Trump campaign sees boost after boost amid bad week for Biden
- Joe Biden was hit by a brutal special counsel report that painted him as elderly with a failing memory, fans of Trump eager to see him on the 2024 ballot appeared set for victory at the US supreme court, and Trump’s only remaining serious challenger in the Republican primary race suffered humiliation at the polls.
- Robert Hur, the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents while out of office, put his finger on Biden’s open electoral wound when he described the president as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” after a series of gaffs that have increasingly alarmed Americans who worry over the 81-year-old Biden’s health and age but also dread the prospect of 77-year-old Trump’s return to the White House with his raft of criminal prosecutions and two impeachments.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/10/trump-campaign-boost-supreme-court-biden-memory
Guatemala Collision Leaves 11 Dead, Majority Cuban Migrants
- Eleven people, including nine Cuban migrants, died on Saturday in a collision between a truck, a motorcycle and a truck on a route in western Guatemala, authorities reported.
- The accident occurred early in the morning on a highway in the department of Suchitepéquez, about 120 km from the Guatemalan capital.
- At the scene of the accident “the death of nine people on site was reported, while three others were taken to healthcare centres, two of them dying on arrival,” said the Prosecutor’s Office in the town of San Bautista.
- “It was determined that of the 11 dead, 9 were Cuban nationals and 2 Guatemalans,” specified that Prosecutor’s Office in a report.
https://ticotimes.net/2024/02/03/guatemala-collision-leaves-11-dead-majority-cuban-migrants
Bukele’s Rule in El Salvador: Dictatorship or Democracy?
- Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, who brands himself as the “World’s Coolest Dictator” and has recently won re-election with over 80% votes in a show of public support.
- His popularity extends beyond El Salvador, with rallies in support of his policies held throughout Central America and as far as Chile.
- As crime rates rise in the region, the demand for a firm hand against criminal elements grows, and Bukele has become the face of this movement.
Guatemala seizes over half a ton of cocaine from Costa Rica
- Guatemala’s anti-narcotics authorities seized 525 kilos (1,157 pounds) of cocaine hidden in a container that arrived at a Pacific port from Costa Rica, official sources reported on Saturday.
- The drugs were found in a metal box inside a container at the APM port facility in the southern department of Escuintla, about 110 km (68 miles) from Guatemala City, prosecutor’s office spokesman Moisés Ortiz told journalists.
- The official commented that the operation began Friday afternoon and did not rule out an increase in drug seizures, as the search continues “in development with the review of six more containers suspected of containing illicit substances.”
- Agents from the Narcotics Trafficking Crimes Prosecutor’s Office are participating in the operation in coordination with the National Civil Police and the Guatemalan Army through the Naval Defence Staff.
https://ticotimes.net/2024/02/10/guatemala-seizes-over-half-a-ton-of-cocaine-from-costa-rica
Costa Rica battles rising dengue fever outbreak
- The Costa Rican Ministry of Health reported that between January 21-27, 2024, there were 2,679 cases of dengue fever registered.
- This represents an increase of 298 compared to the same period last year in 2023.
- Health experts also noted that, fortunately, there were no deaths recorded due to the disease.
- The Health Surveillance Directorate highlighted that in epidemiological week number four, there was a surge of cases in the Central North region with 646 confirmed cases, followed by the Central South with 519, and the Central Pacific with 454 patients.
- The cantons with the highest number of cases are Alajuela with 308 cases, San José with 236, Puntarenas with 218, Turrialba with 183, and Atenas with 94 cases.
https://ticotimes.net/2024/02/08/costa-rica-battles-rising-dengue-fever-outbreak
Republicans Will Regret Turning Down Border Bill: Ex-Bush Official
- Republicans will regret striking down the bipartisan border security bill, C. Stewart Verdery Jr., a former George W. Bush official, wrote Saturday in an opinion article.
- Following tensions over the U.S-Mexico border with illegal immigration, text of the much-hyped bill was released last week, introducing what would be the most substantial border security reform in years, alongside aid packages for Ukraine and Israel among their ongoing wars with Russia and Hamas respectively.
- The $118 billion deal would address key concerns at the southern border, increasing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention capacity from 34,000 to 50,000 and allocating $20 billion to immigration enforcement.
- The proposal would also overhaul the asylum system with faster and tougher enforcement, as well as allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to temporarily shut down the border to most migrants if there are an average of more than 5,000 crossing attempts per day over seven days.
Nicaragua’s crackdown on Catholic Church spreads fear among the faithful, there and in exile
- Nineteen priests kicked out of the country, dozens of incidents of harassment and church desecrations, rural areas lacking worship and social services: the situation for Catholic clergy and faithful in Nicaragua is only worsening in 2024, according to exiled priests, laypeople in the Central American country and human rights advocates.
- The fear of the ongoing crackdown by President Daniel Ortega – on the Catholic Church in particular but not sparing evangelicals – has become so pervasive that it is silencing criticism of the authoritarian government and even mentions of the repression from the pulpit.
Venezuelan government has arrested a rights activist on vague conspiracy charges
- The administration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has arrested human rights activist Rocio San Miguel, the government confirmed Sunday.
- Tarek William Saab, Venezuela’s attorney general, wrote in his social media accounts that San Miguel had been arrested on charges of conspiracy against Maduro, but did not offer any details of the supposed case against her.
- San Miguel, 57, is a lawyer and rights activist who has specialized in studying Venezuela’s shadowy, often corrupt armed forces.
Secret US spying program targeted top Venezuelan officials, flouting international law
- A secret memo obtained by The Associated Press details a yearslong covert operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that sent undercover operatives into Venezuela to surreptitiously record and build drug-trafficking cases against the country’s leadership – a plan the U.S. acknowledged from the start was arguably a violation of international law.
- While there’s no clear mechanism to hold the United States accountable legally, the revelation threatens to roil already fraught relations with Maduro’s socialist government and could deepen resentment of the U.S. across Latin America over perceived meddling.
Bolsonaro and Allies Planned a Coup, Brazil Police Say
- Former President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil oversaw a broad conspiracy to hold on to power regardless of the results of the 2022 election, including personally editing a proposed order to arrest a Supreme Court justice, according to accusations unveiled on Thursday by the Brazilian federal police.
- Mr. Bolsonaro and dozens of top aides, ministers and military leaders worked together to undermine the Brazilian public’s faith in the election and set the stage for a potential coup, the federal police said.
- Their efforts included spreading disinformation about voter fraud, drafting legal arguments for new elections, recruiting military personnel to support a coup, surveilling judges and encouraging and guiding protesters who eventually raided government buildings, police said.
Former Chilean President Sebastian Pinera killed in helicopter crash
- Former Chilean President Sebastian Pinera died from drowning after a helicopter crash in the south of the country, according to autopsy results.
- The cause of death was “asphyxiation due to submersion,” Tatiana Esquivel, the prosecutor of the Los Ríos region, where the crash happened, said Wednesday.
- Pinera’s funeral will take place on Friday, according to a statement from the Chilean government.
- The helicopter carrying the conservative billionaire had four people on board, three of whom survived the crash and are “out of danger,” the Chilean Minister of Interior Carolina Tohá said.
PM Ariel Henry: Amidst the Ongoing protests, the elections in Haiti will take place after the improvement of Security
- The prime minister called for calm as violent protests seek his ouster.
- Acknowledging the necessity amid escalating protests he quoted that “I think the time has arrived for all to put our heads together to save Haiti, to do things another way in our country”.
Read more https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/08/americas/haiti-elections-security-intl/index.html
Mexico’s border cities are in the grip of fentanyl crisis
- Emergency services in the city responded to a suspected fentanyl overdose.
- Their deployment is prompted.
- Paramedics are facing challenges due to the potency of the synthetic opioid which is 50 times stronger than heroin.
NATO and Joe Biden have both criticized Donald Trump
- Comments that trump made seemed to jeopardize the safety of American and European soldiers.
- NATO made the intervention after Mr Trump said he would let Russia "do whatever the hell they want”.
Caribbean to experience new Intra regional ferry service.
- Efforts led by the private sector to establish a regional transport system.
- Connecting Caribbean Community and the initiative has gained momentum.
Guyana President Ali reaffirms the government’s dedication to enhance the working conditions.
- According to the president, this strike appears to be purely political move.
- The president also encouraged them to focus on the subsequent developments in the medium term.
Read more https://thecaribbeannewsnow.com/president-ali-says-govt-committed-to-improving-working-conditions/
The UK has announced plans to dispatch special assistance to Turks and Caicos islands 
- Due to increased number of fatal Shootings
- Four men were found dead on the island of providenciales
- It is the second time in less than two years the Caribbean archipelago is seeing escalating violence, attributed to warring drug gangs.
Read more https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/08/uk-specialist-assistance-turks-and-caicos-shootings
A controversial claim suggests that Sea Sponges hold evidence that the world has already experienced a warming of 1.7 degrees Celsius.
- Climate science experts challenge the findings published in a leading scientific journal.
- Disputing the assertion that the globe has surpassed a critical warming milestone.
Colombia’s government and the former political chief of FARC have announced peace talks.
- Talks with Segunda Marquetalia part of multiple peace processes with illegal armed groups.
- They said they would begin “a process of sociopolitical talks that conduce to the signing of a peace accord.”
Costa Rica enhances tourist safety through a new pact.
- The signing of a cooperation agreement on citizen and commercial security between Public Security and CANATUR.
- Aims to facilitate joint actions for preventing and containing crime in tourist destinations.
Read more https://ticotimes.net/2024/02/10/costa-rica-boosts-tourist-safety-with-new-pact
Ecuador follows El Salvador’s lead by arresting gangs and retaking control of prisons.
- Homicides fall 70% as President Daniel Noboa deploys troops on the streets and in prisons, emulating El Salvador’s crackdown.
Trump Says He Gave NATO Allies Warning: Pay In or He’d Urge Russian Aggression
- Speaking in Conway, S.C., Donald J. Trump said as president he had told NATO allies that he would urge Russian aggression against countries that had not met unofficial financial commitments.
- Former President Donald J. Trump said on Saturday that, while president, he told the leaders of NATO countries that he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that had not paid the money they owed to the military alliance.
- In repeating a claim he has made previously to highlight his negotiation skills, Mr. Trump did not make clear that while there has been a spending-related dispute, it was not about an unpaid debt to NATO, but over European countries meeting their spending commitments to their own militaries.
- Mr. Trump’s suggestion that he would encourage Russian aggression against allies of the United States — for any reason — comes as Republicans in Congress have pushed back against more aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia, and is likely to cause concern among NATO member states, which are already very nervous about the prospect of a Trump return.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/10/us/politics/trump-nato-russia.html?smid=url-share
Why the Age Issue Is Hurting Biden So Much More Than Trump
- Donald J. Trump has praised Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, for his leadership of Turkey, and confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi.
- President Biden has named dead former European leaders when describing his contemporary peers, and referred to Egypt as Mexico.
- The episodes might have raised parallel concerns about age and mental acuity. Instead, while Mr. Biden, 81, has been increasingly dogged by doubts and concerns about his advancing years from voters, Mr. Trump, who is 77, has not felt the same political blowback.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/10/us/politics/biden-trump-aging.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Gun makers to ask US Supreme Court to bar Mexico's lawsuit
- U.S. gun manufacturers plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their bid to escape Mexico's $10 billion lawsuit seeking to hold them responsible for facilitating the trafficking of weapons to drug cartels across the U.S.-Mexico border.
- The planned appeal was disclosed during a virtual court hearing on Friday by a lawyer for Smith & Wesson Brands after the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month overturned a judge's decision dismissing the case.
- Mexico alleges in the lawsuit, filed in 2021, that the companies undermined its strict gun laws by designing, marketing and distributing military-style assault weapons in ways they knew would arm drug cartels, fueling murders, extortions and kidnappings in the country.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/gun-makers-ask-us-supreme-court-bar-mexicos-lawsuit-2024-02-09/
Hunter Biden was paid $100K through joint-venture with Chinese energy firm, ex-associate testified
- Hunter Biden was paid $100,000 a month and James Biden was paid $65,000 a month in 2017 from their joint-venture with Chinese Communist Party-linked Chinese energy firm CEFC, a former associate testified to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees.
- Mervyn Yan, who testified behind closed doors at the committees last month, said he did not know the nature of the work the Bidens provided, according to a transcript of the testimony obtained by Fox News Digital.
- Yan testified that he met Hunter Biden and James Biden in May 2017 through a CEFC business partner Gongwen Dong, also known as "Kevin." Yan said that meeting lasted less than 15 minutes, but that it was the impetus for the joint-business venture, Hudson West III, with the Bidens.
Ukraine aid bill inches forward in US Senate
- The U.S. Senate on Friday edged closer to passing a bill that includes $95.34 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but faces an uncertain path to becoming law due to Republican opposition in both chambers of Congress.
- The Senate voted 64-19 to advance the legislation one step along a chain of preliminary votes that could stretch into next week, unless party leaders can reach agreement with rank-and-file lawmakers to fast-track the bill. Lawmakers expect to take the next procedural step in a rare Sunday session.
- In Friday’s vote, the bill cleared a simple majority threshold with 14 Republicans supporting the measure.
- Many Republicans want to make a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, to allow amendments to the legislation in exchange for quicker action.
