The Americas Post.- Alleged Pirates detained in Gulf of Aden by U.S. Marines of USS Anzio.(Combined Maritime Forces photo/Released)

Specially in Somalia´s waters, pirates are increasingly turning to kidnapping and hostage-taking to generate funding to purchase weapons and continue operations.

As a comment to a recent statement of the United Nations, the Assistant Secretary Andrew Shapiro at the State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs said that there has been a decline of piracy attacks during 2011because of security steps taken by commercial vessels traveling in high-risk areas.

While speaking during a Defense Conference earlier this month, Shapiro said the U.S. had recently helped Somalia establish a national policy encouraging countries to allow their commercial ships sailing in high-risk waters to carry armed security personnel on board.

“The reason for this is simple: to date no ship with an armed security team aboard has been successfully pirated,” he said. “We have recently demarched countries to permit the use of privately contracted armed security personnel on commercial vessels.”

Shapiro said the State Department is working with countries to make it easier for privately contracted security personnel to transit foreign ports with weapons intended for the self-defense of ships, like f.e. in the Suez Canal. READ MORE HERE

Peru’s presidential front-runner Keiko Fujimori has hired former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as an adviser in public safety, and the former mayor of New York travelled to Lima to see first hand the situation of crime in Peru.

Rudolph Giuliani,  whose tough police tactics cutted crime in New York and were popular among citizens is now working as a consultant expert in Public Safety and as a global expert on Terrorism after the September 11 attacks, will help Fujimori´s campaign to design effective  public safety programs.
“He has a great record of fighting delinquency, so I think his presence here is helpful to strengthen our proposals,” said front runner Keiko Fujimori of Giuliani on Monday.
However, this initiative could improve Keiko´s chances in the main cities, where she is already much stronger than Humala. Giulani´s presence will also improve the amount of conservative voters, which is like adding more water in the pool, since Keiko is already strong among conservatives.

Analysts said what she needs is to gain votes in the countryside and from the voters with low socio economic status, and it is difficult to say how Giulani´s presence will help her to achieve that. Public safety is a top concern ‘of voters, according to the polls. So, time will say..

Ollanta Humala won the first elections round, and since then Keiko Fujimori has been more succesfull by gaining more votes than Humala. Now, Fujimori is leading the polls by a small margin.
Keiko Fujimori indicated Giuliani will help with Programs combating urban crime in cities like Lima.  Nowadays, Peru faces broad security though risks.
Peru has seen a rise in violent crime in recent years that local police say is related at least in part to drug trafficking. The country is the top global producer of coca leaf in the world. The coca leaf is the raw material used to produce cocaine.
The Government is also trying to catch two remnant bands of the maoist terrorist movement Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) who, as the FARC did before, went into the cocaine business after  tyhe leader Abigail Guzman was in the 1990s by the elder Fujimori’s security forces (Alberto Fujimori, former President of Peru and father of Keiko, now in prison).
Giulani has already worked as a consultant in Latin American countries like Mexico, Brazil and Colombia and Peru, and now he decided to send two experts who have been two months in the country and will articulate the recommendations to Keiko Fujimori.
Giuliani, who said he was surprised “a lot” about high public perceptions of insecurity in Peru, said that programs to reduce crime rates should adjust to the reality of each place. “Before making recommendations, it is necessary to know the people of the city, because no single method can serve all the cities,” said the international consultant.
He warned that reducing levels of crime in the cities “can not happen  in two or three months” and exemplified by the “two years” it took to see the first results in New York and even the four that are necessary for citizens to take consciousness. For the consultant, public support is essential to achieve good results in reducing crime, but also stressed the need to create a police force “honest, responsible, accountable.”

The news has generated considerable media attention which could favor the candidate who is currently ahead in the polls over his opponent, Ollanta Humala, in the face of the second round on 5 June. Recent survey by the pollster CPI, released last weekend shows that the centrist candidate Fujimori would get 52.9% of the vote while leftist and “Chavez” admirer Ollanta Humala  achieved 47.1%.

Director of European police cooperation group Europol Rob Wainwright

The Internet has become one of the main tools of European organized crime and human trafficking, drugs and money laundering in addition to being a vehicle of cybercrime.

According to a new report by the European Police Office, Europol, in the last two years have seen a marked increase of criminal groups who use the Internet to commit “traditional “crimes.

“This is a new picture of crime, increasingly marked by highly mobile groups and flexible operating in multiple jurisdictions and criminal sectors, and supported, in particular, by widespread and illegal use of internet, “says the report.

According to the institution, the network is being increasingly used to facilitate illegal immigration and trafficking in counterfeit goods provide with endangered species, among other crimes.

“The Internet has become the main facilitator of organized crime , ” said the director of Europol , Rob Wainwright .

More police to the mexican border.

Mexico will have a Border Police with tasks such as to prevent illegal entry of weapons, explosives and other substances into the national territory of Mexico by the border areas, mainly the United States.

Yesterday, the House of Representatives in Mexico also endorsed that the Border Police are in charge of prosecuting crimes of human trafficking, slavery, trafficking in human organs, and ultimately provide protection to the rights of Mexicans repatriated, mostly with U.S. illegal status.

The Border Police will be grouped within the Federal Police and will be empowered to monitor the 49 customs locations of the country such as checkpoints, monitoring centers and immigration control, airports and seaports authorized for international traffic and airspace.

The National Defense Secretariat seized last year in these functions, 487.026 kilograms of marijuana, 1307 kilograms of cocaine, 5.880 weapons, 1,305,991 cartridges, 60.1 million pesos, 22.8 billion dollars, 3.440 vehicles and the arrest of 3,200 people in Lower California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, and Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas.

The primary responsibilities of the DHS are :

a)      protecting the territory of the U.S. from terrorist attacks and

b)      responding to natural disasters.

In FY 2010 it was allocated a budget of $42.7 billion and spent, net, $56.4 billion.

The Department of Homeland Security works in the civilian sphere to protect the United States within, at, and outside its borders.

Its stated mission is to:

a)      prepare for,

b)      prevent,

c)      and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism.

On March 1, 2003, DHS absorbed the Immigration and Naturalization Service and assumed its duties. In doing so, it divided the enforcement and services functions into two separate and new agencies: Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE and the Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Additionally, the border enforcement functions of the INS and  the U.S. Customs Service were consolidated into a new agency under DHS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

With more than 200,000 employees, DHS is the third largest Cabinet department within the federal government, after the Departments of Defense and Veteran Affairs.

Homeland Security policy is coordinated at the White House by the Homeland Security Council.

According to analysts, the creation of DHS constituted the most significant U.S. government reorganization since the Cold War, and the most substantial reorganization of U.S. federal agencies since the U.S. National Security Act of 1947.

DHS also constitutes the most diverse merger of federal functions and responsibilities, incorporating 22 government agencies into a single organization.

After being signed by the President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, the military may carry out patrols, inspections and detentions of persons and seizure of vehicles, boats and aircraft, acting like the police.

The bill was introduced in December last year by Lula himself and claims that Brazil’s army has a more active role in the defense of sovereignty and fight against illegal drug trafficking (specially from Paraguay) with works by patrolling the land and sea borders of Brazil, strengthening the combat tasks against drug trafficking, arms trafficking and smuggling.

In Ciudad del Este various sectors have doubt about the true intention of the Brazilian government. They believe that using the army to join road controls carried out by other public and Federal Police Force, Civil and Federal Highway, lies a forbidden intent to maintain pressure on the trade in Ciudad del Este, which has been accused of harbouring illegal activities of almost all kind, like weapons, drugs, terrorists.

The situation in Ciudad del Este.-

In a recent report made by June S. Beittel is analyst in Latin American Affairs (UNACE) for CRS. Parts of this report were contributed by Mark P. Sullivan, Specialist in Latin American Affairs. This report was published by the Congressional Research Service under the title “Paraguay: Political and Economic Conditions and U.S. Relations.” 

The protection of intellectual property rights (IPR, e.g., fighting piracy, counterfeiting, and contraband) has been a U.S. concern. The Duarte government made significant efforts to improve IPR protection, but the United States Trade Representative maintains that the country continues to have problems due to its porous border and ineffective prosecutions. In 2003, U.S. and Paraguayan officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen legal protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in Paraguay. In December 2007, the MOU was revised and extended through 2009, and in November 2009 the agreement was extended again through 2011.45The United States provided about $13.1 million in foreign assistance to Paraguay in FY2008 and an estimated $26.1 million in FY2009.46 The increase in FY2009 was due to a one-time addition of $10 million for health and economic growth assistance resulting from the October 2008 meeting between President Lugo and former President Bush.

Under the Obama Administration’s FY2010 request, Paraguay would receive $13.9 million in assistance, with $2.1 million to support Global Health and Child Survival, $5.8 million in Development Assistance, $425,000 in International Military Education and Training, $750,000 for Foreign Military Financing, $500,000 in International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement assistance, and $4.3 million for the continuation of a Peace Corps program in the country, with approximately 200 volunteers.

In 2009, the Department of Defense also provided Paraguay one-time security and stabilization assistance authorized under Section 1207 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In FY2009, Paraguay received a total of $6.69 million in “Section 1207” funding divided between counternarcotics and development accounts to support democratic consolidation and reduce violence in eastern Paraguay during the country’s transition from one-party rule to multi-party democracy.47

In addition to regular foreign assistance funding, Paraguay signed a $34.65 million Threshold Program agreement with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in May 2006. Those funds, which are administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), are targeted to strengthen the rule of law and build a transparent business environment.48 The program has been credited with reducing the time it takes to start a business in Paraguay by half, among other accomplishments. In May 2009, the USAID-administered program was renewed with the signing of a second two-year MCC Threshold program for $30.3 million.49 The program supports anti-corruption efforts by Paraguay’s government in law enforcement, customs, health care, and judicial sectors. The MCC program also aims to increase public support for anti-corruption efforts.50 Paraguay also signed an agreement with the United States in 2006 under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act that provided Paraguay with $7.4 million in debt relief in exchange for the Paraguayan government’s commitment to conserve and restore tropical forests in the southeastern region.

Paraguay is a major transit country for illegal drugs destined primarily for neighboring South American states and Europe. It produces over half of the marijuana grown in South America. The Chaco region in the northwestern part of the country adjacent to Bolivia is a major transshipment point for illegal drugs, along with the tri-border area (TBA) with neighboring Argentina and Brazil. A 1987 U.S.-Paraguay bilateral counternarcotics agreement was extended in 2006.

 U.S. counternarcotics efforts in Paraguay have focused on providing training, equipment and technical assistance to strengthen the country’s National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD), and to combat money laundering and corruption. The United States assisted in the completion of a helicopter pad and support facilities for SENAD. According to the State Department’s February 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, SENAD continued to make progress against illegal narcotics trafficking in 2008 with record seizures of marijuana, although cocaine seizures were markedly down. The report notes that President Lugo has said he wants to reverse Paraguay’s status as a “major drug transit country.” Currently, SENAD agents are civil servants and they are not issued weapons. The Paraguayan Senate rejected a bill that would have made the SENAD an autonomous institution with the power to regulate its agents as law enforcement agents who can carry and use weapons. The bill had passed the Chamber of Deputies. This defeat is considered by some to be a major setback. Finally, INCSR notes that SENAD’s work is limited by budget constraints, weak laws and pervasive corruption. After President Evo Morales of Bolivia kicked out the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in late 2008, 10 of the 56 agents working in that country were redeployed to Paraguay in early 2009.51

 In April 2009, bills entitled the “U.S.-Paraguay Partnership Act of 2009” were introduced in the House (H.R. 1837) and Senate (S. 780). On September 14, 2009, the ATPDEA Expansion and Extension Act of 2009 (S. 1665) was introduced in the Senate.52 Each of these bills would amend the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (Title XXXI of the Trade Act of 2002, P.L. 107-210) to extend trade preferences to Paraguay. Currently, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru benefit from the ATPDEA in exchange for cooperation under anti-narcotics agreements.53 Bolivia lost its eligibility for the program in 2008 when the Bush Administration determined that Bolivia no longer met the anti-narcotics cooperation requirements.

 The United States is particularly concerned about illicit activities in the tri-border area (TBA) of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil, where money laundering, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and trade in counterfeit and contraband goods are prevalent. The tri-border region is loosely controlled due to porous borders, a lack of surveillance, weak law enforcement and pervasive local corruption, especially in the Paraguayan border city of Ciudad del Este. The United States has worked closely with the governments of the TBA countries on counterterrorism issues through the “3+1” regional cooperation mechanism, which serves as a forum for discussions, and the United States has provided anti-terrorism and anti-money-laundering support to Paraguay.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent a team of specialists to the tri-border region to investigate trade-based money laundering in 2006, and has assisted the Paraguayan government in developing a Trade Transparency Unit to examine discrepancies in trade data in order to detect customs fraud, trade-based money laundering or the financing of terrorism.

U.S. Treasury officials have held workshops in the region to encourage more banking sector involvement in efforts against money laundering. The U.S. embassy’s legal adviser in Asunción held training courses for local investigators and prosecutors to combat possible terrorism links.55

The United States has been concerned for a number of years that the radical Lebanon-based Hezbollah and the Sunni Muslim Palestinian group Hamas have used the TBA to raise funds from the region’s sizable Muslim communities by participating in illicit activities and soliciting donations. Nevertheless, according to the State Department’s annual terrorism report for 2008 (issued in April 2009), there is no corroborated information that these or other Islamic extremist groups have an operational presence in the TBA.

 The State Department’s 2008 terrorism report stated although Paraguay was generally cooperative on counterterrorism efforts, its judicial system is weak and politicized, the police force is widely viewed as ineffective and corrupt, and the country lacks strong anti-money laundering and terrorist financing legislation. In June 2008, Paraguay’s Congress improved money laundering legislation as part of a major overhaul of the penal code. However, according to the terrorism report, a bill to enact important criminal procedure reform to prosecute money laundering and terrorism was delayed for a year by the Congress’s Legal Reform Commission. Effective terrorist financing legislation will be critical to keep Paraguay current with its international obligations.

 The terrorism report also maintained that Paraguay did not exercise effective immigration or customs control on its borders. Efforts to address illicit activity in the TBA were uneven because of a lack of resources, and corruption within customs, police, and the judiciary. With U.S. support, the government’s Secretariat for the Prevention of Money Laundering reportedly made progress against money laundering, including December 2008 raids on illegal exchange houses.

 Under the MCC Threshold Program, the United States provided assistance with the training of judges, prosecutors and police in investigation techniques critical to money laundering and terrorist cases.

Paraguay made some progress on counterterrorism legislation in 2009. The Paraguayan Congress passed a measure in July 2009 that modifies the anti-money laundering law. The passed bill empowers the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money Laundering (SEPRELAD) in several ways. It elevates the agency to the level of a ministry that reports directly to the President, it broadens its capacity to require Suspicious Transaction Reports from a wider group of financial institutions, and it increases SEPRELAD’s power to audit financial institutions to ensure their procedures are adequate to prevent money laundering. In addition, the Executive has initiated legislation that would criminalize the offences of terrorism, terrorist association and terrorist financing. Attempts to gain the approval of Congress on such legislation were made in 2007, November 2009, and December 2009. In December 2009, President Lugo withdrew the counterterrorism legislation that would modify some aspects of the criminal code over objections raised by human rights organizations who argued that the new legislation threatened the international protection of human rights and may undermine freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. Paraguayan authorities, however, remain optimistic that a modified initiative may pass later in 2010.56

Ciudad del Este is the center of ilegal activities in the Triple Frontier. The City sits on the Parana River on the Brazilian border.

About 60 police and security officers began on Monday (5th) a training course in order to act in the triple border (Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, Ciudad del Este). The course, coordinated by the Police and held at various places in Foz do Iguacu until Friday (9) is given by five teachers of the Coordinator Office of Operations and Special Activities with headquarters in  Rio de Janeiro.

Participants like civilian police, military, federal highway, firefighters, city police officers and agents of federal revenue, will be operating at the border. “The instructors have helped the military who went to Haiti, and here give notions of techniques about integration of police forces ,” said the deputy chief of Nd Subdivision Officer, Alexander Macorina.

According to the officer, the  training will take place in several places, with helicopters and boats. “Participants are told where the training will be made only at the time of action,” said Macorina. “This is the second stroke earlier this year. The first, in March, lasted two days and two nights, and was made at the headquarters of the Military Police. “