Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

Archives for December 2017

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Venezuela: No pork? Blame Portugal!

I found this on my Twitter feed,

What the hey?
Maduro accuses Portugal of sabotaging Christmas following failed pork deliveries</a

Traditionally, Venezuelan’s cook a pork roast instead of turkey for Christmas, so when President Nicolas Maduro’s promise of subsidised pork failed to materialise, frustration boiled over into what some have dubbed the “pork revolution.”

“Pork revolution”? (emphasis added; video below the fold)

Local media and Twitter users posted images of hundreds of people standing on streets and burning trash in protest at the shortages, in what some social media users dubbed the “pork revolution”.

Maduro, who has been alleging a foreign-led “economic war” against his government, went on state TV to blame Portugal for failing to deliver pork imports in time for Christmas.

“What happened to the pork? They sabotaged us. I can name a country: Portugal,” Maduro said.

“We bought all the Pork we had in Venezuela. We bought everything,” he continued.

“But we had to import and so I gave the order, signed the agreements but they pursued the bank accounts of the boats,”

“We were chased by two giant ships that came and sabotaged us, but only for now”.

And here I thought I was starting to run out of absurd Maduro stories.

Rumor has it that Maduro wants out. With the apparent backing of China, Russia and the Cuban military, why would he want to? Especially now that he’s trying to float the petro criptocurrency with not only gold and diamonds, but also by promising,

“Every single Petro will be backed by a barrel of oil,” Maduro said, promising to provide cryptocurrency mining throughout Venezuela. “We will set up a special team of cryptocurrency specialists so they will be engaged in mining in all states and municipalities of our country.”

Says the guy who couldn’t deliver the bacon. How do they say “when pigs fly” in Venezuela?

Video in Spanish below the fold,
[Read more…]

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Argentina: WSJ editorial on NIsman

The perfect title: Murder Most Foul in Argentina

In 2015 Mrs. Kirchner’s secretary of security immediately declared Nisman’s death an apparent suicide. That made little sense to those who knew Nisman, in part because he was hours away from presenting evidence to Congress that Mrs. Kirchner had made a deal with Tehran to cover up Iran’s responsibility for the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that killed 85 people.

When President Mauricio Macri took office in December 2015 he pledged that investigators would have the independence to discover the truth. The Journal reported in September that “twenty-eight government forensic experts, toiling at a secret facility for seven months, concluded” that Mr. Nisman was killed. They handed their findings to a federal court.

On Tuesday in a 656-page opinion, Argentine federal judge Julián Ercolini ruled that “the death of Prosecutor Nisman was not a suicide, and was brought about by a third party and in a painful manner.” He charged Diego Lagomarsino, who was an aide to Nisman, as an accessory to the murder.

Will justice win?

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Argentina: Nisman was murdered

Three months after a panel of experts confirmed that Alberto Nisman was murdered, federal judge Julián Ercolini ruled on Tuesday that Mr Nisman’s gunshot wound could not have been self-inflicted.

Mr Ercolini also charged a former aide to the prosecutor, Diego Lagomarsino, as an accessory to murder.

Mr Lagomarsino was the last person in Mr Nisman’s apartment and the bullet that killed the prosecutor was fired by Mr Lagomarsino’s gun, the judge said.

Commentary thread at Twitter,

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Around the Hemisphere

I’m enjoying the Season with family, but here are a few headlines,

ARGENTINA
Say what? Argentina’s pro-business President Mauricio Macri is inviting low-cost airlines to invest in Argentina’s uncompetitive air-travel market, as long as they do something they do nowhere else: keep their prices high.

BOLIVIA
Germany and Switzerland to help build coast-to-coast railway in South America.

Bolivian President Evo Morales visited Switzerland to sign an agreement to construct a railway line across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Supporters say the project will boost trade and create jobs.

HONDURAS
Honduras Opposition Candidate Concedes Election After U.S. Backs President Juan Orlando Hernández

PERU
PPK pardoned Fujimori; now Police in Peru have fired tear gas and clashed with thousands of protesters angry at the authorities’ decision to pardon ex-President Alberto Fujimori.

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST,
Guatemala follows US in planning Israel embassy move

Guatemala, along with 12 other countries, had their embassies in Jerusalem until 1980, when they moved them to Tel Aviv after Israel annexed East Jerusalem, in a move not recognised internationally. All other countries still have their embassies in Tel Aviv.

Guatemala and Israel have a long history of political, economic and military ties. The Central American country is also a major recipient of US aid – something which Donald Trump threatened to cut to states that voted in favour of the UN resolution.

Israel is in talks with more than 10 countries — including some in Europe — about potentially moving their respective embassies to Jerusalem, according to officials.

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