International

Guatemala concludes key election of the 13 members of the Supreme Court for the next five years

The deputies of the Guatemalan Congress elected this Thursday the new 13 members of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) for the period 2024-2029, a transcendental designation for the fight against corruption in the Central American country.

The Guatemalan congressmen reached the necessary consensus to elect the new members of the Supreme Court 10 days before the deadline established in the law to define the substitutes of the current magistrates expired.

“Congress has made its decision and chosen the new magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice. Each deputy must take responsibility for his vote,” said the president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo de León, in a message on the social network X after concluding the election.

Regain confidence in justice

The president recalled that “in the hands of the new CSJ is to fulfill the commitment that the people of Guatemala demand: to recover confidence in justice, respect for human rights and the frontal fight against impunity.”

“Beyond speculation, we need to see his vocation for justice in concrete facts. Never again courts that are not at the service of democracy, the rule of law and the construction of a better future,” he concluded.

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Among the elected candidates stands out the re-election of three current magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, headed by Gustavo Adolfo Morales Duarte, who in 2020 accused himself of participating in the rigging of the election of courts that year.

When the election of the magistrates ended, opposition deputies, such as Allan Rodríguez, with complaints of corruption, celebrated with applause and shouts the election of the magistrates.

“Despite the fact that the ruling party allied itself with organized crime, that yesterday they distributed money, that there was a list of vetoed by the embassy, despite the fact that there were pressures against deputies (…), today Guatemala won,” Rodríguez, who did not prove his accusations, told the press.

According to the deputy, it is a “balanced Supreme Court, not all with the same ideology, but it doesn’t matter, it’s professional people, who have demonstrated their ability, many of them magistrates with experience.”

The new magistrates of the Supreme Court of Guatemala

The new Supreme Court magistrates are: Carlos Lucero Paz, Claudia Paredes Castañeda, Gustavo Morales Duarte, Jenny Alvarado Tení, Igmaín García Pimentel, Flor Gálvez Barrios, Carlos Contreras Valenzuela, Flor García Villatoro, Clemen Juárez Midence, Teodulo Cifuentes Maldonado, Estuardo Cardenas, Luis Conrado Campos and René Girón Palacios.

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The process of electing magistrates of the Guatemalan Supreme Court has been under the international magnifying glass, of entities such as the Organization of American States (OAS), due to the current deterioration of the country’s judicial system, reflected in cases of political persecution against journalists, prosecutors and activists.

According to the OAS, as well as international organizations such as Impunity Watch or Human Rights Watch (HRW), this Supreme Court election process was vital for “the rescue of Guatemala’s justice system.”

Members of the official bench, consulted by EFE during the vote, indicated that the election ended with “questionable” candidates elected and with others without precedents that this faction supported them for their integration.

Between 2014 and 2019, investigations were carried out on the rigging of court elections through the intervention of political operators, such as former ministers and presidential candidates who sought to place their relatives in these positions.

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International

Death toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40

The death toll from the train accident that occurred on Sunday in southern Spain has risen to 40, according to investigative sources cited by EFE on Monday afternoon.

Since early Monday, search operations have focused on the damaged carriages of a Renfe train bound for Huelva, which collided with the last derailed cars of an Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid after it left the tracks.

The crash has also left more than 150 people injured. Of these, 41 remain hospitalized, including 12 in intensive care units at hospitals across the Andalusia region.

More than 220 Civil Guard officers are working at the site, searching the railway line and surrounding areas for key evidence to help identify victims and determine the causes of the accident.

The tragedy has revived memories of the deadliest railway disasters in Europe in recent decades. In Spain, the most severe occurred on July 24, 2013, when an Alvia train derailed near Santiago de Compostela, killing 80 people and injuring 130 others.

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At the European level, the worst rail disaster took place on June 3, 1998, in Eschede, northern Germany, when a high-speed train struck a bridge pillar at 200 kilometers per hour, resulting in 98 deaths and 120 injuries.

International

Spain’s Prime Minister pledges transparency after train crash kills at least 39

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged on Monday to ensure “absolute transparency” regarding the causes of a train crash that killed at least 39 people on Sunday in southern Spain, warning that the death toll could still rise.

The fatal accident occurred in the Andalusia region, where the number of confirmed deaths reached 39 by Monday morning, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior.

Authorities were preparing to deploy heavy machinery to lift several derailed train cars. “We are waiting for cranes to be installed this morning to lift cars one, two and three of the Alvia train, which suffered the most damage,” said Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno Bonilla on regional television. “It is likely that once they are lifted, we may find more victims,” he added.

The disaster also left more than 120 people injured. As of Monday afternoon, 43 victims remained hospitalized, including 12 in intensive care, according to emergency services.

International

Over 160 christian worshippers kidnapped in Kaduna Church attacks

More than 160 Christian worshippers were abducted on Sunday during coordinated attacks carried out by armed gangs on two churches in a remote village in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, according to a cleric and a United Nations report accessed by AFP on Monday.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has witnessed a renewed surge in mass kidnappings since November, prompting the United States government to carry out military strikes on Christmas Day in the northwestern state of Sokoto.

U.S. President Donald Trump accused Nigerian armed groups of targeting Christians, describing the violence as a form of “genocide” against the religious community.

According to Reverend Joseph Hayab, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the north, the attackers arrived in large numbers, blocked access to the churches, and forced worshippers to flee into nearby forests.

“The attackers came in large numbers, sealed off the entrances to the churches, and drove the faithful into the bush,” Hayab told AFP.