Latin America: Week in Review, Mexico

Alleged Mexican Drug Lord Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Killed During Military Raid

July 30, 2010 By Staff

Alleged Sinaloa cartel member Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel was killed by the Mexican military Thursday.

Today in Latin America

Top Story — An alleged top leader in Mexico’s violent Sinaloa drug cartel was killed Thursday by the Mexican military during a raid on a safehouse in a suburb of Guadalajara.

Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel, who was allegedly the right-hand man of Sinaloa leader Joaquín “Shorty” Guzman, was shot by the military when a gunfight erupted during the raid.

Coronel, known as the “King of Crystal,” was believed to be “the forerunner in producing massive amounts of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories in Mexico, then smuggling it into the U.S,” and his organization was “known to work directly with Colombian sources of supply by purchasing multiton quantities of cocaine,” according to the FBI, which had offered a $5 million reward for his capture.

The Mexican government sent 150 soldiers and two helicopters to apprehend Coronel, who allegedly opened fire on soldiers before being shot to death. A military source confirmed the raid but declined to give any more information, according to AFP.

The BBC reports that Mexican media quoted Mexican Ministry of Defense officials as saying his death would seriously disrupt Sinaloa cartel operations. The Sinaloa cartel is believed to be one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations operating on Mexico, with reports surfacing earlier this year that the cartel edged out rivals after a two-year battle for control of the lucrative drug routes through the border town of Ciudad Juarez.

The news came as the U.S. announced it would temporarily close its consulate in Ciudad Juarez to “review its security posture.” No reason for the security review was given, CNN reports.

Since Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared an offensive against the drug cartels in 2006, over 25,000 people have been killed.

Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch

• Alison Bowen reports on “Which Way Home,” an Oscar-nominated film documenting the journeys of child immigrants to the United States.

Headlines from the Western Hemisphere

North America

• The gunmen who abducted four journalists in northern Mexico demanded that their respective news outlets show videos taped by a drug cartel that accuse officials of favoring a rival gang.
• The Mexican government praised Wednesday’s ruling by a U.S. federal judge that put an injunction on certain facets of Arizona’s immigration law.

Caribbean

• Cuban opposition activist Guillermo Fariñas returned home from the hospital on Thursday, after a 134-day hunger strike that he ended when the Cuban government reached an agreement brokered by the Catholic church to release 52 political prisoners.
• The group that pulled off a hoax to convince people that France would repay Haiti the 90 million gold francs demanded in 1825 as compensation for slaveholders announced in a news conference last week that they would continue their pranks, despite threats of legal action from the French government.
• Puerto Rico will receive a $4 million federal grant to help communities recover from recent floods.

Central America

• The U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs will visit Honduras next week to discuss the country’s democratic governance and human rights issues with officials.
• An American couple wanted for murdering a pair of expatriates living in Bocas del Toro, Panama, have been deported from Nicaragua to Panama to face charges.
• U.S. Senate candidate and billionaire Jeff Greene faces accusations that his yacht, the Summerwind, damaged a 200-by-50 foot swath of coral reef of the coast of Belize in 2005.

Andes

• The Venezuelan National Commission for Refugees announced Thursday that it will protect Colombian refugees currently living in the country despite its recent diplomatic row with Colombia.
• Supporters of Venezulan President Hugo Chávez protested outside of the TV channel Globovisión to show their support for the government’s handling of the recent rotten-food scandal.
• Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani called on Peru to promote laws that protect a national identity based on the Catholic faith.

Southern Cone

• Uruguay’s opposition leaders praised President José Mujica for his negotiations with Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to resolve the two nations’ seven-year dispute over a paper mill on the Rio Uruguay.
• The Paraguayan government told two energy companies that they could lose their licenses if they don’t follow the country’s disclosure rules.
• Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced that Argentina’s unemployment rate has fallen to to 7.9 per cent over the last three months, the lowest since 2008.
• Chilean President Sebastián Piñera’s current approval rating, at 45 per cent, is the lowest of any president since the country began its transition to democracy in 1990.

Image: Federal Bureau of Investigations.

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