Síntesis informativa - 7 de enero 2020
THE GUARDIAN
Future of US military presence in Iraq in question amid confusion in Washington
The US-led coalition taskforce fighting Isis in Iraq delivered a letter to the Iraqi defence ministry on Monday saying preparations would begin right away “to ensure that movement out of Iraq is conducted in a safe and efficient manner”.
But soon afterwards, the defence secretary, Mark Esper, told journalists in the Pentagon: “That letter is inconsistent with where we are right now” and insisted that no decision had been taken to evacuate Iraq. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, said the letter had been sent in error.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/06/us-allies-trump-suleimani-killing-reaction-response
More than 60,000 people are missing amid Mexico's drug war, officials say
The figure – far higher than a previous estimate of about 40,000 – spoke to the scale of the challenge facing Mexico’s leftist leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took power in December 2018 vowing to pacify his country.
Since then, however, the number of murders has continued to rise, with more than 31,000 lives lost in 2019 and López Obrador facing growing questions over his “hugs not bullets” strategy to cut crime by fighting its social roots.
The figure – far higher than a previous estimate of about 40,000 – spoke to the scale of the challenge facing Mexico’s leftist leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took power in December 2018 vowing to pacify his country.
Since then, however, the number of murders has continued to rise, with more than 31,000 lives lost in 2019 and López Obrador facing growing questions over his “hugs not bullets” strategy to cut crime by fighting its social roots.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/06/mexico-drug-war-missing-estimate
Urgent new ‘roadmap to recovery’ could reverse insect apocalypse
The call to action by more than 70 scientists from across the planet advocates immediate action on human stress factors to insects which include habitat loss and fragmentation, the climate crisis, pollution, over-harvesting and invasive species.
Phasing out synthetic pesticides and fertilisers used in industrial farming and aggressive greenhouse gas emission reductions are among a series of urgent “no-regret” solutions to reverse what conservationists have called the “unnoticed insect apocalypse”.
Alongside these measures, scientists must urgently establish which herbivores, detritivores, parasitoids, predators and pollinators are priority species for conservation, according to a new paper published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The animals are crucial to the healthy functioning of ecosystems by recycling nutrients, serving as pollinators and acting as food for other wildlife.
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AL JAZEERA
More than 61,000 missing in Mexico amid spiralling drug violence
The number of missing is 50 percent higher than previously estimated and follows record number of homicides in 2019.
"The official data of missing persons is 61,637," Karla Quintana, head of the National Registry of Missing or Missing Persons (RNPED), told a news conference.
She said about a quarter of the missing were women.
More than 97.4 percent of the total have gone missing since 2006, when then-President Felipe Calderon sent the army to the streets to fight drug traffickers, fragmenting the cartels and leading to vicious internal fighting.
Separately, officials said efforts to find the missing had so far uncovered 1,124 corpses in 873 clandestine burial pits.
The country's National Search Commission said in its first 13 months of work, only about one-third of the bodies found were identified and less than a quarter of the total had been returned to relatives.
The commission said about a third of the corpses it had found were located in just three of the country's 31 states: the northern state of Sinaloa, the Gulf coast state of Veracruz and the Pacific coast state of Colima.
Iran's parliament designates all US forces as 'terrorists'
Iranian legislators pass bill designating US military, Pentagon as terror groups for ordering Soleimani's killing.
Under the newly adopted bill on Tuesday, the entire US forces and employees of the Pentagon and affiliated organisations, agents and commanders and those who ordered the "martyrdom" of Soleimani were designated as "terrorists".
"Any aid to these forces, including military, intelligence, financial, technical, service or logistical, will be considered as cooperation in a terrorist act," the bill said.
Soleimani killing: Iran's Zarif vows response to US 'act of war'
Iran's foreign minister tells Al Jazeera the US days in the region are 'numbered', pledges retaliation in due course.
"Iran will respond because there was an act of war - an act of war combined with an act of terrorism against a senior official of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a citizen of Iran," Zarif said.
In a speech broadcast live on television earlier on Tuesday, Zarif said the US president committed a "stupid mistake by assassinating the greatest commander who stood in the face of terrorism".
"Our region, because of the US intervention ... has become victim to the endless war," Zarif said.
"Removing the US from western Asia is what will ... end wars and death in this region."
Trump impeachment trial: 10 senators to watch
As congressional leaders try to come to a deal on rules for Trump's trial, these senators' votes may become crucial.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still has not named the House managers who will act as prosecutors. She also must still transmit the articles of impeachment to the Republican-controlled Senate before a trial can take place. She has said she is waiting until there is a guarantee that a fair trial would be held.
Among the sticking points is whether witnesses will be called during the trial. Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer in the Senate, have provided a list of four people to be called as witnesses. Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have signalled they want swift proceedings with no witnesses.
Libya: Haftar forces announce capture of large parts of Sirte
Government of National Accord rejected the 'rumours claiming gains of militias and mercenaries of war criminal Haftar'.
Khaled al-Mahjoub, a spokesman of Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), said the fighters captured "all the districts surrounding the city", including al-Qardabiya airbase, before moving towards the city centre.
Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from the capital Tripoli, said that, according to the military sources in Sirte, "Haftar's forces took control of several parts of the city, including the port and the city centre along with the military camps in the south of the city."
"The city is very strategic because it is very close to the oil fields and oil ports in central Libya and the coast," he said.
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AL MAYADEEN
Venezuela: Un día con dos presidentes de dos Asambleas Nacionales
La Asamblea Nacional (AN) de Venezuela tiene una nueva junta directiva. Juan Guaidó, quien había asumido el año pasado en esta misma fecha, ya no es el presidente del Poder Legislativo. En su lugar fue elegido este domingo otro diputado de la oposición para el período 2020-2021: Luis Parra, del partido Primero Justicia.
Ese giro ocurrido en horas de la tarde, fue seguido por otro, aún más inesperado en la noche: los diputados de la derecha que no reconocieron la elección de Parra realizaron una sesión en la sede del periódico El Nacional donde ratificaron a Guaidó al frente del Legislativo.
La jornada se vio además marcada por la denuncia que realizó Guaidó desde las calles cercanas al Palacio, donde afirmó que el operativo de seguridad le impedía entrar a la sesión para presidirla y ganar con la mayoría que aseguró tener. Junto a él se encontraban otros diputados, algunos de los cuales inhabilitados por el Tribunal Supremo de Justicia (TSJ).
Esa versión fue desmentida tanto por los parlamentarios del chavismo, así como, por ejemplo, por Luis Parra y el diputado opositor José Britto, quienes aseguraron que Guaidó no ingresó a la sesión en vista de que sabía que no lograría los votos suficientes. Guaidó habría optado por mostrarse impedido de ingresar al recinto y así no perder la presidencia por los votos.
Gobierno de facto de Bolivia pretende anular festejos por el Día del Estado Plurinacional el 22 de enero
Por otra parte, el presidente de la Cámara de Diputados, Sergio Choque, sugirió este lunes que Morales, refugiado en Argentina, brinde su informe de gestión a la ALP el 22 de enero próximo y sea amplificado por pantallas gigantes sin necesidad de estar en la nación andino amazónica.
Anunció que en esa sesión de Asamblea darán lectura y pondrá a consideración de los legisladores la carta de renuncia del líder aymara, así como posibles procesos judiciales contra autoridades del régimen golpista por las muertes en Sacaba y Senkata.
El pasado 19 de noviembre, una operación policial-militar para desbloquear las rutas desde la planta de gas de Senkata (El Alto) desató un enfrentamiento con manifestantes opuestos al gobierno golpista con un saldo de 10 muertos.
Defensa británica intensifica planes de evacuación de su personal militar y civil de Iraq
Fuentes de la cartera de Defensa consideran que el riesgo de un ataque de represalia aumentará hoy después de tres días de luto nacional por la muerte de Qasem Suleimani, el alto comandante iraní asesinado por Estados Unidos durante ataque aéreo al aeropuerto de Bagdad en la madrugada del pasado viernes.
También están considerando la posibilidad de advertir formalmente a los barcos británicos que no viajen a través del estrecho de Ormuz.
Por su parte, Mark Esper, el secretario de Defensa de Estados Unidos, insistió en que su país no tenía planes de retirarse de Iraq después que salió una carta filtrada diciendo que estaría "reposicionando" sus tropas para preparar el "movimiento de salida" del país.
A su vez, una fuente de la coalición dijo que se trataba de una "carta redactada con torpeza" y se refería a que algunas fuerzas estadounidenses se trasladaban de la Zona Verde de Bagdad a bases más seguras, incluido el Campamento Taji, a 17 millas al norte de la capital.
OTAN discute futuro de su presencia en Iraq
Los 29 miembros de la OTAN se dieron cita en Bruselas antes de que el secretario general, Jens Stoltenberg, celebre una conferencia de prensa. Mientras se espera que los funcionarios estadounidenses hablen sobre la evolución de la situación.
Un portavoz de la OTAN dijo el sábado pasado que la misión, que incluye unos cientos de elementos de la coalición en Iraq, continuaba, "pero las actividades de capacitación están actualmente suspendidas".
Otro diplomático consideró que la alianza debería "esperar para conocer la respuesta de Bagdad en los próximos días".
