Brasil Just Succeeded Where America Failed

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/15/Tv/video/amanpour-brazil-bolsonaro-conviction-petra-costa

Brasil Keeps Telling Trump To Get Lost

Brazil Keeps Telling Trump to Get Lost By Jack Nicas, 1 days ago Supporters of Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, at a rally ahead of his Supreme Court trial, in Brasilia, Brazil. Sept. 7, 2025. The conviction of Bolsonaro for trying to overturn the 2022 election by the South American country’s highest court, despite President Donald Trump’s imposition of extra tariffs, sanctions and a trade investigation, is shaping up as a test case on how to defy Trump. (Dado Galdieri/The New York Times) BRASÍLIA, Brazil — President Donald Trump made his demands to Brazil very clear: Drop the charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro of attempting a coup. To show he was serious, he hit Brazil with punishing tariffs, launched a trade investigation and imposed some of the most severe sanctions at his disposal against the Supreme Court justice overseeing the case. Brazil responded Thursday by convicting Bolsonaro anyway, sentencing him to more than 27 years in prison for overseeing a failed plot to stay in power after losing the 2022 elections. Defiance has defined Brazil’s response to Trump since he began trying to bully the country. So far, it hasn’t resulted in disaster. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has watched his poll numbers rise as he has denounced his American counterpart. Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice targeted by sanctions, has been fiercely backed by Brazil’s democratic institutions. And last month, when Trump’s 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports took effect, Brazil said its global exports actually rose 4% because of increased purchases by China. “Does anyone believe that a tweet from a foreign government official will change a ruling in the Supreme Court?” Justice Flávio Dino said as he cast his vote this past week to convict Bolsonaro. In response, Secretary of State Marco Rubio tweeted: “The United States will respond accordingly to this witch hunt.” How much further Washington is willing to go in its fight with Brazil is unclear. The U.S. government has used some of its most powerful tools. Its latest actions focused mostly on revoking the visas of some Brazilian officials. If the tariffs last — or even increase — it may eventually prove difficult to explain to American voters why they should pay more for beef, coffee and sugar to intervene in Bolsonaro’s case. An attendee holds a candle at a vigil for Charlie Kirk at a city park in Provo, Utah, on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. The first few minutes of President Trump’s Oval Office address after the assassination of Charlie Kirk last week followed the conventional presidential playbook at first. Then he tossed the playbook aside, angrily blaming the murder on the American left and vowing revenge. (Loren Elliott/The New York Times) U.S. officials have said their problems with Brazil go beyond Bolsonaro. They accuse de Moraes of censoring free speech by ordering social networks to block accounts that often he alone decides threaten Brazil’s democracy. His actions have indeed been harsh at times and lacked transparency, prompting criticism within Brazil, too. He and fellow justices have argued that the Brazilian right’s recent attacks on democracy — including a plot to assassinate de Moraes — have required a firm response. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, was asked this past week about de Moraes’ approach to the internet. Her response, delivered as the judge was voting to convict Bolsonaro, raised eyebrows: “The president is unafraid to use the economic might, the military might of the United States of America to protect free speech around the world.” Brazil’s government condemned the statement, and Lula later told a radio station, “The U.S. needs to know it’s not dealing with a banana republic.” Trump, for his part, did not seem to be revving for a fight when asked Thursday if he would respond to Bolsonaro’s conviction with more sanctions. “It’s very much like they tried to do with me, but they didn’t get away with it,” he said. He did not mention any retaliation. What is clear is that the White House’s campaign against Brazil did not stop Bolsonaro’s conviction, but it did hurt America’s image in the country and push its largest ally in the Western Hemisphere closer to China. Lula has spoken with President Xi Jinping of China at least twice since the U.S. tariffs took effect — but not once with Trump. China, Brazil’s largest trading partner ahead of the United States, is becoming even more central to Brazil’s economic plan. China bought 31% more from Brazil in August, when the tariffs kicked in, compared with a year before. At the same time, Brazil’s sales to the United States dropped 18.5%. Public perceptions in Brazil of the United States and China have been following a similar pattern. The percentage of Brazilians who said they had a positive image of the United States fell to 44% in August, from 58% in February 2024, according to a survey. Over the same period, those with a positive image of China jumped to 49% from 38%. FILE — Immigration officers take a man into custody during an arrest operation in Pompano Beach, Fla., May 1, 2023. President Donald Trump has walked back some significant immigration policies that collide with his economic agenda, angering his far-right allies. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times) U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote online Thursday that Bolsonaro’s conviction drove “relations between our two great nations to their darkest point in two centuries.” Many on the left in Brazil would argue that the United States’ support for the 1964 military coup that led to a 21-year dictatorship in Brazil was a darker moment. They see the current U.S. policy as another intervention from Washington on behalf of the plotters of a coup. U.S. officials, however, say they are saving Brazil’s democracy. That vast divide could be difficult to bridge. “As long as Brazil leaves the fate of our relationship in Justice Moraes’ hands,” Landau wrote, “I see no resolution to this crisis.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Some of the recent extra security outside the Supreme Court in Brasilia, Brazil, Sept. 3, 2025. The South American country’s highest court, which has convicted its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, despite President Donald Trump’s imposition of extra tariffs, sanctions and a trade investigation, is shaping up as a test case on how to defy Trump. (Dado Galdieri/The New York Times) FILE — Members of the National Guard patrol the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington on Sept. 3, 2025. Campaigning last year to reclaim power four years after his re-election defeat, Trump dispensed with the usual bromides about national unity, and instead declared that the biggest threat to the United States was “the enemy from within.” (Alex Kent/The New York Times) President Donald Trump talks with media member while departing the White House in Washington on Sept. 11, 2025. The first few minutes of President Trump’s Oval Office address after the assassination of Charlie Kirk last week followed the conventional presidential playbook at first. Then he tossed the playbook aside, angrily blaming the murder on the American left and vowing revenge. (Kenny Holston/The New Times0 People visit a memorial for Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah on Sept. 13, 2025. The first few minutes of President Trump’s Oval Office address after the assassination of Charlie Kirk last week followed the conventional presidential playbook at first. Then he tossed the playbook aside, angrily blaming the murder on the American left and vowing revenge. (Loren Elliott/The New York Times) FILE — President Donald Trump speaks alongside Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox church of the U.S. during a Greek Independence Day celebration in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 24, 2025. Hyundai Motor said in March that it would invest $21 billion to expand manufacturing in the United States. President Trump said the move was proof that his tariff policies were creating jobs. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) Brazil’s president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva and first lady Janja da Silva wave during a parade on the country’s Independence Day, in Brasilia, Brazil, Sept. 7, 2025. The conviction by the Supreme Court of the South American country’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for trying to overturn the 2022 election, despite President Donald Trump’s imposition of extra tariffs, sanctions and a trade investigation, is shaping up as a test case on how to defy Trump. (Dado Galdieri/The New York Times) (Dado Galdieri/The New York Times) FILE — Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, greets supporters in Rio de Janeiro, March 16, 2025. The conviction of Bolsonaro for trying to overturn the 2022 election by the South American country’s highest court, despite President Donald Trump’s imposition of extra tariffs, sanctions and a trade investigation, is shaping up as a test case on how to defy Trump. (Dado Galdieri/The New York Times) FILE — President Donald Trump meets with his advisors in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington on Aug, 26, 2025. Campaigning last year to reclaim power four years after his re-election defeat, Trump dispensed with the usual bromides about national unity, and instead declared that the biggest threat to the United States was “the enemy from within.” (Doug Mills/The New York Times For more stories,subscribe to The New York Times. (c) 2025 The New York Times Company. 1.8K

Brasil: Police Seize Drug Laden Aircraft From Venezuela As US Presses Anti-Narcotics Mission In The Caribbean

Brazilian Police Seize Drug-Laden Aircraft From Venezuela as U.S. Presses Anti-Narcotics Mission in Caribbean By Pedro Camacho, 1 days ago Brazilian authorities seized 380 kilograms of marijuana from a small aircraft that entered the country’s airspace from Venezuela Brazilian government's official website Brazilian authorities said on Thursday they had seized 380 kilograms of marijuana from a small aircraft that entered the country's airspace from Venezuela and attempted an emergency landing in the Amazon region. The incident comes amid heightened U.S. military operations in the Caribbean aimed at counter-narcotics enforcement and increased scrutiny of Venezuela's alleged ties to drug trafficking. According to Brazil's Federal Police, the twin-engine Beechcraft 58 Baron was detected on radar after crossing into Brazilian territory without authorization on September 10. Venezuelan new site El Pitazo reports that the Air Force then scrambled two A-29 Super Tucano jets to intercept the aircraft. The pilot refused orders to divert to a nearby landing strip and instead descended to tree-top level before ditching the plane into the Balbina reservoir near Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas state. Federal Police officers arrived by helicopter and recovered the marijuana, described as a high-potency variety known as skank, from inside the aircraft. The pilot evaded capture and remains at large. The seized drugs were transferred to police headquarters in Manaus for further investigation. The episode follows recent regional tension after the United States increased its military presence in the Caribbean. Washington has deployed eight missile-equipped naval vessels, a nuclear-powered submarine, and F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico as part of what it describes as an expanded counter-narcotics mission. Last week, U.S. officials said they struck a boat carrying alleged members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua criminal group, prompting sharp condemnation from Caracas. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva voiced opposition to the U.S. deployment earlier this week. In remarks at a virtual BRICS summit on September 8, Lula said that "the presence of armed forces of the world's greatest power in the Caribbean Sea is a source of tension incompatible with the region's vocation for peace."

Argentina: After Looted Art Found In Home Experts Warn That Many Other Art Treasures Are Being Hoarded

After Nazi looted art surfaces in Argentina, experts warn Van Gogh, Raphael and 100k other works still being hoarded By Isabel Vincent, Updated 03:25 PM PDT, Wed September 10, 2025 New York Post Follow A real estate listing in Argentina shook the art world last month when it revealed a painting hanging in pride of place in the living room was actually an Italian Old Master stolen by the Nazis. Art buffs say it highlights how other important works by luminaries including Vincent Van Gogh, Raphael and Monet suffered the same fate and are still being illegally hoarded by non-rightful owners. The Argentine artwork — “Portrait of a Lady” by 18th century Italian artist Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi — could be worth more than $500,000. It went “missing” at the end of the Second World War and turned up in the seaside resort home of Patricia Kadgien, daughter of Nazi officer Friedrich Gustav Kadgien. The real estate ad which shows the Italian Old Master work above the sofa in the home of Patricia Kadgien, daughter of Nazi officer Friedrich Gustav Kadgien. Robles Casas & Campos In addition to that painting, Argentine authorities found 22 other works, including some by Henri Matisse, during multiple raids on homes connected to Patricia Kadgien. “There is a lot of Nazi looted art throughout the world that has been concealed from public view,” said Jonathan Petropoulos, a professor of European history at Claremont McKenna College in California and the author of the 2021 book “Goering’s Man in Paris: The Story of a Nazi Art Plunderer and His World.” He commended the find — by dogged Dutch investigative journalist Cyril Rosman, who has spent a decade searching for the storied collection of Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker — but the picture is just one of an estimated 100,000 valuable works of art looted by the Nazis which remain unaccounted for. “There have been restitution claims for famous artworks in museums, but a far greater number of looted and non-restituted works remain in private hands around the world,” he said. Name of new Astoria sports bar causes outrage for being identical to Hitler HQ Among the most valuable missing works is Raphael’s “Portrait of a Young Man.” Argentine police officials also seized 22 other works in raids. Among the works were pieces attributed to French artist Henri Matisse. Policia Federal Argentina. That piece, painted by the Italian master between 1513 and 1514, was looted by the Nazis from the Princes Czatroyski Museum in Krakow, Poland and was last seen at a German castle in 1945, according to a list of missing Nazi loot compiled by the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, a nonprofit that works to help recover art stolen by the Nazis. Individual works by Raphael have sold at auction for tens of millions of dollars. Many paintings by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele are also missing, including “Boats Mirrored in the Water,” one of more than 80 of the artist’s works expropriated by the Nazis from their owner, the Austrian-Jewish cabaret performer Fritz Grunbaum, according to the foundation. Raphael’s “Portrait of a Young Man” was last seen in 1945, and could be worth tens of millions of dollars. Grunbaum died at the Dachau concentration camp in 1941. Recently recovered Schiele works have also fetched millions at auction. In addition, Vincent van Gogh’s “The Painter on the Way to Tarascon,” is missing. It was painted in 1888 and last seen in 1945 at the Neu-Stassfurt salt mine, where the Nazis stored stolen works to protect them from Allied bombing raids. The painting by the Dutch master could fetch more than $100 million. “Orchard with Cypresses,” painted in the same year by Van Gogh fetched $117 million at auction — a record for the artist — in 2022. Some of the other missing paintings include works by some of the most recognizable names in 19th and 20th century art, including Edgar Degas, Auguste Rodin,Claude Monet and Camille Pissaro. Daughter of Nazi who stole Jewish family’s painting charged with crimes linked to genocide “Boats Mirrored in the Water,” by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele was part of the collection belonging to Austrian-Jewish cabaret performer Fritz Grunbaum who was killed at the Dachau concentration camp. “The Painter on the Way to Tarascon” by Vincent Van Gogh was last seen in 1945 in a German salt mine where it was stored along with thousands of other looted works by the Nazis. Although most of the pillaging was conducted by high-ranking officials, such as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Gestapo head Hermann Goering, some pieces were also taken by lower ranking functionaries, Petropoulos said. He helped compile the list of missing artworks stolen by the Nazis for the Presidential Commission on Holocaust Assets, created by President Bill Clinton in 2000. The commission found the Nazis stole more than 600,000 artworks during their 12 years in power. “Portrait of a Lady” was in the collection of Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer in Amsterdam whose trove of 1,300 works was looted when the German army invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, according to historians. It was acquired by Kadgien in 1944 from the Goudstikker gallery in Amsterdam. At that time he was in charge of securing stolen Jewish assets to sell and rebuild Germany’s military arsenal. Allied forces recovered some of the art stolen by the Nazis before and during the Second World War. Experts say that 100,000 works of art are still “missing.” Getty Images Patricia Kadgien was arrested after she allegedly tried to conceal the 18th century painting that a Dutch journalist traced to her home after seeing it in a real estate ad. AFP via Getty Images Goudstikker died after a shipboard accident when he tried to flee to England in May, 1940. Kadgien’s daughter Patricia, 59, and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso,62, were charged by local authorities with “concealment” of the artwork earlier this month after they allegedly hid it, replacing it with a tapestry following inquiries by Rosman. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR MORNING REPORT NEWSLETTER Friedrich Gustav Kadgien fled to Switzerland, Brazil and Argentina. He established companies in South America and owned a massive cattle ranch. Their lawyer then handed over the painting to authorities last week, according to press reports. Still, Kadgien and her husband face up to six years in prison if they are found guilty of hiding the works. Kadgien fled Germany after the war, escaping to Switzerland and then South America with the help of business associates. By the early 1950s, he was living in Argentina along with Nazi war criminals Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele — all of them protected by the regime of fascist leader Juan Peron and by 1954 he had a 200,000 acre ranch with a herd of 20,000 cattle. Kadgien became an Argentine citizen and lived under his real name. He also had numerous business dealings with the Argentine government andhelped Germans move stolen assets out of the country, according to a Swiss commission set up in 1996 to examine the country’s role during the Second World War. Argentine Prosecutors with the portrait of Contessa Colleoni by Ghislandi, which was recovered from the private residence in the country’s Mar del Plata seaside location. REUTERS Police raided Patricia Kadgien’s home in Mar del Plata, in search of Nazi looted art earlier this month. AFP via Getty Images He also sold armaments to the Brazilian military government and helped to fund coups in both Guatemala and Colombia in the early 1950s. He died in 1978. For Petropoulos, who has spent decades shedding light on Nazi looted art, the action by Argentine police should serve as an example to the rest of the world. “The Argentine police are the first since World War Two to employ criminal statutes to arrest possessors of Nazi looted art and to use the criminal proceedings against possessors to ensure the return of the artwork,” he told The Post, referring to recent legal cases in the US in which museums have been sued for the return of Nazi looted works hanging in their galleries. In other cases involving Schiele works, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg seized eleven from US museums in 2023. Nobody was arrested or criminally prosecuted in that case. “This case reminds us that private individuals in possession of Nazi stolen art also have an obligation to restitute,” he said. For top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com. Subscribe to Movie News Digest's newsletter to receive the latest news and updates directly in your inbox.

Brasil: Former President Bolsonaro Sentence To 27 Years In Prison

Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Attempted Coup By CTN News, 2 hours ago Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison by Brazil's Supreme Court. He was found guilty of orchestrating an attempted coup to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election, which saw Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ascend to the presidency. This landmark decision marks the first time in Brazil's political history that a former president has been tried and convicted for actions aimed at undermining the country's democracy, notes The Guardian. The trial, conducted before a panel of five judges, resulted in a majority of four votes in favor of Bolsonaro's conviction, while one judge voted for his acquittal. The charges against him included leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to dissolve democratic institutions, and inciting violence to overthrow the elected government. Among the co-defendants were members of his government, including his running mate and Defense Minister, as well as high-ranking military officials, according to AP News. This conviction follows the events of January 8, 2023, when Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasília, seeking to overthrow newly inaugurated President Lula in his second term. The riots resulted in significant property damage and over 1,400 arrests. Investigations revealed these actions were part of a broader conspiracy involving military and government members to nullify the presidential election results. Currently under house arrest, Bolsonaro has the option to appeal the decision. His lawyers might also request continued house arrest due to his reportedly fragile health condition, according to The Guardian. Despite his conviction, he remains an influential figure in Brazilian politics, and his supporters continue to denounce what they view as political persecution. Calls for amnesty are circulating within certain political circles, although the possibility of such a measure remains uncertain. This case represents a major turning point for Brazilian democracy, demonstrating the judiciary's willingness to hold leaders accountable for their actions, regardless of their status or popularity. It also sends a strong message against impunity and in support of fundamental democratic principles. https://ctninfo.com/?p=36788&preview=true 5

CIA Secretly Runs Narco-Hunting Units In Mexico

Report: CIA Secretly Runs Narco-Hunting Units in Mexico 15 hours ago (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) A Reuters investigation has found that the CIA has been running covert operations in Mexico for years to track down the country's most-wanted drug traffickers. The secret: The U.S. spy agency works closely with special narco-hunting units inside the Mexican military. In January 2023, the Mexican government deployed helicopter gunships and hundreds of soldiers into rural Sinaloa to capture Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of the imprisoned cartel kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. In the hunt for the young capo, the mission's architects worked hand-in-glove with a powerful American backer: the Central Intelligence Agency. Ahead of the raid, America's premier spy agency leveraged its vast eavesdropping apparatus to surveil the communications of Guzmán's associates to locate him in his mother's hometown in the western Sierra Madre mountains, according to four former U.S. intelligence and law enforcement sources. CIA analysts assembled a detailed dossier, known as a "targeting package," on El Chapo's flashy son. The CIA was helped by intel from a member of Ovidio's circle who had secretly flipped, three of the sources added. Finally, to carry out the arrest itself, the Mexican Army deployed an elite unit that was trained, equipped, and vetted by the CIA, a dozen current and former U.S. and Mexican officials said. With the permission of the Mexican government, the CIA gives training and equipment to these outfits, as well as financial backing for activities like travel. The U.S. spy agency also screens their members with U.S.-administered polygraph tests, which is why the groups are often called "CIA vetted units." Today, there are at least two such CIA vetted military units operating in Mexico. In addition to the Mexican Army group that nabbed Ovidio, there's a special Mexican Navy intelligence outfit, according to eight current and former Mexican and U.S. officials. In the past, the CIA also had vetted units within Mexico's now-defunct federal police, a state-level police force, and the federal attorney general's office, according to two former senior U.S. and Mexican officials. These CIA vetted units, the details of which Reuters is reporting for the first time, fall under the agency's covert operations. Such activities are generally classified, and their budgets and staffing are kept secret. To detail the CIA's activities in Mexico, Reuters spoke to more than 60 current and former U.S. and Mexican security sources, including former CIA officers, diplomats from both countries, U.S. anti-narcotics agents, and Mexican military leaders who worked closely with the U.S. spy agency. The majority spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence agency's activities. The CIA has a long history of operations in Latin America, particularly during the Cold War, when the agency worked with military juntas and dictators to counter leftist governments and guerrillas. The agency also helped topple South America's cocaine trafficking empires at the end of the 20th century. But the U.S. spy agency's secret fight against Mexico's cartel leaders has gone largely unreported. The CIA vetted Mexican army and navy units have played key roles in planning or executing the majority of captures of high-profile narcos in recent years. The army outfit is comprised of hundreds of CIA-trained special forces and is seen as the military force in Mexico most capable of nabbing heavily armed drug lords holed up in fortified mountain hideouts, security sources say. That has turned the CIA into the gatekeeper of American anti-narcotics operations in Mexico, according to current and former U.S. security sources. "The CIA is the facilitator and the coordinator on some of the most important anti-narcotics issues in Mexico," said a recently departed senior official in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. "Those units are extremely important." For decades the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has been the face of U.S. anti-narcotics efforts in Mexico. The DEA and other U.S. law enforcement agencies, such as Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), lead the U.S. effort to investigate suspected drug traffickers and gather evidence that is admissible in U.S. courtrooms. These agencies also work with Mexican counterparts to execute complex capture operations. But inside the U.S. embassy, the CIA spearheads the high-level coordination between the myriad U.S. agencies working on anti-narcotics, the American security sources said. To some, the embassy's seating arrangement symbolizes the power dynamic: CIA analysts – and those of other U.S. intel agencies – sit on the same floor as the ambassador. DEA, HSI and other law enforcement agents have their desks on the floor below. In response to detailed questions from Reuters, the White House said in a statement: "The United States and Mexico are working as sovereign partners to successfully stop the illegal flow of deadly narcotics across the border and eliminate the cartel networks responsible." "Thanks to the leadership and partnership" of U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum, "the threat posed by transnational terrorist organizations armed with illicit narcotics diminishes by the day and efforts will not cease until American communities are safe from the scourge of drugs and cartels," the statement said. CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons said in a statement that Mexico's cartels have become a significant focus for the agency. "From day one, Director (John) Ratcliffe made securing our southern border and countering drug cartels in Mexico and regionally a top Agency priority to support President Trump's directive to end narco-trafficking," she said. The Mexican government did not respond to detailed questions for this report. The new insights into the CIA vetted units and the U.S. spy agency's extensive anti-narcotics activities come as the Trump administration is weighing a dramatic escalation of the U.S. drug war in Mexico, one that could strain the bilateral relationship. The CIA and U.S. law enforcement have long operated south of the border solely at the discretion of Mexico's government, which greenlights all capture operations and uses Mexican forces to execute them. But Trump has said publicly that Washington may take unilateral military action in Mexico if the Mexican government failed to dismantle drug cartels. His administration has designated several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which former national security officials say lays the groundwork for military action inside the country. Case in point: Last week, the U.S. military killed 11 people in a strike on a vessel in the southern Caribbean that allegedly departed Venezuela carrying illegal narcotics. Without publicly offering evidence, U.S. officials said that those killed were members of a Venezuelan cartel that the Trump administration has also designated as a foreign terrorist group. As for Mexico, U.S. military and intelligence officials have in recent months discussed options for carrying out deadly strikes against drug cartels inside the country, according to two U.S. officials involved in the talks. What role the CIA could play in such a campaign is unclear. The CIA and U.S. special operations forces often work side-by-side on complex operations, particularly since the U.S. war on terror began a generation ago, former CIA and elite military officers said. Inside its headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the CIA is moving resources and personnel to amp up counter-cartel efforts, including through the creation of a new Americas and Counternarcotics Mission Center, its leadership has said. Top counterterrorism officials have been reassigned to work on Mexican cartels, according to three intelligence sources. The agency has increased its drone surveillance flights south of the border, other former intelligence officials say. CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis has said the agency is applying lessons learned from the global war on terror to the Mexican cartels. "We have built a finely tuned machine at the CIA over the past 20 years since 9/11 to find, fix, and finish terrorist targets, and now we are going to be taking that machine and turning to the cartels," he said in a May episode of the podcast of Tudor Dixon, a U.S. conservative commentator. The phrase "find, fix, finish" is used in national security circles to refer to the process of locating a target and then capturing or killing that person. The CIA declined to elaborate on Ellis' comments. The Trump administration's increasingly aggressive approach to fighting the region's drug traffickers has created a high-stakes balancing act for President Sheinbaum of Mexico's ruling leftist Morena party. With Mexico facing economic pressure from Washington over tariffs and the prospect of U.S. military intervention, Sheinbaum has increased her government's efforts to combat organized crime. She has presided over a nearly year-long offensive against the Sinaloa Cartel. And she has approved two, unprecedented mass expulsions of more than 50 suspected drug traffickers to the U.S. These measures have won her praise from top U.S. officials. But Sheinbaum has stated repeatedly that unilateral U.S. action in Mexico is a red line. "We will not accept any violation of our territory," she said in a news conference last week. "We do not accept subordination, but simply collaboration between nations on equal terms." Some CIA veterans of the U.S. war on terror are likewise wary of the prospect of Washington taking a more militaristic approach to fighting drug trafficking in Mexico, a U.S. ally, neighbor and top trading partner. Ralph Goff, a former CIA operations officer with extensive experience in covert and paramilitary operations, cited the potential of civilian casualties, cartel retaliation and diplomatic fallout. "Sicario is a good movie, but bad U.S. policy," he said, referring to a 2015 thriller about a CIA-led paramilitary operation inside Mexico. "Drugs are a consumption problem, not a production problem. We can't just kill our way out of this." The U.S. track record in Mexico thus far has cast doubt on whether a more muscular role will yield the desired results. The CIA's vetted military units have become Mexico's most successful forces for hunting down suspected traffickers. But the capture of drug kingpins has fractured cartels and sparked bloody power struggles. Some 30,000 Mexicans are murdered each year, according to Mexico's national statistics agency. Many of those killings stem from cartel-related violence. Meanwhile, narco-hunting did little to stop the flood of fentanyl on American streets and Mexico's ascension as the world's top producer of the synthetic opioid. Over the last five years, some 50,000 to 75,000 Americans have died annually from synthetic opioid overdoses, almost exclusively from Mexican-made illicit fentanyl. To be sure, the CIA is just one of several anti-narcotics actors. The Mexican government sets its own national security strategy, decides on the top targets, and approves capture operations. U.S. law enforcement – including the DEA – has for decades followed the so-called kingpin strategy of tracking and taking down cartel leaders. But by acting in secret, the CIA has largely escaped scrutiny for its role in the troubled drug war. In the mid-1990s, Roberto Aguilera Olivera was the leader of a virtually unknown Mexican Army unit called "Special Intelligence Issues." Its main adversary was the Zapatistas, a leftist indigenous group that staged an uprising in 1994. Then the CIA arrived, looking for a local partner to help it hunt down drug traffickers. The Mexican Army repurposed the group as the Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Center in 1995. The CIA gave the team hack-proof computers and a portable eavesdropping machine, said Aguilera, who helped set up the unit before being posted to London as Mexico's military attaché. The CIA flew the unit's officers to the U.S. for training in espionage and surveillance. CIA specialists designed prosthetic mustaches, wigs and fake scars for the Mexican soldiers to use as undercover disguises. Jack Devine headed the CIA's then-recently created counternarcotics center in Langley in the early 1990s. He helped build out the CIA's network of vetted anti-narcotics units in key Latin American countries. "The decision was made to create units where we're really going to give them state-of-the-art technical equipment and we're going to give them state-of-the-art intelligence collection capabilities," Devine said. In Mexico, the Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Center quickly emerged as Mexico's premier narco-hunting outfit. Aguilera returned to Mexico and led the unit from 2000 to 2006. Now retired, he recounted how its soldiers, traveling in disguise on the CIA's dime, fanned out across Mexico to surveil, film and wiretap drug lords and their confidants. In 2000, the outfit was renamed the Drug Trafficking Information Analysis Group (or GAIN, for its acronym in Spanish). "The CIA helped massively," Aguilera said. Mexico's Army did not respond to a list of detailed questions about the history of GAIN and its relationship with the CIA.

Argentina's Markets Plummet After Milei's Local Election Loss

Argentina’s Markets Plummet After Milei’s Local Election Loss Argentina Argentina’s markets tumbled Monday after right-wing President Javier Milei’s party lost a provincial election in the capital of Buenos Aires, a setback that calls into question public support for his austerity measures and pro-market overhauls, the Wall Street Journal reported. Milei’s La Libertad Avanza (Liberty Advances) party won about 34 percent of the vote in Sunday’s legislative elections in Buenos Aires province, where nearly half of the country’s population resides. Meanwhile, Milei’s left-wing Peronist opponents won about 47 percent in what has long been regarded as their stronghold. The election marked Milei’s first test at the polls since taking office in late 2023, vowing to curb government spending and reduce the country’s gargantuan debt and inflation rate. The libertarian leader inherited triple-digit inflation from former Peronist president Alberto Fernandez. Even as Milei admitted that his party’s performance at the election was “a clear defeat,” he vowed to continue with his agenda after his policies of cutting public spending successfully brought down inflation for the first time in years, Al Jazeera noted. While Milei’s success in lowering inflation has won him praise from investors, Argentines continue to struggle economically: Economic growth has not increased significantly amid a decline in consumer spending and failure to generate jobs – Argentina’s unemployment rate is currently at its highest level since 2021. As a result, demonstrators have regularly taken to the streets to protest budget cuts. Meanwhile, Milei’s loss also follows recent corruption and bribery scandals linked to his sister, Karina Milei, and close advisers. Sunday’s vote was considered a test of public support for Milei’s free-market policies ahead of October’s congressional elections, where half of the lower house and a third of the Senate will be up for grabs. Congress is already dominated by opposition parties, and Milei’s latest loss in Buenos Aires has dealt a blow to Milei’s hopes of expanding his influence, said analysts.