Press review of the Americas
In the news: in El Salvador, a virtual trial to judge nearly 500 gang leaders
Around 500 leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha gang are on trial for nearly 37,500 offenses and crimes committed between 2012 and 2022. Fry Design Ltd via Getty Images
By: Marine de La Moissonnière Follow
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In El Salvador, a “mega trial” began this Thursday, February 7. 492 leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha gang are appearing for nearly 37,500 offenses and crimes committed between 2012 and 2022. Some of them are detained in 10 prisons across the country. It was therefore necessary to establish an internet connection between the San Salvador court and several rooms in these penitentiary centers, i.e. more than twenty connections, reports the
Contrapunto
website .
Trafficking of all kinds, human trafficking, terrorism, kidnappings, feminicides, assassinations... the list of misdeeds that they are said to have sponsored and that the daily
El Mundo
details , is long. In particular, they are attributed with 500 murders, even if they are in reality responsible for nearly 29,500 deaths, specifies the newspaper.
A verdict this Friday
Despite the number of defendants and the quantity of facts for which they are being prosecuted, the verdict should be known today. Collective trial, expeditious trial, denounce human rights organizations. But for the prosecution, there is no point in going into details, because things are simple: in this gang, nothing could be done without the agreement of the leaders.
As
El Mundo
points out , the Mara Salvatrucha had constituted an
extremely well-organized “
parallel state ”, based on “
pyramid power
” and systematic violence.
Haitian bishops call for an end to the crisis
In Haiti, the month of January was “
the most violent in two years
” according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which identified more than 1,100 people killed, injured or kidnapped. From January 20 to February 7 alone, 16 people were killed and 29 others injured, specifies this press release published this Friday. A situation which worries the country's bishops who wrote yesterday to Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
“
Enough blood and tears have been shed in Haiti
[...]
We have had enough!
», They explain in this text to read on the
Nouvelliste
and AlterPresse
websites
. The bishops ask Ariel Henry to realize “
the seriousness of the situation
” and to make “
a wise decision for the good of the whole nation
”. “
The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Haiti calls on the authorities to immediately put an end to the suffering of the people whose will has been expressed throughout the territory, particularly on February 7
,” we can still read.
In Brazil, the investigation for “attempted coup d’état” targeting Jair Bolsonaro must be irreproachable
“The accusation of a coup d’état is the most serious in a democracy
.” This is the title of an editorial in
O Globo
which demands that the investigation targeting Jair Bolsonaro be carried out
“with the greatest rigor and, but also the greatest serenity”
. An investigation which is based on numerous evidence, explains the newspaper which recalls the presumption of innocence and which calls on the justice system to do an irreproachable job.
“
Many [of those accused] will try to pass themselves off as victims of an arbitrary will, using the process for their own political advantage
,” warns
O Globo
. We therefore need an unassailable investigation, but also severe sanctions for those who are found guilty, insists the daily. “
This is the minimum that Brazil deserves to preserve a democracy for which we had to fight so hard.
»
As in the editorial of O
Globo
, Jair Bolsonaro considers himself the victim of a conspiracy. “
It has been more than a year since I have governed and I continue to suffer relentless persecution
,” he told a journalist from the daily
Folha de Sao Paulo
. “
Forget me, there is someone else who governs the country
,” he added.
Lula, for his part, contented himself with a brief comment on local radio
Itatiaia
: "
The fact is that there was an attempted coup d'état [...] which could not have taken place without Bolsonaro.
»
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