International
Uribe Reacts to Mancuso’s Return: “Accused of Paramilitarism While Extraditing Them,” States Former President
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe reiterated on Wednesday that he has been accused of paramilitarism throughout his life, but pointed out that he was the one who extradited the top leaders of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) to the United States, in reference to the return of ex-leader Salvatore Mancuso to the country.
“I know I must make a greater effort to combine my defense with my task of argumentative opposition and the fight for Colombia’s future. How strange, they accuse me of being a paramilitary and yet I extradited them, and the only paramilitary who claims to have met with me is Mancuso,” Uribe said in a video posted on his social media.
Mancuso arrived in Bogotá on Tuesday from the United States, deported after serving a sentence for drug trafficking, and stated that he will comply with “the restrictive conditions” imposed by Colombian justice.
The former AUC commander arrived on a chartered flight of deportees that landed at the Military Air Transport Command (Catam) in the Colombian capital and will now have to appear before justice for dozens of crimes committed during the armed conflict.
He then entered La Picota prison in southern Bogotá and was placed at the disposal of the judge in charge of executing sentences of Justice and Peace in the Colombian capital and the magistrate of Guarantees Control in Barranquilla (north), who are the competent authorities to make decisions about his freedom, according to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).
Dangerous Relationships
Last year, the former paramilitary leader stated during a truth-telling hearing before the JEP that the AUC supported political candidates seeking to reach the Colombian Congress in the March 2010 elections and also provided backing for the campaigns of former Presidents Uribe and Andrés Pastrana.
“In 2002, the United Self-Defense Forces directly intervened in the congressional elections on March 10, 2002, and also the presidential elections in May 2002 (won by Uribe),” Mancuso said at the time.
In response, Uribe stated that Mancuso is lying: “He never met with me. We greeted each other a few times because of my connection to Montería (capital of the department of Córdoba). We did not have conversations. During the presidential campaign, I refused to meet with him, as was publicly established, and I also publicly disavowed his support in Barrancabermeja.”
“Mancuso has made a point of accusing me, lying. I have faced everything,” he added.
Mancuso’s Criminal Life
Mancuso laid down his arms in 2006, along with the majority of the AUC members, a group responsible for most of the crimes committed during the armed conflict according to the Truth Commission.
His demobilization took place following negotiations with Uribe’s government (2002-2010), which extradited him to the United States in 2008 along with 13 other paramilitary leaders because they remained involved in drug trafficking.
In the United States, Mancuso was sentenced in 2015 to 15 years and 10 months in prison for drug trafficking.
However, in March 2020, the US judge who sentenced him considered the sentence fulfilled by validating the two years he spent in prison in Colombia as part of the sentence, as well as the time he spent in prison in the United States awaiting trial.
As part of the agreement between the AUC and the government, the paramilitaries availed themselves of the Justice and Peace Law, which provided for maximum sentences of eight years in prison in exchange for collaboration in clarifying crimes.
International
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Pope Francis met on Thursday at the Vatican with 16 Israelis who had been held hostage in Gaza for months by the Islamist group Hamas, according to the official Vatican news website.
The group consisted of ten women, four men, and two children, as reported by the same source. Several of the former hostages showed the Argentine pontiff banners or photos of their loved ones who remain in captivity.
Francis had previously met with the families of hostages in April this year and November 2023, but this was the first time he had met with individuals who had personally endured captivity.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the pope has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages, while also condemning the suffering of the Palestinian population.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Islamist militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages who died in captivity.
Of the kidnapped, 97 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that 34 of them have died.
The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed at least 43,736 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-governed territory.
International
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings on Thursday, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 16 injuries, according to Syria’s Ministry of Defense and state television.
The ministry stated that around 3:20 p.m. local time (12:20 GMT), the Israeli military launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighborhood in western Damascus and the Qudsaya suburb to the northwest of the capital.
The airstrikes “resulted in the death of 15 people and injuries to 16 others, including women and children,” based on initial estimates, in addition to significant damage to private property and civilian buildings, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, state television reported Israeli airstrikes on three buildings in Mazzeh and another on a building in an educational complex located in a residential area of Qudsaya.
Following the strikes, loud explosions were heard throughout the city, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted locations. Ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene to attend to the victims.
International
Drug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
Three people were on the boat that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel around midnight at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near the Andalusian city of Cádiz, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard reported.
Two officers sustained “contusions,” the spokesperson explained.
The drug traffickers managed to bring the boat to shore, where one of them was “abandoned” severely injured. The other two fled.
The Civil Guard officers attempted to resuscitate the victim before transporting him to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but he ultimately died early in the morning.
The other two suspects took advantage of the officers’ absence while they were taking the victim and returned to set their boat on fire.
The collision occurred very close to the site of another accident on September 1, where a drug trafficker died following a Guardia Civil pursuit.
The suspects’ boat traveled “400 meters” before crashing head-on and “at full speed” into the riverbank, where a hundred bundles of hashish were found.
Mulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
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
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
Central America3 days agoBukele begins official visit to Costa Rica based on security, cooperation and trade
-
Central America2 days agoNicaraguan Naval Force seizes cocaine on Pacific Coast, suspects escape
-
Central America2 days agoEl Salvador delivers aid to Costa Rica amid severe flooding and red alerts
-
Central America2 days agoBukele urges Costa Rica to reform prison system amid rising crime rates
-
International2 days agoMarco Rubio considered for Secretary of State in Trump administration, reports say
-
International2 days agoSheinbaum pledges support for mexican migrants amid U.S. border enforcement plans
-
International3 days agoDaniel Ortega turns 79: 29 in power, 17 “governing from below”, and 7 in prison
-
International3 days agoLe procureur vénézuélien dénonce une campagne visant à présenter les “criminels” comme prisonniers politiques
-
International3 days agoLes migrants qui ont été retenus en Albanie par le gouvernement de Meloni arriveront ce soir en Italie
-
International4 days agoShooting at Tuskegee University leaves one dead and several injured
-
International2 days agoElon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency
-
International1 day agoMálaga paralyzed by new storm as torrential rains hit Spain
-
International3 days agoA US flight to Haiti is deflected after being shot when approaching Port-au-Prince
-
International2 days agoPresident-elect Trump chooses Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense
-
International1 day agoSeven bodies found with signs of torture in Sinaloa
-
International1 day agoHezbollah launches explosive drone strike on Israel’s defense headquarters
-
International3 days agoIrish mobster Hutch is rending for general elections after arrest in Spain
-
International1 day agoEcuadorian judge orders preventive detention for nine inmates after deadly prison clashes
-
Internacionales2 days ago
Mexico deploys 12,000 security agents to Guerrero amid escalating violence
-
Internacionales4 days agoTropical storm Rafael weakens over gulf of Mexico after devastating Cuba
-
International1 day agoSantiago Uribe cleared of homicide and paramilitary charges
-
International3 days agoTrump appoints an ally without experience in the sector to the environmental agency
-
International1 day agoTrump nominates Matt Gaetz as attorney general
-
International1 day agoMarco Rubio to become first latino U.S. diplomacy chief under Trump
-
International3 days agoThe court of El Salvador postpones the preliminary hearing for the massacre of Jesuit parents in 1989
-
Central America4 hours agoMulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration
-
International4 hours agoIsraeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
-
International5 hours ago
Aemet downgrades rainfall alert as heavy rains ease in Spain
-
International5 hours agoVenezuelan opposition activist dies in custody amid allegations of repressive crisis
-
International5 hours agoDrug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
-
Central America5 hours agoTen dead in Panama due to storms causing over $100 million in damages
-
International5 hours agoMaria Corina Machado sees clear signs for Venezuela after Trump’s victory
-
International4 hours agoPope Francis meets former Gaza hostages