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viernes, 30 de noviembre de 2012
Mafia Russe. Riviera monténégrine Mafia flouze
Grand angle.
Depuis l’indépendance, en 2006, villas et hôtels envahissent la côte du
Monténégro. Des projets financés par des fonds troubles russes. Pour le
plus grand profit des politiques, au pouvoir depuis vingt ans.
L’odeur des grillades a depuis longtemps
recouvert celle des pins. Des airs de musique s’échappent de chaque
kiosque à pizza, chaque restaurant et chaque guérite de loueur de
transats. De gigantesques panneaux, en anglais, en allemand, et surtout
en russe, attirent les chalands. Tout l’été et même au début de
l’automne, la petite station balnéaire monténégrine de Budva vibre comme
une foire permanente. A quelques pas de là, la pittoresque vieille
ville fortifiée résiste difficilement au sans-gêne des promoteurs
immobiliers. Un hôtelier a entrepris de s’étendre aux dépens des
remparts, un café huppé a privatisé le minuscule espace qui sépare le
mur extérieur de la jetée. Coincé contre la falaise, le très chic hôtel
Avala s’est paré d’une façade de verre sombre. Tout près de lui, le plus
ancien hôtel de la région attend d’être démoli afin de laisser place à
un édifice plus grand et plus haut. Casinos et boîtes de nuit attirent
une foule bariolée où politiciens, hommes d’affaires et mafieux se
côtoient.
Avec sa plage de plusieurs kilomètres, la perle du Monténégro était
destinée à être un haut lieu du tourisme de luxe. Elle est devenue le
paradigme des maux qui affectent un des derniers nés de l’éclatement
yougoslave : corruption, blanchiment, clientélisme, imbrication entre
mafias et institutions. Des phénomènes favorisés par le maintien aux
commandes de ce micropays - grand comme deux départements français et
moins peuplé que Marseille - de l’équipe qui le dirige depuis le début
des années 90. Le fringant Milo Djukanovic, 51 ans, ex-président
(1998-2002) et ex-Premier ministre (1991-1998, 2002-2006 et 2008-2010),
rappelé pour conduire la liste de la coalition au pouvoir aux dernières
législatives, le 14 octobre, a remporté le scrutin, de justesse cette
fois.
Avant l’indépendance du pays, le tourisme monténégrin était peu développé. La guerre en ex-Yougoslavie (de 1991 à 1999) avait longtemps éloigné de l’Adriatique les vacanciers européens. Ils ne sont revenus qu’après la séparation de la Serbie et du Monténégro. Avant la guerre, à l’exception de l’île-hôtel de Sveti Stefan prisée des diplomates et des expatriés, il n’y avait que des touristes locaux, amateurs de nature et de plaisirs simples. Le tremblement de terre de 1979, qui avait ravagé le littoral, avait dissuadé les investisseurs. Conformément aux recommandations des experts, un seul village de vacances, faits de petites maisons basses, avait été construit au bord de la plage de Budva, là où cinq hôtels avaient été soufflés par le séisme.
C’est peu avant l’indépendance, en 2006, que les premiers grands projets de l’industrie touristique ont été élaborés, grâce à l’argent trouble d’investisseurs venus de Russie, sans que l’on sache s’il s’agissait de fonds russes ou monténégrins. Les hôtels existants ont été privatisés, d’autres ont été construits ou reconstruits. Villas et appartements ont poussé comme des champignons là où il y avait autrefois des champs et des oliveraies. Les petites maisons de vacances ont gagné un, voire deux étages. «Les villageois ont vendu les terrains qui appartenaient depuis des siècles à leurs familles. Budva était alors appelé la ville des millionnaires. Ces nouveaux riches ont joué au casino et ils ont tout perdu», raconte Branka Plamenac, la correspondante de l’hebdomadaire d’opposition Monitor, qui multiplie les enquêtes sur l’urbanisation sauvage du littoral et s’inquiète de voir pousser des immeubles de plusieurs étages.
Première famille de Budva, les Marovic ont accompagné le clan Djukanovic dans sa conquête du pouvoir dès les années 90. Dernier président de l’Etat commun Serbie-et-Monténégro, Marovic, un homme à l’allure élégante, s’est replié dans son fief. C’est là, dans le plus luxueux des hôtels du littoral, le Splendid, qu’il a marié sa fille au printemps, dans une robe de la styliste américaine Vera Wang, avec 400 convives et un orchestre payé 500 euros la chanson (le salaire mensuel moyen est de 479 euros)… Trois ans auparavant, le seigneur de Budva avait déjà irrité l’opinion en mariant son fils Milos pour une somme estimée par les médias à un demi-million d’euros.
Commencées sans permis de construire, les villas du cap Zavala n’ont pas été achevées, et de nombreux acheteurs poursuivent les promoteurs devant la justice. Le financement de l’ensemble n’a jamais été transparent. Reconnus coupables de malversations au détriment du budget de la commune dans la construction de ce complexe touristique, l’ancien maire de Budva, Rajko Kuljača, et son adjoint, Dragan Marovic, frère de Svetozar, ont été condamnés au début de l’été à respectivement cinq et quatre ans de prison.
Pour les mauvaises langues, cet épilogue judiciaire était le signe de la mésentente entre le camp Marovic et le clan Djukanovic. La dispute était passagère : les deux hommes ont refait alliance pour les dernières élections. Il faut dire que les Djukanovic sont au moins autant impliqués dans les affaires immobilières de Budva que les Marovic. Leur Zavala à eux, c’est l’hôtel Avala, détruit puis rebâti en hauteur, sans permis de construire, à proximité immédiate de la vieille-ville. C’est dans cet hôtel, depuis lors légalisé, que séjourne Djukanovic quand il vient sur la côte. Officiellement, l’établissement appartient à la compagnie britannique Beppler & Jacobson, gagnante en 2004 d’un appel d’offres arbitré à la Cour suprême par la juge Ana Kolarevic, sœur du président Djukanovic. Quelques années plus tard, cette magistrate aux allures de diva, devenue avocate d’affaires, s’est présentée comme la représentante juridique de Beppler & Jacobson. Une situation dénoncée par le Mans (Réseau pour l’affirmation du secteur non gouvernemental) qui a annoncé, en avril, avoir trouvé des documents prouvant que l’hôtel Avala avait été vendu 3,2 millions d’euros en dépit d’une offre danoise concurrente de 7,5 millions d’euros.
Ce ne sont pas les seuls scandales mettant en cause les grandes familles monténégrines. Une récente enquête de la BBC réalisée en coopération avec l’OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, une ONG regroupant médias et centres de recherche sur la corruption en Europe de l’Est et ex-URSS) avait dévoilé les liens entre le clan Djukanovic et la Prva Banka, sauvée in extremis de la faillite par l’Etat en 2009. Propriété d’Aco Djukanovic, frère de Milo Djukanovic, qui l’a privatisée en 2006, la banque, qui fonctionnait avec des dépôts d’argent public, a, selon les enquêtes journalistiques basées sur des documents d’audit, accordé des prêts importants à des proches du pouvoir à des conditions particulièrement intéressantes. La plupart des prêts ont été délivrés pour des projets immobiliers. Parmi ces derniers, 5 millions sont allés au projet Zavala, alors sans permis de construire, et 2 millions à un parc aquatique également situé à Budva, qui n’a jamais vu le jour mais continue de grever le budget de la mairie.
Alors que l’Union européenne vient de déclarer ouvertes les négociations d’adhésion du Monténégro, deux ans seulement après le dépôt de sa candidature, la plupart des opposants considèrent leur pays comme un Etat mafieux. Dans la petite maison qui abrite l’ONG Mans près de Podgorica, l’énergique Vanja Calovic s’indigne à la lecture des faits divers. «Alors que nous sommes le pays d’Europe avec le plus grand nombre de policiers par habitant, nous ne sommes pas capables d’arrêter des criminels», déplore-t-elle, racontant comment les deux plus importants narcotrafiquants de la région ont encore échappé à la justice. «Pendant la guerre, la police a collaboré avec le crime organisé, italien notamment, pour contourner les embargos, laissant passer vers l’Italie les cigarettes de contrebande en échange de produits de première nécessité, ajoute-t-elle. Ce qui se passe dans notre pays montre qu’on ne peut pas coopérer avec la mafia italienne sans se salir les mains.»
Dans son rapport annuel, la Commission européenne n’a certainement pas oublié de noter que le Monténégro doit «mieux faire» dans les domaines de l’Etat de droit et de la lutte contre le crime organisé et la corruption. Mais cette appréciation semble presque bienveillante comparée à la sévérité des critiques que la société civile adresse au régime. Le chômage (20% de la population de ce pays de 650 000 habitants) et les bas salaires sont les principales causes de mécontentement. Depuis l’an dernier, le pays a aussi ses Indignés. Comme dans le reste de l’Europe, jeunes, chômeurs ou ouvriers victimes des privatisations frauduleuses descendent dans des rues jusque-là tranquilles pour dénoncer la corruption. «Ici, d’habitude, on ne se soulève pas, car chacun a un jour violé la loi, ne serait-ce que pour rajouter un balcon à sa maison. C’est la première fois, dit Vanja Calovic, que les gens ont compris que, s’ils en ont moins dans leurs poches, c’est que quelqu’un d’autre s’est servi.»
Avant l’indépendance du pays, le tourisme monténégrin était peu développé. La guerre en ex-Yougoslavie (de 1991 à 1999) avait longtemps éloigné de l’Adriatique les vacanciers européens. Ils ne sont revenus qu’après la séparation de la Serbie et du Monténégro. Avant la guerre, à l’exception de l’île-hôtel de Sveti Stefan prisée des diplomates et des expatriés, il n’y avait que des touristes locaux, amateurs de nature et de plaisirs simples. Le tremblement de terre de 1979, qui avait ravagé le littoral, avait dissuadé les investisseurs. Conformément aux recommandations des experts, un seul village de vacances, faits de petites maisons basses, avait été construit au bord de la plage de Budva, là où cinq hôtels avaient été soufflés par le séisme.
C’est peu avant l’indépendance, en 2006, que les premiers grands projets de l’industrie touristique ont été élaborés, grâce à l’argent trouble d’investisseurs venus de Russie, sans que l’on sache s’il s’agissait de fonds russes ou monténégrins. Les hôtels existants ont été privatisés, d’autres ont été construits ou reconstruits. Villas et appartements ont poussé comme des champignons là où il y avait autrefois des champs et des oliveraies. Les petites maisons de vacances ont gagné un, voire deux étages. «Les villageois ont vendu les terrains qui appartenaient depuis des siècles à leurs familles. Budva était alors appelé la ville des millionnaires. Ces nouveaux riches ont joué au casino et ils ont tout perdu», raconte Branka Plamenac, la correspondante de l’hebdomadaire d’opposition Monitor, qui multiplie les enquêtes sur l’urbanisation sauvage du littoral et s’inquiète de voir pousser des immeubles de plusieurs étages.
Un orchestre payé 500 euros la chanson
Comme dans beaucoup de pays européens, la crise de 2008 a mis un terme au boom de l’immobilier et entraîné le retrait, souvent pour cause de faillite, de nombreux investisseurs. Comme le groupe russe Mirax, propriété de l’excentrique milliardaire Sergueï Polonski qui construisait à l’entrée de la baie, sur la pointe de Zavala, des villas de trois étages formées d’appartements de luxe disposés en cascade. Cas rare, l’affaire a fini cet été devant la justice. Les travaux avaient été lancés par une entreprise appartenant au clan de l’homme fort de Budva, Svetozar Marovic, le vice-président du Parti démocratique des socialistes (DPS, au pouvoir).Première famille de Budva, les Marovic ont accompagné le clan Djukanovic dans sa conquête du pouvoir dès les années 90. Dernier président de l’Etat commun Serbie-et-Monténégro, Marovic, un homme à l’allure élégante, s’est replié dans son fief. C’est là, dans le plus luxueux des hôtels du littoral, le Splendid, qu’il a marié sa fille au printemps, dans une robe de la styliste américaine Vera Wang, avec 400 convives et un orchestre payé 500 euros la chanson (le salaire mensuel moyen est de 479 euros)… Trois ans auparavant, le seigneur de Budva avait déjà irrité l’opinion en mariant son fils Milos pour une somme estimée par les médias à un demi-million d’euros.
Commencées sans permis de construire, les villas du cap Zavala n’ont pas été achevées, et de nombreux acheteurs poursuivent les promoteurs devant la justice. Le financement de l’ensemble n’a jamais été transparent. Reconnus coupables de malversations au détriment du budget de la commune dans la construction de ce complexe touristique, l’ancien maire de Budva, Rajko Kuljača, et son adjoint, Dragan Marovic, frère de Svetozar, ont été condamnés au début de l’été à respectivement cinq et quatre ans de prison.
Pour les mauvaises langues, cet épilogue judiciaire était le signe de la mésentente entre le camp Marovic et le clan Djukanovic. La dispute était passagère : les deux hommes ont refait alliance pour les dernières élections. Il faut dire que les Djukanovic sont au moins autant impliqués dans les affaires immobilières de Budva que les Marovic. Leur Zavala à eux, c’est l’hôtel Avala, détruit puis rebâti en hauteur, sans permis de construire, à proximité immédiate de la vieille-ville. C’est dans cet hôtel, depuis lors légalisé, que séjourne Djukanovic quand il vient sur la côte. Officiellement, l’établissement appartient à la compagnie britannique Beppler & Jacobson, gagnante en 2004 d’un appel d’offres arbitré à la Cour suprême par la juge Ana Kolarevic, sœur du président Djukanovic. Quelques années plus tard, cette magistrate aux allures de diva, devenue avocate d’affaires, s’est présentée comme la représentante juridique de Beppler & Jacobson. Une situation dénoncée par le Mans (Réseau pour l’affirmation du secteur non gouvernemental) qui a annoncé, en avril, avoir trouvé des documents prouvant que l’hôtel Avala avait été vendu 3,2 millions d’euros en dépit d’une offre danoise concurrente de 7,5 millions d’euros.
Ce ne sont pas les seuls scandales mettant en cause les grandes familles monténégrines. Une récente enquête de la BBC réalisée en coopération avec l’OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, une ONG regroupant médias et centres de recherche sur la corruption en Europe de l’Est et ex-URSS) avait dévoilé les liens entre le clan Djukanovic et la Prva Banka, sauvée in extremis de la faillite par l’Etat en 2009. Propriété d’Aco Djukanovic, frère de Milo Djukanovic, qui l’a privatisée en 2006, la banque, qui fonctionnait avec des dépôts d’argent public, a, selon les enquêtes journalistiques basées sur des documents d’audit, accordé des prêts importants à des proches du pouvoir à des conditions particulièrement intéressantes. La plupart des prêts ont été délivrés pour des projets immobiliers. Parmi ces derniers, 5 millions sont allés au projet Zavala, alors sans permis de construire, et 2 millions à un parc aquatique également situé à Budva, qui n’a jamais vu le jour mais continue de grever le budget de la mairie.
Des privatisations frauduleuses
Les Djukanovic sont au centre de tout ce qui se fait ou se défait au Monténégro. Le patriarche du clan a même des actions dans une université privée, et chère, à Donja Gorica, près de Podgorica, une institution qui travaille avec des enseignants de poids, comme le Premier ministre sortant, Igor Luksic, jeune - 36 ans - et brillant économiste, polyglotte et féru d’Internet, préparé à prendre la relève de l’ancienne équipe. Des médias étrangers ont évalué la fortune de Milo Djukanovic à 10 millions d’euros, ce que l’intéressé, malgré son goût pour les tenues de prix, nie farouchement.Alors que l’Union européenne vient de déclarer ouvertes les négociations d’adhésion du Monténégro, deux ans seulement après le dépôt de sa candidature, la plupart des opposants considèrent leur pays comme un Etat mafieux. Dans la petite maison qui abrite l’ONG Mans près de Podgorica, l’énergique Vanja Calovic s’indigne à la lecture des faits divers. «Alors que nous sommes le pays d’Europe avec le plus grand nombre de policiers par habitant, nous ne sommes pas capables d’arrêter des criminels», déplore-t-elle, racontant comment les deux plus importants narcotrafiquants de la région ont encore échappé à la justice. «Pendant la guerre, la police a collaboré avec le crime organisé, italien notamment, pour contourner les embargos, laissant passer vers l’Italie les cigarettes de contrebande en échange de produits de première nécessité, ajoute-t-elle. Ce qui se passe dans notre pays montre qu’on ne peut pas coopérer avec la mafia italienne sans se salir les mains.»
Dans son rapport annuel, la Commission européenne n’a certainement pas oublié de noter que le Monténégro doit «mieux faire» dans les domaines de l’Etat de droit et de la lutte contre le crime organisé et la corruption. Mais cette appréciation semble presque bienveillante comparée à la sévérité des critiques que la société civile adresse au régime. Le chômage (20% de la population de ce pays de 650 000 habitants) et les bas salaires sont les principales causes de mécontentement. Depuis l’an dernier, le pays a aussi ses Indignés. Comme dans le reste de l’Europe, jeunes, chômeurs ou ouvriers victimes des privatisations frauduleuses descendent dans des rues jusque-là tranquilles pour dénoncer la corruption. «Ici, d’habitude, on ne se soulève pas, car chacun a un jour violé la loi, ne serait-ce que pour rajouter un balcon à sa maison. C’est la première fois, dit Vanja Calovic, que les gens ont compris que, s’ils en ont moins dans leurs poches, c’est que quelqu’un d’autre s’est servi.»
jueves, 29 de noviembre de 2012
Leader Ousted, Nation Is Now a Drug Haven
Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Guinea-Bissau soldiers
patrolled a street in the capital, Bissau, on Oct. 21 after dissident
soldiers raided an army barracks in an apparent attempt to topple the
military junta.
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — When the army ousted the president here just
months before his term was to expire, a thirst for power by the officer
corps did not fully explain the offensive. But a sizable increase in
drug trafficking in this troubled country since the military took over
has raised suspicions that the president’s sudden removal was what
amounted to a cocaine coup.
Jessica Hatcher
“People say I’m a drug trafficker," said Gen. Antonio
Injai, right, the army chief of staff. "Anybody who has the proof,
present it!”
The military brass here has long been associated with drug trafficking, but the coup
last spring means soldiers now control the drug racket and the country
itself, turning Guinea-Bissau in the eyes of some international
counternarcotics experts into a nation where illegal drugs are
sanctioned at the top.
“They are probably the worst narco-state that’s out there on the
continent,” said a senior Drug Enforcement Administration official in
Washington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to
jeopardize his work in the region. “They are a major problem.”
Since the April 12 coup, more small twin-engine planes than ever are
making the 1,600-mile Atlantic crossing from Latin America to the edge
of Africa’s western bulge, landing in Guinea-Bissau’s fields,
uninhabited islands and remote estuaries. There they unload their cargos
of cocaine for transshipment north, experts say.
The fact that the army has put in place a figurehead government and that
military officers continue to call the shots behind the scenes only
intensifies the problem.
The political instability continued as soldiers attacked an army
barracks on Oct. 21, apparently in an attempt to topple the government. A
dissident army captain was arrested on an offshore island on Oct. 27
and accused of being the organizer of the countercoup attempt. Two
critics of the government were also assaulted and then left outside the
capital.
From April to July there were at least 20 landings in Guinea-Bissau of
small planes that United Nations officials suspected were drug flights —
traffic that could represent more than half the estimated annual
cocaine volume for the region. The planes need to carry a
one-and-a-half-ton cargo to make the trans-Atlantic trip viable,
officials say. Europe, already the destination for about 50 tons of
cocaine annually from West Africa, United Nations officials say, could
be in for a far greater flood.
Was the military coup itself a diversion for drug trafficking? Some
experts point to signs that as the armed forces were seizing the
presidency, taking over radio stations and arresting government
officials, there was a flurry of drug activity on one of the islands of
the Bijagós Archipelago, what amounted to a three-day offloading of
suspicious sacks.
That surreptitious activity appears to have been simply a prelude.
“There has clearly been an increase in Guinea-Bissau in the last several months,” said Pierre Lapaque, head of the regional United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for West and Central Africa. “We are seeing more and more drugs regularly arriving in this country.”
Mr. Lapaque called the trafficking in Guinea-Bissau “a major worry” and
an “open sore,” and, like others, suggested that it was no coincidence
that trafficking had spiked since the coup.
Joaquin Gonzalez-Ducay, the European Union ambassador in Bissau, said:
“As a country it is controlled by those who formed the coup d’état. They
can do what they want to do. Now they have free rein.”
The senior D.E.A. official said, “People at the highest levels of the
military are involved in the facilitation” of trafficking, and added:
“In other African countries government officials are part of the
problem. In Guinea-Bissau, it is the government itself that is the
problem.”
United Nations officials agree. “The coup was perpetrated by people
totally embedded in the drugs business,” said one official, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the political
environment here.
The country’s former prosecutor general, Octávio Inocêncio Alves, said,
“A lot of the traffickers have direct relationships with the military.”
The civilian government and the military leadership that sits watchfully
in its headquarters in an old Portuguese fort at the other end of town
reject the United Nations drug accusations.
“People say I’m a drug trafficker,” said Gen. Antonio Injai, the army
chief of staff, raising his voice in an interview. “Anybody who has the
proof, present it! We ask the international community to give us the
means to fight drugs.”
Mr. Gonzalez-Ducay, the ambassador, responded, “I can’t believe that the
one who controls the drug trafficking is going to fight the drug
trafficking.”
Relaxed and wearing a colorful two-piece outfit and gold chains, General
Injai sat under a giant kapok tree surrounded by uniformed aides. He
laughed when asked whether he was the real power in Guinea-Bissau and
blamed the deposed prime minister, Carlos Gomes Jr., for provoking the
coup through his military alliance with Angola.
In 2010, the United States government explicitly linked the country’s
military to the drug trade: the Treasury Department declared as drug
kingpins both the ex-chief of the navy, Rear Adm. Bubo Na Tchuto, and
the air force chief of staff, Ibraima Papa Camara, and froze whatever
assets they may have had in the United States.
Now, however, American officials are making overtures to the
transitional government, despite other Western embassies’ hands-off
approach to protest the military’s continued meddling in politics.
General Injai expressed appreciation for the American position, and
called the United Nations special representative here a “bandito.”
Russell Hanks, the American diplomat responsible for Guinea-Bissau,
said: “You will only have an impact on this transition by engagement,
not by isolation. These are the people who came in to pick up the pieces
after the coup.” Mr. Hanks is based outside the country because the
United States closed its embassy here during the civil war in 1998.
Officials point to several indicators, besides the increase in plane
flights, to show that Guinea-Bissau has become a major drug transit hub.
They cite photographs of a recently well-cleared stretch of road in a
remote rural area near the Senegal border, complete with turning space
for small planes. The clearing was created under the supervision of
military authorities, officials say. They also note mysterious absences
of fuel at the tiny international airport in the capital, presumed
stolen by traffickers.
Four months before the coup, a plane, with the aid of uniformed
soldiers, landed in a rural area in the center of the country, which is
the size of Belgium, said João Biague, head of the judicial police. The
landing took place not far from General Injai’s farm.
Mr. Biague heads what is nominally the country’s antidrug agency, though
he made it clear that he and his staff are largely powerless to
practice any form of drug interdiction despite receiving frequent tips
about small planes landing from abroad. “The traffickers know we can’t
do much,” he said.
The agency is so starved of funds that he does not have money to put gas
in its few vehicles, Mr. Biague said. Paint is peeling on the outside
of the judicial police’s two-story colonial building downtown, and mold
blackens the ground-floor pilasters. It is allocated $85 a week from the
country’s Justice Ministry.
“The agents we have in the field want to give up because they have nothing to eat,” Mr. Biague said.
In the last three years, there have been more than a half-dozen unsolved
political assassinations here, including of the longtime president and
the former army chief of staff, as well as at least two coup attempts,
besides the successful coup. Nobody has been successfully prosecuted,
though drugs were linked to many of them.
Last month, the justice minister of the transitional government warned
opposition politicians not to speak publicly of “cases that don’t
concern them,” under threat of criminal penalty.
This week, the repression appeared to tighten. General Injai threatened
journalists with death if they asked questions about the assassination
of the former president, and he warned that there would be many arrests
as a result of the countercoup attempt.
There is remarkably little public talk of the unsolved political
killings or of the country’s relations with the drug business. There
have been no demonstrations; no discussion in the Parliament, shut down
since July; no news conferences.
“A country that’s not capable of discussing its own problems — it’s not a
country, it’s not a state,” said Mr. Alves, the former prosecutor
general.
martes, 27 de noviembre de 2012
El “Rey de la Cocaína” y Fidel Castro
La viuda del capo narco Roberto Suárez, apodado el “Rey de la Cocaína”, acaba de presentar en Buenos Aires un libro biográfico donde relata, entre otras cosas, los tratos de su marido con el dictador cubano Fidel Castro.
Ayda Levy señala que Suárez participó en
negociaciones con Castro sobre las rutas del narcotráfico, en las cuales
el autócrata habría aceptado el paso de la droga por la isla a cambio
de “suculentas ganancias”.
El Rey de la Cocaína. Mi vida con Roberto Suárez y el nacimiento del primer narcoestado, es el título de la obra, que narra la vida de quien fuera considerado el principal narcotraficante de Bolivia.
Es sugestivo el subtítulo alusivo a los narcoestados,
en momentos en que el término vuelve a ponerse de moda, a raíz de
cuestionamientos a varios gobernantes latinoamericanos, todos los cuales
se reconocen discípulos, precisamente, de Fidel Castro.
En ese contexto, el analista experto en temas de
terrorismo y narcotráfico, Douglas Farah, acaba de atestiguar ante el
Comité de Seguridad Nacional de la Cámara de Representantes de Estados
Unidos que en América Latina están proliferando “múltiples actores estatales criminalizados
(…) principalmente agrupados en la Alianza Bolivariana liderada por
Venezuela, que ahora opera en conjunto con grupos de delincuencia
organizada transnacional, actores regionales como Irán y grupos
terroristas”.
“Estas ´alianzas de conveniencia` entre los grupos
altamente capacitados con habilidades complementarias, con los nuevos
niveles de protección estatal que se ofrecen, presenta un panorama mucho
más peligroso y volátil en el hemisferio. (…) Estas franquicias operan
en control de territorios geográficos específicos, que les permiten
funcionar en un entorno relativamente seguro”, dijo el experto.
Pero Farah también fue específico a la hora de
precisar a qué “narcoestados” se refiere: “Como las relaciones entre el
crimen organizado y los grupos terroristas madura en lugares como
Venezuela, Ecuador y Bolivia, y las relaciones se construyen y se
intercambian conocimientos, esto se convertirá en un reto mucho más
complejo”.
En este panorama, el periódico Sol de Pando asevera
en un extenso reportaje que Mauro Vásquez, considerado un “pez gordo”
del narcotráfico y recientemente capturado por presiones brasileñas,
tendría nexos con el ministro de la presidencia, Juan Ramón Quintana…
sábado, 24 de noviembre de 2012
Consideran fracasada la lucha contra el narcotráfico
|
18 de abril, 2012
|
El
escritor mexicano Carlos Fuentes se encuentra entre las personalidades
mundiales que piden un nuevo enfoque contra las drogas.
A través de un mensaje publicado en medios guatemaltecos, personalidades como Jimmy Carter, Fernando Cardoso, Vicente Fox, Lech Walesa, Carlos Fuentes y Mario Vargas Llosa, entre otras, llamaron a “revaluar” la Convención Única sobre Estupefacientes de las Naciones Unidas, aprobada en 1961.
El “fracaso” de esa estrategia, señala el anuncio, “ha tenido numerosas consecuencias involuntarias y devastadoras a nivel mundial”, y provocado que “decenas de miles de personas mueran cada año en la guerra contra las drogas”.
“Ya que no podemos erradicar la producción, demanda o uso de drogas, debemos encontrar nuevas maneras de minimizar los daños. Es imperativo estudiar nuevas políticas basadas en evidencias científicas” para hacer frente al problema del narcotráfico rompiendo “el tabú del debate y la reforma”.
La lucha contra las drogas que se base en la Convención de 1961 “le cuesta al contribuyente mundial incalculables billones por año”, mientras que “la corrupción entre los políticos y aquellos encargados de velar por el cumplimiento de la ley (…) se ha extendido como nunca”, agrega el mensaje.
El anuncio, patrocinado por The Beckley Fundation y la Iniciativa Global para la Reforma de las Políticas de Drogas, sostiene que “las políticas de prohibición crean más daños de los que previenen”, debido a que “el mundo libre de drogas que los partidarios de la guerra a las drogas predicaban con tanta confianza, está hoy, más que nunca, fuera de nuestro alcance”.
Aunque no se refieren a ello de forma explicita, las personalidades que suscriben la publicación coinciden con la iniciativa lanzada desde febrero pasado por el presidente guatemalteco, Otto Pérez Molina, de iniciar un diálogo internacional para buscar nuevas alternativas para hacer frente al narcotráfico, entre ellas la despenalización y regularización de las drogas.
Esa propuesta ha sido rechazada por los gobiernos de varios países, encabezados por Estados Unidos, que ha divulgado su nueva estrategia de lucha antidrogas, en la que privilegia la prevención y el tratamiento, y calificó de “obsoleta” la propuesta de legalización de los estupefacientes.
Marseille sous la menace de la maffia
24 morts autour de Marseille depuis le début de l'année
L'homme tué ce soir porte à 24 le nombre de morts dans la région dans des règlements de comptes depuis janvier, dont 17 dans la ville.
L'homme tué ce soir porte à 24 le nombre de morts dans la région dans des règlements de comptes depuis janvier, dont 17 dans la ville.
International Affairs
The international policy agenda has become more diverse since the Cold
War, with the United States and the world witnessing historic changes,
including the global recession and the Arab awakening. These seismic
events are generating major shifts in international affairs, with
policymakers around the world facing new challenges in a new global
order.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/topics/international-affairs
http://www.brookings.edu/research/topics/international-affairs
Environmental crime: trafficking in wildlife and timber
Transnational organized crime is found wherever money can be made
from illicit activities. One such activity is environmental crime, in
particular trafficking in wildlife and timber. The problem is
particularly acute in developing countries, where Governments often lack
the capacity to regulate the exploitation of their natural resources.
Poor management of natural resources can lead to corruption and even
violent conflict.
Though environmental crime is a global and multifaceted phenomenon, this fact sheet deals with just two aspects of it in certain parts of the world: trafficking in wildlife from Africa and South-East Asia to other areas in Asia, and trafficking in timber from South-East Asia to the European Union and other areas in Asia. The illegal trade in timber between South-East Asia and the European Union and other areas in Asia was worth an estimated $3.5 billion in 2010.[1] By contrast, sales of elephant ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts in Asia were worth an estimated $75 million in 2010, but the environmental impact of this crime is much greater than the relatively small income it generates for criminals.
Though environmental crime is a global and multifaceted phenomenon, this fact sheet deals with just two aspects of it in certain parts of the world: trafficking in wildlife from Africa and South-East Asia to other areas in Asia, and trafficking in timber from South-East Asia to the European Union and other areas in Asia. The illegal trade in timber between South-East Asia and the European Union and other areas in Asia was worth an estimated $3.5 billion in 2010.[1] By contrast, sales of elephant ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts in Asia were worth an estimated $75 million in 2010, but the environmental impact of this crime is much greater than the relatively small income it generates for criminals.
viernes, 23 de noviembre de 2012
A World of Gangs: Armed Young Men and Gangsta Culture
“Street gangs mirror the inhuman ambitions and greed of society's trendsetters and deities even as they fight to the death over scraps from the table of the international drug trade. But John Hagedorn, characteristically, also finds hope in the contradictory values of outlaw youth—selflessness, solidarity, and love amid cupidity and directionless rage—and he maintains the hope that a culture of resistance will ultimately prevail over the forces of self-destruction. Whether one shares his optimism or not, he makes a compelling case that the future of the world will be determined on the streets of our cities.” —Mike Davis, from the Foreword
jueves, 22 de noviembre de 2012
ONG: Venezuela registró 19.336 asesinatos en 2011
Venezuela, uno de los países más violentos de América Latina, registró 19.336 asesinatos en 2011, lo que implica la muerte violenta de 53 personas diarias, según cifras de la organización Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia (OVV) divulgadas el martes.
"Debemos informar al país que el 2011 concluirá como el año más violento de la historia nacional, como aquel en el cual se han cometido más homicidios, para un total de 19.336 personas asesinadas", informó en nota de prensa esta agrupación que asegura obtener las cifras de datos oficiales no divulgados.
http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/sucesos/ong--venezuela-registro-19-336-asesinatos-en-2011.aspx
"Debemos informar al país que el 2011 concluirá como el año más violento de la historia nacional, como aquel en el cual se han cometido más homicidios, para un total de 19.336 personas asesinadas", informó en nota de prensa esta agrupación que asegura obtener las cifras de datos oficiales no divulgados.
http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/sucesos/ong--venezuela-registro-19-336-asesinatos-en-2011.aspx
Seis de los 14 países más violentos del mundo están en América Latina
Ginebra (AFP). Seis de los 14 países más
violentos del mundo están en América Latina, reveló hoy la segunda
edición del informe publicado por la secretaría de la Declaración de
Ginebra sobre Violencia Armada y Desarrollo, una iniciativa diplomática
lanzada en 2008.
"Un cuarto de todas las muertes violentas se produjeron
en sólo 14 países", señala el informe "Carga mundial de la violencia
armada" cuya primera edición no disponía de estadísticas por países.
Seis de esos países están en América Latina: El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala y Belice.
En estos países los grupos armados, a menudo vinculados al tráfico de
droga, provocan estragos, según el informe, cuyas estadísticas son de
2009.
martes, 20 de noviembre de 2012
lunes, 19 de noviembre de 2012
Marijuana legalization victories could be short-lived
They said the federal government could sue to block parts of the measures or send threatening letters to marijuana shops, followed up by street-level clampdowns similar to those targeting medical marijuana dispensaries the government suspects are fronts for drug traffickers.
"This is a symbolic victory for (legalization) advocates, but it will be short-lived," Kevin Sabet, a former adviser to the Obama administration's drug czar, told reporters.
"They are facing an uphill battle with implementing this, in the face of ... presidential opposition and in the face of federal enforcement opposition," Sabet said.
Colorado and Washington state legalized the possession and sale of marijuana for adult recreational use on Tuesday through ballot measures in defiance of federal law, while a similar initiative was defeated at the polls in Oregon.
The initiatives appeared to reflect growing national support for liberalized marijuana laws, as indicated by a Gallup poll last year that found 50 percent of Americans favored making it legal, versus 46 percent opposed.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which considers marijuana an illegal drug liable to being abused, said enforcement of the federal Controlled Substances Act "remains unchanged."
"We are reviewing the ballot initiatives and have no additional comment at this time," a government statement said.
Sabet said he expected the Obama administration would at some point file a federal lawsuit to challenge and seek to block aspects of state-level legalization measures and that this "is going to be caught up in the courts for quite a while."
HARD TO ROLL BACK CLOCK
But federal action was not expected to snuff out state-sanctioned marijuana in those states - especially the ability of individuals to possess an ounce or less of the drug without risk of arrest by local police.
Sabet, who opposes legalization, acknowledged that states were free to eliminate their own penalties for possession. But he said U.S. Attorneys could send letters to Colorado and Washington governors warning them not to implement provisions to regulate and tax marijuana at special stores.
Or the federal government could wait until such a system is created and sue to block it, he said.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, had said he personally opposed his state's legalization measure. But he has since said he plans to respect the will of voters.
In Washington state, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee, who was leading in the vote count in a tight race, has spoken out against his state's initiative but is committed to implementing it, campaign spokeswoman Jaime Smith said.
If the Obama administration reacts too harshly, it could suffer politically with younger, more left-leaning voters who chose legalization and typically lean Democratic.
But President Barack Obama also faces pressure from anti-drug groups to protect young people from harm they say would result if states set up a regulated and taxed marijuana trade.
Robert DuPont, who served as drug czar for former Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and opposes legalization, said he welcomed a confrontation.
"I think it's time to resolve it," he said.
Ian Millhiser, senior constitutional policy analyst with the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said the federal government, even if it sues to challenge the Colorado and Washington initiatives, cannot force police in those states to arrest people for marijuana infractions.
"If I were Barack Obama, I would look at this and say I would rather have young voters with me," Millhiser said.
Advierten sobre desestabilización por crimen organizado
''En
las entidades de la República que se muestran demasiado débiles y
vulnerables, las presiones de las organizaciones criminales han
terminado por someter y corromper todo''
“En las entidades de la República que se muestran demasiado débiles y vulnerables, las presiones de las organizaciones criminales han terminado por someter y corromper todo”, consideró la Arquidiócesis a través de la editorial de su publicación Desde la Fe.
Señaló que una indicación muy oportuna del Papa, y que México debería atender, va en el sentido de reprimir el crimen organizado en el ámbito de las reglas morales y jurídicas.
“Las acciones contra la delincuencia han de ser realizadas siempre en el respeto a los derechos humanos y a los principios de un Estado de derecho”.
En el texto, la iglesia Católica recordó el discurso que Benedicto XVI dirigió el pasado 9 de este mes a los participantes en la 81 Asamblea General de la Organización Policial Internacional (Interpol).
En su disertación el Sumo Pontífice aportó elementos de análisis y de orientación para la ingente tarea de superar la violencia global que tiene en el terrorismo y en la delincuencia organizada sus dos más brutales expresiones.
FRASE
"No podemos dejar de pensar en el costo sustancial, en lo que se refiere a la legalidad y a la moralidadde los procedimientos de las fuerzas del orden".
Arquidiócesis Primada de México.
domingo, 18 de noviembre de 2012
An Inside Look At Organized Crime In Japan
In the West, there's the mafia. In Japan, it's the yakuza.
The yakuza is an integral part of society but — unlike other crime organizations — it doesn't operate entirely in secret. Yakuza are often well-known in their neighborhoods and have plainly marked public offices. In fact, Business Insider has reported how they quickly offered aid in the wake of Japan's recent natural disasters — faster than even the Japanese government.
But it has a heavy hand in all the obvious things — like crime and prostitution. And The New York Times estimated in 2010 that it controlled approximately 22 trillion yen (back then, about $242 billion).
A yakuza walked into a small bar in Tokyo that Belgium-based photographer Anton Kusters was patronizing with his brother. The bartender explained what the yakuza was and warned that members should be treated with the utmost respect.
After 10 months of negotiations, Kusters was granted access to the yakuza and spent two years photographing while simultaneously learning its customs (such as yubitsume: the amputation of parts of one's finger for misbehavior). The second edition of his book, Odo Yakuza Tokyo, was published last year. He shares a few of his photos with The Picture Show and answers a few questions.
The Picture Show: So exactly how much influence does the yakuza have — culturally and economically speaking?
Anton Kusters: I'm not an expert on the yakuza. I did not do any research before embarking on this project. In part, because it is impossible to know the real impact of the yakuza, but mainly because my project is not a journalistic one: It is a conceptual documentary project showing the impressions that I had as an outsider being allowed to witness and photograph their closed world for two years. ...
That said, I'm told that the yakuza have an extremely big influence on Japanese society as a whole; their economic influence alone is estimated between 2 and 3 percent of Japan's GNP.
Did you ever get into trouble for how you acted, intentionally or otherwise?
Because I was actively taught how to behave by Soichiro, my [steward] within the yakuza, and everybody knew this was happening, I did not get into trouble. ... [It took 10 months of] negotiating with them to gain their trust and be allowed access ... before the project ever started.
How much are you allowed to divulge about what you saw and experienced?
During the negotiations I proposed and we agreed to work with the "two thumbs up" approach ... both parties have the right to veto any image for any publication.
This not only gave them the confidence to allow me to witness and photograph everything (because they knew they would be able to see and decide later), but also showed them that I ... could also not be "pushed around by them" to publish images I myself would not agree to.
This led to a balanced bidirectional relationship. ... Over the course of two years, there has been not one single image that they did not agree to. The moment they understood the artistic direction of the images and the story I was telling, the book I was creating, they knew my intentions were not journalistic but artistic.
Do you think the photos in your book humanize the yakuza?
... I cannot control, and I would never wish to control, which or how people assign value to my photographs. That is up to them. I am fully aware that certain people will think certain things about the images and draw conclusions.
I guess it is important to know that my intention is NOT to show any opinion on the yakuza (even though I am obviously opposed to violence in any shape or form), but in an as open-minded way as possible to show the feelings and impressions that I encountered during those two years, as best as I can, using my still crude ability to use the symbolism and language of photography.
by Ramona Martinez
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/08/20/159404527/an-inside-look-at-organized-crime-in-japan
The yakuza is an integral part of society but — unlike other crime organizations — it doesn't operate entirely in secret. Yakuza are often well-known in their neighborhoods and have plainly marked public offices. In fact, Business Insider has reported how they quickly offered aid in the wake of Japan's recent natural disasters — faster than even the Japanese government.
But it has a heavy hand in all the obvious things — like crime and prostitution. And The New York Times estimated in 2010 that it controlled approximately 22 trillion yen (back then, about $242 billion).
A yakuza walked into a small bar in Tokyo that Belgium-based photographer Anton Kusters was patronizing with his brother. The bartender explained what the yakuza was and warned that members should be treated with the utmost respect.
The Picture Show: So exactly how much influence does the yakuza have — culturally and economically speaking?
Anton Kusters: I'm not an expert on the yakuza. I did not do any research before embarking on this project. In part, because it is impossible to know the real impact of the yakuza, but mainly because my project is not a journalistic one: It is a conceptual documentary project showing the impressions that I had as an outsider being allowed to witness and photograph their closed world for two years. ...
That said, I'm told that the yakuza have an extremely big influence on Japanese society as a whole; their economic influence alone is estimated between 2 and 3 percent of Japan's GNP.
Did you ever get into trouble for how you acted, intentionally or otherwise?
Because I was actively taught how to behave by Soichiro, my [steward] within the yakuza, and everybody knew this was happening, I did not get into trouble. ... [It took 10 months of] negotiating with them to gain their trust and be allowed access ... before the project ever started.
How much are you allowed to divulge about what you saw and experienced?
During the negotiations I proposed and we agreed to work with the "two thumbs up" approach ... both parties have the right to veto any image for any publication.
This not only gave them the confidence to allow me to witness and photograph everything (because they knew they would be able to see and decide later), but also showed them that I ... could also not be "pushed around by them" to publish images I myself would not agree to.
This led to a balanced bidirectional relationship. ... Over the course of two years, there has been not one single image that they did not agree to. The moment they understood the artistic direction of the images and the story I was telling, the book I was creating, they knew my intentions were not journalistic but artistic.
Do you think the photos in your book humanize the yakuza?
... I cannot control, and I would never wish to control, which or how people assign value to my photographs. That is up to them. I am fully aware that certain people will think certain things about the images and draw conclusions.
I guess it is important to know that my intention is NOT to show any opinion on the yakuza (even though I am obviously opposed to violence in any shape or form), but in an as open-minded way as possible to show the feelings and impressions that I encountered during those two years, as best as I can, using my still crude ability to use the symbolism and language of photography.
by Ramona Martinez
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/08/20/159404527/an-inside-look-at-organized-crime-in-japan
Latin America’s Adaptive Gangsters
BOGOTÁ – Many Latin American countries have made impressive gains in building state capacity and strengthening democracy in recent decades. And yet criminal networks – entrenched relationships between legal and illegal agents engaged in organized criminal activities – continue to play a large role in these countries’ formal and informal economies and political institutions, rending the social fabric and threatening further progress.
Criminal
networks distort the most important sources of change: globalization,
technology, open markets, regional cooperation, and democracy. In a
context of weak institutions, persistent inequalities, and high levels
of marginalization and exclusion, new growth opportunities for organized
crime have emerged. Latin America has more (formal) democracy, higher
foreign-trade turnover, a larger middle class, and more advanced
technology than it had 20 years ago. It also has more organized crime.
These
networks bypass formal institutions to take advantage of the changes in
recent decades, exploiting lacunae in the international system and the
vulnerabilities of Latin American democracies. As a result, they have
expanded into global markets, enabled by an extralegal system of
relationships based on clientelism and corruption. Rather than resisting
change, criminal networks have adapted the forces of modernization to
their own advantage.
Criminal
factions – whether Mexico’s “cartels,” Colombia’s “bands,” or Brazil’s
“commandos” – are only the most visible part of these networks. The
totality is based on a series of complex relationships that connect
legal and illegal worlds, including politicians, judges, and prosecutors
who are willing to alter sentences for money; policemen and military
personnel involved in illegal activities; and businessmen who launder
money.
The
strength of these criminal networks rests on people and organizations –
present at all levels of society – that engage with illegal markets
when convenient. They expand locally and globally to satisfy market
demand, providing the illicit goods and services that societies want.
Incomes
produced by these illegal markets are huge, competing in size with
Latin America’s most successful legal commodities. Consider just the
profits from cocaine sales in North America, which, according to the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), total roughly $35 billion. Another $26 billion in sales are made in Western and Central Europe.
The
vast majority of these proceeds are retained by criminal organizations
in rich countries and laundered by banks in global financial centers,
with just a small amount returning to Latin America. According to the
Colombian academics Alejandro Gaviria and Daniel Mejía,
only 2.6% of the total street value of Colombian cocaine returns to the
country. In Mexico, a recent report published by the magazine Nexos
estimated organized crime’s total “rent” at $8 billion per year – a
small portion of total profits, but enough to buy off underpaid cops,
bribe corrupt public officials, and influence local economies.
Expansion
of criminal networks occurs not only across borders; illegal markets
have grown inside countries as well. Brazil is the world’s
second-largest consumer of cocaine in absolute terms, and Argentina has
the highest prevalence rate in the world, according to UNODC data.
Likewise, extortion is growing in Central America, and illegal mining is
a prosperous business in Colombia, with gold becoming the new cocaine –
easy to market and with lower risk.
Violence
is the other currency being traded in Latin America. With the exception
of a few guerrilla groups, organized crime is the only strategic actor
in the region that has the capacity to dispute the state’s claim to a
monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Given the near-absence of legal
forms of mediation, violence is the language used by criminal networks
to resolve disputes. When corruption and alliances with public officials
do not work, they confront state institutions directly.
Indeed, most Latin American countries far exceed the threshold of 10 homicides per 100,000
inhabitants that the World Health Organization uses to define an
“epidemic” level of violence. Countries like Honduras, El Salvador, and
Guatemala have the highest homicide rates in the world, owing to a high
density of criminal structures. The obsession of politicians with
imposing the rule of law through iron-fisted methods, it seems, brings
about only more insecurity for their citizens.
Breaking
the distorting power of these criminal networks requires first
confronting the distortions that perpetuate it: the failed war on drugs
and criminalization of consumers; the burgeoning privatization of
security; police agencies that reproduce, rather than reduce, violence
and crime; prisons that hone offenders’ criminal skills; and judicial
systems that re-victimize crime victims.
Ultimately,
the key is to build democratic institutions that are strong enough to
de-escalate violence and protect citizens, which in turn requires that
political leaders try new options, and that societies assume more
responsibility for their fate. Latin America’s governments and citizens
can recognize and address distortions in their own thinking, or they can
remain on a path of corruption and violence that erodes states and
citizenship alike.
Narco busca sangre joven en pandillas; involucra a 30 mil menores
MÉXICO, D.F. (proceso.com.mx).- Especialistas en seguridad y organismos de atención a la juventud alertaron que los cárteles del narcotráfico recurren cada vez más a pandillas para reclutar a jóvenes en situación vulnerable.
De acuerdo con Reforma, la Red por los Derechos de la Infancia estima que 30 mil menores participan en la delincuencia organizada, como “halcones”, y vigilantes de casas de seguridad.
Cuando cumplen los 16 años, pueden desempeñarse como sicarios, en un fenómeno que ha crecido en ciudades como León, Juárez, Monterrey, Acapulco, San Luis Potosí y Guadalajara, indica el diario.
El hecho de que los narcotraficantes recurran a las pandillas se relaciona con la estrategia oficial enfocada en detener o abatir a los capos, lo que obliga a los mandos medios a formar sus propias células delictivas a través de reclutar a jóvenes.
Reforma agrega que en un informe de la Organización de Estados Americanos la PGR reconoce la presencia de 215 pandillas vinculadas con la delincuencia organizada en el país.
Vicealcalde de Los Ángeles presenta estrategias sobre violencia y pandillas
Internacionales 16 noviembre, 2012 - 1:30 AM
El vicealcalde de Los Ángeles, California, Guillermo Céspedes y el representante de la USAID, Enrique Roig.
Durante la presentación, de una hora, los panelistas explicaron que Los Ángeles han reducido sus niveles de crimen en los últimos años, pese a que se señala como el génesis de las pandillas, pero ahora es una de las ciudades más seguras de Estados Unidos.
En diálogo con LA TRIBUNA, Céspedes indicó que desafortunadamente lo que marca el enfoque de resultados son los números a secas de los homicidios, que en Los Ángeles se redujeron de más de 1,200 a 297 al año.
Para el caso, explicó que el año pasado solo se registraron 297 asesinatos entre más de cuatro millones de habitantes que tiene la ciudad. El 52 por ciento de estos fueron muertes relacionadas con pandillas, pero en los 90 eran 1,200 homicidios al año, indicó.
Pero estos resultados se deben a programas regidos por 16 estrategias y no a programas individuales, porque los factores de riesgo a que los jóvenes se ven sometidos a mezclarse en organizaciones de antisociales son varios.
Los
cibernautas pudieron ver y hacer preguntas a los panelistas, gracias a
que la webcast se transmitió en vivo desde la Universidad José Cecilio
del Valle.
ESTRATEGIA
Como gobierno local de Los Angeles han trabajado en crear una estrategia integral para que sea efectiva, como la educación, recreación, unión familiar y empleos para la juventud, todo en coordinación con varias instituciones religiosas y Organizaciones No Gubernamentales (ONG´S).
Para el caso, se crearon más de dos millones de empleos para los jóvenes, permitiendo que tengan en qué invertir su tiempo y hasta cierto punto se han reducido los índices de disparos en un 55 por ciento, “nos llama mucho la atención, porque si no se detona un arma las muertes son menos”, expresó.
Consultado sobre la aplicación de una Ley Antimaras como se hizo en el gobierno del expresidente Ricardo Maduro, indicó que establecer una ley es un componente de una estrategia, pero no se completa, sin embargo lo más importante es trabajar con las familias y mejorar el acceso al sistema escolar y dar trabajo a los jóvenes, recalcó. “En Los Ángeles como gobierno municipal no podemos dedicar los recursos a una solución, si no a soluciones múltiples”.
El rector Carlos Ávila Molina dijo que todas estas propuestas son importantes para el país.
Refirió que su tarea en este momento es compartir con los países de la región centroamericana la experiencia de Los Ángeles sin ingerir en las posiciones internas de los países y ha encontrado mucho interés.
Para obtener estos alcances, en Los Ángeles se creó la Oficina de Reducción de Pandillas y Desarrollo Juvenil que establece la colaboración en las relaciones entre la policía, intervencionistas de pandillas y la comunidad, que son cruciales para abordar las causas profundas de la delincuencia.
Céspedes se encarga de supervisar todos los aspectos de los esfuerzos de la ciudad para reducir la violencia de pandillas, supervisa los programas de prevención, intervención y re-inserción de la ciudad y por más de 30 años ha mantenido los veranos seguros en la ciudad. (YB)
Organized crime group leader killed in Dagestan
November 16, 2012 - 20:57 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net
- One of the militants killed in clashes with security forces in the
Khasavyurt region of Dagestan was the leader of a local organized crime
group, Russia's National Antiterrorism Committee said on Friday, Nov 16,
according to RIA Novosti.A total of four militants were killed in two separate incidents earlier on Friday. Two were killed in a special operation in the suburbs of Khasavyurt, and two more died in a car in a village in the Khasavyurt region of the republic.
One of the militants was identified as Artur Shapiulayev, also known as “emir of the Khasavyurt gang,” the committee said.
A Kalashnikov 5.45-mm calibre rifle, two grenades and explosives were seized, the police said, but did not say from where.
The committee announced on Friday morning that two men, who were part of a group previously involved in crimes including murders, had blockaded themselves in a house in Khasavyurt.
Hollande promet la "mobilisation totale contre toutes les menaces terroristes"
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/hollande-promet-la-mobilisation-totale-contre-toutes-les-menaces-terroristes_1171242.html?xtmc=dellinquence_organisee&xtcr=7
Par LEXPRESS.fr, publié le
Le président de la République a annoncé le renforcement de la
protection des lieux de culte après avoir reçu à l'Elysée des
représentants d'organisations juives au lendemain d'une opération de
démantèlement d'un groupe islamiste.
sábado, 17 de noviembre de 2012
Tracking designer drugs, legal highs and bath salts
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2012/November/tracking-designer-drugs-legal-highs-and-bath-salts.html?ref=fs3
1 November 2012 - "Designer drugs", "legal highs" or "bath salts" - whatever they are labelled as, psychoactive substances have become a major concern in all regions of the world, particularly given their considerable public health consequences and their potentially even fatal effects.
The term "new psychoactive substances" covers a wide range of substances that often have pharmacological properties and effects similar to those of internationally controlled drugs. This diverse group includes synthetic cathinones, which are similar in structure to amphetamines and synthetic cannabinoids in mimicking the effects of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis. Piperazines, often sold as ecstasy, are another group of new psychoactive substances that were first encountered in established markets for amphetamine-type stimulants.
While new drugs have always appeared on illicit drug markets, the pace at which such substances have emerged in recent years has accelerated considerably. Last year in Europe alone, 49 new psychoactive substances were reported to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
No such figures are available at the global level, however, owing to the absence of an early warning system for these substances.
To fill this gap, UNODC operates a network of drug-testing laboratories through the international collaborative exercises programme, which for the first time allows laboratories from around the globe to monitor their performance in drug testing. Participating drug-testing laboratories also report at six-month intervals on the new substances that they have analysed.
New slaying in troubled Corsica raises alarms, French government pledges order
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/new-killing-in-troubled-corsica-raises-alarm-in-french-government/2012/11/15/66e9a754-2f23-11e2-af17-67abba0676e2_story.html
Jean-Pierre Belzit/Associated Press -
In this Jan. 2011 photo, Jacques Nacer, chief of Corsica’s
chamber of commerce, speaks in Ajaccio, Corsica island. France pledged
Thursday Nov.15, 2012 to restore order in Corsica, a day after Nacer,
also a prominent shopkeeper, was killed on a busy street on the
Mediterranean island long troubled by violent separatists and organized
crime.
The two high-profile recent deaths in the capital, Ajaccio, prompted the French government on Thursday to pledge to restore order on the Mediterranean island, long troubled by violent separatists and organized crime.
Violence is a daily affair in Corsica, though largely confined to the criminal underworld. But the two most recent killings in the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte struck down two men considered pillars of the community, and appeared to mark a turning point for a government that had largely let the turbulence slide in recent years.
Jacques Nacer owned a clothing store in Ajaccio’s bustling commercial district and was chief of Corsica’s chamber of commerce. Antoine Sollacaro was a lawyer who handled some of the island’s most sensitive cases, including defending the man convicted in the killing of a local official.
Both Nacer and Sollacaro, according to French media, had ties with the former nationalist leader Alain Orsoni, who returned to Corsica in 2008 after years abroad and now leads the local soccer club.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls said an average of 33 people are killed each year in Corsica — or about 20 percent of France’s gangland murders — on a tiny territory that holds less than 1 percent of the country’s total population.
Valls said a culture of fear had taken root as violence becomes more pronounced.
“In Corsica, people know but they do not say,” he said.
More than 200 kilometers (120 miles) off the coast of France and with an insular culture that extends to an obscure dialect closely linked to Italian, Corsica has always been isolated from the mainland.
But Valls said it would not be abandoned to criminals and declared that French law would prevail.
“Corsica is France,” he said. “It is not a territory apart.”
Christiane Taubira, France’s justice minister, acknowledged that only four of the 60 most recent killings on the island had ended in convictions and promised that the government would do better.
“A minority of murderers, assassins, crooks and mafiosi do not control the territory,” she said. “It’s the large majority of Corsicans who control the territory, and they will have the last word.”
Corsica, the starting point for next year’s Tour de France, is a tourist destination famed for its wild beaches and mountain vistas. Twenty years ago, the island was the scene of dozens of bombings, most of them linked to the homegrown nationalist movement that has persisted since the island was definitively taken over by the French under Napoleon in 1796.
Hoping to sap some of the nationalists’ strength, the French government tried to wipe out the Corsican tongue, a mix of French and Italian that UNESCO lists as a language in danger of extinction. But the language has made something of a comeback in recent years and is again taught in schools.
But Valls said France and Corsica were one and called on Corsicans to mobilize for their own future.
“If you know something, you have to talk. Everyone has to take responsibility,” he said.
After the lawyer’s death, the French government promised a series of measures to bring the Corsican administration closer to the central government in Paris.
Among them were sending more investigators and improving efforts against money laundering, drug trafficking and bribes for lucrative public works contracts.
Valls send the government will send 22 new officers to bolster the police and gendarmes.
“The state will not surrender, will not retreat,” said Taubira.
Patrick Strozda, the highest French official in Corsica, said the latest killing tipped the balance. The shopkeeper was shot by a masked man as he closed up for the night, on a pedestrian-only street filled with stores.
“This horrible crime, right in the street, only reinforces the determination of all law enforcement to end this death spiral,” Strozda said in a television interview.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
viernes, 16 de noviembre de 2012
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