Is it likely that we will be reading or hearing anything more regarding the relationship between Baja California and the The Hacking Team? The last we heard was a few days back when the Chief of Police of Tijuana Llares Valadares ( who has a long standing and deep ties or relationship to the FBI ) admitted to meeting with the Mayor of Tijuana Jorge Astiazaran Orci with Elite by Carga who is the provider of equipment from the Hacking Team to view a demonstration of their encryption equipment which was determined to be unaffordable.
Even the Mayor acknowledged that it was Elite By Carga who both he and the Chief met with to view a demonstration of the Hacking Team's products. (No mention of the actual meeting between Hacking Team and officials described in the WikiLeaks emails which the Mayor denied ever happened).
However keep in mind that just prior to these official statements to the press, Elite by Carga denied having a relationship with the Hacking Team. (BTW, at the end of the article is Zeta's 07/14 coverage which implicates Governor Kiko's knowledge of the Hacking Team's system in BC and asserts that it was the intent of the governor with the installation of Hacking Team's product to spy on political opponents and citizens rather than to investigate and detain the major drug traffickers and assassins in our region. This charge is repeated in Edicion 2155 not yet online.)
There were more denials from Francisco Rueda Gomez, the Secretario General de Gobierno along with denials from the Oficial Mayor Loreto Quintero Quintero and the Secretario de Planeacion y Finanzas Antonio Valladoid that they had any sort of relationship with the Hacking Team. More over, Reuda Gomez said that the e-mails released by WikiLeaks are private. (oh bad Wikileaks, bad ! (c; )
Governor Kiko attempted to put the entire subject of the relationship between the Hacking Team and Baja California to rest, end of subject; no more discussion, no more preguntas, he is done with it. However it was Dora Elena Cortes who seemed to have the last word on the matter....... so who knows at this point whether or not we will in fact be reading and hearing more about the relationship between the Hacking Team and Baja California in the future. That is to say, we may be hearing and reading accusations against Baja California government officials, but whether they choose to respond is another matter.
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Update/edit 07/18/14 11:30am:
And so it has come to pass: Mike picked up a Zeta early this morning, I couldn't get to one yesterday afternoon because of the horrible traffic in Rosarito. Article after article devoted to the relationship between the Hacking Team and Baja California including a map outlining
the major players of Governor Kiko's team (including the Governor) who according to the Wikileaks emails participated in the purchase of Hacking Team's product and the meetings, a front page editorial blasting the Governor, and reactions from leadership in Baja California to the scandal.
It does get worse: A full article on how members of the Hacking Team on one of their visits here were transported from Mexicali to Tijuana in a private jet which is property of the State of Baja California. This is in Edicion 2155 not online yet entitled "Hacking Team uso avion del gobernador." (Wikileak # 5475)
It just started to lightly rain here and we are getting thunder overhead and had a crackle of lightning which scared the Muffin - so unsure when the electricity will go out, but I'll be back with more details.
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Let's turn to the United States. In the beginning, the FBI's and the DEA's relationship with the Hacking Team primarily was covered by NPR, Democracy Now!, The Intercept, Gizmodo and Fusion. Since those early reports the first week of this month, more reports have appeared nation wide after the Intercept's disclosure of the FBI using the Hacking Team's equipment to hack the Tor system. Although these US reports focus on the Tor system hack, many contain background into the hacking Team's questionable past.
The Hot Potato Issue :
The question remains if the US press will continue their coverage of the Hacking Team which could potentially prompt some sort of US investigation into top US law enforcement's purchase of this equipment which we all know now is used to silence dissent and used by the most ruthless regimes in the world - particularly with the ISIS/ISIL threats and the recent lone wolf attack where four Marines and the Naval Petty Officer were killed in Tennessee. Is there the possibility that top US law enforcement will convince the US MSM and citizens that the Hacking Team's equipment is necessary to fight domestic terrorism? As far as Baja California and their relationship with the Hacking Team there is the huge inhibitor of so called "negative" reports on Mexico in the MSM US press due to the promotional influences of big money.
Another one from the Intercept:
How Hacking Team Created Spyware that allowed the FBI to Monitor Tor Browser
by, Micah Lee
A surprise article from CBS (a bit watered down), Aljazeera America (excellent editorial piece) The Hill, Fortune, San Jose Mercury News, SFGate, Stars and Stripes, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Marin Independent Journal, Arizona Daily Star, New York Post, Wired, Vice, New York Times, Global Voices Online....the list is endless, there are hundreds of reports. Hopefully Vanity Fair who had such an excellent article on Edward Snowden will cover the Hacking Team issue. Or maybe even the New Yorker?
I would say that is a pretty good turnout in light of the fact that Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and most likely Glen Greenwald and his team are basically considered enemies of the State by the US government, wouldn't you?
We are still keeping an eye on the Jornaleros who were supposed to have a meeting with the authorities at the beginning of this month, the La Bufadora situation, the possibility of increased violence since the El Chapo escape, and of course, the executions continue. The traffic in Rosarito is terrible due to the road construction, so be careful.
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The WikiLeaks emails - as before just type in "Baja California" for your search.
1st report re Hacking Team and Baja California with links 07/06/15
2nd report re Hacking Team and Baja California with links 07/09/15
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