Nexus - 1804 - New Times Magazine-pages

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GLOBAL NEWS CHINA'S PLANS FOR A "HEAVENLY PALACE" IN SPACE plane crash in the same region involving a similar aircraft—a Gulfstream II jet with the registra- ion number N987SA, belonging to a US company known as Donna Blue Aircraft, Inc. When authorities arrived at the crash site, they discov- ered around four tons of cocaine on board the aircraft. The drugs report- edly belonged to the Sinaloa Cartel, under the command of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who according to Forbes magazine is among one of the wealthiest men in the world. However, the aircraft did not belong © Guzman: it was later discovered by Mexican authorities and news sources that it was a CIA aircraft. A year later, a member of Guzman's inner circle, Vicente Zambada, was captured and later extradited to the USA. In early April, at a Federal Court hearing in Chicago, Zambada presented evi- dence stating that US government agencies such as the DEA and the FBI protected him and worked with him. In a recent interview with the newspaper El Diario de Judrez, Mexican journalist Anabel Hernandez, who is living in exile in Italy, stated that in the Mexican drug war the federal government and the US DEA only go after the Sinaloa Cartel’s competitors. She indicated that the protection that Sinaloa receives from he government is "systematic" and embedded in the drug war policy. In her new book Los Sefiores del Narco ("The Narco-Lords"), Herndndez provides detailed information about ow Guzman is an Orwellian creation of the Mexican government, almost a mythical and elusive character, whose story about how he broke out of prison in 2001 using a aundry truck is completely bogus. She finds it hard to believe that Forbes magazine listed Guzman among the richest people in the world, given the fact that he's illiterate and cannot do basic maths. Further in the _ interview, Hernandez said that the real drug trafficking is done by people other than the typical drug-dealers, who are only figureheads in this so-called drug war. The real drug lords are not wanted by police or federal authorities; they are people well established in the political and economic systems as well as in many other areas o government, from where they have established a wide network o complicity to money laundering and protection of the drug cartels. (Source: DeadlineLive.info, 15 April 2011, tinyurl.com/3meosbc) hina's permanent space station, the "Heavenly Palace", is to be launched into orbit within a decade. According to Chinese media reports, the 60-ton craft will include a central module and two laboratories for a crew of three. China has three operational launching sites and a fourth one under construction. It has made sig- nificant advances in its satellite pro- gram—its fleet boasts remote-sens- ing, communications, navigation and positioning systems—and China looks set to delve deeper into Avttae anaan outer space. In parallel, China is pursuing a covert aerospace program to benefit its defence ministry. In 2007, offi- cials in Washington were deeply shocked to learn about a successful Chinese test of an anti-satellite sys- tem. In that test, a ballistic missile was used to destroy one of the country's own orbiting satellites. Regardless of Washington's con- cerns, China is pursuing an indepen- dent space policy and feels it can act however it sees fit. It does accept, though, that space should not be militarised—at least for the time being. (Source: RIA Novosti via SpaceDaily.com, 29 April 20n, http://tinyurl.com/3vq40zw) MEXICAN AND AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS CONTROL SINALOA CARTEL Rr testimony by captured drug cartel leader Vicente Zambada in the Federal Cour points to US Drug Enforcemen Administration (DEA) and FBI pro- ection and collaboration with one of the most dangerous and powerfu criminal organisations in the world: he Sinaloa Cartel. In September 2007 in the state o Yucatan, the Mexican military caught and confiscated an aeroplane oaded with almost four tons o cocaine. A month later, there was a JUNE - JULY 2011 NEXUS ¢ 7 —— ed "That one's reserved for Julian Assange.” www.nexusmagazine.com