International
The trial for the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio begins in Ecuador
The Justice of Ecuador began on Tuesday the trial for the murder of the then presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, at the hands of hitmen on August 9, 2023, eleven days before the celebration of the first round of the extraordinary general elections.
When presenting the facts at the trial hearing, the Prosecutor’s Office recalled that the attackers shot and injured 14 people, including Villavicencio, 3 police officers, political militants and a person who was driving in a vehicle.
At the hearing, a video was also presented with the anticipated testimony of a protected witness who narrated his participation in previous planning meetings, but not in the murder of the one who was a candidate for the Ecuadorian presidency.
In the version he pointed out that one of those involved in the crime would have told him days after the murder that “that head (that of Fernando Villavicencio) was worth 200,000 dollars and was sent to be done by the Government of Correa,” the Primicias portal published.
Former President Rafael Correa, who ruled Ecuador between 2007 and 2017, reacted on his social network X account to the publication of Primicias: “It was time… The same formula: protected and anonymous ‘witness’. Anyway…”
The Prosecutor’s Office recalled that after the attack in Villavicencio he was transferred to a clinic, where his death was confirmed, while the attackers fled with the exception of one, “who was neutralized at the scene and transferred to the flagrante deception unit, where his death was confirmed.”
He added that the Police raided a home in Quito where he arrested six people for their alleged participation in the crime: Andrés M., José L., Adey G., Camilo R., Jules C. and Jhon R., now deceased, so the criminal action against them was extinguished.
The investigations determined the alleged involvement of seven other people: Carlos A., Laura C. Erick R., Alfonso F., Alexandra Ch., José M. (deceased) and another citizen who was dismissed, the Prosecutor’s Office added.
He pointed out that Carlos A. alias “invisible” considered a mediate author, was part of the criminal group called ‘Los Lobos’ and on the day of the murder he was imprisoned in a prison.
“Through a cell phone he gave the disposition to Johan C. (deceased) to execute the shots,” the Public Ministry said, adding that Laura C. would have been in charge of the logistics, and Alexandra Ch. would be an accomplice because she sent information from inside the site where Villavicencio led the political rally.
On this first day, the defense of alias ‘Invisible’ expressed that the phone from which the information that relates his defendant to the case has been extracted is contaminated, since since the beginning of the case it was violated with the due chain of custody, Primicias narrated.
At the trial hearing, installed on the fourth attempt and under a strong security device, Hugo Espin, lawyer for Villavicencio’s wife, Verónica Sarauz, recalled that seven of the defendants were murdered.
“We have always had the concern that the investigation was quite biased to the part of the execution of the crime, not to the intellectual authorship,” he said.
And he said that they will now review “within the versions and within the different exhibitions that will be held, precisely how far we should take an investigation and, eventually, we have already analyzed the presentation of a different complaint that makes a goal case.”
In the early hours of this Tuesday’s hearing, the versions of four witnesses from the Prosecutor’s Office were heard, including the police officer in charge of the removal of the body of Villavicencio.
The murdered political leader participated in the extraordinary elections called after the then head of state, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved Parliament and called for elections, in which Daniel Noboa finally triumphed in the second round.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
International
Miyazaki’s style goes viral with AI but at what cost?
This week, you may have noticed that everything—from historical photos and classic movie scenes to internet memes and recent political moments—has been reimagined on social media as Studio Ghibli-style portraits. The trend quickly went viral thanks to ChatGPT and the latest update of OpenAI’s chatbot, released on Tuesday, March 25.
The newest addition to GPT-4o has allowed users to replicate the distinctive artistic style of the legendary Japanese filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away). “Today is a great day on the internet,” one user declared while sharing popular memes in Ghibli format.
While the trend has captivated users worldwide, it has also highlighted ethical concerns about AI tools trained on copyrighted creative works—and what this means for the livelihoods of human artists.
Not that this concerns OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which has actively encouraged the “Ghiblification”experiments. Its CEO, Sam Altman, even changed his profile picture on the social media platform X to a Ghibli-style portrait.
Miyazaki, now 84 years old, is known for his hand-drawn animation approach and whimsical storytelling. He has long expressed skepticism about AI’s role in animation. His past remarks on AI-generated animation have resurfaced and gone viral again, particularly when he once said he was “utterly disgusted” by an AI demonstration.
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