LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Guatemala's Giammattei backs 'Republic of Taiwan'

The latest in Latin American politics today:

In Taiwan, Guatemala outgoing leader offers strong support TAIPEI - Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei pledged his unconditional support for the "Republic of Taiwan" on a trip that comes as China steps up pressure on the handful of countries that still maintain formal ties with the island.

Guatemala is one of only 13 countries with official diplomatic ties with China-claimed Taiwan. Honduras abandoned Taipei for Beijing last month after asking for almost $2.5 billion in aid. Speaking at a welcoming ceremony outside Taiwan's presidential office, Giammattei said Guatemala and Taiwan were "brotherly countries" and important allies.

Haitians hang, set ablaze suspected gang members PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haitian police said at least 10 suspected gang members were lynched and their bodies burned by residents of the capital Port-au-Prince, following days of confrontations between gangs and security agents.

Police spokesperson Gary Desrosiers also confirmed that notorious crime boss Carlo Petithomme was dead, after rumors last week, without giving any details. Petithomme went by the alias Ti Makak and led a gang with the same name. US sends first deportation flight to Cuba in three years

WASHINGTON - The United States sent its first deportation flight to Cuba since 2020, months after Cuba agreed for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic to accept flights carrying Cubans caught at the U.S.-Mexico border. The U.S. embassy in Havana resumed full immigrant visa processing and consular services in January for the first time since 2017 in a bid to stem record numbers of Cubans trying to enter the United States from Mexico.

Following extradition, Peru's Toledo behind bars LIMA - Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo has been extradited to Peru from the U.S. and imprisoned, becoming the third head of state to be jailed as the South American country seeks to shake off years of corruption.

Toledo, 77, has been ordered to serve a pre-trial detention of 18 months inside a police base on the outskirts of the capital Lima, an official statement said. Former presidents Alberto Fujimori and Pedro Castillo are held at the same prison. Peruvian authorities have accused Toledo, president between 2001 and 2006, of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. He denies the allegations.

Indigenous woman wins prize for taking on Amazon miners BRASILIA - Alessandra Korap Munduruku, who headed a campaign that led mining corporations to respect her people's Indigenous territory in the Amazon rainforest, has been awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize.

She is among six 2023 winners from different parts of the globe to win the prize for achievements and leadership of grassroots environmental activists awarded by the San Francisco-based Goldman Foundation. 

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