Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

By

Uruguay: The big watch robbery

Remarkable for the type of crime, and for the involvement of Mexican nationals.

Infobae reports that a gang of thirteen Mexican commandos broke into a jewelry store in the resort city of Punta del Este (link in Spanish), wearing hoods and carrying machine guns. the jewelry store is located at the Hotel Casino Enjoy Conrad de Punta del Este.

Among the 200 watches stolen during the three minutes they were at the store was a US$460,000 limited edition Jaeger Lecoultre watch.

The least expensive watch retails for $10,000.

Here’s the security video,

Nine people are under arrest, all Mexicans.

And,
After I wrote the post, I’m puzzled, why watches? All premium watches are registered by the manufacturers’ numbers and are traceable.

Share

By

Uruguay: The Coffee Shop sign diplomatic flap

The what?

URUGUAY COFFEE SHOP SIGN QUOTING TARANTINO’S THE HATEFUL EIGHT SPARKS DIPLOMATIC ROW WITH MEXICO. The coffee shop’s name is Coffee Shop, and the owner obviously believes there’s no such thing as bad publicity,

The sign, which read “No dogs or Mexicans allowed”, was first spotted on April 8 at the Coffee Shop in Uruguay’s capital and sparked controversy on social media, with several users expressing their outrage on the cafe’s Facebook page.

Coffee Shop addressed its critics in a post written in English and Spanish the same day: “The furror [sic] over Coffee Shop’s last street sign tag is a big misunderstanding.”

The Mexican ambassador got involved and complained to the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry,

The message and an ensuing interview with Coffee Shop’s American owner Jim Delalla in a local publication did little to diminish the controversy. The Mexican Embassy said in a statement published on social media on Monday that they contacted the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry condemning the “lamentable and deplorable racist, discriminatory and xenophobic attitude of the Coffee Shop.”

And – wait for it – OF COURSE, Trump’s to blame, even when he hasn’t been to Uruguay in lord-knows-how-long,

Here’s the sign,
“Unacceptable: cafe sign “No dogs or Mexicans allowed.” It’s not the USA, it’s in Pocitos. American owner: pure discrimination.”

Which shows you can be a business owner and an idiot simultaneously.

Share

By

Brazil: PCC hiring FARC

The stuff gets real: Brazil’s largest criminal organization, the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital – First Capital Command) is recruiting Colombian FARC members (emphasis added),

as it seeks heavy-weapons and other expertise to help expand its hold over Latin America’s drug trade, investigators and officials in both countries say.

Defense and foreign ministry officials from both nations are scheduled to meet Tuesday in the city of Manaus in the Amazon region to share information on how the Brazilian criminal organization, the First Capital Command or PCC, is working to hire guerrillas in Colombia, some of whom opted not to participate in peace talks in that country. Colombia’s government last year signed a peace pact with the Marxist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and most of its 6,000 fighters are now preparing to disarm.

The PCC wants to fight the Brazilian military, wipe out competition from other gangs, and deal directly with Colombian cocaine suppliers – whose coca production surged by 46% from 2014 to 2015.

The gang is seeking .50-caliber machine guns, which are capable of taking down helicopters and perforating bulletproof cars, as well as to enlist parts of the FARC’s network of seasoned fighters and expert bomb makers

Additionally, InSight Crime reports that the PCC is using Uruguay as a transit point for international drug trafficking operations in Africa and Europe, and operating in Paraguay and Bolivia. InSight Crime has noted that

PCC is capable of organizing drug trafficking operations and sending drug shipments abroad, as well as controlling shipments of marijuana and cocaine in both national and regional markets.

Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta mafia (which handles up to 80 percent of Italy-bound cocaine) is one of the PCC’s European partners.

Last week the Colombian government and the FARC announced a joint plan to fight against coca production.

Cross-posted at WoW! Magazine.

Share

By

Uruguay: new public safety project with Israeli company

The Tower reports, Israeli Company Hired to Improve Public Safety in Uruguay

A state in Uruguay recently inaugurated a $20 million video surveillance monitoring center using Israeli technologies from the Israeli company Elbit Systems.

The departamento of Maldonado turned to Israeli technology for the Safe District project, which spans across six municipal authorities including the well-known Punta Del Este tourist resort. The Safe District project will include more than 1,200 cameras and sensors, including vehicle traffic control, laid out at strategic standpoints.

The center will be fully operational later this year.

Israel has reduced diplomatic relations with Uruguay and 11 other countries following last month’s shameful UN resolution.

Share

By

Jihad gets around

The comings and goings of Jihad Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab, a.k.a. Abu Wa’el Dhiab, a.k.a. Jihad Ahmad Diyab, a.k.a. Abu Wael Dihab,  a.k.a. Jihad Diyab, Gitmo alumnus and former forger “supporting European, North African, and Levant extremists” by “facilitating their international travels.”

Read my post, Jihad gets around.

Share

By

Uruguay: Jihad Diyab’s back

Let’s hope Gitmo alumnus Abu Wa’el Dhiab, a.k.a. Jihad Ahmad Diyab, a.k.a. Abu Wael Dihab, a.k.a. Jihad Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab, a.k.a. Jihad Diyab has a frequent-flyer card by now.

The last time we looked, he was on his way back from Venezuela, where he had turned up at Uruguay’s consulate in Caracas and asked for assistance to fly to Turkey or some other country. His family is in Turkey, and refuse to go to Uruguay.

Turkey doesn’t want him.

Back then I posted,

A known terrorist, who supposedly needs crutches to get around, goes missing for several weeks, to eventually turn up some 4,600 miles away from Montevideo (a little under the distance from New York to Moscow), in Venezuela, of all places, just so he can petition the Uruguayan consulate – which he could do in Montevideo – to “ask for assistance to fly to Turkey or some other country to be reunited with his family.”

After his return, he went on an extended hunger strike, following which he was flown to South Africa (I assume at Uruguayan taxpayers’ expense).

As it turns out, South Africa doesn’t want him either:

Former Guantanamo detainee Jihad Diyab is returning to Uruguay this weekend after being denied entry to South Africa, according to Christian Mirza, a former refugee mediator for the Uruguayan government.

As you may recall, the former member of the “Syrian Group”, which was “comprised of dismantled terrorist cells that escaped Syrian authorities and fled to Afghanistan (AF) in 2000,” was released by the Obama administration from Guantanamo and sent to Uruguay. He went to Argentina last February, and declared himself  “ready to fight“, just the thing when you want to make yourself welcome to a foreign country and your first name is Jihad.

After that, Diyab tried to enter Brazil three times but was turned away at the border. Authorities lost track of him, he turned up in Venezuela, was returned to Uruguay where he went on hunger strike, and now this.

Anyone running a pool on where he’ll turn up next?



Share

By

The Halloween Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
Vatican, Argentina to open ‘dirty war’ files. The initial opening will be restricted to those directly affected by the purges from 1976 to 1983

The Vatican and Argentina’s bishops have finished cataloguing their archives from the country’s “dirty war” and will soon make them available to victims and their relatives who have long accused church members of complicity with the military dictatorship. The 3,000 files being released, though, are a fraction of the documentation believed to be in the possession of the Argentine church.

A joint statement Tuesday by the Vatican and the Argentine bishops’ conference said the process of digitizing the archives had been completed and that procedures to access the information would be forthcoming. No date was set, and the opening for now is restricted to victims, detainees, their relatives and the religious superiors of victims who were priests or nuns.

BOLIVIA
Gold Rush in Bolivia sparks conflict between miners and the community. Community members and miners are clashing north of Bolivia’s La Paz. Meanwhile, Bolivian Amazon rivers are being affected by the excessive dumping of mercury.

BRAZIL
Brazil Turns Away From Establishment Politicians in Local Elections.

Even as President Michel Temer struggles to assure investors that Brazil is politically stable, this month’s municipal elections show restless voters fed up with Brazil’s ruling class and willing to gamble on unconventional newcomers

CHILE
Is Chile leaning to the right again?

COLOMBIA
Colombia government peace team to meet with Uribe allies

CUBA
What could possibly go wrong? Congress: Cuba to Share Critical U.S. Intel With Iranian Spies. Intel sharing with Cuba endangers America, lawmakers warn

ECUADOR
HABITAT III: UN conference agrees new urban development agenda creating sustainable, equitable cities for all

He said that the action-oriented outcome document, known as the New Urban Agenda, enshrined now in the ‘Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All,’ should be seen as an extension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, agreed by 193 Member States of the UN in September 2015.

GUATEMALA
Comparing Presidential Corruption Scandals in Guatemala and Brazil: Part 2

HAITI
Clinton Campaign Coordinated With State Department to Answer Foundation Questions About Haiti. Clinton faced questions about $500,000 donation from Algeria

Following a report in the Washington Post that the foundation raked in millions from foreign governments while Clinton was at the State Department, Clinton’s team discussed over email how to address questions about the Algeria donation from other outlets.

JAMAICA
More soldiers for western Jamaica

Government has announced plans to augment the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) in western Jamaica in an effort to have speedier and more effective response to any violent upsurge in that section of the island

MEXICO
The daily struggle for life in Ecatepec, Mexico’s most dangerous city. At least 600 women have been murdered since 2012 in this slum, half-an-hour from capital

DoD Official: U.S.-Mexico Military-to-Military Relationship ‘Worth Strengthening’

Clinton Trots Out Mexican Music Legend Vicente Fernández on Univision, Telemundo, as she panders,

PANAMA
COPA Launches New Low Cost Carrier to Colombia and More (H/T JC)

Panama’s Copa Holdings has unveiled a new low-cost carrier, Wingo, as it aims to turn its loss-making Colombian operations around.

Bogota-based Wingo will operate its first flight on 1 December, and will take over all of Copa Colombia’s routes except its flights to and from Panama City.

PUERTO RICO
Patients left in limbo as more doctors flee Puerto Rico

URUGUAY
Possible new home for Gitmo ex-detainee unhappy in Uruguay, but Lord knows where,

The group did not say which country made the offer and it was unclear if Dhiab has travel documents. Uruguayan officials did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

VENEZUELA
Opposition Protests Will Be Met With Colectivos: Venezuelan VP



Share

By

The pre-debate Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Yes, there’s a presidential debate tonight. Meh.

ARGENTINA
Argentina plans eurobond

Probe into Nisman’s death will go to federal courts

Stiuso habló de una “guerra” entre espías tras la muerte de Nisman. La versión del ex director de la SIDE sobre su pelea con el espionaje K

En su testimonio, afirmó que se dio una orden ilegal a Migraciones para saber sus movimientos, reveló el dueño de un teléfono clave y vinculó a Aníbal Fernandéz.

Argentina Seeks To Export Its Human Rights Policy

BOLIVIA
“Narcos”. Artículo completo de Veja sobre Evo y Álvaro – Evo Morales and his vice-president Álvaro García Linera, investigated by the DEA.

Give it up, Evo: Bolivia’s Morales accuses Chile of restricting access to ports

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Supreme Court Gives OK to Open Probe of New President Temer

Judge approves preliminary investigation, which is based on plea-bargain testimony by a key witness that implicates President Michel Temer, other PMDB members

CHILE
CIA found ‘convincing evidence’ Chilean dictator was behind 1976 D.C. attack

The latest revelations about the Cold War-era case come on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a leading opponent of the Pinochet regime and onetime Chilean foreign minister, and his think-tank colleague, Ronni Moffitt, in a car bomb on D.C.’s Embassy Row.

COLOMBIA
“The FARC’s abortionist confessed to [performing] 400+ abortions on abused girls. Is there pardon, justice, and reparation?”

CUBA
How Kim (DPRK) and Castro (Cuba) Blackmail Abe (Japan)

Nearly on a monthly basis, some senior North Korean is on a “working visit” to Cuba. Or some senior Cuban regime official is on a “working visit” to North Korea.

With the exception of China, there’s no other nation in the world that North Korean officials visit with such frequency.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Republic’s Former Anti-Drug Chief Sentenced to 20 Years

ECUADOR
Ecuadorian Police Oust Dozens of Cubans Demanding Visas from Quito Park

IMMIGRATION
HILLARY: THE THIRD WORLD HAS A “RIGHT” TO MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES. No, they don’t.

JAMAICA
American says he wants to protect Jamaica’s natural ganja

MEXICO
Priest Killings Highlight Mexico Govt’s Credibility Problem

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua rejects U.S. bill for loans with strings attached (emphasis added)
The Nicaraguan government was responding to the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. A version was introduced by Senator Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.

Nicaragua on Thursday criticized a proposal by U.S. lawmakers that would require the Central American country, which will hold elections in November, to make political changes in order to receive international loans.
. . .
The Nicaraguan government was responding to the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. A version was introduced by Senator Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.

The bill proposes blocking Nicaragua from obtaining loans from international financial institutions unless the country “is taking effective steps to hold free, fair, and transparent elections.”

On Nov. 6, Nicaraguans will vote for president and 90 members of the National Assembly.

President Daniel Ortega is the favorite as he seeks his third consecutive term.

PANAMA
Smithsonian opens climate change lab in Panama

PARAGUAY
Polka lessons

Budgets have been roughly in balance and public debt is low. The central bank aims for an inflation rate of 4.5% and usually gets close. Commercial banks are healthy (in part because they charge high interest rates and face little competition). Regulation, like the tax code, is business-friendly. Independent trade unions, suppressed under Stroessner, are weak.

PERU
Peru President Says Unasur Unable to Resolve Venezuela Crisis

PUERTO RICO
Where were you when the lights went out? The Puerto Rico blackout, from space

URUGUAY
More on Abu Wa’el Dhiab: Uruguay says ex-Gitmo detainee demands exceed government

“The Uruguayan government is doing everything possible,” Vazquez said. “But as I’ve said in the past: If the countries where the Syrian citizen wants to go don’t take him, we can’t do anything about it.”

VENEZUELA
Military and Police Corruption: Venezuela’s Growing Evil



Share