The Labor Day Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

First the Chong Chong Gang, then the Mu Du Bong, now the Haddad 1: Weapons smuggling to and from rogue states.

ARGENTINA
Menem said no: Argentina Former Prez Refuses to Testify in AMIA Bombing Cover Up

Menem refused to testify on grounds that he was under obligation to maintain ‘state secrets’ which only the Senate could lift.

Argentine Jewish leader: What happened to Alberto Nisman?

Lengthy but must-read: Inside the Spyware Campaign Against Argentine Troublemakers, including Lanata and Nisman.

Argentina orders HSBC to replace local bossArgentina’s central bank has ordered HSBC to replace its chief executive in the country within 24 hours and accused the bank of failing to prevent tax evasion and money laundering.

BRAZIL
Raid in Sao Paulo discovers ISIS money-laundering network: Polícia Federal descobre rede de apoiadores do Estado Islâmico em São Paulo. O achado assusta. Ainda mais porque terrorismo, no Brasil, não é crime

Desperate times, desperate movesBeset by dismal economic data, Dilma Rousseff tosses Congress a challenge

On August 31st Dilma Rousseff, their president, sent Congress a budget for 2016 with a gaping primary deficit (before interest payments) of 30.5 billion reais ($8 billion), or 0.5% of GDP, challenging its members to close the gap. It was a break with the sound-money practices that have underpinned Brazil’s economy. It was, some critics say, illegal. Certainly nothing similar has happened since at least 2000, when Fernando Henrique Cardoso, then the president, transformed public finances.

On a charitable view, Ms Rousseff was shocking legislators into making hard decisions rather than simply blocking her fiscal proposals. A harsher reading is that she does not know how to lead Brazil out of recession.

Rio attempts to tackle widespread homelessness ahead of OlympicsAn estimated 5,600 people live on the streets of Rio, of which more than 340 are children

CHILE
Chile on Path to “Modest” Recovery, Central Bank Says

COLOMBIA
COLOMBIAN MAN DETAILS SEXUAL ASSAULT BY VENEZUELAN SOLDIERS DURING DEPORTATION

CUBA
Russian Spy Ship Targets U.S. Nuclear Submarines, Then Heads to Cuba

Hope in change: August was worst month for political repression in Cuba since June 2014

ECUADOR
Ecuadorian Watchdog Warns Journos, Activists of Spyware Attacks. Emails Circulate the Same Infected Files That Targeted Nisman in Argentina

Canada’s Top Court Rules in Favor of Ecuador Villagers in Chevron Case. The case will go back to an Ontario court, where the two sides will argue over a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron

EL SALVADOR
MS-13 GANG MEMBER IN U.S. ILLEGALLY WANTED FOR SALVADORAN PROSECUTOR’S MURDER

GUATEMALA
What’s Happening in Guatemala?With its government about to fall, Guatemala is finally questioning the neoliberal orthodoxy of the post–Cold War world. Not that they actually tried it.

MEXICO
Excuse me while I whip this out: *GRAPHIC CONTENT* WATCH ‘DISABLED’ MAN DISPLAY HIS 19-INCH PENIS

PANAMA
Leaks Sink Deadline for Panama Canal Expansion
All Hands on Deck after Structural Flaws Circulate on Social Media

PARAGUAY
In Paraguay’s remote north guerrillas are still at large, armed and dangerous. The Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) have killed more than 50 people in the last two years but some wonder if the government is really trying to defeat them

PERU
Newly buzzing Lima vies with Peru’s ancient sites for visitor attention. Tourists who once made a beeline for Machu Picchu are now finding the contemporary art and food scene of Peru’s capital, Lima, as much of a draw

PUERTO RICO
Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton lock horns over Puerto Rico’s financesPresidential candidates offer opposing solutions to commonwealth’s $72bn debt, with Democrat backing bankruptcy status. Rubio:

“I don’t believe Chapter 9 would solve Puerto Rico’s problems,” he said. “I believe what would solve Puerto Rico’s problems is the same thing that would solve Washington’s problems, and that is to restructure the way government spends its money.

“No organisation, whether it’s a government, a company or a family, can survive long-term spending more money than it takes in.”

Aides: Clinton raised up to $500,000 during Puerto Rico trip

You can’t cure stupid: Puerto Rico Senate Declares Spanish over English as First Official Language

VENEZUELA
Maduro castiga a Colombia para proteger al Cartel de los Soles [Maduro punishes Colombia to protect the Cartel of the Suns.]

Cartel de los Soles busca jefatura del Ministerio de Defensa en Venezuela. Cáncer de Vladimir Padrino López genera dudas sobre si continuará como Ministro de Defensa. Diosdado Cabello y Tarek El Aissami compiten por colocar sus fichas en el cargo. Los dos potenciales candidatos están siendo investigados en EEUU por narcotráfico

Read more here:

Why is China Bankrolling Venezuela?

Whatever Beijing’s motivations, the practical effect of said loans, according to Ellis [Evan Ellis of the U.S. Army War College], has “enabled countries such as Venezuela to continue as de facto sanctuaries for criminal and insurgent groups, and also, as points of entry into the region for Russia, Iran and other actors with potentially hostile intentions toward the United States.”

Woman, 80, trampled to death in Venezuelan supermarket stampede. Rush for subsidized goods sees 75 people injured as thousands besiege supermarket

The week’s posts and podcast:
The mysterious Bolivian ship and its tons of weapons UPDATED

Guatemala: President resigns, is charged and jailed

Labor Day weekend film review: Wild about Wild Tales

Brazil: U.S. fast food chains expanding

Venezuela: Well on the road from “malgoverned space” to failed state

Haiti: Hillary’s “campaign against the negative stories concerning our involvement in Haiti”

Breaking: Obama Clinches Vote to Secure Iran Nuclear Deal

Pedro Pan exhibit and panel coming up

Wikileaks is a Front for Russian Intelligence

Guatemala: Central America’s Next Flashpoint

Chile: Bachelet’s proposal for failure