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,

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. Haiti continues to be the top story, but in Venezuela Hugo Chavez is now closing RCTV permanently, continuing to consolidate his power. Seven students from Universidad Santa María (USM), a private university in the state of Anzoátegui (northeastern Venezuela), were injured after the police broke up a demonstration outside the campus.

AMERICAN POLITICS
Univision’s Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Xavier Becerra regarding President’s Obama’s 1st year (link in Spanish)

ARGENTINA
New Twist in Argentine Currency Fight

Argentina: Cristina Against Everybody Else?

BOLIVIA
Fidel: Protect Morales from ‘the empire’

BRAZIL
Brazil’s presidential biopic
Lula, sanitized: A film for the campaign trail

CHILE
Chile’s presidential election
Piñera promises a gallop: After 20 years, a move to the right

And the winner is, Chile!

Las exitosas Bicicletas Públicas de Providencia

Open letter to Sebastian Pinera

Chile unlikely to lead anti-Chávez bloc

COLOMBIA
Ecopetrol proven oil reserves up 35%; share price falls

CUBA
More on the free healthcare: Twenty-Six Cuban Mental Patients Dead

Cuba: What Globalists Want You to Know

LEAVE CHE ALONE!!!…I MEAN it!!! (part 2)

José Daniel Ferrer García, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 1/24/10

Repairs

ECUADOR
Lawyers for the Government of Ecuador Engage in Revisionist History – Myth of Jurisdiction Exposed

Ecuador Should Stop Interfering With International Arbitration Mandated by Treaty

Humor: Nueva Ley de Comunicación
¡Prohíben photoshopear lluchas! Un grupo de asambleístas considera nocivo el retoque de fotos femenino de contenido erótico.

HAITI
The upside of Yankee imperialism in Haiti

Debate grows in aftermath of quake: Should U.S. let more Haitians immigrate?

Post-earthquake chaos in Haiti
A massive relief effort limps into gear: The world’s attempt to aid Haitians stumbles against extraordinary difficulties of transport and communications

U.S. Military in Haiti: A Compassionate Invasion

And the meme goes on

HONDURAS
Pepe’s deal with Zelaya

Hammering Honduras

Honduras’s new president
Lobo alone: Picking up the post-coup pieces

MEXICO
Mexico: Halting drug war corruption

PANAMA
Supreme Court to Noriega: Bon voyage

VENEZUELA
RCTV international cut-off

¡ESTE PUEBLO YA NO SE DEJA “CARIBEAR”!

Tonight’s baseball game of the final series a hotbed for protests

A January 23 harsh on democracy: RCTV out again and Globovision is the last network in Venezuela to present the opposition views, the rest are pro Chavez or “neutral”, that is, silent.

Venezuela President Chavez orders TV station off the air

Chávez closes down opposition media outlets

Venezuela Orders Cable Providers to Remove RCTV

Hugo Chavez: Circling the Drain?
The Venezuelan would-be dictator has put his country in an accelerating economic collapse.

How Hugo Chavez’s revolution crumbled

During the past two weeks, just before and after the earthquake outside Port-au-Prince, the following happened: Chávez was forced to devalue the Venezuelan currency, and impose and then revoke massive power cuts in the Venezuelan capital as the country reeled from recession, double-digit inflation and the possible collapse of the national power grid. In Honduras, a seven-month crisis triggered by the attempt of a Chávez client to rupture the constitutional order quietly ended with a deal that will send him into exile even as a democratically elected moderate is sworn in as president.

Last but not least, a presidential election in Chile, the region’s most successful economy, produced the first victory by a right-wing candidate since dictator Augusto Pinochet was forced from office two decades ago. Sebastián Piñera, the industrialist and champion of free markets who won, has already done something that no leader from Chile or most other Latin American nations has been willing to do in recent years: stand up to Chávez.

Piñera was only stating the obvious — but it was more than his Socialist predecessor, Michelle Bachelet, or Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been willing to say openly. That silence hamstrung the Bush and the Obama administrations, which felt, rightly or wrongly, that they should not be alone in pointing out Chávez’s assault on democracy. Piñera has now provided Washington an opportunity to raise its voice about Venezuelan human rights violations.

He has done it at a moment when Chávez is already reeling from diplomatic blows. Honduras is one. Though the country is tiny, the power struggle between its established political elite and Chávez acolyte Manuel Zelaya turned into a regional battle between supporters and opponents of the Chávez left — with Brazil and other leftist democracies straddling the middle.

The outcome is a victory for the United States, which was virtually the only country that backed the democratic election that broke the impasse. Honduras is the end of Chávez’s crusade to export his revolution to other countries. Bolivia and Nicaragua will remain his only sure allies. Brazil’s Lula, whose tolerance of Chávez has tarnished his bid to become a global statesman, will leave office at the end of this year; polls show his party’s nominee trailing a more conservative candidate.

Haiti only deepens Chávez’s hole. As the world watches, the United States is directing a massive humanitarian operation, and Haitians are literally cheering the arrival of U.S. Marines. Chávez has no way to reconcile those images with his central propaganda message to Latin Americans, which is that the United States is an “empire” and an evil force in the region.

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Bill for Haiti czar? 15 Minutes on Latin America
Hope among the ruins: the @USNSComfort VIDEO
Just what Haiti needs: John Edwards
Zeyala to go, Nancy rejects the Bill, and other roundup items with VIDEO
Anti-Americanism and the Haiti earthquake: 15 Minutes on Latin America

Post re-edited for omitted items.

Please note there will be no podcast tomorrow due to an appointment change.

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. I had planned to do a regular Carnival as usual, but today received this email from The Anchoress,

These most recent updates by this missionary are sounding very grim, indeed. You read them and realize you are reading a modern psalm – that these people are in the midst of an Old Testament crisis. The missionary’s camp, thirty miles from Port au Prince, has seen no help; thieves are being killed outright, as there is no law, no jails.

Also, the Team Rubicon stuff is fascinating. A small group of Marines, medical personnel and Jesuits managing to avoid the bureaucratic red tape and get to work. Yes, I am link whoring, not because I’m greedy but because Ed’s story needs telling and the Team Rubicon needs funding. If you could link, I would appreciate it very much.

You must go read her post, The Living Psalm of Haiti

As so many turn their focus to the special (and possibly controversial) election in Massachusetts, I continue to receive updates from a Haiti-stationed missionary named Ed (via DeLynn), some of which I have shared with you here and here and here, and which cannot be ignored. Ed is outside of Port au Prince, and I have been particularly interested in his reports because, while Port au Prince is getting massive attention, there are people even 50 miles away from that epicenter whose lives are also in a complete shambles. While we hear that supplies and help are on the ground in PAP, Ed writes of seeing helicopters pass by but no relief, “noting on the ground yet,” day after day.

You must go read the rest.

OTHER NEWS AND BLOGS ON THE HEMISPHERE:
ARGENTINA
Cristina Kirchner, el Jefe de Estado más impopular de América

CHILE
Chile mira adelante tras la elección presidencial de Piñera

What the left really fears about Chile’s new president

Won by a 52-48 percent margin: Piñera echoes calls by JFK, Obama

The Dominoes Begin to Fall: Chile’s Leftists Lose Presidency After 52 Years in Power

CUBA
Chemical and Biological Weapons in Cuba

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s president
Smile turns to frown: Blackouts of power and news

Ecuador: La prepotencia del poder – por Carlos de la Torre

Ecuador: ¿Tres o trescientos años? – por Antonio Rodríguez Vicéns

HAITI
Memo to President Obama: Haitians are asking for Marines, not the State Department

Haiti after the quake

Medics liken Haiti to a war-ravaged zone

Haiti’s earthquake
Catastrophe in the Caribbean:
One of the world’s most vulnerable countries is devastated by a murderous earthquake

Security fears mount in lawless post-earthquake Haiti

U.S. task force commander for Haitian relief says logistics remain stumbling block

Stop trivializing tragedies

Strong quake hits Haiti, collapsing hospital

HONDURAS
Micheletti awarded the Brass Balls Award La imagen: Micheletti homenajeado como el ‘héroe de los huevos de oro’

JAMAICA
Hillary Clinton says Jamaica has pivotal role in Haiti’s recovery

PANAMA
Rodelag Fire

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico: What you must see on a quick trip to the island

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s devaluation
The weakening of the “strong bolívar”: In a harsher world Venezuela faces a reckoning

Milicianos cuestionan a Hugo Chávez

This week’s posts and podcasts
Chavez accuses US of using the earthquake as pretext for military occupation
The Haitian Exodus
Chile’s new president: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Chile: Runoff election today
Haitians granted Temporary Protection Status
Earthquake in Haiti? Blame global warming, and the USA
Earthquake in Haiti, UPDATED with VIDEO
The constitutional showdown in Argentina: 15 Minutes on Latin America

At Real Clear World,
Disastrous earthquake in Haiti

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. The two top stories of the week are the Venezuelan currency devaluation, and Argentina’s Central Bank dispute.

LATIN AMERICA
Threat of Terrorism in Latin America

Today’s roundup at The Americano

ARGENTINA
Argentine Leader Fights Bank Move

Argentina’s bank grab
The reserves, or your job: The president’s ultimatum to her Central Bank chief

BRAZIL
Brazil reflects on Lula’s last year

Lula and the generals
Don’t look back: The army blocks a truth commission

CUBA
The Vigil brothers, Cuban Political Prisoners of the Week, 1/10/10

En memoria de Gloria Amaya

Reggaeton

U.S. says contractor arrested in Cuba is no spy

500 Cuban Doctors Manage to Defect Via Venezuela

ECUADOR
Flota aerea Taura trasladada desde ayer a la base de Manta

Ecuador Orgs Reiterates Solidarity with Cuba

HONDURAS
Guest blog: Diaspora, remittances and immigration

MEXICO
A peaceful getaway or a lawless frontier?

Mexican Cartel Skins Rival’s Face, Stitches It on Soccer Ball

Tijuana reels amid a surge of violence
After some gains in Mexico’s drug war in 2009, Tijuana has had a bloody turn of events in the new year. More than a dozen people, four of them students, were reported slain in the last week.

Organised crime in Mexico
Outsmarted by Sinaloa: Why the biggest drug gang has been least hit

A Mexican cult
Death in holy orders: Syncretism in the era of the drug baron. There is a novel on this, named La Virgen de los sicarios, and a movie of the same name.

NICARAGUA
Foto (del abuso) familiar

PANAMA
How to be a wheeler-dealer

PARAGUAY
Señor Topocho

PERU
Peru’s Interbank Names Interim General Manager

PUERTO RICO
Good news: Puerto Rico to Become Cruise Ship Hub of Caribbean

VENEZUELA
Chavez’s 3-Tiered Currency System May Spur Inflation

Venezuelan devaluation and Giordani for dummies!

Chavez Says Dollars Were Sold Very Cheap at Old Rate

By subscription: Chavez To Activate $1 Billion Fund

Chavez’s Devaluation Leaves Venezuelans Jittery About His “Socialism of the 21st Century”

Special thanks to the Baron, Eneas, Maggie and Vlad

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Chavez devalues the currency: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Oliver Stone: “We can’t judge people as only ‘bad’ or ‘good.’”
Chavez devalues currency, creates a distraction
Court reinstates head of Argentina’s Central Bank
Argentina’s central bank impasse: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Al-Qaeda and the FARC – together? 15 Minutes on Latin America
Argentina’s Central Bank director resigns: 15 Minutes on Latin America

Welcome to the first Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean of 2010. I hope you had a joyful holiday season and wish you a prosperous and happy year.

LATIN AMERICA
U.S. diplomacy stumbles in Latin America
The Obama presidency was expected to herald closer ties after years of perceived neglect under Bush. But relations have soured amid the Honduran coup and Iran’s increasing ties in the region.

A Look Back at U.S. Engagement in the Western Hemisphere

Wal-Mart Picks New Latin American Chief

BRAZIL
This week’s must-read: 2010 for Latin America (the failure of Lula?)

Brazil Steers an Independent Course
Washington needs to rethink its assumptions on South America.

CAYMAN ISLANDS
Investors could only lose in Goldman’s Caymans deals

COLOMBIA
Álvaro Uribe’s Colombia
Not yet the promised land: A safer and richer country, but one that needs more jobs and better socioeconomic policies—as well as constant vigilance

Bombardment kills at least 18 Colombian rebels. Rebels my foot. They were terrorists.

CUBA
Why they want to end the embargo NOW!

The color of the highway

The New York Times: Carrying Water For Castro, Again
An inexcusable piece hails a Cuban musician’s Castro-approved visit to the States. No mention that Cuban dissidents receive beatings instead of visas.

A Black Market Finds a Home in the Web’s Back Alleys

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Police colonels jailed as Puerto Rican fugitive case widens

ECUADOR
The B-Cast: Ecuador, Hollywood & Trial Lawyers vs. Chevron = Liberal Hypocrisy

GUATEMALA
Hoping Luis makes it: OMG, I may be going to NASA’s Singularity University in 2010!

HONDURAS
2009 Rainfall Data, La Ceiba, Honduras

MEXICO
Earthquake near Mexicali

Drug Gangs: The Brutal Beast South of the Border

Insidious rise of Gulf Cartel
Interviews, files and court records trace a syndicate’s growth from small-time pot smuggling to a mega-empire with a hub in Houston

PUERTO RICO
Three Kings celebration observes birth of Christ

SURINAME
Racially charged violence claims lives in Suriname
A murder on Christmas Eve sparked vicious riots in the Surinamese town of Albina. Locals took to the streets battering, raping and even killing Brazilian and Chinese immigrants.

VENEZUELA
Highlights of Hugo Chavez’ wisdom in 2009

Invading Venezuela

NI GOBIERNO NI “OPOSICIÓN” PODRÁN FRENAR LO QUE VIENE…

Venezuela begins 2010 with electricity rationing; Chavez’s ‘Bolivarian revolution’ appears to be getting results.

This week’s posts and podcasts:
Bolivia’s prez wants to produce Coca Colla
If it’s cold in Peru, it’s global warming
The insidious rise of the Gulf Cartel: 15 Minutes on Latin America

At Real Clear World:
Hugo Chávez: Now It’s Time to Annoy the Dutch

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

LATIN AMERICA
Via Gates of Vienna Newsfeed, OAS: THE HEMISPHERIC GOVERNMENT SHAPING YOUR FUTURE

Weapons of Freedom

Time For Latinos to Stand Against Illegal Immigration
And it’s up to the rest of us to give them the benefit of the doubt and stop assuming that their loyalties lie elsewhere.

BAHAMAS
Letter: Visitor safety in the Bahamas

BRAZIL
Via Islam in Europe, Brazil – More Halal beef for Arab countries

CHILE
Chile’s second transition

COLOMBIA
Colombia says Venezuela mistook Santa’s sleigh for US spy plane

FARC’s Plan to Booby Trap Colombia

CUBA
Camila and her wicker basket

Cuba human rights worsened in 2009 — activist

Fake autobiography of Fidel is on target, writes reviewer, herself a Castro scholar

Christian Pilgrims to Bethlehem Honor Che Guevara

CURACAO
Curacao: Case of missing US diplomat going cold

ECUADOR
Ecuador: Report Says U.S. Aided Attack On Rebels

HAITI
Report says 225,000 Haiti children work as slaves

HONDURAS
Anybody seen Pati?

JAMAICA
Plane from D.C. overshoots runway in Jamaica; dozens injured

MEXICO
Family of Mexican marine slaughtered in revenge attack over raid that killed drug lord

PANAMA
Close quarters

PERU
Alan García cuestiona “angustia” de Evo Morales

VENEZUELA
2010 for Venezuela

How much does the Chavez Government have left in the parallel funds?

Via Islam in Europe, Chavez announces new discount ’socialist’ stores

Chávez Accuses Netherlands of Plotting Aggression With the U.S.

The devil in a red tie

“¡ESTO NO PARECE NAVIDAD…!”

HUMOR:
Los mejores montajes del 2009 del Chiguirre Bipolar:

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Chávez threatens Toyota, GM
Zelaya’s Christmas at the Brazilian embassy
Boy reunited with Dad in Brazil
‘Bloggera’ y también tanguera

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The story of the week: the Copenhagen Climate Talks.

LATIN AMERICA
The ALBA’s sucre bill is no such thing

Noteworthy article from last February’s WaPo: Latin America’s Document-Driven Revolutions
Team of Spanish Scholars Helped Recast Constitutions in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s Dirty War Orphans

BOLIVIA
Bolivia seizes land from TV network owner

Bolivia Pres Morales Calls For Billions In Climate Reparations

‘Mr. Bolivia’ wins world’s most handsome man contest

BRAZIL
Los pensamientos de Lula

Brazil – a hug from Lula

Roubini Says Brazil Real Overvalued, New Laws Needed

Resource-rich Brazil puts up its guard
The nation is reviving its space program as part of a push to secure its territory. ‘In the coming era of scarcity, we’re going to have to defend what we’ve got,’ a consultant to the Defense Ministry

CHILE
Another Test for the Chilean Model

Frei’s strategy

Chile’s presidential election
Piñera flies the flag: Sebastián Piñera, an airline tycoon, is well placed to break his country’s political mould. But he promises less change than meets the eye

COLOMBIA
Security in Colombia
Calling freedom: How mobile phones may help to deter kidnaps

Colombia to Build Military Bases on Venezuela Border

CUBA
Tell me again how American tourists can make a difference in Cuba?

For those of you who think Cubans actually own a house in Cuba, Karina’s patio is neither private nor special*

Before he left for Denmark, Hugo stopped in Havana: Fidel gives Chávez a breakfast sendoff

ECUADOR
Ecuador Parliament Discusses Education Law

GUATEMALA
Rash of public lynchings hit Guatemala
Mistrust of justice system to blame, experts say (h/t Islam in Europe)

HONDURAS
Guest blog: Enough is enough!

Manuel Zelaya: Eligible to lose Honduran citizenship

MEXICO
Mexico City backs gay marriage in Latin American first

Via Gates of Vienna, Islam is the new religion in rebellious Mexican state Chiapas

The City That Went to Hell

NICARAGUA
Pro-Iranian Chavista Daniel Ortega overturns term limits

PANAMA
Birds of a feather (sort of)

PUERTO RICO
Sotomayor disappointed by ‘wise Latina’ souvenirs. Let’s hope no one’s bought her one of the NY Times t-shirts for peoples of color as a Christmas gift.

VENEZUELA
As the adoring crowd cheers Chavez in Copenhagen, the environmental record of the revolution is abysmal

That “inherited” excuse getting popular with Leftists these days

VIDEO Chavez declares himself a Marxist:

Losers of the world unite – in Denmark

All you really need to know about them

Venezuela Imprisons Judge Who Freed Banker Without Trial

Venezuela’s Chavez accuses Dutch of aggression

Venezuela passes banking law raising government control

Morning Bell: The Hugo Chavez Case for Cap and Trade

Daily Gut: Green–It’s the New Red

Anunciantes que abandonaron a Tiger Woods acuden al Presidente Chávez

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Putting our economy in the hands of Chavez fans

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Jake Tapper picks up the scent of Chavez’s sulfur
Chavez: Obama smells of sulfur, too
Chile’s new prosperity: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Chavez does Denmark
At Real Clear World:
Former Sinaloa Drug Lord Dead in Shootout

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean – a day late due to several work and family related reasons. Thank you for your patience.

LATIN AMERICA
The FARC and the ‘Peace Community’

Dead End America

The Latinobarómetro poll
A slow maturing of democracy: More Latin Americans now trust the government than the army

BOLIVIA
Bolivia’s presidential election
The explosive apex of Evo’s power: A triumphant Evo Morales has won a second term. But the going will not necessarily get any easier for his social revolution

Drug lords finding safe haven in Bolivia

BRAZIL
Muslim numbers soar in Latin America’s Islamic resurgence

CHILE
Elecciones en Chile trasncurren con tranquilidad
Tres horas después de iniciado el proceso, el 98.71% de las mesas receptoras estaban instaladas; eligen al sucesor de la presidenta Michelle Bachelet y un nuevo Congreso

Via Instapundit, Impotent futurism: the design of Allende’s cyber-utopian boondoggle

Free As In Beer: Cybernetic Science Fictions from Greg Borenstein on Vimeo.

CUBA
Via The Corner, Cuba detains contractor for U.S. government
American was handing out mobile phones, laptops to activists

The frog in the pot

ECUADOR
Ecuador: Correa Announces Restructuring Of Central Bank

Ecuador media moves create waves

GUATEMALA
Aunque no renazca de sus cenizas

HONDURAS
Alas, I will *not* be asking how to say in Spanish…

Opinion: On Hondura’s Vote – by Otto Reich

MEXICO
Cartels stealing Mexican oil

Behold the Conquering Hero

PANAMA
Nice-looking eggplants

PARAGUAY
Paraguay’s president
Loose-lipped Lugo: Giving offence and receiving it

VENEZUELA
Banking in Venezuela
Fall of the Boligarchs: Hugo Chávez cracks down on allies

Ahmadinejad, Chavez and Mugabe Will Speak at UN Junk Science Summit

Venezuela: Bank Nationalizations

Purga política detrás de ofensiva contra banqueros

Venezuela: Agents Raid Brokerage Firm

Police commit 20 percent of Venezuela crimes—minister

Venezuelan government takes over farms

Cooling Hugo Chavez

DIALÉCTICA DE LA GUERRA CIVIL (claves para evitarla…)

The week’s posts and podcasts:
The Tehran-Caracas Nuclear Axis
The Venezuelan banks takeover: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Curly, Larry and Moe at Copenhagen Climate Talks next week
Orquesta Kef: Entry denied
Blogburst/blogacción: Free Darsi Ferrer NOW!
Honduras: Zelaya may be heading to Mexico? UPDATE: Nope.
Venezuela’s new Continental Bolivarian Movement: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Venezuela: “Thousands of Russian missiles” coming
The Panama Canal expands: 15 Minutes on Latin America

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

While Evo Morales won yesterday’s election and apparently gained control of the of the senate, the big story of the week is the crisis at the Venezuelan banks. Read the Venezuela News and Views post and the links in the Venezuela section below.

LATIN AMERICA
The Iranian Time Bombs

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s Dirty War Orphans

‘Iran building terror network in South America’

BOLIVIA
Bolivian elections: Evo Morales’s power grows with easy victory
Bolivian President Evo Morales has easily won a second term in power, according to early exit polls that showed the former coca farmer with a strengthened mandate to pursue socialist reforms.

Iran Demands Nurses In Bolivia Wear Hijabs and El uso de velo en un hospital iraní causa polémica en el país

One Reason why most Europeans are Morons

Drug lords finding safe haven in Bolivia

Elecciones en Bolivia: el vice de Evo asegura que “la Constitución respeta la propiedad”

BRAZIL
Behold, the fake Obama, via Instapundit,

How can you tell the fake Obama from the real one? The fake one wears the American flag on his lapel.

CHILE
La semana en plataforma urbana

COLOMBIA
Uribe’s Constitutional Challenge
The heroic Colombian president is putting his gains at risk by trying for a third term.

The Colombian Miracle
How Alvaro Uribe with smart U.S. support turned the tide against drug lords and Marxist guerrillas.

Colombia and the United States
Off base: Hoist on the petard of a dissuasive defence agreement

CUBA
Not Michael Moore’s Cuba!

A Distinguished Diplomat’s View
The impossible dream, again

“Cuba provides best Medical training ON EARTH!” says Al Jazeera

A Castro son is elected world baseball VP

ECUADOR
Ecuador Seeks To Block Chevron

Ecuador plays ‘dirty’

HONDURAS
My Personal Witness of the Honduran Election

Letter to the nation from Roberto Micheletti

Honduran Democrats Overcome the Brutal Obama Imperialism

Democracy Won in Honduras, Now Obama Can Help It Advance

Honduras: The Tiny Nation Succeeds As A Functioning Democracy Despite Opposition Pressure From Communist Nations In The Region … and The Obama Administration

Honduras Tears Down a Berlin Wall

Honduras’s presidential election
Voting to move onwards and upwards: Porfirio Lobo, pictured below, has won the support of Hondurans. Now he must convince the outside world of his legitimacy

MEXICO
107 slave laborers freed in Mexico City

PANAMA
Chocolate fix?

The Panama Canal
A plan to unlock prosperity: Ten years ago this month Panama took possession of the canal that bears its name. It has high hopes for a $5.25 billion expansion of the waterway

PUERTO RICO
Nielsen Adds Puerto Rico

Airport Check-in: Atlanta gets rental car center, Puerto Rico to privatize

•Puerto Rico has applied with the Federal Aviation Administration to privatize San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin International.
The FAA’s pilot airport-privatization program allows up to five airports – with one slot for a large hub airport – to sell a long-term lease to private operators.
A local government selling the airport lease would receive a one-time windfall but give up operational control and recurring revenue.
Puerto Rico would become the third airport in the program if the FAA accepts its application after a 30-day review. Chicago Midway has applied for and was granted the large hub airport slot in the program, but its privatization efforts collapsed this year after an investor group failed to raise $2.5 billion needed for a 99-year lease.
New Orleans is the other airport accepted in the program.
Alvaro Pilar, executive director of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, which operates the airport, told the Associated Press that money collected from private investors may go to address the island’s fiscal crisis by paying down some of its $3.2 billion deficit.
A majority of airline tenants would have to sign off on any privatization deal. American Airlines is the dominant tenant at San Juan Muñoz.

VENEZUELA
The Venezuelan banking crisis made simple (plus Chacon departure)

Venezuela Takes Greater Control of Banks

Venezuelan Minister Quits on Banker Brother’s Arrest

Senior Venezuelan minister resigns in purge of bankers

As the Venezuelan Government intervenes more banks, its strategy remains unclear and uncertain

Report: Voluntad Popular is launched in Valencia

The three-legged stool

“¡POLICÍA, NO MATES A MI HIJO!”

ENTERTAINMENT
Behind ‘Poliwood’ Part 1: Defending Castro, Chavez and Penn

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The World Cup draw

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Bolivia’s election: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Chile now officially a developed country
Rudy does Rio
Fighting drought, Venezuela takes over more farms
Honduran Congress rejects Zelaya’s reinstatement: 15 Minutes on Latin America
The LA Times calls for carrots for Cuba
Honduras congress will NOT reinstate Zelaya
No-fat murders

At Real Clear World:
Brazil and That Coveted Security Council Seat
Honduras: Pepe Lobo Wins

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad started his tour of South America by accepting Lula’s invitation to Brazil, which was first scheduled for last May but was postponed after public outcry. Protestors were at the airport

Around 200 Iranian businessmen accompanied Ahmadinejad’s delegation, in a sign of their eagerness to tap opportunities in a continent that does not consider Tehran a pariah.

Lucia Newman, formerly of CNN, reports on the visit,

More links on the visit in the Brazil section below.

Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abbas is visiting Argentina.

LATIN AMERICA
New corruption ranking says a lot

US builds up its bases in oil-rich South America
From the Caribbean to Brazil, political opposition to US plans for ‘full-spectrum operations’ is escalating rapidly. To which I say, “Drill, baby drill, here in the USA.”

ARGENTINA
Don’t cry for me, America

BOLIVIA
International Human Rights Clinic suit against former Bolivian president and minister of defense moves forward

Agua para el molino centralista

BRAZIL
Polémica visita de Ahmadinejad a Brasil

Ahmadinejad, murderer, visiting Brazil on November 23: AHMADINEJAD, O MATADOR

Brazilians Take to the Streets Against Iran President’s Visit
IDF intercepts shipment of Brazilian weapons for Hezbollah

Armas brasileiras para o Hezbollah.

The NYT says that by hosting Ahmadinejad, Brazil Elbows U.S. on the Diplomatic Stage

Brazil: Pro-Israel March Against Ahmadinejad and Jew hatred

Looking ahead, Brazil’s farmers take up reforestation
Demand for ‘greener’ products changes growers’ tactics

Hackers Fail To Crack Brazilian Voting Machines

Last Word on Battisti on ‘Political’
Brazilian supreme court rules in favor of extradition

Brazil investigating Battisti
Police say they have uncovered proof of terrorist activities

Olavo de Carvalho explains Lula and the Sao Paolo Forum

Mack Supports Senator LeMieux’s Hold on Tom Shannon to Be Ambassador to Brazil

CHILE
La semana en Plataforma Urbana

COLOMBIA
U.S.-Colombia FTA: American Workers Wait as Congress Dithers

Colombia says Venezuela blows up two border bridges

COSTA RICA
China May Spend $700 Million on Costa Rica Refinery

CUBA
Cuba: violence unabated, Castros prove HRW and critics right

The ghost of 1980

Raúl Castro y Yoani Sánchez:
crónica de fin de régimen

‘Jorge Barrera Alonso,’ Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 11/22/09

A great leap forward for Cuban healthcare

Former U.S. official, wife admit to 30 years of spying for Cuba. Plea deal reached for couple recruited by intelligence operative

Another Reminder Why Easing U.S. Sanctions on Cuba Not Warranted

Cuba and the United States: Resistant to sticks and carrots
The difficulty of pressing for change in a police state

Iran’s Tehran Times publishes Fidel Castro’s latest: The Bolivarian Revolution and peace

ECUADOR
Inequities in Ecuador

HONDURAS
Honduras’ Roberto Micheletti to step down for 7 days

U.S. Confirms Recognition of Honduras Presidential Elections

Reflections on Honduran Politics: Gauging the Will of the People

First Lady Hosts Social Work Session

Honduras election sets return to business as usual

Patricia Rodas dice que el país vive en insurrección
Patricia Rodas reconoce que en las últimas semanas el movimiento zelayistas ha decaído en todo el país.

MEXICO
Skeptics doubt Mexican data on military abuses
Figures contradict U.S. numbers; complaints rise as drug war rages

Mexico’s economy: A different kind of recession
In some ways the pain is less bad than the statistics suggest. But recovery will be harder than in the past unless complacency gives way to reform

US-Mexican cooperation in dealing with criminal insurgents

Buying guns for the Zetas

NICARAGUA
Entrevista a Felix Maradiaga

PANAMA
In the Grip of the Gripe

PERU
Revolting news: Human Fat Ring Busted in Peru

Darkest Peru

Peru and Brazil: Messing around with dams
First build a road, then flood it

PUERTO RICO
Candlelight vigil for gay teenager brutally murdered in Puerto Rico

VENEZUELA
Venezuelan GDP down 4.5%, stagflation is here, now what?

Venezuela Falls Into Recession As 3Q GDP Shrinks 4.5%

Tacoa’s troubles

Chavez Rejects U.S. Mediation in Venezuela-Colombia Spat, U.S. Withdrawal is “Only Solution”

Chavez praises Carlos the Jackal

Alleged news agency allegedly strips the word “alleged” of any meaning whatsoever, sources allege

Socialist International and other assorted insults to intelligence

Bad news for Venezuela’s economy
After five years of expansion, the Venezuela economy is in technical recession as Gross Domestic Product has declined over two successive quarters

US politics
November 23, 1963

Thanks to Alex, The Baron, Bill, Dick, Eneas, Maggie and Roberto

This week’s posts and podcasts
Why the US stopped supporting Zelaya: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Cuba: Get yer free penile implant!
Ahmadinejad heading to Brazil
Yoani Sanchez gets reply from Obama
Chavez now making clouds abort from the presidential palace
Brazil takes off: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Honduran Congress will decide on Zelaya “after the election”
VIDEO Venezuela Franklin Brito’s hunger strike: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Islamic militants and the drug trade
Americans jailed in Cuba while visiting family: 15 Minutes on Latin America