The Americas Post - Victim Sheila Nabb poses with husband Andrew under happier circumstances. Photo Credit: Facebook

The governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa has promised an extensive probe into what happened to a Canadian woman hospitalized after she was badly beaten at a posh Mexico resort.

Sheila Nabb, 37, was vacationing with her husband  Andrew, at the all-inclusive Hotel Riu Emerald Bay resort last week when she was found inside a hotel elevator with serious injuries to her face.

The official statement released Wednesday said investigators are collaborating with Canadian authorities to keep them informed as the case advances.  The governor also expressed concerns to Mexican media that the incident could hurt tourism revenue.  He said surveillance cameras at the resort could provide some clues but investigators are hoping to speak with Nabb.

Nabb had been expected to undergo facial reconstructive surgery Wednesday or Thursday, but family members said she has contracted pneumonia, a condition common with a tracheotomy — a hole made in the windpipe to ease breathing.  She has been sedated again with the surgery rescheduled for later this week.

The Americas Post - Honduran criminals won't have Peace Corps volunteers to prey on anymore

Worsening drug and organized-crime violence in Central America has forced the Peace Corps to pull out of Honduras and halt the flow of new volunteers to Guatemala and El Salvador, that organization has announced.

Last month Peace Corps officials reviewed worsening conditions and decided to withdraw all 158 volunteers from Honduras in January and suspend training for 29 recruits.  That evacuation has now been carried out.

The Americas Post - Unless it's your job to do so, you probably shouldn't look inside that car

Mexican officials report that almost 13,000 people were killed in violence blamed on drug cartels between January and September of 2011.

That would bring the death toll to 47,515 since President Felipe Calderon launched his offensive against drug traffickers at the end of 2006.  Officials claimed the 11% rise in murders was slower than in previous years, but with presidential elections in July, violence is set to be a key issue for voters.

This week, Mexico’s Federal Attorney General’s office (PGR) released data showing 12,903 people killed in drug-related violence during the first nine months of 2011.  The first official statistics released since January 2011, they came in response to multiple freedom of information requests filed during the last several months.

The PGR claimed that the 11% rise was “a significant decrease” on previous years.  In 2009-2010, murders climbed 70%; 2008-2009 had a 63% rise and there was a 110% increase in 2007-2008.  But with the 2011 figures running just until September, the final total could surpass 16,000.

The PGR pointed out the violence was concentrated in just 25% of Mexico’s states.  Security improvements have been achieved in some areas, such as the border city of Tijuana.  Ciudad Juarez, also on the US-Mexico, remains among the most violent cities with 1,206 murders, although that was half of the approximately 2,500 killings the year before.  However, experts say the decline in killings may be the result of one cartel exerting overall control rather than specific success by the military or police.

Last year also brought drug violence to previously calm areas, such as the Gulf port city of Veracruz.  The capital, Mexico City, has remained relatively untouched.

On Wednesday however, two decapitated bodies were discovered inside a burning vehicle outside an upscale mall in the Santa Fe neighborhood of Mexico City.  Two heads were placed in front of the car.

The government mentions that Mexico’s murder rate remains below that of several neighbors, including Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil and Venezuela.

The Americas Post - Protesters send a clear message in Caracas against skyrocketing murder rates

According to the Venezuela Violence Observatory, over 19,336 people have been killed there so far in 2011, averaging 53 per day.

Those figures would make Venezuela’s murder rate the highest in South America, and four times worse than that of Mexico.  Violent crime is already considered a major issue in elections next year, when President Hugo Chavez is seeks another term in office.

“We must inform the nation that 2011 will end as the the most violent year in the nation’s history,” the Venezuela Violence Observatory (OVV) said in their news release.

The numbers – compiled from research by several Venezuelan universities – suggest a murder rate of 67 per 100,000 inhabitants during 2011.  That compares to 32 per 100,000 last year next door in Colombia and 14 per 100,000 in Mexico, two countries suffering from intense drug-related violence.

The Venezuelan government admits problems with violent crime, but claims the figures are lower.  Earlier this year, Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami told Congress the murder rate was 48 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The OVV said that violent crime has been going up in Venezuela since 1999, when President Chavez took office. That year just 4,550 murders were recorded.

Other crimes such as robbery and kidnapping have also been on the rise along with the murder rate.

In November, President Chavez announced the creation of a new armed force – the People’s Guard – to promote public security.  Thousands of soldiers were deployed on the streets of Caracas and other regions to support police where crime levels are high.

Several other Latin American countries have murder rates far higher than the global average of 6.9 per 100,000 people.

The highest rate during 2010 was in Honduras, which had 82 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

The Americas Post - Things are quieting down for the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Murders, rapes and other violent crimes declined significantly in the United States during the first six months of 2011, extending a downward trend that has lasted 4 1/2 years, the FBI announced on Monday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said preliminary January-to-June statistics showed violent crime declining 6.4 percent from the previous year, led by a 5.7 percent decrease in murders and a 5.1 percent drop in rapes.

In other categories of violent crime, robberies declined 7.7 percent while aggravated assaults fell 5.9 percent.

The FBI’s regular statistical report did not provide reasons for the lower crime rate nationwide, but the numbers show no evidence of any growth in crime resulting from high unemployment and a weak economy.

The report is compiled from information provided by over 12,500 police and other law enforcement agencies across the country.

Violent crimes dropped about the same amount in all four regions of the country, including big cities, smaller cities and rural areas.

Property crimes like burglary, larceny, theft and motor vehicle theft also declined in the first half of the year, with burglaries down 2.2 percent, larceny and theft down 4.0 percent and stolen vehicles down 5.0 percent.

The separate category of arson plunged 8.6 percent in the first six months of the year, the FBI said.

The Americas Post - Plane? What plane? Oh, you mean THAT plane...

An American military aircraft helped monitor the deadly 2010 raid by Jamaican security forces to capture a fugitive crime boss, that country’s prime minister has admitted, in spite of earlier denials by his government.

The U.S. P-3 Orion provided aerial surveillance of the operation to arrest Christopher “Dudus” Coke, Prime Minister Andrew Holness told reporters on Thursday.   The raid ignited a vicious battle in a West Kingston slum that left over 70 dead.

Holness insisted that the U.S. played no other role in the raid in the Tivoli Gardens neighborhood.  ”We would want to reaffirm our position that the U.S. Government or its military did not participate in the operations in West Kingston,” he said.

His statement came just one day after National Security Minister Dwight Nelson claimed that the U.S. had not provided any surveillance of the raid, in spite of a report in The New Yorker magazine.

Holness said that Nelson made the statement in error because he was unaware of the U.S. assistance. Prior official statements had also denied any U.S. role in the raid. The prime minister said the surveillance was coordinated between the Jamaican Defense Force and the “relevant government agency” in the U.S.

“The United States Government initially made an offer to provide surveillance and technical equipment,” he said. “We accepted and followed the normal protocol of exchanging diplomatic notes to provide the government-to-government cover for such assistance.”

Ocsar Derby, director of Jamaica’s Civil Aviation Authority, said Friday that officials with the island’s Defense Force had notified him the U.S. craft would carry out a surveillance mission.

“We made sure to keep other aircraft away from the area,” he said.

The hunt for Coke in his West Kingston slum stronghold provoked fighting that killed 73 civilians and three security officers over the next four days. He was finally arrested by Jamaican authorities and extradited to the U.S., where he pleaded guilty in August to racketeering and assault charges. Coke faces up to 23 years in prison when he is sentenced.

The Americas Post - Al-Saadi Gadhafi wanted to go Al Puerto Vallarta. Photo Credit: AP

Mexican authorities said Wednesday that a surviving son of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and three other relatives planned to enter Mexico under false names and hide at a Pacific coast resort.

The plan to smuggle in al-Saadi Gadhafi allegedly involved two Mexicans, a Canadian and a Danish suspect, all of whom have been arrested according to Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire.

The plot was discovered by Mexican intelligence agents in September as al-Saadi fled Libya shortly after his father’s downfall.  He never made it as far as Mexico, ending up in the Western African country of Niger where he currently resides.

The plotters allegedly flew to Mexico, opened bank accounts and bought safe houses in several parts of the country, including one just outside Puerto Vallarta.

“The great economic resources which this criminal organization has, or had, allowed them to contract private flights,” Poire told a news conference.

Poire named Canadian Cynthia Vanier as the group’s ringleader.  He said she had been picked up on Nov. 10 and is now under house arrest with three other suspects on suspicion of document falsification, human smuggling and organized crime.

Poire said Vanier “was the direct contact with the Gadhafi family and the leader of the group, and presumably was the person in charge of the finances of the operation.”

The plot also allegedly depended on a Mexican woman living in the United States, who Poire said obtained the falsified Mexican identity documents.

A Danish man acted as “the logistic liaison” for the plan, Poire said.  He said the alleged conspirators also traveled to Kosovo “and several Middle Eastern countries.”

The Mexican officials made no mention of Moammar Gadhafi himself being involved in the plan, and Poire did not say which relatives may have planned to accompany the son to Mexico. The elder Gadhafi fell from power in late August and was killed in Libya on Oct. 20.

Poire said that false documents were issued in the names of “Daniel Bejar Hanan, Amira Sayed Nader, Moah Bejar Sayed and Sofia Bejar Sayed.”  The Gadhafi name does not appear anywhere in the documents.

The Americas Post - Colombian soldiers held in a makeshift FARC prison camp

FARC guerrillas are “the only ones responsible” for the death of four hostages found shot this weekend after a firefight with government troops trying to free them, according to Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos.

“This is an atrocious crime which merits the condemnation of all Colombians as well as the international community”, he said during his normal weekly address.  ”The only ones responsible for this vile action, for this crime against humanity, are the FARC.”

“Imagine that they’re going to blame these acts on government forces”, Santos added.  ”All it takes is common sense to place the responsibility with those that kidnapped them years ago and today pulled the trigger.”

The victims were three police officers and one soldier, held by the FARC for at least 12 years.  They were found shot in the back of the head and in the back.

Santos expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and his commitment to the military campaign.

“I want to tell the FARC that the only thing this will accomplish is to inject public forces with more determination to combat them”, he insisted.

The Colombian Armed Rebel Forces, known by their Spanish acronym as the FARC, are the oldest guerrilla movement in Latin America, with 47 years in the field.  They currently number between 8,000 and 9,000 combatants and hold at least 14 police and military hostages who they propose to exchange for jailed guerrillas.

The Americas Post - Venezuelan shoplifters beware. Photo Credit: AFP

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent thousands of National Guard soldiers into the streets of Caracas and surrounding states on Thursday,  to reinforce  police overwhelmed by widespread violent crime.

“We’ve been fighting and reducing overall crime rates, but we’ve fallen short when it comes to the number of homicides,” Chavez said to troops at a downtown plaza.

More than 3,200 soldiers were ordered to the streets of Caracas and the surrounding states of Miranda and Vargas, according to Gen. Miguel Vivas Landino.

Venezuela suffers one of the highest murder rates in Latin America. The government has not reported official statistics for several years, but numbers released by human rights groups and academic researchers indicate it as one of the most dangerous countries the hemisphere.

According to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a Caracas-based academic organization that tracks crime  trends, from 1998 through 2010 the annual homicide rate tripled from 19 to 57 for every 100,000 residents.  Other violent crimes such as kidnapping and armed robbery have also increased in recent years in Venezuela.  Reports of kidnappings increased from 52 in 1998 to 618 in 2009.

As kidnapping has increased, the government in 2009 stiffened prison sentences for kidnapping and allowed authorities to freeze bank accounts of victims’ families to block them from paying ransoms.  Last week, Major League baseball player Wilson Ramos was taken at gunpoint from his home in the city of Valencia. The Washington Nationals catcher was rescued by police from a remote mountain hideout two days later.

Rising crime and other problems have hurt Chavez’s standing in the polls, although he remains Venezuela’s most popular politician heading into next year’s presidential election.

During Thursday’s speech, Chavez warned soldiers that his opponents are preparing to cause chaos and upheaval ahead of the election.  He claimed his enemies know they cannot win at the polls, so they are planning disruption and accusations of voter fraud to smear his election triumph.

Chavez has made similar charges in the past without any proof, and offered no evidence this time either.  Opposition leaders have stated repeatedly that they plan to unseat him via the ballot box, without resorting to violence or unconstitutional methods.

The Americas Post - El Salvador was more dangerous than Iraq

According to a statement released this week by the office of the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, six of the 14 most violent countries on this planet are located in Latin America.

Launched by the United Nations in 2008 and now signed by 110 countries, the Geneva Declaration has the stated goal of supporting governments and civil society in their efforts to significantly reduce violence by 2015 and beyond.

“One quarter of all violent deaths were produced in just 14 countries” stated the report titled “Global Burden of Armed Violence”.  Six of those countries with the highest death rates are El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala and Belize.   The document attributed many of the deaths to armed groups involved in drug trafficking.

Violent deaths in Central America averaged 29 per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by South Africa with 27.4 and the Caribbean with 22.4.  El Salvador was the most violent country on Earth, with over 60 deaths per 100k.   Between 2004 and 2009, that average was higher than Iraq, which held second place.  Brazil ranked 18th in the world for violent death rate, while in spite of its drug war Mexico came in at 51st place.