Context of '1994-1995: Outflow of Capital From Mexico Triggers Economic Crisis'

In early 1994, investors pull money out of the Mexican economy in response to an increase in US interest rates and political instability. This causes the Mexican government to lose massive amounts of reserves and lead it to allow the peso to float in December of 1994. In January of 1995 it again asks the IMF for assistance and receives packages from both the IMF and US Treasury. This time, massive privatizations of “transportation, banking and finance, railways and the petrochemical industries” were recommended as a way of paying off the loans. A devaluation of the peso in 1995 along with an IMF-mandated rise in interest rates triggers the worst depression in Mexico in 60 years. GDP falls by 6.2 percent, wages fall by 25 percent, unemployment doubles, and 12,000 Mexican firms file for bankruptcy. [Global Exchange, 9/2001, pp. 4-5 ; Hart-Landsberg, 12/2002]

Stuart Levey. [Source: US Treasury Department]On the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Saudi government announces that it is setting up a supervisory body to control Islamic charities accused of financing terrorism. The US government had been strongly pressuring them to do so. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz states, “We have established the Saudi Higher Authority for Relief and Charity Work… so all relief and charity work comes under its umbrella.” He says this will help “ensure the aid goes to the right people and for the right purposes,” adding, “We are also creating accurate systems and means… to guarantee a continuous followup of charities.” [Agence France-Presse, 9/11/2002] However, no such body is actually created, then or later. In July 2007, Stuart Levey, the top counterterrorism official at the Treasury Department, will say the Saudi government has failed to keep its promise to create such a body. “They are also not holding people responsible for sending money abroad for jihad. It just doesn’t happen.” The White House will respond with a generic statement saying that “the Saudis continue to be a strong partner in the War on Terror.” [Wall Street Journal, 7/26/2007]

Kyle Sampson, a counsel for Attorney General John Ashcroft in the US Department of Justice (see 2001-2003), refers to US Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico (see October 18, 2001) as a “diverse up-and-comer; solid.” [Talking Points Memo, 2011]

The US Treasury Department freezes the assets of four alleged al-Qaeda operatives. The men are:
Saad bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden, who has just escaped from house arrest in Iran (see (Between December 2008 and January 2009)). The US seems to think he is linked to terrorist activities, although his family denies it;
Mustafa Hamid, who the Treasury says is a key intermediary between al-Qaeda and the Iranian government;
Muhammad Raba al-Sayid al-Bahtiyti, an Egyptian thought to be a trusted aide to al-Qaeda’s second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri;
Ali Saleh Husain, a logistics operative for al-Qaeda.
In addition to freezing their assets, the Treasury Department prohibits Americans from having financial transactions with the men. [Wall Street Journal, 1/16/2009]