Judge Juan Guzman Tapia-A Tribute

 https://nsarchive.salsalabs.org/2021-01-27?wvpId=40bc5952-00e2-45bd-9da2-4103a6c51395

Brasil-Crimes Against Humanity

 

BRAZIL

Nature’s Killer

Brazilian Indigenous leaders and human rights groups asked the International Criminal Court over the weekend to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for crimes against humanity, the Guardian reported.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a request at the Netherlands-based court over Bolsonaro’s dismantling of environmental policies and violations of Indigenous rights, which they say amount to ecocide.

Since Bolsonaro took power in 2019, vast areas of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest have been destroyed and traditional communities threatened: Deforestation increased by nearly 50 percent in two years, while invasions of Indigenous territories rose 135 percent in 2019.

This year, Bolsonaro’s administration has also cut the budget to enforce environmental protections by more than 27 percent.

Activists and scientists fear that the far-right president’s policies could damage the rainforest to a point of no return and make it impossible to control climate change in the future.

Bolsonaro’s environmental policies and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic have caused his popularity to plummet in recent months.

One poll from the Brazil-based Datafolha found that 40 percent of respondents rated his administration as bad or terrible, according to Reuters.

However, another poll found more than 50 percent were against him being impeached.

Argentina Receives Second Dose Of Russia Sputnik Vaccine

 

Argentina receives second batch of Russia's Sputnik vaccine

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Argentina receives second batch of Russia's Sputnik vaccine

Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Buenos Aires

Sat, January 16, 2021, 7:45 AM

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The second batch of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine arrived in Argentina on Saturday, allowing the South American country to apply the second part of the two-dose program aimed at inoculating front-line health workers.

Some 300,000 doses of the vaccine arrived from Moscow on a special flight of flag carrier Aerolineas Argentinas.

They will be used to complete the Sputnik treatment program that began in late December. More doses are expected to arrive in Argentina later this month and in February.

Paraguay this week became the eighth country outside Russia to approve the Sputnik V vaccine, developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute. Other countries to approve emergency use of the vaccine include Bolivia, Venezuela, Algeria and Serbia.

Argentina's Minister of Science Roberto Salvarezza wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the highly contagious variant of SARS-CoV-2 from the United Kingdom had been detected in a traveler who arrived in Argentina from abroad.

(Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Hondura's Drug Dealing President

 

HONDURAS

Co-conspirator-in-chief

US federal prosecutors filed fresh motions over the weekend that accuse Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez of using his position to help drug traffickers send huge drug shipments to the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The documents allege that Hernandez used the nation’s armed forces to protect shipments of cocaine in exchange for bribes, as well as embezzling US aid money.

The court papers do not explicitly name the president, but they identify him as “co-conspirator 4” by references to his political position and his brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, who was convicted of drug smuggling in 2019.

Hernandez has been implicated in three major drug cases but denies any wrongdoing. He says that cartel leaders have been falsely accusing him because of his successful crackdowns against trafficking.

US President Donald Trump has praised Hernandez in the past for being a willing partner in helping implement the Trump administration’s controversial immigration measures.

It’s unclear how the recent revelations will change the US-Honduras relationship under President-elect Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Honduran activists worry that Hernandez will try to extend his time in office to avoid prosecution by the US Justice Department.