Headlines: In Venezuela, President Maduro pardoned more than 100 political opponents
Roberto Marrero, chief of staff to opposition leader Juan Guaidó, addresses the media after being released by pardon from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, August 31, 2020. REUTERS / Manaure Quintero
Text by: Stefanie Schüler Follow
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The information is on the front page of all the Venezuelan press.
According to Jorge Rodríguez, the Minister of Communication quoted by
Últimas Noticias,
the presidential pardon concerns 110 people, including political figures, but also journalists.
The decree aims "
to deepen the process of national reconciliation in the run-up to the legislative elections on December 6
".
The main opposition parties refuse to participate in these legislative elections which they describe as fraud and political farce.
According to the analysis of the daily
TalCual,
“
the government of Nicolás Maduro nevertheless needs opposition candidates in the legislative elections.
He is desperately seeking legitimacy, isolation and international sanctions now weigh too heavily
”.
For Juan Guaidó, “the so-
called grace of Nicolás Maduro
” is nothing more than a “
release of hostages
”, writes
El Nacional.
The opposition leader believes "
that we do not pardon innocent people, or people who enjoy parliamentary immunity
."
By publishing "
this long list of political prisoners and victims of persecution, the regime is finally revealing itself for what it is: a dictatorship
", adds Juan Guaidó who warns: "
In no case will these men and women serve as bargaining chip to legitimize the fraudulent electoral process
”.
In the newspaper
La Voz,
the former president of the National Assembly, Julio Borges, also recalls that "
hundreds of other political prisoners remain behind bars
".
If several pardoned people were indeed able to leave Venezuelan jails yesterday, others are in exile abroad.
Among them Mariela Magallanes: “
Nicolás Maduro is not the legitimate president.
And Venezuela is not a rule of law,
”she explains in the columns of
Efecto Cocuyo.
“
Therefore, his so-called grace has no value.
We will continue our fight for freedom
”.
But there are also other voices in the press, which call for the participation of the opposition in the legislative elections.
Following the example of an editorial writer for the newspaper
El Universal
for whom “
it is essential that Venezuelans be able to express themselves at the polls to elect a new National Assembly.
Extremists within the opposition only prolong the suffering and pain of the people
”.
Haiti: the capital experienced a new day of armed gang violence yesterday
“
The underprivileged district of Bel-Air looks like a war zone
,” warns
Le Nouvelliste.
“
Yesterday, at the end of the afternoon, columns of smoke escaped from the neighborhood, bursts of automatic weapons sounded.
Several houses are set on fire,
”the newspaper reports.
According to
corroborating
sources, interviewed by
Le Nouvelliste,
it is the “
powerful gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, alias Barbecue
”, who leads the attack.
Hundreds of residents then fled the neighborhood and took refuge on the Champ de Mars, the large public square in the city center of Port-au-Prince.
But "
in the early evening, automatic gunfire was also heard in the heart of the city
", reports
Haiti Press Network,
"
creating panic among the displaced in Bel-Air
".
And the news site emphasizes that "
no statement was made by the authorities on the circumstances in which these shootings broke out in several neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince
".
This new violence comes as Haiti is currently observing a three-day national mourning after the assassination on Friday of the president of Port-au-Prince.
The Haitian daily
Le National
today pays tribute to Maître Monferrier Dorval, "an
eminent jurist and courageous man who carried out his fights for a more just society despite the danger
".
He was “
admired for his openness and tolerance
”.
Maître Dorval,
Le National
writes
,
“
was one of the country's rare specialist resources.
He had agreed to live and work in Haiti despite everything.
Cowardly defeated, he offered his life to the country
”.
"
From independence to the present day, the Haitian police and justice, it must be said, have done nothing to establish methods, build databases, train teams,
" says
Le Nouvelliste.
"
Neither the demand for results nor the will to succeed are shared philosophies within the judiciary and the police
."
However, "
even if justice is rarely done, it does not mean that all the dead are classified without follow-up,
" warns the columnist before concluding: "
there are dead who remain alive.
Become the zombies of justice.
The sentinels of democratization.
Transform into symbols of our desire to live in a normal country.
There are dead people who never die in Haiti
”.
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