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Mexico arrests son of notorious drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’

Photo: Marcos Vizcarra / AFP

January 5 | By AFP |

Mexican security forces on Thursday captured a son of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, scoring a high-profile win in the fight against powerful cartels days before US President Joe Biden visits.

Ovidio Guzman, who was arrested in the northwestern city of Culiacan, is accused of leading a faction of his father’s notorious Sinaloa cartel, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval told reporters.

The 32-year-old, nicknamed “El Raton” (The Mouse), has allegedly helped to run his father’s drug trafficking operations since El Chapo was extradited to the United States in 2017.

The United States had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Ovidio Guzman’s arrest, accusing him of being a key player in the Sinaloa cartel.

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His capture — which resulted in gunfire and cars set ablaze in Culiacan — comes as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador prepares to welcome Biden next week for a North America leaders’ summit at which security is expected to be high on the agenda.

“El Chapo” is serving a life prison sentence in the United States for trafficking hundreds of tons of drugs into the US over the course of 25 years.

However, his cartel remains one of the most powerful in Mexico.

Ovidio Guzman and one of his brothers are accused of overseeing nearly a dozen methamphetamine labs in Sinaloa as well as conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana, according to the US State Department.

He also allegedly ordered the murders of informants, a drug trafficker and a Mexican singer who refused to sing at his wedding, it said.

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Previous failed arrest

Ovidio Guzman was captured briefly once before in 2019, but security forces freed him after his cartel waged an all-out war in response.

Several people were killed on that occasion in the Sinaloa state capital Culiacan as gunmen launched a massive machine-gun assault, leaving the streets strewn with blazing vehicles.

His release prompted sharp criticism of Lopez Obrador, who said the decision was made to protect civilians’ lives.

The Sinaloa state government urged people to stay at home on Thursday following the latest arrest.

Lopez Obrador has struggled to curb the brutal violence racking Mexico since taking office in 2018.

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He championed a “hugs not bullets” strategy to tackle violent crime at its roots by fighting poverty and inequality with social programs, rather than with the army.

The left-wing populist has asked the United States to invest in regional economic development instead of sending helicopter gunships and other weapons to take on drug traffickers.

Mexico has registered more than 340,000 murders since the government controversially deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006, most of them blamed on criminal gangs.

On Sunday, cartel gunmen attacked a prison in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, leaving nearly 20 people dead and allowing 25 inmates to flee.

The next day, seven people were killed during a police operation to recapture the prisoners.

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The escapees included Ernesto Alfredo Pinon, known as “El Neto,” the leader of a gang allied with the Juarez drug cartel.

Pinon, who had been sentenced to more than 200 years in prison in 2010 for kidnapping and murder, was killed on Thursday in a shootout with security forces, authorities said.

International

Paraguay summons Brazilian ambassador over Itaipú espionage scandal

Paraguay summoned the Brazilian ambassador in Asunción on Tuesday to demand “explanations” and called its own representative in Brasília for consultations following Brazil’s acknowledgment of an espionage operation. The Brazilian government, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attributed the operation to the previous administration.

The surveillance effort aimed to uncover Paraguay’s position in now-suspended negotiations with Brazil regarding the pricing of electricity from the binational Itaipú hydroelectric plant, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

The Brazilian government “categorically denied any involvement in the intelligence operation,” stating in a Foreign Ministry communiqué on Monday that the espionage was carried out under former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2023).

“The operation was authorized by the previous government in June 2022 and was annulled by the interim director of the (state intelligence agency) ABIN on March 27, 2023, as soon as the current administration became aware of it,” Brazil’s government asserted.

Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez announced that Brazilian Ambassador José Antonio Marcondes de Carvalho was summoned “to provide detailed explanations” regarding the operation. Additionally, Paraguay recalled its diplomatic representative in Brasília “to report on aspects related to the intelligence activity conducted by Brazil regarding Paraguay’s government affairs.”

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International

Elon Musk to step down as government advisor, per Trump insiders

President Donald Trump has informed his inner circle that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his role as a government advisor, according to a report by Politico today.

Citing three individuals close to Trump, Politico states that the president is pleased with Musk’s leadership at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he has implemented significant budget cuts. However, both have agreed that it is time for Musk to return to his businesses and support Trump from a different position outside the government.

A senior administration official told Politico that Musk will likely maintain an informal advisory role and continue to be an occasional visitor to the White House. Another source warned that anyone thinking Musk will completely disappear from Trump’s circle is “deluding themselves.”

According to the sources, this transition is expected to coincide with the end of Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee,” a temporary status that exempts him from certain ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations. This 130-day period is set to expire in late May or early June.

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International

Milei vows to make Argentina so strong that Falkland Islanders “choose” to join

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his country’s claim over the Falkland Islands (known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina) and praised the role of the nation’s armed forces during a ceremony marking the “Veterans and Fallen Soldiers of the Malvinas War Day,” commemorating 43 years since the 1982 conflict with the United Kingdom.

Argentina continues to assert sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain unlawfully seized them in 1833.

“If sovereignty over the Malvinas is the issue, we have always made it clear that the most important vote is the one cast with one’s feet. We hope that one day, the Malvinas residents will choose to vote with their feet and join us,” Milei stated.

“That is why we aim to become a global power—so much so that they would prefer to be Argentine, making deterrence or persuasion unnecessary. This is why we have embarked on a path of liberation, working to make Argentina the freest country in the world and once again the nation with the highest GDP per capita on the planet,” he added.

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