MANAGUA - A report by an 80-person European Union electoral observation group on Nicaragua's November 6, 2011 elections condemns the country's electoral body as a tool of left-wing president Daniel Ortega and his political party, rather than an independent electoral body.
The report confirms what international observers have claimed since November, that the November elections were not free and not fair, and that Ortega had politicized the electoral body for his and his party's political advantage.
Aside from the politicization of the electoral oversight body, Ortega had also breached Nicaragua's own constitution to run for another term as president, by stacking the country's Supreme Court with supporters that enabled his candidacy by fiat, which prompted Vilma Nunez, the head of the Nicaraguan Center for the Defense of Human Rights, to state, "This is the only country in the world where the court has declared the constitution unconstitutional."
LIMA - It was falsely reported this morning that former president Alberto Fujimori had died after he was taken to a hospital emergency room.
The former Peruvian president is serving time in prison for his connection to a incident in which civilians were killed in a counter-terrorism raid.
The former president was taken to a cancer hospital Wednesday morning for vascular problems, and it was said that his condition was "complicated." But the rumors of Fujimori's death were refuted when El Comercio reported that "in the last two days he has had (cardio)vascular problems," according to his personal physician, congressman Alejandro Aguinaga.
"The state of his health has been complicated for the last two days. He's being evaluated....he has vascular problems that are not connected to his cancer. I'm currently with him," Aguinaga told El Comercio.
Aguinaga said that he could not give any more information at the moment. The latest reporting is that Fujimori has been taken back to his cell at Diroes prison in Lima.
BOGOTA - Fifty three Colombian newspapers, all members of the Colombian Association of Newspaper Editors and Media (Andiarios), will publish simultaneously on Thursday the opinion column written by journalist Emilio Palacio, 'No to lies', which Ecuador presdient Rafael Correa used to unjustly persecute Palacio and three directors of El Universo.
This was confirmed by the director of the organization, Nohora Sanin, who accepted the request of the director of the newspaper El Tiempo in Bogota, Roberto Pombo."We found a very important initiative and put it to the attention of all the papers of the Association. It was fitting that we unite as an act of protest. "
Sanin also said they want to "call attention to the plight against the excesses of power that are aimed at silencing the press and opinion." In an interview with WRadio of Colombia, Sanin said the media will print the facts and then simultaneously re-publish Palacio's article tomorrow.
ECUADOR - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has ordered the Government of Ecuador to suspend the sentences against the four journalists of El Universo (pending full review), who were sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay compensation of $40 million to Correa for an editorial that he found offensive.
The Executive Secretary of the IACHR, Santiago Canton, announced that the IACHR had requested injunctive relief in favor of the directors of El Universo, César, Carlos and Nicolas Perez, as well as the newspaper's former chief of opinion Emilio Palacio, who is seeking asylum from Correa's government in Miami.
Specifically, it ordered the Correa government to "immediately" stop any action upon of the judgment of the National Court of Justice (CNJ) that took place on February 15, 2012, which ratified the judgment of Judge Juan Paredes in July of 2011.
Canton explained that given the facts presented by the four journalists before the Commission, it believed that the verdict could result in "irreparable harm" to the right of freedom of expression.
Hugo Chavez (left) will face Henrique Capriles (right) in the October presidential election.
The Colombian newsmagazine Semana recently published a cover story entitled "Chavez's challenger" saying that the defeat of Hugo Chavez in the upcoming presidential election is likely.
In a lenghty article about opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, the magazine stated that the confidence of Venezuela's opposition "has skyrocketed, and national and international analysts agree that President Hugo Chávez can be turned out of office through elections." The notion of a Chavez defeat, "which was deemed unthinkable until some time ago, is not at all absurd," the article added.
The article went on to say that "nobody foresaw the significance of Capriles' victory" in the recent primary elections.
The magazine noted that "Capriles was the least anti-Chávez candidate. From the ideological point of view, his profile has been apparently based on his political convenience," the weekly magazine noted.
FARC terrorist leader "Timochenko" reads a declaration from the Marxist terrorist group's high command.
BOGOTA - The National Police force of Colombia busted a kidnapping ring operated by the terrorist group FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionaria de Colombia), officials announced on Thursday.
The takedown of the kidnappers was the result of simultaneous raids in Bogota, Giron, Neiva and Santander.
Left-wing political activist and actor Sean Penn (left) with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
BUENOS AIRES - Award-winning actor and far-left political activist Sean Penn is siding with left-wing president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina over the British-owned Falkland Islands, saying that Britain should enter into UN-sponsored talks over the island's sovereignty.
On Monday, Penn met with Kirchner to discuss the issue, and even called the islands "the Malvinas Islands of Argentina," a name that the military junta of Argentina used in 1982 when it launched a military attack in a failed attempt to capture the islands.
On Friday, Ambassador Otto Reich spoke at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on a panel entitled “From Fidel to Chavez: How Do We Stop the Resurgence of Socialism in Latin America.”
The topic has garnered greater attention lately, as the alliance between Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has grown to the point of allowing the Iranian regime to subvert sanctions designed to slow its ability to develop nuclear weapons and to utilize its proxy forces outside its borders.
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