By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan authorities have arrested 17 people in connection with a shipment of 1.3 tons of cocaine in an Air France flight from Caracas to Paris.

The Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office said eight members of the National Guard and nine Air France and airport staff have been detained on drug charges. In addition, three Italians and two Britons were arrested in France.

The flight originated at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. The drugs arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on September 11. French authorities discovered the 1.3 tons of pure cocaine stuffed inside 31 suitcases registered under false names that did not correspond to passengers on the flight.

French authorities have called it the country’s largest cocaine bust ever, with an estimated value of $270 million. They worked with Spanish, British and Dutch police on the investigation. French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said, this case “illustrates the importance of strengthening International cooperation in the fight against traffickers.”

Air France said it was still trying to find out how the drugs were smuggled on board. “Pending the results of these investigations, immediate measures have been taken to enhance our checks of baggage and goods on departure from certain sensitive destinations,” the airline said in a statement.

Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres told reporters in Venezuela that authorities think an organized crime group with Italian and British members is responsible for the shipment. “The suitcases were not taken into the plane through the regular baggage platforms at the airport. We’re investigating how the drug (shipment) got to the airport,” he said.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Venezuela does not produce sizeable quantities of cocaine, but drug traffickers are increasingly using its territory to smuggle drugs from Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia to other nations.

The U.S. government has accused Venezuela of failing to adhere to international efforts against drug smuggling, and also charges that high-ranking military personnel have benefited from narcotics trafficking. Venezuela denies those charges and highlights its frequent announcements of drug seizures as proof of their progress in combating the illicit trade.

For more information please see:

BBC – Venezuela arrests 22 over cocaine in plane to Paris – 27 September 2013

CNN – Arrests made in Air France flight cocaine case – 25 September 2013

Fox News – Venezuela arrests 22 in Air France cocaine bust – 25 September 2013

The Wall Street Journal – Venezuela Makes More Arrests in Probe of Smuggling Aboard Jetliner – 25 September 2013

The Guardian – Cocaine seizure: three Britons arrested in Paris, Venezuela says – 23 September 2013

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentine police say they have arrested an alleged 19-year-old hacker on suspicion of leading a gang of hackers who targeted international money transfers and gambling websites.

Named “the superhacker”, the teenager was making $50,000 a month, working from his bedroom police say. The teenager, whose identity has not been revealed, is the son of an information systems engineer. Police have been following the teenager for over a year.

Argentine police raided the home of the young man on September 13^th in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of San Cristobal. The arrest operation shut down the power in the entire neighborhood to prevent the deletion of sensitive data.

Police raiding the teenager’s residence found that the young man had set up a “technological cave” with high-capacity computers which he used as a base to administer his online fraud network. Police seized electronic equipment, including cables, routers and over 14 hard drives. Officials identified six more people who were involved in the criminal network.

The arrest of the 19-year-old comes as part of Operation Zombie, an extensive police manhunt which began in 2012 when a businessman providing hosting services for personal web pages said that a hacker was remotely entering the servers to intercept monetary transfers.

Argentina’s chief prosecutor, Graciela Gils Carbo, ordered a federal investigation, which found that the same person was stealing from money transfers and online gaming sites. A Security Ministry statement said, “Internet users were victims of a ‘malware’ virus that the hacker hosted in a server for downloading online gaming applications.”

It was called Operation Zombie because the suspected hacker carried out a “denial of service” attack that used a network of thousands of “zombie” computers to overload the server, making it impossible for the users to access their accounts around the time of the attack. This would let him divert the money unnoticed and avoid alerting victims to an illegal money transfer.

The young man is being accused of three crimes, and if convicted of all, could be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Argentina arrests 19-year-old ‘super-hacker’ – 14 September 2013

RT News – Argentina arrests teen ‘superhacker’ for stealing $50,000 a month – 14 September 2013

The Telegraph – Argentinian ‘super-hacker’ arrested over online scams – 14 September 2013

BBC – Argentina arrests teen hacker who netted $50,000 a month – 13 September 2013

Univision Noticias – Hacker que robaba 50 mil dólares al mes fue capturado en Argentina – 13 September 2013

 

 

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – On September 11^th, more than 260 people were arrested and 42 police officers were injured during protests marking the 40^th anniversary of the 1973 military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.

Police say six officers were listed in serious condition with gunshot wounds and burns from acid. Gen. Rodolfo Pacheco, one of the Chilean capital’s top police chiefs, was taken by helicopter to a hospital after being struck in the head with a petrol bomb.

The protests spread across Huechuraba, San Bernardo, Estacion Central, Pudahuel, La Reina, Peñalolen and Lo Prado, all located around Santiago. The protests started on September 11^th, and ended in the early morning hours of September 12^th.

Protesters set up barricades and attacked police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons. Six buses and seven cars were set on fire by protesters armed with fire bombs. In Santiago, four businesses were looted, and electricity lines were severed, prompting power cuts in 200,000 homes.

“Last night was a violent night, but it could have been much more violent if it hadn’t been for the efficient response of police,” President Sebastian Pinera told reporters. Pinera called on judges to punish those behind the clashes “with severity.” Chilean protests are often infiltrated by violent anarchist groups and end with clashes between police and hooded vandals who throw rocks, firebombs and acid.

The government had deployed more than 8,000 police throughout the capital to prevent a repeat of the violence seen in previous years. Pinera recently said that in the last two years, “more than 700 police officers have been injured by the cowardly acts of hooded vandals, including recent victims who were burned with acid or Molotov bombs.”

President Sebastian Pinera submitted a bill to Congress earlier this year that strengthens penalties for those who insult or physically harm police and makes it a crime to attack police headquarters or vehicles.

Approximately 40,000 people suffered human rights abuses in Chile under Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. The government estimates more than 3,000 were killed or forcibly disappeared during Pinochet’s rule. More than 1,000 human rights cases are still ongoing in Chilean courts.

For more information please see:

ABC News – Chile Coup Anniversary Toll: 264 Arrests – 12 September 2013

The Washington Post – Chile’s toll from coup anniversary violence, arson: 42 police officers wounded, 264 arrests – 12 September 2013

BBC – Hundreds arrested in Chile clashes on coup anniversary – 12 September 2013

Fox News Latino – Hundreds arrested, scores hurt in disturbances in Chile – 12 September 2013

BBC – Clashes in Chile on anniversary of 1973 military coup – 11 September 2013

 

 

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – The Brigada Ramona Parra (BRP) is an artistic collective that focuses on painting murals. The BRP was founded in 1968 by a group of young Chilean communists. The group was named after Ramona Parra, a nineteen-year old woman who was shot dead by Chilean police during a protest in the capital city of Santiago in 1946.

Inspired by the revolutionary essence of the late 1960s, the members of the BRP would head out to paint in the streets of Santiago. They saw murals as a way of brightening up the city’s walls and as a way to encourage radical social change.

In 1970, BRP propaganda helped launch the Socialist presidential candidate, Salvador Allende, into power. However, in 1973 their movement suffered a huge blow. General Augusto Pinochet seized power in a military coup and the Communist Party was outlawed.

As the coup unfolded, the BRP split. Several young communists wanted to take on the military in open combat while others thought it was too dangerous. The BRP and thousands of other Chilean leftists went underground moving between safe houses to avoid detection, but continued to paint in defiance of the dictatorship. BRP activists were tortured and driven into exile, and the military government painted over their murals.

“We worked clandestinely,” says Juan Tralma, a founding member of the BRP. “It was impossible to paint big murals so we would just paint a simple letter R, ringed by a circle with a star next to it. The R stood for resistance, the circle was a sign of unity and the star a symbol of the BRP.”

Reflecting on the coup now, Mr. Tralma says the BRP was right to retreat rather than confront General Pinochet’s forces. “It was a powerful, brutal dictatorship,” he says. “It would have been a massacre. We would have sent kids out onto the streets with paint brushes to confront men with machine-guns.”

“We had to keep our eyes peeled all the time,” recalls Beto Pasten, another veteran member of the BRP. “The police could turn up at any moment. They’d come and kick over our paint pots, throw paint on our murals and arrest us. We’d do a mural at the weekend and by Monday they’d painted over it in black. Then the following week we’d come back and paint again, on top of their black paint.”

With the return to democracy in 1990, the BRP came out of hiding. Presently, the BRP still paints murals in Chile, supporting contemporary causes such as workers’ and indigenous rights and the campaign for education reform. Striking murals of the BRP can be found at the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center, the main cultural center in Santiago, and at the headquarters of the Worker’s United Center of Chile, the country’s main trade union federation.

On September 11^th, Chile will mark the 40th anniversary of Pinochet’s military coup.

For more information please see:

El Commercio – Los muralistas chilenos que desafiaron a Pinochet – 8 September 2013

MSN Latino – Los muralistas chilenos que desafiaron a Pinochet – 8 September 2013

BBC – The Chilean muralists who defied Pinochet – 5 September 2013

By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

ASUNCION, Paraguay – Eight Paraguayan bus drivers have nailed themselves to crosses in a protest against being laid off from their jobs two months ago. They have vowed to continue their protest until they are reinstated.

They protested in mid-July outside the offices of the Vanguardia bus company, their former employer. After realizing they were not going to be reinstated they crucified themselves three weeks ago across the street from Vanguardia’s headquarter in the Paraguayan city of Luque, a town north of the capital, Asuncion.

The protesters are on their backs, nailed to wooden crosses laid out on the ground. Large nails pierce their hands at the base of the fingers.

The bus company says it has done everything in its power to try to find a solution to the labor conflict. The general manager of the Vanguardia bus company, Aufredi Paredes, said five of the drivers would be re-hired and the other three would receive legal separation payments and assistance in finding employment.

Paredes stated “we have done a little bit of everything to find a solution, including calling on the human rights commissions from the (Paraguayan) Senate and the Lower House. We have also met with the workers several times, but their leadership has been inflexible. We have followed labor regulations and will continue to abide by the law.”

However, Juan Villalba, one of the drivers crucified said they would not give up their protest until they all are reinstated. Villalba told Paraguayan media that his group is willing to take the protest “to the very end,” regardless of the consequences. Villaba, is also the secretary of the Paraguayan Federation of Transportation Workers.

Villalba alleged they were fired after asking for overtime pay, medical insurance and state pension contributions. “The drivers are tired of being exploited,” he said. Some of the drivers’ wives are taking turns being nailed to crosses alongside their husbands.

Damián Espinola, communications director with the Luque municipal government, has stated that the bus drivers are “also on hunger strike and some of them are in critical condition. They only drink water. They don’t consume any solid food. Their hands are perforated.”

There have been several meetings between representatives of the bus drivers, the company and mediators, but they have been unable to reach a resolution. The protest by the eight is part of a larger labor action by some drivers for Vanguardia. There are currently a total of 50 bus drivers on strike, but there has been no interruption of service.

For more information please see:

CNN – Fired Paraguayan bus drivers crucify themselves in protest – 31 August 2013

Reuters – Fired Paraguayan bus drivers have themselves nailed to crosses – 30 August 2013

The Telegraph – Sacked Paraguayan bus drivers crucify themselves in protest – 30 August 2013

ABC News – Laid-off Paraguay Bus Drivers Crucified in Protest – 28 August 2013

BBC – Sacked Paraguay bus drivers stage crucifixion protest – 28 August 2013