Two arrested over Cabral killing

12 July 2011 Last updated at 21:11 GMT Elgin Vargas Hernandez was one of two suspects held in Guatemala City Police in Guatemala have arrested two men over the killing of Argentine singer Facundo Cabral.

Cabral - one of Latin America's most respected folk singers - was being driven to the airport in Guatemala City when his car was ambushed on Saturday.

He was shot dead and the music promoter travelling with him, Henry Farinas, was seriously injured.

Police say the suspects were caught after being identified from hotel surveillance videos.

Prosecutor Claudia Paz y Paz said the two - named as Elgin Vargas Hernandez and Wilfred Stokes Arnold - had been following Mr Farinas and probably did not know who Cabral was.

They were arrested on separate raids in Guatemala City on Tuesday. Police are continuing to search for others believed to have been involved in the attack.

Organised crime

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said the evidence suggested Mr Farinas was the target of the attack.

Cabral's coffin was put is on display in Buenos Aires

"It's evident that the attack came from organised crime and that's what we are investigating," he told Mexican Radio.

Mr Farinas, a Nicaraguan national, remains in hospital. Prosecutors say he has no criminal record and the motive for the shooting remains unclear.

Earlier on Tuesday, the body of Facundo Cabral was flown back to his native Argentina, where he became famous in the early 1970s as a protest singer.

His widow and nephew were accompanied by Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman to receive his coffin.

He was due to be cremated on Wednesday.

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Venezuela jail officials arrested

28 June 2011 Last updated at 10:22 GMT Families have been trying to find out what has happened to inmates Venezuelan authorities have confirmed that two high-ranking officers at a jail near Caracas have been arrested on suspicion of arms and drugs-smuggling.

The men, along with a National Guard captain, are accused of smuggling weapons into El Rodeo prison.

Twenty people died when rioting broke out in the prison earlier this month, leading to an ongoing stand-off between prisoners and security forces.

Armed inmates are holding some 1,000 other prisoners hostage, officials say.

Prosecutors said the men being held are Luis Rafael Aranguren, the governor of El Rodeo II, one wing in the prison complex, and the deputy governor of El Rodeo I, Ruben Jose Gonzalez Heredia.

Authorities also arrested Capt Jose Camargo Gomez.

They are suspected of belonging to a ring that smuggled weapons into the prison.

Waiting game

Rioting erupted in El Rodeo prison in Guatire on 12 June. There has been a tense stand-off since it was quelled on 17 June.

Several days later, troops took control of most of the complex and many of the inmates were transferred to other jails.

But a stand-off continues in one section of the prison and there have been sporadic gun battles.

One soldier and two prisoners have been killed in the violence, authorities say.

Officials say they remain open to dialogue, but that order must be restored.

Venezuela's overcrowded prisons see frequent riots between rival gangs.

The prison system, built to hold about 14,500 inmates, is currently estimated to house some 46,000 prisoners, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, which monitors prison conditions.

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'Cartel boss' arrested in Mexico

22 June 2011 Last updated at 06:58 GMT Police arrested Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, also known as "The Monkey", in the central city of Aguascalientes.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has congratulated police on the capture of the alleged leader of the notorious La Familia drugs cartel.

Police arrested Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, also known as "The Monkey", in the central city of Aguascalientes.

Mr Calderon described the capture as a great blow to organised crime.

La Familia has a reputation for gruesome violence but claims to protect local communities and promote family values.

Mexico's security spokesman Alejandro Poire said the arrest had "destroyed the chain of command" of the cartel.

The Mexican attorney general's office said Mr Mendez Vargas was "responsible for the transfer and sale of cocaine, marijuana, crystal methamphetamine in various states of Mexico and the US".

He is also accused of having masterminded the kidnappings and killings of rival gang members.

The government had offered a $2.5m reward for information leading to his capture.

A previous leader of La Familia, Nazario Moreno, was killed by security forces in December 2010.

His arrest led to a violent split in the gang. Mr Mendez Vargas is believed to remained head of the faction continuing under the name of La Familia.

The other faction, called the Knights Templar, is believed to be led by Servando "La Tuta" Gomez Martinez.

These gangs are active in parts of south-west and central Mexico, in particular Michoacan, the state of Mexico and Guanajuato, according to Samuel Gonzalez Ruiz, the former head of Mexico's organised crime unit.

For Mr Gonzalez Ruiz, Mr Mendez Vargas's arrest will not have a big effect on the ground.

"The impact will be totally limited because the illicit (drugs) market is there, the extortion is there, the kidnappings are there," he told the BBC.

In 2009, when La Familia was still run by Nazario Moreno, an assessment by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said La Familia had a "Robin Hood-type mentality".

"They believe they are doing God's work, and pass out bibles and money to the poor. La Familia Michoacana also gives money to schools and local officials," the DEA said.

La Familia came to prominence in 2006 when suspected members threw five severed heads into a disco. A letter accompanying the heads declared: "Only those who deserve to die will die."

In December that year, President Calderon, who is from Michoacan, deployed troops to the state to take on the gang, later extending his drug fight to other parts of Mexico.

Since then at least 34,000 people have died, according to official figures.

The authorities have not updated these statistics since January.

Several top drug bosses have been arrested during the past four and a half years.

Police arrested Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, also known as "The Monkey", in the central city of Aguascalientes.

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