Former Governor of Colimas Silverio Cavazos Ceballos Killed By Gunmen In Mexico

Colima, Mexico.

Today in Latin America

Top Story — A group of armed men killed a former governor of the Mexican state of Colima late Sunday morning outside of his home.

The gunmen shot Silverio Cavazos Ceballos, who left office a year ago, outside his home in Colima’s capital city of the same name, before fleeing in a truck.

The state’s economic development secretary, Rafael Gutiérrez Villalobos, was also wounded in the attack, though the authorities did not say how badly. Authorities have not given a motive for the killing.

Drug cartels operating in the region are the top suspects for the murder of Cavazos, as the groups recently began targeting politicians in areas that the gangs call home or that have lucrative smuggling routes. Colima is home to the port of Manzanillo, the scene of many large seizures of drugs and cash believed linked to drug trafficking.

Authorities in August found 200 tons of precursor chemicals for making synthetic drugs at the port and in May the port’s captain was arrested on drug-trafficking charges.

Cavazos took office in 2005 after the previous governor died in plane crash. In 2008 he traveled with Mexican President Felipe Calderón to California to meet with political officials and immigrant groups.

Headlines from the Western Hemisphere

North America

• A group of alleged kidnappers in Mexico had detailed plans for security arrangements for next week’s U.N. climate change talks in Cancún.
• Mexican officials have begun the process to extradite alleged drug kingpin Edgar Valdez, known as “La Barbie”, to the United States.
• Mexican officials ordered the hotel, where an explosion killed seven people last week, to close about half its rooms after investigators discovered leaks of propane and waste water.

Caribbean

• Haiti’s cholera epidemic showed no sign of abating Sunday as the toll rose to 1,250, stirring debate over whether to delay looming presidential elections until the outbreak is under control.
• Thousands of people stood in line for hours in a heavy rain Saturday to pay their respects to Freddy Beras Goico, an influential television figure and social activist in the Dominican Republic who was admired for his philanthropy.
• A former Cuban political prisoner swore allegiance to the United States in Miami on Friday, a step that will help him restore Social Security benefits.

Central America

• Boeing Co. is poised to win an order for more 737 jets from Copa Airlines, the Panamanian carrier that agreed to lease 10 of the planes this week, two people familiar with the transaction said.
• The brother of Jorge Mario Paredes, who is serving a 31-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking, was gunned down by a group of unidentified men on a highway in northern Guatemala, a National Civilian Police, or PNC, spokesman said.
• The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he’s conducting preliminary investigations into crimes in Nigeria and Honduras.

Andes

• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday that security forces killed a senior commander of the leftist FARC guerrillas who is wanted by the United States.
• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has declared a state of emergency in 28 of the nation’s 32 departments because of heavy rains and flooding that have affected some 1.2 million people.
• President Hugo Chávez said Sunday that U.S. officials hoped to use an alleged cocaine kingpin to smear his government with corruption accusations and thanked Colombia’s leader for rejecting Washington’s extradition request.
• Brazilian energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. plans to pull out of Ecuador after failing to reach an agreement with the government on changing its oil sharing deal to a services contract, a high-level government official said Friday.
• Yale University has promised to return thousands of archaeological pieces taken from Machu Picchu nearly a century ago, Peru’s president has said.
• Latin American nations need to be cautious with Iran and its motives when negotiating development of their nuclear capacities, the U.S. defense chief Robert Gates warned on Sunday, while speaking a a conference in Bolivia.

Southern Cone

• Uruguayan President José Mujica met with the new Argentine ambassador to Uruguay this weekend and emphasized a positive relationship between the two countries after anti-Argentine comments he allegedly made were published in a Uruguayan weekly.
• The CEO of the International Air Transport Association criticized Brazilian airports at a conference Thursday, calling the country’s airport infrastructure “a growing disaster.”
• The defense ministers of Argentina and South Africa signed a military cooperation agreement onboard the SAS Drakensberg, which was in Argentina to participate in naval exercises.
• Chilean President Sebastián Piñera will visit Peru on Thursday.

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