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Strange Rape Case Rocks Bolivian Mennonite Community

7 Jul 2009

The Mennonites are a religious group akin to the Amish that was driven out of Europe by persecution over centuries, eventually landing in North and South America, mostly in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. There are thousands of Mennonites all over the Americas, with large communities in Mexico and Bolivia. And it is from Bolivia that comes a strange story that has shocked the country and rocked its Mennonite community to its core. A mass rape of the community’s women, with up to 100 victims. Spain’s El Periódico reports:

The first accounts, which are pending investigation, indicate that at nightfall some men sprinkled a sleep inducing [susbtance] around the homes of the residents and when they were sure that everyone was sleeping, they came in through the windows and raped women and girls. There are suspicions that this had been going on for 9 years, which would make the initial victim count fall short. But what is more terrifying and shameful for the Mennonites is that the rapists are people from their own community. Blood of their blood.

The Mennonites have kept the names and surnames of their ancestors. Their names are Ham Neostater and Cornelio Wal and Abraham Blats and Daniel Martens. Their native language is German and they speak Spanish with an accent. “Here people are afraid, because they say that it was our own friends who committed the sin,” Wal, a farm worker (like almost everyone in Manitoba) told a Bolivian newspaper. 8 community residents were arrested this week, which means that in a community of around 2000 people, most of them are related to the suspects: cousins, nephews, son-in-laws. Ultraconservative Christians, the Mennonites see the suspects as more sinners than criminals. Because to them, sin is much more serious.

The Mennonite community is calling the rapes “an act of the devil” and is ordering the medical examination of teenage girls to confirm which ones are victims. El Periódico reports that the results of these exams could have sinister implications, as the Mennonite community requires that its women remain virgins until marriage in order to retain the respect of their peers.

Via / El Periódico and VideoBolivia

Latinos the Target of Kidnappings in San Francisco

11:05 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cities| Immigration| San Francisco| crime| society · Comments Off

5 Jun 2009

20mission583span

Some disturbing news out of San Francisco. In the city’s Mission District, Latino neighborhood par excellence, Latinos are reportedly being forced into cars and kidnapped. SFist has the frightening story:

Mission Loc@l reports that there have been three documented cases this month of Latinos being forced into a vehicle with the intent of mugging them, while walking in isolated parts of the Mission late at night. Police speculate that day laborers might be the target both because they carry cash and are often undocumented and are afraid to go to the police for fear of being deported.

The most recent attack occurred on Friday around 1 a.m., in which a 27-year-old Latino male was picked up near 20th and Bryant streets. He refused to give the assailant’s money, was hit over the head with a blunt object, and dropped off at 25th and Vermont Streets. Instead of going to the police, the victim went to San Francisco General Hospital, where a staff member then reported it to the police. Luckily, his injuries were not life-threatening.

Assailants are reportedly also using tasers to attack victims and steal their valuables. What pathetic excuse for a person preys on vulnerable people too afraid to report the crime to police? I’d like to know.

Via / SFist

Peruvians Can Say “Stop! In the Name of the Law!”

4:39 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Latin America| Peru| crime| society · Comments Off

15 May 2009

50474 Citizen’s arrests always have sounded pretty silly to me and I wonder if anyone really does them the way they are done in movies: “This is a citizen’s arrest, sir, put your hands behind your back…” Well in Peru, authorities apparently believe that they will be affective in fighting growing street crime, and are making citizen’s arrest part of their official policy. Spain’s 20 Minutos reports:

Starting July 1st, any Peruvian will be able to arrest a criminal, as long as [the criminal] is found carrying a “flagrant crime” and as long as the citizen immediately turns him in to the police, according to a new law approved Thursday in the Peruvian congress.

“Flagrant crime” is defined by the new law as: “When the criminal act is current the perpetrator is discovered, chased and captured immediately.”

According to Living in Peru, citizen’s arrests have been effective in hundreds of cases and “have taken place without any reports of abuse.”

I wonder if this could apply to politicians, too?

Via / 20 Minutos

40% of all Federally Sentenced Offenders are Latinos

5:21 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration| Justice| society · 1 Comment

25 Feb 2009

picture-6 Some rather disturbing data from the Pew Hispanic Research Center: 40% of sentenced offenders at the federal level were Latinos, a percentage which has almost doubled since 1991, when the rate was a “mere” 23%. Here’s the breakdown from Pew:

- Hispanics represented 40% of all sentenced federal offenders in 2007, the single largest racial and ethnic group among sentenced federal offenders. Whites constituted 27% of federal sentenced offenders and blacks 23%. The remainder (10%) are Asians, Native Americans and those whose race and ethnicity is indeterminate.

- More than seven-in-ten (72%) of Hispanics sentenced in federal courts in 2007 did not hold U.S. citizenship. They accounted for 29% of all federal offenders in 2007.

- Latino offenders who did not hold U.S. citizenship represented a greater share of all Latino offenders in 2007 than in 1991 — 72% versus 61%.

- Between 1991 and 2007, the number of Hispanics sentenced in federal courts nearly quadrupled (270%), rising faster than the number of offenders sentenced in federal courts over this period and accounting for 54% of the growth in the total number of offenders.

- In 2007, more than half (56%) of all Latino offenders were sentenced in just five of the nation’s 94 U.S. district courts. All five are located near the U.S.-Mexico border: the Southern (17%) and Western (15%) districts of Texas, the District of Arizona (11%), the Southern District of California (6%) and the District of New Mexico (6%).

One might wonder why the emphasis here in on federal offenders. That would be because the jarring statistics can also be attributed to federal “crimes” such as being undocumented.

Pew says the double whammy of increased immigration and increased enforcement of immigration laws is what is driving this upward trend in federal criminal sentences.

Via / Pew Hispanic Center

Mexicans March Against Violence

1:40 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| crime| mexico · Comments Off

2 Sep 2008

It wasn’t just RNC protesters out marching this weekend. Mexicans sick of the constant violence in their country were out en masse as well. Among the protesters were parents and family members of murdered and kidnapped relatives.

Drug cartels are being blamed for the violence, and yet for some reason, 25,000 military and federal officers dispatched throughout the country since Mexican president Calderon took office don’t seem to be helping at all.

I wonder why that is?

Could it have something to do with the fact that many of those military seem more intent on preventing indigenous nations from organizing than they do stopping drug trafficking? Or maybe it’s just that old culture of violence thing–you know, the argument that basically states that you can’t end violence with violence?

Whatever the reason is, Mexican citizens seem to be doing more about the violence than the government is. And there’s sadly, nothing new about that.

via/The Christian Science Monitor

Mexico: 6 Years in Jail for Selling Movies and Music Online

12:49 pm By Maegan La Mala · Justice| crime| mexico · Comments Off

21 May 2008

A 26-year old Mexican citizen has been charged with piracy and sentenced to 6 years in prison for allegedly selling television shows, movies and music over the Internet:

A 6-year, 6-month sentence and a fine…equivalent to 428,000 pesos [about $41,000] was imposed on Edgar Rubio Corazón, 26, who sold music, movies and television series all over national territory and even overseas through his web site.

According to AFP, Rubio was caught when a tip came into authorities who later located him via his IP address.

What’s interesting to me is that Mexico crack down so hard on this guy, yet do nothing to the thousands of people who sell pirated media every day in broad daylight in virtually every tianguis in the nation. Perhaps this new anti-piracy law is the reason for the harsh penalty.

Via / AFP

Guardian Angels to patrol Mexico City

12:06 pm By Maegan La Mala · crime| mexico| society · Comments Off

23 Oct 2007

The other day as I walked around downtown San Francisco I was reminded that the Guardian Angels — those groups of beret-sporting urban watchdogs I remember from my childhood — are alive and well, and still patrolling our streets. And as part of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard’s plan to clean up the capital city, the Angels are off to D.F., where they will be watching the streets of the Centro Historico, the city’s historic center and tourist destination for many visitors which has been plagued by petty crime throughout the years.

The Angels that will be working in Mexico City aren’t a Mexican offshoot but are from U.S. According to Mexico City’s La Jornada, they will be paid by the tourism sector and will assist English-speaking visitors to the city. On a rather strange note, La Jornada reports that the Angels will also report “outsiders to the commmunity” to the authorities. Indeed, the headline in the paper translates roughly to “Foreigners to report the presence of ‘outsiders’ in the community”. Hmm…

Not everyone is happy with the impending arrival of the Angels. Some politicians aren’t sold yet, and want clarification that the group will be there to also train Mexican citizens and not “carry arms or assume the role of police,” reports La Jornada.

Via / La Jornada

Colombia to put sex criminals on display

11:25 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia| Justice| children · Comments Off

18 Jul 2007

Starting in September of this year, sexual predators in Colombia will have a harder time hiding from their crimes. Colombian prosecutors have turned over the names of 275 child molesters to the Bogota government in order to display their photos all over the capital city.

Colombia’s general prosecutor, Mario Iguarán, calls the campaign “Muros de la la Infamia” (”Walls of Infamy”) and will include the personal information of the offenders. This of course raises the question among many of what would happen if one of the people on the posters is actually innocent.

But Colombia doesn’t seem to be considering that possibility. They are far too concerned with what seems to be a growing problem in Colombia. Back in 2006, 7 out of 10 rapes in the country was committed against a minor, leading the government to propose chemical castration for criminals. Spain’s 20 Minutos reports that this year alone there have been 1,069 molestations in Colombia and 300 aggravated sexual assaults against children.

Via / 20 Minutos

Mexico: Corruption = poverty

9:36 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · mexico| society · Comments Off

6 Jul 2007

The practice of “la mordida” — the bribe — is as much a part of Mexican culture as tequila and tortillas. To get by, one makes no bones about slipping that cop a 20 peso bill to let you off for a minor traffic violation. After all, that’s why he stopped you in the first place. And while bribes and corruption seem in and of themselves bad enough, one expert says they are to blame for poverty and lack of economic growth in Mexico:

The culture of tolerance of “mordidas”, bribes and extortion maintains the country in poverty and makes it lose growth and investment opportunities. Families with the lowest income are the ones that feel it the most, and spend up to a quarter of their salaries on bribes when attempting to get goods or services from the State.

Songwriter Estefano in critical condition

12:03 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Miami| Music| crime · Comments Off

31 May 2007

Estefano, the acclaimed Colombian songwriter known for his collaborations with artists such as Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony and Thalia, among others, was shot last Friday at his own home, presumably in a planned hit. EFE reports today that the artist remains in stable but critical condition:

The songwriter is in Intensive Care at Jackson Memorial Hospital [Miami] and, according to physicians, his life is not in danger, unless unexpected complications arise. A spokesperson for the police said that they are investigating under what circumstances the shooting, which occurred at the mansion of the producer in the exclusive Venetian Causeway area, took place.

Estefano was reportedly shot in the chest and the head by his handyman, Francisco Oliveira, who was delivering marijuana to the songwriter. Oliveira has since been arrested.

Via / Diario Las Americas

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