November 8, 2012 Dear LADDO, The surge in drug trafficking and violent crime in Central America has highlighted the perennial problem of lawlessness along the borders of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Governments in these countries historically have neglected their borders, particularly the jungle-covered region along the Caribbean coast, across the Petén and Yucatán high plains that border Mexico, and within the central mountain chain. And while they regularly...

After learning that local TV presenter Adela Jazmín Alcaraz López has been missing for the past five days in Rioverde, in the north-central state of San Luis Potosí, Reporters Without Borders reiterates its appeal to President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto to pledge to combat impunity in crimes of violence against journalists, With a total of 85 journalists killed and 16 missing in the past decade - including five murdered and three disappeared in 2012 - Mexico...

A Mazahua Indian man was released from a prison in central Mexico after spending five years behind bars for crimes he never committed. Hugo Sanchez Ramirez was freed after the Mexican Supreme Court ruled his due process rights had been violated. "Hugo is young and indigenous. Those are the reasons he was attacked by the justice system," Quetzalcoatl Fontanot, spokesperson for the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, told Efe on Tuesday. Sanchez Ramirez's ordeal began in...

The Mexican blog reported today that its founder, known as Ruy Salgado or “El 5anto”, has been missing for the past six days. "Salgado’s disappearance may be voluntary, but he may have been kidnapped or worse and every day that passes without his reappearing rightly increases the concern about his fate," Reporters Without Borders said. "If he disappeared voluntarily, he would not be the first person to choose temporary silence. More and more journalists are...

The American citizen of Arab origin Rafic Mohammad Labboun Allaboun, a suspected member of the terrorist network Hezbollah, was arrested Saturday night in Merida through an operation conducted by the National Migration Institute (INM) and the State Police. Labboun Allaboun was arrested in a house located in the street 41-B, between 56 and 5 of the colony Francisco de Montejo in the west part of the city. At the moment of the arrest, the suspect identified himself with a fake passport from...

Three alleged members of Hezbollah have been arrested in Mexico and one was handed over to U.S. authorities, Mexican media reported Sunday. Reforma newspaper identified one of the detainees as Rafic Mohammad Labboun Allaboun, a U.S. national, who was wanted by the U.S. government. Allaboun was arrested in the city of Merida late Saturday as part of an operation conducted by Mexican immigration agents and local police, the report said. Two other suspected Hezbollah members -- George Abdalah...

DAY 1 (August 12, Sunday, San Diego) California Dreaming as Friendship Park launch on Sunday was magical with Aztec Dancers and music in San Diego/ Tijuana, Enrique Morones of Border Angels, Congressman Bob Filner and Senator Juan Vargas and community welcome all to San Diego, then Javier Sicilia shares the importance of Caravan For Peace with Justice and Dignity with hundreds of supporters on both sides of wall and dozens of international media folks. (caravanforpeace.org) At USD's...

The Mexican authorities announced Wednesday that captured members of a criminal cell had confessed to the killing of five journalists in the state of Veracruz this year. According to the state attorney, the criminals, one of whom was detained last week carrying identification cards belonging to Irasema Becerra, a recently slain newspaper employee, admitted to a total of 36 crimes. Press freedom activists expressed dissatisfaction with the announcement, saying that it was unacceptable for the...

Yale economics professor and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo has become a legal headache for the United States. Zedillo has been accused of perpetrating the 1997 Acteal massacre when he was president by relatives of the victims. Plaintiffs are demanding $50 million in damages. The infamous Acteal massacre was a political and religious assassination of 47 Maya Indian women and children in the hamlet of Acteal, Chiapas. Even after the alleged culprits spent 10 years in prison, it is...

Caravan for Peace off to incredible start with Mexican Poet/activist Javier Sicilia as hundreds gather yesterday @ historic Friendship Park, thanks all ! After an incredible launch with Javier Sicilia at Friendship Park the Caravan headed to a beautiful Mass @ USD's Founders Chapel (music by Francisco Herrera and Ray Castillo). Next stop on same campus was David Shirk of the Trans-border Institute delivering a shocking report on the 65,000 people that have been killed in Mexico since 2006...