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Honduran Vice Minister of Security survives armed attack

Photo: Diario La Prensa

December 6 |

The Vice Minister of Security of Honduras, Julissa Villanueva, escaped unharmed from an attack against her on Tuesday, perpetrated by armed men while she was driving her vehicle in a sector of the capital Tegucigalpa, near the America neighborhood, in the vicinity of Toncontín Airport, police sources reported.

Authorities stated that it was confirmed that it was two unknown persons who shot at the official’s van, who was traveling with her security personnel. Fortunately, Villanueva was unharmed, as the armored vehicle protected the occupants.

“I am fine, but I feel uncomfortable when they tell me that they hear gunshots, however, I told them (bodyguards) to calm down or calm down and investigate because these people are really going to kill me,” she told the local press. After the attack, National Police agents patrolled the area in search of those responsible for the attack.

Villanueva recalled that she has indeed received intimidations in the last weeks, which increased after the denunciation she made for the appearance of bullet casings from National Police weapons in the massacre of inmates in the National Female Penitentiary of Social Adaptation (PNFAS), in Támara.

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In a television interview, the undersecretary assured that the threats and intimidations come from the very institution where she works. “I will not tolerate that anyone obstructs my work and I have a scientific technical unit that works with me, a team of experts who investigate, how can I not know that the messages come from this same Secretariat”.

She also recalled that, since she headed the Intervention Commission in the National Penitentiary Institute (INP) for the massacre of the 46 inmates, she faced many obstacles, as she did when she tried to investigate the murder of soccer fan Wilson Perez in the northern part of Honduras and other emblematic cases.

So far, neither the Minister of Security, Gustavo Sanchez, nor the Undersecretary of Security herself have offered information on the investigative advances that would reveal who would be behind the threats against him.

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International

Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway

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“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.

The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.

“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”

“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.

Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.

Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.

The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.

In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.

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Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.

Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.

Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.

In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.

The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.

Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.

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Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people

At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.

“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”

The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.

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