KAZAKHSTAN / CHINA: Kazakhs Fear Beijing Takeover.

NPR / D. GREENE /   7:47 Audio report...with transcript.
Another report on econovore China's voracious appetite for resources.

NPR:  "As China grows in power and influence, few countries are feeling the effects more than neighboring Kazakhstan.
         Having broken from its past as a Soviet republic, Kazakhstan now has an up-and-coming economy and a desire to be a player on the world stage. China seems to be offering just what Kazakhstan needs — billions of dollars in foreign investment and deeper political ties with real-world powers.
        But many people in Kazakhstan have a plea: not too fast.
        They fear China's ambitions and worry that Chinese influence could rob Kazakhstan of its identity — all but swallow up a country whose population is outnumbered by China's 80 to 1.
       "China is going to help us little by little," says Saule Amirova, a 61-year-old woman who lives in Kazakhstan's eastern city of Almaty. "And then, they'll own our land."

MEXICO: Under Seige By The Narco Terrorists.

LATIMES/ Tracy Wilkinson and Ken Ellingwood/ Long Re-cap/
     Despite 80,000 troops and police, the government has failed to stop or even slow the drug flow since Calderon took office in 2006. The narco traffickers have shifted from acting as simple smugglers to actual drug producers using previously unthinkable methods like beheadings and dismemberments to instill fear and mete-out punishment. They have also added kidnappings and extortions to their repertoires with large areas of Mexico actually under their direct control.


How did Mexico end-up in this dire situation? SEE ALSO: The last of NPR reporter Jason Beaubien's five reports on Mexico's drug wars explains.(5 min 37 sec) With transcript.
BEAUBIEN: "Drug trafficking has long gone on in Mexico, and for many decades operated under the eye of the government, according to analysts. Mexico's changing politics has, in effect, changed the way drug cartels operate."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129009629

MEXICO: As Violence Grows, Fear Permeates Entire Nation.

NPR/ Audio: 7 min 47 sec/ With Transcript/ Jason Beaubien/ Outstanding summary report includes new interview with Azteca gang member.

Beaubien: "Francisco Garcia, a gunrunner for the Aztecas, says the violence isn't going to stop. "There's a war going on. Nobody could go in and say, 'Hey, that's it.' We can't do that. Because they already killed so many people with us and them," he says.
"The fallout from the drug war that's starting to be known as Calderon's quagmire is being felt across Mexico, among those of all walks of life. And there is no end in sight to the violence."

MEXICO: Government Rejects Radio Report That It Favors Sinaloa Narcos.

LAHT/       A 4-month probe by NPR's John Burnett that claimed Mexico's government favored the Sinaloa drug gang in its fight against drug mobs has naturally been rejected. Spokesman Luis Estrada disputed the charge saying “This is not true. The federal government combats organized crime nationwide with full determination, and authorities have maintained support for state authorities to reduce the spaces and activities of all criminal gangs. In summary, the federal government has succeeded in weakening the command and operation structure of this cartel, not only in Sinaloa, but in all its networks nationwide,” he said.

CUBA: Cuban Doctors Were Haiti's First Responders.

NPR/ 5 minute AUDIO ONLY report by Austin-based John Burnett/
Nearly 400 Cuban health workers were already on the island when the quake hit and the day after, Cuban doctors reopened two hospitals. The Cubans lived in the poorest neighborhoods and were the first responders.

Mexico's Most Dangerous Drug Gang : Los Zetas.

7:25 Broadcast from NPR.ORG/John Burnett/
The DEA considers Los Zetas the most dangerous drug-trafficking organization in Mexico. Its has a reputation as super-gangsters adept at paramilitary-style ambushes and bold jailbreaks. They are the most feared, most emulated criminals in Mexico.

Travelling The Proposed Interoceanic Highway: From Peru' Jungles To Brasil's Ports.

NPR with many fotos/
The Interoceanic Highway now under construction will link Sao Paulo to Peru...4601 kilometers... from Brasil's Atlantic coast to Peru's Pacific ports.
NPR reporter Lourdes Garcia-Navarro returns again to the Latin American beat in this FOUR-PART series describing this monumental undertaking.
She reports that the new road will bring goods and work to Peru's remote Andean communities but that it also worries conservationists over the impact on Peru's Amazon rainforest.

What is the "BRIC"?...and What Does It Matter?

A nice nutshell profile of "BRIC"... the acronym for the four emerging economies of Brasil, Russia, India and China...from NPR 's Tom Gjelten.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105504349

The NYTimes reports that: "The four countries produce about 15 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and hold about 40 percent of the gold and hard currency reserves, but they are not a unified bloc and do not do enough business among themselves to justify a trade alliance." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/world/europe/17bric.html?ref=todayspaper


Plus a more detailed report on the BRIC's recent meeting:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a8strJTaN6Hs

And this...on the proposed use of rubles and yuan ...instead of the USD... on some future trade deals between China and Russia.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601095&sid=aSTmuCr.RD88