Former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe will face trial for witness tampering and fraud, prosecutors announced yesterday. He will be the first president in Colombian history to be brought to criminal trial.
The former president and several allies have been investigated over allegations of witness tampering carried out in an attempt to discredit testimony tying him to paramilitaries, reports Reuters.
The case puts a spotlight on allegations that the former leader partnered with paramilitary death squads in his war against leftist rebels, reports the Guardian.
Uribe denounced the move as “political vengeance" and insisted in a video message that there was no evidence against him, reports the Associated Press.
The case dates back to 2012 “when Uribe accused a fellow senator, Iván Cepeda, of bribing witnesses in a conspiracy to connect Uribe to the country’s right-wing paramilitary groups. Then, in 2018, the country’s Supreme Court turned the case on its head, dismissing Uribe’s accusations and instead investigating whether Uribe had been manipulating witnesses in the case in an obstruction of justice,” reports the Washington Post.
More Colombia
Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the ELN, has requested an extraordinary meeting with the government, saying peace talks were in a "critical state," reports Reuters.
Guatemala
Guatemala’s Supreme Court sent requests for the country’s lawmakers to remove immunity from electoral magistrates in response to accusations of fraud presented by former presidential candidate Sandra Torres, reports the Associated Press.
Guatemala’s government sought backing from the country’s constitutional court on Monday for President Bernardo Arévalo’s efforts to remove the country’s attorney general, who sought to overturn his election last year, reports the Associated Press.
Venezuela
Former Venezuelan oil minister Tareck El Aissami – once a close ally of President Nicolás Maduro – has been arrested for allegedly participating in an international corruption scheme that syphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars from the country’s state oil company, reports the Guardian.
Regional Relations
Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, met in Caracas yesterday. They emphasized the importance of safeguarding peace and stability in the region, without touching on Venezuelan elections, an issue that raised tensions between the two last week. (Associated Press, El País, see yesterday’s briefs.)
Mexico has asked regional governments to support its lawsuit against Ecuador in the International Court of Justice. Both the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Organization of American States (OAS) met yesterday in extraordinary sessions to address Ecuador’s raid on the Mexican Embassy in Quito last Friday, reports El País. (See yesterday’s post and Monday’s.)
Mexican authorities “released dramatic images showing Ecuadorian security forces dragging the country’s former vice-president from the building,” reports the Guardian. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador condemned what he described as a “despicable authoritarian” assault on his country’s embassy in Quito.
The U.S. condemned Ecuador's use of force against Mexican embassy officials, yesterday. The U.S. has reviewed security camera footage from Mexico's embassy and believes Ecuador's actions were wrong, said U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan. (Reuters, El País)
Ariel Dorfman, who escaped the Pinochet regime by claiming asylum in an embassy, ponders on the broader implications of Ecuador’s raid in the Washington Post. “Without the minimum confidence given by certain international agreements to which governments of different political persuasions adhere, it is difficult to resolve the critical tensions and conflicts that inexorably arise in an era as unstable as the one we are living in.”
Brazil
Brazilian Indigenous Yanonami leader Davi Kopenawa met Pope Francis on today to ask him to support Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's efforts to protect Indigenous communities, reports Reuters.
Regional
Remittances to Central America from migrants in the U.S. has risen to record levels, providing a lifeline for many of their relatives at home, reports AFP.
Chile
“Chile is stuck in the slow lane on lithium,” reports Americas Quarterly. “President Gabriel Boric’s administration is hoping a roadmap introduced one year ago will steer the mineral-rich country onto a faster course by encouraging investment without compromising social and environmental commitments. A few investors are eager to jump in. But with state companies mandated to control the most coveted assets and legal clouds on the horizon, others are wary. “
Migration
U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration is trying to determine whether he has the authority to act on his own to shut down the U.S.'s southern border with Mexico to migrants, should it be deemed necessary — Reuters.
Bolivia
The remote Tariquía reserve “is now the frontline for Bolivia’s extractive activities, as the leftist government of Luis Arce scours the country for gas reserves that could keep its fossil-fuel model of development running – whether or not communities welcome drilling,” reports the Guardian.
Panama
A criminal trial of 27 employees working for Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers, on money laundering charges has commenced in a Panamanian court. (Guardian)
Critter Corner
Archaeologists have found traces of foxes living among early communities throughout South America — evidence points to a close relationship, and some experts believe they may have been pet-like companions. (New York Times, Guardian)