The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ECUADOR
VIDEO starts immediately: Rescued tourists describe Ecuador kidnap ordeal
A British and Australian tourist kidnapped in Ecuador while visiting a remote nature reserve in the Amazon jungle speak following their rescue by Ecuadorean authorities on Saturday.

GUATEMALA
Asylum Granted to Guatemalan Massacre Survivor

GUYANA
Sunday Reminisces: Dinner and Guns at the Whorehouse with my Wife

MEXICO
The Paradoxes of Felipe Calderón
The Mexican president who fought the drug war leaves behind a growing economy and says the U.S. should consider ‘market alternatives.’

Univision: The untold story of what ‘Fast and Furious’ wrought in Mexico
Sunday evening, Univision airs an investigative report on how the botched ‘Fast and Furious’ program resulted in a deadly toll in Mexico when US authorities allowed guns to ‘walk’ across the border. Instapundit,

I don’t think this operation was “botched” or “deeply flawed.” I think it worked as planned, except for the part about being caught. Still, even if you aren’t troubled by the too-close nexus with the Administration’s preferred gun-control narrative, there’s this: “In order to reach the target of the operation, which was identifying the drug traffickers who were using the guns, [ATF agents] were waiting for the guns to be used. And how are guns used in Mexico? Killing people. I talked to an ATF agent who said there was no other way to explain it.”

Bullets Follow Guns to Mexico
Ammunition Is Easier to Buy and Hide Than Weapons; Smuggling Is Harder to Stop

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Ex-Senator Jorge de Castro Font Pleads Guilty to 93 Charges

Puerto Rico jury rejects death penalty in drug dealer case

Puerto Rico First Lady Luce Fortuño to stump for Romney along I-4 in Florida.

VENEZUELA
Venezuelan Elections: sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words

Venezuelan Bond Soar On Higher Probability Of A Capriles Victory

Chávez accused of election dirty tricks

A Thug’s Comeuppance? Hugo Loses The Lead

Breaking new ground for the future
Since his election in the primaries as the candidate for the opposition Unified Democratic Panel (MUD), he started a frantic nationwide tour for Venezuelans to know him “face to face”

Venezuela’s presidential election
The autocrat and the ballot box
A united opposition and discontent over government mismanagement mean a genuine electoral challenge for Hugo Chávez

A Serious Challenger for Chávez
Henrique Capriles has been drawing roaring crowds. Hugo Chávez? Not so much.

Video in Spanish of yesterday’s Capriles rally (via Carlos); slide show here [VIDEO MOVED TO BELOW THE FOLD SINCE IT STARTS RIGHT AWAY]