The Drug War Now Reaches Guatemala

At Least 27 People Decapitated In Guatemala -- The Telegraph

At least 27 people were decapitated at a ranch in northern Guatemala near the border with Mexico, in a grisly mass murder feared linked to drug traffickers operating in the area, police said on Sunday.

The discovery in the department of Peten was at a farm in San Andres, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) north of the capital.

Guatemala has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, with an average of 18 homicides each day, most of which are attributed to the feared "maras" street gangs.

Read more ....

More News On The Drug Violence In Guatemala

Guatemala: Massacre work of Mexico drug gang Zetas -- AP
Massacre leaves 27 dead in northern Guatemala -- L.A. Times
27 die in drug-related massacre in Guatemala -- Miami Herald/McClatchy News
Headless bodies found in northern Guatemala drug region -- BBC
Guatemala massacre leaves at least 27 people dead -- The Guardian
27 people found dead at a Guatemalan farm -- CNN
27 killed in Guatemala massacre -- UPI

The Benefits Of Being A Narco Kingpn

Latest Andean Export: Beauty Queens For Mexican Narcos? -- McClatchy News

MEXICO CITY — Mexican drug lords may be importing more than cocaine from the Andean region. It looks as if they're also bringing in beauty queens and models as girlfriends.

The latest case may be that of Juliana Sossa, the winner of a 2008 Colombian beauty pageant, who was arrested Tuesday alongside a man who's accused of leading a drug gang.

Sossa, 25, wore a bulky black parka and loose blue jeans when police took her on a perp walk, a far cry from the revealing swimwear that she dons in publicity videos posted on YouTube.

Read more ....

My Comment: This story reminds me of Snooki saying that she is too pretty to go to jail. Sighhhh .... beautiful or not .... if you are guilty you go to jail, and in this case Juliana Sossa must have known who and what her boyfriend was.

Latin America's Drug Wars Expand To Guatemala

Guatemala Declares A State Of Siege -- Wall Street Journal

Government Says Northern Province Has Become Overrun by Mexican Drug-Trafficking Organization.

The Guatemalan government declared a state of siege Sunday in a province it said has become overrun by a Mexican drug-trafficking group, the latest sign that Mexico's powerful cartels have extended their reach into foreign lands.

The operation, which the government said would last at least a month, targets the northern province of Alta Verapaz, which officials described as a safe haven for Mexico's Los Zetas cartel.

Read more ....

More News On Guatemala's War Against The Drug Cartels

Guatemalan military seizes drug-plagued province -- Washington Post/AP
Guatemala moves against Mexican Zetas drug gang -- BBC
Guatemala cracks down on drug gang -- Scotsman
Guatemalan State of Siege -- FOX News
US Navy Helps to Hunt Down Drug Runners in Guatemala -- FOX News
America's Third War: Fighting Drug Cartels in Guatemala -- FOX News
U.S. Concerned About Situation Along Mexico-Guatemala Border -- Latin American Herald Tribune

Latin America's Growing Drug Wars

A picture stands atop General Julian Aristides Gonzalez's casket during his funeral in Tegucigalpa on Dec. 9, 2009, after hit men on a motorbike shot Gonzalez dead. Orlando Sierra / AFP / Getty

Behind The Murder Of Honduras' Drug Czar -- Time Magazine

The assassins came for Honduras' antidrug czar moments after he dropped his daughter off at school. His car was still in front of the schoolhouse when the two men drove up on a motorcycle and fired 11 bullets into Julian Aristides Gonzalez's body. His devastated wife rushed to the scene and kissed the corpse of the 57-year-old former general. He had been planning to retire within two months and move his family to Canada.

Read more ....

More News On Mexico's Drug Wars

Mexican drug lord: Why Arturo Beltran Levya's death matters -- Christian Science Monitor
Mexican security forces kill drug lord -- Financial Times
Top Mexico drug boss killed in gun battle -- The Independent
Mexico drug war raids endanger, scare residents -- Reuters
US Drug War Crackdown Misses the Money -- ABC News
Violent Drug War Continues in Mexico -- Voice Of America
Drug war surges in Tijuana: 24 dead in 2 days -- Sign On San Diego
A timeline of arrests, deaths of Mexican druglords -- AP

The Life And World Of A Drug Baron

Photo: Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar with his son Juan Pablo.
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

My Father, the Drug Lord: Pablo Escobar's Son Speaks -- Time Magazine

While on the phone with his son 16 years ago, Pablo Escobar stayed on the line just long enough for Colombian police to trace the call. Minutes later, the world's most violent and notorious drug lord was gunned down on a Medellín rooftop. Fearing for their lives, Escobar's wife, son and daughter sought safety in exile, but most nations shut their doors. After stopovers in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, South Africa and Mozambique — a whirlwind on par with the deposed Shah of Iran's desperate 1979 world tour — the widow and her children finally entered Argentina as tourists on Christmas Eve 1994. They've lived relatively quiet lives in Buenos Aires ever since.

Read more ....

My Comment: It is the children who have the power to change the world and to stop conflicts and wars. This story highlights how this can be possible.

Latin America Breaks Ranks In US War On Drugs

Mexican Army soldiers secure the site were the two Federal Police officers were murdered, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Photo AFP

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Many countries in the region – most recently Mexico – have decriminalized small amounts of drugs for personal use. The moves have followed decisions by left-leaning governments to limit cooperation with the US in recent years.

Mexico City - Four decades ago, President Richard Nixon turned a phrase that would become an unquestioned keystone of US policy: the "war on drugs."

Since then, Latin America has agreed, usually in exchange for US aid, to the rules of the game: an aggressive stance toward coca eradication and against narcotics trafficking.

Read more ....

More News On Latin America's Drug Wars

Legalization Of Drugs Spreads In Latin America. Will The US Follow? -- Christian Science Monitor
New murders break 2008 record in Mexico -- AFP
17 killed in violent Mexican border city -- Asia News
Mexico senators confirm new point man in drug war -- AP
Mexico cartels kidnap, kill migrants headed to U.S. -- Reuters
Mexican City Shuts Down 9 Drug-Rehab Clinics -- Latin American Herald Tribune
Mexico's Bloody Drug War -- Mexidata
Drug War a Failure in U.S., Mexico, Experts Say -- Latin American Herald Tribune
Administration Will Cut Border Patrol Deployed on U.S-Mexico Border -- CNS News
US struggles to keep up in Puerto Rico's drug war -- AP
Latin American drug cartels find home in West Africa -- CNN
Drug Wars: When a ‘Cartel’ Really Isn’t -- New York Times

The Drug Cartel Wars -- News Updates April 16, 2009

Mexican federal police present weapons and ammunition along with Anahi Beltran whom they arrested during their seizure, at a news conference at the federal police center in Mexico City April 14, 2009. Photo: REUTERS

DEA Says Mexican Drug Cartels Are Creeping South -- Yahoo news/AP

WASHINGTON – Mexican drug cartels are creeping south into Central America, U.S. drug enforcement officials said Wednesday, as the Obama administration put new pressure on drug kingpins ahead of the president's trip to Mexico City. Drug Enforcement Administration officials said there are growing signs the stepped-up law enforcement efforts on the U.S.-Mexico border are driving the cartels south toward Central America.

"We're looking at what happens south of Mexico as well, because that's just as important as what's happening on our border," said DEA Chief of Operations Thomas Harrigan. "With more and more success the Mexican government has, literally they're pushing these cartels further south and potentially it could be a problem in Central America."

Read more ....

More News On The Drug Cartel War

US blacklists Mexico drug cartels -- BBC
US Blacklists Three Mexican Drug Cartels -- Voice Of America
U.S. government takes more initiatives to halt drug violence at border with Mexico -- China View
DEA: Mexican drug violence is a sign of progress, not failure -- Government Executive
Colombia captures top drug lord "Don Mario" -- Reuters
Drug violence, trade tensions are backdrop for Obama's first Mexico visit -- Dallas News
Obama heads to Mexico amid escalating drug violence -- CNN
Obama Visits Mexico, Where the News Isn't All That Bad -- Time Magazine
Mexican drugs war: woman arrested with anti-aircraft machine gun -- The Telegraph
It's something for border czar to worry about -- Houston Chronicle
Ex-prosecutor picked for new US 'border czar' post -- AP