Politics
U.S. couple finally home after month in Mexican prison over timeshare dispute – National TenX News
A Michigan couple has been released from a Mexican prison after spending nearly a month behind bars over a payment dispute with a timeshare company.
Paul, 58, and Christy Akeo, 60, “have been released from custody and have returned to Lansing, Michigan,” according to a statement from their lawyers on April 3.
Prosecutors in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo accused the couple of cancelling 13 credit card payments to a hotel chain worth approximately $116,500 in 2022, which they said constituted fraud, CNN reported.
The couple denied the allegations, saying that their credit card company had refunded the amount when the resort firm, The Palace Company, failed to provide services that were promised. A judge dismissed the criminal case and ordered the release of the couple after the state attorney of Quintana Roo reached an agreement with the Akeos and the timeshare company.
Under the terms of the agreement, $116,587.84 will be donated to a non-profit organization in Mexico benefiting orphan children.
“Each party regrets that this incident occurred,” a joint statement from the Akeos and The Palace Company said.
The couple was taken into custody shortly after their plane landed in Cancun on March 4 for allegedly defrauding the hospitality company, Palace Elite Resorts. The company previously claimed the couple had defrauded it through $117,000 of chargebacks on their American Express card after they purchased a timeshare membership with them several years earlier.
Palace Elite Resorts filed a complaint with the Mexican public prosecutor, which led to the arrests of the Akeos.
The couple denied the company’s allegations, and their law firm said that they were “held captive for 32 days in Cereso Cancun prison.”
“Make no mistake, what they’re doing is they are holding two Americans hostage because they want them to pay them money,” the couple’s lawyer John Manly told CBS.
Michigan Republican Rep. Tom Barrett travelled to Mexico to visit the couple and bring them back home.
Barrett posted on X on April 2, demanding “their release after learning yesterday of their deteriorating physical condition.”
“Enough is enough, after spending nearly a month in a maximum security Mexican prison over what amounts to a contract dispute on a time-share, it’s long overdue for the Mexican authorities to release Paul and Christy,” Barrett wrote.
In another post, Barrett said he travelled directly to the prison where the Akeos were being held upon landing in Mexico.
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“I met with them personally for an hour and learned of the horrific conditions they are facing — rubbled walls, overcrowded cells, toilets that don’t flush, and disgusting food. This has left them scared, frustrated, and struggling to find hope. I assured them that I am doing everything I can to urgently secure their safe release,” Barrett wrote.
He said that following the meeting with the Akeos, he met with the president of Quintana Roo Supreme Court to “expedite any relief we can provide.”
One day later, Barrett shared a video of the Akeos boarding a plane to return to Michigan, writing, “Paul and Christy Akeo are coming home. Mission accomplished.”
On March 24, the couple’s daughter, Lindsey Hull, said her mother and stepfather were being “held without bail in a maximum-security Mexican prison” in a Facebook post.
“The last 21 days of being held captive is a direct result of my parents simply challenging wrongful credit card charges made by The Palace Company, aka Palace Resorts with American Express. American Express sided with my mom and Paul as a response to these wrongful charges,” Hull wrote in a statement on March 24.
“The last 21 days of torture my parents have been through is a direct response of The Palace Company’s corruption, extortion, retaliation and blackmail against our parents. The Palace Company is demanding $250,000, the signing of an NDA that does not even guarantee their release, as well as a Facebook post made by our parents to be left up for 1 week claiming all responsibility and fault for the torture they have endured throughout the last 3 weeks,” Hull continued.
Hull claimed that The Palace Company was also demanding a public apology from her parents, which she said was “absolutely sickening.”
“My mom and Paul are being denied medical attention, denied proper communication and publicly defamed. They have been held captive in prison for 21 days and despite asking numerous times to speak to Paul, we have yet to have ANY communication with him,” Hull wrote.
“My mom has lost 25 lbs. in 20 days due to inability to eat as the prison is serving her food they are aware she is allergic to. She also has a severe rash all over her body they refuse to treat,” she added.
Hull said she had brought up her concerns with the U.S. Consulate over the course of three weeks, however they allegedly didn’t organize any visitation with jailed U.S. citizens until “17 days into their imprisonment.”
“In other words, the US Consulate and the US Embassy have been nothing short of useless,” Hull added.
She said that her family had spent “thousands upon thousands of dollars towards Mexican legal representation.”
“But unfortunately that only goes so far when dealing with this level of corruption and extortion. We have also met prior demands given to us by The Palace Company and yet they have had no serious response to letting our parents free,” Hull claimed in her post.
Hull shared a video of her parents returning home on April 4, writing, “When mom and dad are finally home after 30 days!!!”
After their return, the couple’s lawyers thanked Special Envoy Adam Boehler, U.S. President Donald Trump and Barrett, calling him a “hero in my book.”
“President Trump, I know he personally got involved with this and wanted them home, so I give him a lot of credit,” Manly said to CNN. “No American should have to endure what these people have endured. But for these three men, I think they’d still be sitting there.”
In a statement, Hull thanked government officials for helping to organize her parents’ release and noted Barrett’s efforts.
“He traveled to Cancun at great personal risk, camped out at the prison and made it clear that he would not return home without them,” she said in a statement on April 3. “His heroic efforts as a veteran represent the finest traditions of our nation’s military to never leave an American behind.”
“No American should be held hostage to the demands of a private company anywhere in the world,” she said.
Hull added her parents will be treated for “illnesses and trauma” inflicted upon them during their captivity.
— With files from Reuters
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.
The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honour that he has coveted. Even if the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of resistance in Venezuela. He has signalled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s second in command.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters after leaving the White House and heading to Capitol Hill. She said she had done so “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Trump confirmed later on social media that Machado had left the medal for him to keep, and he said it was an honour to meet her.
“She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” Trump said in his post. “Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
The White House later posted a photo of Machado standing next to Trump in the Oval Office as he holds the medal in a large frame. A text in the frame reads, “Presented as a personal symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people in recognition of President Trump’s principled and decisive action to secure a free Venezuela.”
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela, giving no timetable on when elections might be held. Machado indicated that he had provided few specifics on that front during their discussion.
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She did not provide more information on what was said.
‘We can count on President Trump’
After the closed-door meeting, Machado greeted dozens of cheering supporters waiting for her near the White House gates, stopping to hug many.
“We can count on President Trump,” she told them without elaborating, prompting some to briefly chant, “Thank you, Trump.”
Before her visit to Washington, Machado had not been seen in public since she travelled last month to Norway, where her daughter received the peace prize on her behalf. She had spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela before she appeared in Norway after the ceremony.
The jubilant scene after her meeting with Trump stood in contrast to political realities in Venezuela. Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations, along with others in Maduro’s inner circle. In her first state of the union speech Thursday, the interim president promoted the resumption of diplomatic ties between the historic adversaries and advocated for opening the state-run oil industry to more foreign investment after Trump pledged to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” but also said the meeting didn’t mean Trump’s opinion of her changed, calling it “a realistic assessment.”
Leavitt told reporters that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
A ‘frank and positive discussion’ about Venezuela
Leavitt said Machado had sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. She spent about two and a half hours at the White House.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado,” the press secretary said while the meeting was still going on, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
After leaving the White House, Machado went on to a closed-door meeting with a bipartisan group of senators.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Machado told them that “if there’s not some progress, real progress towards a transition in power, and/or elections in the next several months, we should all be worried.”
“She reminded us that Delcy Rodríguez is, in many ways, worse than Maduro,” he added.
Asked if Machado had heard any commitment from the White House on holding elections in Venezuela, Murphy said, “No, I don’t think she got any commitment from them.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, was exultant following the meeting, saying Machado “delivered a message that loud and clear: What President Trump did was the most important, significant event in Latin America. That getting rid of Maduro was absolutely essential.”
Machado’s Washington stop coincided with U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seizing another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife less than two weeks ago at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela’s interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and noted that Rodríguez’s government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
Machado doesn’t get the nod from Trump
Just hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.” Machado had steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize, and had sought to cultivate relationships with him and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, Machado began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for travelling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush, whom Chávez considered an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshalled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown.
Politics
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday underscored the importance of keeping central banks independent and threw her support behind beleaguered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is facing a Trump administration investigation for renovation cost overruns.
Georgieva told Reuters in an interview that there was ample evidence that central bank independence worked in the interest of businesses and households, and that evidence-based, data-based decision-making is good for the economy.
The IMF managing director said she had worked with Powell and respected his professionalism.
“I have worked with Jay Powell. He is a very good professional, very decent man, and I think that his standing among his colleagues tells the story,” she said, when asked about a letter of support signed by her predecessor, Christine Lagarde, now head of the European Central Bank, and other large central banks.
Powell on Sunday disclosed that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into him over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion project to renovate two historical buildings at the Fed’s Washington headquarters complex.
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Powell denies wrongdoing and has called the unprecedented actions a pretext to put pressure on him for not bowing to U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-running demands for sharply lower interest rates.
The probe has sparked widespread criticism from some key members of Trump’s Republican Party in the U.S. Senate, which must confirm his nominee to succeed Powell, along with foreign economic officials, investors and former U.S. government officials from both political parties.
Trump has repeatedly derided Powell’s leadership of the Fed and attacked him, often personally, over what he sees as the Fed chair’s slow moves to cut interest rates. On Wednesday, he dismissed concerns that eroding central bank independence would undermine the value of the U.S. dollar and spark inflation, telling Reuters, “I don’t care.”
Georgieva said the IMF looked carefully at issues such as monetary and financial stability, as well as the strength of a country’s institutions. It was specifically interested in the Fed, given the role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.
“It would be very good to see that there is a recognition … that the Fed is precious for the Americans. It is very important for the rest of the world,” she said.
Trump has also attempted to fire another Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, who has challenged her termination in a legal case that will be argued before the Supreme Court next week.
B.C. Premier David Eby spoke to reporters on Thursday morning from Mumbai, India, during his six-day trade mission.
He said that mining and energy companies in India are showing an interest in B.C.
“They are looking strongly to LNG as one of their ways of reducing carbon intensity, as well as reducing smog in the country,” Eby said.
“And so B.C. LNG has been an item of considerable interest, especially the projects that are reaching final investment decision over the next year — LNG Canada Phase 2, KSI Lisims LNG — as well as the projects that are under construction like Woodfibre LNG.”
Eby was also asked about the rise in extortion cases in B.C.
He said the province’s extortion task force will provide an update next week.
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“We have assembled a remarkable and historic task force, RCMP, CBSA,” Eby said.
“There are more police in Surrey right now than there have ever been. The RCMP has surged resources into the community.”
Eby said he has not been happy with the fact that there has been no update from the task force and he has asked them to provide one.
“There have been some important developments, people deported, an arrest here in India, cooperation between the Indian government and the Canadian government on this at the law enforcement level,” he added.
“That needs to continue, but, bluntly, we need better results, we need to see more arrests and whatever we can do to support the police to get the job done, we will do so.”
As of Jan. 12, Surrey police said there have been 16 reported extortion incidents in the city since the beginning of the year.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Trump gifted Nobel Peace Prize by Venezuela’s María Corina Machado – National TenX News
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
B.C. Premier David Eby says province’s LNG, mining of interest to India TenX News
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