
Peru enacts amnesty for military personnel and police in Shining Path insurgency
The new law came despite calls from the local and international community to strike it down. The war that raged between the Peruvian military and the Shining Path communist insurgency from 1980 to 2000 left an estimated 70,000 people dead, the majority of them in rural areas.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
El Salvador extends detention of suspected gang members
Tens of thousands of suspected gang members arrested under an internationally criticized crackdown in El Salvador will be detained without trial until at least 2027, after lawmakers approved an extension Friday. Over 80,000 Salvadorans have been detained -- some of whom opposition figures and human rights defenders maintain are innocent -- since gang-busting President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency in 2022 that allowed arrests without warrants. The Legislative Assembly, which has 57 members of Bukele's ruling party and three from the opposition, approved on Friday a reform to a law regulating investigations into organized crime. The approval came just 10 days before a two-year deadline ran out for charges to be filed for the imprisoned detainees. The government accuses the detainees all of being gang members, but with scant evidence or due process, no one knows for sure. One of the provisions of the reform said the Attorney General's office "will bring charges against the organized crime and its members... within a maximum period of 24 months," while also allowing for a 12-month extension. To file the charges, the Attorney General's office will "group the defendants into a single case" for each gang, with the main ones under scrutiny being the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangs. Around 300 prosecutors will present evidence in roughly 600 mass trials for the suspects, Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado told a congressional security committee on Thursday. Delgado said the trials will be divided by the organization, where they operated, or what crimes the detainees are suspected of committing. - '40%' could be innocent - Inside the assembly, opposition lawmaker Francisco Lira warned that "innocent" people could be tried in the mass trials, which he estimated could be "40 percent" of those detained. "I do not defend gangs, criminals, nor extortionists (but) if there are innocent people, they are being sentenced to spend more time in prison" due to the delays, Lira said. Under the reforms, the mass trials will remain open if more defendants are added to the same case -- but if no new defendants are added within two years, the judge may issue a ruling. If prosecutors do not file an indictment within a maximum period of three years, the judge may dismiss the case. Opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz said the reforms are "a reflection of the lack of capacity possessed by the institutions that are supposed to administer justice in our country." "Because in more than two years they have not done what they are supposed to do... which is fully investigate the facts," she added. Bukele's hardline approach to El Salvador's powerful gangs has made him one of the world's most domestically popular leaders, even as human rights defenders sound the alarm over arbitrary arrests and growing authoritarianism. ob-mis/mel/jgc/dl
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Brazil is open for business, Lula says at Chinese factory opening
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday that foreign companies that want to do business in Brazil are welcome, speaking at the opening ceremony for a factory for Chinese automaker GWM in the state of Sao Paulo. "Count on the Brazilian government. Whoever wants to leave, leave. Whoever wants to come, we welcome you with open arms," Lula said at the ceremony. During his speech, Lula criticized the 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, and said that his country is facing an "unnecessary turbulence." Lula said in an interview with Reuters earlier this month that he would initiate a conversation at the BRICS group of developing nations, which includes China, about how to tackle Trump's tariffs. The leftist leader noted that in the past automakers Ford and Mercedes have decided to scale back their operations in Brazil, but celebrated the arrival of other companies, like China's GWM . Brazil is always open to negotiating business, he stressed. GWM's Brazilian arm has capacity to produce 50,000 vehicles per year and is expected to generate more than 2,000 jobs in the future when it begins exporting vehicles to Latin America, according to a press release. Brazil's auto exports are expected to grow 38.4% in 2025 compared to 2024, reaching 552,000 units, data from automakers association Anfavea showed last week. Sign in to access your portfolio


Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Washington Post
Peru's president affirms sovereignty of Amazon River island as tensions with Colombia escalate
LIMA, Peru — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Friday traveled to an Amazon River island at the center of a territorial dispute with Colombia , where she affirmed Peru's unquestionable sovereignty over the territory. The first visit from Boluarte to the island comes against a backdrop of diplomatic tensions with Colombia, whose president, Gustavo Petro, recently disavowed Peruvian jurisdiction over Santa Rosa Island.