Political Activist Slain in Western Mexico- Gunned down

MORELIA, Mexico – The former local chief of Mexico’s conservative National Action Party in this western city was gunned down in front of his home, the Michoacan state police said.

Eduardo Flores Vizcaino, a prominent developer, headed the Morelia office of the party, known by the acronym PAN, from 2005-2007.

He was fatally shot when he emerged from his residence, located about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the Michoacan statehouse, where officials were outlining a new strategy to apprehend the leader of the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel, Servando “La Tuta” Gomez Martinez.

The state chairman of the PAN, Miguel Angel Chavez Zavala, demanded that authorities track down and punish the authors of the “regrettable deed.”

“With this case there are 10 National Action officials and leaders who have been victims of the state of violence and insecurity that Michoacan is experiencing,” the PAN said in a statement.

Mexico’s No. 2 public official, Government Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chang, announced last week that President Enrique Peña Nieto had decided to eliminate the post of federal commissioner for security and development in Michoacan.

He shared the news during a public hearing in Morelia to review the strategy the federal government has followed since intervening in Michoacan a year ago amid conflict between organized crime and vigilante groups.

The federal intervention in Michoacan met with some success initially, including the arrest of leading figures in the Templarios cartel and the incorporation of many of the vigilantes into an army-controlled Rural Force.

But violence flared in the state again last month, when 11 people died in an incident involving rival factions of the Rural Force.

Obama ’delusional’ on possible Iran deal: Senator McCain

Returning from Saudi Arabia, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain told CNBC on Wednesday he’s most concerned about the threat posed by Iran. 
'There’s a delusion that somehow we’re going to have an agreement with Iran ... [and] that we’ll all be working together,' the Arizona Republican said in a 'Squawk Box' interview. 'Iranians are on the march in the Mideast.' 
McCain said the Saudis 'perceive a lack of strong American leadership,' as Iran gains significant influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. 
McCain joined the president and other bipartisan U.S. dignitaries in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to pay respects to the late King Abdullah and to meet the new leader of the oil-rich nation, King Salman. 
The leadership transition is going smoothly, and Salman’s rule will be 'in keeping the Saudi policies' toward the U.S. and the region, McCain said. 
'The Saudis are more frightened, and I’m more concerned about the rise of ISIS [Islamic State militants] and even more about the incursions by Iran in different countries,' he added.
McCain offered solutions to these growing threats. 'We should arm the Free Syrian Army. We should have more American boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria in the form of forward air controllers, intelligence capabilities, [and] special forces.' He said the U.S. needs to understand that Iraq and Syria are not different conflicts.

Cairo demonstration demands investigation into protestor deaths

Thursday, 29 January 2015

Female protestors began gathering in downtown Cairo Thursday afternoon demanding an investigation into the deaths of activist Shaimaa Sabbagh and others who they say were killed by Egyptian security forces around the anniversary of the 2011 uprising.

The protestors gathered at the site of Sabbagh's death near Cairo's Tahrir Square, chanting "The interior ministry are thugs!" and holding signs with the word "Murderer" scrawled over Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim's face.

About 100 had gathered at the time the demonstration was meant to start at 2.00 pm local time, and protesters appeared to be avoiding blocking the streets by gathering on the sidew

The Iranian opposition is opposed to any alliance with Tehran

Source: Reuters, (Translated from French)
The Mujahedeen Khalq Organization (PMOI/MEK), a movement of exiled opponents of the mullahs in power in Iran, Monday warned Western countries against any alliance with Iran in the fight against the Islamic state (Daech) .

Shiite Iran is not involved in the coalition formed in the US initiative to combat the Sunni jihadists of IS in Iraq and Syria, but provides military support to Shiite regimes in Damascus and Baghdad.

"The participation of the regime (Tehran) in the coalition against Daech is a hundred times more dangerous than any Islamic fundamentalism under the guise of Shiism or Sunnism," said the president of the PMOI, Maryam Rajavi, at a hearing organized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

While international negotiations over Iran's nuclear program resume in early February, she described as "simplistic" the idea that greater involvement of Iran in Iraq would cause the regime abandon its nuclear weapons.

"When the mullahs have more open hand in Iraq, they will not give up the bomb," said Maryam Rajavi.

"Fundamentalist" Shi'a power in place since 1979 in Iran is not the solution, she said, but they are the cause of Sunni fundamentalism.

"If there was not this cruel repression of Sunnis in Iraq and Syria by the Iranian regime and its allies and puppet governments Daech would have had no fertile ground for its development," she said.

PMOI that says is defending a secular and democratic conception of Islam, believes that in the fight against Islamic fundamentalism passes through the immediate overthrow of the Iranian regime and in the short run by its eviction from Syria and Iraq.

Mexico - Tortured then thrown to the Crocodiles

Translated for Borderland Beat from a Notinfomex article by Otis B Fly-Wheel

He was identified as Venancio Soberanis Pantoja , a youngster who was thrown to crocodiles in Larazo Cardenas, after being tortured and executed.

The body was on the point of being completely devoured by the crocodiles in the Santa Anna bar. However tourists and locals reported the situation to authorities , then elements of civil protection among others , attended the site and managed to snatch the body from the jaws of the reptiles.

The situation occurred around Midday just at the height of the bridge of Santa Ana , in the Boulevard of the Municipality of Lazaro Cardenas. The police suspect the killer or killers threw the body off the viaduct , and subsequently the reptiles ate his left leg.( Otis : id say that is his right leg )

Local officials , Military and bystanders fashioned a noose to recover the victim from the grasp of the reptiles, who hours later was identified as Venancio Soberanis Pantoja, 20 years of age , it was noted that his hands were tied behind his back with yellow cord , and his head had severe injuries.

A special kind of hate " Pat Condell " ?

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Iranian regime’s 1,800-mile range missiles are a world threat

The Iranian regime has missiles that can reach 1,800 miles, making the regime a 'world threat' whether they are nuclear or not, Ali Safavi, member of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran told Newsmax TV.

Ali Safavi said: "With or without a ballistic missile, the Iranian regime remains from my view the number one in strategic threat, not only in regional countries, but also to the national security of the United States.

"When you talk about the agenda of the U.S. president, the focus has to be on the growing threat coming from Tehran."

He added: "You have to look at the situation in perspective. For the past 35 years, and particularly in recent years, as the Iranian regime has become more isolated, the problem with the Syrian regime, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere in the region is that the Iranian regime has continued to sponsor terror and has continued to finance terrorist groups.

"They spent billions of dollars helping Bashar Assad, up to $2 billion a month. They are helping to keep Assad in power and have been training and financing Shiite militants in Iraq and in Yemen, where Iranian trained, financed and armed rebels have taken over that country.

"The threat of Iran as a terrorist sponsoring regime is very real and the danger is thinking that if we are nice to them, they'll be nice to us. The Iranian regime and its leaders are bad actors in the region, and this calls for decisive and firm policy on the part of the US administration."