Murder suspect Alejandro Jimenez was first arrested in Colombia then expelled on Tuesday to face trial in Guatemala for the shooting death of famed folk singer Facundo Cabral on July 9 last year.
Jimenez, alias El Palidejo, left Bogota on Tuesday afternoon aboard a Colombian National Police airplane headed to Guatemala City, a police spokesman said.
Jimenez, 38, is alleged to have masterminded the attack by gunmen that killed the popular Argentine singer as he was being driven to the airport in Guatemala City.
Colombia federal police chief Oscar Naranjo told reporters the murder plot included four alleged accomplices, all of whom have been arrested.
Jimenez, a Costa Rican citizen, was captured by Colombian police in northwestern Colombia at Puerto Punta Albite, where he arrived on Saturday morning from Panama on a boat with two Colombians.
Naranjo said Jimenez is suspected of being the “author, prime suspect or mastermind” in the murder of Cabral.
The suspect, a wealthy businessman, is also accused of being a supplier and money launderer for the Sinaloa Mexican drug cartel.
The extradition followed hours of request to Colombian authorities by Guatemalan prosecutor Ricardo Guzman.
Guzman described his extradition request as “an urgent petition.”
“It is important for the Guatemalan justice system and the world that this issue be cleared up,” Guzman said.
Costa Rican Attorney General Jorge Chavarria said he prefers that Jimenez be tried in Guatemala and not his country of origin.
Guatemalan police said Cabral, 74, appears to have been an unintended victim of a murder attempt against businessman Henry Farinas, who had refused to sell nightclubs to Jimenez. Cabral, whom Farinas had hired as a performer, was riding in the same car as the businessman when the assassins opened fire.
Farinas was injured, but survived and is now a witness in the case.
Argentina held three days of national mourning after Cabral’s death. Fans turned up in droves to pay final respects as the singer’s coffin was displayed in the theater district of downtown Buenos Aires.
A global nomad who claimed to have visited 150 countries, Cabral sang largely about peace, love and everyday pleasures and pain.
His songs include the 1970s hit I’m Not From Here Nor There and are frequently performed by other Spanish-language performers. He was declared to be a “World Peace Messenger” in 1996 by UNESCO.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese