Following Justin Bieber’s acts of vandalism, Colombian and Brazilian authorities are having to deal with an outburst of graffiti. Maybe they ought to ban the little twerp from coming back, or better yet, make him clean it up with his own two hands.
ARGENTINA
Drugs in Argentina
Southward marching powder
Authorities have focused on seizing drugs, not dismantling the organisations that peddle them. “This strategy is futile,” says former under-secretary of security for Buenos Aires province, Diego Gorgal. “It doesn’t change the supply, demand, or price of drugs.” It is also poorly executed. According to the latest International Narcotics Control Strategy Report produced by the US State Department, Argentine security forces seized 12 tonnes of cocaine in 2010; in the first six months of 2012 they confiscated only 3.4 tonnes. Operation Northern Shield, an initiative to improve Argentina’s border security through the installation of seven radars in the north, has flopped. Only three have been activated. Their backup? Forty-year-old aircraft.
Video: NSFW Pro-abortion and gay activists attack the Catholic cathedral in San Juan (h/t Gates of Vienna)
BOLIVIA
Chile will not cede territory to Bolivia: FM
BRAZIL
Fire ravages Oscar Niemeyer building
Authorities in Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, fight a major blaze at a landmark building designed by modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer, The Latin America Memorial.
CHILE
Chile’s Bachelet Must Balance Growth and Spending
CUBA
Reuters (Poor and Irresponsible) “Analysis” of Cuba’s Banking Woes
23 UNPACU activists arrested in violent crackdown Santiago de Cuba
Arms Smuggling versus Equestrian Tourism: Which matters most?
Thanksgiving Terror From Friends of The Council on Foreign Relations
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Gay U.S. ambassador faces backlash in Dominican Republic
ECUADOR
U.S. trial ends over Ecuador pollution judgment against Chevron: The case is Chevron Corp v. Steven Donziger et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-0691.
A look at the traders behind the China-Ecuador-U.S. oil triangle
HONDURAS
Elections in Honduras Advantage, the old guard
Honduras ruling party hope wins presidency on vow to tame gangs
Jamaican authorities seize 3,300 warheads, and ‘Ja Fighting A War’ (h/t Gates of Vienna)
MEXICO
EPN’s first year
PANAMA
Update on the Chong Chon Gang: Panama Reverses: North Korean Crew Not Freed
Organized crime prosecutor Nahaniel Murgas first said only the ship’s captain, first mate and a Korean official who watched the crew would continue to be detained and face charges of arms trafficking. He appeared later in the afternoon at the base where the crew members were being held and changed his version, saying only the ship was legally free to go. He left without further comment.
North Korea agrees fine with Panama for ship’s release
PARAGUAY
Paraguay senator loses immunity after public pressure
PERU
Peru’s government Partners in crime A spy casts a shadow on the president
PUERTO RICO
Research and Markets: Puerto Rico Oil and Gas Markets Outlook to 2025
URUGUAY
Mientras dice que “no defiende la marihuana”, Mujica pide que ‘el mundo ayude a Uruguay’ en su ‘experimento’ con marihuana.
Wine Finds: Malbec from Uruguay is a restrained treat
VENEZUELA
Maduro’s government uses ambulances for posting flyers while hospitals lack ambulance service:
gobierno de maduro usa ambulancias para pegar propaganda y los hospitales sin ambulancias.- pic.twitter.com/YR6zhcrr3w @CNNEE @TNT24ie
— German (@GerCortez) November 27, 2013
It’s [sic] means this entire thing, the whole of the macroeconomic mess, all the crazy dislocations of the last few years, the raspaíto, the impossible-to-find milk, the shoving matches for perniles, the cars that suddenly jump up in price as they roll out of the showroom, all of it (and, much worse, all of what’s to come) all of it is – to a much greater extent than almost anyone realizes – just a knock-on effect from the financial chasm left in PDVSA’s finances by the gasoline subsidy!
China + oil = deal CITIC Mining Survey Agreement With Venezuela: Another Boondoggle?
The week’s posts:
Venezuela: “21st Century socialism” = same old Communism
Venezuela less influential in LatAm, says Oppenheimer
Brazil: Will the stadium meet the deadline? You betcha.
Ecuador: Oil bidders not quite chomping at the bit
Shearith Israel’s Thanksgiving
Cuba closing its consulates in the US
Mexico: Teen hit man sent back to USA
Ecuador: How China took control of Ecuador’s oil
In case you missed it, Che in 10 quotes
At Da Tech Guy’s Blog: Colombia: The controversy started by . . . Justin Bieber?
UPDATE:
Linked to by Devil’s Excrement. Thank you!
“It is a testament to President Obama and the U.S. Senate that the sexual orientation of these ambassadors is irrelevant to their qualifications for their posts,” the campaign said.
Does that work in reverse in a politically correct world? Or is that the qualification?
Mientras dice que “no defiende la marihuana”, Mujica pide que ‘el mundo ayude a Uruguay’ en su ‘experimento’ con marihuana.
The world should help Uruguay in its “experiment” with pot? What is President Mujica smoking?
Where have we previously heard the exhortation to “help”? I am reminded of those who thought that the outside world should help fund Allende’s “experiment” with socialism. After all, hyperinflation and a collapse of 25% in agricultural production, among the consequences of Allende’s “experiment” with socialism, were just temporary blips which could be solved by handing over money to Allende’s government.
As former president Luis Alberto LaCalle said, “one doesn’t experiment with one’s country.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plrWzqWB4gM