Peru: Expresident Sentenced To 14 Yeas For Corruption

Peru's ex-president jailed for 14 years for corruption By DPA, 10 hours ago A Peruvian court has sentenced former president Martín Vizcarra to 14 years in prison for corruption. A court in the capital Lima found it proven that Vizcarra, who was president from 2018 to 2020, accepted bribes from construction companies in 2014 during his time as governor of the province of Moquegua in connection with the awarding of public contracts. "This is not justice, this is revenge," Vizcarra wrote on the social media platform X after the verdict was announced. "But they will not break me. The answer lies in the ballot box." His brother Mario Vizcarra is running in next year's presidential election and wants to pardon the former president if he wins. Several former presidents already behind bars In Peru, almost all heads of state of the past 25 years have had problems with the justice system. In April, former president Ollanta Humala (2011-16) was sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering, and last year Alejandro Toledo (2001-06) was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison for corruption. A criminal trial is currently under way of former president Pedro Castillo (2021-22) for an attempted coup d'état. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-18) is under investigation for corruption. Former president Alan García (1985-90 and 2006-11) killed himself in 2019 when the police tried to arrest him on corruption charges.

Colombia Probes Allegations Of Government Infiltration By Drug Trafficking Guerillas

Colombia Probes Allegations of Government Infiltration by Drug Trafficking Guerrillas Colombia Colombia’s military launched an investigation this week into allegations that senior army and intelligence officials passed sensitive information to the leader of an armed drug-trafficking organization, a scandal that is deepening the country’s diplomatic rift with the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported. The probe followed an explosive Sunday report by Colombian broadcaster Noticias Caracol, which found that Alexander Díaz, commander of a dissident guerrilla group, allegedly maintained channels of communication with high-ranking Colombian officials: These include retired Gen. Juan Miguel Huertas, who is head of the army’s personnel command, and Wilmer Mejía, a senior official at the National Intelligence Directorate. The documents – seized after the army detained Díaz and six others at a July 2024 checkpoint near the city of Medellín – reportedly describe the group’s efforts to acquire weapons, evade military operations, and, in some cases, receive help from contacts inside state institutions. The Caracol report said dissidents discussed making financial contributions to President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 campaign. The dissidents also referenced the armed group’s role in major attacks, including Diaz’s alleged involvement in the June 7 assassination of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, according to the City Paper Bogota, an English-language newspaper based in Colombia. The report has prompted fierce reactions across Colombia and sparked fears that former guerrilla fighters involved in cocaine trafficking have penetrated state institutions in the Petro administration. Colombian analysts warned that the allegations could further erode trust in the security services, while some opposition politicians have accused Petro of “treason” and called for his prosecution. On Monday, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez ordered a military investigation and insisted that “no illegal act will be tolerated.” Huertas has denied wrongdoing and pledged to cooperate. Petro has rejected the accusations as politically motivated, calling the claims against senior officers “false” and aimed at discrediting his administration. The allegations surfaced as relations between Bogotá and Washington continue to falter over record-high drug production. US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on Petro and accused Colombia of failing to curb soaring cocaine production. The Trump administration has also conducted strikes against alleged drug boats departing from Colombian and Venezuelan waters – operations that Petro has denounced as extrajudicial killings.

Cecilia Vicuna-An Incredible Chilean Artist

https://www.ft.com/content/5b631217-bbd1-4be9-bb2e-65905cee96d2?segmentId=6bf9295a-189d-71c6-18fb-d469f27d3523

Brasil's Ex-President Bolsonaro Exhausts All Appeal. He Is Beginning To Serve His 27-Year Sentence

Brazil's ex-president Bolsonaro exhausts appeals, will serve 27-year sentence By FRANCE 24, 20 hours ago ©Eraldo Peres, AP Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday formally concluded former President Jair Bolsonaro's coup-plotting case, preventing him from lodging any more appeals and clearing the way for the court to order him to begin serving a sentence of more than 27 years in prison, according to a court document. The court, which rejected an appeal from Bolsonaro earlier this month, said it does not yet have details regarding when the former president could begin serving the sentence. Bolsonaro, 70, was in September convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his 2022 election defeat. Prosecutors said the coup plot included plans to kill Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and de Moraes. Bolsonaro was also found guilty on charges of leading an armed criminal organisation and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He denies any wrongdoing. (FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

Brasil's First Bullet Train Is On Its Way

Brazil's First Bullet Train Is On The Way, And Its Top Speed Is Staggering By Tom Clark, 1 days ago In the modern age of travel, people expect to get where they need to go fast. This includes traveling by train, especially bullet trains, which can reach incredible speeds. If you live in Brazil, you'll eventually be able to take the country's first ever bullet train, capable of maxing out at a blistering speed of 320 kilometers per hour, or 199 miles per hour. To put that speed in perspective, if you're traveling from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo today, you'll be driving or taking the bus, and it's about a 6-hour ride. But Brazil's new train will take you the same distance in under two hours. The bullet train will be on par with those currently running in other countries, including France and Japan, which have some of the fastest high-speed trains in operation today. However, Brazil's train will be slower than the one tested in China in the fall of 2025. That high-speed train, a next generation model of the CR450, hit a top speed of 281 miles per hour. Spearheaded by the company TAV Brazil, the route from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo will cover 417 kilometers, or around 219 miles, with stops along the way in Volta Redonda and São José dos Campos. The electrified trains will run on a dedicated railway, guided by the same high-tech signaling system currently used in countries like Spain. Required environmental and technical studies are being conducted and are set for completion in late 2026. Read more: 10 Of The Most Reliable Motorcycles Ever Built Brazil's first bullet train comes with controversy As of this writing, construction on Brazil's new bullet train project has not yet begun. But if everything proceeds on schedule, trains should be howling down the tracks sometime in 2032. Once the trains are operational, they should ease the burden on the country's congested highways and airports. While that's a plus for people traveling inside the country, the project isn't without controversy. First there's the cost, which is expected be around $11.3 billion in U.S. dollars. Though it is a privately funded effort, the money will come from fundraising. So if there's not enough money collected, then the project could hit a wall. Even if the money's there and the bullet train becomes a reality, high ticket prices could keep many Brazilians either on the highway or in the air. Early projections estimate that tickets could go as high as $94. The question of capacity is also unknown, as TAV Brazil, the company behind the project, hasn't released those numbers. The issue becomes even more complicated when looking at bullet trains in other countries like China, which has the most high-speed rail mileage in the world. China's system has faced enormous deficits and eventually required government money to keep going. It was so bad that revenue collected from people riding the train typically didn't go toward the principal debt, but the interest only. Whether or not Brazil's bullet trains will experience the same problems remains to be seen. Want the latest in tech and auto trends? Subscribe to our free newsletter for the latest headlines, expert guides, and how-to tips, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google. Read the original article on SlashGear.

Survivors Describe Deadly Snowstorm In Chilean Patagonia

Survivors Describe Deadly Snowstorm in Chilean Patagonia Five tourists, from Mexico, Britain and Germany, died Monday on a popular hiking trail in the Torres del Paine National Park. Listen to this article · 5:56 min Learn more Share full article Three people are visible on a mountainous area. They are wearing visibility vests and other climbing and rescue equipment. There is snow on the rocks and there are trees in the background. A picture released by Chile’s Carabineros shows a rescue team at the end of their search and recovery operation for a group of tourists.Credit...Agence France-Presse, via Carabineros de Chile By Livia Albeck-Ripka and Pascale Bonnefoy Nov. 21, 2025 When the hikers left the campsite early Monday, it was drizzling, windy and just above freezing in Torres del Paine, a national park with towering granite peaks and glaciers in Chilean Patagonia. They had the most difficult stretch of their journey ahead. But they had no idea they would be hit by a blizzard with hurricane-force winds of 120 miles an hour, unable to see more than 10 feet in front of them. Within hours, more than two dozen were injured and five were missing. The next day, the authorities confirmed that all five of the missing — tourists from Mexico, Britain and Germany — had died. At a news conference on Thursday, Cristián Crisosto, the regional prosecutor for Magallanes, which includes the national park, said that he had opened an investigation and that the police were taking statements from park staff, from Vertice, the company that operates the campground, known as Los Perros, and from 69 people who were there on the day of the snowstorm. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Mr. Crisosto said all five had died of hypothermia, and 27 people were injured in the blizzard. Álvaro Elizalde, the Chilean interior minister, said the government was working with consulates to return the bodies of Cristina Calvillo Tovar and Julián García Pimentel from Mexico, Victoria Bond from Britain and Nadine Lichey and Andreas Von Pein from Germany. Chile’s National Forest Corporation said Wednesday that it deeply regretted the episode and was focused on relocating anyone who had been on the affected trail, the O Circuit, a challenging 85-mile loop that takes eight or nine days to complete. The five died on a stretch of the circuit known as the John Gardner Pass, the highest and most exposed section. The park authority said the circuit would be closed while it investigates. In an interview with local media on Wednesday, Mauricio Ruiz, the regional director of the park service in Magallanes, said there were no rangers in the park on Monday because they left the previous day to vote in the country’s presidential election. He described the region where the blizzard took place as “the most complex area of the mountain.” Rodrigo Illesca, the director of the park service, told the radio station ADN that he was not informed of the emergency until 6 p.m. on Monday. Dozens of hikers who were on the trail and at the campground on the day of the snowstorm sharply criticized the lack of warning and the emergency response, which they said was severely delayed and insufficient. Editors’ Picks The World’s Largest Afro Took Three People to Measure It I Was Deemed Unfit to Be a Mother Why ‘Surveillance Pricing’ Strikes a Nerve SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT “We want to make it clear that this was a terrible, avoidable tragedy. Nobody should have been allowed, let alone encouraged, to go up the pass that day, as we were by Vertice staff,” the group said in a statement shared by one of the hikers. According to the group, the staff at the camp offered no safety guidance or help, even after dozens of hikers — forced to turn back because of the conditions — had returned to the campsite suffering from hypothermia, frostbite, abrasions and head injuries. “They just were not seeming to grasp what had happened, like at all,” said Dr. Megan Wingfield, one of the surviving hikers. Vertice, the company that operates the campground, said in a statement that it had contacted the authorities and provided logistical support to rescue teams. Dr. Wingfield, 34, said she and her husband, both anesthesiologists and avid hikers from Colorado, had arrived at the Los Perros campsite on Sunday evening, planning to hike the John Gardner Pass the next day. The hikers had no internet access at the site, she said, but asked the staff whether the rain and wind were typical for this time of year. She said the staff reassured her and others that the conditions were not unusual, and recommended hiking the pass between about 8 a.m. and noon. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Around 6:45 a.m. the next day, the couple left the campsite, Dr. Wingfield said, wearing warm layers, wind pants, raincoats, hiking boots and crampons, as well as gloves, hats and gaiters to keep their faces warm. Within a few hours, she said, the wind was so strong that she and others in the group could barely stand. Then, less than 700 feet from the top of the pass, three young men heading in the opposite direction, their facial hair encased in icicles, warned them it was too treacherous to go on. “We all sort of came to the conclusion, ‘OK, we’re not doing this,’” she said. The group turned around. Between gusts, the hikers could see about 10 feet ahead, and otherwise only two or three. They were forced to backtrack down a steep rocky slope that had turned into an “ice rink,” she said. Bodies slid in all directions. One man skidded nearly 50 feet, headfirst toward a pile of rocks, Dr. Wingfield said. “Thank God, his backpack hit the rocks before his head did,” she said. “He stood up and said, ‘Am I going to die today?’” The ice, she said, was streaked with blood. People screamed as they slid into one another. When a man who was diabetic collapsed, Dr. Wingfield and her husband wrapped him in an emergency shelter, gave him a packet of applesauce and pleaded with him to keep going. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Around 11:30 a.m., Dr. Wingfield and her husband had returned to the camp with dozens of others, many bleeding and bruised, and nearly all with mild hypothermia, she said. There were doctors in the group who worked to treat the injured, she added, but the staff offered no assistance, refused to call for help and would not open a room where the group could stay warm. Around 12:30 p.m., she said, the hikers organized a search-and-rescue effort for those who had not returned. Some were trying to determine who was missing and which authorities to call. A few recalled one of the hikers, who was later found dead, falling repeatedly. Just after 3:30 p.m., another hiker, Arab Ginnett, posted for help on social media. “We are snowed in and people are still out on the pass,” she wrote. “We need urgent help, climbers and rescuers are on the risk of dying based on our current situation,” she said. Livia Albeck-Ripka is a Times reporter based in Los Angeles, covering breaking news, California and other subjects. Share full article

Argentine Congress Report Accuses President Of Crypto Fraud

Argentine Congress Report Accuses President of Crypto Fraud Argentina An Argentine congressional commission this week found that President Javier Milei may have committed misconduct and engaged in “alleged fraud” by using his public office to promote a cryptocurrency project that later collapsed, MercoPress reported Wednesday. The House of Deputies’ Investigative Commission released a final report this week in which they alleged that Milei and his sister, Presidential Secretary Karina Milei, were “key players” in enabling what lawmakers allege was an international scam. The scandal began in mid-February, when Milei promoted the $LIBRA token on social media. The token initially surged in value but crashed within hours, causing losses of several million dollars for more than 114,000 digital wallets. Industry analysts described the operation as a “rug pull,” a scam in which developers boost a token’s value and then exit before it collapses, according to the Buenos Aires Times. Technical reports show that 80 percent of wallets lost money, while 36 individuals made profits of more than $1 million. The commission’s findings claimed that Milei breached Argentina’s public ethics law by using his presidential authority to promote a private venture and by bypassing technical and legal reviews. The report also found direct links between Milei and the project’s promoters, including US entrepreneur Hayden Davis and Argentines Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy. Meanwhile, the commission said it will also file criminal complaints against a number of officials who allegedly obstructed the investigation, including Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona and Anti-Corruption Office head Alejandro Melik. Lawmakers wrote that these officials “systematically refused to cooperate” with the probe. Milei has denied promoting the project, claiming he merely “shared” it and “did not know the details.” He called himself a “fanatic techno optimist” who wants Argentina to become a “technology hub.” The commission has now submitted its report to Congress to determine whether Milei engaged in poor performance of his duties. However, no timeline for considering the question has been set, and observers said that after new pro-Milei lawmakers elected in October’s midterm vote take office on Dec. 10, it’s likely that no further action will be taken.