Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 23, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A6 M EXICO CITY - From his naming on the Forbes magazine list of the world's richest billionaires, to his frequent supposed sightings and magical escapes, Joaqu�n " El Chapo" Guzm�n has been a larger- than- life drug lord who reached mythical proportions in Mexican " narco" folklore. He rose from a simple low- level trafficker from Sinaloa, the cradle of Mexico's opium and marijuana trade, to become the world's most powerful drug lord and the man who supplied more illegal drugs to North America than anyone else on Earth. For Mexicans, the capture of Guzm�n, reported Saturday to have occurred in a joint operation by Mexican marines and U. S. federal agents in the Sinaloan coastal city of Mazatl�n, is somewhat akin to Colombia's killing of Pablo Escobar - or even the U. S. elimination of Osama bin Laden. His luxurious life on the run was the stuff of legend. More than once, he was reported to have entered a fancy restaurant, ordered cellphones confiscated, dined lavishly, then picked up everyone's check. So apparently untouchable was he, his young beauty queen wife travelled uncontested by authorities to Los Angeles to give birth to twin girls in 2011. In recent years, Guzm�n extended the operations of his Sinaloa cartel to an estimated 50 countries across Latin America, Africa and Europe, even hooking up with one of the most notorious Italian mafias, the Ndrangheta. " This gives us the dimension of who was ' El Chapo' Guzm�n," said Jos� Reveles, author of several books on Mexican drug- trafficking. Given Guzm�n's folk hero status, the constant rumors of his presence across borders and time zones, and his ability to bribe local officials to look the other way, it was difficult for some officials not to accord Guzm�n a grudging respect. Guillermo Vald�s, the former head of Mexico's National Security and Investigation Center who wrote a book on his country's drug trade, called Guzm�n an exceptional leader - a " business genius." " I think that ' El Chapo' is a person with a leadership capacity and a strategic vision that the other narcos don't have, and they recognize that," Vald�s told the Spanish newspaper El Pais. " He's a very intelligent person with a great capacity for listening. With a great ability to seduce people, as well as a large imagination... and creativity." The U. S. government offered a reward of up to $ 5 million for information leading to his arrest. The Mexican government was offering a reward of 30 million pesos, or about US$ 2.3 million. There were many reported near misses, including a supposed appearance in Baja California in 2012, days before U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the region. There is some disagreement over Guzm�n's actual birth date, but the U. S. State Department puts it at Dec. 25, 1954, making him 59 years old. Interpol lists him as 56. The U. S. government lists him at 5- 8 and 165 pounds, but others say he is about 5- 6, hence his nickname " El Chapo," or " Shorty." To many Mexicans, guessing Guzm�n's whereabouts had become a popular and macabre parlor game - a kind of cartel " Where's Waldo?" Mexican security officials, meanwhile, conducted numerous searches in vain, contributing to the mystique of bad man as wily trickster - and burnishing his reputation as a folk antihero. Many other Mexicans not seduced by Guzm�n's outlaw image still believed the Sinaloa cartel was a " businesslike" operation that didn't prey upon innocents as much as other cartels like the Knights Templar, famous for its extensive extortion racket in the state of Michoac�n; or the Zetas gang, which has terrorized regular people with extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, and which has a penchant for killing that seems, at times, to be unmoored from any sort of human scruples. Yet it was Guzm�n's decision to move into territory controlled by those other groups that led to some of the most bloody fighting in the last three years in states that had until then been relatively peaceful. Guzm�n was born in Badiraguato, an isolated municipality in Sinaloa, the Pacific Coast state notorious for its untameable badlands and multigenerational web of drug producers and smugglers. He grew up poor, working on his grandfather's farm, and was reportedly adamant about never returning to the life of a Mexican peasant. A former mistress, Zulema Hernandez, told writer Julio Scherer long ago Guzm�n was kicked out of the house by an abusive father. He is believed to have left school after the third grade. Like many in Sinaloa, Guzm�n had family members with connections to the drug trade. In his case, it was Pedro Avila Perez, a founder of the Sinaloa cartel, which had long grown and distributed Mexican marijuana and heroin, but by the 1980s branched out into smuggling Colombian cocaine into the U. S. Guzm�n got his start overseeing drug production on local farms. He then began handling the planes, boats and trucks used to smuggle South American cocaine into Mexico. By 1989, deaths and arrests, plus good luck and ambition, had put Guzm�n and his cousin, H�ctor Palma, at the top of the cartel sector that moved as much as 24 tons of cocaine into the U. S. each month. But Guzm�n's power was challenged by a faction led by the Arellano F�lix family, based in Tijuana. Guzm�n sent dozens of gunmen to attack the Arellanos at a party in Puerto Vallarta in 1992, killing nine people. Less than a year later, the Arellanos sent gunmen to ambush Guzm�n at the Guadalajara airport, but instead killed the cardinal of Guadalajara, Juan Jes�s Posadas Ocampo. Much about the shooting remains unclear, but one theory holds that the bishop was mistaken for Guzm�n. The death of the bishop sent shock waves throughout Mexico and beyond. The Mexican government had long been viewed as lax in its punishment of drug lords, if not occasionally complicit with them, particularly with Guzm�n, who was said to enjoy protection from some of the country's top law enforcement officials. Public pressure forced the government to crack down. Guzm�n was arrested in Guatemala a couple of weeks after the shooting. He was transferred to a maximum security federal prison in Guadalajara, where he lived comfortably. But when faced with extradition to the U. S., he apparently decided to flee. On Jan. 19, 2001, the State Department says Guzm�n escaped " allegedly with the assistance of prison officials." He emerged, apparently, as a wizened, battle- tested CEO eager to prove he was still on top of his game. As the Mexican federal government got more serious about fighting the drug war, Guzm�n relied more on corrupt local officials for protection and probably benefited from the largess of wealthy Colombian traffickers who saw his operation as the most stable and well- managed of the Mexican cartels. - Los Angeles Times NEWS CANADA I WORLD A6 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014 TORONTO - A Canadian Internet service provider has been ordered to hand over the names and addresses of about 2,000 customers who allegedly downloaded movies online. A Federal Court decision released Thursday compels Ontario- based TekSavvy to identify the customers allegedly linked to downloads of films by the U. S. production company Voltage Pictures, which is behind the likes of The Hurt Locker, Dallas Buyers Club and Don Jon . As a result, those TekSavvy customers could eventually receive a letter from Voltage threatening legal action. Under the federal Copyright Act, statutory damages for noncommercial infringement range between $ 100 and $ 5,000. " It's going to be up to the courts to decide what the appropriate penalty is," said Voltage's lawyer James Zibarras, who called the court decision " great" and " well balanced." " I think to date rightsholders' interests have been ignored, and really what this does is adjust the pendulum a bit. " Obviously the public has almost become accustomed to downloading movies for free and it's being done on a massive scale. And of course the public loves justifying what they're doing and when someone tries to stop it they invariably want to come up with arguments as to why it should not be stopped." While the court sided with Voltage's efforts to go after copyright violators, it sought to protect against the company acting " inappropriately in the enforcement of its rights to the detriment of innocent Internet users." " On the facts of this case, there is some evidence that Voltage has been engaged in litigation which may have an improper purpose. However, the evidence is not sufficiently compelling for this court at this juncture in the proceeding to make any definitive determination of the motive of Voltage," wrote prothonotary Kevin Aalto. Aalto ordered that before Voltage can send a letter to the alleged downloaders, it must return to court to get the wording of its communications cleared by a case management judge. " In order to ensure there is no inappropriate language in any demand letter sent to the alleged infringers, the draft demand letter will be provided to the court for review," Aalto wrote. " Any correspondence sent by Voltage to any subscriber shall clearly state in bold type that no court has yet made a determination that such subscriber has infringed or is liable in any way for payment of damages." Voltage was also ordered to pay any costs TekSavvy incurs in identifying the customers in the case, as well as legal fees. The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, which had intervenor status in the case, said it was " quite pleased" with the decision and expected Voltage wouldn't see any financial incentive in going after downloaders, particularly since it must pay Tek- Savvy's " substantial" costs. CIPPIC director David Fewer said his read of the decision is the court would not be eager to assign penalties at the higher range of what the Copyright Act allows. " If Voltage is asking for figures in excess of ($ 100) I think the court is going to shut them down pretty darn quickly," Fewer said. " And if that's the case, I think Voltage is done, because this is no longer a viable business model. And that's what the whole copyright troll thing is about - it's about using the court process to get settlements that are in excess of what you could get for ( actual) damages to scare people into settling." - The Canadian Press Movie downloaders' names to be handed over By Michael Oliveira World's biggest ' narco' nabbed Luxurious life on run was stuff of legend By Richard Fausset and Tracy Wilkinson OTTAWA - It might be as rare as scoring front- row tickets to Arcade Fire, but the Conservatives are getting opposition praise for one of their budget moves. Guaranteeing money for the Canada Music Fund and other arts programs in perpetuity also got applause from various industry groups. Now government and opposition MPs are on the same page about a Commons study into the music industry as a whole, set to begin this week. It's the first time the Canadian Heritage committee has undertaken such a study. Liberal MP Stephane Dion, who proposed the idea, says it's long overdue. In the last decade, the music industry has gone through a revolution as consumers shifted to digital downloads from CDs. Figures from the Library of Parliament suggest the market value of Canadian music sales decreased by 20 per cent between 2008 and 2012. " You have an industry in full revolution, and need to look very carefully at how the federal government can adapt its own help," said Dion. Said NDP heritage critic Pierre Nantel, a former music producer: " There have been so many changes, what can we do to help the industry regain their lost sales? Committee chairman Gord Brown said determining whether the government is getting value for money is central to the study, as well as determining whether the industry is getting the proper help. Currently, the federal government supports the industry through both monetary and regulatory measures. On the cash front, the $ 25- million Canada Music Fund helps artists create and promote their works. The $ 18- million Canada Arts Presentation Fund supports festivals and other venues that bring homegrown musicians to audiences. Meanwhile, the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Commission oversees rules that require radio stations to dedicate as much as 40 per cent of their programming to Canadian content - a 40- yearold system that has helped make Canada's industry one of the biggest in the world. Stuart Johnston of the Canadian Independent Music Association said there's nothing wrong with the current funding mechanisms, but they might need some tweaking. As Johnston describes it, Canadian labels have gone from focusing on a few pots of money for their livelihoods, such as CD sales and concerts, to dipping into myriad pots - some only producing pennies at a time, such as royalties from streaming music. And these small businesses have also had to figure out how to properly reach consumers in a vast domestic and international digital marketplace. Making sure the funding helps in those specific areas would be one area for tweaking, Johnston suggests. - The Canadian Press Tories, Liberals singing same tune By Jennifer Ditchburn Music industry study applauded EDUARDO VERDUGO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Joaqu�n " El Chapo" Guzm�n was captured by Mexican marines and U. S. federal agents in the beach resort town of Mazatlan. A_ 06_ Feb- 23- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A6 2/ 22/ 14 10: 53: 37 PM ;