Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Drug gangs on warpath: Six police officers were assassinated in northern Mexico last week, in the latest round of attacks by powerful drug gangs. The highest-ranking victim was Chief Juan Antonio Roman of Juarez, who was gunned down outside his home by 40 men with AK-47s; police later recovered 500 shell casings from the scene. “We have to come together to confront this evil,” said President Felipe Calderon, who has made taking on the drug cartels a top priority. “We Mexicans have to definitively and categorically say, ‘That’s enough!’” The day after Roman’s murder, thousands of people dressed in white held a silent protest march through Ciudad Juarez. More than 1,100 people have been killed in Mexico so far this year in battles between gangs and security forces.
Managua, Nicaragua
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Blaming America: An emergency summit of Latin American nations to address growing food shortages turned into a formal denunciation of the United States. The meeting last week was hosted by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who called the food crisis “the greatest demonstration of the historic failure of the capitalist model.” Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, normally a supporter of the U.S., chastised America for offering only $1 billion in international food aid while it spends twice that much in one week in Iraq. Several Latin American countries have been hit by riots as food shortages have taken hold in recent months.
Caracas, Venezuela
Chavez vs. Chavez: President Hugo Chavez last week backed down from a fight with one of his peskiest political opponents—his ex-wife. The former first lady, Marisabel Rodriguez, divorced Chavez in 2003 and has become an outspoken critic of his left-wing policies. She is currently running for mayor of the large city of Barquisimeto, and after Chavez sued her for better visitation rights with their 10-year-old daughter, Rodriguez said the move was an effort to force her out of the race. “I declare myself a victim of violence, harassment, and persecution on the part of the president,” she said in a televised press conference. Faced with a public outcry, Chavez dropped his suit. “I will not allow them to put my daughter in the middle of a spectacle,” he said.
