Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

Archives for August 2014

August 5, 2014 By Fausta

Need a coyote? Check Facebook!

Reuters reports on the latest trend:
E-coyotes: The Central American people smugglers who ‘Like’ Facebook

“Pollo”, or Chicken, a Guatemalan smuggler who is also a butcher, uses Facebook on his smartphone to monitor where his customers are on the route between Guatemala and San Diego, California.

Few migrants travel with smartphones, and there are only 4.2 million users in Central America out of about 40 million people, according to consultancy International Data Corporation. As such, Pollo urges customers to drop into internet cafes along the route to let their families know they are alright.

“It’s indispensable to maintain communication,” he said, adding that he uses a GPS phone app, which enables him to monitor the location of his helpers via their mobile phones as they move his customers around.

To be sure, internet penetration is low in Central America, with an average of nearly 20 percent of the population linked up in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to one estimate. But those who use the Internet to plan trips north, provide valuable feedback for would-be migrants on coyotes.

In addition to smart phones, some coyotes can get U.S.M.C. uniforms: 13 Illegal Immigrants Arrested in California Wearing U.S. Marine Uniforms. Question: How did the coyotes get access to the uniforms?

Perez was here.

Meanwhile, today is day #128 of Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi imprisonment in Mexico.

In other news, at Drudge,

Law enforcement overwhelmed by death, rape along ‘illegal immigrant superhighway’…

Republican blasts Dem ‘war on whites’…

DOZENS FROM EBOLA-STRUCK COUNTRIES CAUGHT SNEAKING INTO USA…

Dumping in Virgin Islands…

Salvadoran migrants flock to Virginia…

Principal fired for telling students ‘Speak English’ tells her side of story…

REPORT: All employment growth in TN went to immigrant workers…

UPDATE: TWO ILLEGALS CHARGED IN MURDER OF BORDER AGENT…

At CNS, DHS: ‘Family Unit’ Apprehensions Up 493% on U.S.-Mexico Border

Share

Filed Under: illegal immigration, immigration, Mexico Tagged With: Andrew Tahmooressi, Fausta's blog

August 5, 2014 By Fausta

Mexico: Knights Templar chief La Tuta’s on YouTube

. . . and everyone’s watching.

La Tuta’s touting.

I mentioned this on yesterday’s Carnival, and the WSJ today reports on it,
Alleged Mexican Drug Lord’s Videos With Officials Lead to Arrests
After more than six months on the run from federal troops, Servando Gómez, who allegedly heads the Knights Templar syndicate, is striking back with videos purporting to link officials and their relatives to his gang.

The videos, which in recent months have emerged online, show politicians and their family members meeting with Servando Gómez, known as “La Tuta”—the teacher—who heads the Knights Templar syndicate. Federal officials say Mr. Gómez dominates organized crime and terrorizes residents of Michoacán state.
. . .
In another video posted to YouTube last week, Mr. Gómez accuses some leaders of the rural guards of links to a rival gangster band, the Jalisco Cartel-New Generation, which produces methamphetamine for the U.S. market, officials say.

Walter White would not have allowed himself to be videotaped.

Here are some of the YouTubes:

With Rodrigo Vallejo Mora, son of former Michoacán mayor Fausto Vallejo (206,335 views as of the writing of this post),

With the mayor of Pátzcuaro (4,023 views),

And here he claims the vigilantes owe him drug money, but he offers no proof (28,389 views),


Share

Filed Under: crime, drugs, Mexico Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Knights Templar, Los caballeros templarios, Servando Gómez "La Tuta"

August 4, 2014 By Fausta

Illegal immigration: Just who is getting in?

Yeah, yeah, the tens of thousands of illegal aliens coming in are all innocent minors escaping Honduran violence, and all that Democrats want you to believe. However, a leaked intelligence analysis from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveals the exact numbers of illegal immigrants entering and attempting to enter the U.S. from more than 75 different countries:

Among the significant revelations are that individuals from nations currently suffering from the world’s largest Ebola outbreak have been caught attempting to sneak across the porous U.S. border into the interior of the United States. At least 71 individuals from the three nations affected by the current Ebola outbreak have either turned themselves in or been caught attempting to illegally enter the U.S. by U.S. authorities between January 2014 and July 2014.

SIGNS POSTED FOR ILLEGALS INCREASINGLY WRITTEN IN CHINESE
Illegals from China and over 70% of the world’s nations are flooding into America as its border collapses
I can’t tell if the sign above is in both Cantonese or Mandarin, but

“The Chinese are paying $50,000, the Indians are paying $10,000 to $20,000, [for] all the Central Americans the average is about $7,000 and the Mexicans are, especially [from] southern Mexico, are paying $3,000, so it’s a huge, huge money event for the cartels, probably even more lucrative than the drug business,” Dr. Michael Vickers of the Texas Border Volunteers told Infowars.

Victor Davis Hanson asks a few questions:

racist chauvinists who destroyed immigration law call others racists. But in fact the open-borders movement is race-obsessed to the core. Its message is anti-diversity, and anti-inclusiveness. Latino activists (in the age of the Redskins controversy, how has the racist rubric La Raza continued?) have essentially hijacked U.S. immigration policy and set the following parameters: almost all illegal immigration shall come only across the southern border from Mexico and Latin America. Almost all legal immigration shall be predicated on family ties, which ensures Latinos will be privileged over all other groups, regardless of skill sets or education. If one objects that such a de facto policy is ethnocentric and does not result in ethnic, cultural, or professional diversity, then he is rendered a xenophobe. Racialists through extra-legal means have expropriated federal immigration law. It no longer exists. The losers are the Kenyan dentist, the Filipino nurse, the Estonian doctor, the South Korean architect — any who are not Latino, any who do not break U.S. immigration law, and any who have  professional degrees and skill sets to offer America. How is that not biased to ignore all notions of diversity and meritocracy in favor of using only ethnic criteria?

Add to the list of losers the Latinos with professional and skill sets who have spent thousands of dollars and years of their lives to comply with U.S. immigration laws from the start; we are double-losers. We (I include myself since my grandparents and uncles complied with the law), like all other U.S. citizens, pay out-of-state tuition for their children while the children of illegal aliens don’t.

For the children.

Share

Filed Under: Fausta's blog, illegal immigration, immigration Tagged With: ebola, Fausta's blog

August 4, 2014 By Fausta

The Argentinian default Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerYes, Argentina defaulted, as predicted, which made Cristina bellyache some more, as U.S. judge scolds Argentina over debt remarks.

ARGENTINA
Argentina debt default: frustration on the streets
Bloomberg’s Willem Marx reports from Buenos Aires on what Standard & Poor’s is calling a default by the Argentine government

A Lesson in Economics for Argentina

Carlos Tevez’s father freed after kidnapping in Argentina
Juventus striker’s family reportedly paid a £28,000 ransom for his safe return

ARUBA
VenEconomy: The Absurdities of the Carvajal Case

BRAZIL
Brazil Secures $700 Million in Loans During Japanese PM’s Visit

CHILE
Chile under International Orders to Compensate Mapuche
Anti-Terrorist Law Proves Unenforceable, Pending Reform

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s Buenaventura on alert after ‘rebel’ attack
Authorities in the Colombian city of Buenaventura, on the Pacific coast, have temporarily banned the sale of alcohol and the carrying of arms.

Why Starbucks in Colombia is a good thing

CUBA
Reconciling

Cuban Political Prisoner of the Day, Alcibiades Guerra Marin, Aug. 2, 2014

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Puerto Rico, Dominican brace for Tropical Storm Bertha

ECUADOR
La DEA incauta aviones de empresa que tendría nexos con el gobierno ecuatoriano

EL SALVADOR
Salvadoran Authorities Charge Spanish Priest with Aiding Gangs

HONDURAS
Hope Dwindles for Hondurans Living in Peril

IMMIGRATION
SIGNS POSTED FOR ILLEGALS INCREASINGLY WRITTEN IN CHINESE
Illegals from China and over 70% of the world’s nations are flooding into America as its border collapses

MEXICO
Deal to stop migrants from boarding La Bestia train
Guatemala, Mexico and the United States have reached a deal to try to prevent migrants from jumping onto a freight train in an attempt to reach the US, according to Guatemalan officials.

Mexican Drug Lord Taunts the Authorities With Videos
In a line of work that usually operates out of the limelight, Servando Gómez has put himself — often with prominent people — in front of the camera
.

Mexican media denounces ‘gag law’
Mexican journalists denounce a new law that introduces a number of restrictions on crime reporting in north-eastern Sinaloa state.

Mexican Fracking Opponents Lose a Big Round in the Senate

PANAMA
Panama, Canal Contractors Finalize Accord

PERU
Peru’s first-ever high-resolution carbon map could help the world breathe easier

Peru court order US mining firm to pay $163 million

PUERTO RICO
Minimum-Wage Hike Threatens 200,000 Puerto Rican Jobs
Half of Workforce Caught in Cross Hairs of Class-Warfare Folly

VENEZUELA
Did Nicolas Maduro Coerce Senator Landrieu?

“Anti-Imperialists” Mortgage Venezuela’s Future Abroad
China Preys on Incompetence, Ideological Naivity of Chavismo

The New Wave Of Elected Dictatorships Around The World

In Venezuela, imprisoned opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez’s trial for inciting violence during riots has just begun while the country ranks among the world’s top in corruption and crime. If you believe Chavista state propaganda, the country’s problems wouldn’t exist if the US didn’t exist. In Iran, forget about a free press while the supreme leader effectively determines who can run for political office. As in Venezuela, Turkey, Egypt etc Iran’s judiciary is a power-arm of the regime. Need we mention symbiosis between mosque and state? In Turkey, the state is mandating several hours a week of religious indoctrination in schools while sponsoring widespread housing with no units for single living as high-ranking politicians polemically bully women into staying at home and having families. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Erdogan blames all manner of outside forces for his problems, America, Israel, Syria, US-based Gulenist Muslims and others. One more thing: since Vladimir Putin was the first to make this system respectable, the reader can just say ‘ditto Russia’ where Russia isn’t mentioned above.

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Colombia’s narco-subs

Argentina: Cristina gives bondholders the raspberry

Today’s illegal alien invasion update

Argentina defaults

Behold, the Hugo Chavez font

Is North Korea Selling (Cuban) Arms to Hamas?

El Pollo and Venezuela’s game of chicken: Venezuela exerted military pressure on Aruba

And now, MS-13 news

At Da Tech Guy Blog:
The US’s toothless sanctions against Venezuelans

Chicken run: The curious case of Venezuela’s Pollo Carvajal

At BlogHer:
Feels like 100

The week’s podcast:
Memories of old Havana PLUS US-Latin America stories of the week


Share

Filed Under: Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, illegal immigration, immigration, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Hugo Carvajal a.k.a. ""el Pollo, Rev. Antonio Rodriguez, Servando Gómez "La Tuta"

August 2, 2014 By Fausta

Colombia’s narco-subs

Prensa Libre reports that a gang that manufactures and operates submarines has been nabbed. They worked for the Úsuga clan. The subs are used for transporting cocaine to Honduras, the U.S., and Europe.

It’ll be interesting to see what information comes about from the seizure of the shipyard; their subs could carry a crew of four, and seven tons of drugs.

Certainly, the technology has evolved immensely since the days of Pablo Escobar.

The Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) reports on narco-subs:
CAPABILITY ANALYSIS, SOUTH AMERICA
NARCO-SUBMARINES: DRUG CARTELS’ INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
(emphasis added):

In fact, as of June 2012, maritime drug smuggling accounts for 80% of the total illicit flow from the Andean region into Honduras, Mexico and other mid-way transportation regions prior to entry into the U.S. About 30% of the maritime flow is estimated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to utilize narco submarines. Overall, however, maritime interdiction rates are very low.
…
The numbers of these vessels which now exist is also highly debatable with potentially dozens of them being produced every year by criminal organizations in Colombia such as the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), Rastrojos, and Urabeños. One point greatly influencing the numbers of these vessels which exist at any specific time is if they are utilized once and then scuttled after their delivery (the traditional U.S. military viewpoint) or if they are utilized multiple times (the traditional Colombian military viewpoint). Depending on the perspective held, greater or lesser numbers of narco subs would be required to be produced each year to replenish the vessels lost due to capture, accidental sinking, intentional-scuttling to avoid capture, and, potentially most importantly, at the end of a delivery run.

The CIMSEC will be releasing a paper,

“Narco-Submarines – Specially Fabricated Vessels Used For Drug Smuggling Purposes”, soon to be released by the Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO) and intended to be an initial primer on the subject of narco-submarines.
. . .
Finally, it is important that we collectively consider the potential of these types of vessels to transport more than just narcotics: the movement of cash, weapons, violent extremists, or, at the darkest end of the spectrum, weapons of mass destruction.

The study will appear on the FMSO website. I’ll link to it when it does.

UPDATE:
Linked to by Silvio Canto. Thank you!


Share

Filed Under: Colombia, crime, drugs, technology Tagged With: Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), Fausta's blog

August 1, 2014 By Fausta

Argentina: Cristina gives bondholders the raspberry

As I predicted,
Argentine Leader Defies Wall Street for Main Street
Argentines awoke Thursday to find their country was once again a financial pariah after the populist President Cristina Kirchner stared down Wall Street hedge funds and pushed her country into its second default in 13 years.
Very little downside for her, since

Her refusal to settle with bondholders owed $1.6 billion could prove politically expedient in the short term: It distracts from Argentina’s slowly crumbling economy and shores up her support among many working-class Argentines who form the base of her Peronist movement, economists and analysts say.

Higher inflation, deeper recession?

Here in this sprawling capital, Argentines reacted with a mix of pride and disinterest. Pride because Mrs. Kirchner stood up to foreigners, mostly Americans and Wall Street, and disinterest because unlike the country’s record $100 billion default in 2001, this one doesn’t mean Argentina is suddenly broke and on the verge of financial collapse.

It’s all about power, folks.

UPDATE:
Stop spouting ‘half truths’ over default, US judge tells Argentina
South American country’s reaction to second default in 12 years does not alter the fact it has to pay what it owes, judge says


Share

Filed Under: Argentina, business, economics Tagged With: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Fausta's blog, NML Capital v. Argentina, Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital

August 1, 2014 By Fausta

Today’s illegal alien invasion update

As you may enjoy a staycation at home, assuming you have a job, contemplate the fact you’re paying for detention centers with hair salons, child care, basketball courts, gym, and suites with flat-screen TVs:

BOEHNER ON THE BRINK: BORDER BILL FIASCO...
Detention Center Has Hair Salon, Child Care, Basketball Courts, Gym, Soccer Field...
SUITES WITH FLAT-SCREEN TVS...
REPORT: Transgender Woman Raped...
Conservatives, Republican Leaders Battle Over Border Bill...
SHOCK POLL: GOP Standing Strong Against Illegal Immgiration More Important Than Benghazi, Repealing Obamacare...
1,000 Children Fleeing Violent Honduras Transferred to Violent Chicago...
'Godfather' Welcomes...
Chicken pox outbreak leads to lockdown of facility... 
UPDATE: TB, Scabies Spreading...
Sheriff: Over 120,000 Illegals Arrested near Tucson...
TX Law Enforcement Volunteer To Form 'Border Brotherhood'...
Colorado Overwhelmed by Immigrant License Requests...
'Technical Glitch' Clogs Up Visa System...
Jerry Brown: 'Climate Change' Will Drive Mexicans North...
SESSIONS: Executive Amnesty Will Make Immigration Enforcement 'Almost Impossible'...

What is the opposite of “legal immigrants”?

Share

Filed Under: Barack Obama, illegal immigration, immigration Tagged With: Fausta's blog

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • John on Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com