American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture
Notice from the great baritone’s Facebook page,
On behalf of the Hvorostovsky family, it is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Dmitri Hvorostovsky – beloved operatic baritone, husband, father, son, and friend – at age 55. After a two-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer, he died peacefully this morning, November 22, surrounded by family near his home in London, UK. May the warmth of his voice and his spirit always be with us.
UPDATE
One of Argentina’s three submarines has been missing since November 15.
The BBC has details,
Argentina’s navy says it will take advantage of improved weather conditions to further step up its search for a submarine that vanished last Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean.
Strong winds and high waves have hampered the search for the ARA San Juan and its 44 crew in the past days.
On Monday, navy officials said that noises picked up by two search vessels did not come from the sub, dashing relatives’ hopes for a speedy rescue.
It was the second false alarm.
A navy spokesman had earlier confirmed that satellite signals picked up on Saturday did not come from the missing boat.
It’s a race against time (emphasis added),
Naval forces from the U.S. and several other countries, battling strong winds and high waves, joined in a race against time to search for a missing submarine thought to have sunk hundreds of miles off the coast of Argentina with 44 crew members and dwindling oxygen supplies.
Argentina’s naval spokesman Enrique Balbi n said the search for the aging submarine had entered a “critical phase” because the vessel, if stuck underwater, could only hold enough oxygen to keep the crew alive for seven days.
There have been no sightings of the submarine and no communication since last Wednesday.
Cross-posted at WoW! Magazine.
UPDATE, NOVEMBER 22,
Very good news:
Thank you President of Mexico @EPN and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Videgaray for refusing to go along with one sided anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. Deeply value your friendship. 🇮🇱🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/1l2629xsTi
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) November 14, 2017
Mexico reportedly has announced that it will change its voting strategy at the UN and other international bodies by putting a stop to votes in favor of Palestinian resolutions, reported the UnitedWithIsrael website last Wednesday.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Figari contacted Israeli Ambassador to Mexico Yoni Pelad and told him of the shift in strategy for upcoming voting related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.
The declaration was made two months after Netanyahu visited Mexico during a trip to Latin America that also included Argentina and Colombia.
Israel has sent Mexico substantial humanitarian aid at times of need, most recently after the September earthquake. I’m glad to see Mexico corresponding.
This should come as no surprise, New report shows how Mexican cartels are infiltrating Texas
The Gulf Cartel has a hold on cities in Texas’ tip and coastal bend. McAllen, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston and Beaumont are impacted most by the Gulf Cartel which mostly brings marijuana and cocaine into the area, according to the DEA. Drugs smuggled through the Gulf Cartel are mostly brought in through the area between the Rio Grande Valley and South Padre Island.
Every week in Houston, a relative of a Gulf Cartel leader receives 100 kilograms of cocaine, according to the DEA.
Moving West, Los Zetas control two cities and the Juarez Cartel has a hold on Alpine, Midland, El Paso and Lubbock.
. . .
The Sinaloa Cartel, formerly run by prison escape artist Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman,” is most found in Dallas, Lubbock and Fort Worth, according to the DEA.
Read the whole thing.
RELATED
Mexico authorities seize (another) “narco cannon” used to shoot drugs over US borderhttps://t.co/Srigh9jTnE via @ElDebate
Some other unusual trafficking methods: https://t.co/YN0ZTUz58F
— InSight Crime (@InSightCrime) November 17, 2017
InSight Crime’s latest on Colombia,
After over half a century of civil war and the rise and fall of drug trafficking empires, Colombia has made huge strides in improving its security situation in recent years. However, it remains beset by guerrilla rebels and criminal networks, and the Colombian underworld is a potent mix of ideological organizations and their remnants and organized crime where the boundaries between war and crime are fluid. These armed groups and criminal networks are involved in an extensive range of activities including drug production and trafficking.
Read it here.
Other Colombia headlines,
Colombia’s Senate approves peace tribunals for ex-rebels
She Took On Colombia’s Soda Industry. Then She Was Silenced.
It’s official:
As Steve Hanke predicted last week,
Russia rushes to #Venezuela's rescue for the 3rd time this year! Getting in bed with incompetent #Maduro in order to pursue their own foreign policy objectives. https://t.co/P46WwGrzLn
— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) November 9, 2017
What Russia gets for its money is anyone’s guess.
