Iguala

March 5, 2018 By Fausta

Mexico: Police confess to handing 3 Italian men to the CJNG cartel

Raffaele Russo, 60, his 25-year-old son Antonio, and his nephew, Vincenzo Cimmino, 29, disappeared on January 31 in Tecalitlán, in the western state of Jalisco.

The state’s governor said the officers had confessed to handing the Italians over to a local criminal gang.

The police had allegedly arrested them at a petrol station beforehand.

What is alleged to have happened?
Raffaele Russo, 60, his 25-year-old son Antonio, and his nephew, Vincenzo Cimmino, 29, had stopped at a petrol station in Tecalitlán, an agricultural town.

The last relatives back in Italy heard from them was a Whatsapp message from Mr Russo saying they had been approached by police officers who arrived on cycles and in a van.

The police told them to follow them, according to the message.

The son of one of the disappeared earlier told Italian radio that the men had been “sold to a gang for €43” ($53; £38), but regional officials said they could not confirm that information.

And the police? (emphasis added)

Four police, including a female officer, have been detained and charged. The Mexican authorities say three more police are being sought in connection with the disappearance.

Following the trio’s disappearance, the town’s entire police force was sent for retraining, although some local media speculated that they were sent away so that they could not be intimidated by local cartel members into changing their story.

As you may recall, the state prosecutor in the 43 missing Iguala student teachers alleges that they were handed by local police to a criminal gang, who killed them and burned their bodies.

January 8, 2018 By Fausta

Mexico: AMLO in sheep’s clothing

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, best known as AMLO, is running for president of Mexico.

The thing is, communism doesn’t sell, so he’s wearing moderate clothing,

Mr. López Obrador does not seem to have given up on his dream to revive Mexican corporatism, in which government intervenes heavily in the economy. But he does recognize that his economic instincts are a liability in a national election. So he’s playing them down and marketing himself as a moderate who will defeat crony capitalism and champion social justice.

The promise to fight corruption strikes a chord with Mexicans, and Mr. López Obrador leads with a plurality in early polling in a race that is likely to feature more than three candidates.

But!

But he has two important vulnerabilities. First, there are major contradictions between his economic agenda and the aspirations of the young nation. Second, he is not always viewed by Mexicans as the squeaky-clean messiah he makes himself out to be.

Oh, that.

Remember the 43 missing Iguala students?

Residents of Iguala told La Opinión that the gang moved into the town only after José Luis Abarca became its mayor with Mr. López Obrador’s backing. One local told La Opinión that Mr. López Obrador ignored warnings from townspeople that Mr. Abarca had ties to the cartel.

As if that were not enough, AMLO has proposed amnesty for drug kingpins in exchange for peace with the cartels.

The election is in July. What could possibly go wrong if he wins?

Cross-posted at WoW! Magazine.

May 2, 2016 By Fausta

The beer-less Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

21st Century Socialism at work: TEN years ago I posted that Hugo Chávez had taken over the beer trucks. Now Empresas Polar closes its breweries because the government

hasn’t allocated the dollars the company needs to pay for imported raw materials such as malted barley.

Polar says it’s been warning the country for a year about the need for sufficient access to foreign currency “to keep making products demanded by Venezuelans.”

ARGENTINA
Obama pokes fun at Trump’s foreign policy experience: ‘Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina . . ’

The Triumphant Return of Argentina to International Capital Markets

BOLIVIA
Bolivian Judge Orders Morales, Alleged Son to Take DNA Tests

BRAZIL
Brazil registers 91,387 possible Zika cases in two months

CHILE
Chile: An Island of Stability in South America

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s economic outlook darkens: report

CUBA
Philip Hammond becomes first Foreign Secretary to visit Cuba since 1959 Revolution

ECUADOR
Rescuers Pull 72-Year-Old Man From Rubble 13 Days After Ecuador Earthquake

FALKLAND ISLANDS
Leaving EU would fuel Argentine aggression towards Falkland Islands, official claims

JAMAICA
Cuba and Jamaica to sign multi-destination agreement

MEXICO
Four Questions about the ‘5th Bus’ in Case of Mexico’s Missing 43

Other View: Mexico’s Faltering Efforts to Fight Corruption

PANAMA
Grueling Trek to U.S. Leaves Thousands of Cuban Migrants Stranded in Panama

#PanamaPapers: How ex-Nigerian minister bought two penthouses in Panama for N837million

Panama’s Economy Grows as Rest of Latin America Stalls. Region Faces Worst Scenario since 1982, IMF Report Explains

PARAGUAY
Paraguay may serve as a convenient “gateway” for Russia to the markets of other Mercosur countries, head of the Paraguayan Congress Mario Abdo Benitez said.

PERU
PHOTOS: 33 Rescued Circus Lions Airlifted From Peru To South Africa

The animals were rescued from circuses in Colombia and Peru after both countries passed new laws to ban the use of wild animals in circuses, according to ADI.

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico debt rescue plan engulfed in Great Recession ‘bailout’ politics

SURINAME
Islamic bank offers billion-dollar loan to Suriname (emphasis added),

A delegation from the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) has ended a fact finding visit here offering Suriname a loan of US$1.75 billion, Finance Minister Gilmore Hoefdraad has announced.
. . .
Hoefdraad said government was considering the loan and that while projects that will be funded through this loan would be taken through a rigorous selection process, funds would immediately be made available to finance imports of social merchandise, such as basic goods and medicines.
. . .
Hoefdraad said that while the enormity of the loan could be daunting, as it regards 40 per cent of the gross national product (GDP) of Suriname, the money would help the country bridge the economic crisis it is facing.

VENEZUELA
Venezuela turmoil may alter region’s energy landscape

April 26, 2016 By Fausta

Mexico: Investigators call it quits

#HastaEncontrarlos

The team of specialists sent by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate the 2014 disappearance of the 43 students

is expected to report Sunday that the government’s version of the event isn’t true but that they were unable to verify the fate of the youths,

so they are leaving.

Let that sink in for a moment.

The head of the human rights division at Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and the Attorney General both resigned under pressure over the investigation of the kidnappings and murders of the 43 students.

After that,

The investigators arrived early last year and issued an interim report in September that challenged the government’s conclusions.

The independent investigators say that the government’s account of the events were based in part on confessions apparently extracted by torture. Because of the lack of cooperation from Mexican authorities, the international team was unable to determine the fate of the students, several people close to the investigation said.

As I have mentioned earlier, the criminal conviction rate in Mexico is 1.8%. The odds of this case ever being solved are close to zero.

RELATED:
Donald Trump serves a useful distraction,
Mexico’s Self-Image Problem (emphasis added)

The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, whose work has led to high-profile prosecutions against the Colombian military, a Guatemalan dictator and American oil companies, not only provided the most chilling account of what the students had suffered one night in September 2014, but it also showed that the Mexican government had, at the very least, badly mishandled the investigation, and quite possibly attempted a cover-up.

As reported by The New York Times, the panel described a night of “confusion and terror,” with police officers using an official communications system to monitor a caravan of buses loaded with undergraduates. A bus driver recalled police officers pointing a gun at the students, saying, “We’re going to kill all of you.”
One of the group’s theories was that the students had unknowingly boarded a bus loaded with drug traffickers’ heroin. To help the traffickers get their drugs back, the authorities set up roadblocks to intercept the buses, then shot at them.

Panel members expressed deep frustration that they were unable to get to the bottom of this hypothesis or others because of stonewalling and foot-dragging by Mexican authorities. They also accused the government of being suspiciously silent during a vicious media campaign seeking to discredit their work.

Government officials appear to be more concerned with Mr. Trump’s sweeping statements about their country and its people — among them, referring to Mexicans as “rapists.” These are, of course, unfounded and offensive. But how can Mexico’s image really improve when its leaders fail to demonstrate some level of commitment to ending the abuses and impunity that matter most to its own people?

April 4, 2016 By Fausta

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
Newton’s Third Law at work:
For every action Argentina reiterates claim to Falklands, there is an equal and opposite reaction Falklands MPs reject Argentina’s claim to islands

Argentina Said to Revise Nuclear Pact With China to Favor U.S.

BAHAMAS
An Island in the Bahamas Where Pigs Swim Free. On Big Major Cay, tourists and pigs play together on the sand and in the water.

BOLIVIA
China’s Sinosteel Signs Contract for Mill at Bolivia Iron-Ore Mine

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Vice President Michel Temer Aims Higher. Having led his party out of President Dilma Rousseff’s embattled government, former ally turns foe and angles for presidency

Brazil Investigator Alleges Connection Between Murder and Corruption Scandal. Judge Sergio Moro alleges money siphoned from Petrobras may have been used to cover up death of Celso Daniel

In January 2002, Mr. Daniel, the former mayor of Santo André, a suburb of São Paulo, was found shot to death a few days after being kidnapped. Six men were convicted and sentenced to prison, but the case has been reopened and closed several times since.

Mr. Moro on Friday alleged funds siphoned from the state-owned oil company at the center of the complex web of bribery and coverups, Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, could have been used to pay hush money related to Mr. Daniel’s murder.

Brazil Court Crimps Judge’s Probe. Sergio Moro’s aggressive probe of a bid-rigging-and-bribery scheme at state oil company Petrobras has put him in open conflict with President Dilma Rousseff—and made him a star to her many detractors.

CHILE
Bolivia Suing Chile at The Hague over Water Dispute

COLOMBIA
Thousands protest government handling of peace process in Colombia

La protesta pacífica habla más duro que la violenta. pic.twitter.com/9qW5ePWA5T

— Claudia Gurisatti (@CGurisattiNTN24) April 3, 2016

Apoyo a Colombianos q marchan hoy contra negociaciones mediadas x #Castro q ignoran crimenes d #FARC #Abril2alacalle pic.twitter.com/pfjHt8RHmU

— Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) April 2, 2016

Colombia unsure about hostage numbers before talks with ELN rebels

CUBA
Cuba After Obama Left

Obama’s Cuban Disgrace

This Is Not the Path to Cuban Freedom

In Cuba, image is king – whatever horrors lurk beneath it

Hypocrisy update of the day: Castro regime seeks reparations for slave trade

ECUADOR
Kiwi drug accused Scott Elliott speaks of ‘dreadful situation’ in Ecuadorian jail

JAMAICA
Jamaica, Beyond the Beach. The nation is recasting itself as a glamour and eco-tourism destination, but its African-inflected culture is what lulls you.

MEXICO
Argentine Experts Question Report on Missing Mexico Students

NICARAGUA
Miami Fugitive on Run for 20 Years Found in Nicaragua

PARAGUAY
Can Paraguay Escape Decades of Despotism, Ineptitude, and Corruption? Despite promising one of the biggest turnaround stories in the southern hemisphere, President Horacio Cartes has more work to do.

PERU
The drug mule’s makeover: Incredible transformation of ‘Peru Two’ Brit as she shows off new blonde hair and smarter, slimmer look in first interview since leaving jail for smuggling £1.5million of cocaine

PUERTO RICO
Why Puerto Rico’s super restructuring is bad policy

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s Economy, As Told by A Hot Dog. Like the Famous Venezuelan Hot Dog Pepito, the Chavista-made Economic Crisis Comes in Layers

November 2, 2015 By Fausta

The clock change Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Twice a year we endure the change from standard to daylight saving time; I wish it would stop. Here’s the first Carnival of the month.

ARGENTINA
Argentine Kingmaker Sergio Massa Spurns Kirchner Ally in Presidential Runoff. Dissident Peronist politician who ran third in first round withholds support for Daniel Scioli. Has not yet directly endorsed Macri.

Argentina notebook: Passion and politics in the Paris of the South. Bohemian Buenos Aires is buzzing with election fever, writes Harriet Alexander. And in this most intriguing of cities, things can change in an instant – and nothing is quite what it seems. I’ve to Paris, and I’ve been to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is no Paris.

More Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown: On the Nisman case, InSight Crime links to a report,

imprisoned Colombian drug trafficker Henry de Jesus Lopez, alias “Mi Sangre,” has come forward claiming to have information on the case. With only a month until the run-off, any new information linking the Kirchner administration to Nisman’s death could hurt Scioli by association.

Mi Sangre (My Blood) is trying to avoid deportation to the US by claiming that then-Intelligence chief Stiusso took over the cartel’s surveillance equipment, and gave it to Nisman, who used it for wiretapping members of the government.

So on the one hand the government alleges that Nisman had American and Israeli backers that made him rich; now this Mi Sangre guy tries to avoid deportation by saying that Stiusso stole surveillance equipment because Nisman couldn’t afford it.

BOLIVIA
Bolivia’s New Mega Airport Renews Narco-State Suspicions. Senate President Condemns “Unjustifiable Expense”

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Federal Police to Question Son of Former President. Brazil’s Federal Police will question Luis Claudio Lula da Silva, one of the sons of the country’s former president, as part of an investigation into whether companies bribed Brazilian tax officials.

Amazon fires: Brazil indigenous reserve blazes contained

CHILE
Chilean Desert, One Of The Driest Places On Earth, Is Awash In Flowers

Oopsie, Chile seizes erotic book from schools. The Chilean government begins seizing copies of an erotic version of the classic fairytale that was mistakenly distributed to 283 primary schools. Little Red Riding Hood Eats the Wolf?

COLOMBIA
Ending a war: Lessons from Colombia. Outsiders should not unpick a hard-won compromise between peace, truth and justice

There are still many loose ends. The ELN, a smaller guerrilla group, is not making peace. Many FARC leaders seem far from becoming democrats. The government must act fast to organise international monitoring of the FARC’s disarmament, to provide security in areas where the conflict has been most intense and to promote rural development so that ex-guerrillas can find jobs. Cutting the flow of drug money that funds the FARC is also important—though, as long as cocaine is illegal around the world, the trade will remain so profitable that this will be hard. Colombia must avoid what happened after civil wars in Central America in the 1980s and 1990s, where peace led to an explosion of violent crime. In all this it will need the understanding and support of the outside world.

Poll Finds Colombians Fear Return of FARC Terrorists.

A new poll shows that, despite public support for a peace deal with the FARC terrorist group, a significant portion of the population of Colombia remains uncomfortable with the idea of FARC terrorists abandoning the guerrilla lifestyle and settling into civilian life.

Video: El Nueve, the life and work of a Colombian combat photographer

CUBA
40 days later, Cuban activists arrested at Papal Mass remain in jail

A Look at How Cuba’s Working Class Lives

ECUADOR
Censorship Cloud Hangs Over 300 Ecuadorian TV, Radio Stations. Correa to Clear Airwaves of Independent Voices on Technicality, Warns NGO

EL SALVADOR
Why are There No Gangs in Berlin, El Salvador?

MEXICO
Mexican army makes new arrests in Iguala massacre investigation. Among those detained is the mayor of Cocula, where the bodies were reportedly incinerated

Mexico deploys its navy to face its latest threat: Monster seaweed. Sargassum seaweed has washed up on beaches in the Caribbean in record amounts, causing a crisis.

PANAMA
Leaky Locks May Further Delay $5.3 Billion Panama Canal Widening

PARAGUAY
Ruins of Jesuit missions draw tourists in Paraguay

PERU
Archaeologists Make New Discoveries at Site in Peru

A complex of ancient Inca platforms, a storeroom and a ceremonial court were unearthed while maintenance and preservation works were underway at Ollantaytambo archaeological park in the southern Peruvian region of Cuzco, officials said.

PUERTO RICO
U.S. to clean one of Puerto Rico’s worst polluted waterways. Let’s hope the locals stop using it as a dump.

URUGUAY
Is Uruguay on the Path to Venezuelan Totalitarianism?Marcel Granier of Radio Caracas Television Warns of Incremental Tyranny

VENEZUELA
Venezuelan President Says He Will Sue U.S. Nicolás Maduro said he would file suit against the Obama administration in a bid to lift an executive order declaring the South American country an extraordinary threat to U.S. national security.

Venezuelan Siblings Spend 67 Days in Jail for “Heckling” Tourism Minister. Prison Nightmare Comes to an End as Johan and Joselyn Prato Await Trial

Get Ready For A Venezuelan Mariel

Venezuela is running out of cash and selling its gold. It looks like Putin’s not taking charge cards for payment of those 12 Sukhoi-30s.

May 20, 2015 By Fausta

Mexico: Human rights division head resigns over Iguala case

#HastaEncontrarlos

The head of the human rights division at Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office has resigned. Prior to that, Mexico’s Attorney General resigned under pressure over the investigation of the kidnappings and murders of 43 students last year in Iguala:

Mexico’s top human rights prosecutor resigns in midst of political storm
Questions over government inquiry into Iguala massacre costs Peña Nieto official her job

According to official figures, there are more than 25,000 missing-person cases in Mexico.

In March, National Human Rights Commission president Luis Raúl González urged the Peña Nieto administration to introduce fast-track legislation to deal with torture and forced disappearances.

Besides the Iguala case, the Mexican government has also been under pressure over the killings of 22 alleged drug traffickers, reportedly at the hands of the military in Tlataya.

The criminal conviction rate in Mexico is 1.8%.

[Post title corrected]

May 11, 2015 By Fausta

The Ricky Ricardo Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Today’s Carnival is dedicated to Desi Arnaz, who raked in the bucks by creating a TV character that interviewers can’t seem to forget.

ARGENTINA
This week could be decisive for Nisman probeBoard of coroners will issue final report to prosecutor Fein that could answer key questions

No. Is Argentina’s economy pulling a tango turnaround?

Argentinean University: Austrian Economists Need Not Apply
Slighted Professor Claims Ideology Trumps 20 Years Experience at Comahue

BELIZE
Belize offshore oil proposal has environmentalists worried about reefs, fisheries, tourism

BOLIVIA
Militar boliviano diz que Podemos seria braço do tráfico venezuelano
Relatório afirma que partido de esquerda foi financiado por Hugo Chávez e seus aliados bolivarianos para transformar a Espanha em porta de entrada de cocaína na Europa [Bolivian serviceman claims Podemos will be an arm of Venezuelan drug traffic
He says the Leftist party was bankrolled by Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian associates to transform Spain into a port of entrance for Europe’s cocaine]

Bolivia’s access to the sea
Beaches of the future?
A South American border dispute has implications for international law

Both countries are parties to the Pact of Bogotá, which obliges signatories to submit disputes to international tribunals. But the pact excludes conflicts that were settled before 1948.

BRAZIL
Brazil football fan club deaths lead to police arrests

British lawyer killed in Amazon fell victim to boat captains’ ‘game of dare’Husband of Gillian Metcalf says neither of the two drivers took action to prevent tragedy in high-speed collision

CHILE
Crisis socialista: Bachelet despide a todo su gabinete

COLOMBIA
Colombia ELN rebels ‘displayed solider’s leg as trophy’

Samuel Angel: “Santos y Petro han sido los peores administradores que hemos tenido”

CUBA
Ca$tro r€gim€ $€nd$ m€dica£ a$$i$tanc€ to N€pa£

EconomyGeeks Radio: Entrevista a Yusnaby Perez

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Republic stunned by two weeks of forest fires

ECUADOR
Ecuadorian State Workers Forced to March for Correa
Sign the Roll or Suffer the Consequences

Ecuador’s president demands respect from his constituentsRafael Correa attacks the press for reporting a presidential run-in with a young protestor who gave him the finger. He could start by staying off Twitter.

EL SALVADOR
Fear, uncertainty prevail on San Salvador’s increasingly violent streetsAs homicides soar after failed truce, El Salvador could surpass Honduras as most murderous peacetime country

GUATEMALA
Guatemala vice-president steps down amid customs corruption scandalPresident announces deputy has vacated her offices as ex-aide stands accused of orchestrating fraud worth million

HONDURAS
Death valley: the land war gripping Honduras
With a murder rate 65 times higher than Ireland’s, Honduras is one of the world’s most violent countries. And few parts are more dangerous than the Lower Aguán Valley, where local farmers claim that big business has illegally taken over their land

MEXICO
Mexican police capture one of the masterminds behind Iguala massacreThe suspect, a former deputy police chief, was arrested at an exclusive country club

Mexico rescues more than 100 kidnapped migrants

Police in Mexico have rescued more than 100 migrants kidnapped by a human trafficking gang near the capital.
Reports said some of the migrants had been held hostage for five weeks in a house in Mexico State.
Most of the victims were Central Americans, but they also included people from India and Sri Lanka.

Los Cuinis: The Wealthiest Narcos You Never Heard OfJalisco Battle Brings Mexico’s Top Dogs Out of the Shadows

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua Canal: A Giant Project With Huge Environmental Costs, if it happens.

PANAMA
Panama Finds Collecting Venezuelan Debt Harder than Pulling TeethNew President Still Hopes to Bring $1 Billion Owed into Port – good luck with that.

Panama Supreme Court Judge Faces Charges of Pederasty, CorruptionCongressman Mario Miller Claims Accusations Have “No Legal Foundation”

PARAGUAY
Ten-year-old’s pregnancy sparks Paraguay abortion debate

PERU
Drug trade’s lowest rung: Peru’s expendable cocaine couriers

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico may run out of cash by Sept: Gov. bank

VENEZUELA
Mass grave found on the Venezuela-Colombia border

The week’s posts and podcast:
Identity politics: Halperin interviews Ted Cruz, expects Ricky Ricardo

Haiti: Clinton’s crony gets the contract

Today’s “WTH Moment” brought to you by Jorge Ramos

Book review: Carly Fiorina’s Rising to the Challenge