El Salvador arrests ex-president over graft accusations

Yahoo – AFP, Carlos Mario Marquez, October 30, 2016

Elias Antonio Saca was president of El Salvador from 2004 to 2009

(AFP Photo/Jim Watson)

San Salvador (AFP) - Police in El Salvador arrested the country's ex-president Elias Antonio Saca and six other suspects including three serving government officials on Sunday for alleged embezzlement and money laundering, authorities said.

Saca, 51, and six other former officials from his government were detained in the early morning "on charges of various crimes," it said on Twitter.

Saca is a member of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). He was president of El Salvador from 2004 to 2009.

He is accused of embezzlement, money laundering and links to illegal groups, the prosecutors' office said.

It give no further details of the accusations for the time being.

A self-made businessman, Saca was a well-known journalist before becoming president.

He was seen as a strong ally of the United States during his time in power.

The other suspects arrested include former public waterworks official Cesar Funes, 46, and ex-presidential communications chief Julio Rank, 65.

Police said those two were detained along with Saca in an exclusive restaurant.

Salvadoran media reported that the three were there to celebrate the wedding of one of Saca's sons.

Official sources said the suspects were in custody in the premises of the anti-drugs squad in the capital San Salvador.

Elmer Charlaix, ex private secretary of former Salvadorean President Antonio Saca

 (2004-2009), is transferred to the division of narcotics of the police National Civil, 

where Saca is also detained in San Salvador on October 30, 2016 (AFP Photo/

Marvin Recinos)

'US pressure'

El Salvador is a Central American country of six million people, bordered by Guatemala and Honduras.

It is stricken by poverty and violent crime involving drug gangs.

The other three detained suspects are Pablo Gomez, Francisco Rodriguez Artega and Jorge Alberto Harrera.

They worked in Saca's government and are currently financial officials in the government of leftist President Salvador Sanchez.

The suspects could face sentences of up to 15 years in jail for embezzlement and money laundering, according to El Salvador's penal code.

Saca was already facing charges dating to early this year, when he was accused of embezzling some four million dollars.

His leftist successor as president, Mauricio Funes, faces similar charges. He obtained political asylum in Nicaragua in September, after saying he feared for his life in El Salvador.

Political analyst Juan Ramon Medrano said the corruption investigations were likely partly due to pressure from the United States.

Washington has demanded action on corruption in return for financial aid to boost development and fight crime in El Salvador and its two poor neighbors.

"It is good that pressure from the United States is succeeding in cleaning up suspected corruption in the country," Medrano told AFP.

"But pressure should also be applied to those who evade taxes and have drowned the country fiscally."

Deal struck for world's biggest marine reserve in Antarctica

Yahoo – AFP, Martin Parry, October 28, 2016

Antartica is considered critical for scientists to study how marine ecosystems
function and to understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean
(AFP Photo/Rodrigo Arangua)

Sydney (AFP) - The world's largest marine reserve aimed at protecting the pristine wilderness of Antarctica will be created after a "momentous" agreement was finally reached Friday, with Russia dropping its long-held opposition.

The deal, sealed by the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) at an annual meeting in Hobart after years of negotiations, will see a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area established in the Ross Sea.

It will cover more than 1.55 million square kilometres (600,000 square miles) -- roughly the size of Britain, Germany and France combined -- of which 1.12 million square kilometres will be a no fishing zone.

"The proposal required some changes in order to gain the unanimous support of all 25 CCAMLR members and the final agreement balances marine protection, sustainable fishing and science interests," New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said.

"The boundaries of the MPA, however, remain unchanged."

'Just the start'

The Ross Sea is one of the last intact marine ecosystems in the world, home to penguins, seals, Antarctic toothfish, whales and huge numbers of krill, a staple food for many species.

It is considered critical for scientists to study how marine ecosystems function and to understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean.

Antarctic sanctuaries (AFP Photo/Laurence CHU, Gal ROMA)

Moscow was the last government opposing the move, largely due to concerns over fishing rights, after China offered its support last year.

"We had a lot of talks with them. Secretary (John) Kerry reached out to Russian President (Vladimir) Putin and (Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov and I think that helped a great deal to convince Russia to come on board," Evan Bloom, head of the US delegation at the meeting, told AFP.

"This decision is very important not just for the Antarctic but for efforts to promote world marine conservation."

Moscow has signalled more commitment to conservation in recent times, designating 2017 as the Year of Ecology. It moved in August to significantly increase the size of a protected zone around Franz Josef Land in the Arctic.

While the Ross Sea plan got the go-ahead, time ran out at the meeting to reach agreement on a second proposed protected area -- the Australia and France-led East Antarctica sanctuary covering another one million square kilometre zone.

Antarctica is home to penguins, seals, Antarctic toothfish, and whales

(AFP Photo/Eitan Abramovich)

Both reserve proposals have been on the table since 2012 with CCAMLR -- a treaty tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean.

Consensus is needed from all 24 member countries and the European Union.

A third German-proposed plan is also in the works to protect the Weddell Sea, which extends from the southeast of South America over an area of some 2.8 million square kilometres.

"For the first time, countries have put aside their differences to protect a large area of the Southern Ocean and international waters," said Mike Walker, project director of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance, calling the outcome "momentous".

"Although there was not a decision on the proposed protection of the Weddell Sea and the East Antarctic this year, we are confident that these areas will be protected in the coming years, adding to the system of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean."

A humpback whale jumps out of the water in the western Antarctic peninsula

(AFP Photo/Eitan Abramovich)

The Ross Sea is named after British explorer Sir James Ross and his great, great, great granddaughter Phillipa Ross said the family was thrilled it was safeguarded.

"The Ross family are euphoric that our family legacy has been honoured in the 175th anniversary year since James first discovered the Ross Sea, thanks to the individuals and organisations who have poured their hearts and souls into campaigning for its protection," she said.

It culminates years of pressure by conservationists, including a campaign by the global civic movement Avaaz which was kickstarted by Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio.

"There’s massive momentum in the world right now to protect our oceans," said Avaaz campaign director Luis Morago. "The Ross Sea is just the start."

Obama establishes world's largest marine reserve in Hawaii https://t.co/iiHtWPZ7gj by @kerrsheridan pic.twitter.com/sO3e45v90i

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 28, 2016

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Barack Obama to create world's largest ocean reserve in the Pacific

The existing boundaries of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument

 are outlined in light blue. The other Monuments, outlined in purple and green, are

not being changed. Photograph: Noaa

DiCaprio unveils free technology to spy on global fishing

"Around the Horn" - (a message from Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

“… Now, in the process of all of this, there's going to be renewed interest in Antarctica, and you're going to find some interesting things about the land under the ice. The topography of the land under the ice does not match the topography of the ice above. Some astonishing shapes will be revealed when you map the actual land under the ice. Points of mountains are going to be revealed, giving an entire different idea of what Antarctica might have been and what its purpose really is. The continent that is uninhabitable by Human Beings may very well be the engine of life for Human Beings. And I will leave it at that. …”

US abstains for first time in UN vote against Cuba embargo

Yahoo – AFP, Carole Landry, October 26, 2016

Cuban students listen to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez delivering his
 speech at the United Nations in New York calling for an end to the US embargo
against Cuba on October 26, 2016 at the University of Havana, in the Cuban
capital (AFP Photo/Adalberto Roque)

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday abstained for the first time in 25 years from a vote at the United Nations calling for an end to the US embargo against Cuba.

The UN General Assembly adopted the annual resolution by an overwhelming vote of 191 votes in favor -- with only the United States and Israel abstaining in the 193-nation forum.

Washington's abstention was in line with calls from President Barack Obama for the opposition-controlled Congress to lift the decades-old embargo as part of a historic normalization of relations.

"The United States has always voted against this resolution. Today the United States will abstain," US Ambassador Samantha Power told the assembly, drawing loud applause.

"After 55-plus years of pursuing the path of isolation, we are choosing to take the path of engagement."

The United States restored diplomatic ties with Cuba in July 2015 and a month later re-opened its embassy in Havana. Obama made a landmark visit to the communist-ruled island in March.

But restoring full trade and financial ties with Cuba would require legislative action by Congress, where the Republican majority has said human rights concerns must first be addressed.

Power recalled that the US policy aimed at isolating Cuba "was not working" 

and had instead isolated the United States (AFP Photo/Don Emmert)

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez welcomed the US shift as positive, but said that Washington must take concrete steps that go beyond the "vote of one delegation in this forum."

"The blockade continues to be a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of all Cuban men and women and qualifies as an act of genocide," Rodriguez said.

Economic damage suffered by Cuba from the US embargo between April 2015 and March 2016 -- coinciding with the time of Obama's first meeting with President Raul Castro to his historic Havana visit -- is estimated at more than $4.68 billion, Rodriguez said.

Over the past six decades, the damage from "this genocidal policy" amounts to $753.688 billion, he added.

Cuba still suffering

Embargo restrictions have prevented the sale of US medical equipment to treat Cubans suffering from Parkinson's disease and blocked a deal by a Cuban pharmaceutical company that would have allowed it to produce drugs locally, said the foreign minister.

"There isn't any Cuban family or sector in our country that has not suffered from its effects," he said.

This year's resolution takes note of steps taken by the Democratic Obama administration to ease the embargo, describing them as positive but "still limited in scope."

Students of the University of Havana in the Cuban capital on October 26, 2016 

celebrate after the the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for an 

end to the US embargo against Cuba (AFP Photo/Adalberto Rpque)

The measure calls on all UN member states to refrain from applying the embargo and to "reaffirm the freedom of trade and navigation."

Last year, the United States and Israel were the only two countries that voted against the non-binding resolution, but 191 voted in favor -- the highest level of support yet for the measure at the United Nations.

Power recalled that the US policy aimed at isolating Cuba "was not working" and had instead isolated the United States.

"Abstaining on this resolution does not mean that the United States agrees with all of the policies and practices of the Cuban government. We do not," said Power.

After praising Cuba for sending hundreds of doctors to West Africa to fight the Ebola virus outbreak, Power said the United States and Cuba must continue to find ways to engage, despite differences.

"Today, we have taken another small step to be able to do that. May there be many more -- including, we hope, finally ending the US embargo," she said.

The assembly has voted each year since 1992 to approve the resolution criticizing the embargo that was imposed in 1960, at the height of the Cold War.

The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 after Fidel Castro rose to power and aligned himself with the then-Soviet Union.

Pope grants Venezuela president private audience

Yahoo – AFP, October 24, 2016

Pope Francis met Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro in a private capacity,
 because the pontiff's heart was with the Venezuelan people (AFP Photo/
Vincenzo Pinto)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Monday granted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a surprise private audience at the Vatican in the midst of a deep political crisis in the South American country.

A statement from the Holy See said Francis had met Maduro because the pontiff's heart was with the Venezuelan people.

Maduro is accused by the opposition-majority legislature of committing a coup d'etat by blocking a referendum on removing him from power.

"The meeting took place in the context of the worrying situation of political, economic and social crisis which the country is going through and which has had severe repercussions on the daily life of the entire population," the statement said after the encounter.

"In this way, the pope, who has the wellbeing of all Venezuelans in his heart, wanted to offer his contribution in support of constitutionality in the country and to every step that could help to resolve the open questions and create greater trust between the parties.

"He urged (the parties) to show courage in pursuing the path of sincere and constructive dialogue, to alleviate the suffering of the people, particularly of the poor, and to promote renewed social cohesion, which will allow the nation to look to the future with hope."

Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela on Sunday passed a resolution declaring "the breakdown of constitutional order" and "a coup d'etat committed by the Nicolas Maduro regime".

The measure came during an emergency session on the crisis gripping the resource-rich but recession-hit South American state.

Maduro visited the pope on his way back from the Middle East, where he was lobbying for cuts to oil production to help crude prices improve and stem the free-fall of his country's economy.

The heir to Hugo Chavez, socialist Maduro has seen his political support crumble of late with a recent poll finding that 75 percent of Venezuelan voters disapprove of him.

Brazil charges 21 over deaths in mine dam collapse: prosecutor

Yahoo – AFP, Sebastian Smith, October 20, 2016

A firefighter walks in the mud in Bento Rodrigues, three days after an avalanche
 of mud and mining sludge buried the town in southeastern Brazil, on
November 8, 2015 (AFP Photo/Chirstophe Simon)

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazilian federal prosecutors announced homicide charges Thursday against 21 people, including senior mining executives, allegedly responsible for the deadly collapse of the Samarco iron-ore mine dam last year.

The lead prosecutor in the case, Jose Leite Sampaio, made the announcement in a televised news conference in Belo Horizonte, near Mariana, the site of the disaster, where on November 5, 2015, the failed dam unleashed a torrent of muddy water down the River Doce, killing 19 people.

It was branded Brazil's worst environmental disaster, drawing comparisons with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion which killed 11 workers and triggered a devastating spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a statement, prosecutors denounced the mining companies for reckless policies in pursuit of greater profits that amounted to "qualified homicide," which in Brazilian law is more serious than ordinary manslaughter.

"Security was always of secondary importance. The increase in production at Samarco sought to compensate for the falling value of the ore in order not only to maintain but also to boost profits and dividends," Sampaio said. "It should have taken steps to promote the safety of the dam."

Prosecutors said Samarco -- which operated the mine and is owned 50-50 by Brazil's Vale and Anglo-Australian giant BHP Billiton -- ignored basic responsibilities.

They accused the mining companies of not taking into account the fate of communities downstream or even their own employees, saying there were not even "sirens or warning lights" in case of disaster.

The accused included the chief executive of Samarco at the time of the tragedy, Ricardo Vescovi, as well as operations managing director Kleber Terra, and three operations managers.

Aerial view of damages after a dam burst in the village of Bento Rodrigues,

in Mariana, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (AFP Photo/Christophe Simon)

They could face sentences of "up to 54 years," prosecutors said in the statement.

The three companies themselves also face charges for a total of 12 different environmental crimes, prosecutors said.

Vehement rejection

Vale said in a statement that it "vehemently rejects the charges presented by the federal prosecutor's office."

BHP also issued a statement, saying it "rejects outright the charges against the company and the affected individuals. We will defend the charges against the company, and fully support each of the affected individuals in their defense."

The charges still need to be approved by a judge before a jury trial would start.

The breaking of the tailings dam unleashed a massive flood of sludge into the River Doce, reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

Drinking water supplies were cut for hundreds of thousands of people, a village was flattened, and local fishing and tourist businesses were badly impacted. According to prosecutors, 14 tons of dead fish were collected in the aftermath.

The mining companies have agreed to pay billions of dollars in compensation but in May prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against Vale, BHP and Samarco seeking 155 billion reais ($49 billion).

Argentine women protest rape and murder of teenager

Argentine women have taken to the streets in protest after the savage rape and murder of a 16-year-old-girl. Organizers said their goal was to protest a macho culture and system that values women less than men.

Deutsche Welle, 20 Oct 2016

Women from across the country marched in memory of Lucia Perez, who died earlier this month, in the latest demonstration to take place after more than a year of mass protests.

Many who part in the Buenos Aires protest wore black, to mourn victims of gender-based violence.

The demo took place under the banner "Black Wednesday," and was organized by the collectives "Ni Una Menos" (Not One Fewer) and MuMaLa. There were no official attendance figures.

There was an eruption of anger in June last year after a series of gruesome killings, but the murder of Perez in the city of Mar del Plata has led to particular outrage.

"If you touch one of us, we all react," said signs carried by many of the protesters, who staged an hour-long strike at 1 p.m. (1400 UTC). Solidarity protests were held in other countries, including Spain and Mexico.

'Sobering and planned' murder

Perez, a high school student, died on October 8 after she was allegedly raped and impaled on a spike.

Prosecutor Maria Isabel Sanchez said last week that Perez had been drugged with cocaine and had suffered "inhumane sexual aggression" that resulted in cardiac arrest. The perpetrators were then said to have washed the body in an effort to make the death appear accidental.

Two men, known for selling drugs outside a school, were being held on Sunday in connection with the rape and homicide.

"The brutality of this crime reveals a sobering, planned and sophisticated violence," said Florencia Minici, spokeswoman for Ni Una Menos. Minici said the event would serve as a visual reminder of the violence, which she said was "beyond any statistic."

'Gather strength, shout together'

Perez' brother, Matias, said the demonstration could help prevent more deaths like that of his sister. "We have to gather strength - now more than ever - and get out onto the street to shout together - 'Not one more (life lost)!'" he said.

MuMaLa coordinator Raquel Vivanco told the news agency EFE that the state was "absent" from dealing with the problem, with figures showing that a woman was murdered in Argentina every 30 hours.

However, Argentine Justice Minister German Garavano, who met Perez' family last week, said the government was committed to dealing with the problem.

rc/jr (AFP, AP, EFE)

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"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Guantanamo prison author arrives back in Mauritania

Yahoo – AFP, October 17, 2016

The US flag flies above the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (AFP
Photo/Paul J. Richards)

Nouakchott (AFP) - A longtime Guantanamo Bay prisoner who wrote a best-selling book about his experiences in the controversial military prison was back in his native Mauritania on Monday night, Mauritanian sources said.

The transfer of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, believed to be the last inmate from Mauritania held at the facility in Cuba, brings the prison's remaining population down to 60.

His case became a cause celebre after the publication last year of "Guantanamo Diary", in which he outlines his treatment at the notorious US naval base in Cuba and says he was subjected to torture.

Mauritania's official AMI news agency confirmed "the return by the American authorities to their Mauritanian counterparts Mohamedou Ould Sellahy (or Slahi) after his release from Guantanamo."

AMI said the handover was the result of "diplomatic efforts over many years at the highest levels."

The US Defense Department announced his release in an earlier statement and said it was "grateful to the government of Mauritania for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility."

The younger brother of Mohamedou Ould Slahi poses with a copy of 

Mohamedou's prison memoir 'Guantanamo Diary' open to show pages that 

were redacted by the US government in London on January 20, 2015

(AFP Photo/Beb Stansall)

Slahi, 45, was detained in his home country following the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, on suspicion of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to bomb Los Angeles in 1999.

He was taken to Guantanamo in August 2002 following interrogation in Jordan and Afghanistan.

In his book, Slahi described the toll of life inside the jail, saying: "I started to hallucinate and hear voices as clear as crystal. I heard my family in a casual familial conversation ... I heard Koran readings in a heavenly voice."

He added: "I was on the edge of losing my mind."

A Mauritanian security source told AFP Slahi had arrived in the capital Nouakchott on Monday in a US military plane, and was met by the Mauritanian security services.

"He will not be free to move around immediately but has to be interviewed by the security services before being released," the source said.

US President Barack Obama wants to close the Guantanamo jail before he leaves office, but his efforts have faced stiff Republican opposition and time to shutter the prison is running out fast.

Still, the United States has in recent months accelerated the rate at which detainees who have been approved for transfer are released from the facility.

When Obama took office, there were 242 detainees at Guantanamo.

Juan Manuel Santos: Colombia rebels' archfoe turned peacemaker

Yahoo – AFP, Alina Dieste, October 7, 2016

Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos came to power in 2010 (AFP

Photo/Guillermo Legaria)

Bogota (AFP) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize Friday, is a son of a powerful family who staked his legacy on troubled efforts to make peace with the communist FARC rebels.

The Nobel Committee hailed the two-term president's "resolute" bid to end Latin America's longest conflict -- despite a shock referendum defeat last weekend for the peace accord he has championed.

"I prefer an imperfect accord that saves lives to a perfect war that keeps sowing death and pain," Santos had said as he signed the historic deal last month with his erstwhile mortal enemy, the FARC guerrilla leader Timoleon "Timochenko" Jimenez.

Juan Manuel Santos (AFP Photo/Gustavo IZUS,

Tatiana Magarinos)

Voters rejected the deal to end five decades of conflict by a razor-thin margin in Sunday's referendum -- a move the Nobel committee warned could plunge the country into fresh civil war.

The 65-year-old Santos, a career politician, led a major offensive against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as defense minister from 2006 to 2009.

But after becoming president in 2010, he changed tack and negotiated for a settlement with the guerrillas.

"I was never a hawk or a dove. I've always been a standard-bearer for peace," he told AFP in an interview before the September deal.

'Do the right thing'

Santos defied fierce opposition to the talks from some former allies.

"I am not looking for applause. I just want to do the right thing," he once said.

He won reelection in 2014 in a vote widely seen as a referendum on the talks. But his popularity rating has since plunged.

Santos said receiving the Nobel Prize would be "a great stimulus" for efforts to achieve peace.

"We are very, very close, we just need to push a bit further," he told the Nobel Foundation in a telephone interview.

He accepted the prize "not in my own name, but in the name of all Colombians, especially the millions of victims," he added later in a televised address.

"I will dedicate all my strength to this cause for the rest of my life."

'Political courage'

UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi hailed Santos's "political courage" and voiced hope the impasse could be overcome.

A former hostage of the FARC, Ingrid Betancourt -- a Franco-Colombian former politician who was held in the jungle for six years -- said it was a "just" reward for Santos, but added that the rebels should have shared the Nobel.

Since Santos launched peace negotiations four years ago, his predecessor, ex-president Alvaro Uribe, has become his main critic, arguing that the peace accord offered the rebels impunity for their crimes.

Both Uribe and FARC leader Timochenko congratulated Santos on the award, however.

Santos "made war as a means to achieve peace," Santos's brother-in-law and adviser, Mauricio Rodriguez, told AFP recently.

"He weakened the FARC to make them sit at the negotiating table," he added.

The peace drive "required courage, audacity, perseverance and a lot of strategy -- those are Santos's strengths."

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (left) and FARC leader Timoleon 

Jimenez, aka Timochenko, shake hands after signing a historic peace agreement 

in Cartagena, on September 26, 2016 (AFP Photo/Luis Acosta)

'Extreme center' politician

Santos was born in August 1951 in Bogota into a rich, powerful family entrenched in Colombian politics and the media.

He has described himself as politically in the "extreme center."

He was educated at a top naval academy in the Colombian city of Cartagena and later at the London School of Economics.

Santos began his career as a journalist, winning a Spanish award for his coverage of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua as a young man.

The work he did along with his brother Enrique in Nicaragua "had a profound impact on us both," Santos once said.

In 1991 he switched to politics, and has served in various ministerial posts.

An admirer of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Nelson Mandela, Santos is said to be an early riser and late sleeper. He survived prostate cancer in 2012.

His source of strength, he says, is his family -- "my saints," he has called them, playing on his surname which means saints in Spanish.

He and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez have three children.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos wins Nobel Peace Prize for "resolute" efforts to end over 5 decades of war https://t.co/9f5Lf5eDGU pic.twitter.com/0XB1ve9yDe

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 7, 2016

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THE OLD SOUL 2013 TOOLKIT" – Jan 13, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll)  (Text version)

"... The Change in the Way Things Work

Now I'm going to be very cautious with number five, and I'm going to change a paradigm of the way we channel. For 23 years, we have given you information in the soup of potentials that we read around you as the highest probable potential that exists. These things eventually become your reality because they are your free choice, and we know what you're thinking. We know what the potentials are because we know what the biases are, and we see all of humanity as a whole. Potentials are energy, and it gives us the ability to project your future based on how you are working these potentials. We have done this for a long time. Twenty-three years ago, we told you about many things that were potentially going to happen, and now they are your reality.

But now I'm going to depart from that scenario and I'm going to give you a potential on Earth that is not the strongest. I am going to tell you about a Human Being who has a choice. This potential is only about 50 percent. But I'm going to "read a potential" to you that you didn't expect. It's about a paradigm that is starting to shift.

Let's talk about North Korea. There's a young, new leader there. The potential is that he will never, ever hear this channel, so I can talk freely about him. He is facing a dilemma, for he is young and he knows about the differences in the energy in his land. He feels it. The lineage of his departed father lies upon him and all that is around him expects him to be a clone of this lineage. He is expected to continue the things that he has been taught and make North Korea great.

But he's starting to rethink them. Indeed, he wants to be a great leader, and to be heard and seen, and to make his mark on North Korea's history. His father showed him that this was very important. So he ponders a question: What makes a world leader great?

Let's ask that question to someone in an older earth paradigm from not that long ago. He will be an expert and a successful one. So this is a valid exercise, asking someone from the past who knows. We will ask that question to a man who you know and whose name is Napoleon. For us, this was yesterday and some of you were there. 

If you asked Napoleon, "What makes a world leader great?", he will say, "the size of the army, how much area can be efficiently conquered with a given amount of resources and men, how important the leader appears will then be based upon how many citizens call him emperor or king, the taxes he can impose, and how many fear him." Not only was that Napoleon's reality, but he was right for the energy he was part of at the time. So Napoleon went back and forth between world leader, general and prisoner. He accomplished almost everything he set out to do. His expertise was obvious, and you remember his name to this day. He was famous.

What makes a world leader great? What I am showing you is the difference in thinking between then and now. There are some choices that this evolving young Human Being has that could change everything on the planet if he wanted. His father would tell this boy that what makes a world leader great is the potential of his missile power, or how close he can get to having a nuclear weapon, or how he stands up against the power of the West, or how he continues to aggravate and stir drama as a small country - getting noticed and being feared. His father would tell him that this is his lineage and that is what he's been told all his life. His father did it well and surrounded himself with advisors who he then passed on to his son.

Now, there's a 50 percent chance of something happening here, but this is not a strong potential, dear ones. I'm bringing this forward so you can watch it work one way or the other. For if the son continues in his father's footsteps, he is doomed to failure. The energy on the earth will see it as old and he will be seen as a fool. If, however, he figures it out, he could be the most famous man on the planet... which is really what his father wanted.

If Kryon were to advise this man, here's what I would tell him. He could be the greatest known leader the current world has ever known, for what he does now will be something the world will see as a demarcation point from the old ways. Not only that, but what he does now will be in the history books forever, and because of his youth, he has the potential to outlive every other leader on the planet! So he's going to have longer fame than anyone ever has.

I would tell him this: Tell the border guards to go home. Greet the south and begin to unify North and South Korea in a way that no past prophet ever said could happen. Allow the two countries to be separate, but have them as two parts of a larger Korean family with free trade and travel. Start alliances with the West and show them that you mean it. Drop the missile programs because you will never need them!

This will bring abundance to the North Korean people that they never expected! They will have great economic sustenance, schools, hospitals and more respect than ever for their amazing leader. The result would be fame and glory for the son, which the father had never achieved, something that the world would talk about for hundreds of years. It would cause a United Nations to stand and applaud as the son walked into the Grand Assembly. I would ask him, "Wouldn't you like that?"

Doesn't this seem obvious to most of you? He could achieve instant fame and be seen as the one who made the difference and started something amazing. But watch him. He has a choice, but it's not simple. He still has his father's advisors, but one of which he's already dismissed. He may get it, or he may not. There is a 50 percent chance. But I'll tell you that if he doesn't do it, the one after him will. Because it is so obvious. 

We show you this to tell you that this is the evolvement of the Human species. It is the slow realization that putting things together is the answer to all things, instead of separating them or conquering them. Those who start promoting compromise and begin to create these energies that never were here before will be the ones you're going to remember. Dear ones, it's going to happen in leadership and politics and in business. It's a new paradigm...."