Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Today’s top story:
Ortega Tries to Join the Axis of Evil
Nicaragua’s president employs street violence to do an end-run around the constitution and assure his election.
Nicaragua now hangs in the balance—and there is a lot at stake. Mr. Chávez wants a permanent, reliable ally in Central America. He hoped that would be Honduras. Now his chips are on Nicaragua, with the goal of making the Sandinista paradise part of the 21st-century Bolivarian utopia. Cuba, with its long history of repression, is a valuable partner in this effort. Its armed forces and elite guards are already working with the Chávez government as noted in a press conference last week by retired Venezuelan Gen. Antonio Rivero. Specifically he complained of “courses in sniper training in which Cuban professionals participate.”
If Mr. Ortega gets tenure in Nicaragua you can bet he will be eager to promote the values of his close allies, Cuba and Venezuela, on the isthmus in exchange for their help in holding onto power. Iran will also want to join the cause. An unclassified report from the Pentagon released this month says that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force “maintains operational capabilities around the world” and “recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.” Mr. Ortega re-established diplomatic relations with Iran after his election in 2006.
But Mr. Ortega’s term is up in January 2012, and according to Article 147 of the constitution he is barred from running for president again. For three years he tried to get Congress to change that. He failed. So in October he went to Nicaragua’s Supreme Court alleging that since congressmen can be re-elected, he’s the victim of discrimination.
The Sandinista judges on the court’s constitutional panel waited until the opposition judges had gone home for the day, called in three Sandinista judges from other court panels as alternates and held a vote. The court ruled the prohibition on re-election “inapplicable.” Mr. Ortega promptly declared himself a candidate for 2011.
Even so, the wannabe dictator still has a problem: He is unlikely to win a fair election. That’s why he wants to hand-pick the electoral council, which is charged with ensuring a level playing field and is up for renewal in June. And that’s why he is locked in mortal combat with Congress.
LATIN AMERICA
Via Katie, Photo Essay: 15 Stunning South America Pics by David Shepherd.
21st Century Socialism
The attempt to destroy democracy in Latin America.
ARGENTINA
China threatens retaliation in Argentina trade dispute-Xinhua; Brazil ‘Ready’ to Profit on China, Argentina Soy Spat
Mrs. K talks about moral and ethics by Teodoro Petkoff
BRAZIL
Petrobras to Spend $75 Billion on Oil Rigs by 2020, Folha Says
CHILE
El Financiamiento de la Reconstrucción de Chile
Rebuilding Chile
Taxing times
A balanced reconstruction plan
COLOMBIA
For Colombia, Ash Threatens to Stem Key Mother’s Day Export
Colombia condemns Venezuela’s FARC statues
Colombia’s Mockus Says He May Win Presidency in First Round
CUBA
Military delegation arrives in China after a two-week tour of NKorea, Russia, Vietnam
Dania Virgen García, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 4/25/10
Baseball Scout’s Ordeal: 13 Years in Cuban Prison
Ernesto Hernandez-Busto at the Human Rights and Cyber Dissidents Conference
ECUADOR
Ecuador: Dengue cases in El Oro doubling daily
Rafael Correa Warns on Attempts to Turn LatAm into a Middle East
HONDURAS
Honduras’s Removal of Manuel Zelaya Was No Coup, via La Gringa.
Resistencia and Democracy in Honduras
Lobos, Ovejas, Pastores y Cazadores
MEXICO
Arizona Does Federal Government’s Job
Drug war violence appears in Mexico’s northeast, near Texas border
Mexico hobbled in drug war by arrests that lead nowhere
Mexico’s population
When the niños run out
A falling birth rate, and what it means
NICARAGUA
Military coup vs Mob coup
Ortega’s Thugs Start Civil War In Nicaragua
PANAMA
Evac Americas
PARAGUAY
Paraguay invites UN and IAPA to analyze nation’s press freedom
Paraguay enacts emergency powers to go after rebels
PERU
Railways in Peru
On the track of a monopoly
The battle to reach Machu Picchu
Jaime Bayly amenazado de muerte,
Arte Para la Gente: Peru’s powerful poet, video in Spanish,
PUERTO RICO
US detains ‘no-fly’ passenger in Puerto Rico
VENEZUELA
Top Venezuelan Army General Resigns to Protest Cuban Influence
Chavez revolution losing steam in Venezuelan slums
Facing a test in September legislative elections, Chavez risks losing ground in his main bastions of support where garbage piles up, sewers leak and running water becomes scarce higher up the hillsides.
Chavez calls Colombia’s Santos threat to region
Lines, shortages, rationing and those wonderful things the Chavez revolution has given us
IMMIGRATION
Courtesy of Arizona, immigration moves higher on Obama’s agenda
The week’s posts and podcasts:
Argentina, USA
Argentina, USA
Iranian shock troops in Venezuela
Hillary speaks the truth, for once
