International
Humala says that if Odebrecht sent money to his campaign, his manager stole it in Peru
Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, whom the Prosecutor’s Office accuses of having received funds from the Odebrecht company for his 2011 election campaign, said that, if the Brazilian company sent that money to Lima, it was stolen by its executive director in Peru, Jorge Barata.
“If that thesis that, indeed, Marcelo (Odebrecht) had arranged for Barata (to send money to his campaign), what I think, first, (is that) I don’t think that happened, but, if that happened, Barata stole the money,” he said in an interview with EFE.
The trial for those alleged contributions, and others of the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez for his 2006 campaign, is in its final phase and it is likely that a verdict will be known in the first week of March, although the parties may appeal.
During the trial, the Prosecutor’s Office has maintained that Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, received illicit contributions from Odebrecht, thanks to the intermediation of then-President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, and Chávez to finance the 2006 and 2011 campaigns, so it considers that they committed money laundering.
His defense has denied the contributions and, likewise, assures that if they had received it, it does not constitute money laundering.
In this sense, Humala said that Barata “is hiding information” and “I have never said who left the money in his office.”
“He says they left his money in his office, he doesn’t know who leaves him; that is, he has no secretary, he has no guardian, he doesn’t have a surveillance camera, he doesn’t have a janitor who takes data from the people who enter. Even to order a grilled chicken they ask you for your data, but this (Barata) curiously does not ask for data,” he said.
In 2017, the former director of Odebrecht in Peru confessed to the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office that he gave 3 million dollars for the 2011 Humala presidential campaign, in which he was the winner.
Regarding this testimony, Humala commented that “it is a ‘sui generis’ case, because he has a problem in Brazil with the Lava Jato prosecutors,” since he “denounced the pressure” they made him, “forcing him to a series of things to give him an agreement to collaboration and threatening to have more time in prison.”
“So, he has done everything that the prosecutors have asked him to do,” he said.
The former president reiterated that they have always been “financed exclusively with what is” in the party’s report and the notes they have mentioned, although he admitted that there could be some “disorder”, because “the campaign is a vortex”.
Regarding the testimony of businessman Martín Belaunde Lossio, initially very close to Humala and who said he had received money at the Venezuelan Embassy in Lima for the 2006 campaign, considered that it is a revenge, because he approved his extradition from Bolivia for a case of an alleged corrupt network.
“It is a revenge and the hand of the Prosecutor’s Office is evident, because this gentleman, when he brings him extradited from Bolivia, begins a process of effective collaboration, but they have only been given to him in 2024, with things that he would have said in 2016,” he said.
In 2022, Humala became the first former Peruvian president to be tried for the Odebrecht bribery scandal, uncovered in Brazil in the Lava Jato case and with repercussions in a dozen Latin American countries.
International
Trump Announces Tesla Purchase to Support Elon Musk Amid Boycott Calls
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he will purchase a new Tesla to show his support for company owner Elon Musk, amid recent protests under the slogan “Boycott Tesla” and a decline in the company’s stock value.
“Elon Musk is fighting hard to help our nation and is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! But the Radical Left lunatics, as they always do, are trying to illegally boycott Tesla—one of the world’s greatest car manufacturers and Elon’s ‘baby’—for no reason other than to attack him and everything he stands for,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday night. He added that on Tuesday, he would buy “a brand-new Tesla” as a sign of confidence and support for Elon Musk, whom he called “a truly great American.”
The White House later confirmed that Trump intends to buy a Tesla and that the purchase could happen the same day. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “A Tesla is on its way” to the residence, and the President will see it soon.
International
Four-Bus Pileup in Chile Leaves Six Dead and Several Injured
At least six people lost their lives, and two remain in critical condition following a collision involving four buses early Tuesday morning on a highway in northern Chile, authorities reported.
“We regret to inform the tragic passing of six individuals. (…) Among them, a bus driver from the fourth vehicle involved in the accident,” stated General Juan Muñoz, head of the Coquimbo region police force (Carabineros). He also confirmed that 11 people were injured, with two still in critical condition.
The injured were transported to hospitals in the nearby cities of Coquimbo and La Serena, the closest medical centers to the crash site.
The accident occurred around 4:30 AM local time (07:30 GMT), when it was still dark, approximately 480 km north of Santiago.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric addressed the “terrible tragedy” on his social media account X, expressing his condolences and solidarity with the victims’ families during this difficult time.
According to eyewitnesses, two buses had stopped on the side of the road due to a mechanical issue. A third bus overturned, crashing into the first two, while a fourth bus failed to stop in time, colliding with the third and striking people who had exited their vehicles.
Due to the accident, Carabineros reported a complete road closure on the northbound lanes of the Pan-American Highway at the crash site.
International
Pope Francis shows signs of recovery, Vatican says he is ‘feeling better’
Pope Francis is in ‘good spirits’ this Tuesday, just hours after doctors confirmed that his life is no longer at risk and are now considering his eventual discharge from Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he has been hospitalized for 26 days due to respiratory issues.
“He is in good spirits because he is also feeling better,” a Vatican source reported. On Tuesday morning, the pontiff followed spiritual exercises remotely from the Vatican and prayed in his private chapel at the hospital, according to official statements.
From his 10th-floor apartment at the hospital in northern Rome, the Catholic leader continued his physiotherapy and breathing exercises to regain his respiratory strength, which had weakened due to illness.
The latest medical update, released by the Vatican on Monday night, stated that his condition is no longer considered critical. Now, the main question remains: when will doctors discharge the 88-year-old Argentine Jesuit?
“We hope he returns soon to Santa Marta. We love him very much, and Santa Marta feels empty without him,” said Simonetta Maronge, an employee at the residence where Francis lives when in the Vatican, speaking to AFP at the hospital entrance.
At the base of the statue of John Paul II, which stands at the entrance of Gemelli hospital, believers continue to place candles, flowers, drawings, and rosaries, praying for the swift recovery of the first Latin American pope.
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