Guatemala: Gun attack against two journalists

Journalists murder under suspicious conditions

source: Prensa Libre

On Tuesday, March the 10th, two journalists were shot to death in Suchitepequez, Mazatenango. According to eye witnesses, three journalists, Jose Danilo Lopez from Prensa Libre, Federico Salazar and Marvin Tunchez from Radio Nuevo Mundo were walking in the park and all of a sudden, two suspects approached them in a blue motorcycle, and attacked them with shot guns. Lopez and Salazar died in the scene, while Tunchez was taken to a local hospital severely injured.

According to the first investigations, there's a version that a third person was involved and in charge of letting the attackers in motorcyle know when to make the attack. One of the suspects was captured by the police in a nearby area.

This case have had a lot of attention from the media because one of the journalists involved had been threatened since 2008  for making some notes on San Lorenzo Suchitepequez Mayor, Jose Linares Rojas and Juan Manuel Delgado, former Mazatenango's mayor. According to a written claim made by Danilo Lopez in July 9th, 2013, he was warned by the mayor that if he didn't quit publishing about him, he would face terrible consequences because he was dealing with someone "with power and money."

The reports written by Jose Danilo Lopez are about Q2.8 million missing from the municipality and that the mayor reported were invested in public constructions. Is not known yet if the attack had to do with some reports the journalists were about to publish about the same mayor or if they would have been working in involving a bigger net of corruption in that Department.

Guatemalan Press Association and other activists have been working on paceful marchs demanding respect for life, profession and freedom of speech.

Venezuela: US government announces new sanctions on Venezuela

Obama administration just threw an executive order announcing the targeting of seven Venezuelan officials, that the United States says, are involved in corruption in Venezuelan and violated human rights there. 

The President of the United Stated stated that the target of those individuals, and that the Treasury Department is authorized as well to  target other Venezuelan individuals. They claim that those peopole assets in the US will be frozen and prohibited form traveling to the country. Treasury will be able to add more people to their list. 

"We are deeply concerned by the Venezuelan government's efforts to escalate intimidation of its political opponents. Venezuela's problems cannot be solved by criminalizing dissent," the White House said in a release. (cnbc.com)

Who are these officers?

Commander of the Strategic Defense Central Region Integral (REDI), Antonio Benavides Torres; the director of the political police SEBIN Gustavo González López; the president of the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana and former commander of the National Guard Noguera Just Pietri and prosecutor Katherine Haringhton. 

The complete list of sanctioned officers is complete with the director of the Bolivarian National Police Manuel Pérez Urdaneta, the commander of the 31 Armoured Brigade of the Army Manuel Bernal Martinez and the Inspector General of the Armed Forces Miguel Vivas Landino. 

Related posts and links: 

Obama declares "national emergency" 

Obama declara emergencia por amenaza de Venezuela a Estados Unidos

Nicaragua: It's a family matter

Photo Credit: Google/ticotimes

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, is violating the constitution by giving an official charge to his wife and kids.

During a visit to Costa Rica, this past January, Ortega named his wife Rosario Murillo "foreign minister", his daughters as special advisers and his son went holding a ministerial post.

This is just a clear example of how nepotism works during Ortega's Sandinista government. Since he was elected for the second time in 2007, Ortega has named his wife several times with different charges, as spokeswomen and chief of Communication and Citizenship Council ,  which allowes her to control several media outlets.

Also, in Nicaragua's news paper there are several poitings against Ortega's way of leading his governent.

Past January, La Prensa published that Ortega had named a Puerto Rican as a an Advisor.

Panama: Martinelli's Scandal

Photo Credit: Google

Panama's ex President, Ricardo Martinelli, faces the justice, after being pointed for corruption during his government from 2009 to 2014.




Last monday, Panama's Supreme Court of Justice, rejected the appellation that he posed to oppose his prosecution for embezzling USD $45 millions from a State program. At an extraordinary meeting, the Court upheld its decision to approve a process is open to prosecute Martinelli. The former president, who ruled Panama from 2009 to 2014, is at the heart of a storm of political scandals for alleged acts of corruption committed during his government.




The Court, in a statement, "flatly rejected the two reviews" that Panamanian lawyer Rogelio Cruz and Raul Gonzalez filed against the decision of January preceding "who admitted the criminal case against Martinelli for alleged crimes against the public administration"

Accordingly, the board ordered that everything agreed in late January unanimously start running: to admit knowledge of the criminal case on Martinelli for alleged crimes against public administration and ask the Electoral Court to lift the immunity that has exgobernante in his capacity as president of the opposition Democratic Change and preventing criminal prosecution.



Faced with the decision of the Court in January, the ex President traveled to Guatemala to assert his immunity as a deputy of his country to the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) and supposedly be protected against possible charges against him. However, the Guatemalan former vice president Rafael Espada, president of the regional forum, said that it is false that the Panamanian politician is exempt from prosecution for belonging to that instance. "Martinelli has no immunity. If the Panamanian parliament does not give immunity, neither give us," said Espada.






After handing the presidency to Varela, Panama has been rocked by allegations of irregularities and corruption that occurred, presumably, within five years of management Martinelli.