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By Gerard MARTINEZ MIAMI, Feb 8, 2024 (AFP) – A year ago, Felix Maradiaga, who was imprisoned while running for president against Nicaragua’s increasingly authoritarian leader Daniel Ortega, was freed and exiled to the United States. The 47-year-old had been arrested along with several other opposition candidates months before the country’s November 2021 vote, while Ortega went on to claim a fourth consecutive term. Now living in Miami, Maradiaga spoke with AFP about his ordeal, […]
MUMBAI, Dec 25, 2023 (AFP) – A plane that had been grounded in France for days over concerns its nearly 300 mostly Indian passengers were part of a human trafficking scheme has landed in Mumbai, flight tracking data showed early Tuesday. The Airbus A340 initially had been bound for Nicaragua when it was detained last Thursday at Vatry airport, east of Paris, where it had stopped for refuelling. It had arrived from Dubai and there […]
By Catherine DAUDENHAN, with Kenan AUGEARD in Lille VATRY, France, Dec 24, 2023 (AFP) – Four French judges on Sunday began questioning more than 300 Indians travelling on a plane detained near Paris over suspicions of human trafficking. The Nicaragua-bound Airbus A340 has been held at Vatry airport, 150 kilometres (95 miles) east of Paris, since arriving from Dubai on Thursday for refuelling after an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human […]
VATRY, France, Dec 23, 2023 (AFP) – Ten Indian passengers among more than 300, including unaccompanied minors, on a Nicaragua-bound plane held in France over suspected human trafficking have applied for asylum, a source close to the case told AFP Saturday. The plane has been held at Vatry airport, 150 kilometres (95 miles) east of Paris, since arriving from Dubai on Thursday following an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human trafficking. […]
SAN JOSÉ, Nov 26, 2023 (AFP) – Nicaraguan authorities have barred the director of the national beauty pageant from re-entering the country after a Nicaraguan woman seen as a symbol of opposition to the government was crowned Miss Universe, media reports and exiled opposition members said. Karen Celebertti and her daughter were detained upon their arrival at the Managua airport — days after seeing 23-year-old Sheynnis Palacios crowned as the first Miss Universe from Nicaragua […]
SAN SALVADOR, Nov 19, 2023 (AFP) – Nicaragua’s Sheynnis Palacios was crowned Miss Universe 2023 on Saturday at the 72nd edition of the pageant, held this year in El Salvador. Palacios, 23, received the crown and sash from her predecessor, R’Bonney Gabriel from the United States. This is the first time a contestant from Nicaragua has won the contest, with Thailand’s Anntonia Porsild and Australia’s Moraya Wilson rounding out the top three. Palacios, who said […]
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AFP) — A magnitude 6.8 earthquake off the coast of Central America shook El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua on Tuesday, though without any immediate damage reported, according to Salvadoran authorities. The quake was registered at 6:22 pm (0222 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean, about 66 kilometers (41 miles) south of the Salvadoran coast, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS originally recorded the earthquake at a magnitude of […]
CARACAS, June 13, 2023 (AFP) — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi began a rare diplomatic tour of Latin America on Monday with a first stop in Caracas, where he said his country and Venezuela are “friends” with “common enemies.” Raisi’s schedule is also set to include visits to Cuba and Nicaragua, who, like Iran and Venezuela, are all the target of US sanctions. “We have common interests, common visions, and common enemies,” the president said, without […]
by Eva Rodriguez Lorenzo Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Over 200 detained members of Nicaragua’s opposition were freed Thursday and expelled to the United States, in a surprise move by the Central American country’s increasingly authoritarian president, Daniel Ortega. After weeks of quiet talks with Washington, Nicaragua allowed the 222 detainees — which include former challengers to Ortega — to board a chartered flight to Washington. US officials said they would allow the […]
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AFP) — A Nicaraguan bishop who has been a sharp critic of the government of President Daniel Ortega and who has been under house arrest since August was charged Tuesday with conspiracy and propagation of false news, a judicial body reported. Bishop Rolando Álvarez, 56, was charged with “crimes of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and propagation of false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the Nicaraguan state and […]
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AFP) — Jose Galeano is on the verge of embarking on the most important and frightening journey of his life. He took out a loan secured against his house and paid people smugglers to help him begin an odyssey he hopes will end in the United States. Having worked as a farmhand, a gardener, and a laborer, this 35-year-old former veterinary medicine graduate is joining the thousands of Nicaraguans fleeing the second poorest […]
BLUEFIELDS, Nicaragua (AFP) — Hurricane Julia raked across Nicaragua Sunday, lashing the country with winds and heavy rain and bringing potentially life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides to much of Central America and southern Mexico. Maximum sustained winds were estimated at 85 miles (140 kilometers) per hour when the storm made landfall near the Laguna de Perlas area at 0715 GMT, the country’s weather agency said. By midday, the fifth Atlantic hurricane of the season had […]
