Traffic fines in Medellín: This is how you can access discounts - Medellín - Colombia

Until Monday March 14 will be the first period of amnesty for motorcyclists who have committed offenses before June 30, 2021reported the Medellin Mobility Secretariat.

This measure will not apply for infractions related to the consumption of alcohol and psychoactive substances.

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“We are especially inviting motorcyclists to save 80% on the capital of their fine and 100% on the interest they currently owe, taking advantage of the discounts from the national government,” highlighted the leader of the Administrative Unit of the Ministry of Mobility , Rosa Elena Buitrago.

On the other hand, this Secretariat reported that from March 15 to May 14, motorcycle drivers will pay 40% of the capital of the debt, that is, a reduction of 60%. Between May 15 and September 14 they will cancel 60% of the capital, this is a reduction of 40%. For both periods, the 100% exemption on interest is maintained.

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The incentive also applies to cars, as follows: until May 14, 2022, debtors will pay only 50% of the capital of the debt, and in a second period, between May 15 and September 14, they will cancel 80%, also with the discount on all interest.

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Payments can be made through the Movilidad en Línea web portal (https://bit.ly/3ACbKic) or at the Davivienda bank and the Cotrafa Financial Cooperative with the settlement of the laser-printed subpoena.

MEDELLIN

Pentagon Reporters Request Access to Troops in East Europe

pentagon — 

Pentagon reporters have asked the Biden administration to grant them access to the approximately 3,000 U.S. troops being deployed to Eastern Europe and Germany in response to rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The Pentagon Press Association, which represents about 100 journalists, including two at Voice of America, wrote a letter Wednesday to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan requesting that they “lift the ban on news coverage of American military members deploying to Europe to reassure NATO allies during the Ukraine crisis.”

“The existing ban, including denial of reporters’ requests to speak directly to troops at their deployed locations and to embed with units, is contrary to the basic principle of press freedom,” the association’s board wrote.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon that the administration respected the concerns of the press but was “not at a point now” to provide the access requested.

“We don’t make decisions to grant access or not to grant access lightly, and there’s lots of factors that go into that. Sometimes it has to do with operational security. Sometimes it has to do with how that kind of access nests into the larger strategy that we’re pursuing,” Kirby said.

Russia has placed more than 100,000 of its troops along its border with Ukraine, in the illegally annexed Crimea region and along Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus.

Moscow says its troop placements are for military exercises and claims it has no intention of invading Ukraine.

In response to Russia’s troop buildup, President Joe Biden ordered about 2,000 U.S. forces to Poland and Germany and moved about 1,000 troops from Germany to Romania. Both Poland and Romania border Ukraine.

The U.S. says it has no plans to place combat troops in Ukraine. A small number of U.S. troops are in Ukraine as part of a training program that began after Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

How to access a housing subsidy in Medellin? - Medellin Colombia

The real estate sector has been one of the sectors that has had the most movement in the economic reactivation in Antioch.

Figures provided by Camacol Antioquia reveal that 2021 ended with a record for home sales in Colombia, with 239,746 units sold, a growth of 16.4% compared to total sales in 2020.

In the case of Antioquia, 27,430 new housing units were sold last year, being “one of the best years in history, with a growth in the region of 16% compared to 2020 sales”.

For this year, the entity indicated that in Antioquia there are 525 projects, with more than 20,000 housing units on offer. Most of them are on plans, another percentage is already under construction and others are closer to completion.

Eduardo Loaiza Posada, manager of Camacol, Antioquia, specified that these figures allow projecting sales at the end of this year close to 27,500 units, similar results to those obtained the previous year.

”2022 continues with a good environment to buy a home, thanks to various subsidy programsMi Casa Ya, Semilleros de Propietarios, Jovenes Propietarios and FRECH No VIS and Ecobertura for the middle class”, expressed Loaiza.

Added to this are the benefits and tax exemptions, such as a reduction in Withholding at Source through AFC accounts and the deduction of mortgage interest, elements that make the construction sector attractive.

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2022 continues with a good environment to buy a home, thanks to various subsidy programs

Loaiza said that in 2021, 3,708 subsidies from Mi Casa Ya in Antioquia were used in Antioquia, while from the middle class subsidy or Frech No VIS, 6,410 subsidies were granted.

“There is room to increase the volume of subsidies used in the region and to exceed 10,000 subsidies for home purchases used in the region by 2022,” added Loaiza.

For its part, the Mayor’s Office of Medellín, through the Social Institute of Housing and Habitat (Isvimed), clarified that the VIS and non-VIS Housing Subsidy announced by the National Government, must be processed through financial institutions (cooperatives, funds and banks) commissioned for this purpose.

“I want to inform the community that Isvimed is not the official spokesperson to provide information or carry out procedures corresponding to the application for housing subsidies granted by the National Government. We invite you to communicate directly with the corresponding financial entities or with the Ministry of Housing”, pointed out the director of Isvimed, René Hoyos.

In case of doubt, citizens are invited to contact the Ministry of Housing at the citizen contact center +57 (1) 3323434, the national toll-free line 018000413664 or the email correspondence@minvivienda.gov.co.

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To access

The subsidies apply only to new housing, whether it is pre-sale, construction or that, when completed, has not been inhabited.

The interested person must choose and set aside the property that meets the conditions. Then, you must submit the home loan application or leasing housing before a financial entity, each one offers different benefits.

At the entity, you must sign the application documents for the non-VIS subsidy. As a requirement, entities ask not to have previously received interest rate coverage, that is, have not previously benefited from a housing subsidy.

MEDELLIN

Media Asks Court to Ensure Access to Trial Over Floyd Death

A coalition of media organizations has asked a federal appeals court to intervene to ensure public access to the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights.

The news organizations, including The Associated Press, petitioned the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday to quash two orders from District Judge Paul Magnuson that they say violated the First Amendment by closing part of the trial and sealing the corresponding transcript.

Monday was the start of the second week of testimony in the trial, which Magnuson has said could last four weeks.

“Petitioners do not need to explain to this Court the gravity of the trial, the impact Mr. Floyd’s death had on the Twin Cities and the world, or the public’s ongoing and intense concern for how the criminal justice system deals with those accused of killing him,” media coalition attorney Leita Walker wrote. “As a result, ensuring the trial is fully open to the press and public is imperative.”

At issue is Magnuson’s closure of a hearing that he planned for January 21 on defense motions to exclude certain evidence. Prosecutors and the media coalition objected to the closure.

Walker wrote that the judge appeared to cancel the hearing, but then held what was first called a “trial management conference” that the court later labeled an “in-chambers proceeding.”

Both were conducted in private.

Magnuson rejected the media coalition’s challenge of the closure as “moot” after he canceled it.

In a written order after he was asked to reconsider, he stood by his earlier decision, writing that the proceeding in chambers “was not a hearing at all” and that neither the public nor media had a right to access it.

He also sealed the proceeding’s transcript, which he said was brief and of no import. Its release would be “contrary to the efficient administration of justice in this matter,” Magnuson wrote.

The coalition asked the 8th Circuit to vacate the closure order and unseal the transcript. The news organizations also repeated concerns they’ve been raising about restrictions on journalists and spectators in the courtroom that are meant to reduce the risks of a COVID-19 outbreak disrupting the proceedings.