By Kim Palmer
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/24/cash-mobs-social-media_n_1377700.html?ref=topbar&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
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CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) - Flash mobs have been blamed as a factor in looting during urban riots. But now a group of online activists is harnessing social media like Twitter and Facebook to get consumers to spend at locally owned stores in cities around the world in so-called Cash Mobs.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, strimel@aiusa.org, 212-633-4150
(New York) – Amnesty International today declared two brothers – both journalists jailed for years for listening to hip-hop music -- to be “prisoners of conscience” and demanded their release. The human rights group said the unjust imprisonments shows repression in Cuba is “as strong as ever.”
One of the brothers, Antonio Michel Lima Cruz, suffers from prostate problems and is reportedly denied adequate medical treatment. He is eligible for conditional release after serving more than half his sentence but authorities refused to respond to petitions from his family and lawyer.
Antonio Michel and his brother Marcos Maiquel Lima Cruz, both of whom are independent journalists and members of the Cuban Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs, have been imprisoned since Christmas Day 2010. They were arrested at a holiday celebration with family and friends at their home in Holguin, in eastern Cuba.
"It is unacceptable that a simple family party constitutes imprisonment in Cuba, said Javier Zuniga, special advisor for Amnesty International. "The brothers' arrests shows that repression in Cuba is as strong as ever. Authorities are sharpening their strategies to silence dissent, targeting not only activists and journalists, but their families and friends as well."
During the celebration, the brothers danced in the street holding a Cuban flag and playing songs by a hip-hop group whose lyrics criticize the country’s lack of freedom of expression.
Shortly after midnight, police and state security officials arrived, entered their house by force and arrested the brothers.Their parents and friends were detained but later released.
The brothers were tried last May and sentenced to two and three years imprisonment, respectively, for "insulting symbols of the homeland" and "public disorder."
Amnesty International criticized the sentences as politically motivated and urged Cuba to restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and assembly.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
Several demonstrations in the West Bank recently have protested Hana Shalabi's administrative detention
© SAIF DAHLAH/AFP/Getty Images
Hana Shalabi must be released or charged with internationally recognizable criminal offences
The Israeli authorities should immediately release a Palestinian detainee or charge her with a recognizable criminal offence and promptly try her, Amnesty International said amid fears that the woman could die in detention after 37 days on hunger strike.
Hana Shalabi, 30, from the village of Burqin in the northern West Bank, is allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement but has never been charged with a criminal offence.
“When her lawyers and independent physicians met her, Hana Shalabi reported to them that Israel Prison Service officers handled her violently while transferring her to hospital or the military court, and have consistently pressured her to end her hunger strike,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s interim deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to release Hana Shalabi and other Palestinians held in administrative detention, unless they are promptly charged with internationally recognizable criminal offences and tried in accordance with international fair trial standards.”Hana Shalabi began her hunger strike in protest against ill-treatment during her arrest on 16 February, and continued in protest against her detention without charge or trial after receiving an administrative detention order five days later.
A doctor from Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR) who saw her on Monday reported that she was at risk of death because she could suffer from heart failure at any moment, and called for her immediate hospitalization.
According to PHR, she has lost 14kg (31lbs) since her arrest, and suffers from impaired thyroid functions and severe pain, weakness and dizziness.
“While in detention, she – and all other Palestinian detainees who have joined her hunger strike in protest against the policy of administrative detention – must be treated humanely at all times and receive regular access to necessary medical treatment by an independent physician in a setting that respects the privacy of the doctor and patient, “ said Ann Harrison.A military judge has yet to rule on the appeal against her four-month detention order, even though the Military Court of Appeals held its first hearing more than two weeks ago on 7 March. Hana Shalabi was one of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed from Israeli jails as part of a deal to free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in October and December last year. Before she was re-arrested in February, she had planned to study nursing at al-Rawda College in Nablus. Prior to her release in October 2011, she was held for 25 months without charge or trial in HaSharon prison, under administrative detention orders that were repeatedly renewed. There are also reports that the Israeli authorities may be considering force-feeding her, which could constitute cruel and inhuman treatment. As a general rule, hunger strikers should not be forcibly fed. Her family has yet to receive permits to visit her despite repeated requests by international and local organizations. They have not seen her since her arrest on 16 February. More than 20 other Palestinian detainees and prisoners held in several Israeli prisons have declared open-ended hunger strikes against the policy of administrative detention, some for more than three weeks. To Amnesty International's knowledge, they have not been allowed access to independent doctors, and some may also have been denied access to lawyers, isolated, or punished in other ways following their decisions to go on hunger strike. “No detainees should be punished in any way for their decision to go on hunger strike. The Israeli authorities must ensure that all detainees on hunger strike are treated humanely and allowed access to lawyers and independent medical professionals,” said Ann Harrison. More than 300 Palestinians, including more than 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, are currently being held in administrative detention.
In December 2011, as a precautionary measure, we began recalling these strung seed bracelets (pictured), which had been on sale in our shop at the Eden Project visitor attraction. Eden was one of 36 outlets in the UK that had been supplied the bracelets by a company based in Suffolk.
We have been contacting customers to warn them that the bracelet contains seeds that are poisonous if ingested.
Our advice is that anyone who has bought such a bracelet from the Eden Shop in the last two years should call the shop team on 01726 818802 to arrange a full refund.Please note that the online version of the Eden Shop has never sold this item and is not affected by this product recall.
Q: How dangerous are these seeds?
A: The Health Protection Agency say:
"The National Poisons Information Service (NPIS), which is commissioned by the Health Protection Agency, has been made aware that bracelets are being sold in the United Kingdom that may contain seeds from the plant Abrus precatorius. Seeds from Abrus precatorius contain the poison abrin which is very toxic. Ingestion of any quantity of chewed, crushed or drilled (such as in a necklace) seeds should be regarded seriously because, if fully absorbed, even small amounts of abrin can be fatal.
"However, seeds are not expected to cause serious problems if swallowed whole and not chewed.
"There may be a delay of up to three days before symptoms e.g. vomiting, abdominal pain or diarrhoea occur. Anyone who is suspected of ingesting seeds from this plant should seek medical advice immediately.
"Information on the specialist management of patients suspected of poisoning is available to healthcare professionals through NPIS, the poisons advisory service for frontline clinicians across the UK."
Q: Are all seed bracelets sold by the Eden Project affected?
A: No, only the one shown in this image, with red and black seeds, and refunds will only be given on this bracelet.
Q: What should customers do if they have the product?
A: Please call our shop team on 01726 818802 to arrange a refund.
Q: Do I need a receipt to claim the refund you are offering?
A: No, we will accept the bracelet without an Eden Project receipt, but if you didn’t buy the bracelet from us, we would ask that you return the bracelet to the place that you purchased it and request a refund from them. We will not accept bracelets that are presented to us accompanied by receipts from other retailers.
Q: How can I find out more information?
A: For enquiries regarding refunds, please call our shop team on 01726 818802.
http://www.mexidata.info/id3299.html
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| Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera | |
|---|---|
 "El Chapo Guzmán" | |
| Born | Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera April 4, 1957 (age 54)[1] La Tuna, Badiraguato,Sinaloa, Mexico |
| Other names | "El Chapo" Guzmán[2] |
| Occupation | Drug Lord |
| Known for | Sinaloa Cartel drug lord |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Weight | 75 kg (170 lb) |
| Predecessor | Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo |
| Spouse | Emma Coronel Aispuro |
| Partner | Ismael Zambada Garcia,Ignacio Coronel-Villarealand Juan José Esparragoza Moreno |
| Children | César, Iván Archivaldo, Jesús Alfredo, Joaquín, Ovidio, Griselda Guadalupe, Édgar(†) |
| Notes | |
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (b. April 4, 1957)[2] is a fugitive Mexican drug lord who heads the world's largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization, the Sinaloa Cartel,[5] an organization named after the Mexican Pacific coast state of Sinaloa where it was initially formed. Known as "El Chapo Guzmán" ("Shorty Guzmán") for his 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) stature, he became Mexico's top drug kingpin in 2003 after the arrest of his rival Osiel Cárdenas of the Gulf Cartel, and is now considered "The most powerful drug trafficker in the world," by the United States Department of the Treasury.[6][7]
Guzmán Loera has been ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful people in the world every year since 2009; ranking 41st, 60th and 55th respectively.[8][9] He was also listed by Forbes as the 10th richest man in Mexico (1,140th in the world) in 2011.[10][11] Forbes also calls him the "biggest druglord of all time"[12], and the DEA strongly believes he has surpassed the influence and reach ofPablo Escobar, and now considers him "the godfather of the drug world."[13]
Guzman Loera's Sinaloa Cartel smuggles multi-ton cocaine shipments from Colombia through Mexico to the United States,[1] and has distribution cells throughout the U.S.[1] The organization has also been involved in the production, smuggling and distribution of Mexicanmethamphetamine, marijuana, and heroin. The U.S. offers a $5 million USD reward for information leading to his capture. The Mexican government offers a reward of $30 million pesos for such information.
Contents[hide] |
Guzmán was born on April 4, 1957 to a poor family in the rancho of La Tuna near Badiraguato, where he sold oranges as a child. He had two sisters: Armida and Bernarda; and had 4 brothers: Miguel Ángel, Aureliano, Arturo and Emilio. Little is known about Guzmán's early years. His father was supposedly a cattle rancher, as were most in the area; it is believed, however, that he also grew opium poppy.[2][14]Guzmán's father had connections to higher-ups in the Sinaloan capital of Culiacán through Pedro Avilés Pérez. Avilés was a key player in the Sinaloa drug business, seen as a pioneer for finding new methods of transporting the rural produce to urban areas for shipment by way of airplanes. He is reportedly the first to use airplanes to smuggle cocaine to the United States. By the time Guzmán was in his 20s, his connection to Avilés would be his window of opportunity to start in the drug business and make his fortune. In the late 1970s, Héctor "El Güero" Luis Palma Salazar gave Guzmán his first big break. El Güero placed him in charge of transporting drugs from the Sierra to the cities and border and overseeing shipments. He was ambitious and pressed his bosses to increase the quantities of drugs being moved north.[2]
In the early 1980s, Guzmán was introduced to Miguel "El Padrino" Ángel Félix Gallardo. Gallardo put him in charge of logistics – effectively coordinating airplane flights, boat arrivals and trucks coming from Colombia into Mexico. El Güero still controlled deliveries to clients in the United States, but Guzmán would soon work directly for El Padrino himself. Although early on Guzmán lived in Guadalajara, as did Gallardo, his command and control center was actually located in Agua Prieta, Sonora. After Félix Gallardo's capture, Guzmán took control of the entire Sinaloa Cartel.[2][15] Guzmán is wanted by the governments of Mexico and the United States and by INTERPOL;[16] so far he has evaded operations to capture him.
After the fall of the Amezcua brothers, founders of the Colima Cartel, in 1998 on methamphetamine trafficking charges, there was a need for leadership throughout Mexico to coordinate methamphetamine shipments north. Guzmán saw an opportunity and seized on it.[2] Easily arranging precursor shipments, Guzmán and Ismael Zambada García ("El Mayo") made use of their previous contacts on Mexico's Pacific coast. Importantly, for the first time the Colombians would not have to be paid – they simply joined methamphetamine with cocaine shipments. This fact meant no additional money needed to go out for planes, pilots, boats, and bribes; they used the existing infrastructure to pipeline the new product.[2] Up until this point, the Sinaloa Cartel had been a joint venture between Guzmán and Ismael Zambada García; the methamphetamine business would be Guzmán's alone. He cultivated his own ties to China, Thailand and India to import the necessary precursor chemicals. Throughout the mountains of the states of Sinaloa, Durango, Jalisco, Michoacán and Nayarit, Guzmán constructed large methamphetamine laboratories and rapidly expanded his organization.[2]
His habit of moving from place to place allowed him to nurture contacts throughout the country. He was now operating in 17 out of 31 Mexican states. With his business expanding, he placed his trusted friend Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel Villarreal in charge of methamphetamine production; this way Guzmán could continue being the boss of bosses. Coronel Villarreal proved so reliable in the Guzmán business, he became known as 'Crystal King'.[17]
Guzmán was captured in Guatemala on June 9, 1993[18] and extradited to Mexico and sentenced to 20 years, 9 months in prison for drug trafficking, criminal association and bribery charges. He was jailed in the maximum security La Palma (now Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 or 'Altiplano') prison. On November 22, 1995, he was transferred to the Puente Grande maximum security prison in Jalisco, Mexico, after being convicted of three crimes: possession of firearms, drug trafficking, and the murder of Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo (the charge would later be dismissed by another judge). He had been tried and sentenced inside the federal prison on the outskirts of Almoloya de Juárez, Mexico State.[2]
The police say Guzmán carefully masterminded his escape plan, wielding influence over almost everyone in the prison, including the facility's director. He allegedly had the prison guards on his payroll, smuggled contraband into the prison and received preferential treatment from the staff. In addition to the prison-employee accomplices, police in Jalisco were paid off to ensure he had at least 24 hours to get out of the state and stay ahead of the military manhunt. The story told to the guards being bribed was that Joaquín Guzmán was smuggling gold out of the prison, ostensibly extracted from rock at the inmate workshop. The escape allegedly cost Joaquín $2.5 million.[2][19]
After a ruling by the Supreme Court of Mexico made it easier for extradition to occur between Mexico and the United States, Guzmán bribed several guards to aid his escape. On January 19, 2001, Francisco "El Chito" Camberos Rivera, a prison guard, opened Guzman's electronically operated cell door, where Guzmán got in a laundry cart that Camberos rolled through several doors and eventually out the front door. Guzmán was then transported in the trunk of a car driven by Camberos out of the town. At a gas station Camberos went inside, but when he came back Guzmán was gone on foot into the night. According to officials, seventy-eight people have been implicated in his escape plan.[2]
Since his escape from prison, he had been wanting to take over the Ciudad Juárez crossing points, which are under control of the Carrillo Fuentes family of the Juárez Cartel.[2] Despite high mistrust between the two organizations, the Sinaloa and Juárez cartels had an alliance at the time. He convened a meeting in Monterrey with Ismael Zambada Garcia ("El Mayo"),Juan José Esparragoza Moreno ("El Azul") and one of the Beltrán Leyva brothers and they discussed killing Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes, who was in charge of the Juárez Cartel. On September 11, 2004, Rodolfo, his wife, and two young children were visiting a Culiacán shopping mall. While leaving the mall, escorted by police commander Pedro Pérez López, the family was ambushed by members of Los Negros, assassins for the Sinaloa Cartel. Rodolfo and his wife were killed, the policeman survived.[2]
This now meant the plaza would no longer be controlled only by the Carrillo Fuentes family. Instead, the city found itself the front line in a country-wide drug war and would see homicides skyrocket as rival cartels fought for control. With this act, Guzmán was the first to break the nonaggression 'pact' the major cartels had agreed to, setting in motion the fighting between cartels for drug routes that has claimed more than 50,000 lives since December 2006.[20][21][22]
In the ensuing manhunt, authorities arrested many of Guzmán's associates in the cities of Reynosa, Puebla, Toluca, and Mexico City. The states of Sinaloa and Nayarit would also see a wave of arrests. In the summer of that year, Esteban Quintero Mariscal, a hired killer and cousin of Guzmán's, was arrested and imprisoned in Cefereso No. 1, Mexico's highest-security prison. The following day, El Chito, the prison guard most responsible for helping Guzmán escape, was captured and incarcerated in Mexico City's Reclusorio Preventivo Oriente. On September 7, 2001, authorities raided a stash house in the eastern Mexico City neighborhood of Iztapalapa. Federal agents chased three people fleeing the house all the way to Taxquena in the southern part of the city. Among those arrested was Arturo "El Pollo" Guzman Loera, Guzmán's younger brother. Guzmán reportedly considered suicide following his arrest. Authorities were led to Arturo by information from Quintero Mariscal.[2]
In November 2001, military intelligence pinpointed Guzmán's location to somewhere between the cities of Puebla and Cuernavaca, where they captured Miguel Angel Trillo Hernandez. Trillo had helped Guzmán in the aftermath of his escape from Puente Grande, renting houses so Guzmán could hide in them. They next discovered Guzmán was hiding out on a ranch outside Sante Fe, Nayarit. Mexican military deployed helicopters to close in, but Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada provided his own helicopter to Guzmán to escape in to the Sierra.[2]
Despite the progress made in detaining others in the aftermath of Guzmán's escape, arresting a handful of his top logistics and security men, the huge military and federal police manhunt failed to capture Guzmán himself. Since his escape, he has been Mexico's most wanted man.
On December 20, 2005 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced a US $5 million reward for information leading to Guzmán's arrest and prosecution.[3][23]
In March 2008, the Guatemalan government reported that Guzmán's organization may have been tied to a gun battle in their country that left ten gunmen dead. Three days later, the Honduran government reported that they were investigating whether he was hiding out in Honduras.[24]
On April 18, 2009 in the state of Durango, Roman Catholic Archbishop Héctor Gonzalez announced that the fugitive drug trafficker was "living nearby and everyone knows it except the authorities, who just don't happen to see him for some reason." A few days afterwards, two military officers were found dead near a bullet-riddled car in the same area the archbishop claimed Guzmán lived. It is believed that the officers, who were dressed in civilian clothes, were working undercover in the area when they were abducted and executed in the remote village of Cienega de Escobar. A message was left near them: “You'll never get 'El Chapo', not the priests, not the government."
Reports by Milenio Television mention that Guzmán Loera is protected at all times by a personal mercenary army composed of over 30 armed men, all of them in military uniform, whose only objective is to prevent his capture and death from the Mexican forces.[25]
The Mexican authorities "nearly nabbed" Guzmán Loera in a coastal mansion in Los Cabos, Mexico on 19 February 2012, just a day after Hillary Clinton met with foreign ministers in the same peninsula resort town.[26][27] The details of how the authorities knew he was there and why El Chapo was not caught have not been released.[28]
According to Los Angeles Times, if Guzmán Loera is arrested by the Mexican authorities before the Mexican general elections of 2012, his capture may serve as a "sweet trophy" forFelipe Calderón, the president of Mexico, and for PAN candidate for the presidency, Josefina Vazquez Mota.[29] His apprehension would mark the "biggest blow against drug cartels" since Calderón launched a military-led offensive against the criminal groups in Mexico on 2006.[29] Analysts say it may also "squelch whispers" that the Mexican government had gone easy on the Sinaloa Cartel and on El Chapo while attacking its rival groups.[29] On the other hand, his capture right before the presidential elections may also trigger theories by skeptics that El Chapo had long been in the government's hands, "but kept on ice until a politically propitious moment."[29]
Edgardo Buscaglia, a professor at the ITAM, believes that Guzmán's capture may also help Barack Obama's reelection campaign, since there have been suspicions that his government "provided protection" to the Sinaloa Cartel.[30] Eric Olson, from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, considers that Guzmán's capture may "unleash a bloody wave of violence" between the Sinaloa Cartel leaders and its subgroups for the control of the organization.[31] His capture may also unleash the fury of the Sinaloa cartel and create new criminal organizations.[31]
In 1977 he married Alejandrina María Salazar Hernández, in a small ceremony in the town of Jesús María, Sinaloa. With Alejandrina Guzmán he had three children: César, Iván Archivaldo, and Jesús Alfredo. He set them up in a ranch home in Jesús María. In the mid-1980s Guzmán remarried; this time to Griselda López Pérez, with whom he had four more children: Édgar, Joaquín, Ovidio, and Griselda Guadalupe.[2] Guzmán's sons would follow him into the drug business.
On February 15, 2005, Guzmán's son, Iván Archivaldo, was arrested in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico.[32] He was sentenced to 5 years in a federal prison, but was released in April 2008 after a Mexican federal judge declared the case was lacking evidence. In June 2005, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) arrested his brother, two nephews and a niece. They also seized nine houses and six vehicles. Some of the arrests took place in the U.S. in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oakland.
Guzmán reportedly strolled into a restaurant called "Barrokas" in Piedras Negras, with several of his bodyguards. After taking his seat, his men collected the cell phones of approximately thirty diners and instructed them to not be alarmed. The gangsters then ate their meal and left – paying for everyone else in the restaurant.[33] That same month, Guzmán was reportedly seen in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, repeating his exploit at the "Los Platos" restaurant.[34]
In November 2007, Guzmán was married to 18 year-old beauty queen Emma Coronel Aispuro in Canelas, Durango, Mexico.[35][36] In August 2011, Coronel Aispuro, a citizen of the United States, gave birth to twin girls in a L.A. County Hospital.[37]
Several factors influenced the break between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Beltrán Leyva brothers. The arrest of Guzmán's lieutenant, Alfredo Beltrán Leyva (a.k.a.: El Mochomo) was one incident, as he was believed to have given up El Mochomo for various reasons.[38] In addition to this, Guzmán was voicing concerns with Alfredo Beltrán's lifestyle and high-profile actions for some time before his arrest. The Beltrán Leyva brothers ordered the assassination of Guzmán's son, Édgar Guzmán Lopez, on May 8, 2008 in Culiacán; causing massive retaliation from Guzmán. They were also fighting over the allegiance of the Flores brothers, Margarito and Pedro, leaders of a major, highly lucrative cell in Chicago that distributed over two tons of cocaine every month.[39] The Mexican military claim that Guzmán and the Beltrán Leyva brothers were at odds over Guzmán's relationship with the Valencia brothers in Michoacán.[2]
Upon Alfredo Beltrán's arrest – purportedly with Guzmán's help – a formal "war" was declared. An attempt on Vicente "El Vincentillo" Zambada Niebla's life was made just hours after the declaration. Dozens of killings followed in retaliation for the attempt on his life.[2] On May 8, 2008, with the killing of Guzmán's son Edgar, it all erupted. For the rest of May 2008 alone, there were over 116 people murdered in Culiacán, 26 of whom were policemen. In June 2008, over 128 were killed; in July, 143 were slain.[2] General Sandoval ordered another 2,000 troops to the area, but it failed to stop the war. The wave of violence spread to other cities like Guamúchil, Guasave and Mazatlán.
Whether Guzmán was responsible for Alfredo Beltrán's arrest is not known. However, the Beltrán Leyva brothers were doing some double-dealing of their own. Arturo Beltrán and Alfredo Beltrán had met with top members of Los Zetas in Cuernavaca. There they agreed to form an alliance to fill the power vacuum.[2] They wouldn't necessarily go after the main strongholds, such as the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartel; instead they sought control of southern states like Guerrero (where the Beltrán Leyva's already had a big stake), Oaxaca, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo. They also worked their way into the center of the country, where no single group had control.[2]
The split was officially recognized by the U.S. government on May 30, 2008. On that day they recognized the Beltrán Leyva brothers as leaders of their own 'cartel'. President Bush designated Marcos Arturo Beltrán Leyva and the Beltrán Leyva Organization as subject to sanction under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act ("Kingpin Act").[2][40]
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