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The Service Employees International Union said Wednesday it is re-joining the AFL-CIO, a group comprising 60 affiliated labor unions. The second Trump administration, which begins in less than two weeks, is expected to take a decidedly different view of labor unions compared with the Biden administration. "The notion that this is political couldn't be further from the truth in terms of the election results," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in an interview. At the same time, the union leaders said they are prepared to defend workers as Trump enters office. Still, Trump's efforts to win over union workers proved effective in getting one major union, the Teamsters, to decline to endorse a presidential candidate after years of supporting Democrats.

Persons: WASHINGTON —, they’re, Donald Trump, Trump, Biden, Liz Shuler, Kamala Harris, ”, Verrett, Shuler, it’s, that’s, ” Shuler, Ken Jacobs, ” Jacobs, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Harris Organizations: Service Employees International Union, AFL, SEIU, CIO’s, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Teachers, United Auto Workers . Union, General Motors, Disney, U.S . Postal Service, NBC, Communications Workers of America, UC Berkeley Labor Center, Trump, Department, Government, United Auto Workers, Teamsters

☆ Pope Francis urges priests to guard against groups that stoke divisions
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-15 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Pope Francis urged Catholic priests on Sunday to guard against spiritual groups that stoke political divisions, speaking during a one-day visit to Corsica, the first by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island. Francis, making his third and probably last foreign trip of 2024, did not name any specific religious groups. The pope decided not to go, and the two will instead meet briefly at Ajaccio’s airport on Sunday before Francis heads back to Rome. Pope Francis is welcomed at the Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport during his apostolic journey in Ajaccio, Corsica, Sunday. There are 83 priests on the island and some 30 Catholic nuns, it says.

Persons: Pope Francis, ”, Francis, Emmanuel Macron, Francis ’, Macron, Remo Casilli, Napoleon Bonaparte Organizations: CNN, Catholic, stoke, Notre Dame Cathedral, Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport Locations: Corsica, France, Ajaccio, Corsica’s, Western Europe, Paris, Notre, Ajaccio’s, Rome, Argentina, Americas, Malta, Lesbos, Lampedusa

A death row inmate convicted of killing her toddler daughter is “actually innocent” of murder and should be freed from custody, the prisoner's trial judge said in documents unearthed on Thursday. The case, which has gained notoriety through reality TV star and aspiring attorney Kim Kardashian, is now before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio holds one of her sons, John. "So heartbreaking to read this letter from Melissa Lucio’s children begging for the state not to kill their mother," Kim Kardashian wrote in 2022. "It became a nightmare from which she couldn’t wake up when she was sent to death row for a crime that never happened.

Persons: “, Arturo Nelson, Melissa Elizabeth Lucio, Lucio, Nelson, Kim Kardashian, Melissa Lucio, John, Mariah's, Melissa Lucio’s, Amanda Knox, Jeff Leach, Donald Trump, “ Melissa Lucio, Vanessa Potkin, Melissa Organizations: NBC, KPRC, Appeals, Texas Department, Criminal, Republican, Innocence Locations: Cameron County, Houston, Texas, Harlingen, Italy, Plano

☆ Five jailed for up to 34 years for murdering Ecuador’s presidential candidate
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Reuters —A court in Ecuador on Friday handed down prison sentences for five people found guilty of murdering presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Journalist and former legislator Villavicencio was shot while leaving a rally in August 2023, becoming the most prominent victim of Ecuador’s spiraling violence. Both Angulo and Castillo were sentenced to 34 years and eight months. One of the hitmen died at the scene of Villavicencio’s murder and seven other suspects - mostly Colombian citizens - were murdered in October while being held in prisons on pre-trial detention. Villavicencio’s friends and family have decried multiple delays and urged investigation into who ordered the killing.

Persons: Reuters —, Fernando Villavicencio, Villavicencio, Milton Maroto, Daniel Noboa, Carlos Edwin Angulo Lara, Laura Dayanara Castillo, Angulo, Castillo, Erick Ramirez, Victor Flores, Alexandra Chimbo, Veronica Sarauz Organizations: Reuters, Prosecutors, Los Locations: Ecuador, Los Lobos

☆ UAW chief and other board members have concerns about Biden’s ability to beat Trump, source says
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-11 | by ( Arlette Saenz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain and other members of the union’s board have expressed concerns about President Joe Biden’s ability to beat Donald Trump in November, a source close to the union says. The union is discussing the way forward on how to beat Trump in November, but the group is not considering rescinding its endorsement of Biden at this time, the source added. When a reporter at a Thursday press conference raised the UAW’s concerns, the president responded, “The UAW just endorsed me.”“There’s a long way to go this campaign,” the president later added. In a statement Wednesday, the day Biden visited the group, the AFL-CIO executive council said in a statement: “The labor movement understands, as Joe Biden does, that solidarity is how we win. “I said I was going to be the most pro union president in American history, well guess what I am,” Biden said Wednesday.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Joe Biden’s, Donald Trump, Biden, “ I’m, ” Biden, Fain, Trump, “, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, White, George Clooney, couldn’t, Liz Shuler, Keir Starmer, ” CNN’s Chris Isidore Organizations: CNN — United Auto Workers, Trump, CNN, Reuters, UAW, AFL, NATO, Wednesday, Michigan, New York Times, British Locations: Washington ,, Michigan, Wisconsin

☆ A Covid-19 memorial website, The WhoWeLost Project, offers pandemic mourners a digital safe space
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Ashley Williams | Ashley R. Williams | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

A year ago, the World Health Organization declared an end to Covid-19 as a global public health emergency. On the fourth anniversary of Settle’s death – and driven by a need to mourn – Koenig wrote about his former partner on the Covid-19 remembrance website WhoWeLost. Greenwald expanded the website nationally after a 2021 story on the website from an NPR affiliate garnered widespread praise. “I think the need for the site, in a way, is larger because less people are paying attention (to Covid-19),” Greenwald told CNN. They can write those stories down here.”New York City resident Wiandy Santiago’s 65-year-old brother Wilmard Santiago died of Covid-19 in April 2020, a week after being placed on a ventilator.

Persons: Jody Settle, Ed Koenig, Settle’s, Willie Nelson’s, ”, Koenig, – Koenig, Martha Greenwald, “, ” Greenwald, Greenwald, Kentuckians, Kent Nishimura, Wilmard Santiago, ” Wiandy Santiago, Alberto Locascio, doesn’t, ” Santiago, she’s, –, Wilmard, Locascio’s, Nicholas, She’s, Sarah Wagner, Covid, ” Koenig, Poynter, ’ ” Greenwald, Spencer Platt, “ We’re, ” Paige Gavin, that’s, ” Wagner, WhoWeLost, “ Covid Organizations: CNN, New York City, Settle, World Health Organization, United, NPR, Los Angeles Times, American Psychiatric Association, York City, Wiandy, Yankees, George Washington University, Getty Locations: Irish, New York, United States, Covid, Kentucky, New Jersey, Louisville , Kentucky, Washington, Washington ,, United Kingdom, ”, York, Bronx, New

☆ Breasts take center stage at Venice Biennale exhibition
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Jacqui Palumbo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —What is one of the earliest and enduring subjects in art and media — as well as one of the most censored? And these are all themes explored broadly in the exhibition “Breasts,” a robust survey on display at the 60th Venice Bienniale. “It’s very intimate, so it’s perfect for international artists to develop a dialogue with each other,” she said in a video call. “Artists keep going back to it.”“It’s been a wonderful moment to contemplate my own relationship with the meaning of breasts,” she added of the show. Scroll to see artworks from the show, which will run through November 24 at the Palazzo Franchetti.

Persons: they’re, Cindy Sherman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Salvador Dalí, Anna Weyant, Chloe Wise, Lakin, Carolina Pasti, “, ”, Bernardino del Signoraccio, Sherman, Jesus, Del, Raphael, Flavio Gianassi, we’ve, Teniqua Crawford, “ It’s, Todd White, Europe Allen Jones, Maggiore Allen Jones, Maggiore Laura Panno, Christopher Bucklow, Tetrarch, Claudia, Schiffer, Christopher Bucklow Giorgio de Chirico, Nudo, Turin Louise Bourgeois Organizations: CNN, Venice Bienniale, Artists, Buchanan Studio, Maggiore Locations: Venice, Europe, Italy

☆ Ecuador’s raid on Mexico’s embassy shocked Latin America. Here’s why it may still pay off for Daniel Noboa
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Stefano Pozzebon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa during his inauguration at the National Assembly in Quito on November 23, 2023. A close ideological ally of Correa, Lopez Obrador had since December allowed Glas to live at the Mexican embassy—territory that is technically off limits for local authorities. Lopez Obrador last week seemed to criticize the election that brought Noboa to power, suggesting the climate of fear created by Villavicencio’s murder had favored Noboa. President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a briefing at Palacio Nacional on March 12 in Mexico City. Hector Vivas/Getty ImagesWhile Lopez Obrador is at the sunset of his political career, Noboa is just getting started and seeks a strong platform to run for re-election next year.

Persons: “, ”, Jorge Glas, Ecuador’s, Daniel Noboa, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Noboa, Guillermo Lasso, Fernando Villavicencio, Alfredo ‘ Fito ’ Macias, RODRIGO BUENDIA, Glas, Rafael Correa, Lopez Obrador, Evo Morales, Peru’s Pedro Castillo, Correa, Villavicencio’s, Santiago Orbe, ” Orbe, Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Hector Vivas, Emilio Lezama, Bukele, Latinobarometro, It’s, it’s Organizations: Bogota CNN —, Colombian, National, Getty, Ecuadorian, CNN, Palacio Nacional, International Court of Justice Locations: Bogota, America, Guyana, Quito, Mexican, Mexico, Latin America, AFP, Ecuador, Glas, Vienna, Ukraine, Mexico City, El, El Salvador

☆ Mexico suspends diplomatic relations with Ecuador after ‘barbaric’ arrest of ex-vice president
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Fidel Gutiérrez | Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Ecuadorian police stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito on Friday night to arrest a former vice president seeking asylum there, in an escalation of tensions that Mexico decried as “an outrage against international law.”Mexico’s foreign minister said the country would break off diplomatic relations with Ecuador after the arrest of former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas. The rift between the two Latin American countries had been growing since Mexico’s decision to grant political asylum to Glas, Ecuador’s former vice president under leftist ex-President Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017. “It is impossible for them to violate the diplomatic premises as they have done.”Former Ecuador Vice President Jorge Glas speaks during an interview at his office in Quito on September 12, 2017. Dolores Ochoa/APA spokesperson for Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena told CNNE that the country is “breaking” diplomatic relations with Ecuador and immediately removing all diplomatic personnel from the country. Mexico plans to lodge a complaint with the International Court of Justice to denounce the Ecuadorian police’s actions, she added.

Persons: ”, Jorge Glas, Ecuador’s, Rafael Correa, Glas, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, “, X, ” Roberto Canseco, ” Canseco, Dolores Ochoa, Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena, CNNE, Bárcena, Canseco, Lopez, Fernando Villavicencio’s Organizations: CNN, Ecuadorian, Foreign Affairs, International Court of Locations: Quito, Mexico, Ecuador, Glas, ”, Mexican, Ecuadorian

CNN —A rift between Mexico and Ecuador is growing, with a series of diplomatic provocations this week that culminated in Ecuador rejecting Mexico’s ambassador to the country, and Mexico announcing that it would offer asylum to a wanted Ecuadorean politician. Mexican Ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke was declared “persona non grata” in Ecuador on Thursday after Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appeared to criticize Ecuador’s recent elections. Ecuador’s 2023 run-off vote took place in a “very strange” manner, Lopez Obrador said, suggesting that presidential candidates used the media, candidate Fernando Villavicencio’s assassination, and overall violence in their favor while campaigning. In a statement posted on X, Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry called Lopez Obrador’s comments “unfortunate” and said the country is still mourning Villavicencio’s assassination. It also reiterated its focus on ensuring “respect for the dignity and sovereignty of the Ecuadorian State” and “non-intervention in the internal affairs of other States.”President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is speaking at the morning conference in front of reporters at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, on April 3, 2024.

Persons: Raquel Serur Smeke, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Ecuador’s, Lopez Obrador, Fernando Villavicencio’s, Lopez, Villavicencio’s, Solrac Santiago, Jorge David Glas Espinel, Gabriela Sommerfield, ” Glas, Rafael Correa, Glas Organizations: CNN, Ministry, Ecuadorian State, Mexican Foreign Ministry, Ecuador’s, Reuters Locations: Mexico, Ecuador, Mexican, Mexico City, Quito

☆ Gabriel García Márquez’s Last Book Is an Unsatisfying Goodbye
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Michael Greenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

UNTIL AUGUST, by Gabriel García Márquez. Billed as a “rediscovered” novel, “Until August” is likely to be the last published book of fiction by the Colombian master and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez. Reading it may provoke unhealthy levels of frustration in those familiar with García Márquez’s most indelible creations. Readers’ inevitable disappointment with “Until August” may be directed partly at García Márquez’s two sons and literary executors, who permitted its publication even though their father had made his wishes clear. And to his sons he said: “Memory is at once my source material and my tool.

Persons: Gabriel García Márquez, Anne McLean, “, ”, Solitude Locations: Colombian, Italy, “

☆ ‘Fourteen Days’ is a ‘collaborative novel’ from 36 literary giants. But who wrote what?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Zara Khan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

From left: the authors Diana Gabaldon, R. L. Stine, Celeste Ng, John Grisham and Margaret Atwood, all of whom contributed to "Fourteen Days." Though some readers will draw connections between the latter work and “Fourteen Days,” Preston notes there are many differences. Perhaps most notably, “Fourteen Days” follows those left behind amid a pandemic — people without “the financial wherewithal to escape,” he told CNN. In "Fourteen Days," residents of New York apartment building begin gathering on the rooftop during Covid-19 lockdowns. Read: “The Interestings” (2014)The tenth novel from author Meg Wolitzer — who also contributed to “Fourteen Days” — follows a group of close-knit friends that meet at an arts summer camp in the 1970s from adolescence through to middle age.

Persons: —, Margaret Atwood, ’, John Grisham, Celeste Ng, Diana Gabaldon, Stine, Atwood, Douglas Preston, Yessie, Preston, Emma Donoghue, “, ”, ” Giovanni Boccaccio’s, ” Preston, Donoghue, Tess Gerritsen, Gerritsen, Harper Collins, Ah Poh, ” Donoghue, Pier Pasolini, Steven Soderbergh’s, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, Craig Blankenhorn, Meg Wolitzer — Organizations: CNN, British, Guardian, Agence France, Presse, Hulu Watch Locations: New York, —, Chaucer’s “, Covid, York City

SEATTLE (AP) — Denis Bouanga scored his fourth goal of the MLS Cup playoffs in the 30th minute, goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau made seven saves, and defending champion Los Angeles FC advanced to the Western Conference final with a 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on Sunday night. Bouanga got one chance at goal and didn’t miss, scoring in his sixth straight game and sending LAFC home for the conference championship game against the Houston Dynamo next Saturday. Bouanga was the Golden Boot winner during the regular season with 20 goals and he added three more in LAFC’s opening round victory over Vancouver. His goal came despite Seattle controlling play for most of the first half and having two great chances in the opening five minutes that were denied by Crepeau. Bouanga’s shot was the only attempt LAFC put on goal in the first half and it finished with only two shots on target in the match.

Persons: — Denis Bouanga, Maxime Crepeau, Bouanga, didn’t, LAFC’s, Bouanga’s, LAFC, Josh Atencio’s, Jordan Morris outran Giorgio Chiellini, Crepeau, Morris, Alex Roldan, Joao Paulo, Albert Rusnak’s, ___ Organizations: SEATTLE, MLS, Los Angeles FC, Western, Seattle Sounders, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy, Vancouver, Seattle, Crepeau, Sounders, Portland Locations: Seattle

☆ 700 Paintings, 45 Galleries: A Guide to the Met’s New European Wing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Jason Farago | More About Jason Farago | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Five years after the Metropolitan Museum of Art set off on a major renovation of its galleries for European painting, the super-prime real estate at the top of its grand staircase is open again. Down in the galleries, the Met’s designers have widened the rooms, rearranged the sightlines, shellacked the walls purple and blue. The curators have reassembled the whole painting collection for the first time since 2018, shuffled across 45 new galleries and bathed in beautifully tempered light. (When it comes to light, this New Amsterdam institution definitely leans more Dutch than Italian.) Duccio’s break-the-bank Madonna and Child, painted in Tuscany around 1300, now shares a case with Ingres’s painting of the same subject from 1852.

Persons: Beyer Blinder Belle, Truman, Bacon, Beckmann, Kerry James Marshall, You’ll Organizations: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Met Locations: New Amsterdam, Italy, France, Spain, zigzags, Tuscany

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Daniel Noboa has managed to do what his father failed at five times: Getting elected as Ecuador’s president. Political Cartoons View All 1211 ImagesAnd as he is getting a truncated term, Noboa faces a daunting task. He cut his term short when he dissolved the National Assembly in May as lawmakers pursued impeachment proceedings against him over alleged improprieties in a government contract. His political career began in 2021, when he got a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. The younger Noboa's party will not have have enough seats in the National Assembly to be able to govern on its own.

Persons: — Daniel Noboa, ”, Will Freeman, “, Guillermo Lasso, Noboa, Luisa González, Rafael Correa, González, Ecuadorians, Fernando Villavicencio, themslves, Álvaro, Lasso, Julio Ricaurte, Villavicencio, Correa, Rosa Amaguaña, ” Amaguaña, ” ___ Garcia Cano Organizations: American, Voters, Council, Foreign Relations, National Assembly, Corp, Economic Development Commission, National Police, Assembly Locations: QUITO, Ecuador, U.S, “, Quito, Noboa, Colombia, Peru, Mexican, wife’s, Belgium, Caracas, Venezuela

☆ ‘Monster Fracks’ Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Hiroko Tabuchi | Blacki Migliozzi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +23 min

Dallas TEXAS Austin Houston San Antonio Dallas TEXAS Austin Houston San Antonio TEXAS TEXAS Amarillo Lubbock Dallas El Paso TEXAS Austin Houston San Antonio Corpus Christi UNCHARTED WATERS ‘Monster Fracks’ Are Getting Far Bigger. Water wells that supply fracking Nationwide, fracking has used up nearly 1.5 trillion gallons of water since 2011. Now they account for almost two out of every three fracking wells in Texas, the Times analysis found. ‘Monster fracks’ take off in Texas Proportion of fracks Source: FracFocus chemical disclosure database as of Aug. 1, 2023. In 2020, New Mexico halted sales of water supplies to oil and gas companies fracking on state land.

☆ Ecuador election: assassinations cast a grim shadow as country selects a new president
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Nearly 100,000 troops will be dispatched to ensure public safety and order across Ecuador on election day, Ecuador’s government says. Friends, family members and supporters of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio attend a tribute at Quito Exhibition Center. Henry Romero/ReutersEverything to play forAnything could happen in Sunday’s presidential vote, say analysts, who point to the killing of Villavicencio as potentially changing voters’ preferences. Journalist and presidential candidate Christian Zurita gestures next to his running mate, vice presidential candidate Andrea Gonzalez (R), in Quito on August 13, 2023. Ecuador presidential candidate Yaku Perez looks on as he arrives to participate in a presidential debate, in Quito, Ecuador August 13, 2023.

Persons: CNN —, Fernando Villavicencio, Otto Sonnenholzner, Guillermo Lasso, Henry Romero, ”, Laura Lizarazo, “, Glaeldys González, …, Pedro Briones, Luisa González, Rafael Correa, Lizarazo, Rodrigo Buendia, Correa, González, Villavicencio, Christian Zurita, Andrea Gonzalez, Martin Bernetti, Moreno, Erika Paredes, Marcos Pin, ” Lizarazo, Yaku, Yaku Perez, Karen Toro, El, Nayib Bukele –, Bukele, Jan, Vicente Gaibor del Pino Organizations: CNN, Quito Exhibition Center, Reuters, ”, Crisis, Movimiento, Getty, CNN En, Construye’s, Alianza Actuemos Locations: Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, United States, Guayaquil, Esmeraldas province, Quito, AFP, Belgium, Samborondon

Gonzalez is set to face the surprise second-place finisher Daniel Noboa in a run-off election in October, according to the National Electoral Council of Ecuador (CNE), as neither candidate won more than 50% of the ballot. Ecuador presidential candidate Daniel Noboa makes remarks as he arrives to participate in a presidential debate on August 13. Crime has topped the agenda of this year’s presidential race, which was punctuated by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, an outspoken anti-corruption journalist. Gunfire interrupted Noboa’s caravan on Thursday as he was traveling in Guayas province, but authorities say the presidential candidate was not the target of the incident. But the winner of October’s run-off vote will have relatively little time to work on a solution.

Persons: CNN — Luisa González, Gonzalez, Daniel Noboa, Ecuadorians, Diana Atamaint, González, Rafael Correa –, Álvaro Noboa –, Guillermo Lasso, Karen Toro, Fernando Villavicencio, Pedro Briones, Christian Zurita, October’s Organizations: CNN, Movimiento Revolución, Sunday, Electoral, Accion Democratica Nacional, Electoral Council Locations: Ecuador, Belgium, Esmeraldas province, Guayas, Quito, Russia, Ukraine, China, Bangladesh

Otto Sonnenholzner said he had been having breakfast with his wife and daughters at a restaurant when violence broke out. The shooting comes just days after the assassination of another presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, who had been campaigning against gang violence and corruption, shocked the world. “This is one more example of what Ecuadorians face on a daily basis,” Sonnenholzner said of the latest shooting. Crucial voteEcuadorians will decide between eight presidential candidates in Sunday’s vote. Following Saturday’s shooting, Sonnenholzner reiterated calls to stem “the serious crisis.”“As a husband and father, I know that no one should go through this.

Persons: Otto Sonnenholzner, ” Sonnenholzner, Fernando Villavicencio, Villavicencio, ”, Villavicencio’s, Marco Yaulema, Gissella Cecibel Molina, ” Molina, Sonnenholzner, Ecuadorians Organizations: CNN, American, Zetas, National Assembly Locations: Ecuador, Quito

☆ Opinion | Ecuador’s Crime Surge Is Devastating, but There Is a Way Forward
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Will Freeman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Aug. 14, Pedro Briones, a congressional candidate and local political leader in Ecuador, was shot down. The killings so close to Ecuador’s general election, scheduled for Sunday, have shocked Ecuadoreans and drawn global condemnation. The slayings show that no one — not even a presidential candidate — is safe in Ecuador. Christian Zurita, an investigative journalist and a former colleague and close friend of Mr. Villavicencio, was chosen by their political party to run in his place. How the country’s criminal justice system handles the ongoing inquiries will be a litmus test for the nation.

Persons: Pedro Briones, Fernando Villavicencio, Christian Zurita, Mr, Villavicencio, Briones, Villavicencio’s Locations: Ecuador, Quito

☆ Ecuador election: political violence and insecurity loom large as Ecuadorians get ready to vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Rafael Romo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It has also brought international attention to the powerful criminal organizations driving the violence that has plagued Ecuador. “By the very fact that we’re not controlling our borders, we’re getting an influx of money that is literally corrupting the country,” Topic added. Topic told CNN that while he admires Bukele, he would be more careful when it comes to respecting human rights. Andrea González Náder – who was Villavicencio’s running mate – told CNN that the fight against criminal gangs and corruption was Villavicencio’s main objective when he was alive. Those aims have not changed, she told CNN from a secret location in Ecuador, which police asked CNN not to reveal for her protection.

Persons: Ecuador CNN — Gissella Cecibel Molina doesn’t, Fernando Villavicencio, Fernando, ” Molina, ‘ Fernando Villavicencio, ’, ”, Molina, “, Villavicencio, Juan Zapata, Fernando Villavicencio's assasination, Karen Toro, Pedro Briones, Agustin Intriago, Walker Vera, Pity Guzman, Rodrigo Buendia, Bukele, doesn’t, Andrea González Náder –, –, Martin Bernetti, Luisa González, Rafael Correa, “ I’ve, Gustavo Petro Organizations: Ecuador CNN, National Assembly, CNN, “, Reuters, Manta, Ecuadorian National Police, United Nations Office, Drug, Getty, French Foreign Legion, Electoral Council, Citizen Revolution Movement, European, Colombian, Zetas Locations: Quito, Ecuador, Ecuador’s, “, Esmeraldas province, Muisne, South America, United States, Europe, Colombia, Mexico, Balkans, AFP, Ecuadorian, European Union

☆ Villavicencio assassination a ‘disturbing moment’ for Ecuador democracy, former running mate says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Rafael Romo Abel Alvarado Juan Carlos Paz Eyad Kourdi Marlon Sorto Alex Stambaugh Heather Chen | Rafael Romo | Abel Alvarado | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Quito, Ecuador CNN —The assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio marks a “disturbing moment” for the region and democracy, his successor and former running mate Andrea González Náder has told CNN in an exclusive interview. “This is a disturbing moment for the whole region and for the world’s democracy,” she said. Karen Toro/ReutersVillavicencio, 59, an anti-corruption campaigner and lawmaker, was outspoken about violence caused by drug trafficking in Ecuador. Karen Toro/ReutersVillavicencio’s assassination prompted an outpouring of condemnation from inside Ecuador and around the world. Macías as well as his gang members have not yet publicly commented on the assassination.

Persons: Fernando Villavicencio, Andrea González Náder, “, ” Náder, CNN’s Rafael Romo, ”, Náder, “ Náder, Andrea Gonzalez, Karen Toro, Reuters Villavicencio, Veronica Sarauz, ” Sarauz, –, José Adolfo Macías Villamar, “ Fito ”, Villavicencio –, Guillermo Lasso, Macías Organizations: Ecuador CNN, CNN, Villavicencio’s Movimiento, Movimiento, Reuters, Ecuadorian Army Command, Ecuadorian, La Locations: Quito, Ecuador, Guayas, La Roca

☆ Fernando Villavicencio assasination: How corruption and gang warfare transformed Ecuador
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But the high-profile assassination on Wednesday of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio could be a turning point for the country that has so far struggled to control the bloodshed. Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio ran on an anti-corruption platform prior to his death. Floundering authoritiesSecurity and state forces have been badly unprepared for the rise of criminal groups in the country. A a car transports the body of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio on August 10. Last year, the US withdrew visas from high-ranking officers of Ecuadorian state security forces, alleged to be linked to drug trafficking, as well as several judges and lawyers.

Persons: CNN —, Fernando Villavicencio, ” Juan Pappier, Watch’s, “, Karen Toro, Laura Lizarazo, ”, ” Lizarazo, Ecuador’s, Guillermo Lasso, Lizarazo, Eric Farnsworth, –, Villavicencio –, El, Nayib Bukele, Luisa González, Rafael Correa, Vicente Gaibor del Pino Organizations: CNN, Customs, Border Patrol, Ecuadorian, Reuters, Lobos, of, Americas Society, Security Locations: Ecuador, ”, Peru, Colombia, Europe, Washington, Americas

Quito, Ecuador CNN —Six suspects arrested in connection with the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio are Colombian nationals and gang members, authorities have confirmed, as a former vice president demanded action over spiraling levels of violence in the South American country. Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio waves an Ecuadorian flag as he attends a rally in Quito on August 9. People take cover after shots were fired at the end of a rally of Ecuadorian presidential cadidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito on August 9. Ecuador’s presidential election, scheduled for August 20, will go ahead as planned, the Electoral Council President Diana Atamaint said Thursday. He noted that Villavicencio had first entered public life as an investigative journalist who fought against corruption and abuses of power.

Persons: Fernando Villavicencio, Juan Zapata, Karen Toro, Zapata, Guillermo Lasso, Lasso, ’, Otto Sonnenholzner, ”, ” Sonnenholzner, cadidate Fernando Villavicencio, Sonnenholzner, Villavicencio, Diana Atamaint Organizations: Ecuador CNN —, Wednesday, General’s, Reuters, CNN, US Federal Bureau of Investigation, UN Human Rights, European Union, Ecuadorian, AFP, Getty, Electoral, Sunday, Movimiento Construye Locations: Quito, Ecuador, United States, Quito .

☆ Who is Fernando Villavicencio, the anti-corruption candidate shot dead in Ecuador?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, shot dead on the campaign trail on Wednesday, was known as a tireless anti-corruption campaigner and investigative journalist. Villavicencio’s campaign promised a crackdown on crime and corruption amid a deadly escalation of violence that has gripped Ecuador in recent years. Villavicencio was shot as he left the campaign event pictured here. Correa filed a defamation lawsuit against Villavicencio, and he was later convicted to 18 months in prison as a result. Villavicencio went on the run to avoid detention, and gave an interview to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in 2014.

Persons: Fernando Villavicencio, CNN En, Villavicencio, Rafael Correa, Correa, “, ”, ” Villavicencio Organizations: CNN, Ecuadorian, National Assembly, CNN En Español, Prensa, Workers Press, Villavicencio, Protect Journalists, TV Locations: Ecuador, Peru, Peruvian, TV Peru

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