International
Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández denounces the president’s censorship of her book on drug trafficking
Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández accused in an interview with EFE the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador of exercising a “terrible censorship that suffocates” to her new book ‘The Secret Story: AMLO and the Sinaloa Cartel’, on social networks and media, which she compared to the threats she has previously suffered for her publications.
“It’s a virtual murder when they don’t let you say things, when they don’t let you communicate, when, on the one hand, they take away any possibility of explaining the investigation,” Hernández said.
“On the other hand, the President of the Republic has the monopoly of communication, through his ‘morning’ conference, where there are already several occasions that disqualify me and disqualify my work. There are insults, there is machismo, there is misogyny,” he continued.
Mexico is the war-free country with the most journalists killed in the last decade, according to figures from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an organization that has also denounced the increase in the hostilities of the current government towards this profession, which increases the danger of exercising it.
Anabel Hernández, who has suffered these aggressions, recalled her colleague Javier Valdez, executed after publishing about Los Chapitos in Sinaloa, a “very painful” experience that the author mentions in the book.
“Althout Javier and I didn’t talk very often, when we talked and looked at each other, it was very deep because we both lived in terrible isolation,” he described.
“Because after you receive death threats, you are not thinking only of yourself, but of ‘if someone comes and shoots me, the lady next door shoots him, or the child who is in the cinema’, or what do I know,” Hernández added.
The author of ‘Los Señores del Narco’ (2010) pointed out that at the beginning of the current government, López Obrador “congratulated” her for her investigations into Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Security of the presidency of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), now imprisoned in the United States for the revelations she published 14 years ago.
“Only now that he is the one who is being investigated, now he does denoy journalism. No, the power does not understand that journalists are not here to applaud it, we are to investigate it,” he said.
The journalist explained that “there are two key witnesses who testified against García Luna in New York,” who also pointed out López Obrador’s links with the cartel.
One, according to Anabel Hernández, is King Zambada, “who has already declared in court, in a trial that did give money to López Obrador’s campaign.”
And the other is “Sergio Villarreal Barragán, alias El Grande, who has also already declared in the PGR (extinct Attorney General’s Office) and in the trial of Genaro García Luna,” about the links of both politicians with organized crime.
In addition, Hernández defended that his sources are “direct witnesses” of the facts, which is not easy to process as a journalist, since it is necessary to question it and contrast it again and again, which becomes “very exhausting.”
The book is published in the middle of the campaigns before the elections of June 2 and, even, the opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez quoted it during the last debate last Sunday.
But the journalist indicated that the work “was in process for four years” and it was not until the end of 2023 and 2024 that she found “very important” testimonies that “put the last pieces of the puzzle” with “strongness and clarity.”
“I realized that the investigation was over, seeing that there really was such solid evidence that López Obrador came to power funded by the Sinaloa cartel,” he said.
The book, based on dozens of testimonies and judicial files from the United States, narrates how the Sinaloa Cartel would have financed López Obrador’s campaigns from 2006, until the mid-term elections of 2021, when his party, the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), devastated almost all States.
In the last chapter, ‘The Heiress’, Anabel Hernández proposes that that structure will probably pass into the hands of the ruling candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum.
“What I do have are many testimonies that there are members of the Sinaloa Cartel who are calling for a vote in favor of Claudia Sheinbaum. There are those who are saying that they will be better off with her than with Obrador,” he said.
International
Noboa once again entrusts the Vice President of Ecuador to the vice president he appointed by decree
The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, returned this Thursday to delegate – for the second time – the Presidency to the Secretary of Public Administration and Cabinet of the Presidency Cynthia Gellibert, whom he himself appointed by decree vice president in charge, in the face of the open confrontation he maintains with the vice president, Verónica Abad.
As he did last week, Noboa again issued a decree in which he announces that he is absent from the Presidency from Thursday to Sunday, to make an electoral campaign in search of his re-election in the elections of February 9, and during that period of time it will be Gellibert who will be in charge of the head of the State.
This action of the president of Ecuador is a matter of evaluation by the ordinary and constitutional justice at the request of the vice president, Verónica Abad, who claims to assume the presidential functions during the full period of the electoral campaign, in which according to the Constitution the head of state must ask for leave for being a candidate for re-election.
In his decree, Noboa argues that, although the Constitution determines that the Vice Presidency must assume the head of State in the event of the absence of the president, this “is not limited to the elected vice-president, but to the person who to date is exercising the functions of the Vice Presidency.”
Before appointing Gellibert as vice president in charge by decree, Noboa sent Abad to the Ecuadorian Embassy in Turkey, after a judge annulled the five-month suspension that the same Government had imposed on him. Until now, the vice president remains in Ecuador to claim to be the one who temporarily assumes the Presidency.
The new period of Gellibert with presidential powers began at 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) this Thursday and is scheduled to end at 22:00 (03:00 GMT) next Sunday, time at which the debate between presidential candidates is expected to end where Noboa is summoned to participate.
After the debate, Noboa plans to travel to Washington to attend Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, according to the Ecuadorian Presidency.
After the first assignment of the Presidency to Gellibert, Abad denounced a “coup d’état” and urged the Organization of American States (OAS) to apply the Democratic Charter, considering that the constitutional order had been broken because it had not received the presidential powers, as contemplated in the Ecuadorian Constitution.
In addition, he filed a protection action with which he seeks that the Justice annul the decrees in which Noboa appointed Gellibert as vice president in charge and delegated the Presidency to him. A court admitted the appeal on Friday, but did not accept some precautionary measures that Abad also asked for to suspend those effects immediately.
Controversies like this will be part of the analysis and evaluation of the electoral observation mission (EOM) of the European Union (EU) for the Ecuadorian elections, as anticipated on Wednesday by its leader, Spanish MEP Gabriel Mato.
The confrontation between Noboa and Abad began in the electoral campaign for the second round of elections for the extraordinary elections of 2023, and was reflected when he assumed the charges, when in one of his first decisions, the president sent the vice president to Israel as ambassador, with the mission of seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Abad has denounced Noboa for alleged political gender violence and has accused her of leading a harassment against her to force her to resign and thus avoid having to delegate the Presidency to her during the electoral campaign period, which runs from January 5 to February 6.
The titular vice president has also accused the Government of being behind the corruption investigation in the offices of the Vice Presidency that involves her son in a case where the Prosecutor’s Office also sought to indict Abad, but the National Assembly (Parliament) voted mostly against lifting the jurisdiction, although the ruling party voted in favor.
The general elections in Ecuador are called for Sunday, February 9 and, according to the polls published so far, Noboa and the candidate of the correismo Luisa González appear as prominent favorites to move on to the second round.
International
Musk’s Starship was lost after a smooth takeoff
The second stage of the Starship spacecraft, the largest and most powerful rocket in the world, was lost this Thursday after a smooth takeoff from the SpaceX base in Boca Chica, in southern Texas (USA), on the border with Mexico.
Before confirming the news, the company of technology tycoon Elon Musk pointed out during the live broadcast that it had lost contact with the rocket, which was supposed to dwell in the Indian Ocean.
However, the takeoff itself had no problems, and even the first stage, the Super Heavy, managed to return to land, to the base, and be caught by the clamps in a spectacular way, for the second time.
“The Starship spacecraft suffered a rapid and unforeseen dismantling during its ascent. The teams will continue to review the data from today’s flight test to better understand the root cause,” SpaceX said on the social network X.
He added that in a test like this, “success depends on what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve the reliability of the Starship spacecraft.”
The rocket had been improved for this seventh test flight and the part that was lost was carrying cargo into space for the first time, in this case a dozen replicas of Starlink internet satellites.
The lost spacecraft was to fly in a suborbital trajectory for about an hour, after which it planned to land in the Indian Ocean, as in the last tests.
In these initial test flights, the idea is not to reach orbit but to go around the planet and descend by the tail ahead and propelled by rockets in the Indian Ocean.
The SpaceX company signed up for a new success on Thursday with the launch of the seventh test flight of the Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket in the world, which this time was improved, took cargo into space for the first time and also managed to catch the propeller on the ground for the second time on its return to the base in Texas.
The rocket had taken off today at 16:37 local time (22:37 GMT) powered by the Super Heavy as planned after several delays due to unfavorable weather conditions.
SpaceX proposed in this new Starship test to launch a ship with significant improvements, and attempt the first payload deployment test, the Starlink.
He also wanted to fly multiple reentry experiments aimed at capturing and reusing ships, and launching and returning the Super Heavy thruster to the base in Texas, as he succeeded.
As in the most recent test flights, the first stage propelled the upper one out of the dense lower atmosphere before returning in a controlled manner.
Remains of the Starship ship, the largest and most powerful rocket in the world, passed through the north of the Dominican Republic, according to electronic news pages from the United States and according to images spread on social networks.
International
Mark Carney announces his candidacy to replace Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada
Former Bank of Canada governor (2008-2013) Mark Carney announced on Thursday that he will present his candidacy to lead the Liberal Party and become the country’s prime minister.
Carney, 59, who was also governor of the Bank of England (2013-2020), is the first of the main candidates to publicly communicate his desire to replace Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in December.
In a speech in the city of Edmonton, in the west of the country, he acknowledged that “the system is not working as it should” and that many people do not find affordable housing or a family doctor.
With a centrist and nationalist language, Carney declared that “these are normal times for us” and warned that “in just four days Donald Trump will become the 47th president (of the United States), a man who threatens his closest and most faithful allies, including Canada, with economic strength.”
In this sense, he explained that he wants to be the leader of the Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister because Canada faces “unprecedented challenges.”
Carney also referred to the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, whom polls point so far as the winner of the next general elections, and criticized that he is worried “looking for the support of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”
“Sending Poilievre to negotiate with Trump is the worst possible idea,” he added.
The former governor of the Bank of Canada recalled the seven years he spent at the head of the Bank of England: “In the United Kingdom I saw from the front row what happened there after years in which the conservatives shouted that the country was broken.”
“Conservatives don’t shout that Canada is broken because they want to fix it, what they want is permission to destroy it,” he said.
Carney concluded by pointing out that he will win the next elections to “build a strong economy for all and to defend Canada against Trump.”
The Liberal Party will reveal on March 9 the name of Trudeau’s substitute, who on December 16 announced that he will resign when the political formation chooses his substitute.
Chrystia Freeland, until December vice prime minister of the country, is expected to announce her candidacy next week, which will make her Carney’s main rival.
The opposition parties, which have a majority in Parliament, have already announced that as soon as the sessions of Parliament resume on March 24, they will present a motion of censure to hold early elections.
Noboa once again entrusts the Vice President of Ecuador to the vice president he appointed by decree
Musk’s Starship was lost after a smooth takeoff
Mark Carney announces his candidacy to replace Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada
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 agoPresident Arévalo highlights anti-corruption and drug trafficking efforts in first year report
-
Central America2 days agoVenezuelan opposition leader to meet Costa Rican president Rodrigo Chaves on thursday
-
International5 days agoVenezuela’s Interior Ministry confirms arrest of María Corina Machado’s driver
-
International5 days agoÁlvaro Uribe calls for international military intervention to oust Maduro
-
International5 days ago12 dead after jade mine collapse in Northern Myanmar
-
International5 days agoMigrants in Ciudad Juárez brave subzero temperatures with donations of warm clothing
-
International2 days agoThe Government of Israel accuses Hamas of wanting to modify the truce agreement and postpones its vote
-
International3 days agoACLU prepares for “worst-case scenario” on immigration under incoming Trump administration
-
International2 days agoAn Australian influencer is accused of poisoning her baby to earn money
-
International2 days agoRussia attacks Kiev in the middle of British Prime Minister Starmer’s visit
-
International3 days agoHMPV infection rate declining in Northern China, health official reports
-
International3 days agoTrump announces creation of external revenue service to collect foreign tariffs
-
International2 days agoFar-right Israeli minister will leave the Netanyahu government if his country does not resume the war after the truce
-
International12 hours agoMark Carney announces his candidacy to replace Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada
-
International12 hours agoHRW assures that Sheinbaum “inherited a crisis” from López Obrador due to “extreme violence” in Mexico
-
International12 hours agoMusk’s Starship was lost after a smooth takeoff
-
International3 days agoElon Musk sends Cybertrucks with Starlink and supplies to assist Los Angeles wildfire victims
-
International12 hours agoNoboa once again entrusts the Vice President of Ecuador to the vice president he appointed by decree
-
International12 hours agoThe Prosecutor’s Office asks Boluarte to hand over the documents that justify the surgery he kept hidden
-
International2 days agoPope Francis suffers a fall without fractures and his arm is immobilized as a precaution
-
International2 days agoCanadian business leaders meet with president Sheinbaum to boost investments in Mexico
-
International2 days agoBiden warns “Soul of America” still at stake ahead of farewell address
-
International2 days agoEmotional support dogs help firefighters fighting fires in California
-
International2 days agoIndigenous peoples of Mexico help migrants stranded in the south far from the border
-
International13 hours agoAntony Blinken assures that the Panamanian sovereignty of the Panama Canal “will not change”
-
International2 days agoMarco Rubio warns of China’s threat and criticizes Venezuela and Cuba in Senate hearing
-
International13 hours agoChina, Israel and Burma, the countries in the world with the most journalists imprisoned in 2024
-
International2 days agoRussia and Iran will sign a strategic agreement three days before Trump’s inauguration
-
International13 hours agoEdmundo González Urrutia’s team says that the anti-chavista will attend Trump’s investiture
-
International2 days agoThe ‘Supersopa’, created during the great crisis of 2002, returns to the canteens of Argentina
-
International13 hours agoAt least five peace signatories and social leaders are killed in fighting in Colombia
-
International2 days agoFrench justice saves a domesticated boar threatened with euthanasia by the authorities
-
International2 days agoCarlos Correa, director of the Venezuelan NGO Espacio Público, has been released from prison
-
International2 days agoSeparate negotiators and last-minute details, this is how the ceasefire in Gaza was negotiated
-
International13 hours agoForeign Affairs confirms the kidnapping of a Spaniard in North Africa by a jihadist group