LATIN AMERICA

Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: AFP

Hernandez governed the Central American nation for eight years until last month and now faces a U.S. extradition request issued Tuesday that seeks to force him to face drug trafficking charges in U.S. courts.

“You are not alone! There is a great political party that supports you,” one supporter of Hernandez’s right-wing National Party told local broadcaster TSI.

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A businessman described as the main conduit for corruption in Venezuela was secretly signed up by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as a source in 2018, revealing information about bribes he paid to top officials in President Nicolás Maduro’s socialist government.

As part of his multi-year cooperation, Alex Saab also forfeited millions of dollars in illegal proceeds he admitted to earning from corrupt state contracts, new records in a closely-watched criminal case show. But his contact with U.S. law enforcement ended abruptly after he missed a May 30, 2019 deadline to surrender to or face criminal charges, according to prosecutors.

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A dozen undocumented migrants on Mexico's southern border sewed their mouths shut on Tuesday in a bid to convince the country's immigration authority to grant them passage toward the U.S. border.

The migrants, mostly Central and South Americans, helped each other seal their lips using needles and plastic threads, leaving a small space to consume liquids and using alcohol to wipe away drops of blood from the stitches, Reuters images show.

"The migrants are sewing their lips together as a sign of protest," said Irineo Mujica, an activist at the demonstration. "We hope that the National Migration Institute can see that they are bleeding, that they are human beings."

Mexico's migration agency (INM) said in a public statement that "it is worrying that these measures have been carried out with the consent and support of those who call themselves their representatives, with the intention of pressuring authorities on an attention already provided."

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The United States has asked Honduras to arrest former President Juan Orlando Hernández for his eventual extradition to the U.S., officials confirmed Monday.

National Police and soldiers surrounded the neighborhood around Hernández’s home Monday night.

Honduras’ foreign affairs ministry initially said via Twitter that it had notified the country’s Supreme Court of Justice that the U.S. Embassy had formally requested the arrest of a Honduran politician for the purposes of extradition.

The ministry did not identify the politician. But Honduras’ current vice president, Salvador Nasralla, confirmed to The Associated Press that the request names Hernández.