Massacre in Monterrey shocks Mexico, contributing to national ‘state of anxiety’

In what media sources and Mexican officials are calling one of the most violent and brutal attacks in recent history, a group of unidentified men mostly likely associated with cartel rivalries, torched a casino in Monterrey, killing 52 innocent people trapped inside. According to witnesses, at least six armed men burst into the casino on Thursday yelling at patrons to leave, doused the building in gasoline and setting it on fire. While some costumers were able to escape through the front exits before it was engulfed in flames, the rear exits were blocked, trapping many people inside. The efficiently orchestrated operation took only several minutes, suggesting the work of the powerful Los Zetas drug cartel.

In a series of comments made this weekend, Felip Calderón said the attack was committed by ‘true terrorists’ and declared three days of national mourning. Calderón increased military presence in the region, ordering the deployment of 1,500 federal troops to Monterrey over the next few days and calling citizens to set their political interests aside and allow the security forces to ‘do their job.’ He asked the country to unite against the criminals, in a ‘unanimous condemnation’ of the violence by ‘society, politicians, political parties, leaders, and the media.’ Calderón also made a plea to the United States to reduce its drug consumption, trafficking of high-powered arms, and to take greater responsibility for its role in the increased violence. According to Foreign Policy magazine, the choice of actions and words following this attack will prove to be vital. Even though Calderón’s leadership is coming to an end, the attacks in Monterrey necessitate concrete solutions that can quell the ‘state of anxiety’ dominating the electorate.

The attack occurred on in Monterrey, the capital city of Nuevo Loredo, one of Mexico’s most modern cities and a ‘hub for big businesses. The area has been seen as a fairly isolated safe-haven from the drug-related violence spreading throughout Mexico in recent years. However, Monterrey has seen a dramatic increase in violent attacks as tensions and rivalry mount between Los Zetas and Gulf drug cartels. Murders in the state of Nuevo Leon have jumped from 267 in 2009 to 828 in 2010—a figure which was already surpassed mid-June this year. The Zetas have increased violent efforts against the Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels in a rivalry war over control of the Northeastern region of Mexico. The spread of brutality into what is considered the most Western city in Mexico is an urgent call for action—as Gilberto Marcos, a prominent Monterrey businessman put it, “if Monterrey falls, then Mexico does too.”

Top Stories:

· Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez began his third round of chemotherapy on Sunday in Caracas. Chavez remarked that he is ‘determined to continue living…It’s not time to die. What we have to do still is a great deal.’

· More than 1,000 people protested on Sunday in Monterrey, demanding the resignation of the Nuevo Leon state governor and the mayor of Monterrey. Demonstrators said that ‘they are tired of the violence that afflicts the metropolis…as the Gulf drug cartel and the rival Zetas battle over turf.’

· Emilio Palacio, an Ecuadorian journalist accused of libeling President Correa, fled the country fearing for his safety. Palacio was sentenced in July, along with three other executives of the Universo newspaper, to three years in prison and $42 million in fines.

· As mass graves become an increasingly common discovery in Mexico, police discovered five bodies buried outside of Mexico City after responding to a call about a missing person.

· After ‘a relatively tranquil 20 years,’ Chile is experiencing a dramatic upsurge in popular protest with the students’ movement dominating the debate. According to the Economist, the protests might actually turn into some serious changes, so long as politicians are willing to ‘enact some sensible reforms quickly.’ After a 16-year –old boy was shot and killed on Friday, President Pinera agreed to begin education reform talks and open dialogue with representatives from ‘all sectors involved.’

· According to IPS, microcredit loans are growing at 15% a year in Colombia, with more than 1.2 million microenterprises accounting for approximately 50% of all employment. Small businesses and microenterprises dominate 96% of businesses in Colombia and many owe their success to microfinance loans.

· The National Tribunal of Spain called for an explanation of El Salvador’s decision to halt the extradition of 20 former military officials accused of murdering six Jesuit priests. The Supreme Court argued on Wednesday that the Salvadoran government is only required by law to locate those accused, not necessarily capture them.

· The Constitutional Court of Guatemala stood firm in its decision to extradite ex-president Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera to the U.S. amid charges of money laundering by the District Attorney of New York.

· As the global economy continues to weaken, some Latin American central banks are re-considering high interest rates and opening the door to looser economic policies. Brazil, Chile, and Mexico have all expressed interest in re-evaluating high borrowing costs.

· The Peruvian Congress passed a law last week making it mandatory to seek consultation and consent with indigenous populations before development projects will be permitted. The ratification of this law comes amid increased development-related violence and human rights violations against indigenous peoples throughout the region.

· The Peruvian government will continue its program of coca eradication on Tuesday, which is suspended last week. The Prime Minister, Salomon Lerner, said in an interview on Sunday that the eradication was meant to reevaluate the government’s anti-coca campaign and investigate more efficient methods and strategies.

Top Stories: August 26th 2011

• The unemployment rate in Brazil fell to its lowest level this year at 6%, down from 6.2% in July. Also, average real wages rose 4% since last year. Concerns about inflation and a rapidly growing economy have led the central bank to raise interest rates up to 12.5%.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, the International Monetary Fund urged Chile on Wednesday to cut spending further to ‘ensure macroeconomic stability,’ after increasing spending in 2009 to combat a recession.
• Two union leaders, Larry Cohen and Leo Gerard, from the Communications Workers of America and the United Steelworkers, asked the House Select Intelligence Committee to investigate allegations that the Colombian government misused U.S. funding, endangering labor activists. Unions and many Democratic lawmakers argue that the possible misuse of funds underscores the dangers and illegitimacy of entering into a free trade agreement with Colombia, especially given that the agreement lacks appropriate protection for workers and labor activists.
• Piedad Cordoba, a former Colombian senator, will be pressing charges through the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for ‘political persecution.’ Cordoba was barred from holding public office for 18 years amid allegations that she had ties to the FARC.
• Pablo Peréz is vying to compete with Chávez for the top spot in the upcoming Venezuelan presidential elections. The coalition of opposition parties, the MUD, still has yet to choose a candidate and it is unclear how likely Peréz is to receive that vote in the February 12^th primary. Chavéz continues to hold a firm grip on national support, despite his very public battle with cancer and difficult economic problems.
• More than fifty people were killed yesterday in a casino fire in Monterrey, where alleged members of an undisclosed drug cartel doused the building in gasoline and then lit it on fire. At least 53 people were trapped inside and killed. According to the AP, drug cartels sometimes extort local casinos and businesses, threatening to destroy them if they do not pay.
• In an effort to facilitate the transport of goods from Brazil to the Pacific Ocean, the Bolivian government continues to support a highway construction project through a tropical national park, home to many independent indigenous communities. One 177 km. section of the road would run directly through the TIPNIS national park, which, according to IPS, ‘covers more than one million hectares and is collectively owned by some 15,000 people from three indigenous groups.’ Critics and protestors of the project argue that it violates the 2009 Bolivian constitution, which grants broad rights to the indigenous majority population.
• NACLA interviews Carlos Amaya, the son of a well-known Honduran novelist—Ramon Amaya Amador, and grassroots activist. He comments on the leftist political movement in Honduras, the resistance since the coup that led to the Micheletti regime, and internal debates within the resistance.
• The US government will now allow Mexican police to cross the border in order to stage drug raids from inside the U.S., further increasing its role in the drug war, reports the NY Times.
• Amid efforts to receive full membership in the United Nations, Palestine was recognized by El Salvador as an independent state. El Salvador’s President, Mauricio Funes, said that the decision was made in support of establishing peace in Israel.
• A court ruling in Colombia on Wednesday took some initial steps towards loosening the country’s extremely harsh, zero-tolerance drug laws. According to El Tiempo and In Sight Crime, the Court ruled that a previous 2009 constitutional amendment making it illegal to possess less than 1,000 grams of marijuana and 100 grams of cocaine was unconstitutional and violated personal freedoms.
• [Not completely related to Latin America, but interesting nonetheless!] As the 10^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, PBS Frontline is preparing to unveil a series of investigative documentary features about the post-9/11 world, and how ‘the White House set the framework for a covert war that would be fought in the shadows,’ examining the ‘secret side of America’s war on terror.’ Watch the preview here.
• In Brazil, a leader of a landless workers’ group was shot and killed on Thursday, making him the fourth person murdered since May who has been involved in the environmental and land rights movements. According to Catholic Land Pastoral, the killings are usually carried out by gunmen working for loggers, ranchers, and farmers in an effort to silence protestors.

Top Stories: August 25, 2011

· In recent years, Colombia has seen a major surge in private oil companies investing in crude production throughout the country, with about 130 companies now looking for oil there and 88% more barrels being produced than the 2006 average. However, violence and kidnappings against oil companies and workers has increased on the part of leftist rebel groups, particularly the FARC, generating fears the newly booming industry will be pushed out of Colombia. La Republica reported on five oil workers from the OXY Company who were kidnapped and held for about one week by the FARC earlier this month and another four Chinese workers from another multinational corporation in June.

· The occurrence of violence and forced evictions between national and transnational companies and local populations is not unique to Colombia. While not necessarily associated with oil companies, similar conflicts have occurred with mining and African palm companies in Guatemala. In Guatemala, a group of farmers were forcibly evicted in the valley of Polochic by unidentified security forces allegedly hired by Chabil Utzaj, an African palm company vying to develop the area.

· Looting and violence between protestors and police broke out yesterday and today in Chile during student demonstrations, Reuters and the Associated Press. No one has been killed, but (as of last night) 36 people were injured and 348 people detained. According to the Miami Herald, government officials said that only 10% of union workers participated on the first day of the protests—a much lower number than expected.

· Nine former military officers indicted in Spain for the killing of six Jesuit priests in 1989 are not being detained by El Salvador’s Supreme Court. According to the AP, the court has not received a request for extradition from Spain and

· Mexican officials announced yesterday that certain types of cases will be available for processing on the Internet, as part of series of recent legal reforms.

· A Miami-Dade judge ruled in favor of a $2.8 billion settlement to Gustavo Villoldo, a veteran of the CIA and the Bay of Pigs, against the Cuban government based on charges that Fidel Castro and Che Guevara persecuted him and his family, seizing properties, eventually leading his father to commit suicide, reports the Miami Herald. The case could serve as a precedent for other Cubans seeking reparations for assets.

· In Peru, on Tuesday, congress passed a bill which would require companies to consult with local communities before building mines or drilling for oil, with the aim to help prevent future conflicts between rural indigenous populations and foreign companies. In the past, conflicts have resulted in approximately 100 deaths in the past three and half years.

· Colombia’s ambassador to the United States, Gabriel Silva Lujan, said Wednesday that he is optimistic that the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries will pass in September. However, Silva also said that if it does not pass this fall, that will ‘probably be the end of it. Supporters of the FTA argue that it could create 6,400 jobs in Florida and would remove tariffs on 80% of U.S. exports to Colombia and most imports to Colombia.

· In Nicaragua, the Roman Catholic Church is demanding more information about the death of a priest, Marlon de Jesus Garcia, who was found wrapped in a mattress. Jairo Contreras, from an Ortega opposition group said that the priest was a critic of the President.

· According to McClathy Newspapers, it is possible that the U.S. and Mexico are going easier on the Sinaloa Cartel, shifting focus to the Zetas group due to their more brutal and violent strategies. The Sinaloa Cartel is more prone to corruption than violent intimidation tactics, earning it weaker sanctions and less attention possibly to the detriment of the fight against organized crime. In Sight Crime also commented on the U.S. decision to put los Zetas on the list of organized crime priorities earlier this month.

· Shannon K. O’Neil analyzes the ‘myths and realities’ the US-Mexico border conflict, arguing that it is not violence that is spilling over into the U.S., but rather an increase in corruption infiltrating local officials and even members of Homeland Security.

· The U.S. State Department included Cuba on a list of state sponsors of terrorism in its annual report last week. Sarah Stephens, the Director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, argues that Cuba’s position on the list is ‘both untrue and a travesty.’ According to the State Department report, Cuba ‘denounces U.S. terrorism policies’ and has continued with ties to the FARC in Colombia. Stephens calls for Cuba’s removal from the list, denying sufficient evidence and information supporting terrorist links in the country.

· In Sight Crime provides an extensive report on the dramatic rise in conflicts between Mexican military personnel and suspected criminals. ‘Confrontations and aggressions’ between the two groups, as they are referred to by the Mexican government, have increased from 231 in 2007 to 2,099 in 2010. The terms refer to ‘skirmishes between authorities and suspected criminals’ or attacks on government installations without response from security forces, respectively. The conflicts have raised suspicions that the military has been abusing military powers and manipulating statistics and crime scenes.

· Police and the human rights ombudsman in Guatemala announced that there have been over 3,000 murders so far in 2011, with Guatemala, Escuintla, and Peten as the three most violent departments.

Top Stories, August 24, 2011

• · President Alvaro Colom of Guatemala emphasizes his administrations battle against money laundering, arguing that efforts are as intense as those against drug trafficking, reports Siglo21.
• · Two-day shut down in Chile as union members join students in a strike on Wednesday and Thursday demanding fundamental changes in the country’s education policy, reports the Washington Post. According to activists, Chile’s ‘dictatorship-era constitution’ puts too much power in the presidency and is in dire need of reform. Specifically, student protestors are calling for popular referendums which would provide free education to all citizens.
• · While most Mexican tourist cities have remained relatively untouched by the increasing violence in the country, Acapulco has emerged as a new ‘hotspot’ for organized crime, reports In Sight Crime. This summer, 650 people have been killed in Acapulco, putting it second to only Juarez as the ‘bloodiest big city in Mexico.’
• · The Associated Press reports on more violence in the Mexican city of Monterrey, where a man was hung and shot to death from a pedestrian bridge. This is one of several such killings that have occurred in the region, most likely relating to feud between the Gulf and Zetas drug cartels over control of the city.
• · In a recent anti-crime initiative in Brazil, IPS reports on a web site which allows citizens to report crimes anonymously. According to In Sight Crime, many crimes go unreported in Brazil due to fear or lack of faith in the police.
• · President Chinchilla of Costa Rica assures that the nation will not consider creating a military force despite increases of instances of drug violence. In a visit to Mexico to discuss greater cooperation between the two countries, Chinchilla asserted that Costa Rica is still one of the safest countries in Latin America despite the presence of Mexican drug gangs
• · Inocente Orlando Montano, a former ex-military officer who has been charged in Spain for his involvement in the 1989 slaying of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter during El Salvador’s civil war, appeared before court in Boston on Tuesday for violating immigration laws. The arrest will allow Spain to being the process of extradition.
• · Amid speculation about the whereabouts of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, an adviser to Nicaraguan president Ortega made a statement yesterday that the country would ‘positively
  consider’ granting asylum to Gadhafi if he requested it. Ortega has been sympathetic to Gadhafi, arguing in February that he ‘is waging a great battle to defend the unity of his nation. Bloggings by Boz gives three reasons why Gadhafi won’t find refuge in the Americas.
• · Despite domination and heavy censorship of the mass media and telecommunications in Cuba, a political blogger has found a way to spread information throughout the country—using his cell phone. Ernesto Hernandez Busto has been sending daily text messages to cell phones in Cuba, taking advantage of the ‘explosive growth in cell phones ‘ and avoiding ‘reliance on the internet’ which is heavily controlled by the government.’
• · Social activists and organizations in Guatemala are deeply concerned about the possibility (and increasing likelihood) that the country will elect Otto Perez Molina, the conservative candidate of the Partido Patriota (PP—Patriotic Party). According to human rights activists, Perez Molina is closely associated with a ‘number of generals and colonels with backgrounds in the intelligence service and military operations, who participated actively in the design of genocidal policies during the armed conflict.’ Perez Molina’s political platform takes an ‘iron fist’ and repressive approach to violent crime and security issues.
• · In Venezuela, a judge ordered that publication of Sexto Poder—a publication critical of Chavez’ administration—be suspended while charges against its director are being processed. Following the publication of a series of satirical photographs of six public servants, Dinorah Giron was arrested and has been prohibited from openly discussing her case or leaving the country.