Central America
Guatemalan surgeon sentenced after patient’s death and gruesome cover-up
A Guatemalan doctor was sentenced on Wednesday to three years and four months in prison for the death of a Honduran patient during a plastic surgery procedure, whose dismembered body was hidden in a forest in June 2023.
Dr. Kevin Malouf was convicted for the homicide and disappearance of Floridalma Roque, who had traveled from the United States to undergo the cosmetic surgery at a private clinic in Guatemala’s capital.
By pleading guilty to the charges, the surgeon received a reduced sentence of three years and four months, which he may avoid by paying a fine of approximately $750, according to Guatemalan law. Two of the doctor’s assistants, one acting as an anesthetist and the other as a nurse, received similar sentences.
“This is a sentence in accordance with the law,” said Judge Pedro Laynez as he read the ruling.
Initially, the doctor had been charged with aggravated homicide, which carries a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, but he was ultimately tried for manslaughter (negligence or recklessness causing another person’s death).
The investigation revealed that the 59-year-old patient worsened during the surgery and died hours later, but at the surgeon’s orders, her body was taken out of the clinic in a wheelchair to make it appear as though she were still alive.
The patient’s body, who had paid about $10,000 for the procedure, was dismembered with saws and buried in a grave in a forest in southern Guatemala.
After her disappearance, her children traveled from the United States to Guatemala and filed a report with authorities. The remains of the Honduran woman were found a year later in the wooded area.
Judge Laynez also disqualified the three convicted individuals from practicing their professions for six years and seven months.
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.
Central America
Guatemalan court’s ruling against Zamora labeled as an assault on press freedom by IAPA
he Inter American Press Association (IAPA) on Wednesday described as an “assault on press freedom” the decision by a Guatemalan appeals court to revoke the house arrest of journalist José Rubén Zamora, founder of El Periódico.
The Guatemalan Appeals Court ordered the journalist to return to prison amid the criminal proceedings that the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office) has ongoing against him, although this decision is not yet final.
“The court’s decision is a direct affront to freedom of expression and the citizens’ right to be informed,” emphasized José Roberto Dutriz, President of the IAPA, in a statement.
He added that the measure is “without legitimate grounds” and confirms “a pattern of persecution orchestrated against José Rubén Zamora.”
Central America
Bernardo Arévalo: US deportations could exacerbate Guatemala’s economic crisis
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo stated in an interview with EFE that his government is working to ensure that mass deportations agreed with the United States do not worsen the already fragile economy of his country. He warned that without the creation of “job opportunities and sources of work,” the migration crisis could worsen.
“Our intention is to show the United States that we must avoid allowing these deportations to lead to an economic deterioration process in a country where we already have worrying indicators. If the result is that, instead of solving the migration problem, we will only exacerbate it,” Arévalo emphasized.
The president, who traveled to Montevideo for the inauguration of progressive leader Yamandú Orsi on Saturday, defended the recent agreement with the US to receive up to 40% more flights with irregular migrants, both from Guatemala and other nationalities. He assured that the details of the agreement “are still being discussed.”
Migrants who are not Guatemalan will be sent back to their respective home countries at the expense of the US, according to Arévalo, who stressed that the deal, signed in February during a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “is an agreement” and not an imposition.
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