. Space Travel News .




.
MILPLEX
Arms trade drives soaring LatAm homicide rates: experts
by Staff Writers
San Jose (AFP) Nov 23, 2011


Illegal weapons trafficking has turned Latin America into a region of bloodletting in which over 40 percent of the world's homicides take place, experts warned Wednesday.

"Forty-two percent of homicides with a firearm that happen worldwide take place in Latin America, though only 10 percent of the world's population lives here," said Nobel laureate and former president Oscar Arias, citing UN data, at a conference of experts.

Although weapons such as revolvers, pistols and rifles for the most part are manufactured and sold legally, they often end up in the hands of organized crime, terrorists and gangs, the experts said.

"Most weapons start out legal, made by a registered company that pays taxes, and often contributes to political campaigns," said Costa Rican Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said more than 100,000 firearms seized in his country came from legal commercial outlets in the United States.

"The total lack of, or inadequacy of, controls on their movement that lets them end up in the hands of cartels, mercenaries or those who prop up dictatorships," said Castillo.

Central America is one of the world's deadliest regions. Honduras' murder rate is eight times the global average; Guatemala's rate is six times worse.

Mexico has long been in the throes of drug violence, which is blamed for 45,000 deaths across the country since 2006, when Calderon began a nationwide military crackdown on organized crime.

Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com




.
.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






.

. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



MILPLEX
Austrian army to slash two thirds of its tanks to save money
Vienna (AFP) Nov 23, 2011
The Austrian army will sell, scrap or recycle two thirds of its armoured vehicles by late 2013, allowing it to save up to 15 million euros yearly, Defence Minister Norbert Darabos announced Wednesday. "We are getting rid of cost-intensive equipment which represents an expensive burden for the army and which we no longer need," Darabos, who has been trying to push through army reforms, told a ... read more


MILPLEX
SpaceX Searches For New Commercial Launch Site

Mobile Launcher Moves to Launch Pad

Rocket engineer Wolfgang Jung a logistics expert for space science

Arianespace to launch satellite for DIRECTV Latin America

MILPLEX
ESA station keeps contact with Russian Mars mission Phobos-Grunt

ESA tracking station establishes contact with Russia's Mars mission

MSL and Curiosity 'Locked and Loaded' for Launch

Station makes contact with Russia's stranded Mars probe: ESA

MILPLEX
Schafer Corp Signs Licensing Agreement with MoonDust Technologies

Russia wants to focus on Moon if Mars mission fails

Flying over the three-dimensional Moon

LRO Camera Team Releases High Resolution Global Topographic Map of Moon

MILPLEX
Pluto's Hidden Ocean

Is the Pluto System Dangerous?

Starlight study shows Pluto's chilly twin

New Horizons App Now Available

MILPLEX
Habitable Does not Mean 'Earth-Like'

Exo planet count tops 700

Giant planet ejected from the solar system

Three New Planets and a Mystery Object Discovered Outside Our Solar System

MILPLEX
Russia, France to team up on new launchers

NASA's New Upper Stage Engine Passes Major Test

Pentagon successfully tests hypersonic flying bomb

Northrop Grumman Modular Space Vehicle Completes Preliminary Design Review

MILPLEX
15 patents granted for Chinese space docking technology

China plans major effort in pursuing manned space technology

Tiangong-1 orbiter enters long-term operation management

China launches two satellites: state media

MILPLEX
Lutetia: a Rare Survivor from the Birth of the Earth

Swift Observatory Catches Asteroid Flyby

NASA Releases Radar Movie of Asteroid 2005 YU55

NASA Releases Radar Movie of Asteroid 2005 YU55


.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement