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Straits Times
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Peru weighs sending foreign prisoners to El Salvador
FILE PHOTO: Police officers stand guard at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, during a media tour, in Tecoluca, El Salvador April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo LIMA - Peru is weighing sending what it considers highly dangerous foreign inmates to prisons in El Salvador, the prime minister said on Thursday, potentially following in the footsteps of the U.S.' deportations of migrants to the Central American nation. Peruvian Prime Minister Eduardo Arana did not immediately detail what such an agreement with El Salvador would look like, but the U.S. has paid El Salvador to imprison Venezuelan migrants it alleges are gang members. "The government is evaluating bilateral cooperation mechanisms for the transfer of highly dangerous foreign inmates to their countries of origin, including specialized centers such as the CECOT in El Salvador," Arana told Congress. He did not clarify whether Peru would only send Salvadoran prisoners to the nation or whether other foreign inmates could be sent as well. The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The CECOT is El Salvador's notorious maximum-security prison known for its harsh conditions, which have drawn sharp outcry from human rights groups. Arana added that the Andean nation was seeking development bank financing to build more prisons of its own as it deals with overcrowding and a recent crime wave. Peru has declared states of emergency in regions across the country in recent months, including in capital Lima, to tackle crime. In May, illegal miners kidnapped and killed 13 mine workers in Peru's northern district of Pataz. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
El Salvador judge orders pre-trial detention of prominent lawyer Ruth Lopez
Ruth Lopez, anti-corruption and justice director of Cristosal, arrives at a courthouse for a hearing, after she was arrested for alleged embezzlement while she served as a state official, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas Ruth Lopez, anti-corruption and justice director of Cristosal, leaves a courthouse after a hearing, following her arrest over allegations of embezzlement during her time as a state official, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas Ruth Lopez, anti-corruption and justice director of Cristosal, leaves a courthouse after a hearing, following her arrest over allegations of embezzlement during her time as a state official, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas Ruth Lopez, anti-corruption and justice director of Cristosal, arrives at a courthouse for a hearing, after she was arrested for alleged embezzlement while she served as a state official, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas Supporters of Ruth Lopez, anti-corruption and justice director of Cristosal, protest as she leaves a courthouse after a hearing, following her arrest over allegations of embezzlement during her time as a state official, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas SAN SALVADOR - A judge in El Salvador ordered the provisional detention of prominent lawyer Ruth Lopez, human rights group Cristosal said on Wednesday. Lopez, a well-known human rights and anti-corruption advocate, was arrested by Salvadoran authorities last month over allegations of embezzlement during her time as a state official. She left Wednesday's hearing shouting that she was innocent and said she had now been charged with illicit enrichment. "I am a political prisoner. All the charges are because of my legal work, due to my denunciation of corruption in this government," Lopez added. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
El Salvador judge orders detention of prominent lawyer Ruth Lopez
Ruth Lopez, anti-corruption and justice director of Cristosal, arrives at a courthouse for a hearing, after she was arrested for alleged embezzlement while she served as a state official, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas Ruth Lopez, anti-corruption and justice director of Cristosal, arrives at a courthouse for a hearing, after she was arrested for alleged embezzlement while she served as a state official, in San Salvador, El Salvador, June 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas SAN SALVADOR - A judge in El Salvador ordered the provisional detention of prominent lawyer Ruth Lopez, human rights group Cristosal said on Wednesday. Lopez, a well-known human rights and anti-corruption advocate, was arrested by Salvadoran authorities last month over allegations of embezzlement during her time as a state official. She left Wednesday's hearing shouting that she was innocent and said she had now been charged with illicit enrichment. "I am a political prisoner. All the charges are because of my legal work, due to my denunciation of corruption in this government," Lopez added. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
04-06-2025
- General
- Straits Times
Top Salvadoran ex-military officers sentenced for wartime killing of Dutch journalists
Army cadets rehearse before El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele arrives to deliver a speech at an event, to mark the first year of his second term in office, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas A boy holds an image of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, as he waits him to arrive to deliver a speech at an event, to mark the first year of Bukele's second term in office, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas Supporters watch El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele deliver a speech at an event, to mark the first year of his second term in office, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele arrives to deliver a speech at an event, to mark the first year of his second term in office, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas Supporters watch El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele deliver a speech at an event, to mark the first year of his second term in office, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas SAN SALVADOR - A jury in El Salvador sentenced three retired high-ranking military officers to 15 years in prison for the murder of four Dutch journalists in 1982, one of the highest profile cases of the Central American nation's civil war. The three were charged on Tuesday for the killings of journalists Koos Joster, Jan Kuiper Joop, Johannes Jan Wilemsen and Hans ter Laag, who were reporting for IKON Television during a 1982 military ambush on a group of former Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrillas - some of whom were armed. A U.N. truth commission 11 years later found the ambush was "deliberately planned to surprise and kill the journalists." The trial was closed and details about the defendants' pleas and arguments were not made public. El Salvador's civil war stretched from 1980 to 1992, pitting leftist guerrillas against the U.S.-backed Salvadoran army and leaving 75,000 people dead and 8,000 more missing. Former Defense Minister General Jose Guillermo Garcia was sentenced by a jury in the northern town of Chalatenango, alongside two colonels: former Treasury Police chief Francisco Moran and former infantry brigade commander Mario Reyes. All three - respectively aged 91, 93 and 85 - were sentenced in absentia. Garcia and Moran are in hospital under custody and Reyes currently lives in the United States though El Salvador is in the process of seeking his return. "Truth and justice have prevailed, we have won," Oscar Perez, a representative of the Comunicandonos Foundation that represents some of the relatives, told reporters. "The victims are the focus now; not the perpetrators." Prosecutors had requested the 15-year sentence, taking into account the military officers' age and health conditions. The jury also issued a civil condemnation to the Salvadoran state over the delay in delivering justice, a symbolic measure that obliges the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, President Nayib Bukele, to publicly ask for forgiveness from the victims' families. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
El Salvador Congress passes law taxing foreign donations to NGOs
FILE PHOTO: Representatives take part in the inaugural session of the Salvadoran congress, in San Salvador, El Salvador, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo SAN SALVADOR - El Salvador's Congress passed a law on Tuesday that levies a 30% tax on transactions from foreign donors to local organizations in a crackdown on "foreign agents" that critics say will boost state control over non-governmental organizations. The Central American country's Congress approved the law with 57 votes in favor and three against. It will come into effect eight days after it has been published in the official gazette. Lawmakers said the law will promote transparency in how local entities operate and their influence within El Salvador, and will include a registry to which organizations must sign up. Funds raised by the new tax are destined for general, public or social interest, according to the legislation, which does not give further details. "We are filling a legal vacuum, since until now these activities were not under any specific regulations. The activities of foreign agents will be ordered and supervised through this new registry," ruling New Ideas lawmaker Suecy Callejas said in a speech. "It seeks to protect national sovereignty and avoid covert external interference." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
