International

The Prosecutor’s Office asks Boluarte to hand over the documents that justify the surgery he kept hidden

The Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office gave 24 hours to President Dina Boluarte, or her legal defense, to deliver the documents that motivated a surgery in 2023 that it kept hidden, as well as the rules she signed during that period, as part of the investigation into a possible abandonment of office.

Through the Area of Illicit Enrichment and Constitutional Complaints, the Prosecutor’s Office required the president “to comply with sending – within 24 hours the 91 rules in original that she assures she signed between June 28 and July 9, 2023, and the documents on her state of health that motivated the surgical intervention.”

On the social network X, the Public Ministry specified that it makes this request after the statement that the president provided on January 13, as part of the investigation opened for the alleged commission “of the crime of omission of functions and, alternatively, for the crime of abandonment of office, to the detriment of the State.”

Boluarte went this Monday to the office of the attorney general, Delia Espinoza, to testify about the nose operation that kept Congress hidden for more than a year and that has motivated the investigation of the Public Ministry.

His lawyer, Juan Carlos Portugal, said after the diligence that “there is no omission of the charge” because Boluarte “was always aware of the country.”

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He explained that the surgery lasted between 40 and 50 minutes, during which “the president was never unconscious,” because it was an “almely simple” intervention.

“At all times she was lucid” and the subsequent treatment was outpatient, despite the fact that that night (June 29, 2023) she spent the night in the clinic, Portugal said.

For that reason, the lawyer maintained that “there is no omission (of functions) because the obligation to communicate (to Congress) is not covered by a rule.”

Boluarte admitted on December 12 that she underwent “a surgical intervention, it was not aesthetic”, that “it was necessary, essential”, for her health, and that it did not generate “any kind of disability, or impediment to exercise” her functions.

“When the Public Ministry deigns to summon me, I will voluntarily renounce my right to medical confidentiality and deliver my medical record,” he said.

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After the opening of the investigation, Espinoza said in an interview that the president is not being investigated because she has undergone surgery, but because, allegedly, “she would have left office for hours or days without justification, without having communicated to Congress as appropriate.”

In this sense, he reiterated that the investigation is “about the hours that the Presidency would have stopped exercising because, perhaps, having been incapacitated or unconscious” in the period from June 29 to July 9, 2023.

International

Ecuador oil spill worsens as containment dam collapses

The collapse of a containment dam holding back part of the 25,000+ barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline rupture nearly two weeks ago has worsened the environmental crisis in northwestern Ecuador, contaminating rivers and Pacific beaches.

The Ecuadorian government attributed the March 13 pipeline rupture—which led to the spill of 25,116 barrels of crude—to an act of sabotage. The spill affected three rivers and disrupted water supplies for several communities, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, due to heavy rains that have been falling since January, a containment dam on the Caple River collapsed. The Caple connects to other waterways in Esmeraldas Province, a coastal region bordering Colombia, state-owned Petroecuador said in a statement on Wednesday.

Seven containment barriers were installed in the Viche River, where crews worked to remove oil-contaminated debris. Additional absorbent materials were deployed in Caple, Viche, and Esmeraldas Rivers, which flow into the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities are also working to protect a wildlife refuge home to more than 250 species, including otters, howler monkeys, armadillos, frigatebirds, and pelicans.

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“This has been a total disaster,” said Ronald Ruiz, a leader in the Cube community, where the dam was located. He explained that the harsh winter rains caused river levels to rise, bringing debris that broke the containment barriersthat were holding the accumulated oil for extraction.

International

Federal court blocks Trump’s use of Enemy Alien Act for deportations

A federal appeals court upheld the block on former President Donald Trump’s use of the Enemy Alien Act on Wednesday, preventing him from using the law to expedite deportations of alleged members of the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua.

With a 2-1 ruling, a panel from the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed previous decisions by two lower court judges, maintaining the legal standoff between the White House and the judiciary.

On March 14, Trump invoked the 1798 Enemy Alien Act, a law traditionally used during wartime, to deport hundreds of Venezuelans whom he accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization that originated in Venezuelan prisons.

The centuries-old law grants the president the power to detain, restrict, and expel foreign nationals from a country engaged in a “declared war” or an “invasion or predatory incursion” against the United States, following a public proclamation.

Central America

Kristi Noem in Latin America: Talks with Bukele on expulsions and security policies

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday for a meeting with President Nayib Bukele. In a post on the social media platform X, she stated that her goal is to increase deportation flights and expel foreign nationals who have committed crimes in the United States.

El Salvador is the first stop on Noem’s three-nation tour of Latin America this week. On Thursday, she will travel to Colombia to meet with President Gustavo Petro, and on Friday, she will visit Mexico, where she is scheduled to meet with President Claudia Sheinbaum.

After arriving in El Salvador, Noem, along with Gustavo Villatoro, El Salvador’s Minister of Justice and Security, visited the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot)—the megaprison built under Bukele’s administration, designed to house 40,000 inmates. Noem said she wanted to “see firsthand the detention center where the worst criminals are held.”

Cecot is considered the largest prison in the Americas and a key symbol of Bukele’s controversial crackdown on crime.

According to the Salvadoran government, the prison—located about 70 kilometers from San Salvador—houses members of gangs such as MS-13 and Barrio 18, who have been convicted of serious crimes. The facility also holds the 238 Venezuelans deported from the United States on March 15, in an unprecedented transfer that has drawn criticism from Venezuela’s government and international human rights organizations.