Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

Archives for March 2016

By

Argentina: Bye-bye Telesur

The Macri administration is ending its 20% stake in Telesur, the propaganda cable network started by Hugo Chavez:
Argentina pulls out of leftist TV network Telesur.The pro-business government said it was shut out of financial and editorial decisions and said the leftist-leaning network blacklisted alternative viewpoints

The country is leaving because it was shut out of financial and editorial decisions, said Argentinian Minister of Communication Hermann Lombardi.

“Argentina was a partner prohibited from sharing our view,” he told radio station Vorterix. “It’s an interesting South American television project, but there was no pluralism at Telesur.”

Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro threw a snit

“The same actors who disappeared 30,000 young people in Argentina are trying to disappear Telesur,” Maduro said of the conservative Argentine government that announced Sunday it would pull its nearly 20 percent stake out of the Spanish-language network.

Maduro, whose government is broke, is now stuck footing a larger share of Telesur expenses.

In other news, Argentina Senate Approves Plan to End Bondholder Dispute. President Mauricio Macri is finding allies in opposition-dominated Congress

The Senate voted 54 to 16 to let Mr. Macri issue $12 billion in bonds and use part of that to pay $4.65 billion to the hedge funds, which had sued Argentina for not paying out on bonds they bought after the country defaulted on its debt 15 years ago.

The vote, the last domestic hurdle Mr. Macri faced in making a deal, allows Argentina to tap global credit markets for the first time since 2001.

Two good news in one day.

Share

By

Cuba: Obama attacked with racist slur

El Nuevo Herald reports in Spanish,

Nada menos que con el titular “Negro, ¿tú eres sueco?” publicó el periódico Tribuna de La Habana un artículo de opinión la semana pasada en el que recrimina a Obama por incitar a la “rebeldía y el desorden” en su discurso televisado desde el Gran Teatro de La Habana, en el que llamó a Raúl Castro a no temer “a las diferentes voces del pueblo cubano y a su capacidad de hablar, de reunirse y de votar por sus líderes”.

[With the headline, “Black man, are you a Swede?” the Tribuna of La Habana newspaper published an op-ed last week rebuking Obama for inciting “rebellion and disorder” in his televised speech at the Gran Teatro de La Habana, in which he called on Raul Castro to not be afraid of “the different voices of the Cuban people, and its ability to speak out, gather and vote for its leaders.”]

I was in Silvio Canto’s podcast last night, along with Alain Castillo, and both Silvio and Alain immediately recognized that “Negro, ¿tú eres sueco?”  in Cuban slang, meant that the author of the article, Elías Argudín – of Afro-Cuban ancestry – called Pres. Obama an Oreo.

Tribuna de La Habana is published by the Cuban Communist party, according to LBGT activist Dr. Alberto Roque, who, among others, protested the article’s racist overtone.

Following the outcry, the article was withdrawn from the Tribuna website by Wednesday afternoon.

The Miami Herald did not report this news in English.

UPDATE
Linked to by Babalu. Thank you!

Share

By

Venezuela: Amnesty Law

The Venezuelan National Assembly has passed an amnesty bill which could free dozens of jailed opposition leaders, among them Leopoldo López. It’ll be uphill all the way,

Legal battle ahead
Under the Venezuelan constitution, the president can send a bill back to the National Assembly, but the latter can override the veto with an absolute majority (half of those present at the time of the vote plus one).

President Maduro could also send the bill to the Supreme Court if he has doubts about its constitutionalit

Daniel writes,

In a way it is irrelevant whether the regime will release Lopez from jail, or allow for a limited dissent at the TSJ [Supreme Court]. It is quite clear now that the regime faction aligned around Maduro and Cabello will go out of its way to avoid any move that could undermine its power and drive through regime change, a change that would find soon in jail Maduro, Cabello, Ramirez and scores of other corrupt and abusive office holders.

Share

By

A few good words on #Millennials

The millennials I’ve been in close contact are clean, polite, professional, and dedicated to their work. They don’t live in mom’s basement. They pay their bills on time. They eat salad and veggies out of their own volition like the grown-ups they are. They are earning your respect.

Read my article, A few good words on #Millennials



Share

By

Brazil: More bad news for Dilma

The writing on the wall?

The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, ends its coalition with the PT:
Brazil’s Largest Party Leaves Ruling Coalition. Split hurts President Dilma Rousseff’s chances of derailing impeachment proceedings

Leaders of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, voted unanimously to terminate the coalition. For years, Ms. Rousseff had rewarded PMDB members with cabinet posts and given the party substantial power to shape policy, but the coalition ended on a bitter note amid mutual accusations of betrayal and blame forBrazil’s economic woes.
. . .
The PMDB’s defection also could influence smaller parties in the ruling coalition to jump ship or risk being left out of power if Ms. Rousseff’s administration collapses. Another coalition ally, the Progressive Party, said it would meet Wednesday to decide whether to remain with the government.

Impeachmeant does not necessarily mean removal,

An impeachment vote in the lower house could come as soon as mid-April. If at least two-thirds—or 342—of the nation’s 513 federal deputies vote in favor of impeachment, the process would move to Brazil’s senate, which would decide whether to hold a trial that could result in Ms. Rousseff’s removal from office.

In the event of a senate trial, the president would be obliged to step down temporarily from her post, leaving Mr. Temer to assume the nation’s highest office. If the senate votes to oust Ms. Rousseff, Mr. Temer would serve out the remainder of her second term as president, which runs through the end of 2018.

Share

By

Our Watcher’s Council Nominations – ‘Legacy’ Edition

At the Watchers’ Council,

http://www.investors.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RAMclr-032416-legacy-IBD-COLOR-FINAL.jpg

There are a lot more bodies I could add to the pile…the dead in Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Algeria, Israel, Egypt,and Americans murdered by the illegal migrants he’s allowed in, as well as veterans whom have died in the morass of our own dysfunctional VA system. If a president like Barack Hussein Obama can tango through a record like that and not get impeached, it says a great deal about how low the bar for our leaders has become and what the American people are apparently willing to put up with. And that’s ourlegacy, as well as his. Think about it.

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

So, let’s see what we have for you this week….

Council Submissions

[Read more…]

Share

By

Mexico: Jalisco New Generation report

Today’s focus: Mexico’s drug organizations

Jeremy Kryt reports on the CJNG (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación),

Fighting Mexico’s New Super Cartel. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is known for its hyper-aggressive, paramilitary tactics—now it’s bringing the terror to America’s doorstep.

Over the last year, the CJNG has become known for taking the fight to law enforcement—launching guerrilla-like assaults against authorities that have claimed dozens of officers’ lives, including shooting down an army helicopter and killing everyone aboard.

Situated on the border between the states of Jalisco and Michoacán and at the crossroads of two major highways, Tepalcatapec offers a vital control point for the CJNG. From here they can launch attacks against competing crime networks in Michoacán, as well as packing and processing drugs to send them north.

El Mencho,

ReThe U.S. Treasury Department has designated the super cartel’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (alias “El Mencho,” or “Blondie”), a “Narcotics Kingpin”—and the State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to his capture and conviction.

The de facto successor to the Sinaloa Cartel’s Chapo Guzmán, El Mencho, who is in his mid to late forties, has been trafficking narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border for more than two decades.

Read the full report.

Don’t believe for a moment that they would put aside their murderous ways if all their drugs were legal.

As far as I’m concerned, whatever your addiction issues are, if you are using drugs, you are an accessory to their crimes.

Share

By

Mexico: El Chapo’s alleged money launderer nabbed

“#FederalPolice arrest money launderer in #Oaxaca”

El Chapo’s alleged money launderer arrested while on vacation. Associate known as “King Midas” loosened security measures during holiday, say police

Mexico’s federal police have arrested , the man they believe to be responsible for laundering the ill-gotten gains of drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and the Sinaloa cartel. The 34-year-old Inzunza organized a network of bank accounts under false names in the states of Sinaloa and Jalisco, through which he is alleged to have funneled between $300 and $400 million a year from the drug trade, Mexico’s federal police say.

His aliases sound like something out of a Vargas Llosa novel,

Álvarez is also known as “Rolando Osuna Godoy,” “Erik Tadeo Inzunza Zazueta,” “Juan Manuel Salas Rojo” and “Juan Manuel Tamayo Ibarra.”

Business Insider reports that

Álvarez Inzunza, who was on vacation in Oaxaca when he was captured without violence, was arrested on a provisional extradition warrant issued by the US, where he has been charged with money-laundering.

Share