Tag: Peru

Five Latin American countries recall ambassadors form Israel

El Salvador has joined four Latin American countries in recalling its Israel ambassador from Tel Aviv in protest at the military’s ground and air offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru have all recalled their diplomatic representatives to Israel.

The Chilean foreign ministry in Santiago said its ambassador was being brought back to the country because of “the escalation of Israeli military operations in Gaza”.

“Chile notes with great concern and dismay that such military operations, which at this stage of development are subject to a collective punishment against the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, do not respect fundamental rules of international humanitarian law.”

Brazil had earlier denounced the “disproportionate use of force by Israel” before recalling the Ambassador of Brazil in Tel Aviv to Brasilia.

The United Nations Human Rights Council, consisting of 46 members, also voted unanimously to investigate potential Israeli ‘war crimes’ in the territory. The only member to vote against the resolution was the United States while many European Union nations abstained.

Briton, Irishwoman charged for 24 pounds of cocaine in Peru

Cocaine-2Prosecutors formally levied drug-trafficking charges on Tuesday against two young women from Scotland and Ireland who were arrested this month trying to depart Peru with 24 pounds of cocaine in their luggage.

The prosecutor’s office in Callao, the city abutting Lima where its airport is located, also said in a statement Tuesday night that Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, and Melissa Reid, 19, face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if convicted.

Their lawyers claim they were coerced into carrying the drugs by criminals who threatened them and their families and had them followed to Peru to ensure they collected the cocaine.

A Peruvian police official says both women insisted on their innocence during questioning. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

The two young women spent much of Tuesday in medical checks and preprocessing ahead of an expected transfer to prison to await trial.

Since their Aug. 6 arrest at Lima’s airport as they tried to board a flight for Madrid, the women’s plight has received blanket coverage by British tabloids. The reports have featured photos of both young women in swimsuits, and partying in Ibiza.

Small-time smugglers who plead guilty in Peru usually receive six-year prison sentences and, with good behavior, can be out in two years.

Peru’s penal authority says 1,648 foreigners are currently in its prison on drug-trafficking charges, 31 of them British citizens. – AP