Latest news with #Camargo
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Venezuelan refugee who fled persecution warns Mamdani's policies mirror ideas that destroyed his country
A Venezuelan refugee who fled political persecution is warning that socialist policies pushed by New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani will bring the same hardships to America. "Young people who right now are trying to support socialist ideas because they think this time would be different — it would not be different," Franklin Camargo, 27, told Fox News Digital. "You don't want the government to dictate your life. You don't want the government to stop you from having aspirations, from having desires, from pursuing your own happiness. Trust me, you don't want that." Mamdani, a democratic socialist who secured the Democratic Party nomination for New York City mayor in June, ran a campaign focused on making the city more affordable for the average resident. His platform includes freezing rent prices, investing in public housing, city-owned grocery stores, "no-cost" child care, and higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Mamdani has advocated for more equality in the city, state and across the country, and has argued there should be no billionaires. But Camargo, who escaped dictator Nicolás Maduro's regime, argues that the problems facing New Yorkers are the result of government intervention and statism, not individualism or capitalism. He maintains that policies championed by Mamdani are "anti-American" and have led to disastrous results in Venezuela, Cuba, the Soviet Union and North Korea. Nyc Billionaire Likens Democratic Socialist Mamdani's Campaign Promises To Those Of Castro Camargo was only a year old when Hugo Chávez rose to power in Venezuela in 1999. His parents and grandparents lived in a prosperous nation, once boasting the fourth-largest GDP per capita in the world. But Camargo grew up watching Venezuela collapse under "aggressive" socialist policies: rent controls, nationalization of industries, censorship, and attacks on the wealthy. Read On The Fox News App "They made it impossible for the average individual to survive without the government's help," Camargo recalled. As a child, Camargo visited the U.S. twice on family vacations. Those trips left a lasting impression. "I remember being amazed by the technology, the cars, how organized this country was," he said. "I was even impressed by the grocery stores — the variety of Oreos, the variety of milks." City-run Grocery Stores, Defunding Police, Safe Injection Sites: What To Know About Nyc's Next Potential Mayor Camargo didn't know anything about politics or economics, but realized different ideas were being applied in the United States, and he wanted to learn more. In his teens, Camargo immersed himself in U.S. history, and the works of economists Milton Friedman and Adam Smith. He became an outspoken advocate for capitalism, giving speeches and media interviews. His activism carried heavy costs. While studying medicine, he was expelled and branded a "terrorist" for challenging socialist ideology on campus. His cousin was imprisoned and tortured for his political beliefs. Facing threats to his own life, Camargo fled to the United States in 2019 and now works as a political commentator and presenter for PragerU. He fears the same failed socialist policies are gaining traction in progressive cities like New York. I Lived Zohran Mamdani's Socialist Dream, And I Had To Flee My Homeland To Survive It "Mamdani is a Venezuelan, a Soviet Union, a Cuban type of socialist," Camargo said. "He's talking about nationalizing the means of production. Chávez did that in Venezuela in most industries. He's talking about destroying billionaires. Chávez thought the rich had too much money, and he went after them. And he built an equal society — everyone is equally poor. Over 90% of the population lives in extreme poverty." Mamdani's Failure To Walk Back These Positions Could Cause Reckoning In Democratic Party: 'Five-alarm Warning' Having lived through the corruption, censorship and scarcity caused by socialist policies, Camargo says Americans must defend the values that make this nation unique. "America is the greatest nation on earth because of the values that founded this country," he continued. "In 1776, nothing like it existed — the idea that government should exist only to protect individual rights, and that every individual has the right to pursue their own happiness. That doesn't mean the government is going to make you happy." "It doesn't mean that the government is going to give you food or housing… or give you anything you need for free," he added. "Because as the famous quote says, 'a government big enough to give you everything is big enough to take everything away from you.'" He warned young Americans who embrace socialist promises that they will come to regret it. "Every time socialism has been implemented, it doesn't work," Camargo said. "This time won't be different." Zohran Mamdani's campaign did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for article source: Venezuelan refugee who fled persecution warns Mamdani's policies mirror ideas that destroyed his country Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Colombia rejects Guatemalan court's arrest warrants for top officials
Bogota, Colombia – Colombian President Gustavo Petro has criticised a Guatemalan court order for the arrests of two senior Colombian officials, accusing the prosecutor's office of being corrupt. Guatemalan Public Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche on Monday accused Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and former Colombian Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez of corruption, influence peddling, obstruction of justice, and collusion during a United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) investigation into bribes paid to Guatemalan officials by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Petro said on Tuesday that the targeting of Camargo and Velasquez was politically motivated and shows that the attorney general's office is 'subordinate to the mafia'. 'Narcotrafficking multinationals are trying to take over legal authorities and governments to carry out and whitewash their illicit business,' wrote Petro in a post on X. In a statement released on Monday, Guatemala's government also said it 'emphatically rejects the arrest warrants'. 'These actions are carried out with a clear political objective, without grounding in the national and international legal system,' it announcing the warrants on Monday, Curruchiche alleged without providing evidence that Camargo and Velasquez abused their power while working at the CICIG on the Odebrecht case, a vast corruption scandal in which the construction firm admitted to bribing officials for public contracts in 10 Latin American countries. On Tuesday, Curruchiche presented emails, purportedly between Odebrecht employees and Camargo, to reporters that he said prove Camargo and Velasquez are guilty, though Al Jazeera could not independently verify the validity of the emails. Curruchiche's office first announced it was investigating Velasquez, who is currently Colombia's ambassador to the Holy See, in January 2023 when he was still minister of defence. From 2013 to 2019, Velasquez oversaw the CICIG, which uncovered several corruption networks in Guatemala. Guatemala's prosecutor's office did not respond to a request for comment. Both Camargo and Velasquez have denied the accusations. 'The corrupt Guatemalan Attorney General and her prosecutor Curruchiche – designated as corrupt and sanctioned by the US and the European Union – extend their persecution to me and Luz Adriana Camargo,' wrote Velasquez in an X post on Tuesday. Colombia's attorney general also rejected the charges in a press conference in Bogota on Wednesday. 'I am comforted by the tranquility of my innocence in the crimes that have been attributed to me by political bias,' said Camargo. Juanita Goebertus Estrada, director of the Americas Division at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera that the accusations against the Colombian officials were unfounded. 'There is no evidence against Velasquez or Camargo of any credible participation in criminal activity,' she said, adding that the warrants were just the latest in a series of controversial moves by the office of Guatemala's Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras, who has faced international criticism for resisting anti-corruption efforts. 'Consuelo Porras has a terrible record in human rights and democracy. She has constantly used criminal action as a weapon against those who have tried to fight against corruption in the country,' said Goebertus. Curruchiche was criticised for interfering with elections after his office suspended then-candidate Bernardo Arevalo's party ahead of the presidential run-off in 2023. Arevalo went on to win the elections, assuming office in January 2024 Guatemala's government said the arrest warrants are part of a wider pattern of judicial overreach. 'These are part of a series of actions by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Attorney General of the Republic and judges associated with corruption that have distorted the meaning of justice in Guatemala,' said the Guatemalan government in its statement on Monday. Despite the arrest orders, it appears unlikely that actions against the two officials will be taken outside of Guatemala. 'Petro won't comply with the arrest warrants … and it is very likely that he will seek an injunction to any international notice by Interpol that seeks to do the same,' Sergio Guzman, director at Colombia Risk Analysis, a security think tank, told Al Jazeera. However, Colombian opposition figures have embraced the arrest warrants as evidence of corruption in the Petro administration. Vicky Davila, the conservative frontrunner in next year's presidential elections, promised to comply with the order. 'On August 7 of next year, we will send them to Guatemala on a commercial flight, handcuffed, as befits extradited persons, to answer to the justice of that country for their alleged crimes,' wrote Davila in a post on X on Monday.
Straits Times
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Guatemala issues arrest warrants for Colombia AG, former UN corruption investigator
BOGOTA/MEXICO CITY - Guatemala's attorney general's office announced arrest warrants on Monday for a group of people including Colombia's attorney general and a former UN anti-corruption prosecutor, drawing condemnation from the foreign ministry in Bogota. In a video on social media, the head of Guatemala's Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity Rafael Curruchiche said a Guatemalan court had issued arrest warrants for Colombia's Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and Ivan Velasquez, a veteran Colombian prosecutor, on corruption charges. Curruchiche alleged in the video that Velasquez led a "criminal structure" that benefited businessmen from the Brazilian construction company formerly known as Odebrecht. Camargo and Velasquez were charged with criminal association, obstruction of justice, influence peddling and collusion, the video said. In a post on social media on Monday, Velasquez said the arrest warrants amounted to persecution by corrupt officials. An official at the Colombia Attorney General's office declined to comment. Velasquez won international praise for his work last decade as head of the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which in 2015 exposed a multi-million dollar graft case that led to the resignation and arrest of former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina. The CICIG later investigated Perez Molina's successor, President Jimmy Morales, who ultimately shut down the commission in the country. Curruchiche said Guatemala had requested Interpol issue an alert for the arrests of Camargo and Velasquez, as well as for several notable former Guatemalan prosecutors. Colombia's foreign ministry on Monday condemned the arrest warrants for Camargo and Velasquez, saying Guatemala's calls for the arrest by Interpol were without legal basis and constituted an "attack on the fundamental principles of international justice." Velasquez was Colombia's defense minister until earlier this year, and was named recently as the country's ambassador to the Vatican. Odebrecht has rebranded after pleading guilty to bribery in the United States in 2016 and admitting to bribing officials throughout Latin America for years. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
03-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Guatemala issues arrest warrants for Colombia AG, former UN corruption investigator
BOGOTA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala's attorney general's office announced arrest warrants on Monday for a group of people including Colombia's attorney general and a former UN anti-corruption prosecutor, drawing condemnation from the foreign ministry in Bogota. In a video on social media, the head of Guatemala's Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity Rafael Curruchiche said a Guatemalan court had issued arrest warrants for Colombia's Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and Ivan Velasquez, a veteran Colombian prosecutor, on corruption charges. Curruchiche alleged in the video that Velasquez led a "criminal structure" that benefited businessmen from the Brazilian construction company formerly known as Odebrecht. Camargo and Velasquez were charged with criminal association, obstruction of justice, influence peddling and collusion, the video said. In a post on social media on Monday, Velasquez said the arrest warrants amounted to persecution by corrupt officials. An official at the Colombia Attorney General's office declined to comment. Velasquez won international praise for his work last decade as head of the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which in 2015 exposed a multi-million dollar graft case that led to the resignation and arrest of former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina. The CICIG later investigated Perez Molina's successor, President Jimmy Morales, who ultimately shut down the commission in the country. Curruchiche said Guatemala had requested Interpol issue an alert for the arrests of Camargo and Velasquez, as well as for several notable former Guatemalan prosecutors. Colombia's foreign ministry on Monday condemned the arrest warrants for Camargo and Velasquez, saying Guatemala's calls for the arrest by Interpol were without legal basis and constituted an "attack on the fundamental principles of international justice." Velasquez was Colombia's defense minister until earlier this year, and was named recently as the country's ambassador to the Vatican. Odebrecht has rebranded after pleading guilty to bribery in the United States in 2016 and admitting to bribing officials throughout Latin America for years. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota and Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Tom Hogue and Kate Mayberry)
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Guatemala issues arrest warrants for Colombia AG, former UN corruption investigator
BOGOTA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala's attorney general's office announced arrest warrants on Monday for a group of people including Colombia's attorney general and a former UN anti-corruption prosecutor, drawing condemnation from the foreign ministry in Bogota. In a video on social media, the head of Guatemala's Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity Rafael Curruchiche said a Guatemalan court had issued arrest warrants for Colombia's Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and Ivan Velasquez, a veteran Colombian prosecutor, on corruption charges. Curruchiche alleged in the video that Velasquez led a "criminal structure" that benefited businessmen from the Brazilian construction company formerly known as Odebrecht. Camargo and Velasquez were charged with criminal association, obstruction of justice, influence peddling and collusion, the video said. In a post on social media on Monday, Velasquez said the arrest warrants amounted to persecution by corrupt officials. An official at the Colombia Attorney General's office declined to comment. Velasquez won international praise for his work last decade as head of the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which in 2015 exposed a multi-million dollar graft case that led to the resignation and arrest of former Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina. The CICIG later investigated Perez Molina's successor, President Jimmy Morales, who ultimately shut down the commission in the country. Curruchiche said Guatemala had requested Interpol issue an alert for the arrests of Camargo and Velasquez, as well as for several notable former Guatemalan prosecutors. Colombia's foreign ministry on Monday condemned the arrest warrants for Camargo and Velasquez, saying Guatemala's calls for the arrest by Interpol were without legal basis and constituted an "attack on the fundamental principles of international justice." Velasquez was Colombia's defense minister until earlier this year, and was named recently as the country's ambassador to the Vatican. Odebrecht has rebranded after pleading guilty to bribery in the United States in 2016 and admitting to bribing officials throughout Latin America for years.
