Americas press review
In the spotlight: the former president of Honduras soon to be extradited
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez is being prosecuted for international drug trafficking.
© REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera
Text by: Marie Normand Follow
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It's all the headlines in Honduras: the extradition of former President Juan Orlando Hernandez to the United States
was confirmed on Monday
by the Honduran Supreme Court.
The former strongman of the country for eight years is prosecuted for international drug trafficking.
The 15 judges unanimously validated this extradition after a five-hour session, notes
La Prensa
.
Juan Orlando Hernandez will likely face the same New York judge who sentenced his brother Tony Hernandez to life in prison.
In any case, it will be the same court: that of the Southern District of New York.
Juan Orlando Hernandez will be presented to the judge within 24 hours of entering the United States.
His departure for the United States would be imminent.
“
Within the week
”, specifies the spokesman of the presidential palace.
It could be "
the fastest extradition in the history of Honduras
", comments
El Heraldo
.
Latin America's first president extradited to US
Juan Orlando Hernandez is suspected of having been his brother's accomplice.
He is being prosecuted on three counts, recalls
La Prensa
, including that of conspiracy to transport illicit substances to the United States.
The former president says he is "
victim of a vendetta and a conspiracy
".
Juan Orlando Hernandez will be "
the first former president of Latin America extradited to the United States
", notes the newspaper.
The daily also returns to the fall of this former ally of Washington.
He who has long "
presented himself as the executioner of drug cartel kingpins in Honduras, but who ended up in the same bag
", remarks
La Prensa
.
He whose “
Washington supported re-election in 2017 despite accusations of fraud raised by his opponents
”.
Juan Orlando Hernandez ultimately "
fallen out of favor when his brother, Juan Antonio '
Tony
' Hernández, was surprisingly captured in November 2018 at Miami airport
."
Salvador: the president's ultimatum condemned by the press
Let us now take the direction of El Salvador.
President Nayib Bukele promises to "
make gang members pay
" incarcerated, after a wave of homicides in recent days in the country.
16,000 suspected members of these criminal gangs are currently behind bars.
El Mundo
publishes the videos and photos shared by the police and by President Bukele himself on
, in which detainees can be seen in their underwear, barefoot, in positions of submission and humiliation.
President Bukele's message: "
Stop killing or else they will pay for it too
".
A rhetoric condemned by the press.
For
La Prensa Grafica
, the authorities “
must set an example of temperance
”.
“
By addressing them, the president gives an entity to the gangs
”.
He should not do so,
“neither to threaten them nor to invite them to surrender
”.
It is, according to the newspaper, "
a perverse idea (...) a false step which cannot be justified,
according to the newspaper,
whatever the publicity that its (...) advisers in communication are looking for
”.
For
Diario Co Latino
, the past few days have shown that "
these gangs are increasing homicides when they feel like it
".
The
“drastic reduction in homicides just months after Nayib Bukele took office, is due only to under-the-table negotiation with the main criminal gangs in El Salvador (...) and not to the Territorial Control Plan
promoted by the president.
Conclusion: it is the
maras
- the gangs - who still control the territory.
Peru: Pedro Castillo escapes impeachment
The Peruvian Congress finally rejected the motion for impeachment for moral incapacity against President Pedro Castillo, presented by the opposition.
55 votes for, 54 against and 19 abstentions, details
El Comercio
.
This majority in favor of the dismissal of Pedro Castillo was not sufficient, explains the daily, because 87 votes were necessary to remove him from office.
But Pedro Castillo still faces possible lawsuits.
The opposition accuses him of having intervened in a case of alleged corruption operated by his entourage.
Namely the irregular allocation of a call for tenders of one million dollars for a construction project.
On Monday, the anti-corruption prosecutor arrested several suspects.
Among those targeted, only three were arrested, notes
El Comercio
in One: two businessmen and a former civil servant.
Eight other people are on the run, including the former secretary general of the presidential office and two nephews of President Castillo.
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Honduras
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Americas press review