The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
The Argentina Scenario
The Obama administration’s familiar economic mistakes

Henry de Jesús López, 41 years old, was captured Tuesday near Buenos Aires in an operation that involved Argentina’s intelligence service working alongside the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Colombia’s national police, officials said.
…
Mr. López’s stays in Venezuela and Argentina fit into a trend in which Colombian drug lords are setting up shop in neighboring countries to escape the pressure of Colombian security forces, which have a strong track record in fighting the country’s top drug cartels. Venezuelan police in September arrested Daniel Barrera, another alleged top Colombian drug trafficker who had been living in Venezuela for years.

Some Colombian cartels are now sending their cocaine shipments first to countries such as Argentina or Brazil before moving them to the U.S. or Europe, police say.

Sovereign debt
Hold-outs upheld
A court ruling against Argentina has implications for other governments

Bad Omens for Greece in Argentina

Weather and the Wheat Police

BRAZIL
A Soap Set in the Favelas

Intellectual property in Brazil
Owning ideas
Getting serious about patents

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s Market Watchdog Seizes Brokerage

COSTA RICA
Body of missing Mexican reporter found in in Costa Rica

CUBA
When Sandy Hit Cuba
The regime in Havana would rather watch the Cuban people annihilated than risk losing its lock on power.

With the Cubans in Switzerland – Part I, Part 2, Part 3.

The Ballot Box, The Stretcher

File this under “Scams,” disaster relief folder, number 43,974,734,291

On the Brink: 50 Year Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis
A recounting of the 13 days when the world stood on the precipice of nuclear war.