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guyanatimesgy.com
thursdAY, august 9, 2018
Regional
Argentina’s former Vice Venezuela cracks down on Opposition in wake of ‘attack’ President jailed for corruption
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V e n e z u e l a n Opposition lawmaker has been arrested and a warrant issued for another living in exile, amid a crackdown after an alleged drone attack against President Nicolás Maduro. The Government has blamed Juan Requesens and Julio Borges for what it calls a bid to kill the President. The moves came as a powerful Government official revealed plans to strip the pair of their immunity. But some Government critics denounced the alleged attack as a “farce”. Both Requesens and Borges are members of the Opposition-controlled National Assembly, and of the Primero Justicia (Justice First) party. Borges, 48, founded the party and led the National Assembly before going into exile. Requesens, 29, is one of President Maduro’s most outspoken critics, and has taken part in many anti-Government demonstrations. According to Requesens’
President Maduro said Opposition politicians Julio Borges and Juan Requesens were behind an attack on his life
party, he and his sister Rafaela – an Opposition student activist – were taken from their apartment in the capital Caracas by members of the secret Police, Sebin. Primero Justicia tweeted a video which appears to show CCTV footage of the two siblings getting out of the lift before being apparently pushed back by armed masked men in uniform, one of whom turns the camera to the wall. Rafaela Requesens was later released, but Juan
Requesens has not been heard of since he was taken away. It is not clear if official charges have so far been brought against Requesens; however, the Government is preparing to put him on trial. The Government later issued a warrant for the arrest of Borges. President Maduro accused the pair on television of plotting Saturday’s alleged drone attack on him.
(Excerpt from BBC News)
Peru poisoning: 10 die after eating contaminated food at wake
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he number of people killed by suspected poisoned food after a wake in the Ayacucho region of southern Peru has risen to 10. The Health Minister said she suspected the food had come into contact with insecticide. Local hospitals said 21 people were in a serious condition. About 50 people attended the wake of a local man where a meat stew believed to be the source of the contamination was served. Specialists who have travelled to the affected district of San José de Ushua
said they would need to carry out further tests to be sure. Regional Health Director John Tinco Bautista said many of those who attended the wake began falling ill within hours. Among the fatalities are the dead man’s two eldest sons. The mayor of San José de Ushua, Iván Villagomez Llamoca, is among those taken ill. His father and his 12-year-old nephew have died. “The whole village has been poisoned. I can’t grasp it yet – I have lost my family. It’s a huge tragedy, thank God I’m alive,” Mayor
Villagomez said. The incident comes less than a month after hundreds of Peruvian schoolchildren fell ill after eating breakfasts provided at more than a dozen schools in Cañete province. The free meals are part of a government programme to ensure schoolchildren from poorer backgrounds receive adequate nutrition. In that case, the source of the contamination was suspected to have been a fruit juice that had gone off. The company which provided the breakfasts is facing legal action. (Excerpt from BBC News)
rgentina’s former Vice President Amado Boudou has been sentenced to five years and 10 months in jail for corruption. The charges related to his attempt to buy a money-printing company through a front business. Boudou was in power during the Administration of former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The ex-President herself has been summoned to give evidence in another wide-ranging corruption investigation next week. Both say they are victims of political persecution by the current President, Mauricio Macri. Boudou was accused of
lifting a bankruptcy declaration against currency company Ciccone Calcográfica in return for an equity stake when he was Economy Minister in 2010, before becoming Vice President. The court in Buenos Aires found him guilty of committing passive bribery and conducting business “incompatible with public office”. He has been banned for life from holding public office, and is expected to appeal against the conviction. The company’s former owner Nicolás Ciccone was also given a four-and-a-halfyear sentence. In 2011, the British newspaper The Guardian dubbed Boudou “Argentina’s first
rock’n’roll Vice President”, based on his guitar playing, his love of Harley Davidson motorcycles and his decision to take a rock band on the campaign trail. Since President Macri came to power in December 2015, numerous members of previous Administrations have been linked to corruption charges. Last week, more than a dozen people were arrested after it was revealed that a driver for a former Government official had seemingly been noting down bribes as he delivered them. The so-called “notebooks of corruption” were shared with a local newspaper, which then passed them to justice officials. (BBC News)
New Colombian President Iván Duque sworn into office
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olombia’s newly-elected President Iván Duque took office on Tuesday, pledging to unite the country and improve economic growth. The conservative political newcomer was elected in June after a divisive election campaign where he saw off left-wing rival Gustavo Petro. In his inaugural address, the former lawyer pledged changes to tackle corruption and invigorate the economy. The leader has also vowed to change the peace deal with the FARC rebel group. The outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos has urged Duque to respect the deal, which was negotiated in 2016 to bring an end to the country’s brutal five-decade civil conflict. The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is now a political party known as the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force. A number
He became Colombia’s youngest elected leader after being sworn in at Bogota’s Bolivar Square
of its members took up seats in Parliament last month as part of the terms which guarantee it political representation. Duque has said he remains committed to Colombia’s peace process, but says that it is too lenient on former guerrilla fighters accused of war crimes. “We will deploy corrective measures to ensure that the victims get the truth, proportional justice, reparations and no repetitions of the past,” the new President said in his address on
Tuesday. Duque also spoke about the need to heal the country after a divisive election campaign earlier this year. “I want to govern Colombia with unbreakable values and principles, overcoming the divisions of left and right, overcoming with popular dialogue the prickly feelings that invite social fracture, I want to govern Colombia with a spirit to build, never to destroy,” President Duque said in his address. (Excerpt from BBC News)
T&T: New Top Cop and National Security Presidential regalia stolen from car in Bolivia Minister on the job
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Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has given Trinidad and Tobago a new National Security Minister, while it has been confirmed that a former National Security Minister under a previous administration is the new police chief. Rowley on Monday revoked the appointment of Major General (Retired) Edmund Dillon as National Security Minister, replacing him with Stuart Young, who will do the job in addition to his responsibilities as Communications Minister and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister. “This opportunity to serve
as Trinidad and Tobago’s National Security Minister is a privilege based on the Prime Minister’s wisdom and calling,” Young said. “I commit to continue to give my best to and for the country. I wish to thank the Prime Minister and the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago for the continued opportunity to serve and I look forward to the new challenges ahead.” Prime Minister Rowley, who had assigned himself the role of Housing and Urban Development Minister , has picked Dillon to serve in that role. Additionally, Maxie Cuffie, who last week returned home from the United States after re-
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New Police Commissioner Gary Griffith (left) and National Security Minister Stuart Young
ceiving treatment for a stroke he suffered last year, has been made Parliamentary Secretary in the Public Administration Ministry. He was previously Minister in the Public Administration Ministry. Meanwhile, Public Administration Minister Marlene McDonald, who had
fallen ill last month, has resumed her duties. The changes were announced on the same day that the Police Service Commission (PSC) confirmed Griffith’s appointment as the new Commissioner of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)
olivia’s historic presidential medal and sash have been stolen from a car parked in a red light district in the city of El Alto. A military officer said he had left the historic emblems in a rucksack in his car, while on his way to the airport. The bag was later found by Police in a local church after a tip-off. The gold medal is studded with emeralds and dates to the country’s foundation in 1825, when it was presented to national hero Simón Bolívar. Quoted by AFP news agency, former Bolivian President Carlos Mesa com-
pared the crime to “the theft of the crown of Queen Elizabeth II of England”. President Evo Morales was due to wear the emblems at the annual celebration of the armed forces on Wednesday, but appeared without them. The officer in question had made his way to El Alto airport, west of the capital La Paz, in order to fly to Cochabamba to give them to Morales. However, the officer missed his flight and the items disappeared while he waited for his rescheduled departure. When he returned to his car, he found the rucksack was gone. (BBC News)