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WORLD NEWS Friday 6 May 2022
Colombia extradites feared head of Gulf Clan to U.S.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — move. The high court dis-
Colombia extradited the missed a petition from a
alleged head of the feared group of Úsuga David’s vic-
Gulf Clan, who had been tims who argued that his ex-
the country’s most wanted tradition would violate their
drug lord before his cap- rights to justice and repara-
ture, to the United States tion. They wanted him to
Wednesday where he fac- first face the more than 128
es indictments in three fed- proceedings against him in
eral courts. Colombia. .
Colombian President Iván Duque said that from the
Duque said Dairo Antonio United States, Úsuga would
Úsuga David is “compara- continue collaborating
ble only to Pablo Escobar,” with the Colombian au-
referring to the late former thorities in the investiga-
head of the Medellin drug tions against him and once
cartel. he completes his sentences
“He is not only the most for drug trafficking, he will
dangerous drug trafficker in return to “Colombia to pay
the world, but he is murder- In this photo released by the Colombian Presidential Press Office, police fingerprint Dairo Antonio for the crimes he commit-
er of social leaders, abuser Usuga, also known as “Otoniel,” leader of the violent Clan del Golfo cartel prior to his extradition ted.”
of boys, girls and adoles- to the U.S., at a military airport in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, May 4, 2022. The Gulf Clan’s army of as-
cents, a murderer of po- Associated Press sassins terrorized much of
licemen,” Duque said ac- He was transferred for allegedly providing as- Úsuga David’s also cycled northern Colombia to gain
companied by Colombia’s Wednesday in handcuffs sistance to a far-right para- through the ranks of sev- control of major cocaine
military leaders whom he and wearing a helmet and military group designated eral guerrilla groups, most smuggling routes through
congratulated for guard- a bulletproof vest from a a terrorist organization by recently claiming to lead thick jungles north to Cen-
ing Úsuga David and cap- prison in Bogotá to a heav- the U.S. government. Later the Gaitanist Self Defense tral America and onto the
turing him in October 2021. ily guarded military trans- indictments in Brooklyn and Forces of Colombia, after U.S.
The former rural warlord, port air field. Miami federal courts ac- a mid-20th century Colom- As he defied authorities
better known by his alias He’s long been a fixture on cused him of importing into bian leftist firebrand. for years, his legend as a
Otoniel, had stayed on the the U.S. Drug Enforcement the U.S. at least 73 metric The Colombian govern- bandit grew alongside the
run for more than a de- Administration’s most- tons of cocaine between ment began the capo’s horror stories told by Co-
cade by corrupting state wanted list. 2003 and 2014 through extradition after the State lombian authorities of the
officials and aligning him- He was first indicted in 2009, countries including Vene- Council lifted a provision- many underage women
self with combatants on in Manhattan federal court, zuela, Guatemala, Mexico, al suspension of an order he and his cohorts alleg-
the left and right. on narcotics charges and Panama, and Honduras. by Duque endorsing the edly abused sexually.q

U.S. resumes limited visa processing in

Cuba after 4 years

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ consular services on the is- The Associated Press that
Associated Press land amid a hardening of for the time being U.S. of-
HAVANA (AP) — The U.S. relations. The resumption ficials in Havana will only
Embassy in Havana has comes as the number of process visa requests from
resumed processing visas Cubans trying to emigrate Cubans who are the par-
for Cubans, though on a illegally to United States ents of U.S. citizens, under
limited basis, more than surges. A State Department a category known as IR-
four years after stopping official on Wednesday told 5, and that the Biden ad-
ministration in the future
will evaluate expanding
the services to others. The
official, who was not au-
thorized to be quoted by
name, said the U.S. govern-
ment decided to process
only visa requests from this
group because of “the
unique age, health, and
mobility challenges for this
category of applicants.”
Any other applicants should
apply for visas through the
U.S. Embassy in Guyana, as
they’ve done since 2018,
when the administration
People wait their turns outside the U.S. embassy the day after it of former President Donald
reopened its consular services in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday,
May 4, 2022. Trump withdrew embassy
Associated Press staff from Havana. q