International
The Government of Peru proposes to qualify extortion, kidnapping and hitman as terrorism
The Government of Peru presented this Thursday a bill that qualifies as “urban terrorism” the crimes of extortion, kidnapping and hitman, in response to the wale of crime denounced by carriers and business unions.
The bill includes modifying several articles of the Criminal Code “in order to strengthen actions to combat citizen insecurity,” for which it proposes a tougher sentence, which includes life imprisonment if whoever commits this type of crime belongs to the Armed Forces or the National Police.
The Peruvian Executive announced that it was going to send this project to the Legislature a week ago, when the transport union made a strike in Lima to protest against the wave of extortion.
For its part, the business union affirmed that organized crime has formed a “parallel government” that is “winning the battle” against the State and destroying the country.
The legislative document, signed by President Dina Boluarte, will have to be debated and voted on in Parliament.
‘Urban terrorism’
He defines urban terrorism as the conduct consisting of “acts that generate terror or anxiety in the population or in a sector of it” through the crimes of hitman, conspiracy, offering for hitman and extortion.
For this, article 315-C is incorporated into the Criminal Code, proposing that the penalty of imprisonment applied to said offense should not be less than 30 years.
It will be life imprisonment, when those who commit it belong to the Armed Forces or Police, “weapons, war material or explosives are used, this type of weapon owned by the Armed Forces or the Police is used and those who use minors or unimputable people to commit the crimes.”
It proposes to modify article 200 of the Criminal Code so that anyone who commits extortion receives a prison sentence of between 15 and 20 years.
“Anyone who, through violence or threat, forces a person or a public or private institution to grant the agent or a third party, an undue economic advantage or other advantage of any other nature, will be punished with a prison sentence of not less than fifteen years or more than twenty years,” the document specifies.
Members of the Armed Forces and the Police
As for the hitman, it establishes that “the one who kills another by order, commission, or agreement with the purpose of obtaining for himself or for another economic benefit or of any other nature will be repressed with a penalty of imprisonment of not less than 30 years and disqualification.”
In the same way, it will be life imprisonment if “a minor or another unimpeachable person is used,” he orders a criminal organization, weapons of war are used, when the victims are two or more people or two or more people intervene in the execution.
Finally, the legislative initiative includes a final complementary provision, which establishes that members of the Armed Forces and the Police who are denounced during states of emergency for acts carried out in fulfillment of their functions “will be investigated and, if applicable, prosecuted as provided for in article 173 of the Constitution.”
This implies that they will submit to the jurisprudential jurisdictions corresponding to the Police and the Military Justice.
International
Colombian president Gustavo Petro denies alleged ties to criminal networks
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday rejected claims made by Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, who suggested that the president might be involved in a criminal network linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Petro called the accusation “criminal and arbitrary” in a post on social media platform X.
“Leopoldo López’s attempt to link me to drug trafficking structures is criminal and arbitrary,” wrote the Colombian president, responding to statements made by López from Madrid, where he has been exiled since 2020.
During a press conference, López claimed that Petro “has become the first international spokesperson supporting Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship” and suggested that this support could stem from a direct relationship or shared interest with what he described as a “criminal structure.”
President Petro responded that he does not have accounts or assets abroad and that his income comes solely from his salary as a public official. “Not a single peso more. I have no accounts abroad or assets. My only property is the house I built for my children, completed before becoming mayor; I owe money on it to the bank and no one lives there. I have no other assets in Colombia or abroad, so stop being foolish,” the president said.
These statements follow the U.S. Treasury Department’s inclusion of Petro, his wife Verónica Alcocer, his son Nicolás Petro, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti on the so-called ‘Clinton List’ by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) due to alleged links to drug trafficking.
Being on this list blocks assets in the United States and prohibits financial transactions with U.S. entities.
Central America
El Salvador’s FGR prosecutes 89,875 gang members under state of exception
Records from the Office of the Attorney General of El Salvador (FGR) show that under the state of exception, 89,875 gang members from various criminal organizations have been arrested, of which 91.3% (82,078) are currently in the preliminary trial stage before the courts specialized in organized crime. The FGR anticipates favorable rulings with maximum sentences for all convicted criminals.
During a recent visit to the Legislative Assembly, Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado provided details about the work carried out under the state of exception. A dedicated team of 291 legal professionals has been assigned to these cases, including office chiefs, coordinators, assistant prosecutors, and legal collaborators.
“The team working on state-of-exception cases includes 291 professionals, plus personnel from the Telecommunications Intervention Center and supervisory staff, representing roughly 30% of the FGR’s total prosecutorial workforce,” Delgado explained.
The prosecutors have prepared 590 criminal cases with formal charges:
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299 cases against Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) members
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281 cases against the 18th Street gang
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3 cases against Mao Mao
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5 cases against Mara Máquina
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2 cases against Mirada Loca
The Attorney General emphasized that the investigation and prosecution of 89,875 gang members is unprecedented in the country’s history. “Over the next two years, we expect to gradually reduce the number of defendants in the preliminary trial stage and move them toward final convictions,” he said.
Delgado also highlighted the work of the Analysis Section, which has processed 25,412 pieces of evidence, of which 19,658 are related to the state-of-exception cases, while the remaining 5,754 belong to other cases, reflecting the unit’s dual role in defending the interests of both the state and society.
International
Mexican journalist reporting on drug cartels killed in Durango
A journalist covering drug trafficking and security on social media in the northwestern Mexican state of Durango was murdered, the state prosecutor’s office reported to AFP on Monday.
The victim has been identified as Miguel Ángel Beltrán, a reporter who had previously worked in print media, according to local news outlets. Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, with more than 150 media professionals killed since 1994, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Beltrán’s body was discovered on Saturday along the highway connecting Durango to the beach resort of Mazatlán in the neighboring state of Sinaloa, local media reported.
The journalist had been reporting through TikTok, under the pseudonym Capo, and on Facebook through the page La Gazzetta Durango, AFP confirmed.
In one of his latest reports, published last Wednesday, Beltrán covered the arrest of a leader of the local Cabrera Sarabia mafia, which operates in Durango and is a rival of the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels, the country’s most powerful criminal organizations.
Like Beltrán, many journalists targeted in Mexico work in areas dominated by organized crime and often publish on small outlets or social media, usually under precarious working conditions.
Since December 2006, when the government launched a controversial military-backed anti-drug strategy, more than 480,000 people have been killed in Mexico.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro denies alleged ties to criminal networks
El Salvador’s FGR prosecutes 89,875 gang members under state of exception
El Salvador cracks down on narcotics: 24 tons confiscated in major anti-drug operation
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
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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