Latin America: Week in Review, Mexico
Mexico Authorities Investigating 7 Cops In Killing Of Police Chief
June 29, 2011 By Staff
Today in Latin America
Top Story — Seven police officers in Mexico are under investigation for their alleged involvement in the killing of a police chief in a town in the northern state of Nuevo León. On Monday afternoon German Pérez, the police chief of the Monterrey suburb of Santa Catarina, was killed when gunmen opened fire inside the town’s police station. Nuevo León state spokesman Jorge Domene Zambrano said the officers under investigation did nothing to stop the attack. Santa Catarina’s public safety secretary is also being questioned about the shooting. Over the weekend several Santa Catarina police officers were fired and investigators are looking into the possibility of a revenge attack aimed at Pérez.
Read More From The Associated Press.
Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch
- The Colombian city of Cartagena is famous for its well-preserved historical walled center and nearby fortress that were declared UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1984. However, beyond the wall is a city very much in contrast to the colonial charm of the historical center. Colombia-based photographer Trevor Bach ventured into Cartagena to capture these images.
- Former General Héctor López Fuentes made his first court appearance on June 20 on charges of orchestrating genocide against Guatemala’s Ixil Mayan people in 1982 and 1983. Photojournalist James Rodríguez attended the proceedings and shot these photos.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- The Birmingham City Council unanimously approved a resolution that hopes to repeal the state’s new law targeting undocumented immigrants.
- An captured member of the Zetas drug cartel said that the group killed dozens of people on buses earlier this year because they suspected the travelers of working for the rival Gulf Cartel.
- Mexican President Felipe Calderón said he feels “misunderstood” is his effort to combat drug cartels, but added that his conscience is clear despite mounting violence.
- Gunmen killed the police chief of the northern Mexican city of Santa Catarina inside his office late on Monday afternoon.
Caribbean
- There were just a handful, but the dozen Cubans who took part in the country’s first Gay Pride rally Tuesday celebrated one more step on the country’s road to gay rights recognition.
- Jailed Cuban dissident Jorge Cervantes ended his nearly month-long hunger strike after authorities told him that he will be freed as soon as he recovers from the effects of his fast.
- An 11-year-old boy died of bullet wounds from a shooting in the northern coastal city of Canovanas, Puerto Rican authorities said.
Central America
- The White House announced Tuesday a preliminary deal that may put the passage of free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea on the fast track.
- The U.S. Department of State’s 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report listed Costa Rica as a source and destination for human sex trafficking and forced labor.
- UNESCO has once again added the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve on Honduras’ Caribbean coast to its list of endangered world heritage sites.
- El Salvador remain on alert due to the rains that have hit the nation over the past five days.
Andes
- Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramírez said Tuesday that it is still to early to say when President Hugo Chávez will return from Cuba, where the leader has been recovering from surgery for more than two weeks.
- Swirling rumors and wild speculations about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s health are upsetting alarmist pundits and forcing leftist politicians even further into hermetic silence.
- Colombia’s government extradited a convicted drug trafficker Tuesday to face trial in the United States, and the country’s highest court ruled a second alleged dealer could be sent to the U.S.
- A court in Ecuador has found six police officers guilty of crimes against the security of the state, during a protest last September in which the president was forcibly detained.
Southern Cone
- Spain’s largest oil driller, Repsol, claims to have discovered two levels of “good quality” oil in the Gavea exploration well off the coast of Brazil.
- Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner canceled a trip to Paraguay after doctor’s advised her to stay home and take it easy.
- A coalition of leftist political parties and groups in Paraguay presented a petition to Congress, hoping to amend the constitution so President Fernando Lugo can seek re-election.
- The chairman of Antofagasta PLC said that Chile will not change minerals laws to be like those being proposed in Australia.
Image: aaronernestoortizlopez @ Flickr.
Subscribe to Today in Latin America by Email
2 Comments
[…] According to The Latin American Dispatch, Seven police officers in Mexico are under investigation for their alleged involvement in the killing of the Nuevo León’s police chief. German Pérez, the police chief of the Monterrey suburb of Santa Catarina, was killed when gunmen opened fire inside the town’s police station. Nuevo León state spokesman Jorge Domene Zambrano said the officers under investigation did nothing to stop the attack. Santa Catarina’s public safety secretary is also being questioned about the shooting. Over the weekend several Santa Catarina police officers were fired and investigators are looking into the possibility of a revenge attack aimed at Pérez. […]
[…] Reporting credit goes to The Latin American Dispatch: […]
Comments are closed.