The Andes
Bolivia wins coca-chewing victory at UN
Bolivia was re-admitted to the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs —with a special dispensation recognizing traditional use of coca leaf as legal within its borders.
Tag: narco wars
Mexico
Hezbollah link to Zapatistas? Not!
An Israeli press account plays a cynical game of connect-the-dots to link Hezbollah and the Zetas to the Zapatista rebels in Chiapas. Don't believe the hype.
Southeast Asia
Burma: new airstrikes on Kachin rebels
Burma's army claimed responsibility for air-strikes against Kachin rebel positions in the north—less than a day after the government denied the strikes had taken place.
The Andes
Bolivia: progress seen in coca policy
Total area planted with coca in Bolivia dropped by up to 13% last year, as both eradication efforts and the areas where coca can be legally cultivated were expanded.
The Andes
Bolivia: prison corruption scandal widens
A Brooklyn businessman was freed from prison in Bolivia on money-laundering charges after he accused authorities of extorting him and illegally seizing his goods.
Mexico
Mexico: bloody Christmas in Michoacán, Sinaloa
A spate of shootouts between rival cartels and police forces left over 20 dead around the Christmas holiday in the Mexican states of Michoacán, Jalisco and Sinaloa.
Mexico
Mexico: analysts compare Newtown killings and ‘drug war’ deaths
“It is shocking how the debate over gun control in the wake of the Newtown massacre has avoided mentioning gun violence south of the border”: UNAM professor John M. Ackerman.
Mexico
Mexico: prison seized by army after uprising
A prison in northern Mexico’s Durango has been siezed by the military after an armed uprising by inmates left nine guards and 14 prisoners dead.
Mexico
HSBC gets off easy in ‘drug war’ case
HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, will pay the US government $1.92 billion in fines for its failure to prevent the laundering of drug money—but no one will face criminal charges.
North Africa
Mali: regime, rebels both divided
As Mali’s prime minister is removed by the junta, Ansar Dine rebels are embraced in peace talks—while the MUJAO rebels are sanctioned by the UN as an al-Qaeda front.
Mexico
Mexico: peasant ecologist killed in Guerrero
Juventina Villa Mojica, an environmental activist in Mexico's southern state of Guerrero, was killed along with her 10-year-old son in a mountaintop attack by 30 gunmen.
Mexico
Mexico: more mass graves in Chihuahua, Guerrero
A total of 19 bodies were found in clandestine graves in northern Mexico’s Chihuahua state, after local police were tipped off by the US consulate in Ciudad Juárez.