Part 2 - "I fear for my life" In 2019, journalist Lourdes Maldonado rose from her seat to speak to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at a press conference - it was during this moment she said "I fear for my life" due to a long running legal dispute. Three years later, and just days after that case had been ruled in her favour, she was gunned down outside her home. Officials blamed a local cartel group, but critics were not and still are not convinced by this version of events. There is little trust between officials and journalism, and when it comes to violence against journalists in Mexico, with impunity levels over 90% it is not a surprise. This is a story about impunity, a hostile political climate, censorship, and the families left behind with those directly affected. Speakers: https://www.icij.org/journalists/marcela-turati-munoz/ (Marcela) https://www.icij.org/journalists/marcela-turati-munoz/ (Turati Muñoz), Mexico, is a reporter for the magazine https://www.proceso.com.mx/ (Proceso), where she reports about human rights, social development, and the impact of drug violence and its victims. She is also the co-founder of https://quintoelab.org/ (Quinto Elemento Lab). https://globalinitiative.net/profile/miguel-angel-leon-carmona/ (Miguel) https://globalinitiative.net/profile/miguel-angel-leon-carmona/ (Ángel León Carmona) - a Mexican Journalist in Veracruz. Griselda Triana, Author of https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/murdered-disappeared-journalists-mexico/ (The Forgotten Ones: Relatives of murdered and disappeared journalists in Mexico) and wife of Javier Valdez. https://twitter.com/siriagastelum?lang=en (Siria Gastélum Félix), https://globalinitiative.net/profile/siria-gastelum-felix/ (Resilience Director at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime) https://twitter.com/polomaldonadog?lang=en (Leopoldo Maldonado) - Regional Director, Office for Mexico and Central America, https://www.article19.org/regional-office/mexico-and-central-america/ (Article 19). https://twitter.com/jahootsen (Jan-Albert Hootsen), Mexico Representative / Representante en México, https://cpj.org/author/jan-albert-hootsen-cpj-mexico-representative/ (The Committee to Protect Journalists.)
Part 1 - "It’s a message of terror, to stop asking questions" Mexico is known as one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist on the planet, and 2022 is on record to be the deadliest yet. https://cpj.org/2022/01/mexican-journalist-jose-luis-gamboa-stabbed-to-death-in-veracruz/ (José Luis Gamboa Arenas), a journalist from Veracruz became the first to be killed this year, the body of https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-journalist-killed-luis-enrique-ramirez-ramos/ (Luis Enrique Ramírez Ramos), a Sinaloan journalist was found in Culiacán on May 5th taking to total to nine. So how has Mexico got to the point where so many journalists and media workers are being attacked and killed? This is a story of bravery in the face of surveillance, intimidation and violence, extreme corruption, organized crime, shockingly high levels of impunity, censorship and a hostile political climate. Update: May 11th 2022 - https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/two-journalists-killed-mexican-state...
As the net begins to close on Otoniel, life on the run is hard. Deep in the jungles of Úraba, he never stays in a single place for more than two nights, he no longer communicates using phones and he stays away from urban centres for fear of capture. But he still runs the largest organized criminal group in Colombia. One by one, other senior members of Clan del Golfo are picked off. But Otoniel continues to evade law enforcement in a constant game of cat and mouse. But now, Operation Agamemnon is in full swing with Search Bloc, the Colombian army and international partners hunting Otoniel - and when he is finally captured it's reported that he said "You beat me". This is part 3 of Clan del Golfo: The Fall of Otoniel. Speakers: https://twitter.com/AngelitaOlayaC (Angela Olaya), the Co-founder and Senior Researcher at the Conflict Responses Foundation in Colombia. https://twitter.com/tobymuse?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor (Toby Muse), Foreign Correspondent, do...
At the end of part 1, Otoniel we left him in sole charge of Clan del Golfo, the biggest organized crime group in Colombia. In part 2 "Don't text or call me", we look through the eyes of a man who goes by the alias "Messi", who was involved in cocaine trafficking and money laundering for Clan del Golfo. We'll see how he used real-estate, cars, watches, front companies and government contracts to clean the drug money...as well through football, music and livestock! And finally we'll delve into the murky world of illegal gold mining and the way Clan del Golfo use violence, intimidation and even assassination to get extortion payments from the workers. Speakers: https://globalinitiative.net/profile/daniel-mauricio-rico/ (Daniel Rico), Researcher at https://www.ideaspaz.org/ (Ideas for Peace Foundation) and Director of C-Analysis in Colombia and member of https://globalinitiative.net/profile/daniel-mauricio-rico/ (GI Network) https://twitter.com/trejosrosero?lang=en-GB (Luis Fernando Tre...
In late 2021, the leader of Clan del Golfo (The Urabeños) Dairo Antonio Úsuga, aka "Otoniel", was captured by the Colombian police. President Iván Duque said that the arrest was only matched by the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s. Over the course of two episodes we look at the birth of Clan del Golfo out of the ashes of the right-wing paramilitary movement in Colombia. We'll explore their involvement in illicit markets such as drug trafficking, illegal mining, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and how they use extreme violence and targeted assassinations to spread fear. So who is Otoniel? Well, a prominent drug trafficker, Daniel "El Loco" Barrera, after being captured by Colombian police, warned them that about Otoniel, repeatedly saying..."He's an animal". Speakers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-liliana-olaya-castro-211ab261/ (Angela Olaya), the Co-founder and Senior Researcher at the Conflict Responses Foundation in Colombia. https://twitter.com/tobymuse?ref_src=...
An assassination is like a stone being dropped into the middle of a still pond – the splash is the violent act itself – the ripples are the repercussions, that spread far and wide – fear, intimidation, silencing, corruption, erosion of trust, environmental damage, illicit firearms, impunity and retaliation – after all, violence begets violence – the damage to society is far-reaching, way beyond the shock of that initial killing. In November 2021, the https://globalinitiative.net/ (Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime) launched the https://assassination.globalinitiative.net/monitor/ (Global Assassination Monitor) - the first ever global database on contract killings. Speakers https://globalinitiative.net/profile/ana-paula-oliveira/ (Ana-Paula Oliveira, Analyst, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime ) https://globalinitiative.net/profile/nina-kaysser/ (Nina Kaysser, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime ) Pres...
In this episode we look at the criminal involvement in the plastic waste industry. The lucrative global market in plastic waste is expected to be reach over $50 billion US Dollars by 2022. From Mafia groups to poly-crime networks, the temptation for organised criminal groups and bad actors to get a slice of this market is too hard to resist - and so corners are cut, laws are ignored, and irreversible damage is done. Alongside this, some waste management companies are used as Fronts to conceal other illicit activities like human trafficking, drug trafficking, prostitution, and various financial crimes like money laundering, tax evasion, mis-invoicing. Paper: https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/illicit-trade-plastic-waste/ (Plastic for Profit: Tracing illicit plastic waste flows, supply chains and actors) Speakers https://twitter.com/VirginiaComolli (Virginia Comolli), Research Manager, https://globalinitiative.net/profile/virginia-comolli/ (Global Initiative Against Transnational O...
In this episode we tell the story of a region, the "Seven Sisters", otherwise known as the Indian Northeast and one town in particular, Moreh, and the relationship with neighbouring Myanmar. Moreh sits just on the Indian side of the border and has become a hub for multiple illicit flows that pass through - timber, gold, firearms, wildlife, counterfeits, people, and illicit drugs. The Indian Northeast is undeveloped and has suffered multiple insurgencies over the decades. Often forgotten by governments who have eyes squarely focused on the giant neighbour to the North, China, and the geostrategic games taking place between the world's two most populous nations. Underpinning it all is the uncertainty of the brutal military coup in Myanmar in February this year. Speakers https://globalinitiative.net/profile/prem-mahadevan/ (Prem Mahadevan), Senior Fellow at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime https://twitter.com/thinink?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ct...
This is a story of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, complex corporate structures, human trafficking, arms smuggling, corruption and the capture of state institutions. In this collaborative episode with https://open.spotify.com/show/16O8hbitelGOw86mdV2VYY?si=tazVewwMQ9OHC3oeAE_1rAanddl_branch=1 (Africa and the Global Illicit Economy), we travel to the rich fishing grounds off Puntland in Somalia and a fleet of vessels known as the "Somali 7", before looking into a politically connected company that has an uncanny ability to operate either outside or just on the fringes of the law. This podcast is based on the report Fishy Business: Illegal Fishing in Somalia and the capture of state institutions. Presenter: Lindy Mtongana Speakers: https://twitter.com/puntlandpirates?lang=en (Jay Bahadur), Researcher and Investigator at the https://globalinitiative.net/profile/jay-bahadur/ (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.) https://twitter.com/kgpetrich?lang=...
In the wake of the 2012 'Cocaine Coup' in Guinea-Bissau the illegal logging trade exploded, largely driven by huge demand for rosewood logs in China - a species protected under international law. By 2014, such was the extent of this illicit trade, civil society pressured the new government to introduce a five-year moratorium on timber exports. Now, in 2021, as the government seems poised to lift the moratorium, there is fear that there could be a resurgence in illegal logging causing irreparable damage to the environment. Guests Obento Branco Catami (Regional Delegate for Forestry and Wildlife in the Cacheu region). Ude Fati (Economist, Head of Voz di Paz) Fodé Mané (University of Bissau) Tânia Gomes (President of the Association of Friends of Guinea-Bissau) https://twitter.com/Lucia_Bird_Ruiz (Lucia Bird) Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo, https://globalinitiative.net/profile/lucia-bird-ruiz-benitez-de-lugo/ (Senior Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime) Reading ht...