Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

February 2, 2018 By Fausta

Trinidad: ISIS’s recruiting grounds

Emma Graham-Harrison and Joshua Surtees report,
Trinidad’s jihadis: how tiny nation became Isis recruiting ground. The Caribbean nation has one of the world’s highest Isis volunteer rates – and most don’t come back

The tiny Caribbean nation, with a population of just 1.3 million, lies about 10,000km from the former Isis capital in Raqqa. Yet at the bloody peak of the group’s power, Trinidad and Tobago had one of the highest recruitment rates in the world.

More than 100 of its citizens left to join Islamic State, including about 70 men who planned to fight and die. They were joined by dozens of children and women, the latter including both willing and unwilling companions, security officials say.

Why? (emphasis added)

Trinidad’s Muslims make up around one in 10 of the country’s population, and the overwhelming majority follow moderate forms of Islam.

But a tiny minority have been drawn to a more extreme creed. In 1990 a group called Jamaat al Muslimeen launched the western hemisphere’s first and only Islamist coup attempt, taking the prime minister and legislators hostage for several days.

Eventually the army regained control, but the imam behind the coup, Yasin Abu Bakr, was released from jail within a couple of years under an amnesty deal and has resumed preaching.
. . .
Young men, many of them recent converts, were drawn to the caliphate mostly by promises of money and a sense of community – an appeal similar to that of gangs in an increasingly violent country, he said.

“[A gang] provides a family, male role models, social order and it promises access to what many young men might think they want: money, power, women, respect,” said Kerrigan who has researched extremism for UN counter-terrorism units.

Read the whole thing.

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Filed Under: Fausta's blog, terrorism, Trinidad Tobago Tagged With: ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Yasin Abu Bakr

January 17, 2017 By Fausta

Trinidad & Tobago: Future uncertain

The curse of the extractive economies:

Once a Caribbean Success Story, Trinidad and Tobago Faces an Uncertain Future

In many ways, the two recessions are similar, with the oil curse leaving its mark on both. The non-hydrocarbon sector is incapable of carrying Trinidad and Tobago’s economy on its own. There are the same stories today as there were in the 1980s of declining incomes, lost jobs and the hopelessness that uncertainty brings. But the country did learn from the 1980s. The government now has a Heritage and Stabilization Fund that helps steady state expenditures by setting aside surpluses in the good years for distribution in the down ones. Although the fund’s resources are severely limited, its spending so far in the recession is one reason the current contraction has not been nearly as severe as it was in the 1980s.

That said, Trinidad and Tobago faces an environment today that is much less conducive to a solid recovery. Since 2000, there has been a marked increase in crime and violence, corruption and ethnic tensions in a country home to East Indians, Africans and many mixed identities. Those tensions have fed violent extremism, including from marginalized Muslims that make up only 8 percent of Trinidad and Tobago’s population of 1.3 million people. Many fear that this economic and social deterioration cannot be easily reversed, or even halted, if oil markets recover.

Read Robert Looney’s full article here.

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Filed Under: Caribbean, Trinidad Tobago Tagged With: Fausta's blog

December 9, 2016 By Fausta

Trinidad: ISIS in the Caribbean

Simon Cottee asks, ISIS in the Caribbean. Trinidad has the highest rate of Islamic State recruitment in the Western hemisphere. How did this happen?

In a recent paper in the journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, John McCoy and W. Andy Knight posit that between 89-125 Trinidadians—or Trinis, to use the standard T&T idiom—have joined ISIS. Roodal Moonilal, an opposition Member of Parliament in T&T, insists that the total number is considerably higher, claiming that, according to a leaked security document passed on to him, over 400 have left since 2013. Even the figure of 125 would easily place Trinidad, with a population of 1.3 million, including 104,000 Muslims, top of the list of Western countries with the highest rates of foreign-fighter radicalization; it’s by far the largest recruitment hub in the Western Hemisphere, about a four and a half hour flight from the U.S. capital.
. . .

In 2011, the government declared a state of emergency, in response to a wave of violent crime linked to drug trafficking and intelligence reports warning of an assassination plot against the then-Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and senior members of her cabinet. At-Trinidadi, along with several others, was detained on suspicion of colluding in the alleged plot. In Dabiq, at-Trinidadi, alludes to this, but denies any involvement. “That would have been an honor for us to attempt,” he acknowledged, “but the reality of our operations was much smaller.” He also credited a Muslim scholar named Ashmead Choate as a formative spiritual influence. Choate, a fellow Trini and former principal of the Darul Quran Wal Hadith Islamic School in Freeport, central Trinidad, reportedly left for Syria between 2012 and 2013, taking his family with him. According to at-Trinidadi’s testimony in Dabiq, Choate, who was detained alongside him during the state of emergency, was killed fighting in Ramadi, Iraq.

Long-time readers of this blog may recall that in 2007 Kareem Ibrahim from Trinidad was arrested as member of the JFK terror plot to blow up the airport’s major fuel supply tanks and pipeline.

Earlier yet, Trinidad had an Islamic insurrection – read the full article.

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Filed Under: terrorism, terrorism. Latin America, Trinidad Tobago Tagged With: Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi, Ashmead Choate, Fausta's blog, ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Kareem Ibrahim

December 7, 2015 By Fausta

The Venezuelan election Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Venezuelans went to the polls yesterday. The opposition won in a landslide . More on that later today.

Elsewhere, Middle Eastern Men Arrested Near Mexican Border with Steel Cylinders.

ARGENTINA
Macri v. Cristina In The Presidential Staff And Sash Hand-Off Clash. Mauricio Macri and Cristina Kirchner throw hissy fits over what are essentially beauty pageant paraphernalia.

BOLIVIA
Bolivia to send attorneys to Paraguay and US over FIFA scandal. General attorney Ramiro Guerrero said on Friday that next week a group of attorneys would meet in Asuncion (Paraguay).

BRAZIL
Battle Lines Form on Impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Showdown in Congress spreads to public as presidents’ supporters and detractors make plans to marshal public protests

In the Amazon, the ‘world’s most endangered tribe’ has few options. Brazil’s ‘isolated’ indigenous communities don’t typically leave the forest. But it’s happening more often.

CHILE
Macri Meets With Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. [Argentina’s] President-elect Mauricio Macri ends his “express tour” with a meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

COLOMBIA

Colombia finds galleon ‘holy grail’. Undated handout from Colombia culture ministry showing remains of San Jose galleon. The wreck of the San Jose, a treasure-laden Spanish galleon sunk by the British 300 years ago, has been found off the Colombian city of Cartagena, President Juan Manuel Santos announces.

CUBA
Cuba’s “Democratic” Transition to the Perfect Dictatorship.Castros Set the Stage for Single-Party Hegemony to Live On

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Plans Cuba Vacation

ECUADOR
Dollarization Is Hurting Ecuador? Don’t Believe It

President for Life? It Will Be Possible in Ecuador in 2021

JAMAICA
Jamaican accountant jailed in US$3.6M tax refund fraud in Florida

LATIN AMERICA
From his mouth to God’s ears: Latin America Says ‘Adiós’ to the Populist Left

MEXICO
Mexico arrests ‘gang members’ over Australian surfers murders

Police in Mexico say they have arrested three men for the murder of two Australian surfers.

The three belong to a criminal gang in the north-western state of Sinaloa, police said.

They confessed to killing the two tourists when the pair fought back during an attempted robbery.

PANAMA
Panama Disease could wipe out most bananas. The one strain of bananas that accounts for 99 per cent of the market faces a disease that could decimate crops.

PARAGUAY
Inside Paraguay’s War Over Soy. Soy’s popularity in Paraguay is fueling a feud between landowners and farmers

PERU
Lori Berenson Heading Home to the U.S. From Peru

Lori Berenson Leaves Peru for Good

U.S. citizen Lori Berenson, who spent 15 years in a Peruvian prison for aiding leftist rebels, was expelled from the Andean nation after completing a five-year parole.
. . .
Amid a crush of reporters, some in the airport shouted “terruca” (terrorist) at the American woman as she carried her son to the gate.

Berenson was arrested in December 1995 as she was leaving the Peruvian Congress.

Prosecutors said she entered the premises with false press credentials to obtain information on the building’s security systems for use in planning an attack by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, guerrilla group.

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico fundraiser, officials indicted on corruption charges

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has charged 10 Puerto Rico officials and businessmen, including a leading fundraiser for the governing party, with corruption, extortion, bribery, and wire fraud.

Puerto Rico’s U.S. Attorney, Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, said on Thursday in a statement that the 25 count indictment exposes the “underhanded dealings” and cronyism within the island’s cash-strapped government.
. . .
A full list of the indicted individuals can be found here ((1.usa.gov/1MYLLDJ))

More are expected.

In other news, The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether Puerto Rico, which is in the midst of a financial crisis, may allow public utilities there to restructure $20 billion in debt.

Wal-Mart Sues Puerto Rico Over ‘Astonishing’ Tax Increases

TRINIDAD
Trinidad to Seize Assets of Terrorist Jailed in U.S.

Ibrahim, 70, was sentenced to life in prison in the United States after he was found guilty of conspiring with others to detonate fuel tanks and a pipeline at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

URUGUAY
Uruguay makes dramatic shift to nearly 95% electricity from clean energy.In less than 10 years the country has slashed its carbon footprint and lowered electricity costs, without government subsidies. Delegates at the Paris summit can learn much from its success

VENEZUELA
The Die Is Cast on Venezuela’s Congressional Elections.How Will Chavismo Respond to Its Inevitable Defeat?



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Filed Under: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta' blog, Kareem Ibrahim, Lori Berenson, Mauricio Macri, MRTA, San Jose ship

October 14, 2014 By Fausta

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerARGENTINA
Argentine Government Blasts “Speculation” by Grain Exporters

Argentina Creditors’ Lawyers, Mediator to Meet
A court-appointed mediator will meet next week with lawyers representing Argentina and its holdout creditors, the mediator said Friday

BOLIVIA
Morales confident he will win Sunday’s election in all nine Bolivian districts
At an event to mark the closing of his campaign ahead of Sunday’s elections, a self-assured Evo Morales told Bolivians that he will win all over the country and will even take the opposition’s bastions of support in the east.

Bolivia’s election
Happily Evo after
A third term for a “non-stick” leader

BRAZIL
Number of Attacks in Southern Brazil State Rises to 100
The wave of violence, which has left at least three people dead and 41 buses destroyed, has spread to 31 cities in Santa Catarina, whose authorities say the attacks are ordered by a criminal gang from Argentina.


Brazil’s Election Shows How The Left Thrives On Welfare Dependency

The Key Proposals Of Brazil Presidential Hopeful Aécio Neves

Brazil Suspected Ebola Case Tests Negative
A West African man held in isolation at a Rio de Janeiro hospital on suspicion of bringing the deadly Ebola virus to South America has tested negative for the disease, the Health Ministry said Saturday.

CAYMAN ISLANDS
Former Cayman Premier Acquitted

CHILE
Experts Lower Chile’s Growth Forecast to 1.9%

COLOMBIA
Colombia Authorized Guerrilla Leader’s Trips to Cuba

Hours later, President Juan Manuel Santos said that he personally signed off on the trips, which he described as “part of the process, normal.”

Washington Post reporter: White House spin on Cartegena is “demonstrably false”

CUBA
CASTRO’S MOMUMENT
The Castro Legacy: Untold Thousands of Watery Graves

World Bank Touts Cuba’s Communist Education as Exemplary
All the Better to Indoctrinate Students, Exiles Contend

Cuban: I’d Rather Die Trying to Reach Freedom, Than Live on My Knees Living in Tyranny

Estamos en desacuerdo que se levante el embargo a #Cuba de manera unilateral http://t.co/QUtHNTIeJu

— Coco Farinas (@cocofarinas) October 9, 2014

ECUADOR
El escándalo uruguayo

A Raúl Sendic, candidato vicepresidencial de Uruguay, junto a Tabaré Vásquez, por el movimiento izquierdista Frente Amplio, del presidente José Mujica, le salpicó la “maldición“ del petróleo. Un cuestionado convenio de canje de crudo por derivados entre Ancap/Trafigura/Petroecuador que involucra USD 6.400 millones, empezó a pasar las primeras facturas, en medio de la campaña electoral. El escándalo ampliamente cubierto por la prensa uruguaya, hace referencia al libro Ecuador Made in China, y a una carta remitida al gobierno uruguayo y a varios legisladores de ese país.
. . .
La referida cláusula del Convenio señala que Ecuador proveerá hasta 36000 barriles diarios de crudo, sin embargo en el contrato firmado el mismo día en Montevideo, se estableció la entrega de hasta 100000 barriles diarios, con lo que se violó el Convenio. Incluir un volumen de 100000 barriles día notificaba al más ingenuo que el crudo no estaba destinado a la refinería uruguaya, cuya capacidad máxima, cuando está operativa, es de 50000 barriles día, y de un crudo diferente al ecuatoriano. Al respecto, la Contraloría abona con conclusiones que dejan sin respuesta a los autores del Acuerdo: “se contrató con Ancap, sin que existan estudios técnicos que demuestren los beneficios para el país de una contratación directa”, señala en organismo.

Feminists Weigh In for Chevron in Racketeering-Oil Pollution Case

The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund urged the appeals court to rule for Chevron on a highly technical but critical issue. You read that correctly: The nation’s oldest women’s-rights legal advocacy organization, a left-leaning group that helped enact the landmark 1994 Violence Against Women Act and represents victims of sexual harassment and spousal brutality, supports the multinational oil company in its struggle against a crusading lawyer who claims to represent the impoverished and oppressed.

O’Reilly Discusses WFB’s Reporting On Ecuador PR Firm Paying Liberal US Celebrities

EL SALVADOR
El Salvador tries to rein in crime with community policing

IMMIGRATION
FUSION TV LAMENTS ‘UNDOCUMENTED’ WOMEN HAVING HARD TIME GETTING ABORTIONS IN TEXAS

MEXICO
Mexico Arrests Alleged Head of Juárez Drug Cartel
Federal police arrested alleged Juárez drug cartel leader Vicente Carrillo Fuentes in the northern city of Torreón on Thursday, Mexican officials said.
His Arrest Is Seen as Symbolic Amid Police Scandal

Iguala, Mexico and police crimes

NICARAGUA
Russia ban opens opportunities to Iran, Nicaragua

PANAMA
Panama’s National Assembly Ratifies Trade Pact with Mexico

PERU
The Man Behind Peru’s Culinary Ascent
Chef Gastón Acurio Built an Empire With 44 Restaurants in 13 Countries on Ceviche, Guinea Pig and Ethnic Influences

Divide and bribe
Corruption and political fragmentation threaten Peru’s democracy

PUERTO RICO
No More Dunkin’ Donuts for Puerto Rico
Island’s Franchisee Fails to Make Payments, 18 Stores to Close

TRINIDAD TOBAGO
Trinidad and Tobago Mulls Postponing Carnival over Ebola Fears

URUGUAY
Uruguay Welcomes First Group of 42 Syrian Refugees

VENEZUELA
Wouldn’t it be better if they had done this while Maduro was speakinVenezuela: Exxon wins $1.6 billion settlementg at the UN? UN urges Venezuela to release dissenter leader Leopoldo López
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations (UN) described as illegal the actions of the Venezuelan authorities in the proceedings against the political opposition leader for the events of February 12

Venezuela: a land of political killings and gang turf wars
Politician Robert Serra was murdered in his home
The grisly murder of a young politician and killing of a pro-regime militia leader in police shoot-out signal a bloody power struggle for the legacy of Hugo Chavez, writes Phillip Sherwell

Miami Venezuelans vs. Mary Landrieu

The week’s posts and podcast:
Why Venezuela should not have a seat at the UN Security Council

Could capitalism save the Arabs?

Mexico: Government paying its citizens to avoid deportation from U.S.

Venezuela: Exxon wins $1.6 billion settlement

No More Che Day

4 ISIS Terrorists Arrested in Texas

Mexico: 43 students missing since September 26

Brazil: Aécio’s plan is the economy

At Da Tech Guy Blog:
Why bother covering up the Cartagena, Colombia, prostitution scandal?

Ecuador’s “dirty hand,” and Mia Farrow’s greased palm

Podcast:
US-Latin America stories of the week.

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Filed Under: abortion, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, illegal immigration, immigration, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela Tagged With: Cayman Islands, Chevron, ebola, Fausta's blog, Gastón Acurio, Iguala, Juárez Drug Cartel, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes

October 28, 2013 By Fausta

The Uruguayan doobie Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerTop news of the week: Even when president Jose Mujica insists it won’t all be party-time, Uruguay is now the first country to legalize the production and mass distribution of marijuana.

ARGENTINA
Argentina Captures One of its Leading Homegrown Narcos

Argentina appeals New York Judge Griesa’s order regarding banks’ disclosures
The Argentine government yesterday appealed an order by US Judge Thomas Griesa who asked some private banks to turn over information about Argentina’s assets abroad. The case had been started by hedge fund Elliott Management Corp’s NML Capital Ltd which is demanding in court full 100% payment of Argentine sovereign bonds face value.

Argentina Rivals Square Off
The important question isn’t whether the ruling Peronist movement will win, but which of its dueling factions will gain the upper hand in the run-up to presidential elections in 2015.

Flashback: Hillary Clinton questions Cristina Kirchner’s mental health
Secret cable sent to US embassy in Argentina asks diplomats to find out how president handles stress

BOLIVIA
Bolivian Police Arrest 15 for Anti-Drug Agents’ Murders

BRAZIL
Brazil’s main city again rocked by riots and vandalism over transport facilities and costs

CHILE
Chile soldiers’ widows want Communist leader jailed
The widows of three Chilean soldiers have launched legal action against the country’s Communist Party leader.

COLOMBIA
Rights Activist Slain in Colombia

CUBA
Cuba’s currency
Double trouble

The Cuban Missile Crisis: Kennedy’s “Victory”?

Imprisoned couple Sonia Garro and Ramón Muñoz to stand ‘trial’ Nov. 1

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominicans of Haitian Descent Cast Into Legal Limbo by Court

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s Worn-Out War on Chevron

Racketeering aside, the case also looks rather weak on its own merits. For starters, Texaco operated as a minority partner under state-owned Petroecuador when the pollution occurred, so it is difficult to argue the damage is all its doing. Through agreements in 1995 and 1998, the Ecuadorian government also freed the company of further liability following a $40 million cleanup. An arbitration panel in The Hague cited the government’s sign-off when it ruled last month that Ecuador’s lawsuit should have never proceeded in the first place.

Oil, Ecuador and The Economist
A volcano erupts
Rafael Correa lambasts us and “the empire of capital”

Ecuador Judge Says He Inflated Bribery Claims to Chevron

Ecuador vs Chevron:
Donziger: from Hans Solo to Darth Vader

HAITI
Arrest of Haiti government critic triggers protests

HONDURAS
POLL NUMBERS!!! Economic problems in Honduras

JAMAICA
‘Cool Runnings’ 2? Jamaican bobsled team aims for Sochi Olympics

MEXICO
How Mexico’s EPR Insurgents Have Changed Course
Government sources have linked one of Mexico’s most prominent guerrilla organizations to a series of recent social protests

Paco Almaraz is having Obama burnout (in Spanish),

PANAMA
Panama Says It Will Release Most From Ship to North Korea

PARAGUAY
Paraguay leader’s son arrested [in Miami] after Bal Harbour party guest is punched

PUERTO RICO
Are There Puerto Rico Bonds in Your Muni Fund?
You may own Puerto Rico’s troubled bonds, popular for their high yields and special tax benefits, without even knowing it.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Gangs Are the New Law in Urban Trinidad & Tobago

VENEZUELA
Chavista Freddy Bernal calls for investigation of Derwick Associates

The week’s posts and podcast:
Bolivia: What the “Bolivarian revolution” means, in practice

Venezuela: The ministry of Supreme Happiness

Is Brazil ready for the World Cup?

Remembering the invasion of Grenada

Mexico: Clown union disavows killing

Ecuador: Chevron racketeering trial roundup – the corrupt judge

Uruguay: The dollar doobie

Mexico: Don’t write off the Zetas

Ecuador: Who’s Financing the Pollution-Liability Suit Against Chevron?

Nicaragua: What it was like to be on the receiving end of the sandinistas

Mexico: Is Peña Nieto backtracking?

Celia Google day

Podcast:
Venezuela & US-Latin America stories of the week

Special thanks to the Rotary Club of Princeton:

I had the honor of talking to the Rotary Club of Princeton about http://t.co/h1U0bxcp2G pic.twitter.com/Co90Pzmcrh

— Fausta (@Fausta) October 22, 2013

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Filed Under: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Trinidad Tobago, Venezuela Tagged With: Chong Chon Gang, Fausta's blog

September 9, 2013 By Fausta

The Syrian news Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerEveryone’s talking about Syria, but what does it have to do with Latin America? This:
Iran, Cuba warn of fallout of Syria attack
Iran and Cuba have expressed concerns about the consequences of any foreign military action against Syria, stressing a political approach to resolve the crisis in the Arab country.
(h/t Capitol Hill Cubans)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his counterpart Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla expressed their deep reservations about the threats of military action against Syria in a telephone conversation on Wednesday.

Iran and Cuba: Chummy enough to do joint conference calls on behalf of Assad, no less.

Here’s looking at you, kid,

Meanwhile, Syrian Refugees Flock To Latin America As World Ponders Taking Action Against Assad

ARGENTINA
‘Dirty War’ judge Romano extradited to Argentina
A former Argentine judge has been extradited to face charges of human rights abuses during the 1976-1983 military rule.

BOLIVIA
Andres Oppenheimer: Authoritarian leaders breed corruption
What’s most amazing about the arrest in Miami of Bolivia’s top anti-corruption police official, caught on tape extorting a bribe from a well-known businessman, was that hardly anybody was surprised by the news.

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Independence Day Marked By Widespread Protests

Political corruption in Brazil
Lawmaker behind bars

CHILE
Chile court admits omissions during dictatorship

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s peace talks
To the edge and back again
A hiccup serves to confirm that the government and the FARC are making progress

The week Santos lost Colombia

CUBA
Grounded TV Marti plane a monument to the limits of American austerity

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Vatican Abruptly Removes Dominican Republic Envoy

ECUADOR
Ecuador writes off ill-fated satellite

MEXICO
Mexico Set to Unveil Tax-Code Overhaul
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is expected to introduce Sunday a wide-reaching proposal that seeks to boost federal tax revenue, a move that could prove politically complicated in a slowing economy.

Capture of a Mexican drug lord
Got Ugly Betty. Now get Shorty

PUERTO RICO
Fortuño: Puerto Ricans In U.S. Shouldn’t Have A Say On Statehood, But Congress Needs To Act

57 Undocumented Migrants Detained in Puerto Rico

TRINIDAD
Venezuela Reaches Gas Deal with Trinidad

VENEZUELA
SIBCI’s Syria

La corrupción apaga a Venezuela
La abundancia de la naturaleza es superada por la infinita corrupción en los gobiernos que han administrado el país

Accountability Is A Dirty Word For Chavismo

The week’s posts and podcast:
Capital flight: from Venezuela to the Dominican Republic

Colombia: Santos OK with FARC not disarming

Brasil: Médico cubano relata exploração do trabalho na Ilha dos irmãos Castro

Spy vs Spy

Mexico: Senate approves education reform

Colombia: Santos’s approval plummets

NSA spying: Mexico & Brazil not amused UPDATED

Mexico: Will the teachers imperil reforms?

Podcast:
US-LatAm stories of the week


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Filed Under: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fausta's blog, Iran, Mexico, news, Puerto Rico, Syria, Trinidad Tobago, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog

June 1, 2013 By Fausta

Roundup: More on Iran in Latin America

Following up on yesterday’s post on Iran’s infiltration in Latin America,


Demonstrators holding photos of the 85 people who died in the 1994 AMIA bombing

BBC: Iran ‘in Latin America terror plot’ – Argentina prosecutor
An Argentine prosecutor has accused Iran of trying to infiltrate countries in Latin America to sponsor and carry out “terrorist activities”.

AP: Argentine Prosecutor: Iran Infiltrating Continent

NYT: Prosecutor in Argentina Sees Iranian Plot in Latin America

In his report, Mr. Nisman contended that the 1994 bombing was not an isolated event. “It has to be investigated as a segment in a larger sequence,” he said in a report summary, pointing to parallels with the case of two Guyanese men convicted in 2010 of conspiring to attack Kennedy International Airport in New York.

In that case, a former Guyanese government official, Abdul Kadir, opened himself to a claim by prosecutors in New York that he secretly worked for years as a spy for Iran when he said during cross-examination that he had drafted regular reports to Iran’s ambassador in Venezuela on plans to infiltrate Guyana’s military and police. The plot to attack the airport did not advance beyond the conceptual stage.

Mr. Nisman, who has investigated the bombing since 2005, suggested that “criminal plans” by Iran could be under development in Latin America, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.

And let’s not forget the direct flights fron Tehran to Caracas.

WSJ: Iran in America’s Backyard
Remember that botched attempt to blow up John F. Kennedy airport in 2007?

Connecting the dots, Mr. Nisman found that one of the Iranian agents in the plan to incinerate JFK—Guyanese citizen Abdul Kadir—had a “close relationship and hierarchical subordination” to Rabbini. But Kadir’s activities were supported from other countries as well. He “was very important to the plot, not only because he was a successful leader, but also due to his deeply rooted connections with Iran and its embassy in Venezuela.” And he was active in countries throughout the Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago; Dominica; Barbados; Antigua and Barbuda; Surinam; and Grenada. “His activity as an Iranian leader allowed him to establish and strengthen relations with other regional Islamic leaders and by 1998 he was the representative of the Secretariat of the Caribbean Islamic Movement.”

It is unlikely that either Kadir or Rabbani would have gotten as far as they did without the use of a seemingly benign activity to shield them. “The dual use of institutions controlled by the Iranian Regime, the cultural, religious and propagation activities conducted by its agents abroad and the radical indoctrination of its supporters” become operational with “the construction of intelligence stations,” the summary explains. These have “the capability to provide logistic, economic and operative support to terrorist attacks decided by the Islamic regime.”

Telegraph (h/t Gates of Vienna): Argentine prosecutor accuses Iran of establishing Latin America terrorist networks
An Argentine prosecutor accused Iran on Wednesday of establishing terrorist networks in Latin America dating back to the 1980s and said he would send his findings to courts in the affected countries.

The Economist, back in January: Argentine-Iranian relations
A pact with the devil?

US State Department: Country Reports on Terrorism 2012


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Filed Under: Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Hizballah, Hizbollah, Iran, Latin America, Paraguay, terrorism, terrorism. Latin America, Trinidad Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela Tagged With: Antigua-Barbuda, Dominica, Fausta's blog, Grenada, Hezbollah, Suriname

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