International
Petro assures that CNE is taking steps towards a “coup d’état” by wanting to investigate him
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Saturday that the National Electoral Council (CNE) is taking steps towards “a coup d’état” by wanting to investigate him for possible irregularities in the financing of the electoral campaign that led him to the Presidency.
This week an investigation by the CNE became known, revealed by journalist Daniel Coronell on W Radio, which concluded that Petro’s electoral campaign in 2022 violated the spending limits established in the law and resorted to prohibited sources of financing.
“Every step taken against the president in the electoral council builds a coup d’état,” Petro estimated in his X account, who added: “Do they complain about Venezuela? In Colombia, a coup d’état against the president is advancing.”
This is because the CNE is the competent body to investigate parties, campaign managers and candidates, but the president has immunity, so the exclusive competence to investigate Petro criminally and disciplinary right now is the Commission of Inquiry and Prosecution of the House of Representatives, which has one open for this matter.
Therefore, Petro recalled that “the Constitution does not allow a purely administrative and political instance such as the electoral council, to prepare the way to suspend the president from his functions for a top investigation over which he had no more competence than 30 days after the election.”
However, the CNE alleges that it can investigate both the campaign and the president in the administrative field, as it already did with the campaign of former presidents Iván Duque and Juan Manuel Santos, and with it impose fines or refunds.
The CNE investigation against Petro
The investigation carried out by the CNE, led by the magistrate of the Liberal Party Benjamín Ortiz and the uribista Democratic Center Álvaro Hernán, and which according to the president “has no binding force”, concluded that Petro’s campaign crossed the limits by more than 5.3 billion pesos (1.27 million dollars) and that he also received contributions from legal entities, something explicitly prohibited by the electoral law.
Thus, during the first round it was supposedly exceeded by 3.7 billion pesos (888,650 dollars) and there were seven violations, among which it would have been omitted to report a contribution of 500 million pesos ($120,000) from the main education union, Fecode, and another contribution of the same amount from the Democratic Pole party that is part of the governing coalition.
Among the irregularities is linked to Xavier Vendrell, a Catalan politician investigated for what happened during the Catalan ‘process’ and close to Petro, specifically for not having reported the payment to electoral witnesses during the campaign.
Vendrell, who held the position of councilor of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), worked in Petro’s campaign as head of electoral witnesses and campaign strategist, and indicated that he continued to be linked to Petro’s Government, a fact that the president has denied claiming that there are no current contracts with the former Catalan politician.
In the second round it overcomes stops
During the second round of elections, the ceilings of 1.6 billion pesos ($382,000) would also have been exceeded and five violations would have been committed.
Among the violations, in addition to the fact that the payments to electoral witnesses managed by Vendrell were not reported, the total cost of renting the Movistar Arena event center in Bogotá, which was used by Petro to celebrate the results of the second round of elections and which cost 250 million pesos (almost 60,000 dollars) and only 150 million ($36,000 dollars) were reported, would not have been reported.
As reported by the W Radio of the CNE investigation, which has not yet been published, there would also be a lack of reports on private flights of the now president during the campaign to attend proselytising events.
Central America
Guatemalan suspect wanted for human smuggling network that transported 20,000 migrants
The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala has called for public assistance on social media to find and capture a Guatemalan man suspected of being involved in a human smuggling ring that transported 20,000 migrants to the United States. This comes as President Donald Trump continues his crackdown on irregular migration.
Helmer Obispo Hernández, who “is believed to be in Guatemala,” is accused of being “part of a people smuggling network,” the embassy stated on social media platform X, providing a link to report “any information about” the man.
Hernández, 41, is a “lieutenant” in the “criminal organization” led by Guatemalan Eduardo Renoj, who was arrested a few days ago in California, according to U.S. authorities.
Renoj is accused of leading “one of the largest human smuggling organizations in the U.S.,” the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles said in a statement on Monday.
Along with Renoj, 49-year-old Cristóbal Mejía, his “alleged right-hand man,” was also arrested.
Migrants smuggled from Guatemala reportedly paid between $15,000 and $18,000 to the ring, the embassy said.
Renoj’s organization is linked to a 2023 traffic accident in Oklahoma that resulted in seven deaths, including a four-year-old child. The driver of the vehicle involved is in custody.
“Identifying and dismantling these organizations makes our borders safer and creates a stronger and more prosperous region,” the U.S. embassy stated.
Guatemalan authorities have not provided any updates on Obispo as of now.
Like much of Central America, Guatemala was part of the route used by thousands of migrants to reach the United States, which has tightened its immigration policies since Trump returned to the presidency in January.
In recent weeks, there has been a reverse trend of migrants heading south through Central America after abandoning their plans to reach the U.S. due to fears of being deported.
International
U.S. and Mexico intensify border security measures amid ongoing migration crisis
On the U.S. side of the border, soldiers are placing barbed wire along the massive border wall, while on the Mexican side, troops have set up a camp on the edge of a mountain. In both cases, the goal is the same: to close off any gaps for irregular migration.
The military presence on this 3,100 km border was strengthened after Donald Trump returned to power, declaring the region a “state of emergency” and pressuring Mexico to deploy an additional 10,000 soldiers.
These efforts seem to be yielding results, according to figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which reported a 65% decrease in migrant interceptions in January compared to the same month in 2024.
“If there were a hundred crossings a day before, now it’s no more than five. Yesterday, there were none,” says a Mexican National Guard officer during a patrol in the impoverished mountainous area of Nido de las Águilas, where the metal fence weaves through much of Tijuana.
The officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, attributes these results to the “coordination” between CBP and the Mexican National Guard, including a WhatsApp group where both forces share data, photos, and videos from their operations.
For Mexico, containing migration and the trafficking of fentanyl to the U.S. is crucial—issues Trump uses to justify the 25% tariff on exports from both Mexico and Canada, its partners in the USMCA trade agreement.
However, the offensive against migrants, which includes the deportation of individuals who fled poverty, violence, and authoritarian governments to reach the U.S., was not enough to prevent the tariff from taking effect this week.
Even worse, Trump has declared a “war” on drug cartels, which he labels as “terrorists,” and whose crackdown was intensified by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
International
Prosecutor orders investigation into potential ties between Milei and Libra crypto collapse
Argentine federal prosecutor Eduardo Taiano has ordered an investigation into the phone records of individuals implicated in the Libra cryptocurrency scandal, including the country’s president, Javier Milei, to determine if there were any communications between them.
Sources involved in the investigation confirmed to the Argentine newspaper La Nación that Taiano is already analyzing the data to establish whether there were any call exchanges among key figures linked to the launch of the virtual currency. The cryptocurrency saw exponential growth after Milei mentioned it on social media, only to collapse shortly afterward, potentially leading to fraud charges.
To advance the probe, authorities have requested the collaboration of the Directorate of Technical Assistance for Criminal Investigation (Datip), a department within the Prosecutor’s Office, as they previously did with the Specialized Cybercrime Prosecutor’s Unit.
According to the prosecutor, the investigation is focused on potential crimes, including abuse of authority, fraud, influence peddling, and bribery. The judiciary has requested information from Argentina’s Central Bank and companies such as Google in an effort to determine the cryptocurrency’s origin and the role of Milei and five businessmen in its rise and downfall, La Nación reported.
Milei has faced over a hundred legal complaints following his promotion of the cryptocurrency, which later collapsed, causing significant financial losses for investors. Plaintiffs have cited statements from one of Libra’s partners, businessman Hayden Mark Davies, who acknowledged having served as an advisor to Milei and claimed that the president “endorsed and promoted” the project.
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