Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

October 22, 2012 By Fausta

The Zombie Fidel Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerNo doubt Fidel Castro will die, and keeping track of the rumors has become a pastime not only for all Cubans but also for all Latin America watchers – including the ones, like myself, who bring up the Zombie Fidel. And Cubans are restless.

Mary O’Grady writes, The Castros in Winter
Cuba will soon make it easier for some to legally travel abroad. This is not a sign of liberalization.

This at first sounds like progress. But it doesn’t come close to setting Cubans free to roam the world. Citizens will still be required to secure a passport validation stamp, and for many Cubans the costs will add up to more than the fee for the white card. The stamp can also be withheld at the discretion of the regime.

As spelled out in the law, scientists, doctors and anyone deemed to be of high value to the state will have a hard time getting permission to travel—and even if they get it, they will have to wait five years between filing an application and actually boarding a plane. An editorial in the Cuban state newspaper last week said that the regime intends to protect itself from “the theft of talent applied by the powerful,” i.e., the U.S. The law also stipulates a catchall rejection category marked “defense and national security interests.” Translation: Nobody gets out without the dictator’s blessing.

Video:

Meanwhile, you can’t make this up: Hotel official: Fidel Castro appears in public

HAVANA — Fidel Castro has appeared in public for the first time in months, a top hotel executive told The Associated Press on Sunday, challenging persistent rumors that the aging revolutionary is near death.

The 86-year-old leader dropped off a Venezuelan guest at the Hotel Nacional on Saturday afternoon, then stayed for about half an hour to chat with hotel staff, commercial director Yamila Fuster said.

The “guest” is supposedly former Venezuelan vice-president Elías Jaua, who showed (but didn’t release) to the media a snapshot (h/t Miguel) of the blessed event:


Así fue la reunión de Elías Jaua con Fidel Castro by Globovision

Here’s the photo (Jaua’s finger holding it),

ARGENTINA
Argentine politics
Young guns

Colombia, Argentina Trade Barbs on Economic Might
Colombia is bragging that its economy has surpassed Argentina to become is the third-largest in Latin America, marking a turnaround for a country that until a few years ago had its reputation mauled by violence.

Free Postage! Mail your Ballot!

BOLIVIA
Justicia para Juan Kudelka . Learn more about him in Silvio Canto’s podcast.

BRAZIL
Brazilian newspapers pull out of Google News
Brazilian newspapers decide to pull out of Google News, saying the search engine refuses to pay for content and takes traffic away from their websites.

Con L de Lumbre en los aparejos

este sábado, la influyente revista Veja publicó que uno de los condenados, el publicista Marcos Valerio Fernandes (cuyo grupo publicitario pagaba a los diputados y a la tesorería del partido de Lula con prestamos fraudulentos de bancos estatales), ha dicho que “Lula era el jefe” de toda la trama que juzga el STF. “Todo lo que hacía era del conocimiento de Lula”, lanzó. Aunque el abogado de Valerio negó la declaración (una aparente amenaza cifrada), ésta podría ser la primera acusación directa en contra del ex presidente.

CHILE
Chile will request the United States extradite an ex-military commander over the killings of two U.S. reporters

COLOMBIA
Security in Colombia
This time is different
A promising new round of peace talks with the FARC begins

Colombia Peace Talks Have Bumpy Kickoff
Colombia’s main guerrilla army used the opening salvo of peace talks to attack some of the country’s most prominent oil and mining firms, suggesting the Marxist group will try to use the meetings to assail Colombia’s market-friendly economic policies.

CUBA
All will be revealed…

The very, very slow thaw of the half-century U.S.-Cuba standoff

Travel from Cuba
Let my people go

Travel and Immigration Reform: Happy or Satisfied

Cuban Regime Will Open it Doors, To Its Own People

In the short-term, the Party is trying playing the immigration card a few weeks before the U.S. presidential election. Why? In part, because it can. They think they can influence votes in South Florida’s large Cuban-American community by using the immigration/family reunification talisman to divide voters in Miami. I can think of at least one Congressional race where this could become an minor issue, but it is mostly quixotic.

Feds: Remittance firm at center of Medicare-Cuba laundering scam
Federal prosecutors named Caribbean Transfers as the financial backer that sent millions of dollars to Cuba as part of a Medicare-fraud scheme.

An offshore remittance company called Caribbean Transfers financed a complex money-laundering ring that moved more than $30 million in stolen Medicare money from South Florida into Cuba’s banking system, federal authorities said Thursday.

The revelation surfaced in the widening case of a now-convicted check-cashing store owner who was first believed to be at the center of the federal case. It marked the first time that investigators traced tainted Medicare proceeds to Cuba’s state-controlled bank.

Rafael Matos Montes de Oca, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 10/21/12

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Two more Germans held over Dominican Republic ‘sect’ shootout
The Dominican Republic authorities have arrested two more German suspected doomsday cult members over a deadly shootout earlier this week.

HONDURAS
Heist in Honduras leaves 4 dead

MEXICO


Mexico’s drug lords
Kingpin bowling
The most wanted men in Mexico are tumbling. Will crime follow suit?

Mexico goes to the opera, and likes what it hears

Breaking Mexico out of middle income trap
Telecom systems reform a good first step

PANAMA
Protests in Panama duty-free zone
Demonstrators in Panama clash with police after a new law is approved allowing the sale of state-owned land in the free trade zone of Colon.

1 Dead, 9 wounded in Panama protests

Security Message for U.S. Citizens

PERU
Fujimori wants a pardon: Pardon me
A request for clemency puts the president in a bind

PUERTO RICO
La Comay makes the news: Puerto Rico enthralled by cheeky newscaster puppet

Madre Naturaleza Decide Que Hombre Que Saltó De La Estratósfera Es El Único Macho En El Mundo

URUGUAY
Abortion in Uruguay
Still leading the way

VENEZUELA
What Chávez inherits from Chávez

If only we could be as efficient as the soviets…

Now what? The society we have

How The Venezuelan Presidential Vote Was Won

Capriles: Tuvimos que luchar contra el gasto público más alto de la historia de Venezuela

The week’s posts,
Cuba: FIDEL CASTRO DEAD?

Bring out Zombie Fidel, again!

Cuba: If it’s October, the rumors must be flying

Cuba: Fidel and the Nazis

[Opening paragraph re-redacted for clarity.]


Share

Filed Under: abortion, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Communism, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Latin America, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog

Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • John on Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com