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TAPES IMPLICATE TIJUANA POLICE IN DRUG TRAFFICKING AND A KILLING
The New York Times
August 1, 2007
TIJUANA, Mexico, July 31 — Just days before a critical governor’s election in Baja California, federal authorities have released tapes to a newspaper suggesting that many members of the Tijuana police force have worked for drug traffickers and helped in the killing of a federal agent, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
Transcripts of recorded conversations over police radios show that the municipal police regularly informed members of the Arellano Félix drug gang about federal raids and helicopter surveillance going back at least three years.
The tapes also suggest that several officers kept drug dealers apprised of the movements of federal agents on May 3, 2006, when an antinarcotics agent, Eduardo Reyes, 27, was gunned down by drug traffickers. Another tape strongly suggested that members of the department offered their services as gunmen for drug runners and indicated that they would transport drugs for the Félix cartel.
COMMISSION HEARS DETAILS OF PLANE CRASH IN SÃO PAOLO
The New York Times
August 2, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 1 (AP) — Moments before their jetliner skidded off a runway and exploded as it slammed into a building, pilots of the TAM Airlines Flight 3054 screamed, “Slow down!” and “Turn, turn, turn!” flight recorder transcripts disclosed Wednesday.
The horrific details read before a congressional commission investigating air safety suggest that mechanical failure or pilot error contributed to the accident last month in São Paulo. If verified, that conclusion would take some heat off a government widely blamed for failing to improve the challenging runway, which pilots worldwide liken to landing on an aircraft carrier.
The pilots were unable to activate the spoilers, aerodynamic brakes on the Airbus A320’s wings, as they touched down on the short, rain-slicked runway at Congonhas airport, according to the transcripts.
COLORFUL TIJUANA MAYOR IN MEXICO RACE
The Miami Herald
Aug. 02, 2007
TIJUANA, Mexico --
Jorge Hank Rhon brags about drinking tequila mixed with bear bile and steeped with the penises of tigers, lions and dogs. He has weathered allegations of ties to drug trafficking, money laundering and murder-for-hire.
But none of that seemed to matter to his supporters as the self-proclaimed billionaire dog-track owner and Tijuana mayor closed his campaign for governor of Mexico's Baja California state this week.
Most polls give a slight advantage to his main opponent, Jose Guadalupe Osuna, 51, of President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, whose gubernatorial victory 18 years ago in Baja was the beginning of the end for the Institutional Revolutionary Party's 71-year hold on the presidency.
But Hank Rhon - who keeps a private zoo with 20,000 animals, five times more than the famous San Diego Zoo across the border - loves a good fight, and has overcome much bigger obstacles. The son of a PRI party boss, he overcame a double-digit deficit in the opinion polls to become Tijuana's mayor three years ago, despite claiming during the campaign that "women" were his favorite animals.
FRAUD PROBE TARGETS PUERTO RICO DOCTORS
The Miami Herald
Aug. 02, 2007
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico --
U.S. federal agents arrested dozens of doctors accused of obtaining medical licenses through fraud or bribery, carrying out sweeping raids across Puerto Rico Thursday.
A federal grand jury indicted 88 doctors following an investigation into members of the U.S. Caribbean territory's medical licensing board, who allegedly altered low-scoring tests to certify unqualified candidates.
The doctors, mostly Puerto Ricans who studied medicine in the Dominican Republic, Mexico or Cuba, paid board members bribes of as much as $10,000, according to the indictment. At least 75 were practicing medicine in Puerto Rico, including some at hospitals or emergency rooms, authorities said.
The arrests began near dawn. Some suspects - including Pablo Valentin, a former executive director of the licensing board - were seen on television being led away by local police and agents of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
IN MEXICO, REBEL POLITICIAN COURTS THE LAW-AND-ORDER VOTE
The New York Times
August 2, 2007
TIJUANA, Mexico, Aug. 1 — As politicians go, Jorge Hank Rhon, the former mayor of this teeming border town, is more colorful than most. He built his fortune with a network of betting parlors, and he keeps a private zoo of thousands of animals, including leopards, lions and a parrot in his office whose screeches make it difficult to carry on a conversation.
He also carries more baggage than most. Over the years, his political enemies and United States law enforcement officials have accused him of smuggling wild animals, laundering money for drug cartels and ordering the murder of a journalist in the 1980s.
But Mr. Hank has never been charged with a crime, much less convicted, in the state of Baja California, and now he stands an even chance of being elected its governor when voters go to the polls here on Sunday, surveys and political analysts say.
REBELS TAKE CREDIT FOR MEXICO BOMB BLAST
The Miami Herald
Aug. 02, 2007
MEXICO CITY --
A small leftist guerrilla group claimed responsibility for a homemade bomb that exploded outside a Sears store and another left outside a U.S.-owned bank in southern Mexico.
The statement by the People's Revolutionary Army, or EPR, said the action was intended "to hit the interests of Mexican and foreign oligarchy."
It was posted late Wednesday, hours after the blast, on a web site that serves as clearinghouse for Latin American leftist and guerrilla groups. EPR statements with similar language and style have been posted there in the past.
The bomb caused no injuries, but damaged an entrance to the Sears store, which is operated in Mexico by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. A similar bomb was deactivated outside the entrance of a nearby Banamex bank branch, officials said. Banamex is owned by Citigroup Inc.
MORE ARRESTS EXPECTED IN DOCTOR PROBE
The Miami Herald
Aug. 03, 2007
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico --
Federal authorities hunted for nine suspects Friday amid an operation against dozens of "doctors" accused of obtaining their licenses through fraud - and the father of one of them allegedly threatened to kill anyone who cooperated with investigators.
Gilberto Rodriguez, who is himself a doctor, was jailed on a witness tampering charge. A notice taped to the door of his shuttered medical practice in a San Juan strip mall said he was away "on vacation" until Monday.
A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted 91 people, including a former director and a secretary of the licensing board and Rodriguez. A total of 88 people were accused of having obtained medical credentials by fraud.
Among the nine still being sought, three were believed to be in Puerto Rico and five in Philadelphia, Florida and in the Dominican Republic, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Ruiz.
Ruiz said the probe could produce charges against more people.
AIRPLANE CRASHES CREATE ANXIETY AMONG BRAZIL’S TRAVELERS
The New York Times
August 4, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 3 — Alire Assis Brasil, in town to visit an aunt, waited patiently Thursday for her bus back to her home in Florianopolis — some 18 hours away.
She could have flown, a trip that should take two and a half hours. But in recent months she has chosen to avoid the uncertainties of Brazil’s troubled aviation system, which worsened two weeks ago with the country’s deadliest crash.
“The planes are a real worry these days,” said Ms. Assis, 42, who travels often between the cities. “The security of knowing when I’ll get there makes me take the bus.”
The crash was the second major deadly plane accident in 10 months, causing many Brazilians to reconsider air travel and leading some to switch to buses despite the inconvenience. Travelers are not only afraid for their safety, they also worry about long delays as officials try to adopt quick fixes for some of the problems, like being more cautious in questionable weather by grounding or redirecting flights, or making wholesale changes to routes, to take pressure off overwhelmed airports.
THOUSANDS MARCH TO DENOUNCE BRAZIL GOV'T
The Miami Herald
Aug. 04, 2007
SAO PAULO, Brazil --
Thousands of Brazilians marched in South America's biggest city on Saturday to denounce President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government as corrupt and indifferent.
Police estimated that about 3,000 demonstrators participated in the march down Sao Paulo's skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista. Smaller demonstrations were staged in the capital of Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba.
Protesters, many dressed in black, sang Brazil's national anthem and carried posters demanding Silva's ouster.
"This is a nonpartisan protest against the corruption of the government," said organizer Obe Fainzilber.
Cabinet ministers and legislators in Silva's party have been caught up in a series of corruption scandals, but the still-popular president, who started a second term Jan. 1, has not been implicated.
DRUG GANGS USE VIOLENCE TO SWAY GUATEMALA VOTE
The New York Times
August 4, 2007
GUATEMALA CITY — It is election time in Guatemala and that means rallies and banners — and body bags.
In the campaigning leading up to elections on Sept. 9, the authorities have reported 61 violent attacks on candidates and political activists. The death toll is 26, including seven national congressmen and numerous other office seekers.
The flurry of bullets, and the occasional machete attack, make this the bloodiest campaign season in the history of a country with a long tradition of political violence, including 36 years of civil war that ended in 1996. But what makes the bloodletting different this time is that it has been attributed to narcotics traffickers and their allies intent on infiltrating Guatemala’s political system.
So dangerous is campaigning that Álvaro Colom, the leading presidential candidate, flies in a helicopter to avoid being ambushed and travels with a physician with extensive experience in bullet wounds. He is careful what he eats, lest someone poison it. “I hate to say this, but it’s more violent now than during the war,” he said.
PROSPEROUS HAVEN IN MEXICO IS INVADED BY DRUG VIOLENCE
The Washington Post
August 4, 2007
MONTERREY, Mexico -- Biti Rodriguez could have gone anywhere for her 10-year-old's birthday party. But Incredible Pizza, a mammoth restaurant and fun house tucked into the corner of a strip mall here, offered her something that suddenly has become a consuming obsession: safety.
She herded her daughter, Alejandra, and a dozen other giggling girls through two metal detectors one recent afternoon at this pizza parlor that promises "incredible security for your children," then dumped bags of presents on a table to be probed by a guard. It took a while to actually get inside, but Rodriguez didn't care. She thinks all the extra security is "super bien" -- super good.
Not so long ago, metal detectors at a pizza place would have been unimaginable in Monterrey, Mexico's third-largest metropolitan area, with more than 3.6 million residents. The city once seemed as if it could do no wrong -- two years ago it was named the safest city in Latin America by an international consulting group, it boasted the region's wealthiest residential neighborhood, and it was a strong competitor for the Major League Baseball franchise that became the Washington Nationals.
ON THE ROAD WITH SEAN PENN AND CHAVEZ
The Miami Herald
Aug. 04, 2007
LA GRITA, Venezuela --
Aboard the presidential jet, a grinning Hugo Chavez put a hand on Sean Penn's shoulder, praised his acting and added: "And he's anti-Bush!"
The Venezuelan president reveled in his role as host to the Hollywood star as they flew across the country Friday and traveled through the countryside in a military jeep with Chavez at the wheel, stopping to greet cheering supporters.
The Oscar-winning actor has previously condemned the Iraq war and called for President Bush to be impeached, but he revealed little about his thoughts on Venezuela, saying he came as a freelance journalist after reporting stints in Iraq and Iran - and was saving his conclusions for print.
"He's a courageous man," Chavez said as he introduced Penn to reporters and dignitaries during the flight from Caracas to western Venezuela. "He's very quiet, but he has a fire burning inside."
Penn is the latest in a series of U.S. celebrities and public figures to visit Chavez, including actor Danny Glover, singer Harry Belafonte and Cindy Sheehan, who became a peace activist after her soldier son was killed in Iraq.
BRAZIL FIRES AIRPORT AUTHORITY PRESIDENT
The New York Times
August 5, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 4 — The political consequences of the worst plane crash in Brazil’s history continued Saturday as the new defense minister fired the president of the national airports authority.
Defense Minister Nelson Jobim appointed Sergio Gaudenzi, the president of the Brazilian Space Agency, to replace Gen. José Carlos Pereira, according to Flávia Oliveira, a Defense Ministry spokeswoman. Mr. Pereira had overseen the airports authority for only 13 months.
Mr. Jobim was named defense minister just last week, succeeding Waldir Pires, who was the first top official to be ousted after an Airbus A320 skidded off a short, rain-slicked runway at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo on July 17 and burst into flames, killing 199 people.
Ten months earlier, 154 people died in a midair collision of two planes above the Amazon.
IN MEXICO CITY, POSSIBLE DISCOVERY OF AN AZTEC RULER’S GRAVE
The Washington Post
August 5, 2007
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 4 (AP) — Mexican archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected underground chambers they believe contain the remains of Ahuizotl, who was the emperor of the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World. It would be the first tomb of an Aztec ruler ever found.
The find could provide an extraordinary window into Aztec civilization at its apogee. Ahuizotl (pronounced ah-WEE-zoh-tuhl), an empire-builder who extended the Aztecs’ reach as far as what is now Guatemala, was the last emperor to complete his rule before the Spanish conquest.
Accounts written by Spanish priests suggest that the area was used by the Aztecs to cremate and bury their rulers. But no tomb of an Aztec ruler has ever been found, in part because the Spanish conquerors built their own city atop the Aztecs’ ceremonial center, leaving behind colonial structures considered too historically valuable to remove for excavations.
MEXICANS VOTE IN BAJA CALIFORNIA, OAXACA
The Miami Herald
Aug. 05, 2007
TIJUANA, Mexico --
Voters in Baja California chose Sunday between the wealthy mayor of Tijuana and an economist from Mexico's ruling party in an election for governor of the economically vibrant but crime-plagued border state.
Polls opened under the close watch of election observers following candidates' warnings of the potential for fraud in the state across the border from California and Arizona.
Most polls give a slight advantage to economist Jose Guadalupe Osuna, of President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party.
His formidable opponent is Tijuana Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon - a dog-track owner and self-proclaimed billionaire. Hank Rhon, the scion of a powerful political family, built a faithful following by rounding up petty thieves, launching programs to keep kids in school and meeting privately with anyone from the public who asked to see him.
Osuna has accused Hank Rhon, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, of corruption and ties to drug traffickers. Hank Rhon denies the charges, calling them politically motivated.
BELLWETHER MEXICO ELECTION GOES SMOOTHLY
The New York Times
August 6, 2007
TIJUANA, Mexico, Aug. 5 — Voters went to the polls on Sunday in Baja California to decide between a conservative economist from the president’s party and a colorful tycoon who owns betting parlors and comes from a storied political family in the once dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.
Both candidates — José Guadalupe Osuna Millán, 51, of the president’s National Action Party, and Jorge Hank Rhon, 51, the PRI candidate and former mayor of this city — ran campaigns promising to rid this economically vibrant state across from California and Arizona of the organized crime that has hampered its development and taken scores of lives in the past two years.
Despite dire warnings before the election that there would be fraud on both sides, the polling went forward with few problems or incidents, though some polling places opened late or not at all.
IRAN OFFERS AID TO NICARAGUA, IN A SIGN OF DEEPENING TIES
The New York Times
August 6, 2007
MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Aug. 5 — Iran has promised to help finance a new $350 million ocean port and build 10,000 houses for the leftist Nicaraguan government, in a deepening of ties between the governments that has raised concern in the Bush administration.
Iran has also pledged to choose in November a site for a $120 million hydroelectric project, to help Nicaragua overcome a power crisis, which has confronted Nicaraguans with blackouts nearly every day.
The Iranian aid projects were announced Saturday by the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega.
Despite American warnings, Mr. Ortega has been building alliances with countries like Venezuela and Iran, which the Bush administration considers unfriendly and which are flush with cash from high oil prices. Both are eager to build close alliances in Latin America.
VENEZUELA TRIES TO CREATE ITS OWN KIND OF SOCIALISM
The Washington Post
August 6, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela -- At a sleek, airy factory built by Venezuela's populist government, 80 workers churn out shoes -- basic and black and all of them to be shipped to Fidel Castro's Cuba, a leading economic partner.
With no manager or owner, the workers have an equal stake in a business celebrated as a shining alternative to the "savage capitalism" President Hugo Chávez constantly disparages.
"Here there are no chiefs, no managers," said Gustavo Zuñiga, one of the workers, explaining that a workers' assembly makes the big decisions.
There's also no need to compete -- production is wholly sustained by government orders.
Like the Venezuelan economy itself, the assembly line here is designed to put workers ahead of the bottom line and, in the process, serve as a building block in Chávez's dream of constructing what he calls 21st-century socialism. According to a 59-page economic blueprint for the next six years, free-market capitalism's influence will wane with the proliferation of state enterprises and mixed public-private firms called social production companies, the objective being to generate funding for community programs.
VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ LOBBIES SOUTH AMERICA
The Miami Herald
Aug. 06, 2007
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina --
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought to expand his petrodollar influence in South America as he launched a four-nation tour Monday to promote his country's entry into a regional trade bloc and to offer energy and financial deals to allies.
Chavez met with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner after signaling Venezuela plans to acquire up to $1 billion in Argentine bonds in installments - the latest in a series of deals cementing ties between the allies.
"This is an important deal, highly important for our political and geopolitical ties," Chavez said.
He later joined Kirchner for a televised ceremony at the Government House in Buenos Aires in which the leaders agreed to a "treaty on energy security."
The agreement calls for cooperation on energy initiatives including the supply and distribution of natural gas through pipelines, joint oil refining projects and coordinated efforts on distributing power and alternative fuels.
Chavez said his government would invest in a regasification plant for liquid natural gas for Argentina, which is currently weathering an energy crisis. He said the plant could be completed within two years.
VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ LOBBIES SOUTH AMERICA
The Miami Herald
Aug. 06, 2007
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina --
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought to expand his petrodollar influence in South America as he launched a four-nation tour Monday to promote his country's entry into a regional trade bloc and to offer energy and financial deals to allies.
Chavez met with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner after signaling Venezuela plans to acquire up to $1 billion in Argentine bonds in installments - the latest in a series of deals cementing ties between the allies.
"This is an important deal, highly important for our political and geopolitical ties," Chavez said.
He later joined Kirchner for a televised ceremony at the Government House in Buenos Aires in which the leaders agreed to a "treaty on energy security."
The agreement calls for cooperation on energy initiatives including the supply and distribution of natural gas through pipelines, joint oil refining projects and coordinated efforts on distributing power and alternative fuels.
Chavez said his government would invest in a regasification plant for liquid natural gas for Argentina, which is currently weathering an energy crisis. He said the plant could be completed within two years.
JAILED BOXING CHAMPION `WANTED TO SPEAK TO FIDEL'
The Miami Herald
Aug. 07, 2007
HAVANA --
An Olympic boxing champion who disappeared during the Pan American Games in Brazil but was later arrested and deported to Cuba had dreamed of airing his grievances with Fidel Castro, not defecting, his sister-in-law said Monday.
Two-time bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux, who arrived back in Cuba on Sunday, ''wanted to speak to Fidel several times to explain his problems, but they never let him,'' said Marilyn Clavero, the sister of the boxer's wife, Farah Colina.
Clavero told The Associated Press that the boxer's relatives don't know when he will be allowed to return to his home, but that they were painting Rigondeaux's modest apartment in Havana and plan to feast on a pig when he arrives.
EARLY RETURNS INDICATE GAMBLING TYCOON WILL NOT BE GOVERNOR OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
The New York Times
August 7, 2007
TIJUANA, Mexico, Aug. 6 — The quest of Jorge Hank Rhon, a gambling tycoon and former Tijuana mayor, to become governor of the Mexican state of Baja California ended in failure Monday morning, as preliminary election returns showed he had lost to his rival from the president’s National Action Party.
With votes from 90 percent of the polling places counted early Monday, Mr. Hank was trailing José Guadalupe Osuna Millán, 344,858 votes to 399,115. Mr. Osuna Millán, a 51-year-old economist and career politician, declared victory early Sunday evening on the strength of exit polls and called for reconciliation after a brutally negative campaign.
Mr. Hank, also 51, had yet to concede defeat Monday afternoon. Final results will take days to tabulate.
COLOMBIA NAVY SEIZES SUB IN COKE PROBE
The Miami Herald
Aug. 07, 2007
BOGOTA, Colombia --
Colombia's navy seized a 65-foot submarine that likely was used to haul tons of cocaine on part of its journey to the United States, officials said Tuesday.
No drugs were found or arrests made when the fiberglass submarine was discovered Sunday in a swampy mangrove about six miles off the northernmost point of Colombia's Caribbean coast.
The blue-colored, diesel-powered vessel had sophisticated communications systems and was capable of carrying up to 11 tons of cocaine, Rear Admiral
Roberto Garcia Marquez, head of the navy's Caribbean fleet, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine and the country's drug cartels have been known to use homemade submarines to smuggle large amounts of cocaine past U.S. and Colombian patrol boats to Central America, a stop on the route to the United States.
VAGUE COMMENTS MADE ABOUT FIDEL CASTRO'S HEALTH
The Miami Herald
Aug. 07, 2007
WASHINGTON --
Two Cuban officials have made intriguing statements in recent days that raise questions about Fidel Castro's health.
Castro handed power to his brother Raúl last summer following emergency surgery. He has written several newspaper columns in recent weeks and is reported to be recuperating, but has not been seen in public in more than a year.
Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage raised eyebrows Sunday when he telephoned Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's live talk program, Aló Presidente, apparently to fill in for Castro.
``The comandante saw the dawn today working, working intensely like all these days, calling various compañeros on different issues.
``And when Aló Presidente started he interrupted the work to dedicate himself to watching.
MEXICAN CARDINAL DEPOSED IN ABUSE CASE
The Miami Herald
Aug. 08, 2007
MEXICO CITY --
Mexico's most prominent cardinal was deposed Wednesday in a U.S. lawsuit accusing him of complicity in the alleged rape of a child by a Mexican priest.
Cardinal Norberto Rivera and his lawyers rushed past reporters and photographers waiting outside offices of the Archdiocese of Mexico without giving comment.
Later in the afternoon, archdiocese spokesman Rev. Hugo Valdemar Romero said Rivera gave his statement voluntarily and argued that a Los Angeles court should not be handling a case involving Mexican clergy and an alleged victim in Mexico.
In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in September, Joaquin Aguilar Mendez alleges he was raped by priest Nicolas Aguilar in Mexico City in 1994 when he was 12 years old.
According to the suit, Aguilar Mendez had gone to the priest's room at the rectory to use a restroom when he was grabbed and sodomized.
The alleged rape came after the priest already had been charged with 19 felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child in California.
PRIEST TAKES ON PARAGUAY'S PARTY MONOPOLY
The Miami Herald
Aug. 08, 2007
ASUNCION, Paraguay --
For 60 years, Paraguay's Colorado Party has used political patronage -- as well as fraud and violence -- to remain in control of the country, longer than any other political party in the world that's still in power.
But now Fernando Lugo, 48, a country priest with no previous political experience, appears poised to bring that long run to an end -- a challenge that reflects a Latin America-wide trend against long-ruling political elites who have failed to deliver better lives for the poor.
In 2000, Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party, which was then the world's longest-ruling, lost its first presidential election in more than 70 years. After that, former union head Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva became Brazil's first president of working-class origins, Bolivia elected its first indigenous leader, and socially conservative Chile chose its first female president.
''Political parties all over Latin America are in crisis because they haven't responded to the social demands of Latin Americans,'' Lugo said during an interview with McClatchy in his office in a working-class neighborhood of the Paraguayan capital, Asunción.
BISHOP SAYS SPIRITUALITY RICHER IN CUBA
The Miami Herald
Aug. 08, 2007
HAVANA --
The photograph is historic: Cuban leader Fidel Castro in a suit and tie, greeting Pope John Paul II on the red carpet at Havana's International Airport.
Many predicted John Paul's January 1998 visit would prompt profound changes in communist Cuba, after the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit urged the island to ''open to the world'' and ''the world to open to Cuba.'' He also called for Castro to increase liberty for the church and society, and denounced U.S. efforts to isolate the island.
But in the decade since, Cuba's Catholic church has made only limited progress. Masses are sparsely attended except on major holidays such as Christmas. Meanwhile, U.S. trade and travel sanctions are even tighter.
Although the pope's influence was considered key to the collapse of communism in John Paul's native Poland, where Catholicism was strong and organized, the church has had much less say in Cuba than in other parts of Latin America.
CASTRO MIGHT NOT LET BOXERS TRAVEL OVERSEAS
The Miami Herald
Aug. 08, 2007
HAVANA --
Fidel Castro might bar Cuban boxers from competing in the world championships in Chicago and other qualifying events leading to the Beijing Olympics to prevent possible defections.
Castro wrote in a column published in official newspapers that two Cuban boxers who disappeared during the Pan American Games in Brazil last month only to be arrested and sent back to the island ''had reached the point of no return'' with the national boxing team.
''The athlete who abandons his delegation is not unlike the soldier who abandons his fellow men in the midst of combat,'' he said.
Guillermo Rigondeaux, Cuba's top boxer and a two-time Olympic bantamweight champion, and Erislandy Lara, an amateur welterweight world champion, arrived Sunday in Cuba. They were sent to state guest houses for more than two days, then released while the communist government decides what to do with them.
Rigondeaux returned to the Havana apartment he shares with his family Wednesday, saying he never intended to defect. Lara's family lives in the easternmost province of Guantánamo and could not be immediately located.
CONSERVATIVES KEEP POWER IN BAJA CALIFORNIA
The Miami Herald
Aug. 07, 2007
SAN DIEGO --
Conservative candidate José Guadalupe Osuna Millán beat back a strong challenge from gambling tycoon Jorge Hank Rhon to win the gubernatorial election in Baja California, according to preliminary election results.
Osuna, with 50.5 percent of the votes, had an irreversible lead over Hank, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, who garnered 43.7 percent of the votes Sunday, according to a count of nearly all the polling places by the Baja California Electoral Institute.
The win by Osuna, of The National Action Party, or PAN, reasserted the party's control over a state it has governed for 18 years. Some experts predicted that Hank would break the PAN's grip on power after he spent about $4 million of his own money on a hard-hitting campaign that blamed the PAN for the state's high crime rate.
Hank, 51, a multi-millionaire who owns a string of off-track betting parlors, campaigned in poor areas where over the years he has provided many gifts and favors.
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