A year ago in tiny Ingram, Texas, a local police officer named Jaron Alexander responded to a noise complaint—a baptism party, it turned out, held by Joanna Martinez and her extended family. Shortly after, Alexander began working in tandem with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in an arrangement that has recently doubled the number of local police working with ICE. Within months, six people who attended Martinez’s party had been detained and deported, or else had fled from Ingram. Francesca D’Annunzio and McKenzie Funk grant impressive access to a local cop whose decision to work with ICE has transformed a small town into a claustrophobic nightmare, upending the local economy and fracturing countless relationships.
One family notarized guardianship papers, in case the parents were detained and the children left behind. One woman swore Alexander showed up outside a memorial service and asked people for IDs. Another woman said he detained her and her husband when they returned home from church. Parties dwindled. Invite lists shrank. People began to move away, to Kerrville and San Antonio, and Alexander’s reputation reached as far as La Ceja, a village in the mountains of central Mexico, where an elderly resident said he and his neighbors were familiar with the Texas town’s police. “El Charger negro,” he said, with a knowing nod. He estimated that some 20 or 30 people in the village were recent deportees from Ingram.
Alexander’s fortunes seemed to rise as the Martinez family’s fell. With her husband gone, Joanna Martinez couldn’t afford payments on the trailer they shared. She and their infant and her 4-year-old son moved back into her childhood bedroom in her mother’s crowded home, where several relatives and their children also lived. She tried to stay connected with her husband, Macias, via WhatsApp calls while working as much as she could as a house cleaner to keep afloat. “I can’t lock myself up in my room and just cry,” Martinez says.
Lawmakers from Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party (PT) asked a court on Tuesday to order the preventive detention of former presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and trigger an Interpol red notice, accusing him of fleeing to United States to evade Brazilian justice.
The request landed one day after the far-right senator ignored a Supreme Federal Court order to surrender his passports within 24 hours. He had previously said he would comply with the measure and had no plans to leave Brazil.
Federal deputy Lindbergh Farias filed the motion alongside colleagues Rogério Correia and Ana Elisa Santos. “We have filed a request for preventive detention for Flávio Bolsonaro, who did not surrender his passport and has allegedly fled to United States,” Farias explained. “We have also asked for the Interpol red alert to be activated,” he detailed.
The lawmakers argue that Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son is trying to dodge criminal proceedings opened against him over alleged corruption, money laundering and illegal currency transfers. Correia went further, assuring the former candidate “was plotting a new coup attempt in case he did not win the elections.”
🚨AGORA: Os deputados federais Lindbergh Farias, Ana Elisa e Rogério Correia pedem prisão de Flávio Bolsonaro e alerta vermelho da Interpol. pic.twitter.com/aRjy0px2S4
Regional media reported from the early hours of Tuesday that the senator had left national territory bound for United States, with a stopover in Argentina, but his exact whereabouts remain unknown. His campaign team has stayed silent, neither confirming nor denying the reports of a flight.
Brazilian Federal Police reinforced inspections at border points and kept inquiries open to determine whether he actually left the country. The order demanding his passports grew out of a recent interview with his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who suggested that Flávio should leave Brazil and contest the vote count if he suffered an electoral defeat.
Flávio Bolsonaro now faces a tightening legal perimeter. At the Supreme Federal Court, Justice Alexandre de Moraes oversees investigations into money laundering schemes connected to betting houses and large transfers with lawyer Willer Tomaz. Justice André Mendonça runs separate probes into irregularities in fundraising for the film “Dark Horse.”
The alleged escape raises the stakes of those cases. A defendant who remains inside the country can fight charges through the courts; one who crosses a border becomes the subject of an international pursuit, and the request filed Tuesday is aimed at exactly that outcome.
The episode carries a family precedent. Eduardo Bolsonaro has lived in United States since 2025 to avoid a four-year prison sentence for coercion of justice in the coup attempt trials against their father, former President Jair Bolsonaro. Flávio’s own passport order traces back to Eduardo’s public suggestion that his brother flee and challenge the results.
That connection is now central to the Workers’ Party argument. The lawmakers contend the senator’s failure to hand over his passports was not a bureaucratic lapse but a deliberate move to escape accountability, a claim the defense has not addressed while the campaign team holds its silence.
The court will now weigh the detention request against the evidence that Flávio Bolsonaro left the country. If the Interpol red notice is activated, it would oblige member states to locate and provisionally arrest him, transforming a domestic legal dispute into an international manhunt.
For now, Brazilian authorities are working to confirm the exact circumstances of his departure. The investigation will determine whether the border crossing was legal, and whether any official assisted it. Those questions will shape the next phase of a case that has already drawn the attention of the entire region.
Bolivia Prison Project Would Follow El Salvador’s Bukele Model
The Bolivia prison project announced by Santa Cruz Governor Juan Pablo Velasco would create a maximum-security facility in the Chaco region, inspired by El Salvador’s controversial Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT.
Velasco said his administration is seeking international financing to build the prison, which would be named “La Tumba”—The Tomb.
The facility would be located in an isolated area of the Chaco cruceño, far from major urban centers, to ensure a strict confinement regime.
According to the governor, the prison would operate with permanent surveillance and severely restricted communication with the outside world. Inmates would be allowed to contact relatives only through authorized video calls.
Velasco presented the proposal as a response to organized crime networks that operate from inside Bolivia’s prisons.
“Prisons turned into offices for organized crime are over,” the governor said. “Dangerous criminals must be isolated from society, not running their businesses from a cell.”
He added that the project would respect rights but end what he described as criminal privileges inside detention centers.
The proposal takes direct inspiration from the CECOT prison built in El Salvador under President Nayib Bukele. That facility was created as part of Bukele’s hard-line security strategy against gangs and organized crime.
CECOT has become a symbol of Bukele’s security policy, but human rights organizations have raised serious concerns about due process, prison conditions and allegations of abuse.
The Santa Cruz governor did not provide details about the cost of the project, the source of financing, the construction timeline or the number of inmates the facility would hold.
The announcement comes amid growing pressure to address crime and violence in Bolivia’s prison system.
Santa Cruz is Bolivia’s most populous department and includes Palmasola, the country’s largest and most conflictive prison.
Bolivia Prison Project Seeks to Isolate High-Risk Inmates
The Bolivia prison project is intended to separate inmates considered high-risk from the general prison population.
Velasco argues that the current system allows criminal organizations to continue operating from prison cells. He says the new facility would prevent leaders of criminal networks from directing illegal activities while in detention.
The governor’s proposal is part of a broader security agenda that includes efforts to strengthen police patrols and increase the number of officers on the streets.
The Santa Cruz governorate has also promoted a legislative route to return command authority over the police to the departmental government.
Currently, Bolivia has only one maximum-security prison: Chonchocoro, located in the highland department of La Paz.
Santa Cruz has four main detention centers administered by the General Directorate of the Penitentiary System.
The most important is Palmasola, an urban prison located within the city of Santa Cruz. It houses both men and women and is considered the country’s largest, most populated and most violent detention facility.
Palmasola has been the scene of serious episodes of violence between inmates in previous years.
The proposed prison in the Chaco would seek to decentralize the custody of high-risk detainees and reduce the risks created by locating large prisons near residential areas.
The project would also aim to prevent criminal groups from maintaining control over prison populations.
However, the proposal raises questions about the legal framework, the definition of “high-risk” inmates and the safeguards that would protect due process.
Human rights organizations have warned that maximum-security facilities can become sites of isolation, abuse and lack of transparency if they are not subject to independent monitoring.
The Defensoría del Pueblo has repeatedly warned that Bolivia’s prison system is facing a structural crisis.
The institution reported that the country’s prison population reached 33,058 people in 2025, nearly double the 17,305 inmates recorded in 2020.
The increase has intensified overcrowding, weakened security and reduced access to health services.
Bolivia’s prisons are currently operating at approximately 109 percent of their installed capacity, according to the Defensoría del Pueblo.
More than half of the prison population is being held under pretrial detention, meaning they have not received a final conviction.
The institution has warned that overcrowding, poor nutrition, limited medical care and inadequate security are creating a humanitarian crisis inside the country’s 46 detention centers.
The Defensoría has called for measures to reduce overcrowding, including judicial congestion programs, alternative sentences and legal reforms.
It has also urged the state to guarantee food, medical care and dignified conditions for all people deprived of liberty.
The Bolivia prison project is inspired by a model that has generated significant controversy in El Salvador and across Latin America.
El Salvador’s CECOT was inaugurated in 2023 as part of President Nayib Bukele’s campaign against gangs. The facility was designed to hold up to 40,000 inmates.
The prison became the centerpiece of a state of exception declared in March 2022. That measure suspended several constitutional protections and expanded police powers to arrest and detain suspected gang members.
El Salvador’s government says the policy has drastically reduced gang violence and restored public security.
The administration argues that the state of exception was necessary to dismantle criminal organizations that had controlled neighborhoods, extorted businesses and committed violent crimes for decades.
Bukele remains highly popular among many Salvadorans who credit his government with improving safety and reducing gang activity.
However, human rights organizations have documented serious concerns about the policy.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported mass arbitrary detentions, lack of due process, mistreatment of detainees and restricted access to legal defense.
Rights groups have also raised concerns about prison conditions at CECOT, including overcrowding, prolonged isolation and limited contact with families and lawyers.
Reports by human rights organizations have alleged that detainees have faced beatings, sexual violence, denial of medical care and incommunicado detention.
The Salvadoran government has rejected those accusations and says its policies respect human rights while protecting citizens from criminal violence.
The debate over the Bukele model has become increasingly influential across Latin America. Several governments have expressed interest in adopting tougher security policies, including mass detention, military deployment and the construction of large prisons.
Supporters argue that the model responds to public demands for security in countries affected by organized crime, extortion and drug trafficking.
Critics warn that it can weaken democratic institutions, criminalize poverty and allow abuses to occur without accountability.
The Bolivia prison project will therefore be closely watched by human rights organizations, legal experts and regional governments.
The proposal could mark a significant shift in Bolivia’s approach to crime and incarceration.
Impulsamos una ruta legislativa para devolver al gobernador facultades de mando sobre la Policía, fortalecer los patrullajes y garantizar más efectivos en nuestras calles. pic.twitter.com/UXKDT0ip18
The Bolivia prison project reflects a broader regional debate over security, democracy and the limits of state power.
Latin American governments have faced growing pressure to respond to organized crime, drug trafficking, extortion and prison violence.
In several countries, public demand for security has strengthened political leaders who promise hard-line measures, including mass arrests, military deployment and the construction of maximum-security prisons.
El Salvador has become the most visible example of that approach. Bukele’s government has used the state of exception to detain tens of thousands of people and build large-scale detention facilities.
The model has gained influence across the region, but it has also raised concerns about the erosion of constitutional protections and judicial independence.
Bolivia’s proposal could place the country within that wider trend. Santa Cruz is a key economic and political region, and its governor has made security a central issue of his administration.
The project could also affect relations between the departmental government and Bolivia’s central authorities.
Prison administration, criminal justice and policing are areas that require coordination between national and subnational governments. Any new prison would need to comply with national law, budget rules and human rights obligations.
The proposal comes at a time when Bolivia’s prison system is already under severe strain. The Defensoría del Pueblo has warned that overcrowding and pretrial detention are weakening the rule of law.
A new maximum-security prison could reduce pressure on existing facilities, but it would not solve the underlying causes of prison overcrowding.
Experts say that reducing pretrial detention, improving judicial efficiency and addressing poverty and inequality are essential to creating a sustainable solution.
The Bolivia prison project will therefore test whether the country can strengthen security while preserving human rights and democratic institutions.
Ecuadorian opposition figure Luisa González faces pretrial detention over alleged money laundering in the Labyrinth case.
Ecuadorian opposition leader and former presidential candidate Luisa González was transferred to a prison in Riobamba on Friday night after a judge ordered her pretrial detention over alleged money laundering in the so-called Labyrinth case.
A convoy of National Police and Armed Forces personnel arrived outside the detention center in Riobamba, in Chimborazo province, shortly after 9 p.m. local time on Oct. 23. Prison authorities had not officially confirmed González’s admission to the women’s facility at the time of the report.
The transfer began shortly after 4 p.m. from the Modelo barracks in Guayaquil, where González had been taken following her arrest Thursday in Canuto, Manabí province. Police transported her to an air base before she boarded a flight that landed at Latacunga airport in Cotopaxi province at 7:30 p.m.
Although initial reports indicated that González would be held at a prison in Cotopaxi or Quito, police ultimately arranged for her to travel by road to Riobamba in a heavily guarded convoy accompanied by patrol cars and tactical units.
Text Reads: 🛬 Luisa González, former presidential candidate for the Citizen Revolution (Revolución Ciudadana) movement, arrived at Cotopaxi Airport under the escort of military and police personnel, hours after a judge ordered her pretrial detention. ⚖️ This measure relates to alleged money laundering, as part of the “Laberinto” (Labyrinth) case. González was taken into custody early Thursday morning following a raid on her home in Chone, Manabí. 🏛️ The State Attorney General’s Office maintained its request for pretrial detention, which also applies to former assembly member Santiago Díaz and Wendy Onofre, secretary of the RETO movement. 📌 These judicial actions are part of a broader agenda of political persecution being carried out by the administration of Daniel Noboa against opposition figures and leaders.
The use of air transport for part of the journey was intended to reduce public-order risks amid tensions at several prisons across Ecuador. Interior Minister John Reimberg directly linked the unrest to reactions to González’s arrest.
González, the former leader of the Citizen Revolution movement, has rejected the allegations against her. The movement and her associates denounced the pretrial detention order as an act of lawfare and political persecution.
In a statement posted on social media, González reaffirmed her innocence and declared that she would remain in Ecuador to face the judicial proceedings.
Supporters gathered outside the Riobamba prison to hold a vigil, carrying flags and banners behind a security barrier erected by uniformed personnel. Patricia Núñez, a member of the National Assembly representing Chimborazo province, joined the gathering.
The court also ordered pretrial detention for former lawmaker Santiago D. and Wendy Onofre, secretary of the RETO movement, in connection with the same case. Onofre voluntarily surrendered in Guayas province and was admitted shortly after 8 p.m. to the Pichincha No. 3 detention center in Chillogallo, southern Quito.
Another defendant, Estefanía M., was granted alternative measures for the 90-day investigation period, including regular reporting to authorities, a ban on leaving the country and electronic monitoring.
In states like Florida, officers who hand out fishing citations and inspect produce have been deputized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, expanding the reach of President Trump’s deportation campaign.
A canal in Dania Beach, Fla., in September. The canal was the site of an encounter that led Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers to contact federal immigration authorities.
Oscar Belgal, a Dominican immigrant, was shot in the neck on Oct. 8 and detained at a federal prison. His lawyers had said he needed outside medical care.
Immigration agents descended upon Oscar Belgal, an undocumented Dominican immigrant, as he drove with his son along a strip of small stores in New York on Oct. 8.
Israel continues to imprison her without charge or trial. Her lawyers have not been able to visit her. Her prolonged solitary confinement is a violation of international standards – Supporters ask the Red Cross to urgently intervene
At least 350 children remain in custody at this time, where they face harsh conditions, including torture, food deprivation, isolation, and denial of medical care.
Maj. Jason Watson was arrested after he participated in a news conference calling for Trump to be removed from office over his launching of military actions against Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela without congressional authorization
When Joudeh delivered her baby, she was malnourished, handcuffed, and surrounded by Israeli soldiers with guns. The Israeli doctor said, "the terrorist has arrived," and dressed the child in grey like a prisoner.
A quarter-century ago, after a deadly terrorist attack raised fiery explosions from the World Trade Center buildings, the US Department of Homeland Security introduced a color-coded advisory system, under which orange signified “High Risk of Terrorist Activities.” For many people, including Dushko Petrovich Córdova, “this ambient, lingering orange signaled that emergency was continuous, a new way of living.” Ours is a world of prison jumpsuits and Home Depot, leaders with an affinity for fake tans and “aptitude for the orange of perpetual crisis,” public health maps of infection rates painted various shades of orange to mark severity, a sky dyed orange by wildfire smoke. We are inundated by the color; it feels, at times, inescapable. Is it really? Follow Córdova to the brilliant end of this stunner.
Once, in the late ’90s, a few years before the dawn of the orange era, I found myself in Montreal for a friend’s wedding. There was a wildfire nearby, and I remember trying to capture the eerie effect of the atmosphere turning orange with the disposable cameras that had been handed out to all the guests. The resulting pictures looked underexposed and nothing more, the otherworldly orange haze rendered mostly regular gray.
So, decades later, in 2023, when photos of smoke from yet another Canadian wildfire began to appear on social media, I was surprised by how well digital photography had captured what had proved so elusive in the late disposable-camera era. The best civilian shot I saw was of the scenery through a window. The cool interior lighting framed the orangeness outside, in the same way that you might frame a sunset, except that instead of a bright band of orange light at the horizon, this orange was everywhere, pressing at all the edges of the window frame and probably trying to get in through the cracks. In another image I saw a gray cat sitting on a windowsill, apparently unperturbed by the wide expanse of horror just behind it.
Iranian Airlines Face Chronic Difficulties: On September 30, bailiffs boarded a Caspian Airlines Boeing 737—while passengers sat ready for takeoff—and served an order to collect a debt of 3 million euros before the aircraft could depart. The detention occurred just days after US secondary sanctions against the Iranian aviation sector came into effect, halving international […]
A 82-year-old man was reportedly beaten to death by a 76-year-old man during a argument over a sunbed in a popular organized beach in Vouliagmeni in Athens Riviera on Sunday. According to initial information, the 76-year-old who was accompanied with a 21-year-old woman argued with the victim over the sunbed. Quickly the situation went out […]
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