INTERNACIONAL
Trump sidelines sweeping Russia sanctions as GOP allies warn pressure on Putin is slipping
President Donald Trump is holding back on sweeping new economic penalties Congress handed him to squeeze Russia.
He is betting that keeping those sanctions in reserve will help bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, a strategy drawing criticism from Republican allies amid questions about whether Moscow believes he will ever use them.
Over roughly a week, the administration waived most of the new Russia sanctions and tariffs enacted last month while separately easing restrictions on Russian diesel exports, moves one foreign policy expert described as Trump’s most significant effort yet to unwind economic pressure on Moscow.
«It’s probably the biggest effort that the Trump administration has made to start unwinding the U.S. sanctions architecture that’s been in place against Russia since 2022 or even earlier in some cases,» Hal Brands, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told Digital.
TRUMP TRIES DIFFERENT APPROACH WITH RUSSIA TO BRING AMERICANS RELIEF AMID ONGOING WAR WITH UKRAINE
Trump argues that imposing the new penalties could drive Russia away from peace negotiations. But Brands said repeatedly holding back economic punishment risks convincing Putin that Washington is unwilling to follow through on its threats.
«The threat of imposition may lose some credibility if over a period of time you’ve demonstrated that you would prefer not to impose those penalties in the first place,» Brands said.
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS BREAK WITH TRUMP ON DIESEL DEAL WITH RUSSIA
The decision has drawn criticism from Republicans who helped advance the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, including Trump allies who worked with his White House to pass it.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who played a leading role in passing the legislation and joined Trump in the Oval Office when he signed it last month, said Tuesday the administration should be turning up economic pressure on Moscow.
«It is my belief that we need to use economic firepower to help drive Putin to the table,» Britt told Semafor. «I believe that Russia is at the darkest point that they’ve been at in this entire war, and now is the time for us to turn up the pressure.»
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said Congress had coordinated the legislation’s timing with the White House, making Trump’s decision to waive most of its new penalties particularly surprising.
«This was an act of Congress that we had worked with the White House on,» Capito said. «We had timed this to when the president and the White House felt it was a good time to move forward with this, where it could be effective.»
Other Republicans were more blunt in their criticism.
«Beyond irresponsible,» Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., wrote on X. «What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisors not understand?»
«It’s unconscionable that this administration is capitulating to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine and butchers innocent civilians every single day,» he added.
Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., the lead sponsor of the legislation named for her late brother and a Trump-endorsed candidate, said she would «choose to keep the pressure on Russia» because «I don’t trust Putin and I don’t trust Russia.»
The Graham Act, signed into law in September, provided for steep tariffs targeting Russia and major purchasers of Russian energy, along with sanctions on Russian financial institutions and foreign entities doing significant business with them.
Congress also included presidential waiver authority, which Trump invoked to put most of the law’s new Russia penalties on hold.
Brands said including a waiver was not necessarily a mistake, even if it ultimately allowed Trump to avoid imposing the penalties lawmakers had sought.
«It’s really tough to craft a sanctions or tariffs bill that forces the president to do something, and typically you don’t want to do that because there are always circumstances one can imagine in which you might want to be able to waive sanctions,» he said.
Trump has defended his decision as necessary to keep Putin at the negotiating table.
«My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,» Trump wrote Sunday.
In his formal certification to Congress, Trump said imposing the Graham Act penalties now «would impede ongoing U.S. efforts to negotiate a durable and comprehensive peace.» He left open the possibility of imposing them later to «incentivize resolution» of the war.
Brands acknowledged that holding sanctions in reserve can give a president bargaining power, but questioned whether Putin believes Trump is prepared to follow through.
«The challenge is that it’s been clear for about 18 months now, since Lindsey Graham started pushing this bill in the first place in the early parts of 2025, that the president simply doesn’t have much appetite for squeezing the Russian energy export system to the degree that people like the late Senator Graham envisioned and desired,» Brands said.
The administration has separately eased existing restrictions to allow more Russian diesel onto the market, a move intended to relieve pressure on global fuel prices.
Trump has criticized Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, arguing they are straining diesel markets. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has described sanctions relief as a «carrot» that could encourage Russia to de-escalate.
Brands said the immediate financial benefit to Moscow from diesel relief is probably «fairly marginal.» The more consequential decision, he argued, was Trump’s refusal to activate the broader sanctions and tariffs Congress authorized.
«There’s a potential for pretty serious pressure to be exerted if he had used both the sanctions authorities and essentially the secondary tariff authorities to go after purchasers of Russian energy products overseas,» Brands said.
Such measures could «put a fairly significant squeeze on the Russian war economy» while discouraging other countries from doing business with Moscow, he added.
Brands acknowledged that squeezing Russian energy exports could further strain global energy markets when Trump is focused on lowering fuel prices at home.
But he argued that the larger risk lies in what Putin concludes about Washington’s willingness to sustain economic pressure.
«Putin’s theory of victory in Ukraine for a long time has been that at some point the West, particularly the United States, will get tired of the costs of confrontation with Russia and support for Ukraine,» Brands said.
The concern, he explained, is less about the immediate revenue Moscow gains from additional diesel exports than the possibility that easing restrictions reinforces Putin’s belief that Washington is growing tired of confronting Russia.
«The risk you run here has less to do with the precise dollar or ruble amount that Russia will gain by being allowed to export some additional diesel than with the strategic signal you’re sending that, in fact, the U.S. is getting tired of applying economic pressure against Russia and that the U.S.-Ukraine relationship is entering another period of conflict and divergence,» Brands said.
Brands sees little prospect for a negotiated settlement in the immediate future and argued that changing Putin’s calculation would require convincing him that the costs of continuing the war outweigh the potential gains.
«I think the only way you get there is by continuing to support Ukraine so it can take an increasing toll on Russia on the battlefield and by finding ways of ramping up rather than ramping down the economic pressure on Russia,» Brands said.
Trump’s waiver does not eliminate sanctions against Russia that predated the Graham Act, and the administration can revisit the new penalties.
The dispute now centers on whether keeping those penalties in reserve strengthens Trump’s hand with Putin — or diminishes their value if Moscow doubts he is willing to use them.
donald trump, vladimir putin, sanctions, politics, russia, congress, economy, foreign affairs
INTERNACIONAL
White House blasts Biden border policies ahead of Trump Florida visit, citing brutal hammer killing
EXCLUSIVE – The White House is highlighting the brutal hammer killing of a Florida mother as President Donald Trump prepares to headline a midterm rally in Fort Myers on Friday, with a spokesperson telling Digital that the case demonstrates the consequences of former President Joe Biden’s border policies.
Trump is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Alico Arena ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The White House is pointing to the killing in the same city as it prepares to put a spotlight on the president’s immigration enforcement record.
«A few short months ago, an illegal alien barbarically killed a woman outside of a gas station in Fort Myers by hitting her on the head with a hammer multiple times,» White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Digital exclusively.
DEM-LED PUSH TO EXTEND PROTECTIONS FOR HAITIANS FACES OUTRAGE AFTER BRUTAL HAMMER KILLING
«This heinous murderer was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. Not only did the Biden administration release him into the country, but they then gave him Temporary Protected Status. This is the result of Democrats open-border policies. If you import the third world, you become the third world.»
Trump previously condemned the killing in an April Truth Social post, calling the surveillance video «one of the most vicious things you will ever see» and blaming the Biden administration for allowing the suspect into the country.
«This one killing should be enough for these Radical Judges to STOP impeding my Administration’s Immigration Policies,» Trump wrote at the time.
The remarks refer to the brazen killing of a Florida mother in April. Haitian national Rolbert Joachim is accused of repeatedly striking the woman in the head with a hammer outside a Fort Myers gas station.
ICE-LED FLORIDA OPERATION NETS 500 — INCLUDING ILLEGAL ALIENS ACCUSED OF MURDER, CHILD ABUSE, CARTEL TIES
According to the Department of Homeland Security, surveillance video showed the suspect smashing the woman’s windshield before approaching her and repeatedly striking her in the head with a hammer in broad daylight. The victim, a gas station clerk and mother of two teenage daughters, died in the attack.
Fort Myers police enlisted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help locate Joachim, who was subsequently arrested on Mango Street, DHS said.
The department said Joachim entered the United States in August 2022 and was released into the country under the Biden administration. A federal judge issued a final removal order against him that year, but he later received Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which expired in 2024.
The designation allows eligible foreign nationals from certain countries to remain and work temporarily in the United States because of conditions in their home countries. It does not provide permanent residency.
TRUMP ADMIN MARKS 15 STRAIGHT MONTHS WITH ZERO BORDER RELEASES AS APPREHENSIONS PLUNGE 94%
The White House is putting a spotlight on the case as Trump prepares to address supporters in southwest Florida, a region that has delivered strong election results for the president.
Trump carried Florida in all three of his presidential campaigns, expanding his statewide winning margin from roughly one percentage point in 2016 to more than 13 points in 2024.
In Lee County, home to Fort Myers, Trump won 63.6% of the vote in 2024, compared with 35.3% for former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to official county election results.
The White House says Trump’s immigration crackdown has led to 17 straight months without releases at the border and the deportation of more than 3 million people who were in the United States illegally.
DHS said in April that ICE had lodged an immigration detainer against Joachim following his arrest and that he would face deportation regardless of the outcome of his criminal case.
Prosecutors later announced they would seek the death penalty against Joachim, according to local reporting.
Friday’s rally comes as Trump continues to hit the campaign trail supporting Republican candidates across the country ahead of the midterm elections.
white house, migrant crime, donald trump, politics, florida
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
FIRST ON FOX: Some 50 radical Antifa cells in a wider network of nearly 300 groups are mobilizing to ensure this weekend’s demonstrations in France devolve into chaos and mayhem, Fox News Digital has learned.
Self-described Antifa groups are working with a sprawling network of communist, socialist, far-left and anti-Israel groups to mobilize on two fronts this weekend: an «anti-fascist village» against conservative leader Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in the city of Orléans and nationwide protests called Acte II to replicate last week’s violent riots.
A Fox News Digital investigation has mapped 287 groups in France’s expanding protest ecosystem, including 50 explicitly Antifa organizations, 27 explicitly communist, socialist, Trotskyist or revolutionary-left organizations, 24 labor unions and an expanding coalition of far-left anti-Israel, migrant-rights, environmental, feminist, transgender and other activist organizations. The demonstrations, which claim to be about youth education, include just 27 student and youth organizations.
The coordination comes amid a wider transnational campaign of mayhem organized by communist, socialist and leftist groups in Greece, Italy, Spain, India and elsewhere.
Fox News Digital has compiled a running who’s who of organizations in what has been dubbed «Chaos Inc.» and will keep updating the directory.
The size of the mobilization represents a huge expansion from the original 54 organizations identified in last weekend’s riots. The number of Acte II actions has also increased to 649 planned protests, as of early Friday morning in Paris, including at 21 train stations, three ports, two oil depots and one refinery.
Scores of pages of planning documents and social media posts analyzed by Fox News Digital reveal that agitators have laid the groundwork for a coordinated campaign with money, logistics and a communications infrastructure behind their efforts.
A wide coalition of groups, including Antifa organizations, is moving protesters to protests Oct. 24, 2026, in France. (Solidarity March)
The fundraising, transportation, youth outreach, ready-made materials and centralized information hub reveal an organized mobilization operation in place days before protesters even reach the streets with expected hammer-and-sickle and Palestinian flags.
A French administrative court reportedly overturned a ban on street protests issued by Paris police, although the order was not made public and it was unclear if it would have applied to other cities which have imposed similar orders.
Already, organizers have begun planning a next-stage Acte III on Oct. 31, a broader strike and blockade mobilization on Nov. 5 and a Europe-wide action on Nov. 20.
In France, the numbers include signatories to two streams: a Ciao Fachos, or «Good-bye Fascists,» coalition that will descend on Orléans and the Acte II, or «Action 2,» campaign, led by a group called the Yellow Vests that organized last week’s mayhem. Organizations have signed onto a roster and list headed to Orléans.
«Macron must leave and make way for the people!» the Acte II organizers declared, calling «Yellow vests, high school students, university students, workers» into «demonstrations, roundabouts and blockades, everywhere in France.»
FRANCE’S MACRON BLAMES PROTESTS ON ‘ULTRA-LEFT GROUPS WHOSE AIM IS TO BRING DOWN THE REPUBLIC’
A demonstrator holds an anti-fascist banner at a protest during the 2020 presidential election in New York on Nov. 5, 2020. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg)
Last September, after the murder of conservative leader Charlie Kirk by an alleged leftist gunman, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Soon after, Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, targeting far-left groups. It said the «groups and entities that perpetuate this extremism have created a movement that embraces and elevates violence to achieve policy outcomes, including justifying additional assassinations.»
Despite the clear global presence of groups with self-described names of Antifa, former FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress in 2020 that Antifa was «not a group or an organization» but rather «a movement or an ideology.»
In the U.S., while they will wave flags that say «ANTIFASCIST,» far-left activists don’t typically operate under one formal national organization called «Antifa,» leading to denials that any «Antifa» organization exists.
In Europe, it’s a different story. Activists openly organize under the Antifa name, «antifascist» banners and Antifa flags with emblems of their local chapters, and a Fox News Digital investigation has found a sprawling network mobilizing activists for another weekend of protests.
Last November, the State Department designated four European groups linked to Antifa — Antifa Ost in Germany; the International Revolutionary Front, or Informal Anarchist Federation, in Italy; and Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self Defense in Greece — as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specifically Designated Global Terrorists, accusing them of organizing or carrying out bombings, shootings and other politically motivated attacks.
TRUMP CALLS ANTIFA ‘TERRORIST GROUP,’ FUELING FIGHT OVER FREE SPEECH AND LIMITS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
Worldwide, Antifa chapters have built their movement around a seemingly noble opposition to «fascism,» but critics argue that they deploy tactics of threats, intimidation, harassment, violence, destruction and even murder that make them coercive, authoritarian, dangerous and deadly. What’s more, parroting the propaganda language of Russia, China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, «fascism» has become a loaded catch-all phrase to describe Western democracies.
For example, late last year, Neville Roy Singham, an American-born communist tech tycoon living in China, took to the stage at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Shanghai for a «Global South» conference and critiqued the alleged «fascism» of the United States.
Days ago, Fox News Digital reported exclusively that an internal State Department assessment warns that antifascist groups could participate in a «potentially more confrontational protest» this weekend that could «expose further security shortcomings and deepen political tensions.»
Now, the organizations themselves provide a look inside the infrastructure being assembled on the ground.
Speakers stand on a stage during a demonstration against the influence of Vincent Bollore and the far right on culture in front of the Olympia concert hall in Paris, France, on May 30, 2026. Banners reading Antifa and Contre la bataille culturelle de l extreme droite are visible during the rally bringing together activists, trade union members and cultural workers. (Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Free Buses to the «Antifascist Village»
On Friday night, a bus is set to leave Marseille at about 9 p.m. local time for Orléans, in a journey organized by «La Riposte Antifasciste Marseille,» established in October 2023 with a «strategy of massification of anti-fascism.» In its promotion, the pilgrimage leaders tell followers, «Anti-fascism is everyone’s business.» It’s joined by Marseille Unite Communiste Libertaire.
Other organizing materials advertise collective transportation from locations including Paris, Saint-Denis, Stains and Brest.
The logistical preparations provide a more concrete measure of organization than simply finding similar flags or slogans at demonstrations.
A wide coalition of groups, including Antifa organizations, is moving protesters to protests Oct. 24, 2026, in France. (Solidarity March)
On Saturday morning, at 8 a.m., in the city of Bagnolet outside Paris, the Assemblée Antifasciste de Bagnolet, or «Bagnolet Antifascist Assembly» has plans in place to meet at the town hall, Mairie de Bagnolet, on Rue Hoche for a two-hour ride to Orléans. Its online sign-up sheet advertises 50 free seats.
La Marche des Solidarites, or «The March for Solidarity,» an online hub, directs supporters in the Paris region to buses leaving from Saturday morning from Place de la République in Saint-Denis and Stains with #NousToutes and Carré Citoyen.
On Instagram, Saint-Denis Antifa, Carre Citoyen and Marche des Solidarites are sending people to a fundraising page on the Solidaire website, where organizers have raised about $13,300 for expenses for the Saturday action, including the «printing of mobilization materials: leaflets, posters, etc.» and a «truck/sound system for a large procession of the solidarity march.»
The Saint-Denis Antifa also made crêpes last week at the Saint-Denis Hip-Hop Festival to raise money for the protest.
An Antifa flag and a banner reading «ANTIFA for as long as it takes» during the International Day Against Racism in Paris on March 22, 2025. (Thierry Nectoux/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
And organizers have centralized the machinery for mobilization online. Adults are facilitating space for high-school students, telling them, «free places are for you.»
The Marche des Solidarités online repository on antiracisme-solidarite.org describes itself as a place containing «all the information to mobilize,» including «calls, signatories, visuals, etc.»
Ciao Fachos has gone further. Its organizing documents call for «tractages, collages, réunions publiques, récoltes de fonds, transports collectifs» — distributing leaflets, putting up posters, holding public meetings, fundraising and organizing collective transportation.
The group also urges activists to prevent National Rally supporters from distributing literature at markets or putting posters on walls.
The network has also advertised Signal channels, much like far-left activists have done in the U.S., to swap information and coordinate logistics.
COULD FRANCE’S RIOTS HAPPEN HERE? EXPERTS SEE PARALLELS IN SOCIALISM, IMMIGRATION — AND KEY DIFFERENCES
Masked protesters hold a banner reading «Autonomous antifa» during a demonstration of high-school students as part of a nationwide protest movement over learning conditions in Lyon, France, on Oct. 6, 2026. (Olivier Chassignole/AFP via Getty Images)
A Two-Day Orléans Antifa Operation
The schedule is carefully organized with Antifa groups like Loiret Antifasciste, which is promoting a detailed program. The group’s own declaration describes the objective as larger than opposing a single National Rally convention.
Building a «mouvement antifasciste,» or «antifascist movement,» is a «collective responsibility,» the organization says, calling for a united political front.
For Saturday, organizers advertise:
- 10:30 a.m. — A demonstration beginning near the Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d’Orléans, including a «Ciao Fachos» procession.
- 1 p.m. — An «antifascist village» at Campo Santo with food, political roundtables and other activities, including a plan to «parade together behind a common banner» of «anti-racism» and «anti-fascism.»
- Evening — Food, concerts and accommodations for activists.
A wide coalition of groups, including Antifa organizations, is moving protesters to protests Oct. 24, 2026, in France. (Solidarity March)
On Sunday, Ciao Fachos advertised another demonstration toward CO’Met, the location of the National Rally gathering.
The Association France Palestine Solidarité says its members will participate in a Palestinian contingent during Saturday’s demonstration and operate a stand at the antifascist village until 10 p.m. Protest leaders chose the last protest date of Oct. 17 to memorialize a protest on the same day in 1961 when a protest by Algerian «martyrs» turned deadly in Paris.
Organizations include Urgence Palestine Orléans, AGIR POUR LA PALESTINE, Union juive française pour la paix, migrant-rights organizations including FASTI, Droits Devant!!, Coordination Sans-Papiers 75, La Cimade Aix-en-Provence, Tous Réfugiés, GASPROM-ASTI Nantes, ASTI Orléans, the Association des Travailleurs Maghrébins de France and UJFP, the French Jewish Union for Peace, which is promoting the demonstration.
The CGT Paris, the Paris branch of one of France’s largest labor confederations, is also organizing transportation to the demonstration and published the Loiret Antifaciste coalition’s call for an antifascist movement.
Solidaires 37, the Indre-et-Loire branch of the left-wing labor federation, is organizing pay-what-you-can transportation from Tours.
The coalition lists demonstrate how explicitly antifascist organizations operate inside a considerably larger political coalition.
A wide coalition of groups, including Antifa organizations, is moving protesters to protests Oct. 24, 2026, in France. (Solidarity March)
Antifa Joins ‘Acte II’
The Orléans demonstration isn’t the only place explicit Antifa organizations are mobilizing Saturday.
Fox News Digital separately identified antifascist groups attached directly to local Acte II demonstrations.
In Angoulême, Action Antifasciste 16, also known as Action AntiFa16, appears as an official collaborator on an Oct. 24 Acte II announcement alongside NPA Charente, Révolution Permanente Angoulême, Maison des Peuples et de la Paix, Fanfare en lutte d’Angoulême and Organisation de Solidarité Trans Angoulême.
In the city of Caen, the «Caen Antifa Squad» appears as a collaborator on another announcement explicitly advertising «ACTE II — 24 OCTOBRE.»
The presence of Antifa groups provides a connective point between the nationwide Yellow Vest mobilization and the antifascist ecosystem.
One of the figures attempting to bring the different grievances together is Benjamin Ball, editor of the website coordinating the Yellow Vest action map.
«Our role is to make sure that the social anger aggregates,» Ball recently told French media, saying organizers want representatives of different sectors received at the Élysée.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: FRANCE BRACES FOR MORE UNREST AFTER PARTS OF PARIS SPUN OUT OF CONTROL
Communists, Socialists and Antifa
French Antifa activism substantially overlaps with anarchist, communist, anticapitalist and revolutionary-socialist networks whose organizations frequently cooperate in demonstrations and campaigns.
The Oct. 24 coalition illustrates those connections.
Union Communiste Libertaire, a libertarian-communist organization advocating revolutionary political change, has joined the mobilization.
The revolutionary socialist Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste, or NPA, is promoting the Orléans demonstration. Its publication «L’Anticapitaliste» reported that dozens of organizations were mobilizing against the RN congress.
La France Insoumise, the French Communist Party, Union pour la Reconstruction Communiste and Le Poing Levé appear in the wider local coalition.
The coalition also includes labor organizations, environmental activists and student groups, such as Fédération Syndicale Étudiante, a left-wing student union already involved in France’s October student revolt, is joining the mobilization.
Extinction Rebellion France is represented through its Île-de-France organization. Its agitators rappelled the Marianne statue and hoisted a vest with an anti-police message, creating the iconic image used for the next phase of activation.
And the coalition includes feminist organizations such as NousToutes, whose current social-media material is promoting transportation to Orléans and mobilization resources.
The Solidaires union’s booth at an anti-fascist rally organized in response to the C9M’s annual neo-fascist demonstration, held at Place du Pantheon in Paris, France, on May 8, 2026. Activists, students and left-wing organizations took part in the demonstration in central Paris. (Djoudi Hamani/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Labor Unions Move Activists to Orléans with Antifa
Organized labor is providing another piece of the mobilization infrastructure.
Along with CGT Paris and Solidaires 37, the expanded roster includes CNT Fédération Éducation, CNT 49, CNT Education 93, SNETAP-FSU, Solidaires 44, Solidaires 35, SUD Protection Sociale 93 and CGT ArianeGroup Issac, among other labor organizations.
VISA 93, part of the Vigilance et Initiatives Syndicales Antifascistes labor-antifascist network, has promoted union transportation for the demonstration.
Meanwhile, as Antifa and other leftist agitators readied for the weekend, French authorities arrested a 34-year-old man, Hodei Docampo Ciarra, this week in the town of Val d’Issoire (Haute-Vienne). Police suspect him of being one of the rioters who devastated City Hall in Limoges, torching the building.
French police said he was allegedly involved in the «ultra-left.»
They arrested the man, 34, at about 6:15 a.m. as he got out of bed at his parents’ home.
world, politics, world protests, france, emmanuel macron
INTERNACIONAL
Viajaban con sus asesinos: el doble homicidio que sacude al centro de la capital panameña
Una nueva ola de violencia y ataques con características de sicariato se registró esta semana en Panamá, dejando varias víctimas en distintos sectores de la capital.
El caso que más alarma ha generado por la forma en que fue ejecutado ocurrió en Perejil, en el corregimiento de Calidonia, donde dos hombres fueron asesinados dentro de un automóvil en pleno centro de la ciudad.
El doble homicidio ocurrió el miércoles 21 de octubre, cuando dos hombres fueron asesinados a tiros dentro de un sedán blanco en Calle Primera. Las cámaras de videovigilancia de la zona captaron el momento en que los presuntos homicidas descendieron del vehículo, que todavía estaba en movimiento, después de disparar contra sus ocupantes.
Las imágenes muestran cómo los dos atacantes escaparon corriendo del lugar y posteriormente fueron recogidos por otro automóvil. Las primeras investigaciones indican que las cuatro personas viajaban juntas en el sedán, por lo que los homicidas habrían compartido el vehículo con sus víctimas antes de abrir fuego.
Los dos fallecidos presentaban impactos de bala en la cabeza, mientras las autoridades iniciaron las diligencias para identificar a los responsables. El ataque provocó la movilización de unidades policiales y personal de Criminalística, que realizaron la inspección del automóvil y el levantamiento de los cuerpos.
Las grabaciones constituyen una pieza importante para reconstruir la participación de los atacantes y establecer la ruta utilizada durante la fuga. Los investigadores también buscan determinar las circunstancias que precedieron al doble asesinato, así como el posible móvil del ataque ocurrido en una zona céntrica de la capital.
La violencia también alcanzó la comunidad de Los Caobos, en Chilibre, donde Reynaldo Roberto Prendergast Torres, de 37 años, murió tras recibir múltiples disparos mientras conducía un sedán blanco. Según los reportes preliminares, los agresores dispararon desde otro automóvil en movimiento durante la mañana del miércoles.
Prendergast perdió el control del volante después de recibir los impactos y su vehículo terminó dentro de una cuneta, a un costado de la carretera. Residentes alertaron a las autoridades, que acordonaron el lugar para recuperar evidencias. Los registros policiales indican que el fallecido había sido aprehendido anteriormente, aunque no se ha establecido si esos antecedentes guardan relación con el asesinato.
Otro hecho violento dejó un taxista de 20 años asesinado en Alcalde Díaz, también en Panamá Norte. La víctima fue identificada como Sudan Gabriel Eduardo Ceballos Falcón, quien recibió un disparo en la cabeza en el sector de La Esperanza, cerca de un puente peatonal.
El crimen ocurrió aproximadamente a las 10:15 de la noche, cuando residentes escucharon varias detonaciones de arma de fuego. El joven fue encontrado boca abajo, cerca de un taxi amarillo estacionado junto a la carretera. Una de las hipótesis preliminares indica que intentó escapar del atacante, pero cayó antes de conseguir ayuda.
La jornada violenta también dejó un homicidio a plena luz del día en Pueblo Nuevo, donde Luis García, de 51 años, fue asesinado a tiros cerca de las 6:00 de la mañana del miércoles. El ataque ocurrió en calle Tercera, a pocos metros del Sistema Penal Acusatorio de la vía Transístmica, cuando la víctima caminaba cerca de su residencia.
Según los reportes preliminares, los agresores le dispararon desde un automóvil dorado y escaparon del lugar. Los vecinos describieron al fallecido como una persona trabajadora y tranquila, mientras las autoridades investigan el móvil del crimen y la identidad de los responsables.
Los hechos se produjeron en medio de una sucesión de homicidios que afecta principalmente a sectores de la capital.
De acuerdo con el Sistema Nacional Integrado de Estadísticas Criminales (SIEC), Panamá registraba 460 homicidios intencionales hasta el 11 de octubre de 2026, cuatro más que durante el mismo período del año anterior. La provincia de Panamá concentraba 288 víctimas, equivalentes a casi el 63% del total nacional, mientras Colón contabilizaba otras 77.a
La distribución territorial muestra que el distrito de Panamá acumulaba 198 homicidios, seguido de San Miguelito, con 85. Dentro de Panamá Norte, Chilibre registraba 18 casos, Ernesto Córdoba Campos otros 17 y Caimitillo nueve. Estas cifras reflejan la concentración de la violencia en determinadas comunidades, aunque corresponden a un corte estadístico anterior a los últimos ataques.
Las investigaciones también identifican un aumento del 64% en los homicidios vinculados al pandillerismo, que pasaron de 42 a 69 frente al mismo período de 2025. Las rencillas delincuenciales representaban 156 casos y otros 67 permanecían bajo investigación, mientras las armas de fuego estuvieron presentes en 392 asesinatos, aproximadamente el 85% del total.
Las autoridades mantienen abiertas las investigaciones para determinar los móviles de los ataques, identificar a los responsables y establecer posibles conexiones. Mientras avanzan las diligencias, los crímenes registrados en Perejil, Chilibre y Alcalde Díaz vuelven a colocar la violencia armada en el centro de la preocupación por la seguridad pública.
Policía Nacional,escena del crimen,cinta policial,investigación criminal
“En vez de ayudarlos les están haciendo un mal”: el sentido consejo de Lionel Messi a los padres de jóvenes futbolistas
El Gobierno reglamentó Inocencia Fiscal II: los cambios clave y los pasos administrativos que faltan
El Maracaná es argentino: Estudiantes de La Plata derrotó a Flamengo y jugará la final de la Copa Libertadores
EEUU reconoció que le preocupa la ley que podría sancionar a sus empresas por el conflicto con Malvinas
White House blasts Biden border policies ahead of Trump Florida visit, citing brutal hammer killing
Fifty Antifa groups in France join vast network to ensure chaos in weekend protests
El Gobierno pone en marcha un nuevo plan de retiros voluntarios y busca que haya 20.000 empleados menos en el Estado
Alerta roja en Sudamérica por el Súper Niño: cambio climático, inundaciones extremas y el hallazgo de microplásticos y metales en el granizo
El Gobierno reconoció que “está bajo análisis” la postura argentina en el Comité de Descolonización de la ONU
Contratar pensando en el futuro: qué cambia en la selección y el liderazgo con la IA en el mercado silver
DEPORTE3 días agoMariano Navone venció a Juan Manuel Cerúndolo en el duelo argentino y avanzó en el ATP de Bruselas
- ECONOMIA2 días ago
Cuáles son las condiciones que enfrentan las pymes para financiarse en el mercado de capitales
- ECONOMIA3 días ago
Jornada financiera: el riesgo país cerró a la baja tras superar los 700 puntos y el dólar subió por tercer día consecutivo
