Word: rico
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...center of the Caribbean drug trade--the "new Miami"--is Puerto Rico. "Since 1990 Puerto Rico has been the focal point for the exportation of cocaine to the mainland from the Caribbean," says Felix Jimenez, who heads the DEA's office there. The island's status as a U.S. commonwealth offers traffickers an extraordinary advantage, since passengers and cargo undergo only perfunctory customs checks to enter the U.S. mainland. Once a shipment of cocaine is smuggled onto the island, it can easily be relayed to American cities...
...Puerto Rico has paid a steep price for its leading role in the drug trade. Its murder rate has been higher than that of any state for three years straight. Ninety percent of all violence on the island is believed to be drug related. "San Juan has become what Miami used to be. You see 15-year-olds with guns. People are afraid to go out at night," says U.S. attorney Guillermo Gil, the victim of a carjacking by a teenager high on crack. In the summer of 1993 the drug trade had got so bad that Governor Pedro Rossello...
While Puerto Rico battles drug dealers and their violence, the consequences are even more disastrous for the tiny island states that neighbor it. Their economies rely mostly on tourism and perhaps a single cash crop like bananas or sugar. That makes them vulnerable to domination by the drug lords. If large countries like Colombia can turn into "narcodemocracies," how are much smaller and more fragile nations to avoid the same fate when they have little firepower or financial incentive to fight back? "We are really worried," says Robert Gelbard, head of the State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics...
...People flew back, drove back, came back from all over. We were camped out in our common room watching the news. We had five phones in our common room and we were calling Mexico, Puerto Rico, Jordan, everywhere trying to get information and talking with people. It was very emotional," Tessitore said...
...Dellwood Foods, a troubled New York dairy acquired in 1985, languishes unsold in Investcorp's portfolio. Also unsold is Chaumet, a world-famous French jeweler, which has racked up millions of dollars in losses. Other flops include the Carvel ice-cream chain and New York Department Stores of Puerto Rico, disposed of last year at a substantial loss. A huge disappointment has been Color Tile, America's largest chain of floor-covering stores. The company lost $46.3 million last year and was close to bankruptcy until Investcorp and other investors pumped in $30 million in August. Kirdar acknowledges that many...