The dead Hugo Chavez Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean
Monday, March 11th, 2013
Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. The top story in our hemisphere this week: the announcement of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s death. While the government has announced a presidential election for April 14th, don’t expect chavismo to give up power anytime soon.
Mary O’Grady writes on Chávez ‘The Redeemer’
Even as his rule dimmed their future, Venezuela’s poor clung to the belief that he cared for them.
The cult of adoration is now under way, which fills a need peculiar to Latin America, as Enrique Krauze explains,
In Latin America the need to turn politicians into secular saints is due to the distrust many feel for the region’s weak institutions and a worship for so-called men on horseback—heroes who come to the nation’s rescue, said Mr. Krauze. The region’s deep Catholic tradition of anointing and then venerating saints is also an important factor, he said.
It could never happen here, could it?
When Congress finally decided in 2012 to allow people to obtain the salary information of its employees, it also required them to find the name of each employee and submit it online. In other words, if someone wanted the information on the legislature’s 25,000-strong work force, then that person had to independently identify them and submit 25,000 separate online requests.If only it were that easy here in São Paulo. One clerk at the state’s high court, Ivete Sartório, was reportedly paid about $115,000 after convincing her superiors that she should be compensated for not taking leaves of absence. But when asked recently about her wages, a spokesman for the court, Rômulo Pordeus, said that Ms. Sartório’s “matriculation number” was needed to request the information.
When asked how any curious taxpayer could get that number, he replied that it was in Ms. Sartório’s possession, and that he did not want to bother her about it.
CHILE
World’s Largest Ground-Based Telescope Array Opens in Chile Soon: The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
CUBA
Cuba dissident ‘forced off road’ to death
How Castro Defines Gender Equality
FALKLAND ISLANDS
Land Rovers and Airplanes Ready as Falklands Votes on U.K. Ties
LATIN AMERICA
WATCHING THE LINE
Long Border, Endless Struggle
PERU
Peru’s economy likely expanded 6-7 pct in January – cenbank
PUERTO RICO
Ex-Governor of Puerto Rico: GOP Must Lead on Immigration Reform
VENEZUELA
What Is The U.S. Doing At Chavez’s Funeral?
Not playing nice with the dead: Chavez main crimes
Contrary To What Jimmy Carter Says, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez Was No Friend Of The Poor
Rev. Jesse Jackson Attends Hugo Chavez Funeral
The wild card in Venezuela: Armed Chavistas
PARTE 2: ¿CHÁVEZ: LA MUERTE DE UN REVOLUCIONARIO, UN SOCIALISTA…UN DICTADOR?
Iran Leader Lambasted for Tribute to Chávez
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s lionization of his Venezuelan friend Hugo Chávez caused a political firestorm in the Islamic Republic, as doubts arose over whether the two countries could carry on their tight alliance now that Mr. Chávez is dead.
The nature of Hugo Chávez’s appeal on the American left?
Chavez: Death of a tyrant
The week’s posts and podcast:
SNL Hugo’s Candle in the Wind
What’s left of Latin America’s Left?
How Bob Menendez sponsored a bill that would have benefited his biggest political donor
Podcast:
US-Latin America this week: The death of Chavez
