In the News: Federal Judge Assassinated in Mexico

Demonstration in Mexico City to protest against violence in the country (image of illustration). ULISES RUIZ / AFP

Text by: Eliott Brachet

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Uriel Villegas Ortiz had just moved to his post as federal judge in the state of Colima in February, tells the daily La Razon . He was in charge of several sensitive cases: organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering. Tuesday, around noon, a commando infiltrated his house in southwest Mexico. The body of the judge and that of his wife were found a few minutes later riddled with bullets. An investigation is underway. Milenio newspaperrecalls that in 2018, judge Villegas Ortiz demanded the transfer of a notorious killer, El Menchito, son of Mencho, the head of the local cartel from Oaxaca prison. The criminal was then detained in a high security prison in the city of Jalisco before being extradited to the United States. For its part, the daily El Universal questions the flaws of the Mexican authorities in the protection of citizens and, a fortiori, of magistrates in charge of such sensitive files. Since the start of the year, nearly 6,000 people have been murdered in Mexico.

Coronavirus: World Health Organization worried about Latin America

Food insecurity could affect more than 40 million Latin Americans due to the health crisis, according to the UN agency, reports Semana . The World Food Program is particularly concerned about the situation in Haiti and for the hundreds of thousands of migrants within the continent.

In Honduras, the president confirmed that he had contracted the coronavirus

It is on the front page of the daily El Heraldo  : Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his wife are under medical supervision at the military hospital in Tegucigalpa, says La Prensa . The head of state assured that he could continue to work remotely, from his hospital bed. But the Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre doubts the capacity of the Honduran president to cope with the pandemic, even if Honduras has so far been spared, with 330 dead. Prensa Libre takes the opportunity to recall the doubts that hang over the probity of Juan Orlando Hernandez. In February, a drug laboratory was discovered in the same residence as the Honduran president.

How to reform the police in the United States ?

In the United States, Congress is preparing for heated debate a few weeks after the death of George Floyd. Should the police be reformed and how? In the national press, there have been criticisms of President Donald Trump and the measures he announced last night. A plan far from the expectations of activists mobilized since the death of George Floyd, headlines the Washington Post , which also relays the many criticisms emanating from the Democratic camp.

Strengthen training, create a database to track down police blunders, prohibit the technique of strangulation: commitments too low, the Boston Globe estimates . In an editorial, the newspaper calls for the outright abolition of police unions, rather than their reform. They are too often used to cover up police abuse  ," said the daily.

The Wall Street Journal reports that since 2012 in Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd was killed, out of 2,100 complaints of misconduct, only 12 have resulted in sanctions against law enforcement. Newsweek publishes the findings of an overwhelming study for Florida police: Too many police officers are expected to join local units after being suspended or removed to other US states. The investigation reveals that most often, no investigation is carried out into the liabilities of reinstated police officers.

Return of football in the stadiums of Rio de Janeiro

In Brazil, the ball is back in Rio earlier than expected. The legendary Maracana stadium will be the scene on Thursday of the capital league's restart match. The mayor has given his agreement. Football returns to Rio but the stands will remain empty of all supporters. With the exception we learn in O Globo , from President Bolsonaro himself who will therefore be the only spectator. "It's ridiculous," protests the Argentinian newspaper Diario Registrado, who recalls that Brazil recorded on Tuesday nearly 35,000 cases of Covid-19 in one day, a record in this country hardest hit by the pandemic on the continent.

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