Mexican rock band beaten and robbed

Café Tacvba- Getty Images

On May 2nd, Mexican rock band, Café Tacvba, released a tweet saying that their tour van had been robbed, and some of their crew members had been briefly kidnapped while on a stretch of nearly deserted road. Two of the band members were “brutally beaten.”

The band has been compared to the Beatles and Radiohead. They were shocked,  but not surprised, as the stretch of road, between Cancún through Veracruz,l has been known for kidnappings and vehicle robberies.

This is interesting as the new Mexican President, AMLO, has dedicated his first term to mitigating the violence in Mexico. The murder rate, as seen two weeks ago, has risen this quarter and is not expected to drop anytime soon.

Original article on BBC

Armed “vigilantes” arrested at US Mexico border for illegally detaining migrants

The “United Constitutional Patriots” of New Mexico has lost a self proclaimed “vigilante” when it was revealed that he was a felon carrying a firearm while illegally detaining migrants at the New Mexico/Mexico border. New Mexico police have identified the man, and have been vocal about the fact that they do not support any individual persons or non-government affiliated groups attempting to “help” border control forces at the US Mexico border.

With a rise in migrants coming from Latin America to the US, there has also been a rise in “concerned civilians.” The US Customs and Border Control Agency has also released a statement that they do not condone or allow non-affiliated civilians to detain or antagonize any migrants coming in.

Original article on BBC

Mexico’s new president blasted after murder rate rises 9.6% in the first three months of 2019

Mr López Obrador, sworn into office as Mexico’s new president on December 1st, campaigned on a promise to lessen violence in the country. New data, however, from the National System of Public Security, says that murder rates in Mexico have risen 9.6% from January 1st to March 31st compared to the data from 2018. This is worrisome for President Obrador.

President Obrador, afterwards, said that the data he has is different than the data from the National System of Public Security, and that he has “inherited a violent country.” He has also released a statement that he is taking the violence seriously and is going to create a new security force to rein in violence. This move has already been approved by both of Mexico’s houses of congress.

Mexico has had a long history of violence due to the bloodshed by the drug cartels for many years. Only time will tell is President Obrador can get the country’s national security under control to curb the needless deaths during cartel wars.

Original Article on BBC

World’s largest tug of war game in Venezuela as protesters for and against Maduro line up on the streets of Caracas

Just kidding, there’s no rope. However, there are massive amounts of both Maduro supporters and Maduro “oust-ists” lining the streets of Caracas currently, demonstrating their democratic power in Venezuela.

This comes from a long period of time without adequate power, leading to large-scale power outages around the country, and rising political discontentment with the way the Venezuelan government (and the rest of the world) is handling the political situation in Venezuela.

Self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido, is currently releasing statements blaming the poor energy managment on the Maduro government and the overarching issues of corruption within the Maduro government, while Maduro is posting for a “peaceful protest” to honor the people who fought for a socialist Venezuela.

According to Al Jazeera news, this protest is almost directly in response to Guaido’s recent concerns of himself being abducted by the Maduro government, after being stripped of immunity by the Constituent Assembly and after being told that he was “free to be prosecuted” for proclaiming himself president without a democratic election or going through rule of law.

However, these protests go deeper than scared politicians. Venezuela has had poor resource management for a long time, especially after the price of oil fell, and people are unhappy with the way things have been done. US politicians are rooting for Guaido, setting a dangerous scene for possible US involvement in the current dilemma. Not all citizens are unhappy with Maduro’s leadership; most are more upset about the lack of institutional stability and the threat of intervention in what the United Nations has called a “humanitarian crisis” in their country.

Original article on Al Jazeera

Flyin’ high: Cocaine pilots sentenced to six years in prison

Since 2013, there have been a number of investigations opened due to the amount of cocaine entering Latin America and the North America via airplanes, the most notable of which was dubbed “Air Cocaine,” dealing with cocaine flying in and out of the Dominican Republic.

In 2015, two pilots, Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos, both French, were arrested after 26 suitcases full of cocaine were found and seized on their airplane.

The men first fled the Dominican Republic while on bail, but were found and arrested in France. These arrests and the bombshell suitcase discovery led to an additional 5 arrests of other people involved in the trafficking organization. The men were just sentenced today to six years in prison for narcotics trafficking.

Original article on BBC

Aide of US-backed Venzuelan opposition leader Guiadó arrested on terrorism charges

This morning, in an ironic twist in the Venezuela debacle, Robert Marrero, Juan Guiadó’s chief of staff, was arrested by Nicolas Maduro’s administration on charges of terrorism and conspiracy.

Found at Marerro’s home were some weapons and foreign currency, and he was accused of “acts of sabotage” against the Maduro leadership in Venezuela. Guiadó called for Marerro’s “immediate release” soon after, adding that he believes that the items found in Marerro’s home were planted and do not give concrete evidence of any criminal activity.

The United States, the EU, and a few neighboring Latin American countries have all demanded Marerro’s release at a press conference on Thursday morning.

This marks an ugly turn in the Venezuelan presidential fight. If the charges are true, it means that Guiadó is no more worthy of leadership than Maduro, as both of them would have been accused of conspiratorial tendencies and potential intent to sabotage. If the news is false, it means that Maduro is reaching a tipping point and is losing support with the population, and is reaching at straws to continue his presidency without outside interference.

Is Guiadó just another US-backed dictatorship in disguise? Or is he truly a saving grace for Venezuela’s lack of political stability? Is Maduro planting evidence to destroy the opposition? Or is he trying to do away with corruption and intervention? Hopefully the answers are more clear cut soon.

Original article on BBC

The Car Wash: The latest in cleaning up corruption in Brazil

On March 21, the Car Wash operation in Brazil wiped down former President of Brazil, Michel Temer, on corruption charges, charges for alleged criminal activity, and charges on alleged money laundering schemes done while he was in office and the years following.

Operation Car Wash was started in 2014 as an undercover op to arrest Brazilian politicians who were engaged in corruption schemes. The operation has been objectively successful, with 25 additional warrants being served on March 21, along with Temer’s. There have been dozens of other warrants and arrests that have proved fruitful and positive for Brazil’s crackdown on corruption in politics.

Temer has released a statement declaring “not guilty.” He has been arrested before on corruption charges, and it is estimated that this next arrest will likely be too expensive to continue to fight.

Link to original article on AlJazeera

Private Mining Companies causing issues for Guatemalan indigenous population

The Escobal silver mine was acquired by a private Canadian mining company in early 2013. Ever since then, indigenous populations in Guatemala, most notably the Xinka, have been voicing their opinions by protesting.

The mine sits about 75km east of Guatemala city, and is controlled by the Tahoe Resources company, which has it’s roots in Canada. The mine, although not explicitly owned by the Xinka, was feared to cause a multitude of environmental issues, such as water shortages in the region and pollution from the mining activity.

Both people who lived close to the Escobal mine and the Xinka staged a peaceful protest in 2013, where a mine security officer ordered the bordering security personnel to shoot and to kill some of the protesters. This resulted in 7 protesters being hit with rubber bullets, along with another protester who was shot in the face and required reconstructive surgery.

The outrage hasn’t faded, and last September, there was a court ruling that mandated the suspension of all mining activity at Escobal, until the private company had discussions with the Xinka. However, this court ruling did not meet the Xinka’s requests, and they have made a statement that the Supreme Court of Justice is not truly respecting the ruling or the needs of the people.

Currently, the Xinka people have checkpoints set up to stop mining activity before it starts, because they still have not gotten the fair discussion the court ruled them. This is a problem of whether or not the Supreme Courts respect indigenous people’s wishes, and whether or not they count as people at all.

Article on AlJazeera

Feel the Bern: Bernie declines to accept Guaidó as Venezuelan president

On Tuesday, February 19, Bernie Sanders announced his official run for the US presidency in 2020. Also on Tuesday, February 19, Bernie Sanders declined to affirm Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela, citing that the “election was questionable,” and that he was interested in ensuring a free and fair election for the people of Venezuela.

He was interviewed by Univision’s Jorge Ramos, who followed up with the question of whether Sanders considered Maduro to be a “dictator.” Sanders seemed to tiptoe around the question, declining to affirm Maduro as an authoritarian leader, and instead focusing on calling his actions “very abusive.”

Sanders has a history with Latin American politics, starting in the 1980’s with Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega of the Sandinistas, where he defended him, alongside ample support for Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Sanders has publicly asserted, multiple times, that the Cuban Revolution lead to massive advances in medical and educational fields. He has also been critical of US involvement in Latin America and their various Leftist politics over the years.

The question remains how Sanders will act towards Latin America as the election draws near, and whether or not he will put a halt to US intervention in Latin American politics. Hopefully as his campaign continues, he’ll be more aggressive about his future policy.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/02/bernie-sanders-maduro-castro-latin-america-socialism.html

Brazil’s Dam Dilemma

Brazil is home to over 800 mining sites and operations, many of which include the use of dams to hold in mining waste and unrefined natural resources. These dams are at constant risk of catastrophic collapse due to the immense pressure put on them by old steel, metal, and mining sludge. On February 9th, Brazil’s fears came true.

In Brumadinho, Brazil, at least 154 workers were buried alive when a dam collapsed and sent thousands of tons of rocks, metal, and mud flying downwards, trapping them underneath. The “toxic sludge” covered almost 5 miles of commercial, residential, and natural land. This disaster, which should be shocking, apparently was not that surprising to people who live near these mines.

There are approximately 87 more mines in Brazil with dams built just like the one in Brumadinho, all of which are surrounded by populated areas. These dams are an extreme risk to the people and the environment they are near, and are a detriment to peaceful living.

Brazil has not made any attempts to curb the amount of dams used for mining purposes, and new President Jair Bolsonaro is not afraid to get up to his shoulders deep in natural resources, even going so far as to mention the opening of the Amazon rain forest for materials. Brazil, unfortunately, will have to wait a little longer to see that toxic sludge cleaned up.