Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Central America
Newsline: U.S. fugitive nabbed at embassy of his own country in Dominican Republic
A Puerto Rican fugitive wanted in New Hampshire was arrested by antinarcotics agents (DNCD), after which the Immigration Dept. began the proceedings for his repatriation. Misael David Garcia will be held in a DNCD cell until his expulsion from the country, said its spokesman Roberto Lebrón, who noted that the fugitive was arrested near the US Embassy, where Garcia went to `resolve’ his case. “This person went to his Embassy to try to solve his judicial problem voluntarily, but from there the DNCD was notified and its officials came to arrest this person.”
http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2012/5/23/43753/US-fugitive-nabbed-atembassyof-hisown-country
Newsline: Philippine militants picket Panamanian embassy over rape mess
Militant women on Thursday picketed the Panamanian embassy in Makati City to demand justice for a 19-year-old girl allegedly raped by a Panamanian official last April. The members of Gabriela women’s party gathered in front of the building along Ayala Avenue that houses the embassy. During the rally, the picketers called for the waiving of diplomatic immunity for Erick Bairnals, 35, the suspect in the case. Erick Bairnals is a technical officer of the Panama Maritime Authority. He was arrested over a rape complaint last April 24, but was released from police custody after the Department of Foreign Affairs granted him immunity.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/257707/news/metromanila/militants-picket-panamanian-embassy-over-rape-mess
Newsline: Guatemala charges former police official Spanish embassy fire
A Guatemalan judge has ordered a former national police official to stand trial in the deaths of 37 people killed by a fire at the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala in 1980. Indian demonstrators had taken over the embassy to call attention to rights abuses during Guatemala’s 1960-1996 civil war. Security forces attacked and set fire to the embassy. The charges claim former police official Pedro Garcia Arredondo refused requests by the Spanish ambassador to withdraw police from the embassy and allow firefighters in to extinguish the blaze. Among those killed in the fire was the father of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/guatemala-charges-former-police-official-in-1980-spanish-embassy-fire/2012/04/30/gIQAg28ksT_story.html
Newsline: Abkhazia opens embassy in Nicaragua
Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia has opened an embassy in Nicaragua. According to Apsnypress, Abkhazia’s ambassador to Venezuela, Zaur Gvajava, will also take on the function as ambassador to Nicaragua. Nicaragua will help Abkhazians in their relations with other countries and will offer support in their attempts at getting recognition for Abkhazia’s independence, Zaur Gvajava said. He notes that a so-called foreign affairs delegation will arrive from 20 to 27 May and sign an agreement about visa-freedom. “The document is already prepared and only signatures are necessary.” Also Georgia’s other breakaway region, South Ossetia, have opened an embassy in Nicaragua, thereby establishing diplomatic relations. Ambassador will be Namir Kozayev, who is also ambassador to Venezuela. Officials in Tbilisi say nothing has changed legally by this. On August 26, after a five-day war in August 2008, Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In total, five countries have recognized the separatist regions. Nicaragua was first to follow Russia on September 5, 2008. The President of Venezuela followed suit in September 2009, and after him, the Pacific island states of Nauru and Vanuatu. The Republic of Vanuatu is located on 83 islands in the Pacific Ocean. Its area is 12 000 square kilometers, and the population was 243 000 in 2009. In the western part of the Pacific is Nauru with a population of 14 000.
http://dfwatch.net/abkhazia-opens-embassy-in-nicaragua-65896
Newsline: Taiwanese Diplomat Murdered in Dominican Republic
A Taiwanese diplomat was found slain Tuesday in her apartment in Santo Domingo’s university district, police reported. Julia Ou, 52, had stab wounds and appeared to have been beaten and strangled. The door to the apartment had not been forced open, the police said in a communique, adding that they have begun to question the woman’s neighbours and the people who work in the building. Jose Wang, second secretary in the Press Office at the Taiwanese Embassy in the Dominican Republic, told EFE that several of the victim’s friends had called her by telephone several times to find out why she had not come to work and, when they did not receive an answer, they decided to go to her home. “When they arrived at the apartment they found blood stains in front of the door and decided to call the police,” said Wang. Ou had been posed in Santo Domingo for about a year.
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=135201
Newsline: Mexican embassy to help repatriate crash victims
The Mexican embassy in Washington says it plans to assist in repatriating the bodies of nine suspected illegal immigrants killed when the van they were packed in rolled in South Texas. Authorities say the vehicle designed to carry eight people had at least 19 occupants when it crashed Tuesday night after the driver sped away from a Border Patrol traffic stop in Palmview, about 10 miles from McAllen. The embassy was contacting relatives of the victims. Most of the dead were from the southern state of Oaxaca. The embassy would not release identities because of privacy issues.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/11/3876164/mexican-embassy-to-help-repatriate.html
Newsline: Venezuelan minister says kidnapped diplomat freed
Venezuela’s justice minister says a diplomat from the Costa Rican Embassy has been freed hours after he was seized by kidnappers. Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said that Guillermo Cholele, the trade ambassador for the Costa Rican Embassy, has been freed and is in good health. El Aissami said on Tuesday morning that the diplomat was with police and being taken to be reunited with his family.
http://www.maximumedge.com/cgi/news/article.cgi/20120410/D9U220L80
Newsline: Costa Rican diplomat kidnapped in Venezuela
A diplomat from the Costa Rican Embassy in Venezuela has been kidnapped and his abductors are demanding a ransom, officials said. Guillermo Cholele, the embassy’s trade attache, is the latest diplomat to have been kidnapped in Venezuela recently. Cholele was grabbed Sunday night as he was arriving at his home in eastern Caracas, Ambassador Nazareth Avendano said at a news conference. His abductors took him away in his vehicle, which has diplomatic corps license plates, the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry said. “A telephone call made to the diplomat’s residence mentioned the request of a … sum as ransom and added that he’s in good health,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the incident “extremely serious.” It did not say how much the abductors demanded. “It’s been a big blow,” Avendano said. Cholele has been based in Venezuela for six years and lives with his wife and two children, the ambassador said. Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry said two diplomats would travel to Caracas to cooperate in the investigation being carried out by Venezuelan police and prosecutors. Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said officials were focusing on the investigation “at the highest level.” In January, Mexican Ambassador Carlos Pujalte was abducted together with his wife. They were freed four hours later, and prosecutors said the following week that three suspects were arrested in the crime. In November, Chile’s consul in Caracas was briefly kidnapped and was released by his captors about two hours later. He was shot and wounded during the ordeal.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2012/04/09/costa_rican_diplomat_kidnapped_in_venezuela/
Newsline: Venezuela charges four with kidnap of Mexico envoy
Under pressure after a string of attacks on diplomats, Venezuela charged four people on Saturday, including a former police officer, with kidnapping the Mexican ambassador and his wife in the capital earlier this year. Carlos Pujalte and his wife were grabbed by gunmen as they left a reception in a wealthy Caracas neighbourhood at around midnight on January 29. They were held captive for several hours before being freed in a slum on the other side of the city. The case underlined Venezuela’s high crime rate – one of the biggest issues in an election year – and came less than two months before another incident involving diplomats: last week’s killing by police of a Chilean consul’s teenage daughter. In a statement, the attorney general’s office said three men and one woman in their 20s had been charged with offenses including kidnapping and robbery. It said two of the men and the woman were arrested last month in Caracas by the CICPC investigative police, and that the 21-year-old woman was found in possession of a gold chain linked to the separate kidnapping of a local politician’s relative. It said two cars were seized, including a Honda Civic thought to have been used during that abduction, the kidnapping of the Mexican ambassador and his wife, and a third abduction. The fourth suspect was identified as a 28-year-old former Caracas policeman who was detained separately by CICPC officials last month in central Miranda state. Venezuelan police have often been accused of being involved in serious crimes, contributing to the high numbers of armed robberies, kidnappings and murders that have turned Caracas into one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFBRE82N0DW20120324
