mexico News- Feb.25

Posted by the generals on February 28, 2011, 11:50 am
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Subject: Mexico News DAILY February 25, 2011 LatinNews Daily - 25 February 2011 Slim takes on Mexican TV companies Development: On 23 February, the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helú, tore into a business battle with Mexico’s two main broadcasters, Televisa and TV Azteca. Significance: The row is over telecommunications, which is dominated by Slim’s companies, Telmex and Telcel. The broadcasters want to get into the telecoms business, but claim that Slim’s (effective) monopoly means that they cannot get in on profitable terms. Key points: • TV Azteca and Televisa announced that they had cancelled all advertising from Slim’s companies. Slim’s holding company, Carso, says that the broadcasters increased rates by 20%. Analysts say this is in retaliation for against Telmex and Telcel’s refusal to allow Iusacell, a mobile firm (which is in the same ownership as TV Azteca) to connect its subscribers to the Telmex and Telcel networks at a reasonable price. • The big worry is what may happen in the 2012 elections when, controversially, all TV advertising will be purchased centrally. Some political commentators argue that the two main networks could refuse to carry the ads, and thus influence the result. *********** LatinNews Daily - 25 February 2011 Sinaloa gang dealt blow in Costa Rica Development: On 24 February, Costa Rican security forces carried out three simultaneous raids in Alajuela, Cartago and San José, arresting three Mexican nationals believed to be members of the Sinaloa gang, in possession of 319kg of cocaine. Significance: The hit is the result of a 15-month investigation, triggered by the discovery of 2.25 tonnes of cocaine in a San José warehouse in November 2009, and is thus a major success for Costa Rican forces. The directorate of national security and intelligence (DIS) had been tracking the narco-trafficking group and the operation shows that the Costa Rican forces are stepping up against the increased presence of Mexican drug gangs in the country. Key points: • In one of the raids, officers seized a truck registered to the owner of the warehouse where the cocaine was seized in 2009, confirming links between the two seizures. • In 2009, two Costa Ricans and two Colombians were arrested; the arrest of the three Mexicans is consistent with drug trafficking patterns, whereby cocaine is shipped from Colombia through Central America to Mexico for onwards distribution in the US. • Costa Rican authorities have only released the last names of the Mexicans detained; one of them, Flandes, is believed to be close to the leader of the Sinaloa gang, Joaquín ‘el Chapo’ Guzmán Loera.

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