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by Temitope Oladeji 15/4/2025 During a high-profile meeting at the White House on Monday, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele made it clear he has no intention of returning a Salvadoran national mistakenly deported from the United States.  Speaking alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, President Bukele dismissed the possibility of repatriating Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident, the Trump administration admitted was wrongly deported under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele said, reiterating U.S. claims that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13 gang. President Trump, who assumed office with a promise to overhaul immigration policy, praised Bukele’s administration for accepting deportees, including alleged gang members, and for making El Salvador’s prison system available to house them.  President Trump further vowed to increase deportations, saying he planned to send as many undocumented immigrants to El Salvador as possible. He also pledged the United States’ support in building new prisons in the Central American country to accommodate the influx. Under the President Trump administration, hundreds of people, many of them Venezuelans, have been deported to El Salvador using the rarely invoked Alien Enemies Act.  Critics have raised alarm over the policy, especially after the wrongful deportation of individuals like Abrego Garcia. Human rights organizations have also condemned the conditions in El Salvador’s high-security prisons, where many deportees are held, citing widespread abuses and the lack of due process.  President Bukele’s sweeping anti-gang crackdown has led to the detention of tens of thousands, a move rights groups claim has violated fundamental legal protections. Bukele, however, defended his strategy. “I’m accused of imprisoning thousands,” he told Trump. “I like to say that we liberated millions.” President Trump responded enthusiastically to the remark, asking, “Do you think I can use that?” He then took the opportunity to criticize his Democratic rivals for what he described as their failure to control the southern border. The two leaders also discussed broader cooperation on security and migration, El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, and ongoing trade issues.  The meeting underscored the growing alliance between Trump and Bukele, both of whom have embraced hardline stances on crime and immigration.

by Temitope Oladeji 11/4/2025 In an exceptional diplomatic development, Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina has been released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States. Karelina, a Los Angeles-based amateur ballerina, was arrested in early 2024 while visiting her family in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.  She had spent over a year in detention after being accused by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) of financially supporting a Ukrainian organization allegedly involved in supplying arms to the Ukrainian military.  In August, she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. However, human rights groups in Russia argued that the accusation was based on a single $51 donation Karelina made in February 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  The charity in question has denied any involvement in arms procurement, asserting its focus is solely on humanitarian aid and disaster relief.  However, Russian authorities reportedly found evidence of the transaction on her phone. In exchange for Karelina’s release, the United States freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian national arrested in Cyprus in 2023.  Petrov had been accused of illegally exporting microelectronics to Russian defense-related manufacturers. The swap was conducted in the early hours of Thursday in Abu Dhabi.  Prodesq gathered that President Vladimir Putin officially pardoned Karelina ahead of the exchange. During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, United States President Donald Trump revealed that the initiative to secure Karelina’s release was prompted by a call from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO Dana White. Trump said, “Dana White called me and said she was connected to someone in the UFC. Dana’s an incredible guy, and we spoke to President Putin about it—they made a deal.”  U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Karelina’s safe return. “She’s on a plane home,” he announced.  He added that “President Trump secured her release. She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year. This administration remains committed to bringing home all wrongfully detained Americans.” Prodesq Political Analyst gathered that CIA Director John Ratcliffe was present at the exchange in Abu Dhabi. Karelina’s family expressed their profound gratitude. “We are beside ourselves with happiness,” her father, Pavel Karelina, said. “It was an explosion of joy when we first spoke, just pure emotion.” This marks the second high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S. in less than two months.  In February, Russian national Alexander Vinnik, imprisoned in the U.S. on money laundering charges, was exchanged for American schoolteacher Marc Fogel. The swap coincides with renewed diplomatic engagement between the two nations.  On the same day, U.S. and Russian officials met in Istanbul to discuss reinstating embassy operations that had been scaled back following the onset of the Ukraine conflict.

by Temitope Oladeji 8/4/2025 South Korea’s military disclosed firing warning shots on Tuesday after approximately 10 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border separating the two countries.  The incursion marks the second such incident in less than a year, reflecting heightened tensions between South Korea and North Korea. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the North Korean soldiers breached the military demarcation line (MDL) in the eastern passage of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) around 5 p.m. local time.  The JCS stated that South Korean forces responded with a warning broadcast followed by warning shots, prompting the intruders to retreat. “Our military issued warning broadcasts and fired warning shots after about 10 North Korean troops crossed the MDL in the eastern DMZ,” the JCS said in a message to reporters.  “We are closely tracking the movements of the North Korean military and are taking appropriate measures according to standard operational procedures.” The motive behind the latest breach remains unclear. A similar incident occurred in June of last year when North Korean troops were observed south of the MDL but withdrew following warning measures.  South Korean authorities at the time assessed the incursion was likely accidental, noting that the area was heavily wooded, MDL markers were badly visible, and the soldiers were with construction tools. The border zone remains one of the most militarized regions in the world, laced with an estimated two million landmines and fortified with barbed wire, tank traps, and standby combat troops on both sides. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to expand his nuclear weapons program and strengthen ties with Russia, amid its ongoing war in Ukraine.  Despite repeated calls from South Korea and the United States to resume denuclearization talks, North Korea has refused to return to the negotiating table. While U.S. President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated on January 20, has continually expressed interest in re-engaging North Korean leader Kim diplomatically, North Korea has responded by accusing Washington of escalating hostilities since the return of Donald Trump to office.