Fausta's Blog

This week’s big news item is the spotlight on a subject I’ve posted about for years: Iran’s Latin American networks.

Mary O’Grady has the background information:
Uncovering Iran’s Latin Networks
A prosecutor in Buenos Aires finds Tehran’s fingerprints region-wide.

In October 2006, Mr. Nisman indicted seven Iranians and one Lebanese-born member of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia for the AMIA murders. Interpol notices for their arrest were issued but none was captured. Then, late last year, the Argentine government of Cristina Kirchner announced that a “truth commission,” to be chosen by Argentina and Iran, would examine the viability of the prosecutor’s case.

To many Argentines, that seemed like letting the fox decide the fate of the chickens. But Mrs. Kirchner forged ahead, getting congress to agree. On May 20 Ahmadinejad approved Iran’s participation on the commission.

Mr. Nisman’s response was to release a mountain of evidence against Tehran into cyberspace for all the world to see.

Video:

My posts on the subject this week:
Roundup: More on Iran in Latin America

Argentina: Iran’s infiltration in Latin America

ARGENTINA
Color Dekadencia

Argentina’s Elected Autocracy
Faced with growing public opposition, the Kirchner government is stepping up its attacks on democracy.

An Argentine Dictator’s Legacy

CHILE
Maria Corina Machado went to Chile. Juan Cristobal Nagel is charmed.

COLOMBIA
Colombia says Maduro claims ‘crazy’
Colombia rejects as “crazy” allegations made earlier this week that it is trying to destabilise Venezuela, in the latest diplomatic row.

CUBA
Iran and Cuba: The Real “Mad Men”

All Eyes on Yoani’s Return

Cuban dissident says security forces are studying Vladimir Putin’s rule

An Honor Roll

I did not mention this — that he named the embassies in Havana that allow dissidents and democrats to come in and use the Internet. Would you like the complete list? The embassies of the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Holland, and the U.S. interests section (which is housed in the Swiss embassy). That’s it. “The rest of the diplomatic corps in Cuba does not give us any type of help,” said Roberto.

Che Guevara was no hero, he was a racist (h/t Babalu)

ECUADOR
Ecuador: Concern for Rights of WikiLeaks Founder

EL SALVADOR
A Salvadoran at Risk Tests Abortion Law

Salvadoran woman allowed C-section
A seriously ill Salvadoran woman says she will undergo a Caesarean section following the Supreme Court’s decision to deny her an abortion.

GUATEMALA
Ex-President of Guatemala Faces Judge in Manhattan

HONDURAS
Honduran gang truce begins

JAMAICA
Police: American killed in Jamaica during robbery

LATIN AMERICA
Meet Latin America’s Serious Side: The Pacific Alliance

MEXICO
Murder of Mexican reporter in Veracruz spotlights official hostility toward press

Immigration Reform: Compassion for Mexican Elites

PERU
Wedding bells for Van der Sloot in Peru prison

PUERTO RICO
Annals of the Security State: ‘Is Puerto Rico in America?’

VENEZUELA
The Dead Voted Massively Last October in Venezuela

Venezuelan Military “Technology”: It’s All Kid’s Stuff

The True Intentions of Iran in Latin America are Questioned

The week’s posts:
Mexico: 11 kidnapped in broad daylight

Good news Sunday: The Pacific Alliance

Venezuela: Bayly entrevista a Capriles, 2a. parte

El Salvador: Abortion denied

Venezuela: Capriles travels to Colombia

Mexico: Iron Man? No, Peatónito!

Venezuela: 2 Americans shot in strip club

Cuba: Would you spend a week’s salary for an hour on the internet?

Paraguay: Nueva Germania, and Nietzsche’s sister

Podcast:
US-Latin America: Free trade agreements

A very sad case,
Salvadoran Court Denies Abortion to Ailing Woman

El Salvador’s highest court on Wednesday denied an appeal from a woman with a high-risk pregnancy to be allowed to undergo an abortion, upholding the country’s strict law banning abortion under any circumstances.
Related

A Salvadoran at Risk Tests Abortion Law (May 29, 2013)

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Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
Beatriz, a 22-year-old woman who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her identity, has lupus and related complications that doctors say will get worse as the pregnancy, which is in its 26th week, continues, possibly leading to serious illness or even death.

Her fetus, which has anencephaly, a severe birth defect in which parts of the brain and skull are missing, has almost no chance of surviving after birth, leading her doctors to urge an abortion to protect Beatriz’s health before it deteriorates further.

Althouse asks,

We could discuss whether the court in El Salvador is “misogynistic,” but I would like to direct discussion toward how we — especially Americans — think about access to late-term abortion. Let’s say Woman A has a health problem (like lupus) that makes pregnancy risky, but she chooses to go forward with the pregnancy, because she wants a child. Later, past the point of viability, a serious birth defect becomes apparent, and she assesses the risk differently. She wants to abort because of a combination of the health risk and the low value she puts on the specific unborn child she knows she is carrying. Woman B has no health problem, but she finds out, equally late in a pregnancy, that her child has the same birth defect. There are 3 moral positions available: 1. Neither woman should be permitted to have an abortion, 2. Both women should be permitted to have an abortion, and 3. Woman A must be permitted to have an abortion, but Woman B must be forbidden.

I think position #3 is hard to understand and suspect that those who are arguing for position #3 are setting up the argument for position #2. It seems that the supposed appeal of Beatriz’s case is that her baby is relatively worthless, but if we are willing to mark some severely disabled human beings as low value, why shouldn’t any woman be able to avoid the pains of late pregnancy and childbirth? That is, we move toward position #2. But if you commit to the right to life and say — like the right-to-life spokesperson at the link — that you must protect “all human beings however small, poor, vulnerable or defenseless,” don’t you have to go to position #1, at least until the point where the medical procedure to be performed is for the precise end of saving the woman’s life and not aimed at destroying the child?

Read her commenters’ discussion.

H/t Memeorandum.

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. This week’s big story: Pope Francis, the first Latin American Pope.

ARGENTINA
Behind the Campaign to Smear the Pope
Argentines who want their country to be the next Venezuela see Francis as an obstacle.

Francis

Pope Francis appears for first angelus
Pope Francis appeared before more than 100,000 people massed in St Peter’s Square on Sunday for his first Angelus prayer and asked the faithful to pray for him.

Muchas gracias for a ‘triple first’ of a Pope

Popes and Dopes
Some journalists are remarkably ignorant–or at least think their readers are.

Vatican denies Dirty War allegations
The Vatican has denied that Pope Francis failed to speak out against human rights abuses during military rule in his native Argentina.

Video: Will Pope Francis go left on economics?

Jaime Bayly on the Pope (in Spanish)

BOLIVIA
Earth to Evo Morales

BRAZIL
Brazil’s oil royalties
Counting the barrels

CENTRAL AMERICA
Presidential elections in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama

CHILE
Exhumation of Pablo Neruda’s remains set for 8 April
A court in Chile has set a date for the exhumation of the remains of the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda, as part of an inquest into his death.

National Science Foundation Celebrates Inauguration of Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s Peace Process Sans Chávez

CUBA
In First U.S. Trip, Cuban Dissident Yoani Sanchez Vows To Turn Up The Heat

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Report Grand Jury Investigating Robert Menendez

ECUADOR
Ecuador preacher sentenced for homophobic comments
The former Ecuadorean presidential candidate Nelson Zavala has had his political rights suspended for a year and been fined for homophobic comments.

FALKLAND ISLANDS
The Falklands referendum
Loud and clear
The islanders seek to sway world opinion by voting to stay British

British Media Focus on Bergoglio’s Falklands Remarks

This Map Helps Explain the Falklands Dust-Up

HONDURAS
Chicken and avocado stuffed naan

MEXICO
Chavez’s legacy is worse than Calderon’s

Spicy, Spicy

Mexico’s Education Breakthrough
Why February 2013 may be remembered as a turning point for Mexican schools.

PANAMA
FERIA INTERNACIONAL DE DAVID 2013

PUERTO RICO
Contrary to prior reports, Paulson Not Planning a Move to Puerto Rico

VENEZUELA
Body of Chavez makes final journey
The body of Venezuela’s late president Hugo Chavez is being escorted to its resting place in a Caracas museum. For now, that is.

Chavez madcap wake

Venezuela says permanently embalming Hugo Chávez’s body faces ‘technical’ difficulties

Latin America after Chávez

The Narrative of the Dead

Lukoil learns the hard way

ROS-LEHTINEN: Venezuela after Chavez: What comes next?
U.S. dithering won’t encourage democracy

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Yoani Sanchez in NYC

Crazy in Venezuela

At BlogHer, Francis I: The First Latin American Pope

Pope Francis I loves tango

BREAKING: New Pope elected – an Argentinian porteño

Falklands: The votes are in, but Cristina can’t believe it

Hugo’s mummy

Podcasts:
Silvio Canto’s

Willie Lawson’s

ARGENTINA
Argentina dispatch: the troubled reign of Queen Cristina of Argentina
Beset by economic stagnation, Argentines are growing weary of President Cristina Kirchner’s obsession with the Falklands, reports Philip Sherwell

In Spanish (audio starts right away), HACER: Agustín Rangugni y Eneas Biglione entrevistan a Gonzalo Blousson, Presidente del Partido Liberal Libertario, sobre actualidad y desafíos que enfrenta Argentina

BRAZIL
Andres Oppenheimer: Brazil should stop being self-absorbed giant

A Visit Angers Brazil’s Pro-Cubans
Protests Greet Havana Dissident, Highlighting Latin America’s Still-Strong Love Affair With Castro

CHILE
Chile’s Gen Pinochet ‘tried to cling to power’ in 1988
Pinochet wanted to hold on to power when he lost a referendum on his rule in 1988, newly declassified documents in the US suggest.

Russian inmate joins Chilean club
A Russian inmate is allowed to remain in Chile and play for a local football club after serving three-year prison sentence for drug smuggling.

CUBA
The Old Act of Repudiation

Cuba under Raúl: He’s tinkered but it’s the same old machine

The spirit of freedom is strong in my hometown of Antilla, Cuba

Why Is UN Praising the Castro Regime?

20 Of The Most Embarrassing Moments In The History Of The Democrat Party

11) The Bay of Pigs (1961): After training a Cuban militia to overthrow Castro, Kennedy got cold feet and didn’t give the men all the air support they were promised. As a result, they were easily defeated by Castro’s men and today, Cuba is still ruled by a hostile, anti-American dictatorship.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
If Only CNN had the resources that the Daily Caller Does…

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s presidential election
More of the same, please

EL SALVADOR
Memories of Stolen Children

HAITI
UN rejects Haiti cholera compensation claims
The United Nations has formally rejected compensation claims by victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed almost 8,000 people.

JAMAICA
Lenten diet

MEXICO
Will Mexico Welcome Wildcatters?
The new finance minister says his country needs entrepreneurs to find untapped energy reserves.

Mexico’s disappeared
Into thin air

Brewer: Border not Secure, Drug Cartels ‘Ready to Come Across’

PANAMA
Amazing!

PERU
Sendero Luminoso, fragilidad institucional y socialismo del Siglo XXI en el Peru

PUERTO RICO
Bond Investors Wade Back Into Puerto Rico

José Aponte Votaría Por Reforma Legislativa Si Le Hacen Otra Tarja

URUGUAY
Uruguay’s culture of impunity continues to rear its head
Judge Mariana Mota’s transfer shows that the country’s culture of impunity for the crimes of dictatorship still endures.

VENEZUELA
A Mixed Message From Chavismo On President Chávez’ Health

Will they dare to swear in Chavez in the dark?

300 officials from the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Force (FAR) are taking part in strategic decisions made in security and defense in Venezuela.

LETTER FROM CARACAS
SLUMLORD
What has Hugo Chávez wrought in Venezuela? The Tower of David, among other things.

Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas: “The president holds firm to C
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is still suffering breathing problems following his return from Cuba where he was treated for cancer, officials say.

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Remembering Brothers to the Rescue

Next thing you know, she’ll be sending Hugo Chavez a get-well card

Ted Cruz and guns

Two questions re: Hugo Chavez

Podcast: US-Latin America: Chavez, and other issues

ARGENTINA
Argentina Runs Out of Other People’s Money
The demonstration in Buenos Aires this month was the largest since Argentines restored democracy in 1983.

In the second quarter, the economy contracted by 1.4%. The Buenos Aires-based think tank Foundation for Latin American Economic Research (known by its Spanish initials FIEL) is forecasting 2012 GDP growth of only 1.5%. Inflation is estimated by independent economists at almost 25% annually. As salaries are adjusted upward to compensate for the loss of purchasing power, workers are being pushed into higher tax brackets. Argentines traveling abroad now have to explain their plans to government bureaucrats if they want to buy hard currency.

Add these pocketbook issues to the rising rate of violent crime, recurring corruption scandals, increasing antidemocratic efforts to silence independent media outlets and pronouncements from Mrs. Kirchner’s inner circle that it wants to amend the constitution to allow her to run for a third term. The Kirchner government has also angered labor leaders by letting it be known that it plans to shift union control of hundreds of millions of dollars in health-care premiums to the government.

Turkey in November in Argentina

BELIZE
Software founder McAfee denies killing neighbor

BOLIVIA & CHILE
Trickle-down diplomacy
Evo Morales tries to swap a stream for a piece of Chilean seafront

BRAZIL
In sign of growing clout, Brazil’s corn helps hold up U.S. market

As the result of a 2009 WTO ruling, Brazil now receives about $17 million in monthly payments from U.S. taxpayers — money being used to advance the Brazilian cotton industry with research on best practices, pest management and other issues. The Obama administration agreed to the payments as an alternative to either curbing government support for U.S. cotton growers or having Brazil slap import taxes on American goods to compensate for the loss to its farmers.

Oil in Brazil
The perils of Petrobras
How Graça Foster plans to get Brazil’s oil giant back on track

COLOMBIA
Colombia Peace Talk Negotiators Meet Again

COSTA RICA
Students protest Costa Rica’s information crimes law

CUBA
IKEA: No deep business contacts with Cuban suppliers
Test sofa sets were of such poor quality that no orders were placed, IKEA says.

Cuban health care
Nip and tuck in
Medicine is big business in Cuba

Can I Wake Up?

Reporters Without Borders condemns Castro regime’s increasing harassment of Cuban independent journalists

ECUADOR
Los fabricantes de burbujas

EL SALVADOR
Holding Salvadoran War Criminals Accountable: The Massacre at University of Central America, San Salvador, 1989

MEXICO
Mexico ex-mayor killed after surviving two attacks
The former mayor of a town in western Mexico, who had survived two earlier assassination attempts, has been beaten to death

Mexican Economy Slows on Weak Exports

PANAMA
Panama Canal’s $5 billion makeover could be boon for South Florida
The $5.25 billion makeover of this century-old engineering marvel could be a boon for South Florida.

Make this a Koki Day!

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Statehood: Luis Fortuño Pushes Bid To Become 51st State After Status Vote

VENEZUELA
The GREAT devaluation robbery coming to Venezuela

Of Virtual Ice Cream Plants And Ministers In The Chávez Revolution

Fake Venezuelan Olympians held
Ten Venezuelans who falsely claimed to be Olympic weightlifters are arrested in Buenos Aires after scans show drug capsules in their stomachs.

The week’s posts:
More #post-election info: 28% Latino poverty rate

Argentina: Broadcast licenses, cable TV and fiber-optic Internet networks to be auctioned off

China & Brazil: Striking out while the iron’s hot

Belize: McAfee goes bonkers, UPDATED

ARGENTINA
The president and the potbangers
Times are getting tougher for Cristina Fernández, but she is not beaten yet

Wall Street Billionaire Battles Argentina, Has Ship Detained Over $1.6B Bond

BRAZIL
Brazil judges split on Lula aide
Supreme Court judges delivering their findings on a big corruption case disagree whether former chief of staff Jose Dirceu led scheme to buy opposition support.

Vigil Held on Carandiru Massacre Anniversary

CHILE
Slow-Burning Challenge to Chile on Easter Island

COLOMBIA
Colombian President in Recovery

Colombian band Bomba Estéreo’s “El Alma Y El Cuerpo” (Soul and Body) Updated 2X

CUBA
The sacrificial lamb has been shorn and taken to the altar. Immolation postponed.

Rumplestiltskin, Cuba detains anti-Castro blogger for 30 hours
Yoani Sanchez, a social media maven, and her husband are detained while en route to a politically sensitive trial.

ECUADOR
Ecuador president says he’ll advise Tunisia on debt renegotiations

EL SALVADOR
Gangs’ Truce Buys El Salvador a Tenuous Peace

GUATEMALA
Guatemalan Protests Leave At Least Six Dead as Police Clash with Demonstrator

MEXICO
Univision: Juarez drug cartel leader ‘El Diego’ was captured with Fast and Furious weapons

Ho hum: Mexican teenagers slaughtered with Fast and Furious guns

Mexico’s Cartels Increase Their Muscle In The U.S.

PANAMA
Makes One Think

PARAGUAY
Paraguay post-impeachment
A Liberal spring
The interim president enacts reforms

PERU
Peru rebels burn down helicopters at jungle airfield
Three helicopters were destroyed in the attack on the airfield in Cusco province
Left-wing Shining Path rebels in Peru have burned three helicopters used by a private gas consortium, officials say.

PUERTO RICO
Humor: Estudiantes Universitarios Molestos Que No Pudieron Abuchear A Fortuño En Persona

Puerto Rican Identity, In and Out of Focus

VENEZUELA
The Other Election: Venezuela

Hugo Chavez Might Actually Lose His Election on Sunday

Venezuela’s presidential election
The autocrat and the ballot box
A united opposition and discontent over government mismanagement mean a genuine electoral challenge for Hugo Chávez

Chávez’s Foreign Fan Club
The Venezuelan election will have ramifications throughout Latin America and beyond

Will Hugo Chavez lose the election tomorrow?

How Hugo Chávez Became Irrelevant

Chávez’s Stamp Most Keenly Felt on Farms

The week’s posts:
Venezuela: “God’s timing is perfect”

#Venezuela: The results – it’s Chavez

#Venezuela election: Live coverage on line

Venezuela: Election results “between 9-10PM tonight”

Venezuela: Tupamaros threaten death to opposition

Watch now: @Univision’s Operation ‘Fast and Furious’: Arming the enemy (English subtitles, complete show)

Colombia: President Santos has prostate cancer

ARGENTINA
With Argentina reeling from economic downturn, the government is recruiting migrant workers and kids to stay in power

Argentine leader’s image falls as inflation soars

Tango world cup slide show at the WSJ

BRAZIL
Electricity taxes in Brazil
Untangling the custo Brasil

Olympic flag taken up to Rio’s Christ Statue
The Olympic flag receives a special blessing from seven different religions at Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer Statue. (h/t Gates of Vienna)

CHILE
In Chile, Jews face new dangers and old fears
President of Chile’s Jewish community tells ‘Post’ neo-Nazi violence, Palestinian anti-Israelism, Islamism on the rise (h/t Gates of Vienna), and Police in Chile guard Jews after anti-Semitic attacks
Many leftists in Latin America have become more vocal in their criticism of Israel.

CUBA
What Castro Does to Peaceful Women

A glimpse behind the curtain

“Boo-Hoo” for Diana Nyad

Terabytes

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Medina’s turn
New rum in old bottles

ECUADOR
Morning Bell: WikiLeaks’ Anti-Americanism Now Backed by Ecuador

THE ASSANGE CASE AND ECUADOR: CORREA POSITIONS HIMSELF AS CHAVEZ’S INTERNATIONAL SUCCESSOR

Ecuador and Julian Assange
An Ecuadorean history of the world
Rafael Correa is using the Assange case to stake a claim to leadership of the Latin American far-left. He may find the spotlight uncomfortable; a seldom-noticed fact,

The right to grant asylum in embassies is not recognised by international law or the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. Latin America is the only region in the world where this practice is established—a consequence of the region’s history of political repression.

How Julian Assange can still outfox Britain

EL SALVADOR
Strong Quake Hits Off El Salvador Coast

MEXICO
The Mexican Press Under Fire
Dozens of journalists have been murdered and media properties attacked in the past six years.

The ‘journalists’ with a cool $7 million

One can only surmise without proof. But don’t be surprised if it turns out that the group was part of a cartel squad sent to strong-arm judges, prosecutors, witnesses and others related to the case.

Related story also in the Nicaragua section below.

Mexico replaces all federal police at key airport (h/t Gates of Vienna).

Mexico Says Police Shot U.S. Officials
Federal Officers Were Among Gunmen Who Pursued, Injured Two Diplomats, Ministry Says; Incident Under Investigation

Mexico’s stock exchange
Elektric shock
Magic realism in Mexico’s stockmarket

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua Seizes $7 Million from Fake Journalists

PANAMA
10,000 Positions Available At “Mega Job Fair” in San Miguelito

This is actually a “bad news” article. There are 10,000 openings available just at this job fair. Only 2,334 people showed up, and most of them are already working somewhere else. They just wanted to see what was available, to see if they could jump from one company to another to improve their position, pay, benefits, or what have you. So, there are still many more jobs available than there are people to fill them. This is not good for a hot and growing economy. It’s nice that there’s now practically zero unemployment (or full employment) in Panama, however if there there no more people, then the economy cannot continue to expand. Need more warm bodies, quickly…

PERU
Peru Protests Slow Mine Plan, Growth

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Ricans reject constitutional changes in upset vote

URUGUAY
Uruguay’s plan to sell pot may not be that crazy

VENEZUELA
Explosion at Venezuela Refinery Kills 19

Another Terrible Tragedy Due To Chavista Mismanagement

Venezuela’s presidential campaign
Gaining ground

The week’s posts:
Venezuela: Refinery explosion

No more “Coca-Cola, Cawy, Materva and Ironbeer”

Isaac? No problem!

The border conspiracy: PJM Videos Show How One Texas County Fakes Crime Statistics to Make the Border Look Safe

Argentina: tango festival in full swing

Venezuela: Protestors charge Chavez’s stage

Puerto Rico: The night of the iguana

ARGENTINA
Enter the Food Chain

BRAZIL
A moment of truth for Dilma
The president needs to do more to tackle the “Brazil cost”

Rio de Janeiro’s Olympics
The countdown starts
Compare and contrast with London

CUBA
200 Political Arrests in Just Two Weeks

A Graduate of my ‘Commie’ High School Goes to Cuba and Sees Paradise, or How One’s Education Can Warp You for Life, via Ed Driscoll.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Spanish firm says Dominican gov’t seized assets

ECUADOR
Wikileaks’ Assange and Ecuador’s Correa: Made for Each Other

Julian Assange ‘will be given asylum in Ecuador’
Julian Assange is expected to be granted asylum in Ecuador by President Rafael Correa, it has been reported.

EL SALVADOR
El Salvador’s VP Campaigns for Votes in N.Y.
A politician who celebrated the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. gets the ‘key’ to Long Island’s Nassau County

LATIN AMERICA
Silent Running
Russian attack submarine sailed in Gulf of Mexico undetected for weeks, U.S. officials say

MEXICO
Mexico: Criminal Leader Found Dead

In Mexico’s murder city, the war appears over

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Votes to Amend Constitution

Puerto Rico plans to vote on a two-part referendum Sunday that could see the island amend its constitution for the first time in nearly half a century.
The referendum would reduce the size of the U.S. territory’s government by almost 30 percent as a cost-cutting measure, and would give judges the right to deny bail in certain murder cases. Puerto Rico currently is the only place in the Western hemisphere where all suspects, including those charged with rape and murder, are entitled to bail.

Religious Left Infatuation with Puerto Rican Terror

VENEZUELA
My dog sabotaged my homework

Is Obama Protecting Hugo Chavez?

Venezuela: Law regulating leases wreaks havoc on housing market

The week’s posts:
Puerto Rico says “No”

Puerto Rico referendum: Live coverage

Yoani Sanchez on Assange’s asylum

Chavez insists the “mercenary” is real

This morning’s no-surprise news: Corzine and Assange UPDATE

Seals vs. El Chapo?

Willful blindness: Lonely Planet and Rough Guides

ARGENTINA
¡Estamos salvados! Ahora tenemos a Hugo Chávez

YPF-PDVSA partnership

Latin America Gears Up as Bike Hub. I’ve been to Buenos Aires, and I wouldn’t try it. Plus, if Buenos Aires is so intent on “improving quality of life”, they could start by repairing the sidewalks.

BRAZIL
Paulo Coelho v James Joyce
Lost in Translation

Telecommunications in Brazil
The next big blackout?
A swamped mobile-phone network could choke Latin America’s biggest economy

From Poverty to Power
How Good Governance Made Brazil a Model Nation. I wouldn’t call it a model nation yet.

The China Temptation
Why Brazil should reject Beijing’s economic model.

CENTRAL AMERICA
Confronting Drug Gangs in Central America

CHILE
Catholicism Condemns Chileans to Epidemic

COLOMBIA
Acid attacks in Colombia reflect rage

Car bombs cause major blackout in southwest Colombia, via Gates of Vienna.

WHITEWASH IN COLOMBIA, U.S. MILITARY TAKING THE FALL

CUBA
Swede involved in Cuba dissident car crash concerned about fate of Spanish driver

ECUADOR
PDF file H. RES. 745

EL SALVADOR
Rescuing Salvadoran Democracy: Part II
Sen. Marco Rubio wants to suspend aid to the country until constitutional order is restored.

GUATEMALA
Ancient Mayans May Have Sacrificed Earliest Domestic Turkeys, via Gates of Vienna.

JAMAICA
Jamaica at 50: A Caribbean island that has far more to offer than Bob Marley and Usain Bolt…

MEXICO
Schumpeter
Narconomics
From HR to CSR: management lessons from Mexico’s drug lords

Mexico Ousts Brazil as Investors’ Top Choice in Latin America

Mexico rises from the drug ravages

Undefeated
A Mexican demagogue rises again.

PERU
High flying technology to map Peru ruins
Archaeologists in Peru are getting ready to fly an unmanned craft that could radically speed up data gathering at historical sites.

He May Be Leader of Peru, but to Outspoken Kin, He’s Just a Disappointment, via ¡No Pasarán!

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico, Drug Corridor to the Mainland United States

Uncle of Calle 13 hip-hop singer killed in Puerto Rico

URUGUAY
Uruguay Mulls Over Legal Government Marijuana Dealing

VENEZUELA
Sean Penn joins Chavez on campaign in Venezuela

Handles like oil, priced like coal

Venezuela’s army
The vote that counts
Would the generals accept a presidential handover?

The week’s posts:
Crony capitalism: in Argentina, it’s a way of life

Quote of the day

Estas manos/These hands UPDATED

Cuba: Still no offshore oil, but 1 more foreigner taken hostage

Kenya: Venezuelan ambassador murdered

In The Green Room:
Chavez: American “mercenary” detained in Venezuela

ARGENTINA
Diego, Guevara, la Patria amedrentada

Argentina’s dollar deposits down 42.3% from the October peak

British ships banned from docking in Buenos Aires
Ships flying the British ensign have been banned from docking in Argentina’s largest province under a new law passed yesterday. (h/t Gates of Vienna)

BRAZIL
In the Wake of Rio+20, Will Brazil Walk the Talk?

Corruption in Brazil
Justice delayed
The politicians accused of involvement in a vast vote-buying scheme, along with their associates, will face trial at last

COLOMBIA
Mining in Colombia
Digging deeper
The government stands by its new regulatory scheme

CUBA
Russia Installs Nukes In Cuba! What Are They Going To Use Them For?

Quick, get ready for another Castro, here, in the Oval Office !!!!

ECUADOR
The WikiLeaks Way

EL SALVADOR
THE SALVADORIAN CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS, DEMOCRACY AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

HONDURAS
Friday funnies

JAMAICA
Jamaican Fraser-Pryce Repeats Women’s 100 Meters

MEXICO
The Narco Tunnels of Nogales

The tunneling boom reflects not only the extent and financial torque of the Mexican cartels’ operations—estimated in a 2010 Rand Corp. report to turn a $6.6 billion profit every year—but also the futile nature of attempts to secure the U.S. border against drug smugglers. A reliable index of the effectiveness of U.S. interdiction work, says Anthony Coulson, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, is provided by the price of narcotics on U.S. streets; when the authorities succeed in impeding the flow of drugs, the price goes up. Coulson began his career in Tucson in the early ’80s and retired as the head of the agency’s Southern Arizona district in 2010. In Nogales, Ariz., the wholesale price for marijuana is currently $400 a pound. “That’s never changed,” Coulson says, “in 30 years.”

Mexican newspaper attacked for third time in a month
The offices of a major Mexican newspaper were attacked on Sunday for the third time in a month, via Gates of Vienna.

Oil theft in Mexico
Black gold on the black market
Stolen petroleum is a growing source of income for Mexico’s bandits

PUERTO RICO
San Juan mayor camps out to prove streets safe

VENEZUELA
Venezuela Cartoonist Compelled to Hire Bodyguards, Risks 30 Months Behind Bars

Chavez’s Diplomatic Coup Deepens Rift in Brazil-Led Trade Pact

Chavez Off To Brazil To Have Venezuela Join Mercosur

A Gringa in Venezuela’s Highest Court?

Hugo Chavez: An uncounted enemy

Venezuela’s Limardo Olympic Fairytale by Jonathan Liew