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WORLD NEWSFriday 12 February 2016
49 dead, 12 injured in brutal Mexican prison riot Puerto Rico pushes
tax incentives for
PORFIRIO IBARRA Rodriguez said in the morn- sending flames and smoke ing Tamaulipas between wealthy amid crisis
MARK STEVENSON ing that 52 had died, but billowing into the sky. Res- 2010 and 2012. The Zetas
Associated Press he lowered that by three in cue workers were seen once nearly controlled the DANICA COTO
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) the late afternoon. The rea- carrying injured inmates — area around Monterrey. Associated Press
— A brawl between rival son for the changed death some with burns — from the Zaldivar Farias was a sus- SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)
drug gangs at an over- toll was not clear. facility. pect in the 2010 killing of — Puerto Rico’s govern-
crowded penitentiary in At a news conference the Rodriguez said the clash American David Hartley on ment is trying to convince
northern Mexico turned governor read a list of 40 was between two factions Falcon Lake, which makes hundreds of wealthy inves-
into a riot Thursday, leav- names of confirmed vic- led by a member of the in- up part of the border be- tors to move to the U.S. ter-
tween Mexico and Texas. ritory, hoping they could
Police stand guard at the entrance of the Topo Chico prison, where a riot broke out just around Hartley was reportedly help lift it out of a deepen-
midnight, in Monterrey, Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. Dozens of inmates were killed and sev- gunned down while touring ing economic crisis.
eral injured in a brutal fight between two rival factions at the prison in northern Mexico, the state the reservoir with his wife on Officials hosted a meeting
governor said. jet skis. for investors on Thursday to
A crowd of people bun- promote local tax incen-
(AP Photo/Emilio Vazquez) dled against the cold gath- tives aimed at luring the
ered at the prison gates, wealthy. Speakers include
ing 49 inmates dead and tims, saying five of the re- famous Zetas drug cartel, demanding to be let in to former New York City May-
12 injured in the country’s maining bodies had been Juan Pedro Zaldivar Far- learn the fate of their rela- or Rudy Giuliani and New
deadliest prison melee in charred by fire and four ias, also known as “Z-27,” tives. Some kicked and York hedge fund billionaire
years. The riot took place were yet to be positively and Jorge Ivan Hernandez shook the gates as riot po- John Paulson, who recent-
on the eve of Pope Francis’ identified. One of the in- Cantu, who has been iden- lice with plastic shields kept ly bought several upscale
arrival in Mexico, a visit that jured was in grave condi- tified by Mexican media as the crowd out. resorts in Puerto Rico as the
is scheduled to include a tion. a Gulf cartel figure. “They haven’t told us any- island struggles to emerge
trip next week to another The fighting began around A turf war between the thing,” said Ernestina, from a nine-year econom-
prison in the border city of midnight with prisoners set- gangs bloodied Nuevo who identified herself as ic slump.But critics ques-
Ciudad Juarez. ting fire to a storage area, Leon state and neighbor- the mother of an inmate tion whether the amount
but declined to give her of jobs created and real
full name for fear of repri- estate bought has been
sal. “They said that until enough to boost the econ-
there is order, they won’t omy. And some investors
let us in. Everything is in dis- at the meeting made clear
order, and nobody is tell- their interests don’t always
ing us anything.” overlap with those of the
Authorities were reinforc- territory’s government —
ing security at other prisons especially efforts to win
and had transferred some congressional approval to
inmates out of Topo Chico, let it restructure part of its
Rodriguez said in an inter- $72 billion public debt.
view with Milenio Television. “It is a terrible idea. It will
The deadliest prison riot in chase consumer confi-
recent memory also oc- dence to zero,” said Nader
curred in Nuevo Leon, in Tavakoli, CEO and presi-
February 2012, when Zetas dent of Ambac, which
gangsters killed 44 Gulf car- holds millions of dollars
tel members at the over- in Puerto Rico debt and
crowded Apodaca federal recently filed a lawsuit
lockup. q against the island’s gov-
ernment over how it shift-
Church talks help make Cuba ‘perfect’ for negotiations ed funds to meet certain
bond payments amid a
A. RODRIGUEZ In addition to the meeting construction of a foreign of Texas-Rio Grande Val- cash crunch.
M. WEISSENSTEIN of the church leaders, Cu- policy legacy markedly dif- ley. “The country has come Tavakoli, who was on
Associated Press ban President Raul Castro ferent from that of his broth- to be seen as a country in stage as a speaker, said
HAVANA (AP) — The heads is expected to welcome er Fidel, who oversaw five transformation, part of the it was surreal to be talking
of the Roman Catholic and President Barack Obama decades of tension with the modern-day international about bankruptcy while
Russian Orthodox churches to Havana as early as this United States, dispatching system.” at a meeting for investors.
will hold a historic meeting spring to celebrate the Cuban troops and advisers Kirill is traveling through He also demanded to see
Friday in the threadbare in- detente the two men de- to Africa, Asia and Central Latin America, visiting na- Puerto Rico’s audited fi-
ternational airport of an of- clared at the end of 2014, and South America, and tional leaders and the re- nancial statements, echo-
ficially secular, communist- ending a half-century of offering safe haven to anti- gion’s small Russian Ortho- ing demands made by
run tropical island. hostility. And four years Western fighters from con- dox communities. Francis is Republican lawmakers as
Odd as the location seems, of talks in Cuba between flicts around the world. stopping briefly in Cuba for they prepare to introduce
Pope Francis’ and Patri- Colombia’s government “Cuba has been trans- the second time in less than legislation to address the is-
arch Kirill’s attempt to rec- and its main rebel group formed from a revolution- a year on his way to a tour land’s crisis by next month.
oncile their churches after appear set to produce an ary actor, isolated from of Mexico. Puerto Rico’s governor
centuries of estrangement accord ending the West- other states in the West- The meeting of the men in was quick to assure inves-
will set the tone for a year ern Hemisphere’s longest- ern Hemisphere with the Havana’s Jose Marti Inter- tors that the government is
of peacemaking in Cuba, running conflict, perhaps exception of Mexico and national Airport is expect- working hard to resolve its
a nation trying to shed its as early as mid-year. Canada,” said Arturo Lo- ed to focus almost entirely crisis and he stressed the
historic role as international If all goes as planned, 2016 pez-Levy, a Cuban-trained on the issue of religious rec- need for a restructuring
socialist provocateur. could cement Castro’s professor at the University onciliation. q mechanism. q
