News summary for Tuesday, July 16

• Penal Forum warned of an increase in political arrests; PUD confirmed that it has 100% of the witnesses for the voting centers abroad; the fall of a bus into an abyss in Peru left a balance of 21 dead | Photo: EFE/EPA/SARAH YENESEL

This Tuesday, July 16, the Penal Forum recorded an increase in political prisoners in the country.

The Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) confirmed that it has 100% of the electoral witnesses in the voting centers abroad.

Tourism Minister Ali Padrón reported that 1,095,000 international tourists have arrived in Venezuela so far in 2024.

In international news, at least 21 people have died following the passenger bus they were travelling on fell into a ravine in the Ayacucho region of Peru.

Below are the most important news from Tuesday, July 16:

The non-governmental organization (NGO) Foro Penal reported an increase in the number of political prisoners in the country, reaching 301 as of Tuesday, July 16.

According to information provided by the NGO in a press conference, 11 people have been arrested in one week in connection with the tours of opposition leader María Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo González.

So far in 2024, the Criminal Forum has recorded 102 arrests of people related to María Corina Machado or who provided some type of support or service during the tours.

Photo: Adriana Nunez

2. Unitary Platform confirmed that it has accredited 100% of the witnesses for the voting centers abroad

The Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) stated on Tuesday, July 16, that it already has 100% of the electoral witnesses in the voting centers abroad, as well as in the penitentiary centers in the country, in view of the presidential elections on July 28.

“We want to inform the people of Venezuela that last night the accreditation of witnesses for the unit in the centers abroad was 100% complete, as was the accreditation of the unit in the penitentiary centers,” said Juan Carlos Caldera, leader of the Primero Justicia (PJ) party, in statements collected by the EFE news agency.

Caldera explained that, although the electoral population in prisons is “very low,” they are fulfilling their quota of witnesses.

He also asked citizens who were chosen as polling station members for the presidential elections and have had difficulty obtaining their credentials to try once more.

3. A bus fell into a precipice in Peru, leaving 21 dead

At least 21 people died following the passenger bus they were traveling on fell into a precipice in the Ayacucho region of Peru on Tuesday, July 16, official sources reported.

The accident occurred in a rural area known as Ccarchuaccpampa, in the Ayacucho province of Cangallo, where the bus fell into a 200-meter-wide abyss, reported the EFE news agency.

Police sources said the vehicle was traveling from Lima to Ayacucho, more than 560 kilometers from the Peruvian capital, and the injured, whose number has not yet been officially determined, were transferred to different hospitals in that city in southern Peru.

Photo: Peru 21

Tourism Minister Ali Padrón reported on Tuesday, April 12, that 1,095,000 international tourists have arrived in Venezuela so far in 2024.

“For 2024, the numbers continue to increase significantly. To date, we have received 1,095,000 international arrivals, which means an increase of 202% compared to last year,” he detailed on his X account (formerly Twitter).

According to Padrón, in 2023 the figure of 1,258,486 international arrivals was reached and the projection for 2024 is to reach 1,573,108.

We have demonstrated our resilience and ability to overcome any adversity. In the Tourism Sector in 2023, we reached extraordinary numbers, more than 1 million 250 thousand international arrivals.#VenezuelaVaPaLante @NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/cJ19qDqRqm

— Ali Ernesto Padrón Paredes (@AliErnesto32) July 16, 2024

5. US Senator Robert Menendez found guilty of 16 corruption charges

A New York court declared on Tuesday, July 16, the senator from New Jersey, Robert “Bob” Menendezguilty of 16 charges of corruption.

The judge’s verdict will be announced on October 29, according to a statement made by Magistrate Sidney Stein, according to the EFE news agency.

Prosecutors had accused Menendez, 70, and his wife, Nadine, of accepting millions in gifts from Egypt and Qatar to help them politically while he was in office, to the point of calling him a “foreign agent.”

The senator never wanted to take a plea deal, which might have reduced his sentence from a maximum of 20 years, and presented the gifts he received as a natural part of a politician’s activity.

EFE/EPA/SARAH YENESEL

The French Kylian Mbappé signed the contract that will bind him to Real Madrid for the next five seasons on Tuesday, with Florentino Pérez, the club president, at his side.

Mbappé went to the Ciudad Deportiva, where he had already been in 2012, at the age of 14, when during his visit to the facilities he took a photo with the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo.

This Tuesday, July 16, 12 years later, Mbappé returned as a first-team player. And to seal the deal, he held the formal signing ceremony alongside Florentino Pérez, who acted as the Frenchman’s host.

EFE/Chema Moya

In The newspaper We present you a summary of the most important information of the day, which you should know at the national and international level.

Related news