International
Guatemala transfers 225 prisoners to regain prison control in the south of the country
Guatemalan security forces transferred 225 people who were imprisoned in the prison called “El Infiernito”, located about 60 kilometers south of the capital of the Central American country, as part of the plans to convert it into a “high security” prison and thus regain control.
The Guatemalan Minister of the Interior (Interior), Francisco Jiménez, indicated that the eviction was carried out with the aim of “recovering and converting the prison into a high-security prison” and stressed that in the operation they found a pool of crocodiles.
According to the same source, the prison, which is known as “The Hell” but whose official name is Maximum Security Center Canada, will be remodeled soon.
More than 400 agents of the National Civil Police participated in the operation to transfer 225 inmates, mostly gang members, as confirmed by the authorities.
Jiménez explained in a message on his official channels that the transfer lasted four hours and that several illegal objects have initially been found in the place, including a “pool” of “crocodiles.”
The official said that the “main objectives” of the operatives were “the recovery” of the penitentiary center, which “had been constituted into a prison that had nothing to do with maximum security.” In addition, they also transfer inmates from the “Mara 18” gang to other prison centers to have better control over the criminal organization.
According to Jimenez, the findings inside the prison showed “that there was total freedom inside this prison.”
“We found a farm of farm animals, which were probably used by the same inmates to feed themselves. But the most serious thing is that we find in a crocodile pool, a very serious issue because it shows the lack of control of this prison,” he concluded.
The operatives arrive a week after the murder of 18-year-old Guatemalan singer and influencer Jorge Pop, a crime that dismayed the Central American country and that is initially attributed by the authorities to the “Mara 18” gang.
According to various studies, thousands of businesses in Guatemala suffer monthly extortion by gang members, mostly from the different prisons that are under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior.
That is why Jiménez indicated that they are looking for “mechanisms” so that prisoners cannot “charge phones” or have access to illegal objects.
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“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.
International
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.
International
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.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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