Latin America: Week in Review, Mexico
Latin American Presidents Push Drug War Debate
September 27, 2012 By Staff
Top Story— The presidents of Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico urged the U.N. to begin a global debate about the U.S.-backed drug war at Wednesday’s U.N. General Assembly in New York. The Latin American leaders questioned the effectiveness of the “war on drugs” in decreasing the flow of drugs into the region and called attention to the escalation of violence that has resulted from anti-drug policies.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- Mexican authorities said on Wednesday that troops clashed with an armed group in southern Mexico, leaving 11 people dead.
- A two day conference for Afro-Descendants opened in Mexico City on Wednesday.
Caribbean
- Cuba’s sugar production has begun to rise after a two year decline.
- Haitian leaders will announce a new government-led commission to supervise Haiti’s reconstruction on Thursday.
- A Puerto Rican jury deliberated Wednesday on applying the death penalty to a convict tried in a federal court.
- Federal agents arrested 16 drug trafficking suspects in Puerto Rico during a raid on Wednesday.
Central America
- Guatemalan officials fear a rise in violence from an alleged split in the leadership of the Zetas drug cartel.
- The U.N. Human Rights Chief urged Honduras to combat impunity for crimes and threats against lawyers and journalists on Wednesday.
Andes
- Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio reported new threats against journalist Gonzalo Rosero.
- Protesting miners in Bolivia lifted blockades on Wednesday after winning the right to work in a tin-rich area.
- Colombia has the second highest number of land mine victims in the world.
Southern Cone
- The head of Google in Brazil was detained by federal police on Wednesday after failing to take down YouTube videos that break Brazilian electoral law.
- The Brazilian government will launch a program to reduce violence among black youth.
- IBM in Argentina will lay off 500 workers to cut back on labor costs.
Image: United Nations.
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