power.
A former Sinaloa member said at Guzman’s trial that he had delivered suitcases containing at least $6 million in cash to Garcia Luna at a restaurant in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Garcia Luna’s defense team has indicated it will argue that their client was actually helping the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
“No money, no photos, no video, no recording, no text, no evidence that Garcia Luna helped the cartel,” attorney Cesar de Castro said during opening arguments by the defense.
Garcia Luna was detained in Texas in December 2019. He is also accused of lying when he applied for US citizenship in 2018.
The current Mexican government, which has requested Garcia Luna’s extradition from the United States, has accused him of stealing more than $200 million of public funds.
His New York trial is expected to last eight weeks.
International
Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.
The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.
The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).
“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.
Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”
International
Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.
Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.
A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”
According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.
International
Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.
Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.
“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.
“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.
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