Mexico's 'Grand Warlock' predicts 'El Chapo' won't be caught, Trump's defeat, and more violence in Europe
Antonio Vázquez Alba, Mexico's famed "Grand Warlock," made his predictions for 2016 during a press conference on Tuesday, forecasting trouble for Venezuela and for Europe and casting doubt on the presidential aspirations of Donald Trump.
With his tarot cards, the white-bearded Vazquez also saw fugitive Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman getting killed and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro falling from power.
The forecaster often gets things wrong, however. Despite his spotty record, Vazquez has attracted a gaggle of journalists every year to hear his predictions, which he has made for the past two decades.
Vazquez, who wrongly foresaw US President Barack Obama losing his reelection bid in 2012, delved into American politics again this year.
"Trump won't really become the Republican candidate," he said, according to AFP. "He's flaming out on his own, they don't need to burn him" Vazquez added, referring to Trump's fellow Republicans, according to Spanish-language news site El Estimulo.
He said that the real-estate magnate and reality-TV star would move on to an unsuccessful independent candidacy. "In the end, I believe he will launch an independent candidacy, he says he has a lot of money to pay for his campaign," he noted.
In Mexico, the self-styled "Brujo Mayor" said the authorities will kill Guzman, who escaped from prison for the second time in his criminal career last July, instead of arresting him.
Despite some close calls, the Sinaloa cartel chief has continued to elude the intense manhunt for him, despite strong indications of where he may be hiding.
"If they find him, and there's a great possibility that they will, they will kill him. The police and army have been advised to kill him. They won't risk losing him for a third time," Vazquez said after looking at his cards.
His predictions regarding Guzmán echoed those made by Jhon "Popeye" Vásquez, who said late last year that "El Chapo is a dead man," believing that Mexican authorities would prefer Guzmán dead because of the damaging information he had on Mexican politicians and the disgrace the drug lord had heaped on the current government.
Should Mexican forces track down the fugitive cartel kingpin, "they will put him in a coffin and bury him, "said Vazquez.
More political violence
Venezuela, meanwhile, will fall into chaos and Maduro's presidency faces a harsh end, he said.
"I think that his reign ends this year but not without blood. There were will be strong clashes within the population," the warlock said.
"There will be many deaths, many problems. Maduro won't go on this year, but I don't think he stays alive either."
Some have downplayed the possibility violence. "Political violence in [Venezuela] remains the exception," New York University professor Alejandro Velasco said on Twitter this week.
But opposition legislators, who took office during a contentious session on Tuesday, have vowed to force Maduro from office, however, with the new speaker of the National Assembly saying they would soon take steps to remove the president.
Vazquez did get it right in 2012 when he correctly predicted that Maduro's late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, would suffer a cancer relapse.
Elsewhere, Vazquez predicted more suicide-attack attempts by the Islamic State group in Europe and - according to his tarot readings - there will be a war in the Middle East in September-October as a result of current tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Vazquez also reflected on the future of former Cuban President Fidel Castro, noting with a laugh that "those of us who have dedicated ourselves to clairvoyance for 20 years have been killing him, and he just won't die."
"Santería really works," he added, referring to a religion based on Catholic and indigenous beliefs and practiced in the Caribbean.