The headline around the major American papers this morning is the Mexican military raid of a Cuernavaca apartment which took the life of one of that country’s most notorious drug lords. Arturo Beltrán Leyva was killed Wednesday when nearly 400 members of Mexico’s special forces surrounded the apartment complex where Beltrán Leyva was staying. On Thursday, Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, called the military action “a convincing blow” to the country’s drug cartels, but he also noted that retaliatory acts could follow. Seven others also were killed in the operation, six accused of being cartel hit men, and one a Mexican sailor involved in the raid. The New York Times writes that Mr. Beltrán Leyva’s militia, the Fuerzas Armadas de Arturo (an ally of the Zetas), is “considered one of Mexico’s most ruthless” drug gangs. Since September, the group had been carrying out brutal attacks against rival cartels, “dumping decapitated heads and tortured bodies across two Mexican states, leaving notes from ‘el jefe de jefes,’ the boss of bosses.”
There is some debate among analysts whether or not strikes like Wednesday’s are the most effective way of fighting the power of drug cartels in Mexico. José Luis Piñeiro, a researcher at the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City is quoted in the Times report: “You cut off one and another one emerges, but the government believes that this tactic of dismembering cartels is effective.” Guillermo Zepeda, a security expert with the Cidac research group disagrees. “By getting the most visible leaders, you send the message that you are ending the impunity of the big capos,” he tells the paper. “I think that these surgical strikes are the ones that are really worth the trouble.”
The LA Times, meanwhile, emphasizes the point alluded to by Mr. Calderon Thursday: violence is likely to only increase after the attack. Even Mexico’s new Attorney General, Arturo Chavez, recognized that much. “The weakening of any cartel can be seen as an opportunity by another that is fighting for territory," Chavez said Thursday. “If they see [their rival] as weak, they will probably try to step up their actions to advance.” And the Wall Street Journal notes that the killing of Mr. Beltrán Leyva is unlikely to stem illegal drug flows in any real way. “Intelligence experts say the raid against Mr. Beltrán Leyva is less likely to dent Mexico's trade in illegal drugs -- estimated at $20 billion annually,” the paper reports.
In a quick round-up of other Mexico-related stories this morning:
· The AP reports on a new study by the Mexican Human Rights Commission which says more than 5000 Mexican migrants have died in deserts, rivers, and mountains while attempting to reach the U.S. since 1994.
· And the New York Times reports on U.S. customs and border patrol officials who are apparently increasingly being corrupted by Mexican smugglers.
Honduras Round-Up
The daily dose of Honduras news begins with multiple reports on violence, drugs, and human rights issues. In Time, Ioan Grillo examines the murder of Honduran drug czar Julian Aristides Gonzalez—a case which complicates further where the lines can be drawn between violence stemming from the June coup and that stemming from the drug trade. The magazine leads with the following words:
“Gonzalez's murder last month is the latest sign that drug-related violence has intensified across Latin America, wreaking havoc from Mexico to Peru. And Honduras — a strategic transit point for U.S.-bound cocaine — has become ensnared in the vicious turf wars among Mexican trafficking cartels and those among Colombian producers. The turmoil in Honduras also reflects the impact of the U.S. drug war on the region's political divisions. Hours before his death, Gonzalez gave a news conference in which he accused the leftist Venezuelan government of turning a blind eye to Colombian guerrillas moving cocaine into Central America.”
In these Times has a report on the ongoing coup-related human rights abuses in the country. “On December 11, the decapitated body of Corrales Garcia was found about 50 kilometers east of the capital of Tegucigalpa,” Jeremy Kryt writes. Garcia detained by police on December 5 and had not been seen since. The piece also highlights the case of Walter Trochoz, whose murder has been reported on the last two days here. Speaking with the magazine, Amnesty International’s lead investigator in a recent fact-finding mission to the country, Javier Zuniga says: “We can see the consequences of the coup on the population, their physical integrity, and their liberty. People have witnessed the killing and wounding of their compatriots. They’ve seen others arrested, detained, and accused of crimes of opinion.”
Via Quotha, El Tiempo reports on the gruesome murder of a transvestite, left along the highway near San Pedro Sula. And El Tiempo also reports on the murder of another Honduran journalist’s child (along with a taxi driver), the second this week. This time the father of the victim worked public relations for the military.
And more on Honduras’s attempt to remove itself from ALBA as the congressional leaders of the National Party say they will support the move put forward by de facto leader, Roberto Micheletti. The action came as ALBA held its recent summit in Havana. For more on that, see an opinion at Global Post, which compares the demise of the FTAA with the rise of ALBA over the last decade plus. And El Nuevo Diario has a bit on popular Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes’ decision to reject entering ALBA last week.
In other news,
· The Miami Herald writes about the recent detention of the USAID contractor in Cuba—a detention the State Dept. said was in violation of Vienna Convention on Consular Relations Thursday. Frances Robles writes “…the latest arrest puts agencies contracted by the U.S. government to promote democracy in Cuba under increased pressure to provide security training and illustrates the lengths the Cuban government is willing to go to stall the programs.” More opinion on the matter by Tom Garofalo at Havana Note. He writes:
“If you are the Obama Department of State, you have to ask yourself if sprinkling a few cell phones and laptops around Cuba was really worth the effort -- not to mention the safety and well being of a civilian contractor who may not have had any idea what he was getting himself into. Yes, cell phone penetration in Cuba is the lowest in the western hemisphere. And yes, Cuba has harassed and imprisoned democracy advocates. To conclude that therefore the best course of action for USAID or the Department of State is to work on increasing the number of cell phones and laptops in Cuba is like adding two and two and getting five. It's like looking at Cuba but seeing Poland, circa 1981.”
· In the LA Times, a fascinating piece about how Brazil has decided to revive its space program by launching a satellite next year. According to the paper, Brazilian officials say the decision isn’t just about becoming a global power. Rather, “it's part of a far-reaching defense plan to ward off potential plunderers of its immense natural resources.” “In the coming era of scarcity, we're going to have to defend what we've got with our claws, our feet and our weapons,” a consultant to the Defense Ministry tells the LAT. “The challenges could come from neighbors, they could come from the U.S., they could come from China -- all allies now, but potential competitors in the future.”
· The Nation has a new piece on the re-election of Evo Morales two weeks ago. Journalist Benjamin Dangl reports for the magazine, noting that the landslide victory and 2/3 super majority that the MAS won in the Bolivian Congress will lead to an agenda that includes more land reform, expansion of indigenous rights and participation in government, and a fight against corruption. But, says Kathryn Ledebur of the Andean Information Network,
“The Morales government will face significant obstacles in its efforts to apply its ambitious agenda. As an umbrella for social movements, unions and other interest groups with diverse and often conflicting demands, the MAS government will be under considerable pressure from its supporters to make key concessions denied for decades, and sometimes even centuries. There is no guarantee that these groups will give blanket support to MAS legal proposals.”
· Finally, an opinion by Marifeli Perez-Stable in the Miami Herald on democracy in Nicaragua. And there’s a great summary of the 2009 Latinobarometro survey at Just the Facts.
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