Mexican authorities detained the country’s former Drug Czar—officially the Special Investigative Sub-Prosecutor for Organized Delinquency (SIEDO)—Noé Ramírez Mandujano Nov. 20, a day after he voluntarily spoke to investigators. Ramírez was named to the post in December 2006 when President Felipe… Read moreMexico’s ex-drug czar busted for cartel collaboration
A typically subtle distortion is at work in this Nov. 21 New York Times story, “Global Forecast by American Intelligence Expects Al Qaeda’s Appeal to Falter.” You have to read halfway through the story before you find out that the… Read moreIntelligence report: al-Qaeda to decline with US power
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia Nov. 20 ordered the release of five Algerian detainees from Guantánamo Bay. In the first ruling on detainees’ rights since the June Supreme Court decision in Boumediene v…. Read moreFederal judge orders five Gitmo detainees released
US President-elect Barack Obama‘s pick to run the Department of Homeland Security, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, is described by the AP Nov. 20 as “tough on illegal immigration”—although she has been a skeptic on the border wall, having once said,… Read moreObama: ominous appointment for Homeland Security
Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales, in Washington DC for an OAS meeting Nov. 19, drew parallels between himself and US President-elect Barack Obama: “Who would have believed 10 or 15 years ago that I could become president of Bolivia?… Read moreBolivia’s Evo Morales seeks “improved relations” with Obama White House
Its not The Hague, but its a start. From AFP, Nov. 19: Texas jury indicts Cheney, Gonzalez in prison abuse case WASHINGTON — A Texas grand jury has issued indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former attorney general Alberto… Read moreCheney indicted in Texas prison scandal
The New York Times reports Nov. 19 that “President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team has signaled to Eric H. Holder Jr., a senior official in the Justice Department in the Clinton administration, that he will be chosen as attorney general… Mr…. Read moreEric Holder: death-squad defender
On the heels of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s second formal appointment—former Sen. Tom Daschle for secretary of health and human services—appears to be another tilt to the neocons. The New York Times Nov. 20 notes potential conflicts… Read moreTom Daschle: “regime change” extremist
Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri released a video statement Nov. 19 calling US President-elect Barack Obama a “house slave” who had aligned himself with the “enemies” of Islam. “You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in… Read moreAl-Qaeda disses Obama, invokes Malcolm X
A missile from a US drone struck a purported militant hideout in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province Nov. 19—the 20th such attack since August, but the first outside of the country’s Tribal Areas. The strike in Bannu district left five… Read moreUS bombs Pakistan —again
Colombian officials declared a state of emergency Nov. 19, boosting their powers of arrest and money seizure to help deal with multimillion-dollar investment scams that have targeted mostly poor investors. President Álvaro Uribe’s office said the measure was taken because… Read moreColombia declares state of emergency over financial scams
Nicaragua remains violently divided more than a week after contested national municipal elections. On Nov. 18, the opposition Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) candidate for mayor of Managua, Eduardo Montealegre, called off a planned march, charging intimidation by followers of the… Read morePost-electoral violence continues in Nicaragua
