13, January 2019
US: Castro announces 2020 presidential election bid to take on Trump 0
A top Hispanic politician has announced his bid to run in the US 2020 presidential election in an effort to deny the current US leader, Donald Trump, a second term.
Former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro, a Democrat, made the announcement in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas Saturday.
“I am a candidate for president of the United States of America,” he said during a speech. “There is a crisis today, it’s a crisis of leadership. Donald Trump has failed to uphold the values of our great nation.”
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The 44-year-old officially launched his presidential campaign as preparations were underway for two key conventions in the Latino political world.
If elected, Castro will be the first Hispanic president in US history.
“I know that with your help and support we have the best candidate with the best ideas and the biggest heart,” said his brother, Texas Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro.
The former Obama administration official has pledged support for various progressive positions, including a “Medicare for all” single-payer health care system.
He has also vowed to “recommit the United States to the Paris climate accord,” which Trump scrapped.
The GOP rushed to respond to Castro’s announcement, calling him a “one of the biggest lightweights to ever run for president.”
“Julián Castro has made history by becoming one of the biggest lightweights to ever run for president. He was a weak mayor who couldn’t even handle being HUD secretary. This is obviously just another desperate attempt to become someone else’s running mate,” Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens said.
Castro served as the mayor of San Antonio until 2014.
His bid for the White House in 2020 was announced ahead of conventions by Bold PAC — the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s (CHC) campaign arm — and the Latino Victory Fund in Puerto Rico on Sunday.
13, January 2019
Southern Cameroons Crisis: Kondengui prison authorities reject humanitarian aid from Ayah Foundation 0
The management of the Kondengui High security prison in Yaoundé on Thursday January 10 turned down a huge consignment of humanitarian aid destined for Anglophone inmates detained as a result of the war in Southern Cameroons.
Journal du Cameroun reported that the aid offered by the Ayah Foundation was rejected at the prison on ‘instructions’ from senior Cameroon government officials. The Foundation decried the attitude of the prison authorities whom they said had given clearance for the relief to be brought in only to later backtrack on their decision.
The French Cameroun prison authorities have not made any public statement regarding the issue but a source at the prison facility observed that the guards had acted on instructions from the prison administration.
An official of the prison was quoted as “A prison is not a refugee camp.” The official also pointed out that it is the sole responsibility of prison authorities to accept or reject relief aid.
Reported by Journal du Cameroun