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Tuesday
02Dec2008

Security in Latin America, no. 36/2008. 

DateTuesday, December 2, 2008 at 16:20
2 December 2008: 
  
News items that have surfaced in the past week include:
  • Russia: President Medvedev said during his recent Latin American tour that Russia will host the 2009 BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) summit. 

  • Cuba: Raul Castro will make an official visit to Brazil on 18 December.

  • Mexico: President Calderon admitted on 28 November that police corruption is the greatest challenge in his administration’s fight against organized crime. A day later, a top judicial official admitted that he does not deny the presence of organized crime within Mexico’s Judicial Branch.

  • Guatemala: The Bank of Guatemala on 24 November revealed statistics that indicate remittances from the United States have reached US$3 billion a year. Some US$663.33 million in remittances were recorded in the first ten months of 2008, measuring over 200 million more than the same period in 2007. This financial relationship underscores a greater need for closer immigration cooperation between Guatemala and Washington.

  • El Salvador: In the first 23 days of November, there were 230 homicides in El Salvador, an average of ten a day. Warring street gangs are the cause of some 70% of these crimes. According to the UN Development Program, El Salvador registers a homicide rate of 60 per 100,000. 

  • Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez said on 30 November that he would again attempt to push through the constitutional changes necessary to allow him to run for indefinite re-election. 

  • Colombia: Carlos Galvis, Colombia’s consul in Maracaibo returned to Bogota on 1 December after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insisted that he leave the country. Galvis’ celebration of the victory of opposition candidates raised Chavez’s ire, who said he would expel Galvis unless he was recalled.

  • Peru: The number of poppy fields in Peru is growing due to the higher value of heroin, where one pure kilo is priced at ten times the value of a kilo of pure cocaine, according to the UN. Poppy cultivation is concentrated in the north-central area of the country. As we have said before, Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) are heavily involved in the Peruvian drug trade. We would not be surprised to learn that they completely control the country’s small heroin export market. The organization most likely involved is the Sinaloa DTO.

  • Ecuador: After a PDVSA official stated that Venezuela might re-evaluate its oil refinery project in Ecuador due to slumping oil prices, Ecuador’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has insisted that plans for the US$10 billion refinery are on schedule. The Refinery of the Pacific will be operational in 2013, the Ministry said.

  • Argentina: Natural gas subsidies were removed on 1 November, increasing rates for the country’s largest industrial and residential natural gas users. This change will save the government some US$420 million a year, according to a government official. The effects of this decision will surely be felt in the coming South American winter. It will be interesting to see if the Argentine government makes some provision to help lower the cost of natural gas as we move closer to May, 2009.

  • Argentina: Police arrested Mario Roberto Segovia, an ephedrine supplier for Mexican drug trafficking organizations, on 24 November. He is suspected of having exported some 18 metric tons of ephedrine to Mexico since September 2006. This arrest confirms our suspicion that Mexican criminals have been active in Argentina for some time. It also underlines the fact that the Mexican network in Argentina is much deeper than Argentine law enforcement officials think.

  • Brazil: Petrobras’ oil production grew by 8.3% between October 2007 and October 2008. At the end of November, the energy company baptized P-51, the first semi-submersible oil platform built entirely in Brazil. 

  • Brazil: According to two Brazilian senators, Petrobras is in financial difficulty and have asked Petrobras officials to testify before the Economic Affairs Committee the week of 1 December. Bank representatives and the Finance Minister will also be present.

  • Brazil: Defense Minister Nelson Jobim will visit Washington from 4 to 5 December. 
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