Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 18 February 2020
Killing of 7-year-old girl stokes anger in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The The abduction and killing
killing of a 7-year-old girl of the child-year-old came
on the southern outskirts just two days after Ingrid
of Mexico City has stoked Escamilla, a young Mexico
rising anger over brutal City resident, was allegedly
slayings of women, includ- murdered by a boyfriend.
ing one found stabbed to The man, who has been
death and skinned earlier arrested and purportedly
this month. confessed to killing Esca-
The city prosecutor's office milla with a knife, mutilated
said Monday that investi- her body and flushed part
gators identified a body of her corpse into the sew-
found over the weekend er.
as that of Fatima, a grade- Indignation grew after
school student who was some local media pub-
taken by a stranger on lished horrific photos of the
Feb. 11. By law, prosecutors skinned corpse, apparently
don't give the full name of leaked by city police offi-
victims. cers.
Her body was found Protesters read a statement
wrapped in a bag and Neighbors hold a banner that reads in Spanish "Not one less. Justice for Fatima" as they block the Friday saying, "It enrages us
abandoned in a rural area street near the Enrique C. Rebsamen primary school to protest the kidnapping and murder of a how Ingrid was killed, and
on Saturday and was iden- 7-year-old girl, in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. how the media put her
tified by genetic testing. Associated Press body on display."
The cause of death has not The Mexican capital has
been released. Five people paperwork involved in fil- made the family wait hours and family welfare agen- seen a series of angry dem-
have been questioned in ing charges and picking and travel across the city to cies had not helped them. onstrations over killings of
the case, and video foot- up the girl's body. "We are even file a missing person Many relatives and com- women over the past few
age of her abduction ex- going to accompany the report. Other relatives ac- mentators called for ur- months, including several in
ists. family, and justice must be cused police of not acting gent changes to primary which protesters have van-
Prosecutors' spokes- done," Sheinbaum said. quickly enough. school safety protocols. At dalized major monuments
man Ulises Lara offered a The girl's mother, Maria "She could have been government schools in ur- and buildings.
$100,000 reward for infor- Magdalena Antón, ap- found alive, but nobody ban areas of Mexico, chil- The killings have proved a
mation on the person who peared angry and dis- paid attention to us," said dren simply walk out on the politically difficult issue for
picked her up when she left traught outside prosecu- Sonia López, the girl's aunt. street after classes end. Al- President Andrés Manuel
school. tors' offices. "Justice has to López also said there had though their parents are of- López Obrador, who said
Mexico City Mayor Clau- be done, for my daughter been longstanding ques- ten waiting outside, it is not protests over the killings
dia Sheinbaum person- and for all women," she tions about the mother's the school's responsibility to were an attempt to distract
ally accompanied the girl's said. ability to care for her chil- make sure someone is wait- attention from his social
mother during the legal She said investigators dren, but that city health ing to meet them. programs.q

Denouncing U.S., Venezuelan

troops, militias stage drills

pressure from the U.S. and ment supporters dressed in seeks to boost militia ranks,
dozens of other nations red shirts held combat drills filled out by the old and
backing a year-long cam- on streets blocked off by young, housewives and stu-
paign by opposition leader city buses. They evacuated dents.
Juan Guaidó to force the residents from buildings as Guaidó, who launched a
leader from power. tires burned on rooftops to campaign a year ago to
Residents in a pro-Maduro simulate fires from attacks. end two decades of social-
slum in Caracas participat- "The purpose of this ex- ist rule, on Saturday call on
A member of the Bolivarian National Militia brandishes a rifle
during an invasion drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Feb. ed in the exercises. They in- ercise is to keep us pre- the armed forces to aban-
15, 2020. cluded a growing number pared," said militia member don Maduro's failed lead-
Associated press of civilian militia members Carmen Ferrer, 50. ership and help him recon-
recruited by a cash-starved Maduro said that the two- struct a new Venezuela. His
By JORGE RUEDA and MA- there are no indications government that is strug- day maneuvers were previous appeals to the mil-
TIAS DELACROIX that the U.S. plans any mili- gling to keep Venezuela's aimed at fending off "ter- itary to change sides have
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) tary intervention in Ven- shattered economy afloat. rorist aggression" by Wash- fallen short.
— Venezuela's armed forc- ezuela. Washington has "I answered the call to help ington and its allies in the "We are with you," he said,
es and civilian militias took focused on political and prepare for our defense region including neighbor- lamenting the condition of
the streets in cities, beach- diplomatic pressure in its ef- because my country, my ing Colombia. what he called "malnour-
es and border regions on forts to oust Maduro, only homeland, is under threat The Venezuelan military, ished soldiers" in Venezu-
Saturday for drills ordered saying last year that it had from the U.S. empire," said which has received Rus- ela's once-proud military.
by President Nicolás Madu- not ruled out a military op- militia member Pablo An- sian support, deployed mis- A relatively small num-
ro, amid tensions between tion. tonio Reyes, a 63-year-old sile launchers, anti-aircraft ber of Venezuelan troops
Washington and Caracas. Maduro called for the ex- electronics technician. batteries and radars in the have defected in the past
Despite the maneuvers, ercises as he comes under Militiamen and govern- streets. The government year.q