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guyanatimesgy.com
monday, January 11, 2016
Regional
Mexico says Sean Penn interview US Army General concerned about potential ISIS attacks helped catch “El Chapo” in Caribbean
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secret interview given by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the recaptured Mexican drug kingpin, to the American actor Sean Penn helped authorities locate his whereabouts, according to a Mexican law enforcement official. The interview between Guzman and Penn, purportedly held in late 2015 in a hideout in Mexico, appeared on Saturday on the website of Rolling Stone magazine. An anonymous Mexican official said it was the Penn interview that led authorities to Guzman in a rural part of Durango State in October. News of Penn’s secret meeting came as Mexican officials weighed the possibility of extraditing Guzman to the United States, something they had ruled out earlier. Authorities aborted an earlier raid because Guzman was with two wom-
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The interview between Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Sean Penn was purportedly held in late 2015 in a hideout in Mexico [Rolling Stone]
en and a child. But they were able to track him to Los Mochis, Sinaloa, where he was captured on Friday. He was arrested after a shootout in Los Mochis, six months after he escaped Mexico’s most-secure prison. Five people were killed during the operation that caught Guzman, who has twice escaped from prison. Arely Gomez, Mexico Attorney General, said on Friday that Guzman’s
contact with actors and producers for a possible biopic helped give law enforcement a new lead. In the Rolling Stone’s interview, when Penn asks Guzman about whether he is responsible for the high level of drug addiction in the world, he responds: “No, that is false, because the day I don’t exist, it’s not going to decrease in any way at all. Drug trafficking? That’s false.” (Excerpt from
Al Jazeera)
2 Argentine fugitives escape manhunt
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huge manhunt in Argentina netted only one of three fugitives convicted of three murders, officials said hours after claiming all had been caught. The three broke out of a maximum-security prison almost two weeks ago. President Mauricio Macri’s office initially said they were captured northwest of Buenos Aires, but Police later said that two remained at large. The latest twist is a major embarrassment to the new President, correspondents say. The Police manhunt – shown on live television –
has gripped the country. Police say the man they captured, Martin Lanetta, was caught after the car the men were travelling in rolled over in the chase in Santa Fe province, about 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the capital. The other two escaped on foot. Victor Shellac and brothers Christian and Martin Lanatta were serving life in prison for kidnapping and murdering three men allegedly connected to a drug trafficking ring. President Macri – a conservative who replaced Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner after elections in
December – had accused the previous Administration of not doing enough to crack down on drug crime. Last month, the men escaped from one of the country’s most secure prisons using a fake gun to threaten one of the guards. Martin Lanatta had leapt into the political limelight last year when he accused the presidential chief of staff, Anibal Fernandez, of complicity in the killings. Fernandez denied the accusation, but it damaged his campaign last October to become the new Governor of Buenos Aires province. (Excerpt from BBC News)
top Army General in the United States is worried that a few Islamic extremists in the Caribbean could carry out terrorist acts in the Region. Commander of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), General John Kelly said about 100 Islamic extremists left the Caribbean Region to join Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters in the Middle East last year – some of whom were killed – and the number had risen to about 150 this year. However, his worry is less about the impact those Caribbean nationals have
on the ISIS fight overseas and more about what they can do in their homelands. “I am more concerned particularly now it seems like the Islamic extremists and terrorists have shifted a lot of their message, and that is, ‘hey, rather than come to Syria, why don’t you stay at home and do San Bernardino, or do Boston, or do Fort Hood’,” he said, referring to incidents of terrorist attacks in the US. “My concern as the SOUTHCOM Commander, is . . . even just a few of these, you know, nuts can cause an awful lot of trouble down in the Caribbean
because they don’t have an FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation], they don’t have law enforcement like we do. They don’t have TSA [Transportation Security Administration]. They don’t really have the same kinds of things at the airports that we do, in terms of checking the comings and goings of people . . . l,” Kelly told journalists at a Department of Defence Press Briefing at the Pentagon on Friday. The Army General said the US was therefore trying its best to help those countries, like Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)
New ECCB Governor appointed
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he Monetary Council has appointed Timothy Antoine as Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). Antoine, a Grenadian national, succeeds Sir K Dwight Venner who retired on November 30, 2015. He is the holder of a BSc degree in Economics with Management from the University of the West Indies and an MSc in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics. The appointment of Antoine followed a process that included identification of suitable candidates by a Search Committee led by Sir Errol Allen, interviewing of these candidates and the submission of recommendations of the Search Committee to the Monetary Council.
ECCB Governor Timothy Antoine
The Monetary Council, the highest decision making body of the ECCB, interviewed the two top ranked candidates before making its decision. The Monetary Council expressed its appreciation of the Search Committee for its service and thanked all the candidates who were considered. In welcoming Antoine,
Victor Banks, Chief Minister of Anguilla and Chairman of the Monetary Council, noted that “Antoine is an outstanding Caribbean professional with a clear vision for the ECCB and demonstrated commitment to the development of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union”. (Antigua Observer)
Bahamas National Security Minister PAHO working with Caribbean visits FBI HQ for crime talks Govts to “prevent, detect ahamas’ National are reviewing certain mat-
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Security Minister, Dr Bernard Nottage, met with US officials at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, on Thursday to discuss concerns surrounding the crime problem in The Bahamas, Prime Minister Perry Christie said. Christie also said that he (Christie) met with Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade earlier this week to finalise plans to implement the Government’s new crime-fighting strategies. Christie told the media that Nottage and US officials reviewed matters that could impact what the Bahamian Government did in the crime fight, particularly with gangs. He was responding to questions surrounding crime and a US Embassy
Bahamas National Security Minister, Dr Bernard Nottage
advisory, which revealed that five US citizens have allegedly been sexually assaulted by jet ski operators in the last year and a half. “Dr Nottage and the Chargé d’Affaires [met] yesterday and today at the FBI headquarters in Washington where they
ters that will be important to what we do here in The Bahamas,” Christie said. In an advisory on Tuesday, the US Embassy in Nassau warned American citizens not to patronise the water sports industry in The Bahamas after a jet ski operator allegedly raped an American tourist over the weekend. In response, Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin said the man charged with the crime did not have a licence to operate a jet ski. When asked for more details on the Government’s crime plan and when it will take effect, the Prime Minister responded, “...I expect the Commissioner of Police in his annual report to speak to what is going to happen.” (Excerpt from Nassau Guardian)
and respond” to Zika Virus
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he Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), said it was working with Caribbean Governments “to prevent, detect and respond” to the Zika Virus. On Friday, PAHO said starting in March 2014 and through the first week of 2016, 14 countries and territories of the Americas, including the Caribbean, have reported cases of Zika infection. The Virus, which is transmitted to humans by infected <<Aedes aegypti>> mosquitoes, causes symptoms including light fever, rash, conjunctivitis and muscle pain. The health organisation says a current con-
cern is the effect of Zika Virus on pregnant women and new-born babies. PAHO said there was little information on transmission of the Zika Virus from mother to baby during pregnancy or childbirth, stating that perinatal transmission has been reported with other vector-borne viruses, such as Dengue and Chikungunya. The studies are now being conducted on possible mother-to-child transmission of the virus and its possible effects on the baby. In November 2015, PAHO said the Brazilian Health Ministry noted a marked increase in microcephaly, in which the head
circumference of newborns is smaller than expected. PAHO said that that discovery coincided with Zika Virus circulation in the country. With support from PAHO and other agencies, “health authorities are carrying out studies to clarify the causes, risk factors, and consequences of this increase in microcephaly”, the statement said. PAHO said the Zika fever occurs about three to 12 days after the mosquito bite, and the clinical manifestation of the virus is often similar to Dengue, also a mosquito-borne illness. (Excerpt from CMC)