Monday, January 6, 2020
How the US made the so-called 'safe third countries' unsafe
Belen Fernandez. Al Jazeera. December 30, 2019
This year, US President and xenophobe-in-chief Donald Trump finagled "safe third country agreements" with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, allowing the United States to deport aspiring asylum seekers to the very region many of them are fleeing in the first place.
Even Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele - the possessor of the enlightened opinion that "President Trump is very nice and cool, and I'm nice and cool, too ... we both use Twitter a lot" - recently admitted that his country needs to be "safer" and that its asylum capacities are currently nonexistent.
Indeed, the fact that the homicide rates in the three allegedly "safe third countries" are consistently among the highest in the world should be an easy indicator that they are anything but safe. Femicides abound.
Drowning in guns
The US's own role in fuelling violence in Central America's Northern Triangle has been well known for decades - from its habit of backing right-wing dictators and death squads to its continuing support for homicidal state security forces. In the aftermath of the US-facilitated coup in Honduras in 2009, that nation became more unsafe than ever.
And across the region, the US-exported model of neoliberal oppression has constituted a form of violence in its own right - perpetuating extreme inequality and condemning the masses to often existence-imperilling economic misery.
But one of the most crucial aspects to consider when contemplating US complicity in the appalling unsafety of the Northern Triangle is the sheer volume of US weapons circulating in the region.
In March, Foreign Policy reported that Trump was "sending guns south as migrants flee north", with his administration "push[ing] to weaken oversight of gun exports".
And yet the cross-border mobility of US armaments is nothing new. Back in 2014, Harry Penate - the former attache to Central America for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives - spoke candidly about the significant role American guns were playing in the epidemic of violence in the region, which was already causing a northward exodus of refugees.
According to Penate's estimate at the time, half of the illegal weapons in murder-plagued El Salvador were from the US.
Flash forward to 2018, and the New Yorker's Jonathan Blitzer cited reports that 49 percent of illegal and unregistered weapons recovered in El Salvador came from the US; in Honduras, it was 46 percent, and in Guatemala 29. While the causes of Central American violence were manifold, Blitzer noted, "American firepower facilitates it."
Insecurity industry
Of course, the whole "legal" vs "illegal" distinction is problematic as well, since just because a gun is licensed, registered, and so forth does not mean everything is all fine and dandy. Just ask, inter alia, all the black Americans shot by US cops.
Anyway, what does the US expect allowing a bazillion licensed US firearms dealers to operate smack on the US-Mexico border? Surely it never occurred to anyone that armaments might make their way not only into Mexico but also down to the suddenly-safe third countries.
Juan Jose Martinez d'Aubuisson - a Salvadoran anthropologist, author, and expert on the MS-13 gang (another of Trump's pet nemeses despite being none other than a creation of the US) - recently remarked to me that, although there is a prominent myth that the weapons circulating in this neck of Central America are left over from the region's civil wars, in reality, the violence is carried out predominantly by US-manufactured handguns and not military-grade weapons.
"Many of these arms enter the country legally from the US and then cross over to the black market," he said. "Another point that shouldn't be overlooked is that lethal violence is frequently carried out with legal weapons purchased in authorised stores, by persons with official permission to carry arms."
So much for safety.
Another source of acute insecurity - not only in the Northern Triangle but also throughout Latin America - is, it turns out, private security.
In a 2018 report titled "Security for Sale", Sarah Kinosian and James Bosworth review the abuses that have been rendered possible by the burgeoning Private Military and Security Company (PMSC) industry - thanks to which private security guards vastly outnumber public officers in many countries. In tiny Honduras alone, there were no fewer than 1,038 registered private security companies as of 2017 - and plenty more unregistered ones.
All for profit
The US, in typical privatisation-obsessed fashion, has contracted with PMSCs in various countries "to provide assistance to the public security forces", but the companies are perhaps better known for their services in protecting elite wealth, safeguarding the corporate exploitation of resources (including by repressing indigenous and environmental activists), and generally assisting in the proliferation of the neoliberal miracle.
In the Northern Triangle, in particular, the private security industry is a "major supplier of weapons for criminal groups", as imported arms are stolen, lost, or otherwise make their way to the black market.
This becomes even more consequential when we consider that current and former military and police often work in private security, as well. In El Salvador, "active members of the military are allowed to work with or own private security firms". In Guatemala, meanwhile, "private security firms have been tied to extrajudicial killings".
In November 2018, the Miami Herald wrote about the Honduran military police's apparent use of US weapons to kill political protesters. The article quoted the US State Department on how "human rights concerns" were among the numerous factors taken into consideration when evaluating direct commercial sales of US weaponry to other countries. Also considered, the statement continued, was the "promotion of American industry".
But in the end, profit always trumps human rights - and while the US arms industry is presumably feeling pretty secure right about now, it is safe to say many people in "safe third countries" are not.
Candidates to the OAS General Secretariat
Global Americans. January 2, 2020
This new year will welcome a brand new Secretary General to the Organization of American States (OAS). The new Secretary General will be elected on March 20, and will take office next May.
Currently, the position is being held by Uruguay’s Luis Almagro. During his five-year term starting in 2015, Almagro has tackled issues such as Venezuela’s ongoing humanitarian, migration and economic crises; the political crisis in Nicaragua; and the observance of numerous elections across the region, amongst other things.
Secretary General Almagro is seeking re-election and has gotten the endorsement from the United States and other allied countries. He will be running against two other candidates: Ambassador Hugo de Zela Martínez, Permanent Representative of Peru to the OAS; and María Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 73rd session.
Below you can read more on each candidate’s background.
Hugo de Zela Martínez (Peru)
Early in December 2019, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra announced Ambassador Hugo de Zela Martínez, Peruvian Ambassador to the United States, as the country’s nominee for the Secretary General role.
Ambassador Martínez assumed his role as Ambassador to the U.S. on April 22, 2019, following former Ambassador Carlos Pareja’s retirement on January 1, 2019. He is also the Coordinator of the Lima Group, a group of Latin American countries working toward a peaceful solution to the crisis in Venezuela. Prior to his role as Ambassador to the U.S., he served as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On two occasions, from 1989 to 1994 and 2011 to 2015, Ambassador Martínez served as chief of staff of the General Secretariat of the OAS. Ambassador Martínez is a career diplomat with 42 years of service. He has also served as permanent representative to the OAS, Ambassador to Brazil and Argentina, Peru’s national coordinator in the Rio Group, and a member of Peru’s delegation in border negotiations with Ecuador from 1997 to 1998.
If elected, he would be the first Peruvian to serve as Secretary General.
María Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador)
Former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa was nominated as a candidate for OAS Secretary General by Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, among other Caribbean nations. In 2018, Espinosa was elected as the President of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. She was the fourth woman and the first Latin American to hold that title.
Espinosa has served as Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs twice, once under current President Lenín Moreno from May 2017 to June 2018 and prior to that, under former President Rafael Correa from January 2007 to December 2007. In 2012 she was appointed Minister of National Defense and stayed in that capacity until her resignation in 2014.
In 2008, Espinosa became the first woman to become Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations. She served as Special Advisor to the President of the Constituent Assembly that drafted Ecuador’s 2008 constitution, and as Regional Director and Advisor on Biodiversity at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Prior to her political career, Espinosa was Associate Professor and Researcher at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences in Ecuador.
If elected, she would be the first woman to hold the title of Secretary General.
Luis Almagro (Uruguay)
Luis Almagro was elected OAS Secretary General on March 18, 2015. During his time as head of the OAS, Almagro has prioritized the defense of democracy and human rights. He was the first Secretary General to invoke Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter over the situations in Venezuela and Nicaragua, which states that any member state can request an immediate convocation of the Permanent Council to assess a situation and undertake the “necessary diplomatic initiatives” to restore democracy.
In late 2018, Almagro announced his intentions to run for the position again, following the endorsement from the United States. Prior to his work at the OAS, Almagro was Uruguay’s Foreign Minister under former President José Mujíca, from 2010 to 2015. He also served as Uruguay’s Ambassador to China, advisor to then Minister José Mujíca, and Director of the International Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries in 2005.
In 1998 he was appointed Representative of Uruguay for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Almagro also served as the National Coordinator for the Group of Temperate Southern Hemispheric Countries on the Environment from 1997 to 1998. Prior to that he served as Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Uruguay in Iran.
U.S. slaps sanctions on Cuba defense minister over support for Venezuela's Maduro
Reuters. January 2, 2020
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Cuba’s defense minister, accusing him of human rights violations and supporting socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
Washington blacklisted Leopoldo Cintra Frias, minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba (MINFAR), and his children, Deborah Cintra Gonzalez and Leopoldo Cintra Gonzalez, in its latest action targeting Havana for its support of Maduro.
Pompeo said MINFAR had been involved in the torture of Venezuelans and subjected them to “cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment for their anti-Maduro stances” alongside Maduro’s military and intelligence officers.
The designation bars Cintra, a career military officer who joined Fidel Castro’s rebel army in 1957, and his children from entering the United States.
The Cuban Embassy in Washington could not immediately be reached for comment.
“As Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, Cintra Frias bears responsibility for Cuba’s actions to prop up the former Maduro regime in Venezuela,” Pompeo said.
“Dismantling Venezuela’s democracy by terrifying Venezuelans into submission is the goal of MINFAR and the Cuban regime,” Pompeo added.
The United States and more than 50 other countries have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate president. Guaido invoked the constitution to assume a rival presidency last year, arguing Maduro’s 2018 re-election was a sham.
But Maduro retains the support of the military, runs the government’s day-to-day operations and is backed by Russia, China and Cuba.
Ex-Mexican minister pleads not guilty in US to taking drug bribes
AFP. January 3, 2020
New York (AFP) - Former Mexican public security minister Genaro Garcia Luna, accused of taking huge bribes to allow the notorious Sinaloa cartel to ship drugs into the US, pleaded not guilty Friday in a New York court.
The once-powerful Garcia Luna entered the federal courtroom in Brooklyn stooped over and looking crestfallen, to hear Judge Peggy Kuo read the charges against him.
The arrest December 9 in Dallas of the man who was an architect of Mexico's war on drug trafficking was a stunning development.
The US government accuses Garcia Luna of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from the cartel to look the other way as it smuggled tons of drugs into the US between 2001 and 2012. He is also accused of lying to investigators.
Asked by Kuo if he understood the charges, Garcia Luna -- dressed simply in beige pants and a gray sweater -- replied "Yes." Asked how he pleaded, he said, "Not guilty."
Garcia Luna's son, daughter and wife were in the courtroom. When he looked their way, they raised their fists in solidarity. Later, his daughter broke into tears and hugged her mother.
Judge Kuo told Garcia Luna he can still avoid a trial if he reaches a plea agreement with the prosecution and agrees to cooperate. She set a hearing for January 21.
If tried and found guilty, he faces from 10 years in prison to a possible life sentence.
The Mexican government has sought his extradition, but the US is not expected to comply.
Late last month, Mexican officials said they were investigating several possible charges against him. It said he might have diverted more than $200 million in public funds to his family's businesses.
From 2001 to 2005, Garcia Luna headed the now-defunct Federal Investigation Agency, before serving for six years in the cabinet-level position of secretary of public security, in charge of fighting corruption and organized crime.
In the New York trial last year of Sinaloa drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, a former cartel member named Jesus Zambada testified that he had twice met Garcia Luna in a restaurant to hand over suitcases holding bribe money totaling at least $6 million.
Garcia Luna denied the allegations.
Guzman was sentenced in July to life in prison for trafficking hundreds of tons of drugs to the US.
Mexico president calls for Julian Assange to be released from UK prison
Diego Oré. Reuters. January 5, 2020
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday called for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to be released from prison in London, urging an end to what he described as his “torture” in detention.
Assange, 48, is in a British jail for skipping bail when he sought asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he spent nearly seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape that were dropped in November.
Assange is also battling U.S. attempts to extradite him over Wikileaks’ publication of vast caches of leaked military documents and diplomatic cables. He faces a lengthy prison term if extradited to the United States.
A U.N. human rights investigator last year said Assange has suffered psychological torture from a defamation campaign and should not be extradited to the United States where he would face a “politicized show trial.”
Lopez Obrador, a leftist who has close ties with Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, expressed his solidarity with Assange and said he hoped the former hacker and activist is “forgiven and released” from prison.
“I don’t know if he has recognized that he acted against rules and norms of a political system, but at the time these cables demonstrated how the world system functions in its authoritarian nature,” Lopez Obrador said in response to a question about Assange at a regular government news briefing.
“Hopefully consideration will be given to this, and he’s released and won’t continue to be tortured.”
Assange’s presence in London, holed up in Ecuador’s embassy and then in jail, has been a diplomatic irritation for Britain, affecting domestic politics and relations with several countries.
Corbyn, who was a guest of honor at Lopez Obrador’s inauguration in December 2018, said Assange should not be extradited to the United States “for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose Conservative Party trounced Labour in last month’s elections, has vowed to strike new trade deals with countries outside Europe after Britain’s departure from the European Union.
Mexico Asks for Restraint in Iraq, Iran
Reuters. January 6, 2020
MEXICO CITY — Mexico said on Sunday that it was concerned about the recent events in Iraq and Iran and asked all parties involved to act with restraint and avoid escalating regional tensions.
Iraq's parliament voted on Sunday to ask U.S. and other foreign troops to leave as a backlash grew against the U.S. killing of a top Iranian military leader, and President Donald Trump doubled down on threats to target cultural sites if Tehran retaliates.
Deepening a crisis that has heightened fears of a major Middle East conflagration, Iran said it was taking another step back from commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers.
"In accordance with the constitutional principles of foreign policy, (Mexico) endorses the value of dialogue and negotiation in the resolution of international disputes," Mexico's foreign ministry said on Twitter.
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