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
ARGENTINA
Argentina’s Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo accuse journalists in mock trial
Antonini Wilson dice que era “vox pópuli” que el Gobierno argentino cobraba sobornos
BOLIVIA
Bolivia Takes Over More Firms
BRAZIL
Brazil’s Fraga Says Government Bailouts, Spending ‘Not Healthy’
What’s Good for Petrobras Proves Bad for Shareholders
CHILE
Carta destacada de la semana: Mapocho Navegable
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
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
MEXICO
Mr. Calderon, Tear Down this Wall
Mexico Accused of Human Rights Abuses in Amnesty International Report
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)
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
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
At Real Clear World:
Chavez Tweets!
At Latineos:
Walking along Cortázar
Re the Madres holding a mock trial in Buenos Aires. Haven’t they heard? The milicos stepped down nearly 30 years ago. Many high level milicos have been jailed.
Perhaps the Madres should ask questions about the Montoneros who have worked in the Nestor and Evita III administrations,in rather high posts. If the Montoneros et al hadn’t done their bombing, killing, and kidnapping during a time of a democratically elected government, the milicos would never have taken over.
Gringo,
And don’t forget that Cristina and Ernesto are Montonero alumni.
Nestor has denied being one. If he didn’t inhale, he definitely had the cigarette in his hand. Leftist Peronista before 1976. OTOH, there were many flavors of that particular insane species. At times my take on it is that if he didn’t partake in the kidnappings et al, he knew people who did, whether or not he was formally a Montonero.
But one argument against the above is that he is still alive. The milicos took whoever was in the address book of a captured terrorist, and proceeded to kill those who were in the address book. Or at least that is what I heard during the junta from someone who was not a leftist. If any of Nestor’s friends were doing dirty stuff, and got captured by the milicos, the milicos would have grabbed him off the address book.
What I find repugnant about Nestor and Evita III is their refusal to acknowledge what I wrote about in the above comment: the milicos would never have assumed power were it not for the gross misbehaviors of the left.
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2003/05/06/um/m-555412.htm