Milenio (Mexico) 4/17/2011
Without the legalization of drugs, the whole South American continent will be like Mexico
MONTEVIDEO – The Peruvian writer and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, said Sunday that Chile is the model for Latin America and that, without the legalization of drugs, the entire South American continent will be like Mexico. In an interview with the daily El Pais during his recent visit to Montevideo, Vargas Llosa praised the Frente Amplio, the ruling party in Uruguay. He stressed that the democratic vocation of the Broad Front is an example for Latin America and the Uruguayan leftist coalition is now a lot more social than socialist.
The writer said he sees the situation in Latin America with some optimism. I believe that dictatorships are going, that democracy is progressing. The fact that there is left in power those who are acting democratically seems a big step forward. There is a democratic right in power also. And I think that pushes Latin America in a direction that is good: political democracy, economic freedom, which is what brings progress.
Chile is a country that is at the forefront, which grows in a wonderful way, which is pushing back poverty very quickly and that causes the middle class to grow quickly. And now it has undertaken reforms that are not only political, but economic and social, factors that are important to ensure equal opportunities. It is the country that has progressed, he said.
However, he said, there are many hindrances still remaining in countries that are emblematic of the past, anachronistic, authoritarian dictatorships, but my impression is that this is more a withdrawal: Venezuela, Cuba, giving the impression they are giving the last gasp, it will not last. In any case they’re not models to follow, as they are failed models.
He further noted that corruption is one of the big issues that has not been resolved, and said he’s in favor of legalizing drugs to address drug trafficking. ”There is no other way. It is difficult and risky, but I think that repression leads to what we are seeing: A growth in production,” he said. “I think that’s the way we go, or it will lead us to a Latin America like what is today Mexico,” he added.
“I’ll say the things I think about it, which are well known. There is nothing new, that I defend freedom of expression, freedom of criticism, and especially my opposition to any form of veto, intellectual censorship. I think that must be fought, which is very harmful, especially in the field of culture,” he said.
http://www.milenio.com/node/696823
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La Prensa (Honduras) 4/17/2011
Ten Police Officers Sentenced to 745 Years in Prison
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS - The Supreme Court has ratified the sentence of 10 police officers convicted in the deaths of 68 people in April 2003 at the El Porvenir prison, according to the bulletin board of the court.
An announcement of the court said each of the defendants were convicted of committing 37 crimes such as murder and 19 crimes of attempted murder and sentenced to 555 years and 190 for attempted murder. The prosecution had accused the police officers involved in the shooting deaths and incineration of 68 people; 62 prisoners and six visitors to the prison in El Porvenir, located near the port of La Ceiba, 450 miles north of the capital.
According to prosecutors, prisoners who were mostly members of youth gangs rioted, setting fires. The officers fired their weapons, and let others burn when they could have saved them.
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Milenio (Mexico) 4/6/2011
Navy Confirms Capture of “Kilo”
The Mexican Marines officially confirmed the capture of Martin Luna Omar Estrada, aka “Kilo”, a suspect wanted in the multi homicides of people found in mass graves of San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Through a brief statement, the federal agency reported that this subject was apprehended in that state along with five others, whose identities were not provided. They identified Estrada Luna as the alleged head of the criminal organization of the “Zetas” in the Plaza de San Fernando, and highlighted his link with the finding of people in mass graves and in particular the deaths of 72 migrants in August of this past year. (Note: the term ‘plaza’ as used here refers to a particular area controlled by a particular cartel. If anyone tries to traffic through the area without permission and paying the going fee, they are normally ‘eliminated’. A plaza can be a section of a city, a whole town or city, or even larger areas.)
http://www.milenio.com/node/696595
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Same source:
Mexican Legislators Agree to Use Forfeited Assets for Education
MEXICO CITY - PAN and PRI deputies agree that the property and assets seized from organized crime can be used for the education system and social development programs, as occurs in Colombia. After a visit of a delegation of federal deputies to Colombia, the legislators agreed that they should improve Forfeiture Act. The PAN said that the Mexican delegation viewed several areas of Bogota, which were formerly “assassins caves”, but that are now libraries, schools and sports units. For its part, the deputy of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), Joshua Huezo Valdes, said that the Forfeiture Act Colombia has is more advanced than that proposed in Mexico. In Mexico, in the nearly four years that we have had the Forfeiture Act, it has been applied only in two cases, this where money laundering is more than 40 billion dollars a year, he said. Huezo Valdes recalled that Colombia had a security crisis similar to that faced by Mexico, and to deal with it, not only required new laws, but applying them.
http://www.milenio.com/node/696892
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El Universal (Mexico) 4/17/2011
Tamaulipas State Police Chief Resigns
The General, Tinoco Ubaldo Ayala, has resigned from his post as head of the Public Safety Department of Tamaulipas , because the governor, Egidio Torre Cantú, has not fulfilled a promise to increase wages and improve the equipment of state police. The state official, had already on several occasions threatened to resign because of no higher pay and better tools to prevent and combat crime in Tamaulipas, and finally on Sunday, he resigned.
The resignation of the General was confirmed by the president of the Political Coordination Board of the Local Congress, Guadalupe Flores Valdez. During the session held on Sunday with the local Congress, the leader of the PRI deputies confirmed the change, not to be made official until Monday, and the appointment of an envoy of the Preventive Federal Police. On Friday, Ayala Tinoco faced a third protest in the Public Safety Complex. Previous protests gave the state police 40 days to respond to the demands for better pay and equipment.
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/759797.html
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Shorts:
MAZATLÁN, SINALOA: Police Commander of Homicide unit executed late Sunday.-El Universal
ACAPULCO, GUERRERO: Five found executed Saturday.-El Sol de Acapulco
TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA: Seven municipal police officers arrested for attempted extortion of business owner.-El Sol de Tijuana
HONDURAS: Honduras has signed agreement with China for China to build a hydroelectric dam at a cost of $5.5 million.-La Prensa
COAHUILA, MEXICO: Wildfires continue to burn, with total area now 165,000 hectares (over 407,000 acres). There are a total of 17 aircraft working the fires.-Milenio & El Universal
TOLUCA, MEXICO: Eleven undocumented aliens arrested, working without paper. There were 6 women and one man from Venezuela, and 4 men from Hungary. Five others, all Mexican, were arrested for involvement in them working at the nightclub. Other charges may include human trafficking and crimes against minors. -Milenio
TANTOYUCA, MEXICO: Farmers are expressing relief with recent rains, which benefit not only their crops but grasses livestock feed on.-Milenio
ZAPOPAN, GUERRERO: A stray bullet fired by gunmen at a man walking along the street, has killed a 3 year old boy. This is the third child killed this year in the same area. six others were killed in Acapulco, Guerrero.
CADEREYTA, NUEVO LEÓN: two men executed while in a group of five.
MONTERREY, NL: Military rescues 3 persons kidnapped a week ago. Two adults arrested.-Milenio
GUADALAJARA, Jalisco: A dozen human bones were found inside a suitcase in a large pile of debris at a house under renovation.-Milenio______________________
Blog del Narco (http://www.blogdelnarco.com/)
MOCORITO, Sinaloa: Fifteenth birthday party; gunmen arrived, slaughtering six young people.
ESCOBEDO, Nuevo León: Three narcograves found with 3 tortured, executed bodies.
TIJUANA, Baja California: Federal Police officer gunned down inside patrol car, parked in front of customs office on Airport Boulevard.
COSOLEACAQUE, Veracruz: Juan Moreno, police commander, and 2 other officers ambushed and killed; one officer serious.
ZAPOPAN, Jalisco; Shootout between rival groups leaves 3 year old boy dead, shot in the head.
HUALAHUISES, Nuevo Leon: Gunmen left remains of 3 men, butchered, in front of church at 3pm with narcomessages.
COJUMATLÁN DE REGULES, Michoacan: Eight young people tortured and executed.
CADEREYTA, Nuevo León; Hitmen left four dead, but then before police could get there, another group of gunmen took the bodies, leaving only bloody clothing.
LANDA DE MATAMOROS, QUERETARO: Mother approaches authorities working the Tamaulipas mass graves, explaining her son has been missing for a year. They tell her to look for her son by asking Los Zetas. On approaching the cartel, they hold her for 4 hours, and then explain that they seized the group because the human smuggler owed them 35,000 pesos for the right to pass. She’s still looking.
The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.
