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Tag: Caribbean

  • Woman missing more than 30 years and thought to be dead found living in Puerto Rico nursing home | CNN

    Woman missing more than 30 years and thought to be dead found living in Puerto Rico nursing home | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Pennsylvania woman who disappeared more than 30 years ago and was believed to be dead by her family was recently found living in a nursing home in Puerto Rico, her family and police said at a news conference Thursday.

    Patricia Kopta, 83, was last seen in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1992, according to a missing person flier posted by the Pennsylvania Emergency Response Center.

    Her husband, Bob Kopta, reported her missing a few months later in the fall. At the time, he advised authorities that it wasn’t uncommon for his wife to “drop out of sight for short periods,” according to the flier.

    “I come home one night and she’s gone, and nobody knew where she was at,” Kopta said at the news conference with Ross Township Police.

    Police said they were first informed about the discovery of the missing woman when an agent from the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and a social worker from Puerto Rico contacted them last year saying that they believed Patricia was living in an adult care home in Puerto Rico.

    “What they reported to us was that she came into their care in 1999, when she was found in need in the streets of Puerto Rico,” Ross Township Deputy Chief Brian Kohlhepp said.

    INTERPOL and the social worker said Patricia was found wandering the streets and through the years she had “refused to ever discuss her private life or where she came from,” Kohlhepp said.

    In her advanced age, Patricia started revealing nuggets that would eventually spur those around her to contact Ross police, Kohlhepp said.

    When she was in Pittsburgh, Patricia was a “well-known street preacher,” according to the missing person flier. She would approach strangers, telling them she had visions of the Virgin Mary and that the world was coming to an end, the flier said.

    Police said her disappearance wasn’t overtly suspicious because they “knew she had a mental health history and she had made statements to other family individuals that she was leaving, that she was concerned that she was going to be placed into a care facility here,” Kohlhepp said. Kohlhepp said police knew she had likely left of her own volition.

    Her husband said that his wife had talked about wanting to go to Puerto Rico to live in a tropical environment.

    “I even advertised in the paper down in Puerto Rico looking for her,” Kopta said at the news conference, adding that he spent a lot of money over the years searching for her.

    Patricia and Bob were married for 20 years before she went missing, Kohlhepp told CNN. He added that Patricia had no known family or connections in Puerto Rico.

    Police determined the woman was in fact Patricia through a nine-month-long process in which they compared DNA samples provided by her sister, Gloria Smith, and her nephew.

    “We really thought she was dead all those years,” Smith said at the news conference.

    Even before DNA testing was completed, the family knew it was Patricia as soon as they saw her photo, Kohlhepp said.

    Smith said that she has called the adult care home in Puerto Rico several times but has been unable to hold a conversation with her sister because she has dementia.

    “We didn’t expect it. It was a very big shock to see – to know that she’s still alive,” her sister said. “You know, we’re so happy and I hope I can get down to see her.”

    CNN has not been able to directly contact the woman’s family.

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  • Lawyers fight for man they say US wrongly deported to Haiti

    Lawyers fight for man they say US wrongly deported to Haiti

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    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Paul Pierrilus was deported two years ago from the U.S. to Haiti where he has been trying to survive in a chaotic and violent country where he wasn’t born and had never lived.

    Both his parents are Haitian but they emigrated to the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin where Pierrilus was born. The family did not apply for citizenship for him in either Haiti or St. Martin and later moved to the U.S. when he was 5. He grew up in New York speaking English.

    Deported — after a long delay — because of a drug conviction two decades ago, Pierrilus is now in Haiti where he does not speak Haitian Creole, has been unable to find work and has little savings left as he hopes for a way to leave the increasingly unstable country.

    “You have to be mentally strong to deal with this type of stuff,” Pierrilus said. “A country where people get kidnapped every day. A country where people are killed. You have to be strong.”

    The 42-year-old financial consultant spends most of his days locked inside a house reading self-help, business and marketing books in a neighborhood where gunshots often echo outside.

    Lawyers for Pierrilus in the U.S. are still fighting his deportation order, leaving him in legal limbo as the Biden administration steps up deportations to Haiti despite pleas from activists that they be temporarily halted because of the Caribbean country’s deepening chaos.

    His case has become emblematic of what some activists describe as the discrimination Haitian migrants face in the overburdened U.S. immigration system. More than 20,000 Haitians have been deported from the U.S. in the past year as thousands more continue to flee Haiti in risky boat crossings that sometimes end in mass drownings.

    Cases like Pierrilus’ in which people are deported to a country where they have never lived are unusual, but they happen occasionally.

    Jimmy Aldaoud, born of Iraqi parents at a refugee camp in Greece and whose family emigrated to the U.S. in 1979, was deported in 2019 to Iraq after amassing several felony convictions. Suffering health problems and not knowing the language in Iraq, he died a few months later in a case oft-cited by advocates.

    Pierrilus’ parents took him to the United States so they could live a better life and he could receive a higher quality education.

    When he was in his early 20s, he was convicted of selling crack cocaine. Because he was not a U.S. citizen, Pierrilus was transferred from criminal custody to immigration custody where he was deemed a Haitian national because of his parentage and ordered deported to Haiti.

    Pierrilus managed to delay deportation with several legal challenges. Because he was deemed neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk, he was released, issued a work authorization and ordered to check with immigration authorities yearly.

    He went on to become a financial planner.

    Then, in February 2021, he was deported without warning, and his lawyers don’t know exactly why his situation changed.

    Lawyers for the nonprofit Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization in Washington have taken up his cause. “We demand that the Biden administration bring Paul home,” organization attorney Sarah Decker said.

    French St. Martin does not automatically confer French citizenship to those born in its territory to foreign parents, and his family did not seek it. They also did not formally seek Haitian citizenship, which Pierrilus is entitled to.

    Though he could obtain Haitian citizenship, his lawyers have argued that he is not currently a Haitian citizen, had never lived there and should not be deported to a county with such political instability.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a brief general statement to The Associated Press that each country has an obligation under international law to accept the return of its nationals who are not eligible to remain in the U.S. or any other country. An ICE spokeswoman said no further information about Pierrilus’ case could be provided, including what proof does the U.S. government have that he’s an alleged Haitian citizen and why 13 years passed before he was suddenly deported.

    In 2005, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed an appeal by Pierrilus’ previous attorneys to halt his deportation, saying “it is not necessary for the respondent to be a citizen of Haiti for that country to be named as the country of removal.” Decker, his current attorney, disagrees with that finding.

    Pierrilus said that while he was being deported he told immigration officers, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not from where you’re trying to send me.”

    Overpowered and handcuffed, he said he stopped resisting. As he boarded the flight, he recalled that women were screaming and children wailing. Inside, he felt the same. Pierrilus did not know when and if he would see his family or friends again.

    After being processed at the airport, someone lent Pierrilus a cell phone so he could call his parents. They gave him contacts for a family friend where he could temporarily stay. Since then, gang violence has forced him to bounce through two other homes.

    Warring gangs have expanded their control of territory in the Haitian capital to an estimated 60% since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, pillaging neighborhoods, raping and shooting civilians.

    The U.N. warned in January that Haitians are suffering their worst humanitarian emergency in decades. More than 1,350 kidnappings were reported last year, more than double the previous year. Killings spiked by 35%, with more than 2,100 reported.

    Pierrilus says he saw a man who was driving through his neighborhood get shot in the face as bullets shattered the windows and pock-marked the man’s car.

    “Can you imagine that? This guy is swirling around trying to flee the area. I don’t know what happened to the guy,” he said.

    As a result, he rarely goes out and relies on his faith for hope. He says he stopped going to church after he saw a livestreamed service in April 2021 in which gangs burst into the church and kidnapped a pastor and three congregants.

    Pierrilus talks to his parents at least once a week, focusing on the progress of his case rather than on challenges in Haiti.

    He hesitated to share his first impressions of his parents’ homeland upon landing in Haiti two years ago. “I had mixed feelings,” he said. “I wanted to see what it looked like on my time, not under these circumstances.”

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  • Mexico’s Senate approves controversial electoral reform

    Mexico’s Senate approves controversial electoral reform

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    MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Senate on Wednesday approved a reform of the country’s electoral institute, a move that opponents say will undercut democracy but which the president contends will save money and reduce political privileges.

    Lawmakers voted 72-50 in favor of the controversial overhaul of the body overseeing Mexico’s elections. Opponents immediately said they will challenge the changes in the supreme court. Protests are planned in multiple cities.

    The reform still needs to be enacted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, but that is seen as a formality since he backs the initiative, which would reduce the size of the institute and limit its supervisory and sanctioning powers.

    Some opposition lawmakers held up posters reading: “Morena wants to steal the elections,” referring to López Obrador’s ruling Morena party. Mexico has presidential elections scheduled for next year.

    The legislative initiative, known as “Plan B”, was proposed by the president in December after he did not obtain enough votes in Congress for a constitutional reform that carried deeper electoral changes.

    The president has repeatedly denied that the reform package could put the elections in Mexico at risk, saying the initiative seeks to cut the National Electoral Institute’s large budget and end its privileges.

    López Obrador and his supporters have been critical of the electoral institute since 2006 when he came within 0.56% of the vote of winning the presidency and denounced his loss as fraudulent. He and his supporters launched a mass protest movement.

    Despite the institute confirming his landslide victory in 2018, López Obrador has repeatedly complained of how costly it is to run elections in Mexico and sought to curtail the institute’s budget. He frequently says that the independent body is in the hands of the elite.

    Some Mexicans see similarities to the rhetoric used by former U.S. President Donald Trump and ex-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of elections in those countries that aimed to erode confidence in the process.

    Many in Mexico see the electoral institute as a key pillar of the country’s modern democracy. After 71 years of uninterrupted single-party rule, the opposition finally broke through in 2000.

    López Obrador’s ruling Morena party is favored in next year’s national elections and the opposition is in disarray, which would seem to give the president little incentive to attack the electoral institute. He remains highly popular in Mexico, but is not eligible for re-election.

    Lorenzo Córdova, the institute’s leader, has aggressively defended it in public and framed the reforms as a threat to Mexico’s democracy. His outspokenness has made him a frequent target of López Obrador.

    After Wednesday’s vote, the institute said via Twitter that the reform “puts at risk the equity and transparency of the elections” by weakening the sanctions the institute can apply to candidates and parties that violate campaign finance rules.

    Even before Wednesday night’s vote, the opposition had called a march in Mexico City Sunday in defense of the institute. The opposition held a similar march in November, which was ridiculed by López Obrador who led an even larger march days later.

    The president had already worried some observers by frequently attacking Mexico’s judiciary and concentrating enormous responsibility in the hands of the military, raising questions about his respect for the country’s democratic institutions.

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  • The most expensive home in the Caribbean just listed for $200 million – take a look inside

    The most expensive home in the Caribbean just listed for $200 million – take a look inside

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    A palatial estate in the Caribbean was listed for a whopping $200 million Sunday evening, making it the most expensive home to ever hit the market in the region and one of the priciest homes for sale in the entire world.  

    The Terraces, as the estate is called, spans 17 acres and nine structures. It’s located on the small private island of Mustique, which lies in the southern Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It is north of Trinidad and Tobago and about 45 minutes west of Barbados, if you’re taking a private plane.

    “The Terraces in Mustique is the most expensive single residential home to publicly come to the open market in the Caribbean region,” said Edward de Mallet Morgan, head of international super-prime sales at Knight Frank, who represents the mega-listing.

    The estate sits atop Endeavor Hill, one of Mustique’s highest summits.

    Knight Frank

    The majestic residence commands one of Mustique’s highest elevations, overlooking landscaped gardens and wild tropical grounds with panoramic views over the Atlantic and Caribbean coastlines. The estate’s 41-page marketing brochure boasts nine ensuite bedrooms in the main house, an 80-foot-long swimming pool and “the largest entertaining space on the entire island.”

    The view from one of the estate’s three swimming pools.

    Knight Frank

    “Mustique is an island where incredibly high profile people go for incredibly low profile holidays,” said de Mallet Morgan, who declined disclose the identity of the seller.

    Mustique has a storied past. In 1958, Lord Glenconner, Colin Tennant, bought the entire island, which at the time had no roads and no running water, for £45,000. That’s about $1.2 million in today’s money, when adjusted for inflation. Tennant gifted a plot to his friend Princess Margaret, who built a villa there and helped spark a rush of rich and famous buyers who followed the royal and built their own homes, according to the island’s website.

    The palatial mood and domed ceiling inside one of the main villa’s nine bedrooms.

    Knight Frank

    Decades later, it’s still an exclusive playground for titans of industry and rock stars. Tommy Hilfiger and Mick Jagger have homes on the isle. From its health clinic to security, the island is wholly managed by the Mustique Company, a private operation owned by the island’s homeowners. The website states: “The company oversees every aspect of island life as well as the management of the villas on behalf of the shareholders and the safeguarding of the island.”

    The view from the pool deck.

    Knight Frank

    Natural beauty and unrivaled privacy make the island a perfect destination for the ultra wealthy to kick back and relax.

    “Paparazzi are banned on Mustique, and the easy, relaxed interaction of royal families, rock stars, celebrities, business moguls and entrepreneurs is really unique to Mustique,” said de Mallet Morgan.

    “It is a place where doors are not locked and no one bats an eye when you arrive at dinner barefoot.” 

    The view from above the estate’s 80-ft long swimming pool.

    Knight Frank

    De Mallet Morgan shared data with CNBC from Knight Frank’s upcoming Wealth Report, which shows that out of 100 key city, sun and ski destinations around the world, Mustique was the 12th best performing market. The ranking puts the remote island on par with Sardinia, St. Bart’s and Provence.  

    According to the report, luxury residential prices on Mustique rose by 12% in 2022, making the island the fifth best performing market in the Americas after Aspen, Miami, Bahamas and the Hamptons.

    Record sales during the pandemic led to tighter inventory. Last year, Mustique’s largest transaction was recorded at about $35 million, according to de Mallet Morgan.

    Here’s a closer look at the most expensive home to ever hit the market  in the Caribbean.

    A fountain in the courtyard entrance of the main home.

    Knight Frank

    Built in 1986, the mega villa is clad in a pale peach-colored stone facade with loggias that wrap around each side of the more than 16,000-square-foot residence. According to marketing materials, the Terraces was designed by architect Tom Wilson, who pays homage to the architecture of 16th century Italian palaces.

    A dining area in the main residence.

    Knight Frank

    Inside there are hand-painted ceilings and mural-covered walls painted by French artist Jean-Claude Adenin in a project that spanned three years.

    A bedroom in the main home.

    Knight Frank

    The mega-villa’s palatial rooms, gilded furniture and painted domed ceilings are decidedly more Versailles than beach chic.

    A grand salon in the main house.

    Knight Frank

    “The Terraces, being the largest and most visually prominent property on the island is not just one of the Caribbean’s foremost houses, but arguably one of the world’s foremost homes,” de Mallet Morgan told CNBC.

    The main home’s infinity-edged pool appears to spill into the estate’s lush green landscape.

    Knight Frank

    A floor plans shows a 60-foot tunnel connecting the main villa to a structure just below called the Annex. The two buildings are also connected by exterior pathways. The Annex spans over 12,000 square feet and is dedicated to games and entertainment. It houses a grand event hall and a game room with ping-pong, billiards and chess. Just outside, there’s a wraparound terrace that features the estates second swimming pool with an infinity edge that appears to send water cascading down the hillside.

    Other structures on the property include guest cottages that span 2,600 square feet and include four more bedrooms, as well as the estate’s third swimming pool. 

    The Bali Cottages house four more guest bedrooms and surround the estate’s third swimming pool.

    Knight Frank

    There’s also a chapel, laundry facilities and two more buildings to accommodate staff. De Mallet Morgan said the estate is currently operated by 18 staff. The estate’s webpage breaks it down further to a property manager, two butlers, three chefs, six housekeepers and six gardeners.

    Tennis court and pavillion.

    Knight Frank

    Across a rolling lawn is a pavilion that overlooks a sun-drenched tennis court.   

    The terrace and pool at the Annex.

    Knight Frank

    The interior square footage of the entire estate tops 38,000. It climbs to almost 53,000 square feet when you add all of its covered outdoor areas.

    De Mallet Morgan told CNBC if a foreign buyer wants to purchase the trophy property he or she can expect to pay taxes and fees of about 12% on the purchase price, adding around $24 million to the $200 million price tag.

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  • Peru reopens Machu Picchu after agreement with protesters

    Peru reopens Machu Picchu after agreement with protesters

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    LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s Machu Picchu, an Inca-era stone citadel nestled in its southeastern jungle, reopened on Wednesday after being closed nearly a month ago amid antigovernment protests, the culture ministry announced.

    Agreements were made between authorities, social groups and the local tourism industry to guarantee the security of the famed tourist attraction and transport services.

    Protests calling for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and members of Peru’s Congress have shaken the region, including Cuzco, for more than two months. The demonstrations caused a blockade of the train tracks leading to the stone citadel.

    The protests have led to 60 deaths: 48 are civilians who died in clashes with the security forces; 11 civilians killed in traffic accidents related to road blockades; and one policeman who died inside a patrol car when it was set on fire, according to data from the Ombudsman’s Office.

    The closure of Machu Picchu, on Jan. 21, forced the government to airlift more than 400 tourists from Machu Picchu to the city of Cusco by helicopter.

    Machu Picchu was built by the Incas in the 15th century as a religious sanctuary high in Andes Mountains.

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  • A $13,000 Caribbean Private Island Resort Vacation Package for Two Being Raffled Off by St. John Land Conservancy

    A $13,000 Caribbean Private Island Resort Vacation Package for Two Being Raffled Off by St. John Land Conservancy

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    Press Release
    –

    Feb 3, 2023


    CRUZ BAY, Virgin Islands (U.S.), February 3, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    St. John Land Conservancy (SJLC), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community organization dedicated to the preservation of the natural and historic resources of the island, is raffling a Caribbean private island resort vacation package for two, valued at over $13,000. Supporters are entered to win when they make a $59 donation to support the St. John Land Conservancy’s mission of protecting paradise. All are welcome to join the raffle.

    The vacation features: 

    Enter St. John Land Conservancy’s 2nd Annual Love for the Land Fundraiser here:  http://weblink.donorperfect.com/L4L2023

    St. John Land Conservancy (SJLC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community organization dedicated to the preservation of the natural and historic resources of the island of St. John, in the United States Virgin Islands. 

    Right now, on St John, in the United States Virgin Islands, SJLC is quietly working to protect two threatened parcels of land, at Catherinberg and on Bordeaux Mountain, both of which contain important resources for the island. Each parcel is home to native plants, trees, birds and animals. Preserving this land keeps the watershed intact and protects the coral reefs.

    Heavy machinery is stripping away tropical forest and all its creatures. Watersheds and views will be irreversibly changed. Endangered species will be lost. Artifacts and ruins lie degrading, losing valuable history in their story. Gates, walls and signs go up, never to allow access again, and changing the feel of the island.

    The annual Love for the Land raffle raises vital funds and, in 2022, raised over $85,000. The lucky winner last year enjoyed a private villa vacation with airfare, boat trips, and local dining.

    Check out St. John Land Conservancy:  www.stjohnlandconservancy.org

    Source: St. John Land Conservancy

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  • Mexico’s president promises total withdrawal after term ends

    Mexico’s president promises total withdrawal after term ends

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    MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president is probably the most powerful political figure the country has had in decades, but he said Thursday that after his term ends in September 2024, he will totally withdraw from politics.

    There had been speculation that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador would remain a power behind the scenes in his now-dominant Morena party.

    But the president vowed at his daily press briefing Thursday that he would not mix with politicians, speak about politics or appear at political events.

    López Obrador had previously said he would retire to a ranch he inherited in southern Mexico and write books. But Thursday’s declaration was far more categorical than what he has said before.

    “I am going to retire completely,” he said. “I will never again appear at any public event.”

    “I do not want to be anybody’s advisor … I will not have any relationship with politicians,” the president said, adding “I am not going to talk about politics.”

    “I am going to write, which does have to do with politics, but that has more to with academics,” he said.

    Most Mexican presidents in recent decades have left office so discredited that they seldom carried much weight on the political scene after their terms ended.

    But López Obrador still has approval ratings of about 60% four years into his six-year term, based in part on his folksy charisma and exposure through daily press briefings that can last two or three hours.

    Moreover, his Morena party now holds 20 of Mexico’s 32 governorships. The party was organized almost exclusively around his leadership.

    There had been fears that López Obrador might replicate the rule of ex-president Plutarco Elias Calles, who left office in 1928 but continued to rule through surrogates until 1934.

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  • Usain Bolt fires business manager over Jamaica fraud case

    Usain Bolt fires business manager over Jamaica fraud case

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    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt told reporters Friday that he is baffled over how $12.7 million of his money has gone missing from a local private investment firm that authorities are investigating as part of a massive fraud that began more than a decade ago.

    Bolt also said he has fired his business manager, adding that it was not an amicable split.

    When asked if he was “broke,” the retired star athlete laughed.

    “I’m not broke, but it’s definitely put a damper on me,” he said. “It was for my future. Everybody knows I have three kids. I’m still looking out for my parents, and I still want to live very well.”

    Bolt’s attorneys have said the athlete’s account with Kingston-based Stocks and Securities Limited dwindled from nearly $12.8 million to some $12,000. They had given the company until Friday to return the money or face civil and criminal action.

    It wasn’t immediately clear whether any action had been taken as of late Friday. Attorney Linton P. Gordon did not return a message seeking comment.

    He told the Jamaica Observer newspaper that the public should anticipate the “expected and the unexpected” in the case.

    “There is nothing to say at this stage, given what is happening,” he was quoted as saying. “We have met with persons, and we are dealing with certain matters.”

    Earlier this week, Jamaican Finance Minister Nigel Clarke announced that the director of the Financial Services Commission was stepping down and that the Bank of Jamaica would now be in charge of regulating the island’s financial system.

    He said several government agencies and elderly customers also were affected by the alleged fraud.

    “It’s always a sad situation. Definitely disappointed,” Bolt said of the elderly who were affected. “Everybody’s confused. … I’m as confused as the public.”

    Jamaican authorities have requested help from the FBI and other unidentified international experts, adding that clients were given false statements regarding their balances as part of the alleged fraud. Officials have not yet said how many clients overall were affected and how much money in total is missing.

    Earlier on Friday, Bolt spoke at a sponsored luncheon for an upcoming relay and referred to the alleged fraud.

    “As you all know. I’ve been going through a tough week, a few tough weeks,” he said, adding that he would continue to do everything he can to uplift his island.

    “No matter what’s going on right now, Jamaica is my country. That will never change,” he said.

    In an aside with reporters, he said: “I’m just trying to focus on my family and trying not to think too much about it because it’s a difficult situation.”

    Stocks and Securities Limited did not return a message seeking comment Friday. The company contacted authorities earlier this month to alert them that a manager had apparently committed fraud.

    Earlier this week, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that his administration would not bail out the company.

    “The government will not socialize any debt, and we will not socialize the failure of our banks,” he said.

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  • Protests reach Haiti airport and Prime Minister’s residence over police killings | CNN

    Protests reach Haiti airport and Prime Minister’s residence over police killings | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Protesters and some police officers protested at the official residence of Haiti’s prime minister in the capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday, decrying recent killings of police, according to one of his advisors.

    “The police officers and the protestors came here to make their voices heard. They are angry and we understand and hear them,” the advisor told CNN, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the current situation.

    Social media images appeared to show protesters outside the prime minister’s residence, and at the country’s main airport, Toussaint Louverture International.

    Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was returning to Haiti from a summit in Argentina on Thursday, was not at his residence during the incident. He has not commented publicly on the demonstrations.

    Amid widespread insecurity and gang violence in the country, the killings of several police officers in the line of duty this week has inflamed anger in the capital.

    Six police officers were killed on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths over the past week to at least 10, according to public statements by the Haitian National Police. The police did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

    In an announcement tweeted Thursday by the police, Director General Frantz Elbé declared a state of “maximum alert” in light of the killings.

    The international community has condemned the targeting of police in Haiti.

    In a tweet, the US Embassy in Haiti wrote that it “offers its condolences to the families and friends of the brave … officers killed in the line of duty and appeals for calm to protect the population and allow a peaceful mourning period.”

    “We stand together with the security forces as they fight against the armed gangs to restore the security of the Haitian people,” the Embassy also wrote.

    The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti also tweeted its “energetic condemnation of the targeted and deliberate attacks by armed gangs against police personnel.”

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  • Brazil police: Businessman ordered killings of men in Amazon

    Brazil police: Businessman ordered killings of men in Amazon

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    SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian police said Monday they planned to indict a Colombian fish trader as the mastermind of last year’s slayings of Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips.

    Ruben Dario da Silva Villar provided the ammunition to kill the pair, made phone calls to the confessed killer before and after the crime, and paid his lawyer, federal police officials said during a press conference held in Manaus.

    Fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, nicknamed Pelado, confessed that he shot Phillips and Pereira and has been under arrest since soon after the killings in early June. He and three other relatives are accused of participating in the crime. They all live in an impoverished riverine community inside a federal agrarian reform settlement between the city of Atalaia do Norte and Javari Valley Indigenous Territory.

    Villar has denied any wrongdoing in the case. Before Monday’s announcement, he was already being held on charges of using false Brazilian and Peruvian documents and leading an illegal fishing scheme. According to the investigation, he financed local fishermen to fish inside Javari Valley Indigenous Territory.

    In a statement, UNIVAJA, the local Indigenous association that employed Pereira, said it believed there were other significant planners behind the killings who have not been arrested.

    Pereira and Phillips were traveling in the remote area of the Amazon when they disappeared, and their bodies were recovered after the confessions. Phillips was researching for a book about how to save the world’s largest rainforest.

    ___

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Cruise ship rescues 17 migrants from vessel near the Bahamas | CNN

    Cruise ship rescues 17 migrants from vessel near the Bahamas | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Seventeen migrants were taken onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship Saturday after it encountered a small vessel adrift on its way to the Bahamas, according to a statement from the cruise line.

    The Liberty of the Seas was sailing to the Bahamas when it encountered a small vessel adrift and in need of assistance, according to Royal Caribbean officials.

    “The ship’s crew immediately launched a rescue operation, safely bringing 17 people onboard. The crew provided them with medical attention and is working closely with the United States Coast Guard,” the statement said.

    RacQuelle Major-Holland, a passenger on the cruise liner, told CNN the captain made an announcement their ship was diverting from its path to Nassau to see whether the small boat needed help.

    “He shared there appeared to be people onboard and he mentioned the maritime law that ships have to check in and rescue if needed,” Major-Holland said Monday.

    She said the small boat was hard to see at first but within about 45 minutes of the announcement, the people were onboard the Liberty of the Seas.

    “The individuals on the boat were waving and … they were smiling and happy to be rescued,” said Major-Holland, a travel blogger from Pickerington, Ohio.

    Video that Major-Holland recorded shows the boat getting closer to the ship. The tiny craft has just a few oars and a piece of tattered green fabric from what appears to be a makeshift flagpole.

    Officials didn’t identify what country the people in the boat were from, but the rescue comes during a surge of Cubans and Haitians attempting to make it to the United States.

    It isn’t new for cruise ships traveling near Florida to come upon boats of migrants. But a series of recent rescues and social media posts about them have brought a fresh wave of attention to these dramatic moments at sea and the migration crisis behind them.

    The small boat in this case was in Bahamian waters and the people onboard reported there was another vessel out as well, a spokesperson from the US Coast Guard District Seven told CNN.

    Because of the location of the vessels, the Bahamian authorities are leading the investigation with assistance from the Coast Guard.

    CNN has reached out to the Bahamian Defense Force for additional information.

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  • Biden, López Obrador open Mexico meetings with brusque talk

    Biden, López Obrador open Mexico meetings with brusque talk

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    MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador challenged U.S. President Joe Biden to end an attitude of “abandonment” and “disdain” for Latin America and the Caribbean as the two leaders met on Monday, making for a brusque opening to a summit of North American leaders.

    The comments were a stark contrast to the public display of affection between López Obrador and Biden shortly before, as they smiled and embraced and shook hands for the cameras. But once the two sat down in an ornate room at the Palacio Nacional, flanked by delegations of top officials, it didn’t take long for tensions to bubble to the surface.

    Most of the summit’s work will be handled on Tuesday, when the two leaders and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are to hold hours of talks. Migration, both legal and illegal, and border security will be key topics.

    On Monday, López Obrador challenged Biden to improve life across the region, telling him that “you hold the key in your hand.”

    “This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said.

    He also complained that too many imports are coming from Asia instead of being produced in the Americas.

    “We ask ourselves, couldn’t we produce in America what we consume?” he said. “Of course.”

    Biden responded by defending the billions of dollars that the United States spends in foreign aid around the world, saying “unfortunately our responsibility just doesn’t end in the Western Hemisphere.” And he referenced U.S. deaths from fentanyl, a drug that flows over the border from Mexico.

    While both men pledged to work together, it was a noticeably sharp exchange, on full display before reporters. They met privately for about an hour before having dinner with Trudeau and their wives.

    The meeting is held most years, although there was a hiatus while Donald Trump was U.S. president. It’s often called the “three amigos summit,” a reference to the deep diplomatic and economic ties between the countries, but new strains have emerged.

    All three countries are struggling to handle an influx of people arriving in North America and to crack down on smugglers who profit from persuading migrants to make the dangerous trip to the U.S.

    In addition, Canada and the U.S. accuse López Obrador of violating a free trade pact by favoring Mexico’s state-owed utility over power plants built by foreign and private investors. Meanwhile, Trudeau and López Obrador are concerned about Biden’s efforts to boost domestic manufacturing, creating concerns that U.S. neighbors could be left behind.

    Biden and López Obrador haven’t been on particularly good terms for the past two years either. The Mexican leader made no secret of his admiration for Trump, and last year he skipped a Los Angeles summit because Biden didn’t invite the authoritarian regimes of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

    However, there have been attempts made at thawing the relationship. Biden made a point of flying into the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, a prized project of the Mexican president even though it’s been a source of controversy.

    The airport, which is expected to cost $4.1 billion when finished, is more than an hour’s drive north of the city center, has few flights and until recently lacked consistent drinking water. However, it’s one of the keystone projects that López Obrador is racing to finish before his term ends next year, along with an oil refinery, a tourist train in the Yucatan Peninsula and a train linking Gulf coast and Pacific seaports.

    The two leaders rode into Mexico City in Biden’s limousine. López Obrador was fascinated by the presidential vehicle known as “the beast,” and he said Biden “showed me how the buttons work.”

    In a notably warm comment, the Mexican president described the two leaders’ first encounter of the trip as “very pleasant,” and he said “President Biden is a friendly person.”

    The U.S. and Mexico have also reached an agreement on a major shift in migration policy, which Biden announced last week.

    Under the plan, the U.S. will send 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela back across the border from among those who entered the U.S. illegally. Migrants who arrive from those four countries are not easily returned to their home countries for a variety of reasons.

    In addition, 30,000 people per month from those four nations who get sponsors, background checks and an airline flight to the U.S. will get the ability to work legally in the country for two years.

    On Monday, before the summit began, López Obrador said he would consider accepting more migrants than previously announced.

    “We don’t want to anticipate things, but this is part of what we are going to talk about at the summit,” López Obrador said. “We support this type of measures, to give people options, alternatives,” he said, adding that “the numbers may be increased.”

    Mexico would likely also require an increase in those receiving work authorization in the U.S. in order to take back more migrants who are being expelled.

    Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, cautioned that nothing was decided yet.

    “What we need is to see how the program announced last week works in practice, what if any adjustments need to be made to that program and then we can talk about taking the next steps,” he said.

    On his way to Mexico, Biden stopped in El Paso, Texas, for four hours — his first time at the border as president and the longest he’s spent along the U.S-Mexico line. The visit was highly controlled and seemed designed to counter Republican claims of a crisis situation by showcasing a smooth operation to process migrants entering legally, weed out smuggled contraband and humanely treat those who’ve entered illegally.

    But the trip was likely to do little to quell critics from both sides, including immigrant advocates who accuse the Democratic president of establishing cruel policies not unlike those of his hardline predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.

    The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically during Biden’s first two years in office. There were more than 2.38 million stops during the year that ended Sept. 30, the first time the number topped 2 million.

    On Monday afternoon, López Obrador formally welcomed Biden at the Palacio Nacional, the first time since 2014 that Mexico has hosted a U.S. president.

    In a display of solidarity, the first ladies of the U.S. and Mexico delivered the same speech, alternating between Jill Biden in English and Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller in Spanish.

    “We believe that poverty is not destined by God, but the product of inequality,” Jill Biden said. “We know that the poor deserve to live better and are working with compassion, every day, to improve lives for everyone.”

    Earlier in the day, Jill Biden met with women from the fields of education, art and business, most of them recipients of U.S. cooperation programs or scholarships.

    “Do whatever you want but teach others,” she said.

    Biden is expected to follow up his first trip to Mexico as president with another to Canada, although it has not yet been scheduled.

    A senior Canadian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Canada is working with Americans on a visit in the near future.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Andres Leighton in El Paso, Texas; Anita Snow in Phoenix; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Mark Stevenson and Christopher Sherman in Mexico City; Rob Gillies in Toronto and Chris Megerian and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • Biden heads to the border for the first time as president | CNN Politics

    Biden heads to the border for the first time as president | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    President Joe Biden is heading to the US-Mexico border on Sunday on the heels of major policy announcements and following relentless calls from Republicans who believe the trip is overdue.

    The trip to the border – the first for Biden since he took office – comes as the administration wrestles with a growing number of migrants, overwhelming federal and local resources. Republicans, some border-district Democrats in Congress and even Democratic mayors have criticized Biden for failing to address record levels of border crossings.

    With his visit to El Paso, Texas, on Sunday, Biden is seizing on an issue that’s been a political liability for his administration, while calling on Congress to overhaul the US immigration system to meet current needs.

    But the patchwork of policies put in place by the administration to manage the border so far has often put Biden at odds with his own allies who argue that the administration’s approach is too enforcement heavy.

    “It’s enraging and sad to see a Democratic administration make it harder for vulnerable people to seek asylum all because they’re scared of angry MAGA voters on this issue,” a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus told CNN, responding to the latest policy announcements.

    Previewing the trip, a White House official said the president will “meet with federal, state, and local officials and community leaders who have been critical partners in managing the new migration challenge impacting the entire Western Hemisphere with record numbers of people fleeing political oppression and gang violence in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Cuba.” The president is scheduled to spend about three hours on the ground.

    Biden will evaluate border enforcement operations, touring the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry alongside Customs and Border Protection officers, members of Congress and local officials and law enforcement.

    The White House said it’s the busiest port in El Paso and received $600 million under bipartisan infrastructure law.

    Biden will then visit the El Paso County Migrant Services Center to meet with local officials, faith leaders and non-governmental organizations “who have been critical to supporting migrants fleeing political oppression and economic collapse in their home countries.”

    The official said the president will also spend time with local business leaders to hear about the economic impact of migration in the region and worker shortages.

    Biden will be joined by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; Texas Reps. Veronica Escobar, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, all Democrats; El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser; El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego; and additional community and business leaders.

    Mayorkas on Sunday defended Biden’s approach to addressing the migrant surge at the southern border, saying the administration was operating in a humane but necessary way.

    “We are dealing with in a broken immigration system that Congress has failed to repair for decades, and there is unanimity with respect to that reality,” Mayorkas told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week,” while attributing the surge to regional displacement impacting the entire Western Hemisphere.

    “We want individuals who qualify for relief under our laws to come to the United States in a safe and orderly way. And that is why we are building lawful pathways so people do not have to place their lives and their life savings in the hands of ruthless smugglers,” he said.

    Mass movement across the Western Hemisphere has posed an urgent challenge for Biden, who in his first few months in office faced a surge of unaccompanied migrant children at the border and later, the abrupt arrival of thousands of Haitian migrants.

    Since 2021, there have been more than 2.4 million arrests along the US-Mexico border, according to US Customs and Border Protection data. That includes people who have attempted to cross more than once. Many have also been turned away under a Trump-era Covid restriction known as Title 42 that allows federal authorities to expel migrants quickly, citing the Covid-19 pandemic.

    The arrival of thousands of migrants has strained border communities, including El Paso. The city has prided itself on being a welcoming place for migrants but has been overwhelmed in recent months with the sudden arrival of thousands of migrants, straining local resources and prompting pleas for federal assistance.

    Anxiety about the scheduled end of Title 42 prompted thousands of migrants in recent weeks to turn themselves in to border authorities or to cross into the United States illegally in a very short period.

    The policy was scheduled to lift last month, but a Supreme Court ruling kept the rule in place while legal challenges play out in court.

    Federal data shared with CNN indicates that migrant encounters in El Paso have dropped drastically since December, when thousands crossed on a daily basis.

    There have been less than 700 daily encounters on average over the last few days, compared to nearly 2,500 at its peak in December, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

    DHS said it deployed 100 additional personnel to the El Paso region in December, and this week, the department will open another temporary facility to process migrants. Shelters in Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, have also seen a decrease in migrants, DHS said.

    Biden has said he wanted to wait until he knew an outcome in the Title 42 legal machinations before traveling to the border and accused Republicans calling for him to travel there of playing political games.

    “They haven’t been serious about this at all,” he said.

    El Paso has been at the center of the immigration debate dating back to the Trump administration, which piloted the controversial family separation policy in the region.

    While Biden has condemned Trump-era immigration policies, his own administration has wrestled with striking a balance between enforcement and holding up its humanitarian promises.

    In El Paso, Biden will be faced with the history of his predecessor and the challenges he faces as the administration tries to stem the flow of mass migration in the hemisphere.

    He’ll also be visiting a state whose governor has been a fierce critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policies. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who already criticized the president’s upcoming visit on Twitter, has sent thousands of migrants on buses to Democratic-led cities and deployed the National Guard along the Texas-Mexico border, including in El Paso.

    In recent months, the El Paso sector has surpassed the Rio Grande Valley sector in migrant arrests. RGV has historically been one of the busiest sectors for border crossings. The El Paso sector patrols 268 miles of international border.

    Last November, border authorities encountered more than 53,000 migrants in the El Paso sector, according to the latest available data from US Customs and Border Protection.

    Last year, El Paso – whose mayor, Leeser, is a Democrat – began sending migrant buses to New York City, following in the footsteps of Republican governors, to try to get people to their destination and decongest the city. That effort has since stopped.

    Escobar, who represents El Paso, said in a tweet that she’s “excited” to welcome Biden to the city. While she didn’t place a big emphasis on Biden visiting the border, she made clear she welcomed it in recent weeks and urged the federal government to provide assistance to the city.

    John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said that the president is looking forward to seeing firsthand the situation on the border ahead of the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City.

    “The President is very much looking forward to seeing for himself first-hand what the border security situation looks like, particularly in El Paso. He’s very much also interested in getting to talk to Customs and Border Patrol agents on the ground who are actually involved in this mission to get their first-hand perspectives of it,” Kirby told reporters Friday.

    Ahead of Biden’s border visit, the administration also announced plans to expand the policy and include Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans while it remains in place. Title 42 has so far largely applied to migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela.

    The announcements Biden made Thursday reflect the administration’s effort to prepare for the end of Title 42, along with putting in place programs to manage the surge of migrants that have coincided with the anticipated end of the rule.

    The administration will now accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela under a humanitarian parole program geared toward those nationalities. Those who do not come to the US under that program may be expelled to Mexico under Title 42.

    The announcement drew criticism from immigrant advocates and Democrats who argued the policies will put migrants who are seeking asylum in harm’s way.

    “The expansion of Title 42 to include Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans is a broken promise,” said Dylan Corbett, executive director of Hope Border Institute, in a statement. Hope Border Institute has been assisting migrants who have arrived in El Paso.

    “Border communities will continue to work hard to pick up the broken pieces of our nation’s immigration system and show that our future lies not with expulsion and deportation, but with humanity and hope,” he added.

    Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus grilled top Biden officials, including Mayorkas, over the newly announced border policies in a call Thursday, according to two sources in attendance.

    Members felt blindsided by the new policies and frustrated with the lack of engagement prior to their rollout, the sources said.

    “It was really heated,” one source said, adding that members were “livid” that the administration didn’t consult with them ahead of time. The call included officials with the Department of Homeland Security and the White House.

    One of the sources of tension during the call was a new asylum regulation that could bar migrants who are seeking asylum in the United States from doing so if they passed through another country on their way to the US-Mexico border. The restrictions are reminiscent of limits rolled out during the Trump administration, though officials have rejected the comparison.

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • CBP seizes $9.1 million worth of cocaine at the Pan American Dock in Puerto Rico | CNN

    CBP seizes $9.1 million worth of cocaine at the Pan American Dock in Puerto Rico | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    US Customs and Border Protection officers seized 877 pounds of cocaine on board the San Juan-Santo Domingo Ferry at the Pan American Dock in Puerto Rico last month.

    The drugs, which have an estimated value of $9.1 million, were spotted on December 26 during a routine cargo inspection. Officers removed a board covering the floor of a cargo platform to reveal 355 packages that tested positive for cocaine, the CBP said in a statement.

    “Our experienced CBP officers remain vigilant, utilizing their training and available tools to stop dangerous drugs from entering the country,” Roberto Vaquero, director of field operation for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, said in the statement.

    Homeland Security Investigations took custody of the contraband for further investigation, according to the CBP.

    CBP has seized 77,000 pounds of drugs in the first two months of fiscal year 2023, according to the CBP Data Portal.

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  • Handicraft vendors block roads to Mexico’s Chichen Itza ruin

    Handicraft vendors block roads to Mexico’s Chichen Itza ruin

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    MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of handicraft vendors in southern Mexico blocked access roads to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza for the third day Wednesday.

    The vendors are mainly Mayans from nearby towns who have long sold goods at the entrances and parking lots at the ruin site. They accuse guards at the ruins of discriminating and violating their rights as descendants of the Maya people who built the temples more than 1,200 years ago.

    “They prohibit the vendors there from speaking Maya,” said Arturo Ciau Puc, an activist with a local farm group known as CIOAC. “Just because we are Indigenous doesn’t mean we should be treated like second-class citizens.”

    Protesters held up signs reading “No More Harassment of Artisans” at some of the roadblocks.

    The vendors set up the protest lines late Monday to demand greater access to the complex to sell their goods, after security guards apparently threw some of them out.

    The ruin site is operated by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, and its boundaries are somewhat vague, with local communities claiming some of the land. Vendors and guides seeking customers sometimes set up for business inside the ruin site, which some say ruins the experience.

    On Wednesday, Diego Prieto, the institute’s director, said vendors are “invasive” and want “to sell Chinese merchandise in front of the pyramid.” He referred to the pyramid of Kukulkan, also known as El Castillo, or “The Castle,” which is often considered the centerpiece of the ruin complex.

    Ciau Puc said protesters were demanding the replacement of the director of the archaeological zone, accusing him of “arrogance.” Locals are also angered by reports that well-heeled foreign tourists are allowed into the ruins at night, or allowed to climb the pyramid, something that is supposedly prohibited to protect the structure.

    In a statement, the institute said it had sought to bring vendors under control “to ensure the proper functioning of the site to benefit visitors, by regulating the vendors that have invaded the area.”

    The institute said the site remained open to tourists and added that officials were open to talks with the protesters.

    Chichen Itza is a U.N. World Heritage site and Mexico’s most-visited archaeological site, with about 2.5 million visitors each year.

    The dispute highlighted the problems faced by modern day Mayans, most of whom live in poverty, in a region where tourism praises the works of their ancestors and but ignores them.

    “In the end, it is thanks to us, or our ancestors, that these archaeological zones exist at all,” Ciau Puc said.

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  • Brazil’s Lula sworn in, vows accountability and rebuilding

    Brazil’s Lula sworn in, vows accountability and rebuilding

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    BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in as president on Sunday, and in his first address expressed optimism about plans to rebuild while pledging that members of outgoing Jair Bolsonaro’s administration will be held to account.

    Lula is assuming office for the third time after thwarting far-right incumbent Bolsonaro’s reelection bid. His return to power marks the culmination of a political comeback that is thrilling supporters and enraging opponents in a fiercely polarized nation.

    “Our message to Brazil is one of hope and reconstruction,” Lula said in a speech in Congress’ Lower House after signing the document that formally instates him as president. “The great edifice of rights, sovereignty and development that this nation built has been systematically demolished in recent years. To re-erect this edifice, we are going to direct all our efforts.”

    Sunday afternoon in Brasilia’s main esplanade, the party was on. Tens of thousands of supporters decked out in the red of Lula’s Workers’ Party cheered after his swearing in.

    They celebrated when the president said he would send a report about the prior administration to all lawmakers and judicial authorities, revoke Bolsonaro’s “criminal decrees” that loosened gun control, and hold the prior administration responsible for its denialism in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “We do not carry any spirit of revenge against those who sought to subjugate the nation to their personal and ideological designs, but we are going to ensure the rule of law,” Lula said, without mentioning Bolsonaro by name. “Those who erred will answer for their errors, with broad rights to their defense within the due legal process.”

    Lula’s presidency is unlikely to be like his previous two mandates, coming after the tightest presidential race in more than three decades in Brazil and resistance to his taking office by some of his opponents, political analysts say.

    The leftist defeated Bolsonaro in the Oct. 30 vote by less than 2 percentage points. For months, Bolsonaro had sown doubts about the reliability of Brazil’s electronic vote and his loyal supporters were loath to accept the loss.

    Many have gathered outside military barracks since, questioning results and pleading with the armed forces to prevent Lula from taking office.

    His most die-hard backers resorted to what some authorities and incoming members of Lula’s administration labeled acts of “terrorism” – which had prompted security concerns about inauguration day events.

    Lula will have to navigate more challenging economic conditions than he enjoyed in his first two terms, when the global commodities boom proved a windfall for Brazil.

    At the time, his administration’s flagship welfare program helped lift tens of millions of impoverished people into the middle class. He left office with a personal approval rating of 83%.

    In the intervening years, Brazil’s economy plunged into two deep recessions — first, during the tenure of his handpicked successor, and then during the pandemic — and ordinary Brazilians suffered greatly.

    Lula has said his priorities are fighting poverty, and investing in education and health. He has also said he will bring illegal deforestation of the Amazon to a halt. He sought support from political moderates to form a broad front and defeat Bolsonaro, then tapped some of them to serve in his Cabinet.

    In his first act as president Sunday, Lula signed a decree to tighten gun control and set a 30-day deadline for the comptroller-general’s office to evaluate various Bolsonaro decrees that placed official information under seal for 100 years. He also signed a decree that guaranteed a monthly stipend for poor families, and reestablished the mostly Norway-financed Amazon fund for sustainable development in the rainforest.

    Claúdio Arantes, a 68-year-old pensioner, carried an old Lula campaign flag on his way to the esplanade. The lifelong Lula supporter attended his 2003 inauguration, and agreed that this time feels different.

    “Back then, he could talk about Brazil being united. Now it is divided and won’t heal soon,” Arantes said. “I trust his intelligence to make this national unity administration work so we never have a Bolsonaro again.”

    Given the nation’s political fault lines, it is highly unlikely Lula ever reattains the popularity he once enjoyed, or even sees his approval rating rise above 50%, said Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at Rio de Janeiro’s State University.

    Furthermore, Santoro said, the credibility of Lula and his Workers’ Party were assailed by a sprawling corruption investigation. Party officials were jailed, including Lula — whose convictions were later annulled on procedural grounds. The Supreme Court then ruled that the judge presiding over the case had colluded with prosecutors to secure a conviction.

    Lula and his supporters have maintained he was railroaded. Others were willing to look past possible malfeasance as a means to unseat Bolsonaro and bring the nation back together.

    “I always wanted to go the inauguration, I didn’t think I would have a chance to see Lula there after he was jailed,” said Tamires Valente, 43, a marketing professional from Brasilia. “I am very emotional, Lula deserves this.”

    But Bolsonaro’s backers refuse to accept someone they view as a criminal returning to the highest office. And with tensions running hot, a series of events has prompted fear that violence could erupt on inauguration day.

    On Dec. 12, dozens of people tried to invade a federal police building in Brasilia, and burned cars and buses in other areas of the city. Then on Christmas Eve, police arrested a 54-year-old man who admitted to making a bomb that was found on a fuel truck headed to Brasilia’s airport.

    He had been camped outside Brasilia’s army headquarters with hundreds of other Bolsonaro supporters since Nov. 12. He told police he was ready for war against communism, and planned the attack with people he had met at the protests, according to excerpts of his deposition released by local media.

    Bolsonaro finally condemned the bomb plot in a Dec. 30 farewell address on social media, hours before flying to the U.S.. His absence on inauguration day marks a break with tradition.

    Instead of Bolsonaro, a group representing diverse segments of society performed the role of presenting Lula with the presidential sash to Lula atop the ramp of the presidential palace. Across the sea of people standing before the palace, supporters stretched a massive Brazilian flag over their heads.

    Speaking to the crowd, Lula listed shortfalls in government funds that will affect the Brazilian people. He said that, according to the transition team’s report on Bolsonaro’s government, textbooks haven’t been printed for public schools, there are insufficient free medications and COVID-19 vaccines, the threat looms of federal universities shutting down, and civil defense authorities cannot work to prevent disasters.

    “Who pays the price for this blackout is, once again, the Brazilian people,” he said, and was promptly met by a chant from the crowd: “No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!”

    ___

    AP writer Diane Jeantet contributed from Rio de Janeiro.

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  • Biden arrives in US Virgin Islands to relax between holidays

    Biden arrives in US Virgin Islands to relax between holidays

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    KINGSHILL, U.S. Virgin Islands — President Joe Biden on Tuesday traveled to a place very familiar to him — the U.S. Virgin Islands — to enjoy some downtime and warmer weather and to ring in a new year with family.

    The president and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, flew from Washington on Tuesday to St. Croix, one of three islands that make up the U.S. territory in the Caribbean. St. John and St. Thomas are the other two islands. The Bidens were joined by their daughter Ashley and her husband, Howard Krein, as well as grandchildren Natalie and Hunter, whose father was the president’s late son, Beau.

    St. Croix is a tropical getaway that Biden has been getting away to at least since he was vice president, from 2009 to 2017.

    “We’ve missed him the last couple of years,” Beth Moss Mahar, a retired attorney and island resident for nearly three decades, said in a telephone interview.

    Biden spent the holidays at his home in Delaware in 2020 and 2021, mostly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This week’s visit to St. Croix will be his first as president to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

    “We’re tremendously honored,” Del. Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat who represents the Virgin Islands in Congress, said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

    “In the past, when he and his family have come, of course sightings of President Biden were almost a thing of legend,” she said.

    Any sightings will now be altered by the fact that Biden is regarded as one of the world’s most powerful men. As such, he now travels with a significantly bigger footprint than when he was vice president, including a large contingent of U.S. Secret Service agents, White House staff and journalists covering the trip.

    Biden and his wife enjoy spending the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day in a warmer climate, and Jill Biden likes a beach, aides said.

    “We always look forward to his coming and we really understand that this is a place of relaxation for him and Jill and whatever other family he may bring with him and so we leave him alone and let him just relax,” said Donna Christensen, who was Plaskett’s predecessor in Congress.

    “He usually says, ‘In my next life, I’m living in St. Croix,’” she said in a telephone interview.

    Both Plaskett and Christensen expressed hope that attention paid to where Biden spends his year-end vacation will amplify challenges facing the U.S. Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories, such as threats from climate change, including more powerful hurricanes and rising sea levels, as well as problems these governments have coping with aging infrastructure.

    Biden was scheduled to return to Washington on Jan. 2. That’s the day before the president’s Democratic Party cedes control of the House of Representatives to the Republican Party following the November midterm elections, potentially complicating Biden’s legislative agenda for the remaining two years of his term.

    Democrats will continue to control the Senate in the Congress that will be seated on Jan. 3.

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  • Cubans search for holiday food amid deepening crisis

    Cubans search for holiday food amid deepening crisis

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    HAVANA (AP) — As Belkis Fajardo, 69, walks through the dense streets of downtown Havana with a small bag of lettuce and onions in hand, she wonders how she’ll feed her family over the holidays.

    Scarcity and economic turmoil are nothing new to Cuba, but Fajardo is among many Cubans to note that this year is different thanks to soaring inflation and deepening shortages.

    “We’ll see what we can scrap together to cook for the end of the year,” Fajardo said. “Everything is really expensive … so you buy things little-by-little as you can. And if you can’t, you don’t eat.”

    Basic goods such as chicken, beef, eggs, milk, flour and toilet paper are difficult and often impossible to find in state stores.

    When they do appear, they often come at hefty prices, either from informal shops, resellers or in expensive stores only accessible to those with foreign currency.

    It’s far out of the range of the average Cuban state salary, approximately 5,000 pesos a month, or $29 USD on the island’s more widely used informal exchange rate. Nearby, a pound of pork leg was selling for 450 pesos (around $2.60.)

    “Not everyone can buy things, not everyone has a family who sends remittances (money from abroad),” Fajardo said. “With the money my daughter earns and my pension, we’re trying to buy what we can, but it’s extremely hard.”

    In October, the Cuban government reported that inflation had risen 40% over the past year and had a significant impact on the purchasing power for many on the island.

    While Fajardo managed to buy vegetables, rice and beans, she still has no meat for Christmas or New Years.

    The shortages are among a number of factors stoking a broader discontent on the island, which has given rise to protests in recent years as well as an emerging migratory flight from Cuba. On Friday, U.S. authorities reported stopping Cubans 34,675 times along the Mexico border in November, up 21% from 28,848 times in October.

    The dissatisfaction was made even more evident during Cuba’s local elections last month, when 31.5% of eligible voters didn’t cast a ballot — a far cry from the nearly 100% turnout during Fidel Castro’s lifetime.

    Despite being the highest voting abstention rate the country had seen since the Cuban revolution, the government still hailed it as “a victory.” However in an address to Cuban lawmakers last week, President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the government’s shortcomings in handling the country’s complex mix of crises, particularly food shortages.

    “I feel an enormous dissatisfaction that I haven’t been able to accomplish, through leadership of the country, the results that the Cuban people need to attain longed-desired and expected prosperity,” he said.

    The admission provoked a standing ovation in the congressional assembly, made up solely of politicians from Díaz-Canel’s communist party.

    But Ricardo Torres, a Cuban and economics fellow at American University in Washington, said he saw the words as “meaningless” without a real plan to address discontent.

    “People want answers from their government,” he said. “Not words — answers.”

    For years, the Caribbean nation has pushed much of the blame for its economic turmoil on the United States’ six-decade trade embargo on Cuba, which has strangled much of the island’s economy. However, many observers, including Torres, stress that the government’s mismanagement of the economy and reluctance to embrace the private sector are also to blame.

    On Friday, a long line of Cubans waited outside an empty state-run butchery, waiting for a coveted item: a leg of pork to feed their families on New Year’s Eve.

    About a dozen people The Associated Press asked for an interview said they were scared to speak, including one who said “it could have consequences for us.”

    Estrella, 67, has shown up to the state butcher every morning for more than two weeks, waiting her turn to buy pork to share with her children, grandchildren and siblings. So far, she’s come up dry.

    Although pork is available to buy from private butchers, it’s often far more expensive than at state-run facilities, which subsidize prices.

    So she waits, hopeful that she’ll be able to cook Cuba’s traditional holiday dish.

    “If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to buy it today,” she said. “If we’re not, we’ll come back tomorrow.”

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  • Sam Bankman-Fried to appear in court Monday to drop extradition fight | CNN Business

    Sam Bankman-Fried to appear in court Monday to drop extradition fight | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to appear in a Bahamas court on Monday to reverse his decision to contest extradition to the US, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

    The New York Times also reported that Bankman-Fried is expected to agree to extradition to the US, citing a person briefed on the matter.

    CNN has reached out to Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, and the Bahamas Attorney General.

    The Bahamas police PIO Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told CNN on Sunday, “If he does go to court tomorrow it would be at Nassau street court complex,located on Nassau street and South streets.”

    Last Tuesday, federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy. Bankman-Fried could face up to 115 years in prison if convicted on all eight counts against him, though he likely wouldn’t get the maximum sentence.

    On top of that, US market regulators filed civil lawsuits accusing Bankman-Fried of defrauding investors and customers, saying he “built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto.”

    Bankman-Fried remains in the Bahamas, where FTX was based, and was arrested last Monday night. He was arraigned Tuesday, and a Bahamian judge denied his request for bail, saying that he posed a flight risk. His extradition to the United States could take weeks.

    – Allison Morrow contributed to this report.

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  • Peru judge denies ousted leader Pedro Castillo’s jail appeal

    Peru judge denies ousted leader Pedro Castillo’s jail appeal

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    LIMA, Peru (AP) — A judge ordered ousted Peruvian President Pedro Castillo to remain in custody on Tuesday, denying his appeal as authorities build a rebellion case against him.

    Supreme Court Judge Cesar San Martin Castro’s decision could further inflame violent protests across the country, where people have been demanding Castillo’s freedom, the resignation of his successor and the immediate scheduling of general elections to pick a new president and replace all members of Congress.

    Castillo’s nationally televised announcement Wednesday that he had dissolved the Congress by presidential decree was “not a mere act of speech, but the concrete expression of a will to alter the constitutional system and the configuration of public powers,” the judge said.

    Later this week, prosecutors plan to seek Castillo’s continued detention for up to three years.

    Castillo claimed during his hearing earlier Tuesday that he is being “unjustly and arbitrarily detained” and thanked his supporters for their “effort and fight” since he was taken into custody.

    The judge said evidence suggests Castillo was intercepted as he tried to reach the Mexican embassy to seek asylum. He was taken into custody shortly after he was ousted by lawmakers when he sought to dissolve Congress ahead of an impeachment vote.

    “I will never renounce or abandon this popular cause that has brought me here,” Castillo said. Then, in apparent reference to the violent protests over his ouster, he urged the national police and armed forces to “lay down their arms and stop killing this people thirsty for justice.”

    The protests have been particularly violent outside Peru’s capital, Lima. The Ombudsman’s Office of Peru on Tuesday decreased to six the death toll from the demonstrations that began Wednesday. The office in a statement said it eliminated one person from the list after the national records’ agency determined the individual “does not exist.”

    All deaths happened in rural, impoverished communities — strongholds for Castillo, a political neophyte and former schoolteacher of peasant roots. Four of them occurred in Andahuaylas, a remote rural Andean community where the poor have struggled for years and where voters overwhelmingly supported Castillo during last year’s runoff election, which he won by 44,000 votes.

    Many businesses in that community remained closed on Tuesday, with streets blocked by burned tires, rocks and tree branches. About 3,000 people, including peasants from nearby villages and teachers, again marched calling for Boluarte’s resignation.

    A smaller group accompanied the coffin of a protester who died Monday of an apparent a gunshot wound.

    Shoe store owner Vilma Zúñiga put up a sign that read “Congress is the worst virus. Out with Dina Boluarte,” referring to Castillo’s successor. She and other merchants decided to close their doors, losing potential sales ahead of the holidays.

    Attorney Ronaldo Atencio, speaking for Castillo’s legal team, argued that he didn’t raise weapons or organize people capable of overturning the existing government, as Peruvian law requires for someone to be charged with rebellion. He also said Castillo doesn’t present a flight risk, and never sought asylum from Mexico, as confirmed by the Mexican ambassador.

    Boluarte, Castillo’s running mate and vice president, was swiftly sworn in Wednesday after Congress dismissed Castillo for “permanent moral incapacity.”

    On Monday, she acceded in part to protesters’ demands, announcing in a nationally televised address that she would send Congress a proposal to move up elections to April 2024. She had previously asserted that she aimed to remain president for the remaining 3 1/2 years of her predecessor’s term.

    In the streets of Lima, officers have doused protesters with tear gas and repeatedly beat them. Outside the capital, demonstrators burned police stations, took over an airstrip used by the armed forces and invaded the runway of the international airport in Arequipa, which is a gateway to some of Peru’s tourist attractions.

    The operator of the passenger train that transports visitors to Peru’s world-famous Machu Picchu site suspended service Tuesday. Meanwhile, trailer trucks remained stranded on the Pan-American Highway.

    Minister of Defense Luis Otarola Peñaranda said the national highway system would be declared under emergency “to ensure the free transit of all Peruvians.” He said the armed forces will also take over the safety of airports, hydroelectric power plants and other critical infrastructure.

    Otarola said government intelligence efforts have concluded that there are “no more than 8,000 (people) nationwide who are causing this disturbance.”

    The national police reported that 130 officers have been injured in clashes with demonstrators, according to state media.

    Boluarte on Tuesday begged protesters to calm down, explaining that she hadn’t sought the presidency.

    “I want to make a call to my brothers and sisters in Andahuaylas, calm down, calm down, please,” she said. “I don’t understand why my brothers… rise up against their compatriot Dina Boluarte when I haven’t done anything for that situation to exist or occur.”

    She spoke outside a hospital where a girl is being treated for an eye injury caused by a pellet fired during the protests. Boluarte said she had instructed the national police to not use any lethal weapons, “not even rubber bullets,” and that authorities are working to determine who used them to prosecute them.

    Boluarte’s struggles are not only within Peru’s borders. Regional governments have also refused to recognize her as Peru’s president.

    The governments of Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and Bolivia on Monday closed ranks in favor Castillo. In a joint statement, they expressed “deep concern” over his ouster and detention, said they still consider him Peru’s legitimate leader and requested that his human rights be respected and judicial protection guaranteed.

    Peru’s prime minister, Pedro Angulo, in a statement rejected the four governments’ position, which he attributed to an “ignorance of reality.”

    ____

    Associated Press writer Franklin Briceño contributed to this report from Andahuaylas, Peru.

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