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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
| Location: | Brazil |
| Category: | Corruption, Politics And Security |
| Title: | Brazil rocked by corruption scandal |
| Author/Source: | Nicolas Bourcier The Guardian (UK) |
| Brief: | Cachoeira is allegedly the lynchpin of a scheme involving three senators, five MPs and four companies. |
| Location: | Brazil |
| Category: | Human Rights |
| Title: | Brazil's truth commission faces delicate task |
| Author/Source: | Paulo Cabral BBC (UK) |
| Brief: | While there is little expectation in Brazil that somebody will ever be actually punished for crimes committed during the dictatorship, the new investigation may at least bring some closure. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Colombia Category: | Para-Politics |
| Title: | El de Chivolo no fue el unico pacto entre las AUC y los politicos |
| Author/Source: | Arco Iris (Colombia) |
| Brief: | La Fiscalia esta capturando a los firmantes del Pacto de Chivolo, lo que demuestra que en materia de para-politica la justicia tiene mucho por hacer. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Colombia Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Region: | Bogota |
| Title: | Bomb targeting former Colombian minister kills two |
| Author/Source: | Luis Jaime Acosta, Eduardo Garcia Reuters |
| Brief: | In a rare attack in Colombia's capital, a bomb targeting a former interior minister tore through his car near the city's financial district. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Human Rights |
| Colombia Category: | Human Rights, Peace Prospects |
| Title: | La historia de la proposicion uribista que buscaba bloquear una negociacion de paz |
| Author/Source: | Dora Montero Carvajal, Martha Maya La Silla Vacia |
| Brief: | Con esas prohibiciones expresas este acto se pareceria mas a lo que fue la Ley de Justicia y Paz en su momento, que a un nuevo marco juridico que facilite una negociacion futura con la guerrilla. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Category: | Peace Prospects, Recent Violence |
| Title: | La derecha ve en atentado contra Fernando Londono oportunidad para hundir Marco para la Paz |
| Author/Source: | La Silla Vacia |
| Brief: | Precisamente porque el Marco beneficiaria a la guerrilla seria muy torpe que la guerrilla atentara hoy contra el exministro Londono. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Region: | Bogota |
| Title: | Bomb targeting Colombia politician kills at least two |
| Author/Source: | BBC (UK) |
| Brief: | Bogota Police Commander Gen Luis Eduardo Martinez blamed Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, for the attack. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Region: | Bogota |
| Title: | Colombia bomb injures ex-minister, kills 2 as new trade era dawns |
| Author/Source: | Chris Kraul, Jenny Carolina Gonzalez The Los Angeles Times |
| Brief: | President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed the bomb attack in brief televised comments, saying it was directed at former Interior Minister Fernando Londono. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Region: | Bogota |
| Title: | Former Colombian interior minister survives bomb attack in Bogota; 2 killed, 39 injured |
| Author/Source: | Cesar Garcia, Libardo Cardona Associated Press The Washington Post |
| Brief: | Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro said a pedestrian attached an explosive to a door of Londono's armored SUV and set it off remotely. |
| Location: | Guatemala |
| Category: | Civil-Military Relations, Politics And Security |
| Title: | Gobierno aracnofobico |
| Author/Source: | Martin Rodriguez Pellecer Plaza Publica (Guatemala) |
| Brief: | Los beneficiarios de esta polarizacion son los radicales y los que obtienen mas rentas del pais con un Gobierno pensando como ejercito contrainsurgente. |
| Location: | Guatemala |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Guatemala Sees 6 Taxi Drivers Murdered in a Week |
| Author/Source: | Christopher Looft InSight |
| Brief: | Extortion is inherently accompanied by high levels of violence, more so than crimes like drug trafficking, because in order for criminal groups to successfully demand payments, they must maintain a credible threat level. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Essays And Analyses |
| Title: | An appreciation of Carlos Fuentes: Mexico's elegant man of letters, social commentary |
| Author/Source: | Marjorie Miller Associated Press The Washington Post |
| Brief: | I asked if he had a preference for any of his books. "They are all my children. Maybe some are cross-eyed, but I love them all." |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Politics And Security, Public Security |
| Title: | Poll Suggests Calderon's Drug War Hurt by Lack of Coherent Strategy |
| Author/Source: | Elyssa Pachico InSight |
| Brief: | Aside from prioritizing large troop deployments in Mexico's most violence-racked cities, including Ciudad Juarez, the government's strategy has been mostly reactive. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Politics And Security, U.S. Policy |
| Title: | Mayoria de mexicanos quiere que EU apoye a combatir la violencia: encuesta |
| Author/Source: | Animal Politico (Mexico) |
| Brief: | 52% de los encuestados cree que Estados Unidos debe ayudar a Mexico, incluso con tropas y agentes antidrogas. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Press Freedom |
| Title: | Mexico: UN and regional experts urge government to take action to protect journalists |
| Author/Source: | UN News Centre |
| Brief: | The Mexican Government should implement a new law to protect journalists and human rights defenders, a group of United Nations and regional experts stressed today. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Press Freedom, Public Security |
| Title: | Tamaulipas: Agresion contra El Manana, la septima en 6 anos |
| Author/Source: | Animal Politico (Mexico) |
| Brief: | La agresion contra el diario El Manana representa el septimo ataque con explosivos o armas de fuego en contra de medios de Tamaulipas en solo seis anos. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Press Freedom, Public Security |
| Title: | El Manana de Nuevo Laredo decide ya no cubrir temas del narco |
| Author/Source: | Animal Politico (Mexico) |
| Brief: | "Este periodico apelando a la comprension de la opinion publica se abstendra, por el tiempo necesario, de publicar cualquier informacion que se derive de las disputas violentas que sufre nuestra ciudad". |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | No end to violence in Mexico, experts say |
| Author/Source: | EFE Fox News Latino |
| Brief: | "I don't see a way out in the short term," Chabat said, noting that the state lacks effective instruments and institutions to deal with the problem. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | The tragic consequences of Mexico's failure to tackle organised crime |
| Author/Source: | Luis Hernandez Navarro The Guardian (UK) |
| Brief: | The story of the Calderon administration is being told in the crime pages of the papers, not in the articles and speeches of its officials. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Numb to Carnage, Mexicans Find Diversions, and Life Goes On |
| Author/Source: | Karla Zabludovsky, Damien Cave, Randal C. Archibold The New York Times |
| Brief: | The official term is "learned helplessness," and case studies are appearing all over Mexico. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Official in north Mexico says banners signed by Zetas deny responsibility for massacre of 49 |
| Author/Source: | Associated Press The Washington Post |
| Brief: | An employee of the prosecutors' office in northern San Luis Potosi state says the banners were hung from overpasses in the city of Ciudad Valles. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Masacres (o las consecuencias de perseguir la pelota) |
| Author/Source: | Alejandro Hope Animal Politico (Mexico) |
| Brief: | Han aprendido que las autoridades (federales y estatales) siguen a la pelota, no al hombre: van a donde aparecen los cadaveres y no a donde se ordenan las muertes. |
| Location: | Venezuela |
| Category: | Human Rights, International Community |
| Title: | Victimas piden que Venezuela siga al amparo de la OEA |
| Author/Source: | Humberto Marquez Inter-Press Service Plaza Publica (Guatemala) |
| Brief: | Pinilla y otras victimas de casos venezolanos que llegaron a la Comision Interamericana de Derechos Humanos para su investigacion, solicitaron al gobierno de Hugo Chavez que desista de retirarse. |
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
| Location: | Argentina |
| Category: | Corruption, Politics And Security |
| Title: | Amado Boudou, Argentina Vice President, Accused Of Illegal Enrichment, Money Laundering, Influence Peddling |
| Author/Source: | Michael Warren, Luis Andres Henao Associated Press The Huffington Post |
| Brief: | Influence peddling and money laundering allegations haven't been enough to topple Argentina's vice president, Amado Boudou. On Monday, illegal enrichment accusations were added to the mix. |
| Location: | Argentina, Brazil |
| Category: | Diplomatic Relations, Economy And Security |
| Title: | Brazil targets Argentina with trade licenses |
| Author/Source: | Reuters |
| Brief: | Brazil on Monday escalated a growing trade fight with Argentina by increasing the bureaucratic obstacles for importing about 10 perishable products. |
| Location: | Bolivia |
| Category: | Politics And Security |
| Title: | Sindicatos bolivianos preparan mas protestas |
| Author/Source: | Jose A. Cardenas Agence France Presse El Nuevo Herald |
| Brief: | Sindicatos de obreros, medicos y paramedicos se preparan para retomar esta semana sus protestas callejeras para exigir un incremento salarial. |
| Location: | Bolivia |
| Category: | Politics And Security |
| Title: | Evo pacta con la COB |
| Author/Source: | Pagina/12 (Argentina) |
| Brief: | Las protestas alcanzaron la semana pasada su punto mas alto con un paro nacional de tres dias. |
| Location: | Brazil |
| Category: | Economy And Security |
| Title: | Brazil unveils social programme for low-income families |
| Author/Source: | BBC (UK) |
| Brief: | Families with children under six living in extreme poverty will get $35 (£22) a month for each family member. |
| Location: | Brazil |
| Category: | Environment |
| Title: | As the Clock Ticks, Trees Fall in Brazil's Amazon |
| Author/Source: | Scott Wallace National Geographic |
| Brief: | In the view of environmentalists, loosening controls on rain forest clearing would further compound the destruction of huge swathes of the Amazon. |
| Location: | Brazil |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Top Rio de Janeiro Trafficker Killed in Police Shootout |
| Author/Source: | Christopher Looft InSight |
| Brief: | Now the threat is that Matematico's death could create a dangerous power vacuum in Rio, precipitating a violent power grab by his former subordinates and rivals. |
| Location: | Brazil |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Brazil military police occupies favelas in Rio to prevent full fledged drugs war |
| Author/Source: | MercoPress |
| Brief: | The most wanted drug lord was killed Friday night during an exchange of fire with a heavy armoured police helicopter that managed to locate him with infrared equipment. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Free Trade, U.S. Policy |
| Colombia Category: | Free Trade, U.S. Policy |
| Title: | Colombia-US free trade agreement comes into force |
| Author/Source: | BBC (UK) |
| Brief: | At the stroke of midnight, a planeload of flowers - an important export for Colombia - left Bogota to become the first shipment under the deal. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Free Trade, U.S. Policy |
| Colombia Category: | Free Trade, U.S. Policy |
| Title: | U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement goes into effect |
| Author/Source: | Jim Wyss, Mimi Whitefield The Miami Herald |
| Brief: | Everyone from flower importers, shipping lines and consultants to lawyers, investors and exporters is expecting to gain. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Press Freedom |
| Colombia Category: | FARC Hostages, Press Freedom |
| Title: | Piedad Cordoba acepta pedido de las FARC y solicita al Gobierno pronunciarse |
| Author/Source: | EFE El Nuevo Herald |
| Brief: | La ex senadora colombiana Piedad Cordoba acepto hoy el pedido de las FARC para integrar la comision a la que se propone entregar al periodista Romeo Langlois. |
| Location: | Colombia |
| Category: | Recent Violence |
| Colombia Category: | Demobilization And Reintegration, Recent Violence |
| Colombia Region: | Putumayo |
| Title: | 7 Colombian rebels surrender with 1.2 tons of explosives |
| Author/Source: | EFE Fox News Latino |
| Brief: | The insurgents "escaped from their terrorist cells and turned themselves in voluntarily to troops of the national army" in the town of Puerto Asis. |
| Location: | Cuba |
| Title: | Limited Tourist Visas for Cubans? |
| Author/Source: | Wayne Smith Cuba Report Center for International Policy |
| Brief: | Most Cubans receiving visas would want to head for the U.S. That is the tradition, the expectation, one might say, and most have families here. |
| Location: | Ecuador |
| Category: | Narcotrafficking |
| Title: | Large amount of cash on crashed plane in Ecuador |
| Author/Source: | Associated Press The Boston Globe |
| Brief: | Interior Minister Jose Serrano said in a TV interview Monday that "a great amount" of money was on board and that the dead pilot and copilot were Mexican. |
| Location: | Haiti |
| Category: | Politics And Security |
| Title: | Haiti stalemate ends as parliament backs new PM's plans |
| Author/Source: | BBC (UK) |
| Brief: | International donors had voiced concern about the political vacuum. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Border Security, Corruption, U.S. Policy |
| Title: | Corruption flows freely along US-Mexico border |
| Author/Source: | Richard A. Serrano Stars And Stripes |
| Brief: | Last year, black sedans and hatchbacks loaded with federal agents poured into Columbus, a town of 2,000 people, arresting the mayor, the police chief, a city trustee and nine others. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Economy And Security |
| Title: | NAFTA key to economic, social growth in Mexico |
| Author/Source: | Guy Taylor Washington Times |
| Brief: | A 40 percent jump in Mexico's per capita gross domestic product since the inception of NAFTA has brought with it an increasingly robust middle class. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Elections, Politics And Security |
| Title: | Vazquez Mota drops in Mexican poll |
| Author/Source: | Adam Thomson Financial Times (UK) |
| Brief: | Monday's poll showed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the leftwing candidate who came a close second in the 2006 election, passing her for the first time with 20.9 per cent. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Elections, Politics And Security |
| Title: | Mexico candidate blames opposition as bodies pile up |
| Author/Source: | Mica Rosenberg Reuters |
| Brief: | Vazquez Mota sharpened her attacks on his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, saying it had made life easy for brutal drug traffickers in Mexico. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Human Rights Defenders, Migration |
| Title: | Priest who denounced abuse, kidnapping of migrants in southern Mexico flees death threats |
| Author/Source: | Associated Press The Washington Post |
| Brief: | Solalinde has become widely known in Mexico for publicly denouncing corruption and abuse of mainly Central American migrants. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Migration, U.S. Policy |
| Title: | The Rise of Legal Immigration From Mexico |
| Author/Source: | Shannon K. O'Neil The Atlantic |
| Brief: | The vast majority of these came on "family reunification visas"--spouses, parents, children, or siblings of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Press Freedom |
| Title: | Mexico violence: Police find body of journalist in car |
| Author/Source: | Allison Jackson Global Post |
| Brief: | He had left the newspaper to start a group to help elect Institutional Revolutionary Party presidential candidate Enrique Peno Nieto. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Mexico violence: Fear and intimidation |
| Author/Source: | Will Grant BBC (UK) |
| Brief: | "It's partly a message to the presidential candidates, most of whom have said they won't negotiate with the drug cartels." |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Mexico's drug war: No sign of 'light at the end of the tunnel' |
| Author/Source: | MSNBC |
| Brief: | I think those resources should be concentrated on fighting the effects of violence and crime that hurt people -- kidnapping, extortion, holdups, automobile thefts, etc. -- and basically not concentrated on drug trafficking. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Audio: In Mexico, Cartels Target Journalists |
| Author/Source: | NPR |
| Brief: | Mexico has gotten to the point where unless there's a lot of, you know, there's a massacre with a lot of people being killed, it doesn't make much news. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Video: Kidnapping Can Be a Family Affair in Mexico's Drug War |
| Author/Source: | PBS |
| Brief: | Now, once territorial control is established, then peace sets in. And now the cartel, the dominating cartel, can turn to the real business at hand. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Mexico massacre highlights unknown drug war victims |
| Author/Source: | Ioan Grillo, Dave Graham Reuters |
| Brief: | The failure to find and identify victims of massacres and murders has spurred criticism of the war on drug gangs waged by President Felipe Calderon. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Mexican drug cartel massacres have method in their brutal madness |
| Author/Source: | Jo Tuckman The Guardian (UK) |
| Brief: | As well as displays of bravado, both events could also be seen as efforts to calentar la plaza, or heat up the turf, of their rivals. |
| Location: | Mexico |
| Category: | U.S. Policy |
| Title: | EU lanza licitacion para que SSP aumente capacidad de espionaje |
| Author/Source: | Fernando Santillanes, Roberto Lopez Milenio (Mexico) |
| Brief: | El Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos, mediante la Oficina Internacional de Asuntos Antinarcoticos y Procuracion de Justicia, lanzo una licitacion para comprar equipos que permitan mejorar el Centro de Monitoreo de Comunicaciones. |
| Location: | Peru |
| Category: | Politics And Security |
| Title: | Humala busca superar crisis en Defensa e Interior con un nacionalista y un militar |
| Author/Source: | Ana Nunez, Martin Hidalgo La Republica (Peru) |
| Brief: | Sin cuadros politicos. El congresista y ex titular de Produccion Jose Urquizo Maggia asume la cartera de Defensa; mientras que el general de brigada en retiro EP Wilver Calle Giron tendra a su cargo el Ministerio del Interior. |
| Location: | South America Regional |
| Category: | Economy And Security, Environment |
| Title: | Gold rush sweeps Latin America, Amazon suffers |
| Author/Source: | Paulina Abramovich Agence France Presse |
| Brief: | With international market prices for metals high, informal "wildcat" mining has been on the rise in recent years in countries like Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. |
| Location: | Uruguay |
| Category: | Public Security |
| Title: | Uruguay: marcha por la inseguridad |
| Author/Source: | Nelson Fernandez La Nacion (Argentina) |
| Brief: | Claro reflejo de una creciente indignacion entre los uruguayos, cerca de 2000 personas marcharon ayer en la tradicional plaza Independencia de Montevideo contra la inseguridad publica. |
| Location: | Venezuela |
| Category: | Corruption, Extraditions, U.S. Policy |
| Title: | Venezuela exige extradicion de Aponte |
| Author/Source: | Antonio Maria Delgado El Nuevo Herald |
| Brief: | En declaraciones que dejan entrever la preocupacion oficial sobre las explosivas revelaciones del ex magistrado, Maduro acuso a la DEA de ser una herramienta de Washington para atentar contra los "procesos revolucionarios". |