| A.M.
Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 25 | |||||||||
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| U.S.
attorney general again quizzed on guns to México By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has faced a new round of Republican criticism over a controversial tactic in which U.S. authorities allowed gun buyers to move into México arms destined for drug cartels. In testimony to Congress Thursday, Holder said Operation Fast and Furious was flawed, and that allowing arms to walk under any circumstance is unacceptable. "The tactic of not interdicting weapons, despite having the ability and legal authority to do so, appears to have been adopted in a misguided effort to stem the alarming number of illegal firearms that are trafficked each year from the United States to Mexico," Holder said. "Now, to be sure, stopping this dangerous flow of weapons is a laudable and critical goal, but attempting to achieve it by using such inappropriate tactics is neither acceptable nor excusable." Holder told lawmakers on the committee Thursday that he never authorized the operation, and ordered it to stop after he found out about it. Republicans charge that the Justice Department has not provided enough information to them. The head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, California Republican Darrell Issa, has accused Holder of protecting staff, deceiving the public and obstructing the panel's investigation. At the hearing Thursday, he warned of possible congressional action to force the Justice Department to provide information to the committee. "Mr. Attorney General, you have, the Executive Branch has, executive privilege," said Issa. "It’s narrow. It’s well-defined. There is case law. If you do not find a legitimate basis to deny us the material we’ve asked for, we will seek the remedies necessary to compel." U.S. authorities lost track of hundreds of weapons they were supposed to be monitoring. Many weapons eventually were recovered from crime scenes. Two were found at the scene where U.S. border agent Brian Terry was shot and killed in 2010. Holder said the Justice Department is building its case and is close to making announcements regarding arrests and holding those responsible for the agent's death and the flawed operation. Crooks stealing glacier ice in national park in Chile Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
Criminal gangs are becoming a threat to the world’s glaciers, which are already receding quickly, the United Nations said Thursday, citing a case in Chile where police are investigating the theft of some 5,000 kilograms of millennia-old ice from the Jorge Montt glacier. Mining for ice could pose a major additional threat to the 454 square-kilometer glacier, which is situated in Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, and is part of the 13,000-square kilometer Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the third largest frozen land mass in the world after Antarctica and Greenland, according to the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction. The Jorge Montt glacier is melting at a rate of one kilometer per year. The prosecutor handling the case in Chile reported this week that those implicated in the ice theft had been identified as a result of an investigation that followed the arrest of the driver of a refrigerated truck last Friday. The truck was intercepted in the southern Chilean town of Cochrane. U.S. indicts Swiss bank in money-laundering probe By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Justice Department has indicted Switzerland's oldest bank for allegedly helping customers hide more than $1.2 billion from U.S. tax collectors. U.S. authorities also seized more than $16 million in assets that the Wegelin bank holds in a U.S. account. The indictment charges Wegelin with soliciting customers from another Swiss bank, UBS, when that institution agreed to stop hiding secret accounts in 2008. If found guilty, Wegelin could be fined at least $500,000. Three Wegelin employees who advised customers also have been charged. Each faces a $250,000 fine and as much as five years in prison. This is the first time the United States has formally charged a foreign bank with helping U.S. depositors avoid taxes. President Barack Obama has pledged to crack down on U.S. citizens and corporations that use overseas accounts to evade taxes. He says tax fraud costs the country billions of dollars a year in revenue. Colombian rebels put off plan to free hostages By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Colombian rebels say they are putting off plans to free six hostages held for more than 10 years because of what they say is military activity in the area. The Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, said Wednesday it will make another attempt to free its captives as soon as what it calls the president's insanity abates. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says nobody knows where the hostages are being held. He appealed to the rebels to stop what he says are tricks and deceptions, and free the hostages now. FARC is Colombia's largest rebel group. Its fight with the government has killed tens of thousands of people over the past 50 years. The government says FARC murdered four other hostages in November when troops attempted a rescue. |
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