Inter-American Watch
Monday 25th, 2021
(Casto Ocando, Editor)
Peru
Peru’s Vice President Dina Boluarte under investigation for alleged money laundering during the presidential campaign
The Vice President of Peru and Minister of Development and Social Inclusion, Dina Boluarte, has been included in the investigation for alleged money laundering in the financing of electoral campaigns of 2020 and 2021 of the Peru Libre party, according to reported sources from the Prosecutor’s Office to the newspaper El Comercio.
(Market Research Telecast: https://marketresearchtelecast.com/they-include-the-vice-president-of-peru-in-an-investigation-for-alleged-money-laundering-during-the-campaigns-of-the-ruling-party/186156/)
Coca farming is destroying Peru’s Amazon: Report
According to new data from Peru’s environment ministry and the Regional Forestry and Wildlife Management (GERFFS), more than 47,000 hectares of rainforest were cut down illegally in 2020 in the Ucayali region alone, where the Shipibo Conibo people have traditionally been based. The vast majority of that is attributed to coca production.
(Open Democraty: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/coca-farming-is-destroying-perus-amazon-is-it-time-for-a-radical-solution/)
Peru’s Ombudsman: “There’s an overflow of conflicts”
The ombudsman, Walter Gutiérrez, criticized that neither the Pedro Castillo government nor the State in general can cope with the wave of social conflicts, since “there is too much improvisation in the institutions that have to take charge of prevention and conflict management.” According to the September conflict report, during the administration of former Prime Minister Guido Bellido, seven new cases appeared in six regions, bringing the total number to 198. This month, three strikes broke out in Loreto whose focus is the seizure of oil blocks.
(Peru21, in Spanish: https://peru21.pe/politica/walter-gutierrez-raul-molina-paros-defensoria-del-pueblo-hay-un-desborde-de-conflictos-noticia/)
Argentina
US-Argentina “to advance a roadmap for bilateral cooperation”
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Secretary for Strategic Affairs Secretary Gustavo Beliz of Argentina at the White House to advance a roadmap for bilateral cooperation established at their August meeting in Buenos Aires. They focused on joint efforts to address the climate crisis, leveraging international financial institutions to promote a sustainable and equitable economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and working together to foster innovation in the digital economy and emerging technology.
(White House Briefing Room: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/22/readout-of-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivans-meeting-with-secretary-for-strategic-affairs-gustavo-beliz-of-argentina/)
Entre Ríos: Argentina’s Rising Drug Trafficking Transit Hub
An Argentine province bordering Uruguay has become a transit hub for drug trafficking out of Paraguay, revealing a new route used to propel cocaine across the Southern Cone. The latest news came when a plane suspected of being used to haul some 400 kilograms of cocaine from Paraguay to Uruguay was discovered in a hangar in Argentina’s Entre Ríos province in late September according to a news release from Argentina’s Ministry of Security. The hangar, just outside the city of Concordia, was being used as a logistics aerial base for drug flights, officials said. Weapons and cash were also found during the operation. A joint investigation by Argentina’s anti-drug agency and Uruguay’s air force uncovered the aerial drug route, in which planes departed from clandestine runways located in Paraguay before making stopovers in Entre Rios fields. From there, the aircraft took off for Uruguay.
(Insight Crime: https://insightcrime.org/news/entre-rios-new-transit-hub-drug-planes-argentina/)
Bitfarms Mega-Mining Facility Raises Concerns Among Legislators in Argentina
The construction of a bitcoin mega-mining farm in Argentina by Bitfarms is raising concerns for legislators. Martín Berhongaray, a national deputy, recently presented a resolution to force the government to disclose information about the installation of the facility, through representatives from the Ministries of Science, Technology and Innovation, Environment and Sustainable Development, and of the nation’s economy.
(Bitcoin.com: https://news.bitcoin.com/bitfarms-bitcoin-mega-mining-facility-raises-concerns-for-legislators-in-argentina/)
Ecuador
Chinese Embassy in Ecuador: The US government abuses its national power to restrict companies from other countries
Following the statements of the Secretary of State of the United States (USA), Antony Blinken , on China’s investments in other countries, on the afternoon of this Tuesday, October 19, at the Carondelet Palace; the Chinese Embassy in Ecuador described these assertions as “erroneous” and pointed out that the government of that country “abuses its national power to restrict companies from other countries.”
(Ecuador Times: https://www.ecuadortimes.net/chinese-embassy-in-ecuador-the-us-government-abuses-its-national-power-to-restrict-companies-from-other-countries/)
Ecuador grapples with spiraling violence due to increasing presence of Mexican drug cartels
The main cause for the violence is the increasing presence of rival Mexican drug cartels that are vying to take control of the international drug trade’s transit routes. Located between major cocaine producers Colombia and Peru, Ecuador is a major hub for drug trafficking both to the US and to Europe. Guayaquil, the country’s largest city, is particularly hard-hit. At the end of September, riots broke out in an overcrowded prison, killing more than 100 people. Bloody clashes like these are a regular occurrence in Ecuador’s chronically overflowing jails.
Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/en/ecuador-grapples-with-spiraling-violence/a-59592864)
Ecuadorian Navy Sailing Ship Interdicts Drug Smugglers in the Pacific
A three-masted training ship interdicted a drug-laden high-speed smuggling vessel off the coast of Colombia on Friday, the Ecuadorian Navy announced. Sailing ship BAE Guayas caught the low-profile vessel within the 200-nautical miles of the Colombian exclusive economic zone, the service announced. “The Guayas School Ship, carrying out its International Instruction Cruise, was able to interdict this vessel for its subsequent capture; These artisan-made LPV-type vessels are regularly used by transnational narco-criminal organizations for the transport of substances subject to control, due to their carrying capacity,” reads a translation of a statement from the Ecuadorian Navy. The four-person crew – three Ecuadorians and a Colombian – were arrested. The vessel has been seized and is being taken back to Ecuador, according to the statement.
(USNI News: https://news.usni.org/2021/10/23/ecuadorian-navy-sailing-ship-interdicts-drug-smugglers-in-the-pacific)
Bolivia
Neighboring countries see Bolivia as refuge of drug traffickers and corrupt people
Bolivia became a refuge country for drug traffickers and people accused of corruption from countries in the region, ElDeber.com reported. Drug lords from Brazil and Peru have dual identities and operate in eastern Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca and the cities of La Paz and El Alto. In addition, Peruvian leaders and politicians linked to corruption cases crossed the border to hide in our cuntry. “A kilo of coca pasta costs $850 if you buy it in Monzón, in “La Durmiente” or in the “Dos LL” (places in Peru). But if you take it to Bolivia you can sell it for between $1,600 and $2,000. With only 100 kilos you earn $200,000. Of course, it is still business to go to Bolivia,” said in 2015 a criminal immersed in drug trafficking in Peru, according to a confidential report from the Peruvian Anti-Drug Directorate (Dirandro). The situation has not changed in six years. The Peruvian drug traffickers turned Bolivia into their “refuge” and used a false identity to transit in different regions. Most of the capos settled in the eastern area of the country, especially in Beni and Santa Cruz. There are others that are in the north part of La Paz, but also in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca and the city of El Alto.
(El Deber, in Spanish: https://eldeber.com.bo/edicion-impresa/en-paises-vecinos-ven-a-bolivia-como-refugio-de-narcos-y-de-corruptos_252308)
Other News
Colombian drug lord Otoniel to be extradited to the US
Colombia has announced that the country’s most wanted drug trafficker will be extradited to the US after he was captured in a raid. Dairo Antonio Úsuga, known as Otoniel, was seized after a joint army, air force and police operation on Saturday. He led the country’s largest criminal gang and has been on the US Drug Enforcement Agency’s most wanted list for years. US officials had placed a $5 million bounty on his head. They accused him of importing at least 73 metric tonnes of cocaine into the country between 2003 and 2014.
(BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-59032300)
Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s Most Dangerous Gang, Spotted in Chile
Authorities in Chile are on high alert due to reports that Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang is involved in migrant smuggling in the country – new evidence of the group’s regional expansion. Chilean prosecutors have opened at least four investigations involving reports that Tren de Aragua members are involved in illegally transporting migrants from Bolivia to the country’s capital city of Santiago, according to local Chilean media. At least nine or 10 members of the gang have been detained for helping as many as 3,600 migrants enter Chile, Mega Noticias reported October 15, citing an investigation by prosecutors in Chile’s central-northern region.
(Insight Crime: https://insightcrime.org/news/tren-de-aragua-venezuela-spotted-chile/)
