Fausta's Blog

Chronic shortages of consumer goods are a trademark of socialist and communist regimes, so this comes as no surprise:
Venezuela to import 50M rolls of toilet paper after government claims it’s wiped out

Economists say Venezuela’s shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government’s controls on foreign currency.

“State-controlled prices — prices that are set below market-clearing price — always result in shortages. The shortage problem will only get worse, as it did over the years in the Soviet Union,” said Steve Hanke, professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University.

Then the government raised prices by 20%, which will eat up the 20% raise in minimum salary that went in effect on May 1st.

Carlos Eire posts on the Cubanization of Venezuela,

According to the Spanish newspaper ABC, the Maduro dictatorship is blaming its opponents for Caracastan’s toilet paper shortage.
…
“The Revolution will import around 50 million rolls of hygienic tissue… so our people can calm down and realize that they should not allow themselves to be manipulated by media campaigns that speak of shortages,” said Minister of Commerce Alejandro Fleming, through the state-run Venezuelan News Agency.
…
Minister Fleming cited facts and figures to prove that the production and importation of toilet paper was more than adequate in Caracastan, and then claimed that a “sobredemanda” — a sudden spike in demand — fiendishly orchestrated by the government’s opponents had caused the product to disappear from store shelves throughout the country.

Considering the disastrous state of what’s left of the Venezuelan economy, it’s no wonder people may have the runs,

Finance Minister Nelson Merentes said the government was also addressing the lack of foreign currency, which has resulted in the suspension of foreign supplies of raw materials, equipment and spare parts to Venezuelan companies, disrupting their production.
“We are making progress … we have to work very hard,” Merentes told reporters Wednesday.

Many factories operate at half capacity because the currency controls make it hard for them to pay for imported parts and materials. Business leaders say some companies verge on bankruptcy because they cannot extend lines of credit with foreign suppliers.

Speaking of runs, consumers who had spent hours waiting in line were stampeding in Caracas when they heard chicken parts and flour were finally available,

Nicolás Maduro tried to intimidate Empresas Polar president Lorenzo Mendoza,

accusing him of hoarding products as part of an “economic war” on the state by private business.

Mendoza, whose company is Venezuela’s biggest beer- and flour-maker, denied that and pointedly challenged the government to sell production plants nationalized under Chavez back to the private sector to boost efficiency.

Mendoza would not be intimidated, and at least for now, Maduro backed off.

Toilet paper buyers continue to wait in line,

Fleming, the commerce minister, said monthly consumption of toilet paper was normally 125 million rolls, but that current demand “leads us to think that 40 million more are required.”

“We will bring in 50 million to show those groups that they won’t make us bow down,” he said.

Hmmm… 125 + 40 – 50 still leaves you 115 million rolls short, Minister Flemimg.

Lloré escuchándolo.

1a parte:

2a parte:

3a parte:

4a parte:

1. First, Prince Harry went to Mantoloking and got a fleece jacket,

Greeting Prince Harry at the Jersey Shore the best way I know how; with his own Royal Fleece: twitter.com/GovChristie/st…

— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) May 14, 2013

Chris Christie gives Prince Harry his own ‘Royal Fleece’ on N.J. tour
Christie had joked that he would make sure Prince Harry stayed clothed during his trip to the Jersey Shore. He followed through on his vow by giving the visiting royal a version of his famous blue fleece.

Maybe there’s something to the fleece,

2. In case you were looking, Napoleon’s penis is in New Jersey. Jimmy Hoffa’s whereabouts are yet to be confirmed.

Ponder that disquieting thought while you read Drudge’s roundup: The governmental agency that did this will have full access to all your medical records, in addition to your financial records.

CLAIM: OBAMA CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIR ATTACKED ROMNEY WITH LEAKED DOCS…

W.H. Blames Treasury Dept for IRS Scandal…

CARNEY: Just because IRS apologized doesn’t mean it did anything wrong…

POLL: Most Want IRS Officials Fired or Jailed… Developing…

REPORT: Agency demanded list of students trained by conservative group…

FRANKLIN GRAHAM: WE WERE TARGETED…

Rev. Billy Graham Endorsed Romney…

‘Special unit’ went after pro-Israel Jewish groups…

Official speedily approved exemption for Obama’s brother’s ‘charity’…

Agency won’t say if it will comply with congressional demand…

Forty miles southeast of Mexico City, Popocatepetl is acting up:
Mexico’s ‘Popo’ volcano spews ash, molten rock

“Popo,” as the volcano is known, has displayed a “notable increase in activity levels” in the last few days, including tremors and explosive eruptions, according to a statement from the federal government.

Webcams have shown large chunks of molten rock spewing from the crater, and ash has rained down on the nearby city of Puebla. On Sunday, Mexico’s National Center for Disaster Prevention elevated its warning level to “Yellow Phase 3,” the fifth stage of a seven-stage warning scale.

“Don Goyo”, Popo’s other name was throwing red rocks.

Popo’s twin, Iztaccihuatl, remains dormant.

And, no, don’t ask me how to pronounce Iztaccihuatl.

1. Last weekend Mariela Castro was in Philadelphia, where she received an award for her gay rights advocacy. Cashing in on the occasion, over in La Habana, the Communist regime allowed a calculated, state-sponsored rally to coincide with Mariela’s award.

2. Guillermo Fariñas is now traveling through the US and Europe to talk about human rights abuses in Cuba.

3. Six-day event in Pittsburgh targets discrimination in Cuba
Fidel Castro declared it nonexistent, but racism is still pervasive in a country known more for its rich culture

A group of Cubans attending AfricAmericas, a six-day event being held here through today, told stories that most U.S. blacks would find familiar, “but it is not like here,” said Manuel Cuesta Morua, who has been a tour guide, history teacher and a museum director whose political activism cost him his job. “In Cuba, we are all equal, but [blacks] can’t be in the media. We have the same education, but we can’t have that job.

“Here there are civic tools” and a justice system that can work, he said. “We have no political or symbolic representation, no access to the emerging economy” and no avenues to leadership positions.

4. Barbara Walters is retiring. Back in 1977 she spent 10 days in Cuba as Fidel Castro’s guest.

She came back with an interview that aired on TV, and a very persistent rumor that she boinked the dictator. Then she went back 25 years later, asked the same questions and got the same BS answers, like “we [Cuban Communists] don’t have the same notion of freedom as you”,

Since Fidel’s not available for interviews, but the regime needs money, expect more dissidents being allowed to travel abroad and that Mariela will get more awards.

The real test comes when the dissidents return to the island-prison. So far, it does not bode well.

Yes, Mexican students studying to be teachers are holding hostages in protest against president Peña Nieto’s proposed changes. Mary O”Grady reports on Mexico, Where Teachers Take Hostages
President Enrique Peña Nieto needs to show the country that he will defend the rule of law.

Mexican students studying to be teachers released a hostage on Wednesday—in the municipality of Nahuatzen—due to concerns about his health. But they continue to hold five others. The students are supported by the Michoacán State Teachers Organization, which warned that the remaining captives, who are state policemen, would be freed only when a demand for 1,200 new teaching jobs is met.

ARGENTINA
Argentina Peso Trades on Black Market Above 10 to USD
Argentina’s currency traded above 10 pesos to the U.S. dollar for the first time on the black market, with Argentines desperate to acquire greenbacks for travel and savings paying a premium of 93% over the official exchange rate.

BRAZIL
Brazilian will be the first Latin American to head the WTO

Brazil judge suspends stadium deal
A judge suspends a deal giving control of Brazil’s biggest stadium to a private consortium, saying there were irregularities in the bidding process.

CHILE
Alert Status Raised at Chile’s Copahue

así estaba el volcán copahue a las 3.30 de la madrugada twitter.com/claucaviahue/s…

— claudiacarrasco (@claucaviahue) May 9, 2013

COLOMBIA
Bojayá massacre, Uribe and Plan Colombia

CUBA
Fidel Castro may be America’s most famous illegal immigrant

Cuban spy, back in Havana after years in U.S. prison: No regrets

HONDURAS
Tribute to a fallen police officer – Edgardo Galdámez

LATIN AMERICA
Olavo de Carvalho on socialism: A thousand combat fronts which do not advance the socialist cause ostensibly, but erode the moral and cultural values of capitalist society

MEXICO
Vatican declares Mexican Death Saint blasphemous

The PRI’s long tail
A battle is brewing between Enrique Peña Nieto and the dinosaurs in his party

The Rise of the ‘Aztec Tiger’
Under a charismatic new leader, Mexico is roaring toward a turnaround

Barack Obama’s visit to Mexico
The unmentionables

Thermo Sold Plant Overrun by Drug Cartel, Suit Alleges
Lab-equipment maker Thermo Fisher allegedly hid information that a Mexican facility it sold as part of a broader deal last year was overrun by a drug cartel, according to claims in a lawsuit filed by Opengate Capital.

PANAMA
Proof Of Life

Panama orders power rationing as drought continues
The Panamanian government has ordered schools to close and government offices to reduce their opening hours as the country suffers from a power shortage.

PERU
The Father and Son Business Meeting: Plutocrats and their progeny
A secretive fathers-and-sons knees-up for billionaires

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico to end inmate transfer program with US

1/3 Population of Puerto Rico Gets Food Stamps from U.S. Gov’t — $2 Billion in 2012

TURKS & CAICOS
Arrests of vacationing Americans in Turks and Caicos spark concern

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s election aftermath
Cry havoc
As political and economic crises deepen, the army waits in the wings

The week’s posts and podcast:
Guatemala’s historic decision

Venezuela: Photo of the week

Should Argentina dollarize?

Lady in White met Pope in white

Blogger call on tomorrow’s CSP conference

Venezuela: no US access to Timothy Hallet Tracy

Turkey’s mustache business

Argentina: El Tejar moves to Brazil

Podcast,
Mexico and other US-Latin America issues

to celebrate Mother’s Day, Emory Tango Ensemble and Tango Orchestra Club Atlanta, directed by Kristin Wendland (March 30, 2012, Emerson Concert Hall, Schwartz Center for Performing Arts), performing Desde el alma, a vals with the theme of a mother’s love,

The story of Desde el alma,

by Alberto Paz
Rosita Melo was born in Uruguay in 1897 but she lived in Argentina since age 2. She wrote the music for Desde El Alma, a Boston-style vals, at age 14 in 1911. In 1922 she married poet Victor Piuma Velez who wrote the first set of lyrics for Desde El Alma. It was a theme dedicated to the love of a mother. In 1948, Homero Manzi called to tell them that he was interested in including the song in his movie Pobre mi madre querida [My Poor Beloved Mother], but with different lyrics as demanded by the movie script. This would not affect the copyright ownership of the song. Piuma Velez and Rosita Melo opposed the idea, and requested that if Manzi wrote new lyrics, Piuma Velez’s name should be included as co-author. Manzi agreed, the lyrics became famous and the vals, already a classic became universally famous.

The Boston-vals is a style originated in the city of that name in the United States. It is associated with the piano and its characteristic is that the player does not mark the rhythm with the left hand as it is customary with that instrument. The rhythm is marked witht he right hand along with the melody. The left hand only marks the first note of the beat, the bass.

Grandson of Malcolm X Killed in Mexico City

Labor activist Miguel Suarez, who was traveling with Shabazz, told The Associated Press that his friend was beaten up at a bar near Plaza Garibaldi, a downtown square that is home to Mexico City’s mariachis.

Plaza Garibaldi is popular with tourists, but the pair were at a bar across the street from the plaza in an area of rough dive bars tourists are warned against going to.

Suarez said he and Shabazz were lured to the bar on Wednesday night by a young woman who made conversation with the American in English. The Palace bar is on one of Mexico City’s busiest avenues.

“We were dancing with the girls and drinking,” said Suarez. Then the owner of the bar wanted them to pay a $1,200 bar tab, alleging that they should pay for music, drinks and the girls’ companionship.

His family is claiming his remains. Let’a lift them in our prayers.

Former dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt is now the first person ever to be convicted of genocide in a court of his own country for the murders of Ixl Mayans:
A historic verdict in Guatemala
Genocidal general

Amid cheers from the gallery and chaos in the courtroom, the judge, Jazmín Barrios, part of a three-person tribunal, immediately ordered General Ríos Montt to be taken to jail. Until then, he had been under house arrest. His conviction came a day after he broke a silence that he had maintained throughout weeks of testimony. He had hotly declared his innocence, showing particular antipathy to the charge of genocide, saying he had never authorised attacks on any ethnic group,

However, in reaching her verdict, the judge pointed to evidence of a pattern of army massacres that she said appeared to follow plans that were ordered from the top. In proving genocide, she said there was evidence that 5.5% of the Ixil ethnic group had been wiped out by the army, even though she said they were civilian farmers. And she said General Ríos Montt, knew what was going on in the villages where the massacres and bombardments were taking place, and didn’t order a halt to them. However, she acquitted his co-defendant, the general’s former intelligence chief, José Rodríguez Sánchez.

In her remarks the judge dwelt on the brutality that led to the killing of 1,771 Ixils, relayed by almost 100 witnesses during the trial that started on March 19th. She spoke of babies being killed in the womb, of gang rapes by soldiers, and of mass graves showing evidence of violent death. She praised the Ixil witnesses for speaking out about their suffering, noting that the psychological scars still persisted, even among generations who were not alive when the atrocities were committed.

A civil war ravaged Guatemala for 36 years, from 1960 to 1996. PBS Newshour has a timeline of events. Violence and intimidation continue to be a major problem in political and civilian life.