Latin America: Week in Review, Mexico, United Nations

Mexico: Charges For “Twitter Terrorists” To Be Lessened

September 21, 2011 By Staff

Today in Latin America

Top Story — Lawmakers in the Mexican state of Veracruz approved a law Tuesday designed to lessen terrorism and sabotage charges filed against the so-called “Twitter terrorists.” Gilberto Martínez and María de Jesús Bravo allegedly caused a panic last month in the Mexican port city of Veracruz by tweeting rumors of purported drug cartel shootouts. The new legislation creates a disturbance of the peace charge so prosecutors can revise the indictments against the two. Javier Duarte , the governor of Veracruz, proposed the changes last month after receiving pressure from the Roman Catholic Church and civic groups. He has still not set a date for signing the legislation into law.

Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch

  • Mexican President Felipe Calderón called on the U.S. government to reduce weapon sales to Mexico and domestic demand for illegal drugs, in a talk before business leaders at the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday. Mari Hayman has more.

Headlines from the Western Hemisphere

North America

Caribbean

Central America

Andes

Southern Cone

  • Brazil deployed 7,000 troops to its borders with Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina over the weekend as part of the “Agata 2” operation, launched earlier this month to combat drug trafficking across the four countries’ borders.
  • South Korea is considering using the name “Malvinas Sea” instead of “Falklands Sea” in retaliation for Britain’s use of the name “Sea of Japan” to refer to the the waters known as “East Sea” in South Korea.
  • Paraguay has ordered the public slaughter of 1,000 cattle to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease, while neighbors Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay have banned Paraguayan imported meat and animals.

Image: Rosaura Ochoa @ Flickr

Subscribe to Today in Latin America by Email