Tag: cocaine

The Andes
Venezuela

Trump announces plan to ‘run’ Venezuela

Trump announced that the US would “run” Venezuela, following a strike on the country that led to the capture and transfer to the US of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores. In a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump emphasized the recent decline of Venezuela’s oil industry, stating that US oil companies would spend billions to repair the country’s infrastructure and bring in foreign exchange. Claiming to be acting in the interest of bringing “peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela,” he added that the US would be prepared to “stage a second and larger attack” if necessary. Maduro’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez, now sworn in as interim president, has offered no indication of acquiescence in Trump’s plans. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

The Caribbean
Bella

China condemns US seizure of Venezuela-linked tankers

Chinese officials condemned the US seizure of oil tankers headed from Venezuelan ports, calling the acts a “serious violation of international law.” The protest came days after US troops boarded and seized the Panama-flagged tanker Centuries. According to the White House, while the ship was not on the US Treasury’s sanctioned vessel list, it carried state-owned oil as part of Venezuela’s “shadow fleet.” Reports have indicated that the Centuries was headed for China. Days earlier, the US seized the M/T Skipper, which the Justice Department claimed was “being used in an oil shipping network supporting Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force,” two US-designated “foreign terrorist organizations.” (Photo: VesselFinder)

Central America
Honduras

Post-electoral tension in Honduras

Honduras is on tenterhooks as the results of its presidential election have not yet been finalized, and Trump has threatened reprisals if his favored candidate fails to win. Since the voting, ex-president Juan Orlando Hernández—convicted in the US last year of drug trafficking and bribery—was pardoned by Trump and released from prison. Adding to the unease is the country’s deeply flawed vote-transmission system, which has crashed twice during the count. This has enabled politicians from across the spectrum—as well as Trump—to fuel the tension by raising allegations of fraud. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Africa
Guinea Bissau

Guinea-Bissau: narco-plot behind latest African coup?

UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres condemned the military coup in Guinea-Bissau that took place just days after national elections, saying that it gravely violates constitutional order and democratic principles. The African Union similarly condemned the coup, while the West African regional bloc ECOWAS suspended Guinea-Bissau until there is a full restoration of constitutional order. This latest military takeover reflects a pattern of instability in Guinea-Bissau since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1974, and follows a long string of coups and coup attempts. Guinea-Bissau also ranks first among African countries in the cocaine trade, a reality that looms ever larger over national politics. In his inaugural speech, transitional president Maj-Gen. Horta Nta Na Man justified the military takeover as necessary to thwart a plot by “narco-traffickers” to destabilize the country. Government efforts to crack down on the narco trade are believed to have prompted previous coups d’etatin Guinea-Bissau. (Map: PCL)

The Andes
Cuenca

Ecuador voters reject foreign military bases

In a decisive referendum, Ecuadoran citizens overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed foreign military bases on the country’s soil. Early counts show nearly two-thirds of ballots cast opposed the measure. President Daniel Noboa introduced the referendum, arguing that foreign cooperation was essential to combat the ongoing surge in violence related to drug-trafficking. The rejection represents a significant setback for Noboa and his broader security agenda, revealing public skepticism of solutions involving foreign military forces. (Photo: MartĂ­n Vasco via Wikimedia Commons)

The Andes
Petro

US imposes sanctions on Colombian president

The US administration announced sanctions against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family, and Colombia’s Minister of the Interior Armando Benedetti. The US will also reduce financial assistance to Colombia by about $18 million. The Department of State said the move was “due to President Gustavo Petro’s disastrous and ineffective counternarcotics policies.” The Colombian government has recalled its ambassador to the United States in protest. Simultaneously, the Pentagon announced that it is moving the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its group to the Caribbean Sea, where the US military already hasapproximately 10,000 personnel pre-positioned. (Photo via MROnline)

The Andes
Colombia

US ‘decertifies’ Colombia as drug war partner

The United States decertified Colombia as a reliable partner in the War on Drugs, citing a rise in coca cultivation and cocaine production. While the White House waived the crushing sanctions that usually come with decertification, the decision underscores the strained relations between the US and Colombia under Trump. The administration was quick to blame Colombian President Gustavo Petro directly, arguing in its submission to Congress that the “failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership.” The administration also decertified Venezuela, Bolivia, Afghanistan and Burma. While these latter countries have been frequently decertified over the years, this marks the first time Colombia has been decertified since 1997. (Map: PCL)

Mexico
Michoacán

‘Blood avocados’ in the news amid Michoacán violence

The US Department of Agriculture suspended inspections of avocados in the Mexican state of Michoacán due to security concerns, halting the top source of US imports. The move was taken after two agents of the USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) were accosted during a protest in the town of Paracho, beaten and briefly detained. Michoacán is Mexico’s heartland of avocado production, but the trade has been notoriously co-opted by the local warring drug cartels to launder narco-profits, leading to charges of “blood avocados” in the violence-torn state. (Map: Google)

Southern Cone
Italy

Calabrian connection in Brazil narco busts

Brazilian police arrested a man accused as a leader of the notorious First Capital Command drug gang, who was named as a top contact in South America of southern Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta crime network. “Andre do Rap,” detained in Sao Paolo in an operation that included US DEA agents, is said to have overseen massive cocaine exports to Europe via Italy’s southern region of Calabria. In July, police arrested two Italian nationals at a luxury seaside apartment in Sao Paulo, who were also said to be ‘Ndrangheta operatives. A month earlier, accused top ‘Ndrangheta figure Rocco Morabito escaped from a prison in Uruguay—angering Rome, which had been awaiting his extradition. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection)

The Caribbean
Esequibo

Venezuela revives claim to Guyana territory

Venezuelan prosecutors finally announced charges against opposition leader Juan GuaidĂł for “high treason”—but not for colluding with foreign powers to overthrow the government. No, GuaidĂł is to face charges for his apparent intent to renounce Venezuela’s claim to a disputed stretch of territory that has been controlled by neighboring Guyana since the end of colonial rule. The Esequibo region covers 159.000 square kilometers—nearly two-thirds of Guyana’s national territory. The old territorial claim languished for generations—until  2015, when ExxonMobil announced discovery of a big offshore deposit in waters off the Esequibo coast. This came just as Venezuela was sliding into crisis, providing President Nicolás Maduro with a nationalist rallying cry. (Map via El Tiempo Latino)

Mexico

El Chapo guilty: Mexico’s narco-wars rage on

Notorious narco-lord "Chapo" Guzmán was convicted by a federal jury in New York and faces life in prison. But violence in Mexico has only escalated since his capture. Few media accounts have noted how Chapo and his Sinaloa Cartel rose as militarized narcotics enforcement escalated in Mexico—a trajectory mirrored by the cartels' move from dealing in cannabis to deadly white powders. (Photo: US Coast Guard via Cannabis Now)

The Amazon

Peru cracks down on supposed FARC renegades

In a joint anti-drug operation code-named Armagedon, Peruvian military and National Police troops carried out a series of raids in the remote Putumayo river valley along the Colombian border this week, arresting some 40, destroying four cocaine laboratories, and seizing large quantities of cocaine sulfate and harvested cannabis. The majority of those detained were Colombian nationals, and authorities said they suspect the presence of "dissident" FARC units, who are trying to establish the zone as a staging ground to keep alive their insurgency. More than 350 troops have been deployed in the operation, with five helicopters and three planes as well as boats. The operation is being coordinated with Colombian security forces, who are carrying out similar missions on their side of the Río Putumayo. (Photo via El Comercio)