The first Monday in May Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

LATIN AMERICA
Chávez says that Cuba helps Venezuela defend itself from U.S., Colombian malice

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s presidential election
The maths of a Green revolution
Antanas Mockus is in many ways the opposite of Álvaro Uribe, the popular outgoing president. So why are the polls saying the upstart might replace him?

Economy, Not Security, Is Key Colombia Issue

Five Colombian troops killed in minefield

CUBA
Omar Gude Pérez, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 5/2/10

What Cuba can teach us about health care

The brevity of the slogans

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s President ‘Freeing’ Central Bank Funds for Citizens

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa said he will seek to change the central bank’s accounting rules in a bid to free capital needed to invest in the country’s development.

The government is seeking to change accounting rules regulating how the bank reports its reserve funds, Correa said in his weekly televised address to the nation, broadcast today.

Ecuador, which has defaulted on $3.2 billion of international bonds since Correa took office in 2007, is trying to plug a budget deficit the Finance Ministry estimates will reach $4.2 billion this year. The president of the country’s private bank association, Cesar Robalino, said March 29 the government was using central bank reserves to finance spending.

Ecuador’s new constitution, approved in a 2008 referendum, stripped the central bank of its autonomy.

“Why does a central bank that doesn’t even have a national currency need $2 billion in capital,” asked Correa, a 47-year-old former economics professor. “We are freeing the funds for the benefit of the Ecuadorean people.”

Yeah, right.

GRENADA
Grenada labour minister proposes extended weekend, shift work

HONDURAS
Journalists Killed in Honduras: The Myths and the Truth

The egg assembly line

MEXICO
Mr. Calderon, Tear Down this Wall

Mexico Accused of Human Rights Abuses in Amnesty International Report

Border disorder

Mexican officials condemn Arizona’s tough new immigration law

Italian in Mexican ambush safe and sound
Gunmen kill two in attack on humanitarian convoy

Inside Mexico, Illegal Aliens Get No Breaks

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
The Netherlands Antilles
The joy of six
Curaçao savours the prospect of autonomy

NICARAGUA
Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua
The show goes on
More blows against democracy

PANAMA
Police Seize 1.5 Tons of Weapons in Dolega, via Chiriquí Chatter

PUERTO RICO
Democrats ‘rigging’ Puerto Rico path to statehood?
House votes on option for island to become 51st state

US regulators seize three Puerto Rico banks

VENEZUELA
Deadly New Russian Weapon Hides In Shipping Container

A Russian company is marketing a devastating new cruise missile system which can be hidden inside a shipping container, giving any merchant vessel the capability to wipe out an aircraft carrier.

Potential customers for the formidable Club-K system include Kremlin allies Iran and Venezuela, say defense experts. They worry that countries could pass on the satellite-guided missiles, which are very hard to detect, to terrorist groups.

Oil-rich Venezuela gripped by economic crisis

Chávez Decaffeinates Venezuela
Coffee shortages predictably follow his price controls.

Housewives, bankers battle in Chavez militia

PRIMERO DE MAYO DESDE EL BARRIO (o “así se pudre un país…”)

PSUV: towards the Leninist model (with pictures)

Chávez, candanguero

While Venezuelan militia are trained to fire machine guns to the cry, “Kill the gringos,” Chávez asks Americans to wash their butts, again:

IMMIGRATION
AZTLAN ASTROTURF – MAY DAY MARCH in DENVER

“Our Gloria” Leads our Dear, DEAR “Latino brothers and sisters” in Los Angeles May Day March! (UPDATED)

HUMOR
Revisiting the Isla Presidencial:

(My apologies: the video starts automatically. You can watch it here)

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Great news from Colombia
VIDEO: Now Chavez wants Fidel and Evo to tweet, while Venezuela’s in ruins
Mexico’s illegal alien laws
Cuban blogger sentenced to prison: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Remember Noriega? He’s off to France
Cuba: Dania Virgen Garcia and the Ladies In White
Chavez as a security threat