Latest news with #Castaneda
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
U.S. warns Americans not to travel to Venezuela citing risks of torture, kidnapping
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The U.S. State Department is launching a new campaign to warn Americans not to go to Venezuela. Officials say anyone who does risks kidnapping, imprisonment, and even torture. Christian Castaneda understands those risks painfully well, because he says his brother Wilbert Joseph Castaneda is currently being wrongfully detained in Venezuela. It was just before Labor Day weekend of 2024 when Christian says he got a strange late-night call from an international number. When he picked up, it was his brother Wilbert. 'He said Christian I'm in Venezuela. It's a really really bad situation,' Castaneda said. He was immediately concerned, but it would take some time to discover just how bad the situation was. It turns out his brother Wilbert had been vacationing in Colombia and then traveled to Venezuela, where the Venezuelan government imprisoned him. The Venezuelan government accuses Castaneda and other foreign visitors of a plot to assassinate President Nicholas Maduro. Christian says that's completely untrue. 'They have not provided a single shred of evidence,' Castaneda said. Wilbert is a U.S. Navy Seal and a father of four. It's been months since his family has been able to see or talk to him. Christian shared that they're very worried for his safety, especially after hearing from former American detainees about how dangerous Venezuela can be. 'Very rough conditions, including torture. And so absolutely very concerned that that could be the case. Not just for my brother, but for other Americans that are there as well,' Castaneda said. That's why the U.S. State Department just launched a new campaign to warn Americans not to go to Venezuela for any reason. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mignon Houston says it's critically important for them to spread the word. 'No travel is safe right now in Venezuela, absolutely no travel,' Houston said. 'We are asking Americans, don't risk it, don't take the chance. Not even to travel to the border.' Right now, the State Department says more U.S. nationals are wrongfully detained in Venezuela than anywhere else in the world. Strained relations between the U.S. and Venezuela mean that the U.S. government has no access to American detainees. 'The stories that we have heard from detained Americans, they're horrific. The beatings, the torture. This is not a place you want to spend your summer travel. This is not a place you want to go,' Houston said. The Castaneda family is actively working with hostage advocacy groups, lawmakers, and the Trump administration to get Wilbert back home. 'I hope that he knows that we're fighting for him. And I know that he does, that his family misses him very much. His kids are looking forward to seeing him again soon,' Castaneda said. He says he's hopeful. 'There's no doubt in my mind that he'll be reunited with us and with his family soon,' Castaneda said. 'Not a day goes by that we are not thinking about the Americans who are wrongfully detained around the world, and Venezuela is included,' Houston said. While the State Department works to free all Americans, including Castaneda, they want to make sure others don't end up imprisoned in Venezuela. 'This is a campaign to ensure that we don't have another name to add to that list,' Houston said. 'There is no trip that is worth the price of your freedom.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
India Gazette
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
"We want to stand with India in the campaign for peace": Panama Assembly President pledges support
Panama City [Panama], May 28 (ANI): Panama Assembly President, Dana Castaneda on Tuesday (local time) expressed solidarity with India in its fight against terrorism after she held a meeting with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor-led delegation. Speaking with ANI, Assembly President Castaneda said, 'We very clearly understand the message that they have conveyed. Panama wants to stand with India in this campaign for peace, and we hope that we can defeat terrorism. We have spoken about these issues in detail, and this will help us understand each other better in India's fight against terrorism,' Tharoor informed ANI that the delegation presented a Kashmiri shawl to Assembly President Castaneda and in return the Panama Assembly President gave a symbol of the warriors of Panama, symbolising strength to fight against terrorism. 'When we presented the president with a shawl from Kashmir, where the tragedy (Pahalgam terror attack) happened. She, in turn, gave us a symbol of the warriors of Panama, saying she hopes that we will fight against terror with that strength and that I thought was an excellent message to leave the National Assembly with,' Tharoor said. Tharoor, during the meeting, conveyed India's resolute position against terrorism while informing the other about Pahalgam terror attack. 'We all come from different political backgrounds and different parts of India, but we are united in national purpose... After the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, we waited to see whether the Pakistan government would take any action against the perpetrators of the terrible crime. When nothing was clearly being done, two weeks later, on the 7th of May, we attacked the known headquarters of terrorist bases inside Pakistan,' he said. The all party delegation led by Tharoor arrived in Panama City for a three-day official visit after concluding their visit to Guyana. During the visit, the Members of Parliament will be interacting with Panamanian leadership and key interlocutors from media, strategic community, Indian community and diaspora, and friends of India in Panama, according to the Indian Embassy in Panama statement. The delegation, led by Shashi Tharoor, comprises Members of Parliament - Sarfaraz Ahmed, G M Harish Balayogi, Shashank Mani Tripathi, Tejasvi Surya, Bhubaneswar Kalita, Mallikarjun Devda, Milind Deora and former Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. (ANI)
Business Mayor
10-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Google to pay Texas $1.4 billion in data privacy settlement
A Google corporate logo hangs above the entrance to the company's office at St. John's Terminal in New York City on March 11, 2025. Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images Google agreed to pay nearly $1.4 billion to the state of Texas to settle allegations of violating the data privacy rights of state residents, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday. Paxton sued Google in 2022 for allegedly unlawfully tracking and collecting users' private data. The attorney general said the settlement, which covers allegations in two separate lawsuits against the search engine and app giant, dwarfed all past settlements by other states with Google for similar data privacy violations. Google's settlement comes nearly 10 months after Paxton obtained a $1.4 billion settlement for Texas from Meta , the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to resolve claims of unauthorized use of biometric data by users of those popular social media platforms. 'In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law,' Paxton said in a statement on Friday. 'For years, Google secretly tracked people's movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won,' said Paxton. 'This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans' privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.' Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said the company did not admit any wrongdoing or liability in the settlement. The deal covers allegations related to the Chrome browser's incognito setting, disclosures related to location history on the Google Maps app, and biometric claims related to Google Photo. Read More Super Mario Bros Wonder game a 'notebook of chaos', critics say Castaneda also said Google does not have to make any changes to products in connection with the settlement and that all of the policy changes that the company made in connection with the allegations were previously announced or implemented. 'This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed,' Castaneda said. 'We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services.'
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Los Dos Potrillos settles lawsuit filed by employees for over $3M
DENVER (KDVR) — Local restaurant chain Los Dos Potrillos has settled a lawsuit with employees for $3.75 million after claims of underpaying workers and violating several laws. According to the class action settlement approved by a federal judge last week, workers claim the restaurant didn't pay the required minimum wage to front-of-house employees and failed to tell customers of the restaurant's tip pooling policy, pay proper overtime rates and provide employees with required rest periods. The lawsuit was filed by former employee Gladis Castaneda in 2023. Castaneda said the restaurant 'retaliated' and unlawfully terminated her after she told customers of the tip pooling policy. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox Los Dos Portillos provided FOX31 with the following statement: While we are limited in what we can share due to the ongoing legal process, we remain committed to our core values: Respect, Integrity, Safety, and Excellence in all we do. Our 70% employee retention rate demonstrates our commitment to our team. Ramirez Hospitality Group $230,500 of the settlement will go to Castaneda for retaliation claims and $15,000 as the named plaintiff. $1,249,875 will go to attorney fees and costs and $50,000 for costs of administering the settlement. The remaining settlement money will go to hourly employees for wage and civil theft claims from Jan. 19, 2020, to April 8, 2024. The court document estimates an average payout of $1,565 to workers who are part of the class action settlement, with a range of $25,677 to $65. The document said the settlement was reached after months of negotiations. Los Dos Potrillos is a local Mexican restaurant with several locations across the Denver metro. The restaurant has locations in Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Parker and Castle Rock, and just opened its sixth location in Denver. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
Jury returns split verdict in East Chicago rape trial
A jury came back with a split verdict Wednesday night in an East Chicago rape trial – acquitting a New Jersey man of rape, but convicting him of his lower charge, sexual battery. At maximum, Pedro Castaneda Contreras, 49, of Brick, New Jersey, faces up to 2.5 years in prison. Jurors deliberated for over seven hours. The victim told Deputy Prosecutor Shannon Phillips Tuesday that initially she wanted a physical relationship, but quickly changed her mind and felt 'scared' or unable to get out of it. 'Once it actually happened, that's when I didn't want it anymore,' she said. Castaneda denied the charges. His defense lawyer, Michael Lambert, told jurors he believed the accusations were false. The victim admitted she couldn't provide a specific month and year for when each incident happened. East Chicago Police estimated it was between April 2017 and May 2018. She testified that she told her brother in June 2021, who told her parents. They called the cops to file a police report. According to court filings, the victim said she was 16 when Castaneda's texts 'became sexual.' She told cops he forced her to perform a sex act in a bathroom, then months later tried to have sex with her, according to the affidavit. In later incidents, he either performed a sex act on her or forced her to perform a sex act, charges state. The woman told him in 2021 that she had a boyfriend and tried to cut off contact. She took a screenshot of his Snapchat reply. It didn't matter if she had a boyfriend or if he was married, he wrote. 'You started it all,' he responded in one part. mcolias@
