ARGENTINA
Fifty ways to screw your country: Argentina Applies Law That Jails Hoarders as Bread Surges
Mothers will now collect welfare money instead of fathers in Argentina
BOLIVIA
Michael Moynihan brings out the big stick: Edward Snowden’s Parasites: Evo Morales, Julian Assange & More
The NSA drama has reeled in a host of global grandstanders desperate for relevancy. Michael Moynihan on the Bolivian farce, the WikiLeaks sideshow, and other yanqui ‘victims.’
Russia’s Plan Bolivia – drug wars and oil
McDonald’s closing all restaurants in Bolivia as nation rejects fast food
BRAZIL
Ever wonder why 21st century socialism is winning so many hearts and minds in Latrine America?
Custody case strands Mass. mom, child in Brazil
Getting Brazil on a winning streak
Brazilian Students Dig for Corruption
Student protesters at a public university in Rio de Janeiro are teaching each other how to expose data about the city’s transport system:
CHILE
Post-Coup Egypt’s Only Way Out Is The Chilean Model
COLOMBIA
‘World’s biggest cocaine dealer’ deported to Italy
COSTA RICA
You have to pass it to know what’s in it? Costa Rica ‘accidentally’ legalises gay marriage
Conservative lawmakers voted for the bill to pass but later realised that a change in the language could allow gay marriage.
CUBA
Fewer political arrests in Cuba in June, but nothing has changed
1964 and the day we left in Cuba
18 members of Cuba’s Ladies in White resign over alleged infiltrator (h/t Babalu)
GRENADA
2013 Budget Statement; the country is broke
GUATEMALA
Gangs Target Bus Drivers in Guatemala
JAMAICA
The Shetlander who mapped Jamaica
LATIN AMERICA
Iran in Latin America: State Department Ignores Allies
Indeed, the report paints a rosy picture, suggesting that Iran’s influence in the Western Hemisphere is in decline. This narrative is contradicted by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s testimony last year warning about Iranian ambitions to establish operations in the Americas and strike the continental United States.
Additionally, the general prosecutor of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) bombings in Buenos Aires, Alberto Nisman, issued a report that directly conflicts with the State Department’s narrative. An intense multi-year investigation went into Nisman’s report, which detailed how Iran and Iranian agents have used their assets in the Western Hemisphere to conduct terrorist actions against the United States and its friends and allies. For example, the AMIA building in Buenos Aires was destroyed in 1994 by Iranian-backed terrorists. In 2011, Iranian intelligence agents attempted to coordinate with Mexican drug cartels to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States on American soil.
Nisman’s report painstakingly details how Iran has also been engaged in a widespread effort to infiltrate governments and public institutions throughout the Western Hemisphere. These outposts work toward radicalizing individuals across Latin America, destabilizing U.S. allies in the region, and influencing regional governments.
Mexican Police Chief Was Killed By ATF “Fast And Furious” Rifle
PARAGUAY
Cartes changing Mercosur position
PERU
Make sure you have your visas: Driving the Interoceanic Highway Through Peru
Ten days of hairpin turns, Inca cities, horseback rides and high-altitude villages along South America’s Route 66.
PUERTO RICO
US pledges $2.25M to help improve traffic safety in Puerto Rico
VENEZUELA
He better bring his own toilet paper: Maduro offers Snowden the world and the sun.
The week’s posts and podcast:
Cuba: The British man falsely accused of spying
Where oh where will Edward Snowden go?
Venezuela: A circus without a ringmaster
Ecuador: The curious case of the combative consul
Note to Cristina: Don’t drink and tweet!
Fukuyama on Brazil’s demonstrations
Putin, Maduro, and Snowden: A deal in the making?
Podcast:
The Babalu Blog @ 10 plus US-Latin America stories
From the Colombia file via France24:
“An Italian mafia capo alleged to be the biggest cocaine trafficker in the world will be deported to Italy on Saturday, a day after being arrested in a Colombian shopping mall, prosecutors said.”
1 day….!