Uribe's Former Intelligence Chief Sentenced to 25 Years for Paramilitary Links

Jorge Noguera, former head of Colombia’s Administrative Department of Security (DAS), was convicted on Wednesday of working with paramilitary groups and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the 2004 killing of sociologist Alfredo Correa de Andreis. As El Espectador reports, the court found that Noguera worked closely with leaders of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia –AUC) to carry out assassinations of trade unionists, journalists and academics during ex-President Alvaro Uribe’s first term in office. Noguera was also convicted of destroying public documents to avoid incrimination.

This is not the first time that a politician close to Uribe has been convicted of corruption. Two of Uribe’s closest advisers are currently in prison, one for using his position to grant agricultural subsidies to a political ally, and the other for ordering the DAS to spy on judges, journalists and opposition politicians. However, as the Washington Post points out, the sentence is the harshest yet granted to a figure in Uribe’s 2002-2010 administration. Even as other members of his cabinet came under investigation, Uribe unwaveringly supported Noguera. Yesterday Uribe responded to the decision via his personal Twitter page, saying:  “I have trusted him, if he had committed an offense, it pains me and I offer apologies to the citizenry.”

Although Uribe himself is not currently under investigation, it appears that scrutiny towards him is increasing, and pressure is mounting for him to be tried in person. According to Semana, former opposition lawmaker Ivan Cepeda has called on the federal prosecutor to open a probe into Uribe for alleged ties to paramilitaries while he was governor of Antioquia department. Meanwhile, a September 8 Gallup poll found that these allegations have taken a toll on Uribe’s once-soaring popularity.  In just two weeks, Uribe’s approval rating has dropped four points, from 67 to 63.

News Briefs

• CNN and Latin America News Dispatch report that two individuals have apparently been targeted for criticizing the Zetas via blogs that report on organized crime. On Tuesday officials in Nuevo Laredo discovered the mutilated bodies of a man and woman hanging from a bridge in the city, accompanied by a sign which read: "This is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the Internet. You better (expletive) pay attention. I'm about to get you." The sign was signed with the Zetas’ trademark “Z,” and also explicitly mentioned one of the most popular blogs that reports on drug violence, El Blog del Narco.

• Meanwhile, despite the ongoing violence in the country, Financial Times’ Adam Thomson argues that multinational corporations remain relatively unaffected by the violence. Thomson uses Nestlé as an example, pointing out that the Swiss company has claimed to notice “no significant change” in relation to the security of its goods or vehicles in Mexico. 

• Former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard furthers a more comprehensive definition of “border security” in an essay for the Immigration Policy Center. In "How to Fix a Broken Border: Hit the Cartels Where It Hurts," Goddard calls for more bilateral cooperation, immigration reform, and increased crackdowns on the finances of cartel bosses.

• As pointed out in yesterday’s post, former Governor Bill Richardson’s recent trip to Cuba failed to result in the release of American contractor Alan Gross, who is currently jailed on espionage charges. In reponse to criticism from Richardon, it seems that officials on the island are striking back. The AP reports that Cuba has accused Richardson of "blackmail,” and “slander,” contradicting his claims that he was first invited to the island to negotiate Gross’s release.

• In other Cuba news, career diplomat John Caulfield began his three year post as chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.  AP says Caulfield has previously expressed doubt about the success of his work owing to Gross’s incarceration.

• Around 300 protesters gathered in Port au Prince yesterday to protest the presence of  UN peacekeeping troops in the country. BBC reports that the protest was broken up with tear gas and police in riot gear. While the protest was relatively small, it was the latest sign of tensions between Haitians and UN forces in the country. On top of general anger over a cholera outbreak likely introduced by Nepalese forces, in July a video emerged online allegedly showing the sexual assault of an 18-year-old Haitian man by U.N. peacekeepers from Uruguay.

• Although recent news reports in U.S. media have framed the victory of General Otto Perez Molina as a popular endorsement of his proposed “mano dura” strategy for lowering crime, an op-ed in La Prensa Libre by Samuel Perez Attias suggests otherwise. Perez Attias points out that polls reveal as much as 70 percent of Guatemalans have little interest in politics and only 8 percent have ever participated in protests, indicating that very little in the way of democratic space exists in Guatemalan society.

• The Wilson Center has published a new report on citizen security in Central America, entitled “Organized Crime in Central America: The Northern Triangle,” which offers unique insights from several contributors on the criminal landscape of the region.

• The Economist profiles the first few months of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala’s term, emphasizing how Humala has deflected criticism from opponents by demonstrating willingness to dialogue and implementing his agenda gradually. Meanwhile, AP reports on the work of former musician Susana Baca, who Humala appointed as the country’s first black Cabinet minister.
• With Venezuelan elections set for Octobet 7, 2012, Reuters reports that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has already begun to campaign, and is optimistic about his victory. The changed deadline has been the subject of much criticism, but the wire agency points out that it could potentially be an advantage for the opposition given its lesser resources.

U.S. Legislator Leaves Cuba Without Securing Release of Jailed USAID Contractor

Former governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson is heading back to the U.S. after arriving in Cuba on September 7, in an attempt to lobby for the release of jailed American contractor Alan Gross. After his arrest in Havana in December 2009, Gross was sentenced to 15 years in prison for distributing laptops and satellite communications equipment to Cubans, as part of a USAID program.

This was Richardson's second trip to Cuba in an effort to lobby for Gross's release. According to the Miami Herald, Richardson reportedly vowed he would not leave Havana until he was allowed a meeting with Gross, but his efforts to negotiate with Cuban authorities quickly stalled.

The White House, meanwhile, emphasized that Richardson was visiting Cuba as a private citizen, but reiterated calls that Cuba free Gross, reports Reuters.

The Washington Post notes that Richardson may have suffered a case of bad timing. His visit coincided with the anniversary of the "Cuban Five" case, a group of Cuban nationals currently serving time in the U.S. on espionage charges, who are treated as celebrities by the Havana government.

Gross was convicted in March 2011. A Cuban court upheld the ruling in August.

In other news:

· Updated results from the Guatemala elections signal there will be few changes in the Congressional seats. According to Central American Politics, President Alvaro Colom's Partido Patriotica kept 54 of its 56 seats, while the more leftist parties had an overall disappointing showing. In other post-election analysis, Bloggings by Boz comments on what the election says about the relationship between Guatemala's youth population and the country's violent history. Guatemalan analyst Carlos Mendozaobserves that the election reportedly saw a turnout of 69 percent, on par with the 1985 elections (the government's return to democracy after the military coup of '82). This also gives Guatemala one of the highest rates of voter turnout in Central America, Mendoza says.

· Venezuela announced elections will be held October 7, 2012, instead of the usual date in December, the Wall Street Journal reports. The question now is whether the opposition will move to change the date of the primary elections, scheduled for February 12. Besides Henrique Capriles, the current governor of Miranda state, other strong potential rivals to the still-popular President Hugo Chavez include former Caracas mayor Leopoldo Lopez, the WSJ notes. Lopez is barred from office on what he says are bogus corruption charges, and is set to find out later this week whether the Inter-American Court of Human Rights will overrule the ban.

· In Mexico, the Veracruz government says it may change its penal code so that the so-called "Twitter terrorists" face lower sentences. Right now, the two social medias users -- teacher Gilberto Martinez Vera and journalist Maria de Jesus Bravo -- could face up to 30 years in prison on charges of terrorism and sabotage. They stand accused of inciting panic in Veracruz by tweeting rumors that gunmen were attacking schools. If the two were charged with disrupting public order, they would face considerably softer sentences -- but first the Veracruz Congress will have to pass the proposed law. The LA Times notes that Veracruz authorities acknowledged the proposal is in response to intense pressure from human rights and free speech activists, who have reportedly rejected the proposal and are continuing to pressure for Martinez and Bravo's release.

· The Christian Science Monitor reports on the White House's decision to extend the deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border. The troops, mostly based in Arizona, will stay on the ground for an extra 90 days, potentially costing the government an extra $30 million.

· The Associated Press reports that Haiti's former president Jean-Betrand Aristide will soon make what will likely be a heavily promoted public appearance in October. The agenda is nothing unusual -- making a speech at the university he founded, University of the Aristide Foundation -- but it will be one of the first ceremonial appearances by Aristide since he returned to Haiti in March after seven years of exile.

· Former Argentinian president Carlos Menem was acquitted of arms trafficking charges, reports the AP. The ex-statesman admitted that he signed three secret decrees in a four-year period which authorized the export of weapons to Venezuela and Panama; some of those arms later ended up in Ecuador and Croatia, which were under an international embargo at the time. The defense argued that Menem had no idea where the weapons went after they were exported to Venezuela and Panama. Menem has been on trial since 2008, part of a dragged-out scandal which first began in 1995, when local newspaper El Clarin published an investigation detailing that Argentinian weapons were found in the Eastern European conflict zone.

· The Latin American Herald Tribune has a brief note on the first ever life sentences for extortion in Chihuahua, Mexico. The harsher sentences come in a package of reforms passed by the Chihuahua state congress, which voted in October 2010 to authorize life sentences for crimes like extortion, homicide and kidnapping. There have officially been over 24,000 reports of extortion since President Felipe Calderon assumed power in 2006.

· Mexico's peace caravan movement, led by poet Javier Sicilia, is set to cross the Guatemala border today. According to IPS, there are about 600 marchers, who are winding up a tour of southern Mexico, seeking to call attention to a wide range of issues, including the use of the military in Mexico's drug war, as well as violence against undocumented migrants.

· Brazil may soon begin withdrawing its peacekeeping force from Haiti, according to an IPS report. The country has the largest contingent of troops on the island, in an effort which some analysts have said is part of Brazil's bid to prove itself deserving of a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

· The Miami Herald published a feature on Colombia's little-known Muslim communities along the Caribbean coast, many of them the descendants of Lebanese immigrants. The article spotlights the town of Maicao in Colombia's northernmost Guajira department, home to the country's largest Muslim population.

Election Re-scheduling Rumors in Venezuela

The political maneuvering is heating up in Venezuela as the country moves towards 2012’s presidential election, with rumors that the vote could be brought forward several months to as early as July. President Hugo Chavez had widely been expected to win an easy victory in the vote, which had been set to take place in December 2012, but his illness, and the rumors fed by the lack of reliable information about his condition, have left the field looking more open that at any time in his 12 years in power.

The Venezuelan opposition, currently represented by the Coalition for Democratic Unity (MUD), an alliance of opposition parties, warned on Monday that it would be alert to any moves the government might make to move the election forward. This would rob the MUD of time to campaign for its presidential candidate, who will be selected in primaries in February. A coalition representative demanded that the date of the elections be announced as soon as possible. The opposition has often appeared lost in the face of the president’s popularity and domineering style, and unable to group together around a real challenger to the charismatic leader.

Over the weekend, the Associated Press profiled Henrique Capriles, governor of Miranda state, who it says is emerging as a serious rival to the ailing president. According to the news agency:

Capriles has asserted himself as a sort of anti-Chavez: a soft-spoken state governor who tries to avoid confrontation and describes himself as middle-of-the-road in contrast to the socialist president.

Capriles has compared his style to that of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with a mix of social programs and pro-market reform, according to the report. The AP quotes a poll by Datanalisis, which said that Capriles would have 36 percent support to Chavez's 38 percent in a one-to-one contest, making him an unprecedented challenger to the socialist leader.

Other high-profile candidates in the race, according to Reuters, include the more right-leaning Pablo Perez, governor of Zulia state, and Caracas lawmaker Maria Corina Machado.

News brief

• With 98 percent of votes counted from Guatemala’s Sunday presidential elections, Otto Perez’s share has risen to 36 percent, while rival Manuel Baldizon has 23 percent. The two will face off in a second round of voting on November 6. Both men are right-leaning, and both promise an “iron fist” crackdown on crime. Perez had been banned by the election authority from further campaign spending after being accused over overstepping the spending cap, but told press after the vote that this ruling was incorrect, and that he still had another eight million quetzeles ($1 million) to spend before reaching the limit.
  Though Perez looks set to win in November, Baldizon could still get his chance at the presidency. The Economist noted in a recent article that the runner-up in the second round often wins in the next presidential election four years later, judging by the pattern in recent years (Perez lost the second round to Colom in 2007). This is bad news, it says, because Baldizon “looks like a dreadful candidate,” with economic plans that don’t add up, and heavy investments in the crime-controlled Peten region.
  In Congress, whose elections were held on the same day, Perez’s Patido Patriota won 57 of 158 seats, and the coalition of current President Alvaro Colom, which did not front a presidential candidate, won 48. More from NYT, WSJ, LA Times.

• In more news from Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal reports that Chavez is moving to withdraw from the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, in what is likely a step to avoid claims from businesses whose Venezuelan assets are appropriated by the government. This could also be part of the president’s increasing wariness of foreign intervention in his country, in the wake of the deposal of ally Moammar Gaddafi.

• In Chile, where September 11 is remembered as the anniversary of the 1973 coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende, at least 280 people were arrested and 45 injured, 40 of them police officers, in riots that broke out after a march to commemorate the day. There was looting and barricades on the streets of Santiago, according to the authorities. The government blamed “anarchist groups” who carried out “brutal” attacks against the police.

• The U.S. government has charged Colombian drug lord Daniel Barrera Barrera, known as “El Loco,” with cocaine trafficking, along with two associates who are in Colombian custody. Barrera remains at large, and is thought to be one of the country’s biggest narco-traffickers. U.S. and Colombian authorities have chalked up a series of recent victories against Barrera’s network, but, according to reporting by InSight Crime, the trafficker may be in Venezuela, under the protection of high-level officials and members of the security forces.

• Brazil’s expansion to become a global economic power has a dark side, according to the Wall Street Journal, which warns that the emerging power may be suffering from the world’s most highly overvalued currency, a real-estate bubble, and a slowing economy.

• In Cuba, the government has expressed concern over a group of more than 60 Pentecostal believers who have barricaded themselves in a church in Havana, led by Pastor Braulio Herrera Tito. They may be part of a political protest, according to a report in the Miami Herald, which said that a known Cuban dissident was in contact with those in the church, and had reported that they were locked in the building to pray for “a new Cuba.”

• Meanwhile, Foreign Policy magazine listed Raul Castro as one of the dictators most likely to fall in the wake of the Arab Spring, warning that, “After 52 years under the rule of the Castro brothers, Cubans are stirring.”

• In Mexico, the authorities reported the recapture of Manuel Alquisires Garcia, alias “El Meme,” thought to be the chief financial officer of the Gulf Cartel. He was first captured 13 years ago together with Osiel Cardenas Guillen who later became notorious as the cartel’s leader, but Alquisires escaped prison in 2002.

• Still on Mexico’s drug trade, President Barack Obama backed his counterpart, Felipe Calderon, against those who have advocated for a truce with criminal groups. Obama rejected the idea, put forward most recently by former Mexican leader Vicente Fox, saying "I don't think Mexican people want to live in a society where drug kingpins are considered to be some of the more powerful individuals in society."

• Former Argentinian President Carlos Menem will find out today whether he has been found guilty of arms trafficking charges. If guilty, he could face eight years in prison.

• The New York Times has a feature on the Dominican Republic’s new Memorial Museum of Dominican Resistance, which tells the history of the resistance to Rafael Trujillo, a military dictator who ruled from 1930 to 1961. He is thought to have been behind the deaths of more than 50,000 people, with many more imprisoned and tortured.

​

Guatemalan Elections Go to Run-off, Perez Likely Winner

With 57 percent of votes counted, Guatemalan presidential candidate Otto Perez Molina of the Patriotic Party leads in the polls with 32 percent support. He is followed by Manuel Baldizon (LIDER) with 19.7 percent and Eduardo Suger (CREO) with 15.2 percent. The rest of the votes were shared among seven other minor candidates. Barring any major twists, it looks as if Perez and Baldizon will be squaring off in the November 5^th runoff election.

In U.S. media outlets like the New York Times and the AP, the main narrative leading up to the elections has been that the current president, Alvaro Colom, has not done enough to crack down on the growth of organized crime in the country, thus prompting voters to favor Perez and Baldizon, who are both running on “mano dura” platforms. From the AP:

Alvaro Velasquez, of the Central American Institute of Political Studies, said people are disenchanted with politics as a result of the Colom government, which promised to quell the violence with social programs.

"They expected the government of Colom to be the transformation, but he didn't even try to be strong," Velasquez said.

However, as Dr. Michael Allison of Central American Politics points out, this ignores the fact that murder rates have actually been declining over the past two years. While this does not mean that the overall crime rate is down, it does suggest that other factors -like the country’s 51 percent poverty rate-played a factor in the elections.

Selected Stories

• The Washington Post reports that an attempt by New Mexico governor Bill Richardson to broker the release of Alan Gross, the U.S. government contractor jailed in Havana on espionage charges, has failed. According to Richardson, Cuban officials even barred him from visiting the prisoner, despite the fact that Gross has received a number of visits by U.S. diplomats and politicians. Gross has been jailed since 2009, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in March.

• The AP highlights Venezuela’s murder rate and rising insecurity, with a focus on how hospitals have been affected by the violence. As the article notes, in 2010 Venezuela's homicide rate was twice that of Mexico, with the Venezuelan Violence Observatory claiming that there were 17,600 homicides last year. 

• Sabino Montanaro, known as the “cruel right hand” of former Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, died on Saturday night in Asuncion. He had been serving a sentence in house arrest for his role in killing opposition leaders in the 1970s and '80s.

• Arturo López Levy offers some in-depth analysis over at Latin America News Dispatch of what the death of Cuban Defense Minister Julio Casas means for the country’s military. The military, like many other institutions in the country, has the potential to change significantly as the older members of the revolutionary generation die off.

• USA Today conducted an in-depth analysis of crime Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico, which found that "violent crime rates were on average lower in cities within 30, 50 and 100 miles of the border — the distances used to fit various definitions of the 'border region.'" This means that the oft-mentioned pattern of “spillover violence” is greatly exaggerated, despite recent claims to the contrary by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

• Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez resigned on Saturday in a rather confrontational manner. According to the AP, Alvarez claimed he “lacked economic support for his efforts and had been stepping on the toes of powerful interests.” La Tribuna reports that the main source of opposition to Alvarez was the leadership of the National Police, who allegedly forcing President Porfirio Lobo between themselves or Minister Alvarez. Alvarez has been attracting a significant amount of political attention lately, and has emerged as a potential presidential candidate for the National Party in 2013, so his removal could also have been an attempt to refocus media attention on the Lobo administration.

Top Stories: September 9th, 2011

• In a three part series, In Sight Crime posted a recent report covering the Zetas drug cartel and its increasing presence in Guatemala. The three parts cover the history, modus operandi, and the future of the group in the country, including video, maps, and links to past posts on the subject.
• U.S. Representative Jim McGovern called for ‘accounting and oversight’ of U.S. aid to Colombia’s Department of Administrative Services after recent accusations of illegal activities within the Colombian DAS. American funds may have been used to support wiretapping, illegal surveillance, and extortion. Along with Congresswoman Janice D. Schakowsky, McGovern sent a letter to the Obama administration calling for an in-depth investigation into the case. Read the full text of the letter here.
• Fidel Castro broke a long silence with the media after conducting an interview with a Venezuelan television station on Thursday. He appeared to be in good health, ‘alive and kicking,’ according to the journalist that interviewed him.
• Brazil’s defense minister called for a 15% reduction in U.N. peacekeeping troops in Haiti following allegations of the sexual assault of a young Haitian man by Uruguayan troops. Protests in Haiti are demanding the immediate pullout of U.N. forces. Former President Bill Clinton visited Haiti in support of the U.N. mission, Minustah, urging Haitians not to ‘put off’ what happened on the entire mission.
• The U.S. government has accused a ‘powerful Venezuelan general, an intelligence official, and two political allies of President Hugo Chavez’ of close collaboration with the Colombian rebel group, the FARC. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the four officials were providing arms, security and training to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Chavez’s relations with the Colombian revel group had been a major point of contention between Venezuela and former Colombian President Uribe. The documents obtained by the Treasury Department reveal connections to an ‘arms-for-drugs route with the FARC’ and ‘coordinated security’ efforts for the guerrillas. The Venezuelan government strongly rejected the accusations as part of the ‘permanent aggression’ against Venezuela by the United States.
• Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was denied his request to meet with Bill Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor arrested for illegally bringing in communications equipment to Cuba. Gross’ continued detainment has stalled improvement of US-Cuba relations. Richardson’s visit was seen as a hopeful attempt to make progress in the case.
• Mexican navy officials dismantled a Zetas telecommunications system set up in the state of Veracruz and arrested 80 people, 6 of whom were police officers. Officials confiscated 13 antennae set up by the cartel, seven amplifiers, power supplies, batteries, solar panels and wiring, seven trailer trucks, clothing and groceries. The discovery is an example of the kind of extensive networks and communications systems the Zetas have been able to establish.
• Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal barred the Partido Patriotica from further campaign spending after ruling that it had exceeded the spending cap. The party’s candidate, Otto Perez Molina, has a strong lead in the polls, with 42.6% of the vote. The first round of elections is scheduled for this Sunday, September 11^th.
• As the investigation of the murder of two female journalists in Mexico continues, authorities are considering possible criminal links to one victim’s money-exchange business. Also, the fact that both women were journalists speaks to the growing danger facing reporters in Mexico, with at least 59 murdered journalists under Felipe Calderon’s administration. Mexico City, where the bodies of the two women were found, has typically been seen as immune to the drug violence in Mexico.

Top Stories: September 8th, 2011

• According to a poll released on Wednesday, President Hugo Chavez’s approval ratings remain around 50% in Venezuela but a large majority of those polled reported disapproval with the government’s performance in jobs, housing, the economy, corruption, and crime.
• Additional troops were sent to the Alemao slum in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday after drug traffickers opened fire on fellow soldiers. The slum has been dominated by drug traffickers, making it a key area for authorities attempting to clean-up Brazil’s security in preparation for the upcoming Olympic games.
• Representatives from the Latin American nations with more than 12,000 U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti called a meeting scheduled for today to discuss the implications and repercussions of the alleged sexual assault of a Haitian teen by the U.N. forces. Both Brazil and Uruguay have announced intentions to begin withdrawing troops prior to a full scale removal of the mission. The peacekeepers have incited anger and frustration within Haiti, especially following a cholera outbreak largely blamed on the presence of Nepalese troops.
• Mexican authorities have identified 18 more suspects in the Monterrey massacre, all of whom are members of the Zetas drug cartel. The authorities are offering a $1.3 million reward for any information leading to their capture. According to the LA Times, the owner of the casino has been located in the United States and will be brought in for questioning. In an interview, Attorney General Marsiela Morales said that six sketches of the suspects will be released and that investigators believe one or more may be police officers.
• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has announced plans to overhaul the country’s military with big spending increases and changes in the armed forces leadership. The plans come amid concerns that Colombia may be reverting back to a guerilla war. The funds are to be used to deliver a ‘final blow’ to Colombian guerilla groups and Marxist rebels.
• A paper recently published at Brookings discusses the growing issue of ‘idle youth’ in Latin America. Major increases in the 15 to 24 year-old demographic in the region created a ‘window of opportunity’ for economic growth. However, the region has been failing to provide adequate education for the 15 to 18 year-old group and job creation for the 18 to 24 year-old range has not been able to accommodate the growth.
• Thousands of people protested corruption in the Brazilian government during the country’s Independence Day celebration in Brasilia. Three government ministers have left office due to corruption allegations and dozens of other officials have lost their jobs or been arrested since President Dilma Rousseff took office in January, reports BBC News.
• Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is visiting Cuba in an attempt to release a US subcontractor who was imprisoned for bringing illegal satellite equipment into the country. Alan Gross, 62, was arrested for distributing ‘illegal communications equipment’ he says was part of an attempt to help Cuba’s small Jewish community gain access to the internet. While the State Department has been aware of Richarson’s plans to visit Cuba, he is ‘traveling in a personal capacity.’
• A Council on Hemispheric Affairs report analyses the growing conflicts facing Central American migrants attempting to travel northward through Mexico. The journey through Mexico to the United States has become increasingly dangerous, with many migrants falling victim to violence by criminal gangs, assaults, sexual slavery, kidnapping, extortion, or murder.
• According to the LA Times, newly obtained e-mails from the White House reveal that three national security officials were receiving some details about the Fast and Furious gun-trafficking operation, which allowed illegal guns to be purchased in an effort to track their path to Mexican drug cartels. The officials deny that the e-mails provided information about the covert activities of Fast and Furious agents. The Attorney General of Arizona passed the investigation on to federal attorneys in Los Angeles and San Diego amid allegations that the Arizona Attorney was involved in the operation.
• As part of a study by Accion Ciudadana, In Sight Crime published a report mapping threats and risk to politicians from organized crime groups, particularly the Zetas drug cartel, in the upcoming presidential elections.
• An IPS article analyses why how Nicaragua has managed to maintain a significantly lower crime rate than its neighboring countries, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, some of the most violent countries in Latin America. According to analysts and experts, Nicaragua has managed to maintain two important factors contributing to its more peaceful society: community policing and greater social cohesion.
• In a series called ‘Dictatorships Meet Justice, Decades On,’ IPS has compiled a conglomerate of articles covering recent human rights and corruption cases attempting to bring violators to justice decades after crimes were committed, many during periods of dictatorship or civil war.

Top Stories: September 7th

• · On August 31^st, the Peruvian Minister of Defense Daniel Mora Zevallos commented that Peru should reach a political agreement of ‘final reconciliation,’ putting an end to all judicial processes against members of military forces and police officers accused of committing grave violations of human rights, reports WOLA. Public criticism of the comments erupted, urging President Ollanta Humala to reject the ‘unacceptable and impermissible’ comments and maintain his commitment to the ‘judicialization of human rights violators.’
• · Just the Facts reports on the illegal wiretapping scandal involving Colombia’s intelligence agency, the Department of Administrative Security (DAS). Under the Uribe Administration, the DAS was apparently ordered to conduct illegal surveillance of Supreme Court judges. According to the Washington Post, the operation was being directly funded by U.S. dollars, equipment, and training. U.S. officials deny knowledge of the illegal activities the funding was supporting, but an investigation remains to be seen.
• · Panamanian police arrested 80 Colombians and Panamanians allegedly members of a major cocaine trafficking ring led by the Colombian trafficker, Jorge Indalecio Marmolejo. The group supposedly moved at least 18 tons of cocaine in the last two years.
• · President Calderon’s National Action Party (PAN) asked the governor of Nuevo Loredo and the mayor of Monterrey to step down following last month’s casino massacre in the capital city of the state. The PAN called for the resignations on the grounds that there was ‘obvious support’ from state police for the criminals responsible for setting fire to the casino.
• · Women in Mexico are suffering from the ever-increasing threat of gender-based violence, frequently on the part of organized crime groups, making it clear that they ‘are by no means bystanders to the violence in Mexico.’ Women in Mexico may be targeted by sex traffickers, recruited by drug gangs, or become victims of ‘femicide.’ Illegal female migrants are particularly vulnerable to kidnappings and sexual violence.
• · Deportations of Honduran migrants has spiked in the US, causing authorities in the country to express concern the President Obama has failed to follow through on his promise to halt the deportation of non-criminal illegal immigrants.
• · Increased violence and financing scandals continue to plague the presidential campaign in Guatemala as the September 11^th election day quickly approaches. According to Mirador Electoral, a coalition of watchdog NGOs, the two leading parties have well exceeded that spending cap of 48 million quetzales ($6 million). Otto Perez Molina’s Partido Patriotica has spent Q88.7 million while UNE-GANA of current President Alvaro Colom has spent Q61.8 million. The violation of the spending cap is concerning because the amount of money invested in the campaign tends to directly correlate each party’s success at the polls.
• · The recent arrest of a the FARC’s ‘extortion mastermind’ has revealed evidence that the Colombian organized crime group is working to expand its extortion operations to include multinational corporations, especially those involved in the oil sector. Oil is one of Colombia’s fastest growing and most profitable industries, with strong support from President Juan Manuel Santos’ administration.
• · Colombia may begin auctioning rights to coal and gold deposits as a part of a move to further develop the country’s oil industry. Auctioning such rights could help ‘spur exploration and production’ not only in oil, but other minerals such as copper, platinum, and coltan as well.
• · A recent economic boom in the mining and oil industries in Peru has led to increased violence and abuses of indigenous communities residing on ancestral land in the Amazon and the Andes. In response, President Ollanta Humala approved a law which grants consultation rights to local indigenous communities regarding development projects on their land, BBC reports.
• · Brazil plans to begin pulling out troops from the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, amid claims that the security situation in the aid country has ‘substantially improved’ since 2004. The purpose of the mission was to restore order following the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, but has been plagued with controversy due to a cholera outbreak resulting in more than 6,000 deaths and the alleged rape of an 18-year-old Haitian man.
• · Argentina was the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, marking a big first step towards sexual equality in the region. Now, the Argentine congress is considering a proposed law that would allow transgender people to change their names and gender on all legal documents, birth certificates included, in a quick procedure.