A son of the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman pleaded guilty Monday in a Chicago court to drug trafficking charges in a deal that would see him cooperate with US prosecutors for a reduced sentence.Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of four sons of the jailed Sinaloa cartel leader, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise — reversing the original not guilty stance he took after his July 2024 arrest in Texas, court filings showed.Under the plea deal filed with the court and seen by AFP, prosecutors agreed that the judge could spare him life imprisonment on the drug charges — depending on his level of cooperation.”Defendant understands that the decision to depart from the applicable guideline sentence…the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment, rests solely with the Court,” the filing said.Guzman Lopez, who will be sentenced by the judge in the case at a later date, must also pay an $80 million charge representing the proceeds of his crimes.Another of his three brothers, Ovidio Guzman — as part of a plea deal struck in exchange for a reduced sentence — pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy related to drug trafficking and two counts of participating in the activities of a criminal enterprise.Ovidio Guzman also admitted that he and his brothers, known as “Los Chapitos,” had taken over their father’s operations within the cartel.The 68-year-old “El Chapo” is serving a life sentence at a supermax federal prison in Colorado following his 2016 arrest and 2019 conviction.”Based upon facts now known to the government, defendant has clearly demonstrated a recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility for his criminal conduct,” the plea deal said.Guzman Lopez was involved in the shipment of “hundreds or thousands of kilograms” of cocaine, heroin, meth and marijuana from Mexico to the United States, the filing added.- Trump war on drugs -In July 2024, Joaquin Guzman Lopez initially pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons possession.He was taken into custody that month when he arrived in Texas aboard a small private plane, along with the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, Ismael “Mayo” Zambada.Zambada claimed to have been misled about the destination and abducted by Guzman Lopez to be handed over against his will to the United States.Following the arrest, clashes intensified between two factions of the cartel, headed respectively by the Guzman brothers and Zambada.The infighting led to approximately 1,200 deaths in Mexico and around 1,400 disappearances, according to official figures.Washington accuses the Sinaloa cartel of trafficking fentanyl to the United States, where the synthetic drug has caused tens of thousands of overdose deaths in recent years, straining relations with Mexico.The Sinaloa cartel is one of six Mexican drug-trafficking groups that US President Donald Trump has designated as global terrorist organizations.In its aggressive policy against drug cartels, the Trump administration announced additional sanctions against “Los Chapitos” in June for fentanyl trafficking and increased the reward to $10 million for each of the fugitive brothers.The two other “Chapitos” — Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar — have also been indicted on drug trafficking charges in the United States but remain at large.

US First Lady Melania Trump unveiled this year’s White House Christmas decorations on Monday — in a reduced space after President Donald Trump demolished part of the historic building for a new ballroom.The 55-year-old’s theme for the season was “Home is Where the Heart Is,” despite the fact that she spends relatively little time in Washington, preferring New York and Florida.Decorations featured a giant Lego portrait of her 79-year-old husband, a huge gingerbread White House, thousands of decorative butterflies, and more than 50 Christmas trees in the first holiday season of the president’s second term.”Home is not merely a physical space; rather, it is the warmth and comfort I carry within, regardless of my surroundings,” Melania Trump said in a statement released by the White House.But the actual physical space available at the White House for the Christmas decorations is smaller this year.In previous years many of the most dramatic displays have traditionally been in the East Wing, where the first lady’s offices were based and guests to the White House entered for seasonal events.The East Wing has now been reduced to rubble to make way for Donald Trump’s $300 million ballroom, with workers knocking down some of the final bricks on Monday, an AFP photographer saw.So this year’s Christmas decorations are all in the main mansion of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.The centerpiece this year is the 18-foot (5.5-meter) tree in the White House Blue Room, a concolor fir from the state of Michigan which features gold stars to commemorate the families of fallen US service members.The decorations also include accents in red, white and blue to mark next year’s 250th anniversary of American independence, and baubles for Melania Trump’s “Be Best” education initiative.President Trump himself meanwhile showed that he was in no hurry to celebrate his last Christmas in the White House anytime soon. His second term is due to end in 2029.”We have a little more than three years left, and three years for Trump is an eternity,” Trump told guests at a Christmas party, in a video shared by a White House official.