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INTERNATIONAL EDITION
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2012
109TH YEAR I ©2012 THE MIAMI HERALD
Guatemala says it’s weighing legalizing drugs BY ROMINA RUIZ-GOIRIENA Associated Press
SUPERVOLCANO-IN-WAITING BOLIVIAN VOLCANO’S GROWTH SPURT IS FERTILE GROUND FOR STUDY NOAH FRIEDMAN-RUDOVSKY/NEW YORK TIMES SERVICE
Small holes, known as Fumaroles, release extremely hot sulfuric gases into the air near the Uturuncu volcano in Bolivia. BY JEAN FRIEDMAN-RUDOVSKY New York Times Service
UTURUNCU VOLCANO, Bolivia — The broad hill at the base of Uturuncu is unassuming. Its gentle arc fades naturally into the Andean landscape. But the 43-mile-long stretch of rocky soil is now an object of international scientific fascination. Satellite measurements show that the hill has been rising more than half an inch a year for almost 20 years, suggesting that the volcano, which last erupted
more than 300,000 years ago, is steadily inflating. “The size and longevity of the uplift is unprecedented,” said Shanaka de Silva, a geologist at Oregon State University who has been studying Uturuncu since 2006. Taken together with other new research, he continued, the inflation means “we could be witnessing the development of a new supervolcano.” Such a volcano could produce an eruption of ash, rock and
pumice 1,000 times the strength of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, the worst volcanic event in modern American history, and 10,000 times that of the Icelandic eruptions in 2010 that paralyzed global air traffic for weeks. Luckily, while the planet has 30 to 40 supervolcanoes — 10 of them potentially active — supereruptions occur only every 100,000 years or so. The last one, that of the Toba Volcano in Sumatra about 74,000 years ago, is
thought to have spewed enough ash to cause a 6- to 10-year “volcanic winter,” a 1,000-year global cooling period and a loss of life so vast that it may have changed the course of human evolution. “We see no evidence for an imminent supervolcanic eruption anywhere on earth,” said Jacob B. Lowenstern, a research geologist and geochemist with the United States Geological Survey, who specializes in one • TURN TO VOLCANO, 2A
On Russian TV, it isn’t all about the strongman BY ALESSANDRA STANLEY New York Times Service
er, on national television. “This is the first time in five years that I’ve been in an NTV studio,” he said. Since rising to the top in 1999, Putin, the prime minister and presidential comeback aspirant, has wielded power by commanding the television screen as surely as he does the security apparatus. But on the eve of the March 4 presidential elections, a restive yearning for change is in the air. Many Russians who dread the prospect of another six years —
Since rising to the top in 1999, Vladimir Putin, has wielded power by commanding TV screens as surely as he does the security apparatus.
MOSCOW — The talk show topic of the day was: “Putin or not Putin?” As the host giddily explained, that title alone would have been “unimaginable” on any of Russia’s major public-affairs shows even just six months ago, let alone on NTV, one of the three Kremlinfriendly television networks that dominate the news. His guest, Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader, looked as surprised as anyone to find himself attacking Vladimir Putin, the Russian lead- • TURN TO RUSSIA, 2A
NEW YORK TIMES SERVICE
Advocates of Iran sanctions try to sway next China leader BY RICK GLADSTONE
New York Times Service
said it does not want to see Iran become a nuclear weapons power, it has also been highly critical of the U.S.-led campaign to isolate Iran and has urged a resumption of international talks on Iran’s uranium enrichment, which Iran contends is a purely peaceful endeavor. “We believe that the value of these sanctions is to encourage the kind of diplomatic breakthrough on Iran’s nuclear activities that both of our nations seek,” read the letter from the security advisors group, the Partnership for a Secure America, based in Washington. “In the context of your historic trip to the United States, we therefore urge you to make clear that China will significantly reduce its imports of oil from Iran, uphold the applicable resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, and use its economic influence with Tehran,
U.S. advocacy groups that want to isolate Iran over its suspect nuclear program singled out China, using the visit to the United States by China’s next leader to criticize the vast Chinese purchases of Iranian petroleum, and to urge him and U.S. President Barack Obama to forge a common position opposing Iran’s uranium enrichment. In a letter addressed to Vice President Xi Jinping of China, a bipartisan group of former national security advisors urged him to support the sanctions efforts by the United States and the European Union, which seek to penalize Iran in part by severely limiting its ability to export oil. China is Iran’s biggest customer for oil, which helps feed China’s voracious need for energy, and China could easily undermine the oilsanctions effort. While China has • TURN TO IRAN, 2A
NORTH KOREANS MYTHOLOGIZE KIM JONG IL ON HIS BIRTHDAY, 3A
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GUATEMALA CITY — U.S. inability to cut illegal drug consumption leaves Guatemala with no option but to consider legalizing the use and transport of drugs, President Otto Perez Molina said, a remarkable turnaround for a former general elected on a platform of crushing organized crime with an iron fist. Perez said he will try to win regional support for drug legalization at an upcoming summit of Central American leaders next month. He got his first public support on Monday at a security meeting with El Salvador President Mauricio Funes, who said he too is willing to consider legalization. “We’re bringing the issue up for debate. Today’s meeting is intended to strengthen our methods of fighting organized crime,” Perez said with Funes. “But if drug consumption isn’t reduced, the problem will continue.” But after returning to El Salvador, Funes said he personally doesn’t support legalization because it would “create a moral problem,” though he supports Perez’s right to bring up the issue for consideration. “Imagine what it would mean,” Funes said. “Producing drugs would no longer be a crime, trafficking drugs would no longer be a crime and consuming drugs would no longer be a crime, so we would be converting the region in a paradise for drug consumption. I personally don’t agree with it and I told President Otto Perez so.” Perez’s proposal comes as drug cartels have taken over large swathes of Guatemala and other Central American countries, fueling some of the highest murder rates in the world. A May 2011 report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service said that 95 percent of all cocaine entering the United States flows through Mexico and its waters, with 60 percent of that cocaine having first transited through Central America. In just a month in office, Perez has transformed himself from one of Latin America’s toughest • TURN TO GUATEMALA, 4A
Colorado plans bank for marijuana shops problem of not being able to bank banks,” said Matthew Huron, marijuana money is big enough to owner of two dispensaries and DENVER — Medical marijuana make the challenge worthwhile. “I’ve been kicked out of three • TURN TO POT BANKING, 2A is legal in 17 states, but the industry has a decidedly black-market aspect — it’s mostly cash-only. Banks won’t touch pot money. The drug is illegal under federal law, and processing transactions or investments with pot money puts federally insured banks at risk of drug-racketeering charges. In Colorado, state lawmakers are attempting an end-run around the federal ban with a bill that would create the nation’s first state cooperative financial institution for dispensaries and growers to allow them to store and borrow money. The proposal, if enacted, would be a direct challenge to the U.S. Justice Department, which warns that all financial transactions involving pot money are illegal. But for Colorado’s 600 or so ED ANDRIESKI/AP medical marijuana dispensaries, Matthew Huron examines a marijuana plant in his grow and hundreds more growers and associated industry workers, the house in Denver.
BY KRISTEN WYATT Associated Press
U.S. VOTER ROLLS RIFE WITH INACCURACIES, REPORT FINDS, 5A
MOODY’S CUTS RATINGS ON ITALY, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL, BUSINESS FRONT
FORMER DOLPHINS RECEIVER FREDDIE SOLOMON DIES, SPORTS FRONT
INDEX THE AMERICAS............4A WORLD NEWS ...........6A OPINION........................7A COMICS & PUZZLES ...6B
2/15/2012 4:33:12 AM