Castro family member meets drug traffickers

Investigative journalists obtained a 2013 video showing some of Honduras’ top drug traffickers meeting with Carlos Zelaya, the brother-in-law of President Xiomara Castro, and offering to donate more than half a million dollars to his party’s presidential campaign that year.

The footage was captured by a spy camera embedded in a watch worn by one of the drug traffickers at the meeting, but “the images and audio are clear enough to show the drug traffickers reminiscing about past contributions allegedly made to former President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya, Castro’s husband, Carlos’ brother and founder of the ruling Libre Party,” the report said. InSight Crimewho broke the story yesterday, along with University.

“The video is another shocking piece of evidence that reveals the depth of drug traffickers’ infiltration of Honduras’ political class,” the report said. InSight Crime.

Carlos Zelaya admitted to journalists at an impromptu press conference on August 31 that he had gone to San Pedro Sula at the invitation of several “businessmen” and had met with drug traffickers. He resigned from his position as legislator, but claimed that he had not previously known who would be at the meeting.

But in the video he openly explains the distribution of the promised donations, reports University.

“These reports add damning evidence to the many courtroom testimonies of drug traffickers accusing Manuel and Carlos Zelaya of having had campaign ties with drug traffickers in the past,” it said. The lighthouse.

The revelations add new perspective to Castro’s abrupt announcement last week that it would seek to terminate Honduras’ extradition treaty with the U.S. According to InSight Crime, the Castro government made the announcement after reporters spoke with one of the participants in the 2013 meeting.

“The Castro government’s cancellation of the extradition could be aimed at protecting key government officials from prosecution in the United States and will certainly frustrate both countries’ ability to hold transnational organized crime groups accountable,” it reported InSight Crime yesterday.

Castro accused the US embassy yesterday of orchestrating a coup. “The plan to destroy my democratic socialist government and the upcoming electoral process is underway,” she said.

More Honduras

Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies yesterday approved President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s judicial reform bill after a marathon session. The vote approved the bill in general and will now move on to a debate on the details, reports Animal policy. (To see Message from Monday.)

The lower house must now iron out more than 600 details of the bill before it goes to the Senate. The ruling Morena coalition is just one seat shy of a supermajority, and the measure is expected to pass, the New York Times.

Critics say the reform, which would make all federal judges elected, would skew the courts in favor of López Obrador’s party, politicize the justice system and threaten foreign investment, the Associated Press.

Eight of the Supreme Court’s 11 justices voted yesterday to suspend hearings for the rest of the week, in support of striking judicial employees at the high court. Judicial employees, who have been on strike for more than three weeks, protested outside the Chamber of Deputies building yesterday, blocking access to the building in hopes of delaying the vote and forcing lawmakers to move to an alternative location. (The country, New York Times, The country)

Under the new rules, lawyers who want to run for judgeship must meet the requirements of minimum grades in school, a law degree and five years of relevant experience. Candidates will be given TV and radio commercials and will not be allowed to receive public or private funding, the Financial Times.

Three judges have so far issued separate orders blocking debate on the bill, although this has had no impact on the proceedings, the report said. Animal policy.

Business leaders are concerned that a politicized legal system will complicate their investments, the Financial Times.

AMLO’s proposal for judicial reform would be catastrophic for Mexico’s democratic institutions and its place in the USMCA, argues Ryan Berg of CSIS“It is no exaggeration to say that Mexico’s ability to continue playing a leading role as a strategic partner in economic security and nearshoring initiatives could evaporate after the adoption of Plan C.”

Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum claims that the reform will only democratize an elite, opaque government. “If judges, magistrates and ministers are elected by the people, where is the authoritarianism?” (The Jordan)

Bolivia

• Bolivia is one of the few countries in the region with elected judges, a reform that has led to conflict, reports The country.

Venezuela

• “Venezuelan authorities are committing widespread human rights violations against protesters, bystanders, opposition leaders and critics following the July 28 presidential elections,” Human Rights Watch said in a new report. The group said it has documented that “Venezuelan authorities and pro-government armed groups known as ‘colectivos’ have committed widespread abuses, including killings, arbitrary detention and prosecution, and intimidation of critics.”

• Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia has not applied for asylum, his lawyer said yesterday, after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.AFPto see yesterday’s message)

• Brazil’s top foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim said the arrest warrant for González was “very worrying” and said there was a clear “authoritarian escalation” in the country, reports Reuters. (To see yesterday’s message.)

• The post-election repression was to be expected, said Tamara Taraciuk of InterAmerican Dialogue The country. She believes that Maduro’s government pushed ahead with elections to gain international recognition and “miscalculated the opposition’s margin of success and its organizational capacity. When election day ended with such clarity in the streets and with the evidence of the minutes published by the opposition a few days later, the regime did what it does best: entrench itself in power, repress and attack.”

Brazil

• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he hopes the crisis surrounding Brazil’s social network X will teach the world that “the world is not obliged to tolerate (Elon) Musk’s far-right freebooter mentality just because he is rich.”Guardian)

• The story of a titanic battle in Brazil between Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and billionaire Elon Musk misses the real point, which is that the judge is enforcing Brazilian law, writes Eliane Brum in The countryAmid the fighting, isolated communities in the Amazon that rely on Musk’s satellite internet company for connectivity are at risk of being cut off.

• “It’s an opportunity to think about internet connectivity for what it is: a public policy that cannot be held hostage to any individual. Right now, in the largest rainforest on the planet, we are being held hostage by Elon Musk’s Starlink. How the state has allowed this to happen is the most urgent question to address,” she writes. (The country)

• Starlink reversed its decision yesterday and said it will abide by the court order to block X, the Associated Press. It was “the first sign of any withdrawal from Musk in Brazil since he clashed with authorities there last month,” the New York Times.

• Brazil’s record fires are a sign of climate change, but the issue is currently off the political agenda ahead of next month’s municipal elections, according to Sumuma in an editorial.

• A group of former Brazilian drug gang criminals have started a new podcast series aimed at preventing young people from following the same path, the Guardian.

Nicaragua

• A new United Nations report released yesterday details alleged crimes committed by the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, including a more intense crackdown on dissent, enforced by a new wave of arbitrary arrests and torture, the report said. Reuters.

• Nicaragua’s Ortega-controlled National Assembly has approved changes to the penal code that allow the government to try opponents in absentia and confiscate the assets of convicts, giving a legal basis to a practice already in place by the government, the Associated Press.

Chile

• Chile’s Boric government has withdrawn articles on gender and human rights from a proposal to create a Ministry of Security, in response to opposition from right-wing parties to its inclusion.The third)

Colombia

• Truck drivers in major Colombian cities blocked highways in protest over a recent hike in diesel prices, the Associated Press.

• “In the rugged Micay Canyon in southwestern Colombia, rebel groups have been strengthening their presence over the past two years, despite efforts by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to negotiate peace agreements with these irregular armies under a strategy known as total peace,” the Associated Press.

Argentina

• Argentine President Javier Milei on Monday issued a presidential decree significantly restricting the country’s access to public information.The country)

• The visit of ruling party lawmakers to jailed human rights violators “was a new step forward in the Milei government’s strategy to erase the memory of the repression against the Argentine people,” writes Daniel Cholakian in Nacla.

Peru

• Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has reshuffled her cabinet but kept some of its most controversial officials, according to The country.

• “At least two loggers have been shot dead with arrows, one injured and two others missing after a confrontation with members of the “uncontacted” Mashco Piro people in the Peruvian Amazon,” the GuardianIndigenous activists have criticized the government for not recognizing and protecting the territory of the isolated population.

Culture corner

• Read your way through Buenos Aires – New York Times

• Mexican singer Jaramar Soto has devoted his thirty-year career to ancient baroque music, part of the Sephardic tradition and its blend with Mexican culture.The country)