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NATION & WORLD
El Sol de Ohio | Agosto 11/25, 2017
Luisa Ortega: Hero or traitor? The Sun of Ohio Special Report
Venezuela’s chief prosecutor, Luisa Ortega, has emerged as a key figure in the country’s politics in recent months. BBC News takes a closer look at the 59-year-old lawyer and how she went from being seen as an ally of President Nicolás Maduro to one of his most outspoken critics. Luisa Ortega was appointed to the post of chief prosecutor by the National Assembly in December 2007, when the legislature was still controlled by the governing socialist PSUV. One of the most influential politicians in the PSUV, Diosdado Cabello, appointed her and for years she was seen a staunch ally of President Hugo Chávez and his successor in office, Nicolás Maduro. It was Luisa Ortega who announced in 2014 that opposition leader Leopoldo López had been charged with public incitement and conspiracy over his role in a wave of protests at the time. Mr López was later found guilty and sentenced to more than 13 years in jail, a move widely condemned by human rights groups and international leaders who said it was politically motivated. But in March 2017 she broke rank with the
government when she said that a Supreme Court ruling stripping the oppositioncontrolled National Assembly of its powers was unlawful. The news conference she gave, constitution in hand, and with members of her team standing behind her, caught the government by surprise and delighted members of the opposition. Speaking out It was just the first in a series of news conferences during which she became increasingly direct in her criticism of the government. On 19 April, she published a statement defending the right of citizens to hold
peaceful protests. Ms Ortega also publicly contradicted government ministers when she announced that 20-year old protester Juan Pablo Pernalete was killed by a tear gas canister fired by the National Guard. The foreign minister at the time, Delcy Rodríguez,and Information Minister Ernesto Villegas had said that evidence suggested he was shot with a bolt gun by fellow protesters. In June, she filed a challenge against President Maduro’s plan to convene a constituent assembly. Labelled a traitor
The Supreme Court rejected it but her legal challenge prompted vitriol from socialist party officials who labelled her a “traitor” and even questioned her sanity. A lawmaker for the socialist party, Pedro Carreño demanded that she should submit to a “psychological evaluation”. Ms Ortega said that in the wake of her criticism of the government, her family had been threatened. “They harass them. They follow them, patrol cars that look like [the Venezuelan intelligence service] Sebin,” she said. At the end of June, Venezuela’s Supreme Court
paved the way for a possible trial of Ms Ortega on charges of “threatening public ethics and administrative morals” and of “violating and threatening the fundamental principles of the constitution”. The court also banned her from leaving the country and froze her assets. Her powers were also curtailed when the Supreme Court transferred some of her post’s duties to the ombudsman, a government loyalist. Ms Ortega said the move was part of an attempt by the government to abolish
her office. She also refused to attend a hearing on 4 July which was called to determine whether she should stand trial for alleged malpractice. “I’m not going to validate a circus whose decision is already made [against me]. I don’t recognise them!” she said. Most recently, she has been highly critical of election held on 30 July to choose members for the controversial constituent assembly convened by President Maduro. Ms Ortega has called for an independent audit of the vote after allegations the figure for the turnout had been inflated. Her trajectory from party loyalist to thorn in the side of the government has made her future very uncertain. A close ally of Mr Maduro, Jorge Rodríguez, said it was only a matter of time until she would be removed from her post. “She is the past,” the influential politician said. Ms Ortega has insisted that it is not her who has changed but those around her. “I’ve always been the same. The ones who have changed are the others,” she told CNN. “Look up my stance since I was named as chief prosecutor and you’ll see I’ve always maintained the same position.”
‘El Chapo’ Guzman hires top defence legal team The Sun of Ohio Special Report
Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has hired a team of top defence lawyers in his fight against a US criminal case. They include Jeffrey Lichtman and Marc Fernich, best known for their successful defence of the son of New York mafia boss John Gotti. Guzman has pleaded not guilty to charges that he ran the world’s largest drug-trafficking organisation. He faces life in a US prison if convicted. Guzman, 60, escaped twice from prison in Mexico, once in a laundry basket and later through a tunnel in a prison cell. He was extradited to the US in January and is being held in a maximum security prison in New York. Mr Lichtman confirmed in an email on Tuesday that Guzman had hired him along with Mr Fernich,
William Purpura Eduardo Balarezo.
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‘Zealous defence’ He said it was too early to speculate on a defence strategy. “We simply hope to have the chance to give Mr Guzman a zealous defence and the chance to challenge the numerous co-operating criminals who will all be seeking to use him as their Get Out of Jail Free cards,” he said. The new lawyers are reported to be seeking assurances that prosecutors would not try to seize their legal fees as part of a $14bn
(£11bn) forfeiture they are seeking from Guzman’s alleged profits from the drugs trade. Guzman is due to go on trial next April accused of running the notorious Sinaloa cartel. Mr Lichtman and Mr Fernich successfully defended John Gotti Junior - son of the so-called “Dapper Don”. Over the course of five years, juries in four trials failed to reach a verdict against John Gotti Junior on charges of murder and racketeering. Prosecutors gave up their case against him in 2010.
Hearing loss of US diplomats in Cuba blamed on covert device The two-year-old U.S. diplomatic relationship with Cuba was roiled Wednesday by what U.S. officials say was a string of bizarre incidents that left a group of American diplomats in Havana with severe hearing loss attributed to a covert sonic device. In the fall of 2016, a series of U.S. diplomats began suffering unexplained losses of hearing, according to officials with knowledge of the investigation into the case. Several of the diplomats were recent
arrivals at the embassy, which reopened in 2015 as part of former President Barack Obama’s reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba. Some of the diplomats’ symptoms were so severe that they were forced to cancel their tours early and return to the United States, officials said. After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been exposed to an advanced device that operated outside the range of audible
sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences. It was not immediately clear if the device was a weapon used in a deliberate attack, or had some other purpose. The U.S. officials weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. retaliated by expelling two Cuban diplomats from their embassy in Washington on May 23.