Latest news with #gobierno
LBCI
09-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Spain PM announces anti-corruption plan designed with OECD
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday announced an anti-corruption plan, designed in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, in a bid to salvage confidence in his scandal-hit government. The 15-point plan was drawn up with the Paris-based organization's division for anti-corruption and integrity in government, Sanchez told parliament, following the revelation that two Socialist heavyweights were implicated in a graft affair. AFP
Khaleej Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Spain PM announces anti-graft plan as scandal rocks govt
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday announced an anti-corruption plan designed with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in a bid to salvage confidence in his scandal-hit government. But parliamentary allies expressed scepticism, maintaining doubt over the minority leftist coalition's viability after the implication of two former Socialist heavyweights and close Sanchez allies in a graft scandal. The crisis is particularly sensitive for a leader who came to power in 2018 vowing to clean up Spanish politics after the rival conservative Popular Party (PP) was convicted in its own graft affair. Sanchez announced a 15-point plan drawn up with the Paris-based OECD's division for anti-corruption and integrity in government during an address to parliament. They include the creation of an independent public integrity agency to fight corruption, with Sanchez saying existing mechanisms have "generated inefficiencies and vacuums of coordination". Enhanced data analysis aided by artificial intelligence will scan for "vulnerabilities" in public tenders, said Sanchez, after his former right-hand men were suspected of receiving kickbacks in the improper awarding of such contracts. Top officials would also undergo "random and annual wealth checks" during their time in the job, while parties and foundations receiving public funds above 50,000 euros ($58,500) would be obliged to face external audits. Whistleblowers would receive greater protection, specialised sections in courts would be created and the criminal code reformed to harshen punishments for offences against the public administration, added Sanchez. A bombshell police report into the scandal released last month implicated ex-transport minister Jose Luis Abalos and former top Socialist official Santos Cerdan, both key figures in Sanchez's rise to power. Separate investigations are underway against Sanchez's wife, brother and Socialist-appointed top public prosecutor, ratcheting up the pressure on one of Europe's longest-serving leftist leaders. Sanchez revealed he had considered resigning over the Cerdan affair, apologising but vowing not to "throw in the towel" and call early elections. PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo dismissed Sanchez's explanations and reforms, saying the Socialists had "operated like a criminal organisation" for years. "We don't know where your direct responsibility begins and where it ends... How will you get us out of this nightmare if you got us into it?" he replied to Sanchez, demanding elections. The array of leftist and regional separatist parties propping up the government had demanded firm anti-corruption measures as the price for their continued support. Deputy prime minister Yolanda Diaz of Sumar, the Socialists' far-left junior coalition partner, called Sanchez "honest" but said "progressive citizens are worried about corruption", urging him to "change direction". Catalan separatist party Junts, whose seven MPs are crucial for passing legislation, warned Sanchez they were "not here to put up with this farce". "You are in overtime, and overtime does not last a whole term," Junts parliamentary spokeswoman Miriam Nogueras told Sanchez. For Gabriel Rufian of left-wing Catalan separatists ERC, "the people must decide" through elections if corruption "permeated" the Socialists rather than being confined to a few individuals.
France 24
09-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Spain PM announces anti-graft plan as scandal rocks govt
The implication of two former Socialist heavyweights and close Sanchez allies in a graft scandal has rocked the minority leftist coalition and thrown its viability into doubt. The crisis is particularly sensitive for a leader who came to power in 2018 vowing to clean up Spanish politics after the rival conservative Popular Party (PP) was convicted in its own graft affair. Sanchez announced a 15-point plan drawn up with the Paris-based OECD's division for anti-corruption and integrity in government during an address to parliament. They include the creation of an independent public integrity agency to prevent, supervise and prosecute corruption, with Sanchez saying existing mechanisms have "generated inefficiencies and vacuums of coordination". Enhanced data analysis aided by artificial intelligence will scan for "vulnerabilities" in public tenders, said Sanchez, after his former right-hand men were suspected of receiving kickbacks in the improper awarding of such contracts. Top officials would also undergo "random and annual wealth checks" during their time in the job, while parties and foundations receiving public funds above 50,000 euros ($58,500) would be obliged to face external audits. Whistleblowers would receive greater protection, specialised sections in courts would be created and the criminal code reformed to harshen punishments for offences against the public administration, added Sanchez. A bombshell police report into the scandal released last month implicated ex-transport minister Jose Luis Abalos and former top Socialist official Santos Cerdan, both key figures in Sanchez's rise to power. Sanchez revealed he had considered resigning over the affair, apologising but defying the opposition by vowing not to "throw in the towel" and call early elections. Government wobbles Since the police report, Cerdan has relinquished his powerful post as Socialist organisation secretary and as an MP, while the party definitively expelled Abalos. The array of far-left and regional separatist parties propping up the government had demanded firm anti-corruption measures as the price for their continued support. Sanchez described the plan as "the biggest boost" to the fight against corruption in Spain "in recent decades". But PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo dismissed Sanchez's explanations and reform efforts, saying the Socialists had "operated like a criminal organisation" for years. "We don't know where your direct responsibility begins and where it ends... How will you get us out of this nightmare if you got us into it?" he replied to Sanchez, demanding elections. Separate investigations are underway against Sanchez's wife, brother and Socialist-appointed top public prosecutor, ratcheting up the pressure on one of Europe's longest-serving leftist leaders.
Bloomberg
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Spain's Sanchez Announces Anti Corruption Laws Amid Graft Probe
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a barrage of anti-corruption mechanisms as he seeks to overcome a graft scandal involving two close collaborators that has rocked his government. Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, the Spanish premier said he considered resigning following revelations of corruption in his party, but will stay in his post because he didn't do anything wrong and he has a political project to work on.
Associated Press
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
El Salvador President Bukele denies beating and torture of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in prison
MEXICO CITY (AP) — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele cast aside allegations that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was beaten and subject to psychological torture in a Salvadoran prison on Thursday. In a post on the social media platform X, Bukele wrote that Abrego Garcia 'wasn't tortured, nor did he lose weight.' In the post, Bukele included pictures and video of Abrego Garcia in a detention cell. 'If he'd been tortured, sleep-deprived, and starved, why does he look so well in every picture?' Bukele wrote. It comes after Abrego Garcia said he suffered severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation and psychological torture in the notorious El Salvador prison the Trump administration had mistakenly deported him to in March, according to court documents filed on Wednesday. He said he was kicked and hit so often after arrival that by the following day, he had visible bruises and lumps all over his body. He said he and 20 others were forced to kneel all night long and guards hit anyone who fell. In the new court documents, Abrego Garcia said detainees at CECOT 'were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows, bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day, and minimal access to sanitation.' Abrego Garcia's description falls in line with accounts from other Salvadorans who were detained under Bukele's state of emergency, where the government has detained more than 1% of the Central American nation's population in its war on the country's gangs. Hundreds of people people have died in the prisons, according to human rights groups, which have also documented cases of torture and deteriorated conditions. Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland when he was mistakenly deported and became a flashpoint in U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. The new details of Abrego Garcia's incarceration in El Salvador were added to a lawsuit against the Trump administration that Abrego Garcia's wife filed in Maryland federal court after he was deported. The Trump administration has asked a federal judge in Maryland to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it is now moot because the government returned him to the United States as ordered by the court.
