Latin America: Week in Review, Mexico
Mexico Arrests Alleged Zetas Leader Suspected Of Migrant Massacre
October 9, 2012 By Staff
Top Story — The Mexican Navy captured alleged Zetas cartel chief, Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo, suspected of some of the country’s most well known crimes.
Martinez Escobedo was arrested on Saturday and is thought have led the massacre of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas among numerous other crimes, authorities said on Monday. He is also linked to the breaking of 151 prisoners out of jail and the killing of a U.S citizen in 2010, the jailbreak was the largest in recent Mexican history.
Martinez is also suspected of killing dozens and is linked to the 200 unidentified body mass grave found in San Fernando, Mexico.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday that Latin American nations must use their police instead of their military for law enforcement.
- A van carrying undocumented migrants crashed in South Texas, four were killed and seven injured, authorities said.
Caribbean
- The property market in Cuba booms after minor reforms initiated by President Raul Castro.
- Haiti and the Dominican Republic are preparing for a long campaign against cholera, officials say. Bilateral meetings started on Monday.
- Haiti moves to increase taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and lottery sales, in order to raise $100 million for the education system, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said on Monday.
Central America
- Three people died in the crash of a twin-engine plane in Antigua’s Airport, said FlyMontserrat CEO.
- Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve is threatened by Mexican, Salvadorian, and Chinese organized crime gangs.
- Honduran land rights activists, Rafael Alegria, said he received death threats on Monday. These threats come less than a week the cabinet ministers of agriculture and human rights also received death threats.
Andes
- Colombian paramilitary leader, Martin Llanos, confessed to participating in the massacre of Mapiripan in 1997 committed by the United Self Defense Forces.
- Bolivia’s second largest tin mine reopened on Monday after protests that forced its closure for 37 days, mine officials said.
- Re-election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela raises questions about bipartisan cooperation and unity.
Southern Cone
- Rio de Janeiro Mayor, Eduardo Paes, was re-elected on Sunday. Ensuring that he will run the city during the 2016 Olympics.
- Chilean officials resign after Interior ministry overcharged 400 percent in the purchase of anti-drug trafficking equipment.
- Argentine journalist, Jorge Lanata, said that he was detained in the Caracas airport after covering the Venezuelan elections and that the secret service erased his team’s data.
Image:
Subscribe to Today in Latin America by Email
