El Salvador president wants to extend state of emergency
Source: Associated Press
El Salvador president wants to extend state of emergency
April 24, 2022
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — President Nayib Bukele asked El Salvador’s congress Sunday to extend an anti-gang emergency decree for another 30 days.
Bukele has used the emergency powers to round up about 16,000 suspected gang members, following a spate of murders in March.
Rights groups have criticized the measures, saying arrests are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live.
The original 30-day state of emergency approved in late March restricts the right to gather, to be informed of rights and have access to a lawyer. It extends to 15 days the time that someone can be held without charges.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/nayib-bukele-el-salvador-san-gangs-00654a76350681707a43a937c6ff3c1a
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Max de Haldevang, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- El Salvadorian lawmakers granted President Nayib Bukele another 30 days of emergency powers Sunday, after a crackdown that he says has enabled the arrest of 16,000 alleged gang members.
Bukele was first handed the powers in late March after dozens of people were killed in gang violence during one weekend. He asked the Legislative Assembly to extend the state of emergency early Sunday and 67 of the 84 deputies voted in favor of the extension, with five against.
In a tweet following the result, Bukele hailed the result as “the definition of democracy.”
The decree has loosened arrest rules and suspended the rights to free assembly and communication. Congress has since made spreading gang messages in the media punishable by up to 15 years in jail, which journalists have said could criminalize some news reporting. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleges that many of the thousands of arrests have been illegal, arbitrary and violent.
More:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/el-salvador-extends-bukele-s-emergency-powers-by-30-days-1.1756380
Who's the idiot with the officer? The President of Honduras.
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The last president of Honduras is on his way to trial in the U.S.
Information:
Juan Orlando Hernandez
Juan Orlando Hernández, Former President of Honduras, Indicted on Drug-Trafficking and Firearms Charges, Extradited to the United States from Honduras
Hernández Allegedly Partnered with Some of the Largest Cocaine Traffickers in the World to Transport Tons of Cocaine through Honduras to the United States
The indictment charges that from at least in or about 2004, up to and including in or about 2022, Hernández, the former two-term President of Honduras, participated in a corrupt and violent drug-trafficking conspiracy to facilitate the importation of hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States. Hernández allegedly received millions of dollars to use his public office, law enforcement, and the military to support drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico, and elsewhere.
“The Justice Department is taking a comprehensive approach to protecting our communities and our country from violent crime,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Department is committed to disrupting the entire ecosystem of drug trafficking networks that harm the American people, no matter how far or how high we must go.”
https://www.justice.gov/opa/video/juan-orlando-hern-ndez-former-president-honduras-indicted-drug-trafficking-and-firearms
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FILE PHOTO: Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez chats with U.S. President Donald Trump during the signing of an agreement where Honduras will accept more asylum seekers heading to the U.S. under latest U.S. immigration deal, in New York, New York, U.S., September 25, 2019. Presidency Honduras/Handout via REUTERS
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Honduran president denies protecting brother caught in U.S. drug probe
Reuters
PUBLISHED
OCT 3, 2019 4:32PM EDT
TEGUCIGALPA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said on Thursday that he had never intervened to protect anybody, after his brother was accused of smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States for years under Hernandez's protection.
"Nobody is above the law," Hernandez told a news conference in the Honduran capital. "I've never intervened, nor will I, to protect anybody - not friends, nor fellow party members, nor family members - absolutely nobody."
The trial of Hernandez's brother, Juan Antonio "Tony" Hernandez, began on Wednesday in federal court in New York. The politician, arrested in Miami last year, faces charges of drug conspiracy and possessing illegal weapons.
President Hernandez, who began his second term in January 2018 amid allegations of electoral fraud, has not been charged with a crime. He has denied involvement in drug trafficking and said he was a target of a "dirty smear campaign" by opponents, including drug traffickers and politicians.
More:
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/honduran-president-denies-protecting-brother-caught-in-u.s.-drug-probe-2019-10-03
