ARGENTINA
SPAIN: VICTIMS FRANCOIST CRIMES TURN TO ARGENTINEAN COURTS (h/t Gates of Vienna)
Cortázar: “Walking in Paris Means Moving Forward Toward Myself”
BRAZIL
Via Instapundit, Rio in chaos from record rains.
Rescuers Work to Save Scores Buried in a Brazil Landslide.
Brazil searches for answers as flood toll climbs
Oil policy in Brazil
Raining on Rio’s parade
An Olympic city faces a sudden loss of oil revenue
Forget it, Jake, it’s Braziltown.
CARIBBEAN
The Caribbean brain drain
Nursing a grievance
Raise wages, or lose staff
Eruptions from Caribbean abyss throw up secrets of ocean life, via Theo.
CHILE
Chile’s wine industry
If one green bottle
A propaganda war over earthquake damage to wineries
COLOMBIA
Security: Net tightens on Farc but the war is far from won
Colombia’s Defense Minister asserts that negotiations with the FARC will take place only after they FARC’s defeat: “Negociaciones de paz con las FARC se conseguirán cuando estén derrotadas”
CUBA
Thanks To Bill Clinton & Janet Reno
Cuba Has A New Communist Footsoldier
Cuban diplomat in Mexico defects to the US
Top Army officer is in Moscow for talks
After Fidel and Raul,ECUADOR
niv. of Illinois Gives ‘Exceptional Achievement’ Award to Ecuador’s Terrorist Sponsoring President
Ecuador’s Chávez
Another Latin dictator gets a pass from the Obama administration.
EL SALVADOR
Participant in 1980 assassination of Romero in El Salvador provides new details
MEXICO
Explosive device damages US consulate in Nuevo Laredo
Prosigue la violencia en México
Click on map to see full view “This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR“:
This inability of the cartels to reach a state of balance is due to several factors. First is the change of products. Mexican drug cartels have long moved marijuana into the United States, but the increase in the amount of cocaine being moved through Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s changed the dynamic — cocaine is far more compact and far more lucrative than marijuana. Cocaine is also a “strategic narcotic,” one that has a transnational supply chain far longer than drugs like marijuana or methamphetamine, and that long supply chain is difficult to guard. Because of this, organizations involved in the cocaine trade tend to be more aggressive and violent than those that smuggle drugs with a shorter supply chain like marijuana and Mexican opium.
At first, Mexican cartels like the Guadalajara cartel only smuggled cocaine through their smuggling routes into the United States on behalf of the more powerful Colombian cartels, which were seeking alternate routes to replace the Caribbean smuggling routes that had been largely shut down by American air and sea interdiction efforts. Over time, however, these Mexican cartels grew richer and more powerful from the proceeds of the cocaine trade, and they began to take on an expanded role in cocaine trafficking. The efforts of the Colombian government to dismantle the large (and violent) organizations like the Medellin and Cali cartels also allowed the Mexicans to assume more control over the cocaine supply line. Today, Mexican cartels control much of the cocaine supply chain, with their influence reaching down into South America and up into the United States. This expanded control of the supply chain brought with it a larger slice of the profits for the Mexican cartels, so they have become even more rich and powerful.
NICARAGUA
Nicaraguan President Opens Door to Normalizing Ties with Honduras
PUERTO RICO
Bank failures and Puerto Rico
VENEZUELA
Seeing April 11th with Fresh Eyes
Venezuela Has Become a Cuban Puppet State
Harder to write about Venezuela as its leader and the country become more bizarre by the day