Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Saturday that his controversial war on drugs had cost criminal gangs US$14.5 billion as he submitted his administration’s last report to congress.
Calderon leaves office on Dec. 1 after a six-year term that has been overshadowed by his government’s struggle to tame drug-related violence that has left more than 50,000 people dead since 2006.
In his final report to the new congress, the conservative leader, who is limited to one term by law, focused on the capture of gang leaders and the massive seizures of cash and drugs.
Photo: Reuters
“During this administration, the federal government was committed to returning peace and calm to Mexicans, as well as preventing violence and building the foundations of an authentic and lasting peace,” Calderon’s report said.
In the past six years, authorities have seized 114 tonnes of cocaine, nearly 11,000 tonnes of marijuana and more than 75 tonnes of methamphetamines.
More than 100,000 vehicles, 515 boats and 578 aircraft have been confiscated, along with more than US$1 billion in cash.
All these actions represented a loss of US$14.5 billion for the cartels, Calderon said. According to the public security ministry, the criminal organizations control a US$64 billion market.
Outside the congress, which opened its first session since July 1 elections, some 5,000 protesters demonstrated against Calderon’s security strategy.
The student movement #Yosoy132 submitted its own “counter-report” which read: “We have seen a cowardly president speak about courage while society contributed the dead, the displaced, the kidnapped and the ill-treated by the authorities.”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number