Latin America

Military’s ‘war on drugs’ back as U.S. Navy looks to net big catches in the Pacific

"Operation Martillo and other military assistance to Central American nations represent one of the most ambitious US efforts against drug cartels since World War II. The United States has trained security forces across the region, deployed 200 Marines in Guatemala and built forward operating bases in Honduras and shared radar intelligence with Honduran authorities. But top US generals warned last month that the effort could be greatly undermined by budget cuts. The cost of international operations and support to nations worldwide to fight drugs went from $2.7 billion in 2001 to $5.7 billion last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary’s ‘war on drugs’ back as U.S. Navy looks to net big catches in the Pacific

David Galland: Big Brother’s Beginnings

"For me, then, the real message of 1984 is that once governments are allowed to get too firm a grip on the reins of power – including the judicial, the constabulary, the military, the media – they are not just imminently corruptible but super-hardened to any real change. I, Pencil, Leonard Read's 1958 essay, a video version of which you can watch here, explains how the free market works using the simple example of how the lowly pencil is produced and brought to market. I'll try to use the same sort of simplistic example – replacing the pencil with the coca leaf – to expose the genesis of Big Brother's steady assent to unassailable power." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Galland: Big Brother’s Beginnings

Guatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’

"This is often the problem with the war on drugs: shifting the problem from one region to another. The transit nations are now recognised as a distinct set of countries caught in the war on drugs. As they produce and consume few drugs they are among the more innocent victims. But now they have a bullish and vociferous spokesperson in Guatemala’s president, Otto Pérez Molina. A previously hardline director of military intelligence, Pérez Molina became president a year ago. He surprised many when, within weeks, he declared that the war on drugs had failed and that the international community needed to end the 'taboo' of debating decriminalisation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’

The condemned coca leaf: One standard for a major soft drink, another for people

"Efforts to kill the cocaine trade have haphazardly and heartlessly cracked down on anyone and everyone who produces or enjoys the unadulterated leaf. A 1961 agreement called the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, still in effect around the world, orders people to stop chewing the leaves and mandates the destruction of all wild coca bushes. The Single Convention was adopted after years of negotiations led in great part by Harry J. Anslinger, who Anslinger had a strange relationship with the coca plant: spearheading its prohibition while simultaneously ensuring access to the leaf for a single, powerful consumer, The Coca-Cola Company." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe condemned coca leaf: One standard for a major soft drink, another for people

Destroying the Switzerland of Central America

"Leave it to the U.S. national-security state to destroy another country, this one being Costa Rica, known as the 'Switzerland of Central America' and whose national slogan is 'pura vida'—'pure life.' How is the U.S. government now destroying Costa Rica? No, not with bombs or missiles—at least not yet—but with its much-vaunted drug war, which the Pentagon and the CIA are expanding in Latin America since that their adventures in Afghanistan and the Middle East might be winding down. Does anyone in Costa Rica really believe that the militarization of Costa Rican society is going to have any significant effect on the 40-year-old war on drugs?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDestroying the Switzerland of Central America

Fighting Drug Addiction With Marijuana

"For decades, Colombia has been searching for ways to treat people who are addicted to basuco, the nation’s version of crack cocaine. Now, the country’s capital, Bogota, is considering a new approach: transition users to marijuana. BBC Mundo reports that the city is interested in trying a pilot program to see if pot helps mitigate the symptoms of withdrawal that basuco users experience. The goal is to minimize the social and health risks that accompany the drug." Continue reading →

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Could a Government Cash Grab Happen Here?

"With $6.8 trillion on deposit in U.S. banks, do you think that our current federal government, the one so adept at manufacturing repeated crises, would hesitate for one moment before dipping into the private accounts of depositors if a U.S. bankruptcy were imminent? Well, with massive amounts of federal spending on tap that cannot be supported by current tax rates, it’s not exactly a stretch to think that a solvency crisis is headed our way … with the grabbing hands of the U.S. government reaching for the assets of hard-working Americans to bail it out." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCould a Government Cash Grab Happen Here?

Cuba auctions cigars to raise money for health system

"An auction of luxury cigar humidors in Cuba fetched $1.1 million, which will go toward the public health system, the state news agency said Sunday. The sale came at an international cigar festival attended by celebrities such as American actor Danny Glover and German tennis great Boris Becker, Prensa Latina said. Six fancy wooden humidors containing between 350 and 550 cigars each were sold at the auction Saturday night, the report said. Glover received a silver sculpture in thanks for his support for Cuba and for his role in the 'fight for peace and justice,' the agency said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCuba auctions cigars to raise money for health system

BRICS Nations Plan New Bank to Bypass World Bank, IMF

"The biggest emerging markets are uniting to tackle under-development and currency volatility with plans to set up institutions that encroach on the roles of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The leaders of the so-called BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia,India, China and South Africa -- are set to approve the establishment of a new development bank during an annual summit that began today in the eastern South African city of Durban, officials from all five nations say. They will also discuss pooling foreign-currency reserves to ward off balance of payments or currency crises." Continue reading →

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Spoiled greens

"Ever since the Illícitos Cambiarios Law was approved in 2010, buying, selling, and even mentioning the price of black market dollars in Venezuela has become a crime punishable by up to 7 years in prison. The answer to this legal gag on all things dollar-related was a flourishing black market, which has spawned its own little sub-culture, jargon (Lechuga Americana, Lechuga Europea, Lechugas en hojas frescas, Lechugas Amazónicas), code-words (1000 a 25. Transfer. Norte. Inbox me.), and a host of anonymous Twitter accounts that helpfully quoted daily reference prices, which, as we established, is illegal." Continue reading →

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