Guatemala's New President Surprises Critics by Defending Justice

A UN-backed investigation unit, set up to combat impunity rates in Guatemala, is set to stay in the country until 2015, after President Otto Perez asked for its mandate to be extended until the end of his term.

The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) was set up in 2006 as a body of some 180 international staff tasked with helping the domestic legal system to investigate and prosecute criminal organizations that operate within state institutions, known as the “hidden powers.” The Wall Street Journal describes the body “as a kind of shadow attorney general's office,” noting that “the arrangement is unique in Latin America, and experts say the results are as well.”

The CICIG has had success in handling sensitive and high-profile cases including the curious 2009 death of a lawyer who, the commission found, ordered a hit on himself in order to frame then-President Alvaro Colom. Another achievement was the 2010 removal of an attorney general accused of being involved in organized crime.

Its current mandate was set to expire in September 2013, but President Otto Perez, who began his four-year term in January, requested this week that it be extended for another two years. He praised the commission’s work, and said that it was necessary to build up Guatemala’s institutions so that, when the body left, the country would have the institutional strength to cope alone.

The WSJ notes that Perez’s support of the CICIG was a surprise to some experts. The president is a former general who has himself been accused of human rights abuses committed during the country’s civil war. It might have been expected that the president would wish to get rid of the commission. As the WSJ points out, the body’s successes:

had led many in Guatemala's political class to call for CICIG's ouster and even Mr. Colom said in an interview last year that Guatemala would soon be ready to move on without the group.

Another well-received move by the new president was his decision to retain attorney general Claudia Paz y Paz, who has been one of the strongest forces in breaking down the impunity enjoyed by those who committed war crimes.

InSight Crime has praise for the incoming president’s actions so far, commenting that;

While he has only been in office for three weeks, the president seems to be on track to continue many of the more effective security policies of his predecessor, Alvaro Colom, especially as they relate to strengthening the rule of law in Guatemala.

It highlights the fact that he has appointed a former CICIG liaison official as his new anti-drug minister, and has set up a series of special task forces against crimes such as femicide and kidnapping. In another sign of respect for the commission, Perez's interior minister has asked it to help vet staff in his ministry.

The president also expressed his support for Guatemala’s ratification of the statute of the International Criminal Court, which took place last week.

A Haverford professor consulted by the WSJ said that Perez’s actions could be related to his role in signing the peace accords that ended the war in 1996. "There seems to be a domestic project he wants to complete, a job he undertook as a negotiator and signer of the accords."


News Briefs

• The conflict over the Falklands Islands (aka the Malvinas) is heating up, with Argentina’s defense minister declaring that the country would “put up” with British presence on the islands, but that if British armed forces land "in our territory we will defend ourselves." Meanwhile the UK government has declared that the Falkland Islands are British because they choose to be, and there will be no negotiations with Argentina over their sovereignty unless the islanders wish it, reports the WSJ. Tensions were raised further by an editorial glitch on tiny Falklands newspaper the Penguin News, which gave a photo of President Cristina Kirchner the file name “bitch.” The name was soon corrected, but the incident was widely reported in Argentine media. Buenos Aires daily La Nacion explaining that was a strong "anglo-saxon term ... signifying disrespect,"according to the Guardian. This follows Kirchner’s declaration that she would take the dispute over the islands to the UN.

• Reuters reports on the plight of some 300 Haitians stuck in Peru’s Amazon, after Brazil closed off its border to undocumented migrants from that country. As noted on a previous post, Brazil said in January that it would legalize the situation of some 4,000 Haitians who had already crossed into the country, but would close its borders to others, and allow only 100 citizens from the island country in each month, after they had applied for work visas in Port-au-Prince. According to Reuters, the Haitians are mostly educated and in their 20s. They “sold all their belongings and paid big fees to unscrupulous travel agents to fly to Peru through Panama or Ecuador,” before finding the border closed. They have now taken refuge in a church in the Peruvian border town of Inapari. “‘We don't have money and we are so far from Haiti ... we just ask Brazil to let us in,’ said Joniel Clervil, 22, speaking in English he learned in university before the January 2010 disaster ended his studies.”

• Meanwhile, back in Haiti, former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, aka “Baby Doc,” is “swank[ing] around the hotspots of Port-au-Prince … as if he were just another member of the capital’s thoughtless, partying elite,” according to an op-ed in the NYT. The newspaper joins a chorus of voices in the US media arguing that the ex-leader must be tried for crimes against humanity. Timemagazine notes that such a trial, dredging up memories of the 30,000 tortured and killed by the regime of Duvalier and his father “Papa Doc,” would be inconvenient for the “national re-branding campaign of President Michel Martelly.”

• Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille has been in Washington, appealing not for more aid but for better coordination among donors and faster distribution,reports the Miami Herald.

• The New York Times reports on the demolition of La Ocho, a jail in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, which some residents say should never have been destroyed. According to Damien Cave, with the city safer than it has been in years, “the argument has become a proxy for this city’s larger struggle over identity, and how much of Tijuana’s sordid past should shape its future.”

• Soldiers made a historic seizure of 15 tons of methamphetamine on the outskirts of Guadalajara, west Mexico. The Associated Press reports that the find is double the total amount of the drug seized in the country in 2009.InSight Crime has reported on a massive surge in production of the synthetic drug in Mexico, which it attributes to the fact that its production is more reliable and profitable than the business of growing coca or marijuana, while Mexican traffickers are being squeezed out of the US market by domestic growers.

• Amnesty International has criticized the Panamanian government response to indigenous protests that blocked the Pan-American Highway, in which two civilians died. It called for an investigation into allegations of excessive use of force by police. Democratic congressman James McGovern has written to the US ambassador in Panama City to ask her to convey his concerns to the president over the incident, which took place during protests against hydroelectric projects in indigenous territories.

• Peru is also in the grip of unrest over proposed large-scale development projects, and IPS reports on concerns from indigenous groups that there are shortcomings in a law mandating that locals must be consulted over projects on their land.

• The Financial Times has a piece on how growing prosperity in Brazil’s favelas means that companies are now falling over themselves to offer services to their residents - the emerging new middle class.

• The LA Times reports on problems faced by mentally ill undocumented migrants who are left to face court proceedings without proper legal representation.

Argentina to Take Falklands Dispute to the UN

After weeks of tension between Britain and Argentina over the disputed Falkland Islands (known in Argentina as the Malvinas), Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has announced that she will file an official complaint with the United Nations Security Council over the UK’s “militarization ” of the islands. At a ceremony to mark the release of a dictatorship-era military report on the 1982 Falklands War, Fernandez accused the UK of using the islands as a “trophy of war.”

Quoting John Lennon, the president urged the British to “give peace a chance,” adding: “We have suffered too much violence already to be attracted to military games and wars.” Infobae reports that she then instructed Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman to file the complaint on June 14, which will mark the 30^th anniversary of the end of the 1982 war.

The announcement was likely made in response to the UK’s recent decision to send Prince William, who is currently a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, to serve on the Falklands. As reported in the February 1^st Post, many in Argentina saw his presence as an act of provocation, and the Fernandez government had accused the UK of sending over Prince William “in the uniform of a conquistador.” Also last week the British navy announced that it would deploy one of its destroyers, the HMS Dauntless, to the area to participate in routine naval exercises, which has further angered Argentines.

While friction between the two countries is mounting, it is still tremendously unlikely to develop into open conflict as it did nearly 30 years ago.  Regardless, it is interesting to note the level of support that Argentina has amongst other countries in the region, considering the sensitive nature of the issue and the past hostilities.

Last Saturday the eight member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) bloc met in Caracas, where they approved a resolution similar to a December MERCOSUR motion to ban ships flying Falkland Islands flags from docking in their ports. Afterwards, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez even went so far as to declare that his country would fight alongside Argentina in the event of another conflict.

News Briefs

·         El Economista reports that a new Mexican documentary about the country’s education system has raised the ire of the powerful National Union of Education Workers, known as SNTE. The film was partially financed by Mexicanos Primeros, an education reform advocacy group, and uses information from studies the group has conducted in recent years. The AP claims that much of the footage of classrooms was apparently filmed by students themselves, and shows images such as teachers using cell phones in class and classrooms in disrepair.  

·         Officials in Mexico have reportedly arrested a lieutenant of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo. According to the L.A. Times, there is evidence to suggest that guns found in Torres Marrufo’s personal arsenal were purchased illegally through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms’ controversial Fast and Furious program.

·         El Proceso reports that “Narco manta” banners have appeared in the state of Guanajuato which call for a truce between rival drug gangs during Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming visit to the state’s capital city next month. The banner is signed by the Caballeros Templarios (a successor group of the once-mighty Familia Michoacana), who warn their rivals in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel not to start anything while “His Holiness” is present.

·         The AP has an overview of the Venezuelan opposition’s primary elections, planned for next Sunday. While Chavez’s opponents still trail him in the polls, the upcoming October 7th elections are shaping up to be far more competitive than the elections in 2000 and 2006. The wire agency suggests that part of this is due to the appeal of opposition frontrunner Henrique Capriles, who “describes himself as a center-left progressive, saying he admires the approach of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.”

·         An Ecuadorean judge has ordered two journalists to pay President Rafael Correa $1 million each because of allegations of corruption the two made in a 2010 book entitled “The Big Brother.” The authors’ claim that Correa was purposefully awarding state contracts to his older brother Fabricio has been deemed libelous and unfounded by the judge.

·         After eight days of clashes with police, members of Panama’s indigenous Ngobe-Bugle tribe have agreed to end a roadblock of the Pan-American Highway. In response, the government has claimed it will release the 44 people it detained in the protests. The Ngobe-Bugle began the demonstration last week in an effort to protest the prospect of large-scale development on their western lands.

·         Officials in Jamaica melted around 2,000 firearms yesterday in a Kingston cement factory as part of a disarmament campaign on the island. Today they are due to destroy roughly half a ton of ammunition at the factory.  

·         The U.S. embargo of Cuba turned 50 yesterday, and shows no signs of ending any time soon. NPR’s All Things Considered reports on the rise of U.S. travel to the island in response to President Obama’s relaxation of restrictions, and the BBC takes a look at one legacy of the pre-embargo era: the country’s iconic 1950s American cars.

·         The Wall Street Journal profiles the declining influence of the United States in Latin America. The paper suggests that much of this is due to Republican unwillingness to approve Obama’s appointed ambassadors, for fear that he is too soft on leftist leaders. Six countries in the hemisphere (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uruguay and Barbados) currently lack U.S. ambassadors.

·         Jose Cardenas has a new piece in Foreign Policy’s Shadow Government blog about the deteriorating security situation in Honduras.  Cardenas’ prescription is a significant increase in U.S. involvement, as well as an extradition treaty between the two countries. He also laments the fact that Honduras’ President Porfirio Lobo “is no President Uribe of Colombia.” However, considering recent allegations that Uribe colluded with paramilitary groups, many Hondurans may be grateful. 

Mexico Casino Kingpin Linked to Obama Campaign Donations

The relatives of a Mexican casino kingpin, who is accused of a range of crimes from drug trafficking, murder, to running a luxury car theft ring, donated more than $200,000 to President Obama’s political campaign, reports the New York Times.

Juan Jose Rojas Cardona is one of the largest casino operators in Monterrey, Mexico. He is wanted on fraud charges inside the US; he also pleaded guilty to smuggling marijuana in 1994, but fled to Mexico before serving his prison sentence. According to the Times, his two brothers, Alberto and Carlos, both based in Chicago, donated $30,800 each to the Democratic National Committee; another two relatives donated an additional $25,600. The brothers also reportedly raised at least another $100,000 from other donors outside the family.

An Obama campaign official told the Times that all the contributions will be returned. There are no records of any donations from the brother with a criminal record, Juan Jose Rojas, known as “Pepe.”

Evidence indicates that Pepe has a far more troubled history of shady political donations and links to organized crime inside of Mexico. Proceso magazine labeled Juan Jose the “czar of gambling” in a cover story by veteran crime reporter Ricardo Ravelo last year. Pepe’s involvement in the gambling industry is inherently suspicious, as it is widely believed to have been permeated by organized crime, as casinos are a useful outlet for laundering dirty cash. A US State Department cable, released in 2009, stated that Cardona and his brother Arturo have “close ties to the Beltran-Leyva Cartel.” The brothers’ support from National Action Party (PAN) politicians created a “self-protective triangle” which allowed them to run their casinos in Monterrey, traditionally Gulf Cartel territory, the cable adds.

In order to obtain licenses to operate casinos, or to otherwise convince authorities to look the other way, casino magnates like Juan Jose Rojas frequently bribe local politicians, promising them a monthly percentage of the revenue from the casinos. As the Proceso report details, despite the fact that “Pepe” Cardona was wanted by the FBI in the US, this did not prevent the PAN’s Secretary of Government from granting him some 30 licenses to operate gambling houses. In 2005, the DEA and the FBI filed an expedient for Cardona’s arrest, but Mexican authorities took no action.

Juan Jose Cardona may have been able to operate with impunity inside Mexico for so long, thanks to his fundraising for Mexican politicians. According to a 2009 US State Department cable, Pepe and another brother, Arturo, each donated $2.5 million to Adalberto Madero, Monterrey’s PAN party mayor until 2009. Madero was arrested in 2011 for accepting bribes from Casino Royale, where 52 people died in an arson attack last year. Juan Jose and Arturo Cardona also donated money to the political campaign of PAN politician Zeferino Salgado, who also accepted free campaign advertising and a helicopter as a gift from the two brothers, according to the cable.

The Cardonas’ political allies reportedly extended outside of the PAN party. The Proceso report details the Cardona brothers’ support from Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) politicians, in particular state representative Felipe Enriquez Hernandez, a current candidate for mayor of Monterrey.

Given this long history of shady dealings inside of Mexico -- “Pepe” Cardona was also accused of killing off a rival casino and strip club operator, in order to create a monopoly over Monterrey’s gambling industry -- the Obama campaign made a wise move when they chose to return the donations. Even though there is no indication that any of the contributions were dirty cash, according to the Times report, the associations with Pepe cast too dark of a shadow over what may have been well-intentioned political donations from his US-based family members. But while there is no evidence that Pepe Cardona had a direct influence over campaign politics in the US, Mexico is quite a different story.

News Briefs

• Caracas Chronicles visits a small town in Venezuela, population 3,500, to report on what kind of support Venezuela opposition parties are cultivating far outside of the capital.

• The Brookings Institute with some insightful analysis on what the recent kidnapping of Mexico’s Ambassador to Venezuela says about crime rates inside the country. The overall rise of kidnappings and homicides in Venezuela casts doubt on the assumption that falling income inequality, such as experienced by Venezuela over the past decade, leads to reduced crime.

• In Paraguay, President Fernando Lugo threatened to deploy the security forces in the Alto Parana province, where farmers have occupied land used by Brazilian soy agribusinesses.

• An Op-Ed in the LA Times critiques the recent ruling by a judge in Haiti that former dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier should not stand trial for human rights abuses.

• The Council on Foreign Relations examines some of the political questions raised by the discovery and development of huge energy resources in Latin America.

• Adriaan Alsema at Colombia Reports has an editorial criticizing the treatment of journalist Hollman Morris by the administration of former president Alvaro Uribe.

• DEA agents in Puerto Rico filed a discrimination suit against the agency, claiming they were paid less and received riskier assignments than the agents hired in the US.

• A study by the Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbuilt University found that residents in Guyana, Haiti and Belize are more likely to justify bribes than those in other Latin American and Caribbean countries.

• The Nuevo Herald reports on the new restrictions that dictate how journalists should cover elections in Ecuador, a law which became effective Monday.

• Surinam and the Caribbean island Santa Lucia are applying to become members of the ALBA economic group, an organization associated with the region’s social democratic governments, especially Venezuela. From Mercopress.

• The LA Times with a feature story on Mexico’s bicentennial tower, widely criticized for its cost of construction ($79 million) and its so-called “horrible” design, according to one Mexican art critic.

Brazil Sends Military to Keep Order as Police Strike in Salvador

Brazil sent 3,500 federal troops to keep order on the streets of Salvador, after murders shot up during a police strike weeks before carnival is set to begin in the northeastern city.

Some 10,000 Bahia state officers began striking Tuesday to demand better pay and conditions, as well as amnesty from prosecution for the strike. Some armed police set up roadblocks, while others are occupying the city’s legislative assembly. The government has declared the action illegal, and ordered the officers to surrender.

The strike has triggered a crime wave in the city, with some 89 murders reportedly taking place since it began, which media reports say is at least double the previous week. Reuters reports that shops are being looted, while assaults and car thefts have shot up. Brazzil blog reports on a sense of chaos in the city, with trash going uncollected and ATMs empty of cash.

An elite federal force of some 40 officers has been sent to eject the strikers from the assembly, and arrest their ringleaders, reports the AFP. The Wall Street Journal said that the situation had calmed on Sunday with the presence of the federal troops, but the strikers have refused to step down. One anonymous police officer reportedly told media "The government knows that 99 percent of us are armed. If they try to evict us there will be a bloodbath." On Monday morning some 1,000 army troops were surrounding the assembly building, and had used rubber bullets against strikers trying to join their colleagues inside, wounding at least two, reports O Globo. The occupiers include women and children, according to the Rio-based newspaper.

The state officers, who on average earn $867 a month, are demanding a 50 percent pay rise, according to the AFP. They are not alone in their dissatisfaction; police in Ceara and Maranho states have also recently carried out strikes, while Rio de Janeiro is currently being threatened with a strike by police, fire fighters and lifeguards starting February 10 -- a week before the world-famous carnival.

The strikes provide another example of how economic inequalities persist despite Brazil’s fast-expanding economy, with poverty and high violence rates damaging the country’s image on the world stage. Both Rio and Salvador are among the cities set to host World Cup soccer games in 2014, and both are expecting massive influxes of tourists for their carnivals this month.

The LA Times has more on the theme of inequality, with a piece on the forced evictionof thousands of residents from Sao Paulo’s Pinheirinho slum, which “brought a storm of criticism that some of the poor and marginalized are being cast aside in the race to profit from growth.” The newspaper notes that Sao Paulo is now the most costly city in the Western Hemisphere;

Incomes and property values are rising, new consumers are spending more, and international investors are winning big returns. But investments in health, education and infrastructure have not kept up, economists say.

By contrast, the Washington Post looks at the increasing number of young professionals choosing to relocate to Brazil. Some 1.5 million foreigners were living in the country last year, up around a third from the previous year. One hedge fund manager from the US told the newspaper that:

he runs into the executives of big firms at the gym, and he is a cab ride away from 80 percent of the firms on the Sao Paulo exchange. “Those interactions are priceless,” he said. “You don’t get that in New York.”

News Briefs

• Mexico’s conservative ruling PAN party has selected Josefina Vazquez Mota as its candidate for the July presidential elections. She is the first woman to run as the candidate of one of the major parties, and declared after winning the nomination that, “I am going to be the first woman president in history.” Vazquez’s major rivals for the post are Enrique Peña Nieto, from the centrist PRI party which ruled Mexico for some seven decades until 2000, and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the leftists PRD. The NYT notes that Vazquez’s ties to Calderon, having been education secretary in his cabinet, could be a hindrance to her campaign, with many sick of the surging violence accompanying his war against the drug cartels. Bloggings by Boz points out, however, that she has enough distance from Calderon to avoid having to run on his record. A December poll showed 21 percent of voters favoring her, against 42 for Peña Nieto and 17 for Lopez Obrador. The PAN candidate has already clashed with front-runner Peña Nieto, after he failed to give the price of tortillas and explained that he was not a “housewife.” In response, Vazquez told press that she was “a housewife who knows what happens every day at the dining table and in the kitchen.”
  More from Reuters.

• The ALBA bloc met in Caracas on the weekend and shot off a volley of anti-US policies, as well as announcing plans for closer economic cooperation. The group expressed their support for the Syrian regime, and signed a document backing independence for Puerto Rico. They also agreed to each place some 1 percent of GDP in a joint fund to pay for development projects. Suriname and Santa Lucia are seeking membership of the eight-country group.

• Police in Panama have clashed with protesters, killing at least one and injuring 39, in clashes over proposed mining projects in indigenous territory. The dead man, a member of an indigenous group blocking the Pan-American Highway, was shot in the chest on Sunday as police attempted to clear the road, reports the Associated Press. The closure, which had gone on for more than a week, left some travelers trapped on the road without food supplies, and paralyzed commerce through the country.

• Panamanian former dictator Manuel Noriega, currently serving a prison sentence after returning to the country from France in December, has been hospitalized with a suspected stroke.

• The Miami Herald has a piece on the growing focus in US election debates on fears over Iranian links to Latin America, with some politicians suggesting that Iran could use the region to launch attacks on the US. Andres Oppenheimer plays down these concerns, arguing that “the Iran-Latin America connection will overshadow a much-needed discussion on enhancing U.S. economic ties with Latin America.”

• A boat carrying migrants from the Dominican Republic capsized on its way to Puerto Rico, killing at least 17 people. Thirteen have been rescued. The Associated Press reports on the story of one passenger: “Maria Sobeida Guzman, a 28-year-old mother of three who also survived the journey, said she paid just over $1,000 for the illegal trip to Puerto Rico, where a cousin promised to get her a job giving manicures.”

• Mary Anastasia O’Grady at the WSJ looks at the primaries of Venezuelan opposition coalition MUD, highlighting  Maria Corina Machado as the best candidate for those who would like to see Venezuela move away from socialist policies. “Ms. Machado talks the language of markets and liberty. She speaks of 'Peoples' Capitalism' and of ending Venezuelan dependence on the state. She is the only candidate who has called for private investment in the oil sector.”

• The Washington Post has an op-ed on how lax US gun control laws contribute to violence in Mexico.

• The Miami Herald has a gallery of photos from Haiti, with images of some brighter moments in the troubled country.

'Armed Children' in Venezuela Highlight Country's Politicization

Photos showing Venezuelan children holding what look like assault weapons at a pro-Chavez event in Caracas have sparked a controversy in the country, in a reflection of the political polarization of Venezuelan society.

On January 23, a left-wing community organization known as Colectivo La Piedrita celebrated the anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in 1958. This week, photos of the event appeared on the internet which appeared to show children wearing bandanas over their faces and holding M-16 assault rifles. They were seated in front of a mural depicting Jesus and the Virgin Mary holding Kalashnikovs.

As InSight Crime reports, other photos which appear to be taken at the same event show that Venezuelan lawmaker Robert Serra was present. Serra is a member of President Hugo Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela, suggesting at least some level of official support for the incident. Serra denies that he was at the event, claiming that the pictures of him were taken on a previous occasion.

La Piedrita, for their part, claims that the weapons were actually made of plastic, and that the photos are being taken out of context by counterrevolutionaries.

Since the photos emerged, the Venezuelan opposition has used them to blast Chavez, who has promoted the development of civilian “militias” in the country. Zulia state governor Pablo Perez, for instance, criticized the display by saying "Instead of guns, these children should have a computer, a book, a bat, a ball, a glove, or a musical instrument.”

In response to such criticism, the Chavez administration has condemned the incident. On Tuesday Interior Minister Tarek El-Aissami called it “morally reprehensible,” and yesterday Chavez himself said that it was irresponsible, claiming that such images hurt his Bolivarian revolution.

This is not the first conflict that Chavez has had with his more radical supporters in Colectivo La Piedrita. In 2009 he called for the arrest of the group’s leader Valentin Santana after the latter publicly threatened several members of the opposition. Back then, he warned that the group had potential to develop into a state of its own, into “a terrorist group that goes around making death threats.”

News Briefs

·         The BBC reports that Brazilian Minister of Cities Mario Negromonte has resigned after facing corruption allegations. Negromonte is the seventh member of President Dilma Rousseff’s cabinet to resign since she took office in January 2011. The scandals do not appear to be affecting her popularity, however, as a recent poll by Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo shows that 59 percent of Brazilians support the Rousseff administration.

·         In a protest against proposed mining projects in their land, members of Panama’s Ngobe-Bugle tribe have blocked several roads along the country’s border with Costa Rica. A spokesperson for the tribe told the AP that they refuse to negotiate with the administration of President Ricardo Martinelli, but are pursuing talks with members of the legislature.

·         It seems Cuban President Raul Castro is acting on his vow to crack down on corruption on the island.  At a recent Communist Party Congress meeting, the Cuban leader called corruption “one of the main enemies of the revolution.” According to the Associated Press, the government has instructed party officials and bureaucrats to watch a video on corruption, in an apparent “stern warning that [the government is] serious about cracking down on graft.”

·         The World Radiocommunication Conference, a summit held every three to four years by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union, has approved a resolution condemning unlawful U.S. interference into Cuban airwaves through such projects as Radio Marti.

·         El Universal reports that Mexican President Felipe Calderon is stepping up operations in the western state of Michoacan, sending more than 4,000 troops to the region. The effort is likely an attempt to weed out the remnants of the once mighty Familia Michoacana and their most powerful successor, the Caballeros Templarios.

·         The AP has a nice piece on the continuing evictions in Rio’s slums in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. While the government claims that families are being given a fair price to relocate, residents say otherwise.

·         One day after a bombing in southern Colombia killed 11, El Tiempo reports that another explosion in the western Cauca province has killed at least six people. Officials have blamed both attacks on FARC rebels. In the wake of the bombings President Juan Manuel Santos has called the guerrillas “hypocrites,” saying that they talk of peace while carrying out terrorist attacks at the same time.

·         AP has a piece on the curious case of two Chilean backpackers who were arrested in separate incidents in Peru, apparently on suspicions of espionage. The incidents are likely the result of a rivalry between the two countries, which have been engaged in a maritime border dispute with the ICJ for several years.

·         The latest issue of the Economist features an in-depth look at Mexico’s powerful monopolies, as well as a piece on the state of baseball in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

·         The New York Times’ Lens Blog profiles the work of photojournalist Jean-Marie Simon, who chronicled the most violent years of the Guatemalan Civil War. Simon’s photos offer a haunting testimony to the violence of the era, and are a reminder of the gravity of the charges against ex-dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. Meanwhile, Mike Allison has written an insightful op-ed for Al Jazeera English which offers an excellent summary of the state of the case against the Guatemalan general.

·         From the Guardian: “Climate change sceptics have acquired a new explanation for why glaciers are retreating: it's not global warming, it's theft.” According to Chilean media, police in the country have arrested an individual for allegedly stealing five tons of ice from a glacier in Patagonia which he hoped to sell as “designer ice cubes” to exclusive dining establishments.

Four Charged in Plot to Smuggle el-Qaddafi Son to Mexico

Two Mexicans and two foreign nationals have been charged with trying to smuggle the son of former Libyan dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi into Mexico last November. According to the AP, the plot involved smuggling al-Saadi Gadhafi out of Libya, on a plane that would have taken off from Mexico. The first escape attempt in July 2011 fell through, after the hired pilot refused to conduct a secret landing inside the North African country. The conspirators hatched a second plot, but the authorities were tipped off and the suspects were arrested last November.

The conspirators also planned to buy luxurious properties in Mexico where al-Saadi Gadhafi would have found refuge. The properties included a $1.25 million apartment in Mexico City, and a beachfront house in Puerto Vallarta with an estimated value of $600,000. Puerto Vallarta, a Pacific resort popular with celebrities, cruise ship tourists and flashy businessmen, presumably would have supplied al-Saadi an easy place to blend in and lie low.

The Mexican government first announced the arrest of the suspects last December, identifying a Canadian woman as the leader of the group. A Canadian security company also helped with the arrangements, sending the company CEO to inspect the Mexican properties meant to house the dictator’s son. At the time, the security company CEO told Canadian newspaper the National Post that the plan was to be conducted with the approval of the Mexican government, which was to supply the required documentation. The Mexican government has denied these allegations and there is no evidence to suggest that this was the case. But the accusation did speak to concerns that Mexico, struggling with problems related to money laundering and organized crime, could be perceived as an appealing hideout for international criminals.

News Briefs

• A bomb exploded Wednesday outside a police station in Tumaco, Nariño, among Colombia’s most troubled regions, reports Semana. At least 70 people were injured in the attack. The municipality has the highest rate of coca production in the country, according to a 2010 UNDOC report. The coca trade has fed the armed conflict in the area, where all of the main actors in the Colombian conflict -- the FARC, the ELN, and BACRIM groups the Rastrojos and Aguilas Negras -- are present. According to the Minister of Defense, the Rastrojos collaborated with the FARC in carrying out the attack. By Thursday morning bomb attacks were registered in two other towns in other parts of the country. Colombia Reports has the update.

• The AP reports on Bogota’s 90-day ban on carrying weapons in public. Skeptics argue that the measure may do little to reduce violence and crime inside the capital for the long term, contending that the ban does little to address the availability of illegal weapons. According to think-tank Nuevo Arco Iris, only 10 percent of Bogota’s homicides are committed with the 160,000 guns that are legally registered inside the city.

• Remittances sent from abroad to Mexico rose 7 percent last year, the LA Times World Now Blog reports. This is the biggest increase registered since 2006, when remittances began to drop and in some cases reverse, with families in Mexico wiring money to support unemployed family members living outside the country.

• A political movement linked to Peruvian rebels the Shining Path have withdrawn their request to become a formally recognized political party, reports the AP. The group, known as Movadef, is headed by the attorney who once represented the Shining Path’s leader, Abimael Guzman, currently serving a life sentence in prison.

• An editorial in the Washington Post critiques the recent ruling by a Haitian judge which said that former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, aka “Baby Doc,” should only stand trial for corruption charges, not for human right abuses.

• Miguel Pinedo, the former president of Colombia’s Congress, was convicted for ties to paramilitary ties, from Colombia Reports. The article includes a nice timeline of how Colombia’s “parapolitica” scandal has developed over the years. According to Verdad Abierta, after serving as the head of Congress from 1999 to 2000, Pinedo sought aid from paramilitary leaders to help win re-election in 2002.

• The Washington Times reports on China’s expanding agricultural investments in Latin America, particularly in Argentina and Brazil, where China imports millions of tons of soybeans each year.

• Two US missionaries were killed inside their home just outside Monterrey, Mexico, in what appears to have been a violent burglary, reports the BBC and the AP. It is the second killing involving US missionaries in a year in Mexico’s northern border states, following the murder of another couple in January 2011 in Tamaulipas state.

Brazilian President's Cuba Visit More Economic than Political

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff arrived in Cuba on Monday, for her first official state visit to the island since taking office in January 2011. Prior to her arrival, some analysts questioned whether the Brazilian leader would use her visit to bring attention to the human rights situation in Cuba, or perhaps even meet with opposition groups. Last week her government issued a temporary visa to dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez so that she could attend a film festival in February, in a move that some saw as indirect criticism of the Cuban government.

As it turns out, however, Rousseff used her visit primarily to discuss trade relations between the two countries. AP reports that she met with President Raul Castro yesterday to sign a series of cooperation agreements, and announced that her country would be giving some 600 million dollars in credits to help Cuba purchase Brazilian food products and agricultural equipment. She also briefly visited the port of Mariel, where Brazilian engineering firm Odebrecht is completing a massive 800 million dollar modernization project. Additionally, Rousseff met with the aging Fidel Castro, whom Reuters refers to as the “revolutionary hero of her youth.”

The Brazilian leader refused to criticize the human rights situation on the island, reportedly telling Brazilian media "One should sweep one's own house before criticizing others. We in Brazil also have (human rights problems). So I am willing to discuss human rights from a multilateral perspective." According to her, whether or not the Cuban government allows Sanchez to travel to her country in February is an internal decision which should not be judged by outsiders. In a blog post on Monday, the Cuban blogger said she would find out about the decision on February 3^rd.

While Rousseff refused to comment on the political situation in Cuba, she did offer some criticism of the U.S. prison base in Guantanamo Bay, according to the Miami Herald. She also criticized the 50 year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba, saying it “brings more poverty and serious problems” to the Cuban people.

Rousseff will depart Cuba today for Haiti, where she is expected to meet with the Brazilian-led peacekeeping force there, as well as further her country’s economic role in the country.

News Briefs

·         The New York Times reports on the growing tension between Argentina and Britain over the Falkland Islands, otherwise known as the Malvinas. Prince William, who is currently serving as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, will be posted there this week in a move that some Argentines see as an act of provocation. Argentina has accused the UK of sending over Prince William “in the uniform of a conquistador.” His deployment comes just two months before the 30^th anniversary of the Falkland Islands War, in which more than 900 forces on both sides lost their lives. Meanwhile, the British navy has announced that it will deploy one of its new Type 45 destroyers to the area to participate in routine naval exercises, which has further angered Argentines.

·         Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have indefinitely delayed the proposed release of six hostages. In a statement on their website, the FARC claim that informants within the armed forces have told them that the government has “unjustly militarized” the area which the group had planned to use as a staging point for the release in an attempt to conduct a military rescue.  El Tiempo reports that the government denies this claim, saying that it had never been given the coordinates of the release from the guerrillas and was thus unable to send a military presence there.

·         According to Animal Politico, a Mexican army general and 29 soldiers under his command are facing charges of torture, homicide and drug trafficking. The AP quotes Security Secretary Alejandro Poire as saying that the crimes are "deplorable and reprehensible," and confirming that General Manuel Moreno Avina and his troops troops are being tried in a military court. The general himself allegedly ordered the execution of at least six civilians from 2008 to 2009 during his time stationed in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, which is along the Texan border.

·         Speaking at a luncheon in Guadalajara yesterday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon was interrupted by a youth who stood up and heckled the leader about his controversial security strategy, asking "When will this war be over? Where will you live when your term is finished?" According to La Jornada, Calderon took the hecking in stride, quickly responding “here in Guadalajara, mi estimado” and adding that his government could not stand by as young people are attacked and extorted. The LA Times’ World Now blog has more on the incident, as well as an overview of past instances where the president has been publicly confronted for his military-led counternarcotics strategy.

·         Despite the fact that a judge ruled on Monday that former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier could not be tried for human rights abuses, the Associated Press reports that he may still face lesser corruption charges, for which he would be sentenced to no more than five years in jail.

·         The U.S. State Department has pledged to help Guatemala dispose of precursor chemicals used to make meth. The Central American country seized 310 tons of precursor chemicals earlier in the year, but claimed it lacked the technological capacity to safely dispose them. In early January, The Associated Press reported that the powerful Sinaloa Cartel is ramping up meth production in neighboring Guatemala.  According to the AP, the Central American country could be producing as much as or more of the drug than Mexico, which is generally considered the top source of U.S.-bound meth. 

·         Polling firm CPI claims that Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has an approval rating of 54.5 percent after his first six months in office, despite discontent in some rural sectors over his handling of anti-mining protests. State owned news agency Andina notes that this is higher than the support his two immediate predecessors had after their first six months. Alan Garcia had a popularity of 45.3 percent after his first six months, and Alejandro Toledo before him had an approval rating of 30.6 percent.

·         Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli received a draft of a new constitution from a special commission yesterday. If passed by a referendum, the draft would call for the creation of a Constitutional Court and would prohibit the reelection of congressmen. As security Analyst James Bosworth points out on his blog, the draft is surprising for its lack of any language which would allow Martinelli to stay in office beyond 2014.  

·         Indigenous marchers in Bolivia have once again organized a protest related to President Evo Morales’ controversial plan to build a highway through the Isiboro-Secure reserve in the Amazon (known as TIPNIS). Morales cancelled the project last October due to a series of rallies by indigenous organizations. However, as the BBC reports, this time groups have taken to the streets of La Paz in favor of the plan, saying that it would bring much-needed economic development to the region. In response, the Bolivian government has said it will dialogue with both groups in order to come to a decision on the highway.

·         Foreign Policy’s Michael Shifter has written an insightful critique of the debate between Republican presidential candidates in the lead up to the Florida primary, which Romney has won in a landslide. According to Shifter, the candidates talked too much about Fidel Castro and not enough about drug policy, meaningful immigration reform and promoting economic development in Latin America.