Libardo Cardona | Bogota | May 20

The Guardian/AP - Even Colombians accustomed to treachery and deceit after more than a half-century of civil conflict and drug-related violence were stunned by the arrest of a one-time provincial lawmaker for allegedly helping plan the mass kidnapping of 11 colleagues later slain by leftist rebels.

Even more remarkable, the alleged traitor was among the kidnapped, and "miraculously" survived seven years later when the others were killed in murky circumstances.

"I can't get it in my head that this could actually have been possible," Interior Minister Federico Renjifo said upon hearing of last week's arrest of Sigifredo Lopez. "I can only hold out the hope, as a human being, that this doesn't turn out to be true."

Plenty of Colombians, including relatives of the slain deputies, are perplexed by the arrest of Lopez on suspicion of murder, hostage-taking, perfidy and rebellion in connection with events that began on April 11, 2002, when guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia disguised as soldiers slipped into the state Assembly building in Cali, the Andean nation's No. 3 city, and rounded up the deputies, killing a police officer.

Prosecutors have not yet offered a possible motive for the ex-lawmaker's arrest, prompting speculation that the 49-year-old Lopez, released by the FARC in 2009, was somehow double-crossed by the rebels.

Did he truly endure a harsh jungle captivity? Could he be a rebel mole?

Randal C. Archibold | Mexico City | May 18

NYT - The Mexican government detained three high-ranking Army generals this week, including a former second in command at the Defense Ministry, suggesting the depths drug cartels have gone in trying to infiltrate one of the primary forces President Felipe Calderón has counted on to combat them.

The arrests of a group of generals were without precedent in recent memory, and local news reports suggested that the corruption investigation was continuing and could net other key figures in the drug war.

The three generals, Mexican officials have said, played a role in facilitating drug trafficking, and the accusations against the third general, arrested Thursday night, include that he ignored a tip by American drug agents about an imminent airplane delivery of a drug cartel’s cocaine in December 2007.

May 18 | CBS

People in Honduras' predominantly Indian Mosquito coast region burned down government offices and demanded that U.S. drug agents leave the area, reacting angrily to an anti-drug operation in which a local mayor said police gunfire killed four innocent people, including two pregnant women.

Animosity is being aimed at both Honduran authorities and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which confirmed on Wednesday that some of its agents were on a U.S.-owned helicopter with Honduran police officers when the shooting happened Friday on the Patuca River in northeastern Honduras.

Honduran and U.S. officials said only the police officers on the anti-drug mission fired their weapons, and not until the helicopter was shot at first. The officials said the aircraft was chasing a small boat suspected of carrying drugs on the river.

Local officials said the two men and two pregnant women killed weren't drug smugglers. They said the victims were diving for lobster and shellfish.

** Protesters on rampage after drug agents shoot 4 dead
** Honduras prisoners riot at jail in San Pedro Sula
** Reverberations from drug raid felt in US, Honduras
** Murder of Honduran reporter blamed on drug gangs

Marcela Valente | Buenos Aires | May 10

IPS - Under a new law that recognises a broad range of rights for transvestites, transsexuals and transgender persons in Argentina, they will have the right to modify their legal documents to match their gender identity.

Activists say the law, which was passed by the Senate late Wednesday, breaks new ground in the world because it allows transgender people to change their legal identity without first having to undergo sex change surgery or hormone therapy.

But if they do decide to undergo physical changes, the new legislation guarantees them access to surgery or hormone treatment in both the public and private health care systems.

Danilo Valladares | Guatemala City | May 4

IPS - Rightwing President Otto Pérez Molina is keeping his promise to take a hard line on soaring crime in Guatemala, but his government is neglecting prevention measures. Analysts warn the strategy, along with upcoming legal reforms, may jeopardise human rights.

One of the first steps taken by retired general Pérez Molina when he took office on Jan. 14 was to send army troops out on street patrols together with the National Civilian Police (PNC).

He also created special task forces to investigate the causes of and propose solutions for robbery, extortion, homicide, kidnapping and femicide (gender-based killings of women).

William Booth | Mexico City | May 5

WaPo - Criticism of the leader of the Catholic Church in Cuba, who has been negotiating with the communist government to expand religious and political freedom, intensified last week when the head of Radio and TV Marti called the archbishop of Havana a lackey who is colluding with an oppressive regime.

The stinging editorial against Cardinal Jaime Ortega — signed by Radio and TV Marti’s director, Carlos Garcia-Perez — is significant because Marti is a U.S. government agency, with its board of directors appointed by the White House and its policies coordinated with the State Department to direct messages to Cubans.

Linda Pressly | May 2

BBC - There is a violent death every 74 minutes in Honduras

Honduras has the world's highest murder rate. Many victims are poor. And one politician campaigning for election made an unusual vote-winning promise - free funerals for anyone unable to give a loved-one a dignified burial.

Tragically, this is a service that is needed now more than ever in Honduras.

The National Commission for Human Rights has calculated that there is a violent death every 74 minutes in this small nation of about eight million people.

Last year Honduras recorded the highest murder rate in the world, with 86 people killed for every 100,000 inhabitants, up from 82 in 2010.

In the UK the rate is just over one, in Mexico, 18.

But the reasons for the explosion of killings - almost a doubling of the murder rate since 2005 - are complex.

Lolita Baldor | 20,000 feet up | Apr 28

AP - In these days of shrinking U.S. defense budgets, the Obama administration is looking to South America to help monitor and protect the Asia-Pacific region in the years ahead.

During visits to Colombia, Brazil and Chile this past week, Pentagon chief Leon Panetta underscored their importance as military partners in the Pacific, where China is challenging U.S. influence in a number of countries. As those defense relationships grow, officials say it can only help U.S. economic and political ties across South America.

bottom line:

Defense chiefs Juan Camillo Pinzon of Colombia, Celso Amorim of Brazil and Andres Allamand of Chile brought up cyberthreats as a major concern, including incidents of hacker attacks and data thefts, U.S. defense officials said.

The three countries, said one official said, want help from the U.S. in hardening their computer networks against breaches and increasing their technological skills. The official said there is a recognition of how vulnerable they are, and they want to learn more about the nature of the threat and how to combat it.

That threat is likely to involve China, which is steadily gaining as a top trading partner and economic developer in South America. It's surpassing the U.S. in trade with Brazil, Chile and Peru, and is a close second in Argentina and Colombia.

El Paso | Apr 27

The Guardian - Federal prosecutors said Friday there was insufficient evidence to pursue charges against a U.S. Border Patrol agent in the shooting death of a 15-year-old Mexican national in 2010.

The agent didn't act inconsistently with Border Patrol policy or training regarding the use of force in the death of Sergio Hernandez-Guereca, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement announcing the decision, which was quickly denounced by the Mexican government.

U.S. authorities have said the agent shot Hernandez while trying to arrest illegal immigrants crossing the Rio Grande on June 7, 2010. Some witnesses said people on the Mexican side of the river, including Hernandez, were throwing rocks at the agent. Border agents are generally allowed to use lethal force against rock throwers.

Apr 26

Latin American Herald Tribune - During a speech before military officers at Brazil’s Superior War College in Rio de Janeiro, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta committed himself to exerting every effort to facilitate the technology transfer to the giant South American nation

RIO DE JANEIRO – The United States is ready to transfer military technology to Brazil to be able to count the South American country as a strategic ally, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday.

Panetta, in a speech before military officers at Brazil’s Superior War College in Rio de Janeiro, committed himself to exerting every effort to facilitate the technology transfer to the giant South American nation.

The announcement was a response to the demand made on Tuesday by Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim, who, at a joint press conference with the Pentagon chief, complained that the United States sells military equipment to Brazil but restricts access to the technology that accompanies it.

Panetta, on a South American tour that began in Colombia and will end in Chile, said that – despite the restrictions – the United States between 2010 and 2011 approved about 4,000 export licenses for controlled equipment.

The United States and Brazil have to increase the trade of high technology “flowing in both directions between our two countries,” the U.S. defense secretary said.

Panetta specifically mentioned the case of the 36 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets that Washington wants Brazil to buy from Boeing.

Towards the beginning of the cult classic Dazed & Confused, a high school senior named Slater, inquires of baby-faced freshman Mitch, "are you cool?" What Slater was really asking--in this ode to 1970s youth and the counterculture--was do you smoke pot?

Ahh the 70s. Back before the Reagan Revolution kicked the kooky, corrupt and thoroughly counterproductive War On Drugs into high gear. Suddenly this country lost its collective mind, suffering a lapse in judgment that vaunted well past ill-advised and just beyond "they have weapons of mass destruction" to what might best be labeled "the mind of Ted Nugent."

Tara Bahrampour | April 23

WaPo - A four-decade tidal wave of Mexican immigration to the United States has receded, causing a historic shift in migration patterns as more Mexicans now leave the United States for Mexico than the other way around, according to a report from the Pew Hispanic Center.

It is the first reversal in the trend since the Depression, and experts say that a declining Mexican birthrate and other factors may make it permanent.

Gethin Chamberlain | Apr 21

The Observer - Logging companies keen to exploit Brazil's rainforest have been accused by human rights organisations of using gunmen to wipe out the Awá, a tribe of just 355. Survival International, with backing from Colin Firth, is campaigning to stop what a judge referred to as 'genocide'

The New York Times: "Confronted with evidence of widespread corruption in Mexico, top Wal-Mart executives focused more on damage control than on rooting out wrongdoing". I wish I could say I'm surprised.

Mexico City | April 21

AP - A volcano outside of one of the world's largest cities, Mexico City, has begun spewing ash and molten rock, forcing the authorities to raise the level of alert for fear of an eruption.

Eruptions from the Popocatepetl volcano began to grow larger a week ago as columns of ash began pouring from more than 60 openings in the 17,886 foot high cone.

On Friday a low pitched roar and rolling towers of ash and steam were spewed out as some of the pressure built up inside the magma chamber escaped.

Well, no surprise here. I bet Bush's White House hired most of these clowns:

President Barack Obama came to Colombia seeking to erase an image of the U.S. in Latin America as overassertive Yankees who exploit the region at will. He left with the stereotype reinforced.

The sixth Summit of the Americas that concluded yesterday in the Caribbean city of Cartagena was supposed to focus on trade in the Western Hemisphere. Instead, 11 U.S. Secret Service agents became the center of attention after they were sent home for allegations of misconduct involving a prostitute.

Even dumber than the US secret service agents and military personnel who wouldn't pay their hookers:

Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner has stormed out of the Summit of the Americas in protest against a perceived lack of regional support for her country's claims in the dispute with the UK over the Falkland Islands.

Ed Vulliamy | Apr 15

The Observer - Colombian leader uses Summit of the Americas to call for radical review of international policy on drugs

The government of Colombia pushed on Saturday for the most far-reaching change to policy on drugs since US president Richard Nixon declared war on narcotics four decades ago.

Hosting the sixth Summit of the Americas, for which 33 leaders of the hemisphere's 35 nations – including President Barack Obama – have assembled in Cartagena, President Juan Manuel Santos proposed the establishment of a taskforce of experts, economists and academics to analyse the realities of global drug addiction, trafficking and profiteering, with a view to a complete overhaul of strategy.
...
Last week Colombia announced the results of research which shows that only 5% of profits from Colombia's drug trade remain in the country. Hhundreds of billions of dollars of drug money finds its way, said Rodríguez, into "the distribution networks in the consuming countries, and the international banking system".

The "real value of the drugs", said the ambassador, "is not added in the countries of production, but once the product is moved – mainly to the US and Europe. And it is therefore clear that more must be done to fight international money-laundering of drug profits by the banking community."

Apr 13 | Mark Stevenson | AP

A video "mockumentary" that shows children as kidnappers, corrupt cops and drug traffickers sparked a fierce debate in violence-torn Mexico on Thursday, with some people calling it a needed wake-up call while others described it as political manipulation or even child abuse.

Kids playing the role of businessmen, criminals and corrupt officials are seen robbing, paying bribes and shooting it out in a mock Mexico made up entirely of children, all to the deceptively laid-back tune of the 1970s ballad "Una Manana," or "One Morning."

Produced by a foundation supported by private companies and universities and distributed over the Internet, the video ends with a direct message to the candidates in the Mexico's July 1 presidential race. A little girl faces the camera and says: "If this is the future that awaits me, I don't want it. Enough of working for your political parties instead of for us. Enough of cosmetic changes."

Washington | April 9

BBC - Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has stressed the growing importance of relations with the US after meeting President Obama at the White House.

Ms Rousseff said there was potential to deepen co-operation, particularly in Brazil's booming oil and gas industry.

She expressed concern about expansionist monetary policies in developed countries, saying they were impairing growth in emerging economies.

Jamie Doward | Cartagena, Colombia | April 7

The Guardian - Watershed summit will admit that prohibition has failed, and call for more nuanced and liberalised tactics

A historic meeting of Latin America's leaders, to be attended by Barack Obama, will hear serving heads of state admit that the war on drugs has been a failure and that alternatives to prohibition must now be found.

The Summit of the Americas, to be held in Cartagena, Colombia is being seen by foreign policy experts as a watershed moment in the redrafting of global drugs policy in favour of a more nuanced and liberalised approach.

Otto Pérez Molina, the president of Guatemala, who as former head of his country's military intelligence service experienced the power of drug cartels at close hand, is pushing his fellow Latin American leaders to use the summit to endorse a new regional security plan that would see an end to prohibition. In the Observer, Pérez Molina writes: "The prohibition paradigm that inspires mainstream global drug policy today is based on a false premise: that global drug markets can be eradicated."

Kathleen Hennessey | Washington | Apr 4

LA Times - Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday pushed for a revival of a ban on assault weapons in the U.S., arguing that the ban's expiration has led to the spread of guns across the border and a spike in violence in Mexico.

"The expiring of the assault weapons ban in the year 2004 coincided almost exactly with the beginning of the harshest - the harshest - period of violence we've ever seen," Calderon said, through an interpreter, at a White House news conference on Monday.

The Mexican leader was in Washington to meet with President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for summit on economic cooperation and trade between the three countries. But the ongoing drug war in Mexico largely overshadowed those conversations.

In remarks to reporters in the Rose Garden, Calderon urged the U.S. to do more to tamp down on gun trafficking and emphasized that the drug cartels that crime organizations are operating on both sides of the border. He claimed a direct connection between the weakening of gun laws in the U.S. and deaths in his country.

"I know that if we don't stop the traffic of weapons into Mexico, if we don't have mechanisms to forbid the sale of weapons such as we had in the '90s, or for registry of guns, at least for assault weapons, then we are never going to be able to stop the violence in Mexico or stop a future turning of those guns upon the U.S.," he said.

Helen Murphy & Brian Ellsworth | Bogota | Apr 2

Reuters - Colombia's FARC rebels freed 10 members of the armed forces held hostage in jungle prison camps for more than a decade on Monday, the last of a group the drug-funded group had used as bargaining chips to pressure the government.

The four soldiers and six policemen were released to a humanitarian mission led by the International Committee of the Red Cross in what the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia have called a gesture of peace.

Wearing olive fatigues and seeming well fed and relatively healthy, the 10 men stepped off a helicopter provided by Brazil after the Marxist FARC freed them in a remote area of southern Colombia.

Smiling and joking with a medic, one soldier left the aircraft draped in the Colombian flag and skipping with joy. Each carried a plastic bag of belongings and one was accompanied by what appeared to be a small pig that had been his pet in the jungle. Another had what looked like a monkey on his shoulder.

Kate Doyle | Washington, DC | March 23

National Secuity Archive -
January 26 marked a watershed in Guatemalan history. That evening, after more than eight hours of arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers, retired army general Efraín Ríos Montt—the military leader who presided over the most intense and bloody period of state repression in the country’s modern history—was formally charged by Judge Carol Patricia Flores with genocide and crimes against humanity. Ríos Montt now faces the real possibility of a criminal trial. Inside the courtroom on the 15th floor of the Tribunal Tower in Guatemala City, the verdict was met with the mechanical gasp of a dozen camera shutters clicking simultaneously. Downstairs, in the plaza outside the building, hundreds of massacre survivors and families of victims were watching the proceedings on open-air screens. They cheered, applauded, and wept at the astonishing news. (Image: Surizar)

The Stupid, It Burns