Fausta’s Blog

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The big story of the week: Cristina Fernandez seized the Central Bank

After a month of wrangling, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner succeeded in sacking central bank President Martin Redrado last week. In his place she named Mercedes Marcó del Pont, a Yale-trained economist who has expressed the view that central bank autonomy ought to be limited.

The opposition howled at the news. Felipe Sola, former governor of Provincia de Buenos Aires, warned that the new bank president “is going to do what the executive decides and they are going to modify the bank charter to justify her doing what the executive tells her.”

Of course that would seem to be the point. Mr. Redrado was fired because he refused to turn over $6.6 billion in bank reserves to Mrs. Kirchner, who wants to pay foreign creditors but doesn’t want to use treasury revenues.Ms. Marcó del Pont, if she wants to keep her job, will follow the orders of the president.

UPDATE
Welcome, Instapundit readers!
Please also listen to the podcast, Argentina’s Cristina seizes the Central Bank

LATIN AMERICA
Obama and the FTAs

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s reserves and its debts
Central Bank robbery: The president gets her way, again, but at a price, and visit the blogs and articles featured below,

El riesgo país es el matrimonio

BOLIVIA
PDF file: Into the abyss: Bolivia under Evo Morales and the MAS

BRAZIL
Brazil’s possible next president
Serra waits, a bit too patiently, for the presidency
The front-runner in Brazil’s coming presidential contest has done a decent job running its biggest state. But to keep his lead he must get campaigning

CHILE
El impacto de un gigante: “Mi negocio queda al lado del Costanera Center”

COLOMBIA
Uribe Vows Calm as Colombia Awaits Referendum Ruling

Colombia’s health reforms
Shock treatment: President Uribe tries to push through some much-needed changes

COSTA RICA
Costa Rica Debt May Outperform on Chinchilla Poll Win, RBS Says

CUBA
“Guardian angels”

Kenneth, What Is the Frequency: How CBS and Dan Rather Set Up Elian Gonzalez

Rage against the Marxist machine

Commentary: No ‘common policy,’ as Europe grapples over its future ties with Cuba

Cuba 1963: Inside castro’s prisons

Orlando Zapata Tamayo and Juan Ramón Rivera Despaine, Cuban Political Prisoners of the Week, 2/7/10

ECUADOR
Ecuador at Risk: Drugs, Thugs, Guerrillas and the Citizens Revolution

Cocaine trafficking keeps Ecuador anti-drug authorities busy
Seizures set a record last year for the country, which is growing in importance as a hub for shipments to the U.S. and Europe

Ecuador president says cops overreacted to insult

Humor: Por atentado a la majestad del poder
¡Correa se mete preso a sí mismo!
Asesores le aconsejan no volver a salir a la calle

Indigenous Groups Confront Rafael Correa
Ecuador’s Neo-Liberal Model

GUATEMALA
Conferencia sobre Evolución en Guatemala

HAITI
“Trop loin du Bon Dieu”

Haiti’s Crisis: Oil, Oligarchs, and The Groundhog Day Manifesto

The evil genius of the U.S. plan to destroy Haiti

HONDURAS
Honduran amnesty and truth

MEXICO
Protection through Integration: The Mexican Government’s Efforts to Aid
Migrants in the United States

PANAMA
Facts and rumors

PARAGUAY
¡Sinvergüenzo!

PERU
Chocolate and coca

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rican nationalist pleads guilty to charges related to 1983 Wells Fargo robbery in Conn.

In Hartford, A Machetero Pleads Guilty To Role In 1983 Wells Fargo Robbery

VENEZUELA
Via Instapundit, Venezuela: Chavez equates Twitter with terrorism

DEL “TAS PONCHAO” AL 26/9: ¿ESCALERA, BARRANCO O TOBOGÁN?

Murderer Ramiro Valdes comes for the 18 years of Chavez bloody military coup

CIA Factbook Draws Chavez’s Ire

Government Expands Business Nationalization Powers

From 2007,

So Hugo Chavez purchases five new police cars, which were parading as a caravan towards the governor’s office at the state of Bolivar in Puerto Ordaz, when the policeman driving the head car of the caravan sees a policeman lying on the street (I kid you not), and slams the brakes.

Kablooie!

A chain reaction ensues, and all five police cars are totaled.

Couldn’t make it up had I tried.

Gets even better!
Jungle Mom clarifies that “policia acostado” is Venezuelan slang for speed bump.
So the pileup happened when the lead car hit the speed bump.
Bwhahahahaha!

In today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern,

Globovision video report of the demonstration, where Caracas’s Metropolitan Police fired tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets at students who were demonstrating for civil rights:

The gutsy woman reporter was in the middle of the whole thing and even continued to report after she and her cameraman donned gas masks.

As I explained in yesterday’s podcast, the students were heading to the National Assembly to demand the right of freedom of speech.

Chavez’s other celebrations included a large rally of his red-shirted followers, and a military parade.

Related reading:
Venezuelan police break up anti-Chavez protest

Venezuelan Engineers’ Association warns against serious energy crisis

In today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern,
More student demonstrations are scheduled for today; on February 4, 1992, Chavez led a failed military coup against elected president Carlos Andres Perez, and was jailed after surrendering.

Related reading:
Venezuela, a Country in Flux
“You can not take pictures in public parks.”
Chavez turns to Cubans for help with energy crisis

In today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern,
The Colombian Army turns on the heat on the FARC’s top guy, Alfonso Cano.

Related reading:
Fuerte bombardeo aéreo contra el anillo de seguridad de ‘Alfonso Cano’
Colombian army storms FARC leader’s hideout
Ecuador emerges as hub for international crime

Mary O’Grady on the censorship push,

Today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern,
As Hugo Chávez continues to close media outlets, nationalize the economy, and punish demonstrators, he strikes out.
We are witnessing The Chávez Meltdown.

Related reading:
AP’s Ian James’s Analysis: Chavez’s socialist project badly hobbled

At a baseball game in Caracas, the crowd chants, “One, two, three, Chávez you’re struck out”

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean will be posted later today.

A thousand words in one picture:

The caption reads,

This image, widely circulated online, adorned the front page of El Nacional, a leading Venezuelan newspaper. The original caption reads, in translation, “National Guardsmen suppressing the students in Maracaibo and other state capitals showed a new yet primitive weapon: a thick chain with hooks capable of tearing and doing serious damage to those attacked.”

H/t Joe Lima

Who makes these weapons? Are they imported, or are they a Hugolandia exclusive?

Today’s editorial at the Wall Street Journal, The Chávez Meltdown
There’s a lot of ruin in Venezuela.

UPDATE, Sunday 31 January
How many forms of torture can you count in this picture?

In today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern,

The headlines on Venezuela:
Monday:
Venezuela President Chavez orders TV station off the air
Today:
Protests continue in Venezuela following 2 deaths
Venezuela protests France TV closure comments
Chavez’s VP resigns amid protests at Venezuela TV closure
Venezuela’s Chavez Names New Vice President, Defense Minister
And,
Chavez Furiously Backtracking As Venezuela Petro-Economy Deteriorates, via Doug Ross.

Prior posts on RCTV.

Congresswoman Sue Myrick discusses the national security risk posed by Venezuela’s support of allies from Special Interest Countries, such as Iran,

H/t Vlad Tepes.