Inter-American Watch
Friday November 5th, 2021
(Casto Ocando, Editor)
Peru
Peru confirms new moderate-left cabinet
Peru has confirmed a new moderate-left cabinet, three months after President Pedro Castillo’s lineup led by the ruling communist party leader Guido Bellido crumbled amid political uncertainty. The new cabinet formation approved on Thursday will be headed by Mirtha Vasquez, a moderate left-wing politician and former head of Congress. She does not belong to Castillo’s party, the Marxist-Leninist Peru Libre or Free Peru Party.
(Al Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/5/peru-appoints-new-cabinet-in-blow-to-presidents-opponents)
Peru Central Bank warns against anti-mining protests damage
A rising wave of anti-mining protest in Peru, which has paralyzed several operations in the world’s second-largest copper producing country over the last few months is already affecting investors’ perceptions, authorities warned Tuesday. Julio Velarde, Peru’s central bank president, said the country’s image as a safe investment destination is at stake. Swearing-in as the bank’s leader for five years, Velarde said the use of violence was unjustifiable and supported industry calls to authorities to “re-establish order”, local paper Gestión reports.
(Mining.com: https://www.mining.com/peru-central-bank-warns-against-anti-mining-protests-damage/)
3 reasons why coca crops are at record high in Perú
Several sources who spoke to InSight Crime agreed that what’s undeniable is that the amount of coca in Peru is increasing. Here are three reasons for the surge: 1, Eradication halted due to COVID-19; 2, Balloon effect: crops move into other territories; 3, Economic hardship from COVID-19 may also be spurring coca production.
(Insight Crime: https://insightcrime.org/news/reasons-why-coca-crops-through-roof-peru/)
International drug trafficking cartels reactivates in Peru’s Alto Huallaga valley
A Turkish citizen planned to export a ton and a half of drugs, valued in Peru at $1.9 million to his country of origin, Turkey, where its cost reaches $36.8 million. It was a successful anti-drug operation that also revealed that international drug trafficking has returned to Huallaga, which in the 1980s and 1990s was Peru’s main drug production area.
(La República, in Spanish: https://larepublica.pe/sociedad/2021/10/31/narcotrafico-internacional-se-reactiva-en-el-valle-del-alto-huallaga-pnp/)
Prosecutor’s Office says Castillo’s Peru Libre party “was created to launder money”
The alleged criminal organization entrenched in Peru Libre and headed by Vladimir Cerrón would have committed acts of money laundering to enter illicit money into the party’s presidential campaign and finance the procedural expenses of its leader, according to the statement made yesterday by the prosecution during a hearing in the Judiciary for this case.
(El Comercio, in Spanish: https://elcomercio.pe/politica/vladimir-cerron-fiscalia-afirma-que-peru-libre-se-creo-para-lavar-dinero-noticia/)
Argentina
Coup to drug trafficking: authorities seize ten tons of marihuana wth a value of $10 million
The Argentine Gendarmerie seized 5,433 kilos of cannabis hidden in false boxes, in a shipment of wood, near Oberá; The Prefecture confiscated another 4,491 kilos of drugs in separate proceedings, also in Misiones. Total value: 1 billion Argentine pesos, around $10 million.
(La Nacion, in Spanish: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/seguridad/golpe-al-narcotrafico-secuestran-casi-diez-toneladas-de-marihuana-valuadas-en-mil-millones-de-pesos-nid04112021/)
Ecuador
Ecuador president: more than batons needed to control jails
In a BBC interview, President Lasso said that his government was regaining control not only of the prisons but also of areas of Ecuador where drug traffickers had gained a foothold. “The two previous governments were too passive when it came to fighting drug trafficking,” he said. “We’ve installed a radar to regain control of the province of Manabí and that of Santa Elena,” the president said of his government’s efforts to cover “blind spots” in the airspace which gangs take advantage of to traffic drugs aboard small planes. Mr Lasso is also pushing a bill which will allow the air force to shoot down unauthorised aircraft that do not obey the orders of the military.
(BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-59163384)
Ecuador Navy dismantled a drug gang operating with 9 boats in the Pacific
A mega-operation involving 250 members of the Ecuadorian Navy, members of the National Police, and with the support of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), succeeded in dismantling the most prominent drug gang operating off the coast of Manabí, Ecuador.
According to authorities, Ecuadorian Navy personnel intercepted nine boats carrying 100 crew members who were pretending to be fishing but were engaged in drug trafficking activities.
(Rio Times: https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/mercosur/ecuador/ecuador-navy-dismantled-a-drug-gang-operating-with-9-boats-in-the-pacific/)
Bolivia
Venezuelan plane banned in the US takes Evo Morales to Buenos Aires
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales landed in Buenos Aires aboard an aircraft with Venezuelan plane whose registration is included on the black list of the United States Department of the Treasury. Morales flew to the Argentine capital to participate in the launch of a book that narrates the last days of him in power and whose foreword has been written by Argentine President Alberto Fernández. The Bombardier Learjet 45 is owned by the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA and registered as YV-2716. “The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified fifteen aircraft as blocked property of Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PdVSA) in accordance with Executive Order (OE) 13884, which blocks the property and interests in property of the Government of Venezuela” says the press release dating from January 21, when the United States took the measure.
(Mercopress, in Spanish: https://es.mercopress.com/2021/11/04/avion-venezolano-prohibido-en-ee-uu-lleva-a-evo-morales-a-buenos-aires)
Evo Morales summons a meeting of Runasur in Cusco with a view to “the reconstitution of Plurinational America”
“Bajo el principio de la reconstitución de la América Plurinacional de nuestros ancestros, convocamos al II encuentro de los pueblos de Abya Yala en Cuzco, Perú, 20 y 21 de diciembre de 2021, según acordamos en segunda reunión técnica de Runasur con representantes de varios países”, expresó Evo Morales a través de Twitter.
(El Comercio, in Spanish: https://elcomercio.pe/politica/evo-morales-convoca-en-cusco-a-reunion-de-runasur-con-miras-a-la-reconstitucion-de-la-america-plurinacional-nndc-noticia/)
Report
Money laundering, indoctrination and terrorism: this is how Hezbollah’s sophisticated network works in Latin America
In the last decade, Hezbollah terrorists and the Iranian regime significantly increased their presence and influence in Latin America. After the attacks perpetrated in Argentina (1992 and 1994) and in Panama (1994), the most tragic in the history of the region, the Lebanese extremists and the Islamic Republic redoubled their efforts to weave a sophisticated network of money laundering and terrorism. in convergence with local organized crime.
(Infobae: https://www.infobae.com/america/mundo/2021/11/05/lavado-de-dinero-adoctrinamiento-y-terrorismo-asi-funciona-la-sofisticada-red-de-hezbollah-en-america-latina/)
