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Mexico: El Chapo’s notes from underground, VIDEO

Penn first met in person with El Chapo’s son under Chavista Cartel de los Soles protection in Venezuela’s Margarita Island.

El Chapo snuck out of the house during the Mexican Marines’ raid through a tunnel, bring us today’s Capt. Louis Renault moment:
‘El Chapo’ Nearly Foiled Capture With Another Tunnel. Mexican Marines took nearly 90 minutes to find the drug lord’s tunnel

Video published Monday by Mexican broadcaster Televisa revealed details of the secret tunnel used by Mr. Guzmán to slip away from marines as they stormed a house he was using in the coastal city of Los Mochis. He was arrested hours later trying to leave the city in a stolen car.

The tunnel was hidden behind a closet mirror, featured a secret switch hidden in the ceiling, and had electricity and wooden planks covering the walls, the images showed. Marines took nearly 90 minutes to find the tunnel and open the access, giving him a big head start.

Mr. Guzmán, the world’s most notorious drug lord and leader of the Sinaloa cartel, has a long history with tunnels. He is widely credited with pioneering the use of tunnels to ferry drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border, and used tunnels in recent years to elude capture as Mexico’s most-wanted criminal. He then famously used a mile-long tunnel to escape from prison last July.

Were he living, Dosto may have something to say on Chapo’s underground tendencies.

By now, shouldn’t Chapo (Shorty) be named El Topo (Mole)?

But I digress.

Here’s Televisa‘s coverage (in Spanish). Here’s the video from the Marines’ unit commander’s go-pro camera.

Anonymous Mexico released an embeddable version,

While the house was raided,

[El Chapo] fled through a secret door concealed by a mirror. He hid in a tunnel, until rainwater forced him out. An armed Guzman then stole a car, before finally being arrested.

As for Sean Penn’s October movie deal with El Chapo under the guise of an interview,

Penn agreed that El Chapo

would have the final edit of the resulting story.Penn also agreed not to alert authorities to the killer’s whereabouts

And it all comes down to this: Sean Penn Perpetuates Narco-Worship in a Blood-Stained Country

The main reason for the bloodshed in Mexico since the early part of 2000‘s comes from Guzman’s efforts to take control of the entire Northern Mexican border with the United States. While the expansion has been partly successful, the land-grab has resulted in thousands of deaths as rival cartels and former allies have at different times taken arms to protect their turf.

El Chapo’s attempt to take Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, led that massive drug trafficking corridor to become the Murder Capital of the world. The violence came when El Chapo’s forces clashed with the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, also known as the Juarez Cartel.

Even before Juarez, El Chapo and his then allied the Beltran Leyva cartel had unsuccessfully tried to take over the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. That effort was met with a violent response from the Gulf Cartel and their enforcers Los Zetas. Gruesome executions and fierce clashes between convoys of gunmen became a regular sight.

Some maintain that, If Stupidity Were a Crime, Sean Penn Would Be the Fugitive. But see for yourself: you can read the interview (all nine thousand words) here. (Related: The Trouble With Sean Penn’s Chapo Interview)

But back to the underground,

I don’t agree with the stupidity part; Penn reportedly first met in person with El Chapo’s son under Chavista protection in Venezuela’s Ranchos de Chana resort at Margarita Island, according to Spanish journalist Emili Blasco (in Spanish), The meeting allegedly was sponsored by former chief of intelligence general Hugo Carvajal (a.k.a. El Pollo), who was indicted in the U.S. District Court accusing Carvajal of coordinating the transport of 5,600 kilos (6.17 tons) of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico. Carvajal is a member of Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles, which sells drugs to the Sinaloa Cartel.

As I mentioned in July 2014,

Spanish journalist Emili Blasco reports that Carvajal allegedly “was in charge of procuring the drugs from the FARC and controlled the distribution process in the U.S. and Europe, along with laundering the drug money through PDVSA,” the government-owned oil company. Carvajal also is under investigation for his role on the attacks to the Colombian consulate and the Jewish center in Caracas.

Blasco reported in yesterday’s ABC that Venezuela security sources conveyed the information regarding the presence of El Chapo’s children to U.S. authorities, and that the Mexican government also would have been told.

Blasco mentions that DEA sources claim that El Chapo had visited Venezuela in August/September last year.

Right now El Chapo is back at the prison where he escaped from last year; According to Mexican officials, El Chapo’s extradition process could take at least a year.

Linked to by Ed Morrissey. Thank you!

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Venezuela: Opposition wins by a landslide

The headline:
Venezuelan Opposition Wins Midterm Congressional Elections. Venezuela’s opposition, riding a wave of voter anger amid a deep economic crisis, swept to a big victory in midterm elections, delivering a major blow to the ruling Socialist party and President Nicolás Maduro.

If the opposition wins at least some of the remaining 22 races, they would get close to a supermajority, which would give them greater powers.
. . .
Three-fifths of congress—101 or more deputies—would permit the passage of powerful laws that could lead to a host of deep overhauls.

The elections board did not announce results until 12:30AM today, but by 11:00PM Caracas time last night, the PSUV already had workers dismantling the bandstand for the scheduled victory concert at Bolívar Square,

With 75% total turnout, the opposition majority was overwhelming enough that no amount of fraud, mismanagement, and intimidation could overcome it. That said, I’m absolutely thrilled that my forecast was wrong.

El Pais and Caracas Chronicles live-blogged.

BBC:

Venezuela: What will change after the opposition win?

President Maduro’s term runs until April 2019.However, once he is halfway into his term, from April 2016 onwards, a recall referendum could be held.

Drudge:
Venezuela opposition thrashes ‘Chavismo’ to win legislature…

Socialists on the run!

CNN: Venezuela’s opposition party wins parliament in a blow to Maduro

At the blogs:
First Report By Venezuelan Electoral Board Gives Opposition 99 Deputies

A vote for the times

Venezuelan Opposition Takes Congress Back from Chavismo. 99 of 167 Seats Secured, Two-Thirds Majority Still Up for Grabs

#Venezuela #6D #TriunfalaLibertad Régimen anuncia que perdió: 99 diputados de oposición

José Benegas looks at the ideology behind chavismo (in Spanish).

Some of the long-term challenges ahead:
PDVSA corruption, mismanagement, declining production.
The oil giveaways to Cuba.
Cuba’s control of the Venezuelan security apparatus.
The cartel de los soles.
Iran-Venezuela ties (including the official passports issued to members of Iran-sponsored Hezbollah).
The colectivos.
The ruinous economic situation.
And these are just the ones that first come to mind.

The immediate challenge:
The new members to the National Assembly do not take office until January 5th. Diosdado Cabello and his goons can cause a lot of harm and mayhem in one month.

The takeaway: What takes place in Venezuela in the next month, and in the first six months of 2016 will be crucially important for our entire hemisphere.

UPDATE:
Linked to by GOP News. Thank you!

Linked to by Hot Air. Thank you!

Linked to by Rage and War. Thank you!

Linked to by American Thinker. Thank you!

Linked to by The Diplomad. Thank you!

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Venezuela: Maduro’s relatives conspire to bring cocaine into the U.S. UPDATED

Today’s Capt. Louis Renault moment brought to you courtesy of the Venezuelan regime:
U.S. Indicts Relatives of Venezuelan President on Drug Charges. Pair accused of conspiring to smuggle cocaine, expected to appear in N.Y. court (emphasis added)

In a bare-bones indictment unsealed Thursday, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office alleged the two men conspired to import at least five kilograms of cocaine to the U.S. through Honduras.

The two men, Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, were first arrested in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday by local police, turned over to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and flown the same day to New York in a DEA jet, according to people familiar with the matter. They are expected to appear in New York federal court Thursday afternoon, another person said.

Mr. Campo Flores, 29 years old, identified himself on the DEA plane as a stepson of the president, according to the people familiar with the matter. He was raised by his aunt, Cilia Flores, who is Mr. Maduro’s wife. A U.S. document said the other man identified himself as a nephew of Ms. Flores.
. . .
The two men contacted a DEA confidential informant in Honduras in October and asked for help in trafficking 800 kilograms of cocaine through the airport in the country’s Caribbean island of Roatán, according to one of the two people familiar with the case.

NYT:

The two men, Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, are nephews of Cilia Flores, the wife of Mr. Maduro, the person with knowledge of the matter said. Mr. Maduro, a leftist, calls Ms. Flores the country’s “first combatant” rather than its first lady. Ms. Flores is one of the most powerful people in the upper echelons of government and is frequently seen at her husband’s side.

More:

The men allegedly were in the process of smuggling cocaine – just under a ton, roughly about 1,700 lbs. – into the United States when they were arrested in Port-au-Prince, where their plane arrived, and brought by authorities to New York.

The young men told authorities that they had diplomatic immunity, but police found no basis for their claim, Spanish news outlet ABC said.

They told the DEA that they were acting in connection with Diosdado Cabello, speaker of the National Assembly, as well as with a governor, Tarck el Aissami, who is the former Venezuelan Minister of the Interior.

They said that the high-ranking officials had helped with the drug shipment.

Miguel Octavio calls it 800 Kilograms Of Arrogance Arrested In Haiti

Caracas Chronicles: Dos Florecitas: Major Drugs Bust Hits Venezuela’s First Family. Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas – two flowery nephews – busted in Haiti on big-time drug-trafficking charges. It’s all true.

VN&V: Flowers and letters: no romance for the revolutionary corpse

ABC Spain (in Spanish) reports that in the past, Cilia’s son and Nicolas’s son, along with Hugo Chavez’s son, allegedly flew drugs into Cuba using PDVSA-owned planes. The drugs were later distributed into the U.S. through Cuban networks.

El Tiempo has more (also in Spanish) on the Cartel de los soles.

UPDATE
AP reports they’re being held without bail.

———————————

In other, unrelated, Venezuelan news, Caracas City Hall inaugurated a monument to Yasser Arafat,

“Yasser Arafat is now located in front of the house where Simón Bolívas [sic] started his education.”

[Post redone to correct HTML]

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Venezuela: The talking bodyguard

Leamsy Salazar, former bodyguard of Hugo Chávez and Diosdado Cabello, is in New York and talking:
Bodyguard Outs Diosdado Cabello as Drug Cartel Chief
Chavismo’s Number Two Security Official in New York to Testify with DEA

Salazar has already testified that Cabello heads up the Soles cartel, a criminal organization that monopolized drug trafficking within the country, according to sources involved in the case.

An post shared on Twitter by Ramón Pérez-Maura, an ABC journalist covering the case, stated that Salazar’s testimony had also linked Cuba with the country’s narcotrafficking trade, “offering protection to certain routes along which drugs were brought to Venezuela from the United States.”

Pérez-Maura‘s colleague in New York Emili J. Blasco added further details that Cabello gave direct orders for the distribution of illicit substances, and that Salazar knew of locations where the accused “keeps mountains of dollar bills.”

Interamerican Security Watch translated a report from Spain’s ABC (emphasis added),

The Cartel of the Suns, primarily composed of members of the military (its name comes from the insignia worn on the uniform of Venezuelan generals), has a drug trafficking monopoly in Venezuela. The drugs are produced by the Colombian FARC [Fuerzas Revolucionarias de Colombia guerrillas] and taken to their destinations in the U.S. and Europe by Mexican cartels. Recent international figures indicate that Venezuela ships five tons of narcotics on a weekly basis. Ninety percent of the drugs produced by Colombia transits Venezuela.
. . .
In his revelations, Salazar also implicates the governor of Aragua state, Tarek el Aissami, who also has links with Islamic networks, and José David Cabello, brother of the National Assembly president, who for several years served as director of SENIAT [tax agency] and minister of industry. José David Cabello is allegedly responsible for the finances of the Cartel of the Suns. Salazar mentions that [the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela] PDVSA is a money-laundering machine (sic). PDVSA’s former president from 2004 to 2014, Rafael Ramirez, was appointed in December as Venezuela’s ambassador before the U.N. Security Council.
. . .
Regarding the links with Havana, Salazar mentioned the regular use of PDVSA aircraft to transport drugs. A son of Chávez’s and a son of former Cuban ambassador in Caracas, Germán Sánchez Otero, organized these shipments. Other Cuban officials are mentioned as part of the scheme. The final destination of these shipments was the United States.

Caracas Chronicles has more on The Bodyguard.

In Latin America, drugs, terrorism and crime are threads of one fabric.

And paying for the Bolivarian Revolution is not cheap.

UPDATE:
Linked to by Stones Cry Out. Thank you!
Linked to by Pseudo-Polymath. Thank you!

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