Fausta's Blog

A meteor lit up the night last Sunday in Argentina, but the big news wasn’t the meteor, it was the courts. Mary O’Grady writes on how Kirchner Targets Argentina’s Judiciary

Congressional midterm elections are set for October and the kirchneristas are desperate to win a majority so that they can change the law to allow the president to run for a third term. To reach that goal, the government decided that more cooperation from the courts is in order.

Mrs. Kirchner’s government drafted and Congress has now approved a law that, among other things, does away with existing rules for picking members of the magistrate council, the body that chooses and can impeach federal judges. Those rules ensured that the council would be made up of a politically mixed group of individuals chosen by politicians, judges, lawyers and academics.

In their place, the reform stipulates that the council will be elected by popular vote in the same election that chooses the president—raising the likelihood that the executive will control the judiciary. If 51% of voters want judges who will strip the other 49% of their property, so be it. The reform also limits to six months any injunction against a government policy, conveniently destroying the protection that Clarin now enjoys. There will also be new appellate courts with judges appointed by the council.

Caudilla Cristina: divide the opposition, take control of all the institutions, demonize a foreign country to create a common enemy.
ARGENTINA
36 Hours in Salta, Argentina

BRAZIL
‘Problems’ as Maracana stadium reopens in Rio

CARIBBEAN
US tries new aerial tools in Caribbean drug fight (H/T DP)

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s FARC guerrillas thank US lawmakers for supporting Havana peace process

CUBA
Rosa Maria Paya, you have the Castro dictatorship’s attention

Note to AP: Mariela Castro is a Cuban Regime Official

Woman indicted in Cuba spy case is in Sweden and out of U.S. reach

ECUADOR
Government of Ecuador to sue newspaper La Hora for a third time

GUATEMALA
Guatemala’s genocide trial
Playing for time
The spectre of never-ending impunity returns to a divided country

MEXICO
USDA/Mexico Spanish-language flyer: Get kids on food stamps without showing documents

Thirteen die in Mexico prison battle
At least 13 people die and dozens are injured after fighting breaks out between rival groups of inmates at a prison in central Mexico.

PANAMA
Fossil of “most ancient” monkey of Americas found in Panama Canal

PARAGUAY
Paraguay’s elections
Return of the Colorados
A tobacco magnate promises change in one of South America’s poorest countries

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Teams Take Top Spots at 20th NASA Great Moonbuggy Race

St. LUCIA
‘Miracle’ survival after St Lucia fishing boat sinks

VENEZUELA
Arrestan en Venezuela al ex general Antonio Rivero
El ex general denunció en el pasado la “cubanización” de las fuerzas armadas venezolanas y presentó ante la fiscalía casos de intromisión.

Viceroy Maduro swears fealty to his supreme overlord King Raul

INFORME ESPECIAL: Resumen de los principales casos de represión del Gobierno de Venezuela a Grupos Estudiantiles. Enero-Abril 2013

General Carlos Julio Peñaloza
CUBA CONTROLÓ ELECCIONES MEDIANTE RED SECRETA, pag.14

Escuchen a Diosdado Cabello dando instrucciones contra Capriles en reunión privada en Margarita

The Cubanization of Venezuela: Cuba creates 5-million Venezuelan voters out of thin air

Chavismo: from XXI century socialism to XXI century fascism

The week’s posts and podcast:
Venezuela: Maduro has US citizen arrested

Argentina: The high cost of not doing business

Cuba: no off-shore oil

Venezuela: Persecuting Capriles

Argentina: Sunday meteor

Mexico: Striking teachers dig in their heels

Venezuela: You call that an audit?

Podcast:
In Silvio Canto’s podcast, talking to Jon Perdue.

Latin Leaders Abandon Democracy in Venezuela
Despite serious election irregularities, they rush to recognize Nicolás Maduro as president.

In a better world such repression would have provoked objections from the Organization of American States. Its Democratic Charter is a pledge by all members to stand up for democratic principles throughout the hemisphere. Yet since the charter was ratified in 2001, the OAS has done nothing to stop the destruction of institutional checks and balances by left-wing caudillos like Chávez. It has used its power, under the leadership of Secretary-General Miguel Insulza (a Chilean socialist) since 2005, to beat up on countries that push back against what Chávez called “21st century socialism.”

ARGENTINA
Argentines Protest Fernandez’s Bid to Increase Grip on Courts

Argentina, Where Dollars Are the New Drugs

BRAZIL
Inflation in Brazil
Behind the curve
The Central Bank acts belatedly to bring prices back under control

CHILE
Education in Chile
Beyer gets the boot

COLOMBIA
Santos announces stimulus package

More information from government would facilitate and legitimize peace process, and strengthen role of media

Colombia seizes drug lord’s villas
Properties and goods worth more than $25m (£16m) belonging to notorious Colombian drug lord Madman Barrera are seized in a police operation.

CUBA
Two American Hostages in Two Terrorist States

HONDURAS
Honduras: Attorney General Is Suspended

LATIN AMERICA
Video from HACER: Amigos de la Libertad: Carlos Alberto Montaner (in Spanish)

MEXICO
Mexican Drug Cartel Power Shift, More Americans Becoming Their Smugglers

Mexican President Outlines his Future Foreign Policy Agenda

Mexico drops charges against general
Prosecutors in Mexico dismiss the case on drug charges against ex-assistant defence minister Gen Tomas Angeles.

Mexico’s First Lady among the best dressed… and that’s about it for now

PARAGUAY
EVO MORALES, CONTENTO CON TRIUNFO DE CARTES? CARTES INCLUIDO EN RED DE LAVADO DE DINERO

Candidate Disparages Gays in Paraguay, Stirring Dispute

Paraguay holds key presidential election
Voters in Paraguay go to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election seen as key to restoring the country’s democratic credentials.

PUERTO RICO
Son of US Judge Faces Murder Trial in Puerto Rico

VENEZUELA
Maduro’s lousy start
A narrow, tainted election victory is a fitting epitaph for his rotten predecessor. But Venezuela is on the brink

The week’s posts and podcast,
Fonseca flash mob on Times Square!

Argentina: Creditors say “no”

Venezuela: The inaugural crasher

Venezuela: Electoral council agrees to audit itself UPDATED

Puerto Rico: Doctors moving to the US mainland

Venezuela: No recount, says Supreme Court

Venezuela: US not so sure

Venezuela: the military ask for recount?

Venezuela: For the short term, more moving to FL

Podcast,
Mexico & other US-Latin America issues

Last week Venezuela’s acting president and presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro officially inaugurated his campaign by publicly stating that Hugo Chavez had spoken to him in the form of a bird (but apparently not as a parrot). In the spirit of the occasion (all puns intended), and in keeping with a red Chavista shirt theme, I’m illustrating this week’s Carnival with the most famous red bird of all, the Angry Bird, instead of the usual map.

ARGENTINA
Argentina floods ‘catastrophe’ for La Plata, Buenos Aires
Emergency workers in Argentina continue to try to rescue residents stranded by flooding in Buenos Aires and La Plata

Pope Francis calls for aid for Argentina flood victims
Pope Francis has appealed for “civil and ecclesiastical institutions, as well as people of good will”, to provide help to the victims of devastating flooding in Argentina that has left dozens dead.

Fears Ease of a Default by Argentina

BOLIVIA
Colombianos manejan una red de préstamos en Santa Cruz de la Sierra

BRAZIL
Rio Charges Three Men With Attack on American, French Visitors
Rio de Janeiro police said they have arrested a third suspect and sidelined two police officers after the rape of an American woman over the weekend.

CHILE
Smoking in Latin America
Stubbed out
A bastion of tobacco addiction introduces a ban

COLOMBIA
Santos´ invisible and elitist cabinet

CUBA
Religious persecution in Cuba rises in 2012

Beyonce, Jay-Z turn heads in Havana

Washington’s 51-year embargo makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to visit Cuba for mere tourism, although tens of thousands of Americans travel there each year on academic, religious, journalistic or cultural exchange licenses.

Social Security says benefits can’t be sent to Havana
The U.S. Social Security Administration makes it clear that benefits cannot be collected in Cuba.

ECUADOR
Chevron Embargo Would Not Affect YPF Deal -Ecuador Plaintiffs
A freeze on Chevron’s funds in Argentina would not include any future investments the company would make in the country, according to a lawyer representing the Ecuadorian plaintiffs in the case behind the freeze.

GUATEMALA
Guatemala strongman trial hears litany of horrors

MEXICO
Are the Kaufman County Murders Connected To The Mexican Drug Cartels?

REPORT: MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS BEHIND INCREASING VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES

Mexico’s new president
Peña’s promising start
A lot done, and quickly, but much more still to do

PARAGUAY
Paraguay’s electoral alliances and land deals

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico-Born Labrador Top Republican on Immigration

Puerto Rico moves to overhaul public pensions

URUGUAY
Controversia por dura frase de presidente de Uruguay sobre Cristina Fernández
El mandatario uruguayo no se dio cuenta que los micrófonos estaban abiertos y se escuchó en la transmisión en vivo de una conferencia de prensa al sentenciar: “Esta vieja es peor que el tuerto”

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s snap election still pretty much all about Chavez

Nicolás Maduro Decide Solamente Decir “Chávez” Hasta Que Acaben Las Elecciones

Denuncian a Maduro de ser un agente de Cuba, fotos, video y audio

The week’s posts and podcast
Venezuela: And now the Macarapana curse

Uruguay: Open-mic fail

Cuba: Beyonce’s no-no

Maduro: Cuba’s Venezuelan Pawn

Cuba: More repression

Thursday night tango and blogging

Yoani Sanchez in Jaime Bayly’s show: en español

Crazy cult campaigning in Caracas: The shrine

Venezuela: Maduro opens his campaign by saying he talked to Chavez, who is now a bird UPDATED

Uruguay: Same-sex marriage approved by Senate

Argentina: Cristina’s discomfort

Podcast: Silvio Canto‘s

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s Betrayal
The Kirchner government has decided to whitewash Iranian terrorism

The IMF and Argentina
Motion of censure
The fund blows the whistle

BRAZIL
U.S. Corn-Ethanol Producers: Curb Imports From Brazil
The U.S. corn-ethanol industry is urging the Obama administration to cut down on imports of a different type of ethanol from Brazil, in a bid to reduce competition and improve its bottom line.

CHILE
Chile orders Neruda exhumation
A Chilean judge orders the exhumation of the remains of the poet Pablo Neruda, as part of an investigation into claims he was poisoned in 1973.

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s peace talks
Trying to stay the course

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s election
The man with the mighty microphone
Having mixed the good, the bad and the ugly during six years in power, Rafael Correa is heading for another term

Ecuador’s Permanent Mob-Rule Campaign
By demonizing opponents and changing voting law, President Rafael Correa assures his re-election.

LATIN AMERICA
Annals of government intervention: Pemex, Argentina, and Brazil

More Bayly, in Spanish,

MEXICO
Some good and bad news from Mexico

A Poor Decision…

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua Aims to Become New Luxury Hotspot

PARAGUAY
The last caudillo
Lino Oviedo’s death may help the Colorados return to power

PERU
Peru, Chile and Bolivia hit by floods after heavy rain

PUERTO RICO
36 Hours in San Juan, Puerto Rico

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s economy
Out of stock
The cost of postponing an inevitable devaluation

The week’s posts & podcast:
Venezuela: Pining for the fjords?

Ecuadorian minister lies about Cory Booker

The real scandal in the Menendez story…

Podcast:
The latest from Spain & Latin America

ARGENTINA
Argentina Court Declines Intervention in Media Case

Argentina Congress hosts “Islam for peace” seminar

Muslims sense of belonging in Argentina, ratifying their right and proud to be Argentine citizens, challenges the sense of injustice that the Muslim community faces, unjustly, in the 21st century-world.

via Gates of Vienna

BOLIVIA
Spain’s Iberdrola Has 4 Units Taken Over by Bolivian State

Coca Licensing Is a Weapon in Bolivia’s Drug War

BRAZIL
High Stakes in Brazil After Outage
A day after power outages left travelers at Rio de Janeiro’s international airport in the dark, President Dilma Rousseff tried to calm fears that Brazil was facing the kind of energy shortages that upended national politics a decade ago.

Corruption in Brazil
A healthier menu
As the historic trial of those guilty of a legislative votes-for-cash scheme draws to a close, Brazilians digest the verdict

Obituary: Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Ribiero de Almeida de Niemeyer Soares Filho, architect, died on December 5th, aged 104

COLOMBIA
Sister of Colombian Drug Cartel’s Founder Killed

CUBA
We came, we saw, we were appalled

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Hillary shall remain concussed while in Punta Cana

ECUADOR
Banana Republic v. Chevron

LATIN AMERICA
Latin America, the Mideast, and the Pope

MEXICO
Cartels Clash in Mexican Town
Armed men stormed a town in the mountains of the western state of Sinaloa on Christmas Eve and shot nine men, then dumped their bodies as part of a war between Mexico’s two most powerful cartels.

Old PRI, new PRI? In Mexico, a New Approach to Stanching Drug Violence

Mr. Peña Nieto’s six-point program includes better government planning; increased intergovernmental coordination; protection of human rights; more social investments and crime-prevention programs; additional evaluation of government programs; and institution building.

It also proposes a 10,000-member force to secure municipalities and states where law enforcement is powerless against organized crime. The administration has said it will focus on street gangs and criminals employed by the cartels, a shift from former President Felipe Calderón’s emphasis on eliminating top drug trafficking bosses.

PARAGUAY
Paraguay’s awful history
The never-ending war
How a terrible but little-known conflict continues to shape and blight a nation

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Introduces New Guidelines for Hate Crimes

USA
Latino Muslims are shaping a new US identity, via Gates of Vienna

VENEZUELA
Seven more Years!

The week’s posts:
Mexico: 120-yard tunnel near the Nogales entry into Arizona

Where will Assad go?

Argentina: Squeeze and “creativity”

ARGENTINA
Argentina Media Group Suffers Reversal in Court

Ghana Ordered to Release Argentine Ship

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Graft Probe Now Targets Ex-Leader
Da Silva Denies Wrongdoing in Vote-Rigging Scheme Under His Tenure, but Supreme Court Justices Call for Another Look

CAYMAN ISLANDS
Cayman Islands leader arrested in corruption probe

CHILE
Mysterious mass whale graveyard unearthed in the Chilean desert
Scientists are baffled after finding fossil remains of 75 whales that died within yards of one another, more than a kilometer away from the sea.

COLOMBIA
El riesgo populista

COSTA RICA
30 Years Of Recipes Down The Drain: Ex-Pats in Costa Rica Try Cooking Up A New Life

CUBA
Al-Jazeera Shames the U.S. Media By Telling the Truth About Cuban Repression

Jailed Spanish activist Angel Carromero may leave Cuba

Obama’s Vision for Cuba Turns a Blind Eye Towards History

Cuban political prisoner Calixto Ramon Martinez ends hunger strike

Projects Fair

EL SALVADOR
MS-13 Leader Sentenced in Juvenile Prostitution Case

HONDURAS
Press freedom group in Honduras denounces “censorship” of radio ad supporting the democratization of the broadcast spectrum

‘Technical’ coup against Supreme Court (Part 2)

MEXICO
Obama Ignores Ex-Marine Wrongly Held In Mexican Jail

Mexico’s crime wave has left about 25,000 missing, government documents show

NICARAGUA
Back in Sandinista Days . . .
John Kerry now talks a moderate game; but what does the record say?

Today’s Video: Telenovelas for Change

PANAMA
Panamanian held in Spain with cocaine breast implants
A Panamanian woman has been arrested in Spain with fake breast implants that turned out to be plastic bags containing 1.4kg of cocaine.

PARAGUAY
Children discover Mozart in Paraguay landfill, playing instruments made from recycled garbage

PERU
IPYS condemns change in law that classifies national security information in Peru

PUERTO RICO
Moody’s downgrades University of Puerto Rico bonds

Puerto Rico family mourns death of girl, 6, in Connecticut school shooting

URUGUAY
Mujica reconoció haber estado internado en un psiquiátrico porque se “figuraba voces”

VENEZUELA
Will the State Department Legitimize a Narco-Authoritarian Regime in Venezuela?

Chávez’s Outlook Darkens, Doctors Say
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s cancer is most likely terminal given the disease’s recurrences, say several leading cancer specialists not involved in the treatment.

With Hugo Chavez cancer-stricken, regional elections in Venezuela suddenly hugely important

Trying (Not) To Look At Venezuela’s Sunday’s Gubernatorial Elections

Post Chávez Surgery, Venezuela Warns of ‘Difficult’ Days

Nicolas Maduro, bus driver turned vice president, could succeed Hugo Chavez

Post Chavez scenarios

The week’s posts:
BBC Four – La Confiteria Ideal

Iran, McAfee, Litvinenko in the news; and don’t overdo the Gangnam

Post-Chavez Venezuela: Corruption and chaos

Chavez: “I do not surrender political power, I delegate it.”

ARGENTINA
Argentine bonds
Argy-bargy
EVER since Argentina defaulted on $81 billion of debt in 2001, it has been thumbing its nose at its creditors.

Argentine Court Grants Reprieve To Media Group

BRAZIL
Brazil’s economy
Stalled
A long-awaited recovery still fails to materialise

CHILE
Chile clashes over Freirina smelly pig processing plant
Police in northern Chile have clashed with protesters angry at the government’s decision to reopen a huge pig processing plant

COLOMBIA
Colombia Kills 20 FARC Fighters in Bomb Raid

CUBA
Pay no attention to the dictators behind the curtain

Cuban Government Pulls Plug on “Cubatón”

ECUADOR
Corrupt Judgment Against ChevronTexaco Takes Hemispheric Dimensions

Este es el documental que revela las conexiones Rafael Correa – Hugo Chávez – FARC

GUATEMALA
McAfee Hospitalized in Guatemala After Asylum Denied

My Own Darwin Award Nomination: Captured

MEXICO
Jenni Rivera, norteno and banda singer and Mun2 TV star, dies in plane crash in northern Mexico
43-year-old musician, born and raised in California, was a star of Spanish-language television

Obituary: María Santos Gorrostieta
María Santos Gorrostieta Salazar, former mayor of Tiquicheo, was found dead on November 15th, aged 36

Mexico’s new government
With a little help from my friends
The new president believes that he has broad political agreement to change his country

13 BODIES FOUND IN VEHICLES IN NORTHERN MEXICO

PANAMA
Panama and Israel: A special relationship

PARAGUAY
Footballer Diego Mendieta’s death prompts Indonesia row
The death of a Paraguayan footballer owed months of back pay from his club in Indonesia has sparked outrage among fans and the global players’ union.

PUERTO RICO
Caiman Invasion in Puerto Rico

TURKS AND CAICOS
Turks and Caicos ex-PM Michael Misick held in Brazil
Police in Brazil have arrested the former prime minister of the Turks and Caicos islands, Michael Misick.

VENEZUELA
Venezuelan politics
The invisible president

Chávez Back in Venezuela After Cuba Treatment

And he is back….

Important Dates To Keep Up With, Given All The Rumors Flying Around Venezuela

The week’s posts:
Mexico: Mayan apocalypse tourism

Venezuela: Hugo’s baaack

Assuming Assad asks asylum…

Unarmed in Mexico

Cuba: US won’t swap 5 spies for Alan Gross

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
Argentina will plant 22 percent less wheat this season

BRAZIL

Brazil’s Crisis—and Opportunity
The breakdown of the customs union with Argentina could free it to seek better trade opportunities elsewhere.

Mystery of 500 penguins washed up on beach in Brazil
The bodies of more than 500 penguins have washed up on beaches in southern Brazil over the past week.

Corruption Case Roils Brazil
Allegations against political staff in imminent supreme court case raise concerns in ruling party.

CHILE
The Remarkable Story of Chile’s Economic Renaissance, via Instapundit.

Chile child sex abuse to be investigated at 61 schools
Prosecutors in Chile are investigating about 60 schools in the capital, Santiago, over allegations that pupils were sexually abused.

CUBA
Breaking: Sources from Cuba report Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas killed

No More Statues of Che

Silicone Island

ECUADOR
Ecuadorian banks shield Iran’s money

Ecuador’s embassy hires PR firm

JAMAICA
Jamaica at 50
On your marks, get set…oh
Half a century after Jamaica’s independence from Britain, its economy is struggling to get out of the starting blocks (subscription only)

LATIN AMERICA
Latin America’s new authoritarians

More than two decades after Latin America’s last right-wing dictatorships dissolved, a new kind of authoritarian leader is rising in several countries: democratically elected presidents who are ruling in increasingly undemocratic ways.

Unlike the iron-fisted juntas of a generation ago, these leaders do not assassinate opposition figures or declare martial law.

But in a handful of countries, charismatic populists are posing the most serious challenge to democratic institutions in Latin America since the 1980s, when rebel wars and dictators were the norm. In Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and other countries, leaders have amassed vast powers that they use to control courts while marginalizing their opponents and the media, human rights groups and analysts say.

MEXICO
Mexican president to US: You know, you guys should really review your gun laws

HSBC let drug gangs launder millions: First Barclays, now Britain’s biggest bank is shamed – and faces a £640million fine
HSBC moved huge sum from Mexico into the U.S. between 2007 and 2008

In Mexico, Gold Mines Beckon Once More

Fat And Furious: Obama Pushes Food Stamps In Mexico

PANAMA
Boeing Nears Aircraft Deals with Copa Airlines, Aeromexico and Gol.

PARAGUAY
Old article, but still a must-read, In the Party of God
Hezbollah sets up operations in South America and the United States.

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands to partner, manage ocean resources

Puerto Rico Governor Signs Package For Tax Breaks Hoping To Lure Hollywood

VENEZUELA
CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER: Los tres misterios de Hugo Chávez

Read more here: http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2012/07/22/1255871/carlos-alberto-montaner-los-tres.html#storylink=cpy
THE PRESIDENT’S DENIAL OF VENEZUELA’S NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: WILL THE U.S EVER GET IT RIGHT IN LATIN AMERICA?

The week’s posts,
The taxman cometh, at Hot Air.

Silvio Canto’s podcast (auto start).

Ecuador to channel financial operations with Iran through third parties

Colombia: “What do you believe?”

BOLIVIA
Bolivia to consider nationalizing embattled silver project

BRAZIL
Credit in Brazil
Maxing out
A spike in defaults signals a need for caution, not yet panic

CUBA
Cholera death toll at 158; Cuba scrambles to fight rare cholera outbreak, and the understatement of the week, An outbreak of cholera tests a much-praised health system

Cuba Seeks Closer Ties With Beijing

Remembering the “13 de marzo” Tugboat Massacre, July 13, 1994

ECUADOR
Ecuador to make ‘sovereign’ decision on Assange: president

Assange and Ecuador: A toxic mix
Analysis: Why WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Ecuador are so bad for each other

HONDURAS
Honduran seizures raise fear of wider conflicts

LATIN AMERICA
South American integration
Mercosur RIP?
Mounting protectionism and the rule-breaking admission of Venezuela have fatally undermined a once-promising trade block

MEXICO
After Mexico’s election
Counted out
López Obrador, sore loser

NICARAGUA
No New Property Waiver for Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega

PARAGUAY
Paraguay’s presidential coup: the inside story

The Significance of Paraguay
It is still a functioning democracy, which is more than we can say about Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Paraguay counts cost of Lugo’s sacking

Franco’s challenge

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Seeks US Help to Fight Crime, Drugs

VENEZUELA
To Power Syria, Chávez Sends Diesel

Venezuela’s presidential campaign
Tilting the pitch
The opposition faces some extraordinary obstacles

US VIRGIN ISLANDS
Virgin Islands governor’s chief of staff resigns after seeking favorable tax breaks

The weeks’s posts:
10 ways Chavez has presented a national security threat

Integration through welfare dependence: SNAP to the Parque Alegría dole

National Drug Intelligence Center closed

Argentina bans buying dollars

Venezuela: Chavez gives China control over oil

Assange comfy…at the Ecuadorian embassy