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Brazilian agencies raid illegal miners on Yanomami land
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U.S. gives $14 mln in security equipment to Costa Rica
Feb 8 (Reuters) - The latest in Latin American politics today: U.S. imposes sanctions on MS-13 gang members in Nicaragua, Honduras
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday on two members of the international criminal gang MS-13, accusing them of involvement in drug trafficking and murder in Central America and the United States. The sanctions against the two individuals - an MS-13 leader in Honduras and an associate with the gang in Nicaragua - are part of a broader U.S. government effort to disrupt the group's activities and financing, the department said in a statement. The leader in Honduras, Archaga Caria, has distributed cocaine from that country to the United States, and has ordered the murders of rival gang members, the department said. Brazilian agencies raid illegal miners on Yanomami land, blockades installed
SAO PAULO - The Brazilian government's environmental and indigenous agencies said on Wednesday they were carrying out raids against illegal gold miners blamed for causing a humanitarian crisis on Brazil's largest indigenous reservation, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) said. Ibama agents began the operation on Monday, with support from the National Indian Foundation (Funai), destroying a helicopter, an airplane, a bulldozer and support structures for the miners on Yanomami land in Brazil's northernmost state of Roraima, Ibama said in a press statement. Two weapons and three boats with about 5,000 liters (1,320 gallons) of fuel were also seized. U.S. donates $14 mln in security equipment to tackle Costa Rican crime
SAN JOSE - The United States donated nearly $14 million worth of security equipment to Costa Rica in a bid to stamp out crime in the Central American country, which is facing an "extremely high" murder rate, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves said late on Tuesday. The donation includes telecommunications equipment, drones and maintenance equipment for police planes to aid security forces in border control, and "above all else, in the fight against international criminal gangs," Chaves said. (Compiled by Steven Grattan;)
