Thursday, February 25, 2010

the big news

I've been out of pocket for the last couple days, so haven't been able to comment on the big news: Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the former head of the Gulf cartel who pleaded guilty to five counts (among them, drug trafficking), was sentenced to 25 years in a Houston court. He also will hand over $50 million to US authorities.

What's most interesting about this case to me is not his guilty plea; he's 42, when he gets out early on good behavior he'll still be able to live a somewhat decent life for a while – it makes sense.

Most interesting? The judge ordered the hearing to be closed to the media out of concern for Cardenas Guillen's safety. Normally, witnesses get that sort of protection. Cardenas Guillen was talking.

What I would give to be a fly on that wall.

PS - In a post the other day, I said Edgardo Buscaglia, the academic, is affiliated with the UNAM. My most sincere apologies to DR. Buscaglia and anyone I misinformed; he works for the ITAM and is not left-leaning. Unfortunately, I didn't adopt the critical eye that I suggested Al Jazeera and the Economist utilize, and just made a royal blunder. Doesn't change the point of my post but was a bit of screw-up, sorry about that.

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