Argentina - Fausta's Blog

January 7, 2008 By Fausta

This week’s Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

This week’s big stories: the governor of Puerto Rico claims that the massive Federal investigation on his wrongdoings is politically motivated, and Hugo gets farked by the FARC.

If you would like to have your posts included in the Carnival, please email me the link(s): faustaw “at” yahoo “dot” com.

New WEBSITE, and new FEATURE
Website: Net for Cuba International

Feature: The Cubanology Biweekly Report

ARGENTINA, VENEZUELA AND AMERICA
Slush and garbage
The imbroglio over a cash-stuffed suitcase

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo join the circus

CARIBBEAN
Audio: BBC Radio’s Caribbean Report

LATIN AMERICA
Pace of investment disappoints Latin America

HACER‘s weekly roundup.

BELIZE
Every time…

BOLIVIA
Bolivia’s Dilemma: Democracy v. Authoritarianism

Bolivia looking for heavy investment from oil firms

Second Venezuelan found with suspicious cash

BRAZIL
If redemption fails, you can still use the free bathroom
Edir Macedo and his Universal Church have prospered by offering a religion “of results” to the upwardly mobile

CHILE
Llaima volcano erupts in Chile

COLOMBIA
Colombia Says DNA Links Boy To Woman Held by Rebel Group

Camera, no action

Colombians getting it done

Bogota opens ‘museum of laziness’

A museum dedicated to laziness has opened in Colombia’s capital, Bogota.
The event features sofas placed in front of televisions, hammocks and beds – anything associated with the avoidance of work.

Sounds a lot like the Princeton Public Library, if you ask me…

COSTA RICA
Scientists discover three new species of salamanders in Costa Rica

CUBA
Cuban divorce is easy, housing is harder

Church and Stare: Cuban Style

El 8 a las 8

Don’t forget the axis of evil

ECUADOR
Failed and Incompetent Economist Correa Locks in Cuban Economic Model in Ecuador

A Tale of Two Cities: Ecuadorean Falls 47 Stories off Skyscraper and Lives; Alvaro Noboa Stumbles and is Abandoned

GUATEMALA
I Hate Monkeys And They Hate Me

MEXICO
Border stories

Via Maria, Tourists Shun Crime-Hit Mexico Beaches

NICARAGUA
Gearing up for the electoral season: Nica News for Jan 2

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Leader: FBI Probe Political
in Puerto Rico, the looming threat of an indictment may just help Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila hold onto power

Puerto Rico, Baby

Cockfights canceled due to import ban

Celebrate Three Kings’ Day

TRINIDAD and TOBAGO
Trinidad and Tobago says no to PetroCaribe deal

VENEZUELA
Chavez: Calmer, or just more Convincing?

Chavez “Forced To Reduce Speed Of March”

A new, refurbished, gentler Chavez. A new, reshuffled, more radical Cabinet

The Mighty And Their (Temporary) Fall

Behind Chávez Cabinet Shuffle

Joe Kennedy, Hugo Chavez and That Free Heating Oil

US Democrats Pay Tribute To FARC Terrorists

Chavez punk’d by the FARC: Clara Roja’s son was in Colombia all along
Chavez gest farked by the FARC once agan

A FARC’ing Shame… Hugo Chavez Gets Punked

No Honor Among Thieves

The Students of Venezuela, Roaring Like Lions

The first casualty of tyranny is intelligence

Francisco Uson is Free; HRF’s First Prisoner of Conscience Conditionally Released

INFLATION CLOSES AT 22.5 PERCENT IN 2007, via Announcement: inflation, crime and a second break

Venezuela cuts three zeros off bolivar currency while I watched The Sopranos

Venezuela’s Chavez cools rhetoric after vote loss

A revolution? Awaiting Chavez’ changes

Holy Chavistas! Venezuela Violent Deaths Double Iraq’s Numbers

Is it safer to walk around in Baghdad than it is in Caracas? Hugo Chávez’s socialist “sea of happiness” resembles a war zone.
Where War Deaths Are Worst

The curse of the Pharaoh

Chavez’s Baby Rescue Operation is Stillborn

HUMOR
Hugo Chavez to Outlaw Capitalism In Venezuela

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For more Carnival fun, don’t miss Haveil Havalim 149: The Impediment to Peace Edition, and SheBlogs Carnival #11

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December 31, 2007 By Fausta

The New Year’s Eve Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to the New Year’s Eve Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. If you would like your post to be included in next week’s Carnival, please email me: faustaw “at” yahoo “dot” com.

This week’s big story-in-the-works is the purported release of three Colombian hostages, which has been delayed:

An operation by Venezuelan helicopters to collect three hostages due to be released in Colombia by the Farc rebel group has been delayed for a third day.
Venezuelan officials said the group had not provided the co-ordinates for the handover and that there was not enough time to complete the mission on Sunday.

The rebels have promised to release the hostages as a humanitarian gesture to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Mr Chavez said on Saturday that he hoped they would be released by Monday.

Or whenever.

To a cynic like myself, it appears that Hugo’s not willing to share the limelight with anyone so don’t expect the hostages release to take place until the Bhutto story (and much else, for that matter) is not in the headlines. I hope I’m wrong, but my cynicism is greatly boosted by the fact that Oliver Stone’s at the location to film the release. For now, the FARCical mission has been put on hold.

For more on the hostages, please read the links under Colombia and Venezuela.

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK: HACER’s YouTube channel

LATIN AMERICA
Liberty Theology

Latin American economy improving but lagging

An Andean media circus

US ties to Latin America: Cool or cordial?

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s mirage

And one more for the road

BOLIVIA
Bolivian Breakup?

Bolivia Amends New Constitution and Faces Mutiny from Within

¿Hacia donde va Bolivia? – Maletagate I (cont.) y Maletagate II (dual language post)

Bolivia’s Morales faces divided nation

VIDEO: Class struggle in Bolivia

CHILE
Violent Games Get Chilly Reception in Chilean Parliament

COLOMBIA
Chavez Is FARC’ed Over… Hostage Release Party Pushed Back Again

Failed rocket attack adds tension to Chavez’s hostage recovery mission in Colombia

Chavez’s Bid to Free Colombia Hostages Faces Deadline
At the IBD blog

The drug-financed FARC terrorists of the Colombian jungle, after offering up three hostages as a ‘Christmas present’ to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, have thus far stood him up, along with some 15 international observers from that many countries, an ex-presidente of Argentina among them and film director Oliver Stone. It’s like rain is coming down on their media circus and they’re starting to look less like clowns than fools.

Spare a thought for them as they cool their heels in the hot fetid Colombian swamp jungle near Villavicencio with nothing to do but talk to each other. The Brazilian among them is starting to complain about missing his New Year’s holiday, and they probably all are, wondering how the heck they got in that no-man’s land, waiting for a bunch of jungle terrorists who are now snickering up their sleeves at the suckers for fooling them again.

It doesn’t get more ridiculous than this. FARC, for the second time in about a month, has lied to Hugo Chavez and Hugo will go right on believing in them, worshipping them, trying to get their autograph, until they suckerpunch him again. After all, they know that Chavez’s keister is in the wringer and he’s just coddling them to try to win back his tattered international reputation. FARC doesn’t care about international reputations, FARC kidnaps innocents, blows up villages, lays land mines, employs child soldiers and controls the cocaine trade for a living. It gave up international reputations a long long time ago. But Chavez still wants his and FARC is pulling the rug out from under him. Chavez must feel like mierda right now. Snort!

Colombian government sets deadline for hostage release by rebels

Chavez’s $500million hostage deal in the works. Venezuelan helicopters to pick up Colombian hostages: the three-ring circus rolls right along

Una ingenuidad criminal.

CUBA
The Cuba Archive has launched a Database of Documented Deaths believed to have resulted from the Cuban Revolution. This is an invaluable resource.

At Man’s Expense

Viva Cuba: Propaganda for children

Castro is losing his last fight

Fidel’s running? Yeah, right, whatever…
Raul Castro Seeks Support for Fidel Bid
Castro ‘well enough for election’

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Getting Down and Dirty in the Bushes

ECUADOR
A Quechua Christmas Carol

Ecuadorean Tax Plan Deceptively Couches Cuban Style Income Redistribution. For more Ecuador blogging, go to ECrisis and scroll down.

HAITI
A drug route grows through Haiti

NICARAGUA
Nica expats voice their opinion. A colombo-americana’s perspective has plenty more on Nicaragua and Latin America, and it’s a must-read blog.

In Spanish: Presidente de Nicaragua llama “hermano” al Jefe de las FARC

PUERTO RICO
What a terrible loss to the world is Bhutto’s killing

VENEZUELA
Mammoth post at Caracas Chronicles’ 2007 Year in review

Chavez: Romancing the Stone

The Chavez hostage road show

The FARC Farce: Starring Hugo Chavez, Directed by Oliver Stone

Hollywood’s new favorite dictator

Chavez vows to put “revolution” back on track

Of Puppets, Puppeteers, Hostages and Politicians

Chavez Faces Challenge From Former Comrade

Venezuela’s Political Disaster – December 28, 2007

Chavez, Oliver Stone Launch Hostage Rescue

HUMOR
Via Larwyn, not quite suitable for work, but funny, Spicoli Divorcing, Announces Engagement to Chavez.

Special thanks to Siggy, Maggie, Eneas, Kate, Monica, and Obi’s Sister for their support in 2007.

For more Carnival fun, don’t miss SheBlogs #10 hosted by Sex and the South.

Wishing all of you a joyful 2008 filled with blessings, Happy New Year!

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December 26, 2007 By Fausta

Chavez’s $500million hostage deal in the works?

I first read about it a few hours ago at Gateway Pundit’s: Hero Hugo Hails Agreement With FARC For Hostage Release

The Beeb had this on the story: Chavez Farc hostage plan approved

The Colombian government has approved a plan by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to send planes into Colombia to pick up rebel-held hostages.
The Colombian rebel group, Farc, said it would free two hostages and a child but only to Mr Chavez.

Colombia agreed but said any Venezuelan aircraft entering its territory must bear Red Cross markings.

Hugo claims,

Mr Chavez had told reporters in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas: “The only thing we need is authorisation from the Colombian government. We hope they will cooperate with us.”

Unfortunately the FARC was saying as much two weeks ago

Clara Rojos, her son Emmanuel, who was born in captivity, and Consuelo Gonzalez, a former lawmaker kidnapped in 2001, would be released in Colombia to Mr Chávez “or someone he designates”, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, said in a statement to Cuban news agency Prensa Latina. The statement, dated December 9, did not say when the release would take place.

The three hostages in question are Rojos and her son, and former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez, who was kidnapped in 2001.

A colombo-americana’s perspective is following the story, which involves a $500 million ransom, and she asks,

We’ve learned that this exchange will cost $500 million. From where is this money coming? Colombian coffers? Venezuelan coffers? Private funds of the families/friends? No details were revealed. It seems like a lot, and to be sure it is; however, I am quite confident that Chavez would be willing to do as much as he could in order to get control over even part of Colombia, since Uribe isn’t a pushover like Correa, Morales, and Ortega. Equally important, to where is this money going? Directly to the FARC, that is to say, in cash? In the form of food? provisions? medicines? The lack of transparency in this aspect, despite Chavez mentioning repeatedly how he insists on transparency in the physical act of the exchange is thoroughly disturbing. It is truly a shame that the lives of so many individuals –not just those being highlighted– have become a political tool with which only Chavez can truly gain; and, it is even more unfortunate that many, particularly those in the US connected to the case, fail to realize that.

Former Argentinian president (and now First Husband) Nestor Kirchner will be heading the delegation, just in time to take people’s minds off the moneybags from Hugo scandal.

Considering how much pressure France has been exerting on behalf of Ingrid Betancourt – France has even agreed ‘to take in’ Farc rebels – one can’t help but wonder how much more money would be involved in her ~~rescue~~ ransom.

$500 million will go a long way towards financing further FARC terrorism, for sure.

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December 24, 2007 By Fausta

The Christmas Eve edition of the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to thie Christmas Eve edition of the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. I wish all of you a very happy Christmas.

If you have a post or a news item you would like to contribute, please email me: faustaw -at- yahoo -dot- com.

The big story of the week: The bombing of the Argentine Jewish community center in 1994 and Iran, the NIE, and Rafsanjani.

SPANISH LANGUAGE WEBSITE OF THE WEEK:
El Cato

LATIN AMERICA
The Carnivorous and Vegetarian Lefts, by Carlos Alberto Montaner. This was his speech at the Opening Plenary Session, The Whitherspoon Institute, Princeton University, Dec. 6, 2007.
UPDATE: Speaking of vegetarian lefties, Chavez Faces Challenge From Former Comrade: Venezuela’s New Hero Has Respect in Army; a Vegetarian Mystic

A South American arms race?

Latino-Islamic Terror: Hezbollah Shows Off Their Latin Bombers

De-Fence, De-Fence

Via Babalu, Chavez offers oil for bananas deal

The Changing Dynamic in Latin America

ARGENTINA
Iran’s Nuclear Terror. More at Patterico’s Argentina, Iran and nuclear weapons.

AMIA and the NIE

AMIA, the communal offices of the Argentine Jewish community, was struck by a massive suicide truck bomb on July 18, 1994 – 85 were killed and over 200 injured. Iran and Hezbollah were suspected from the beginning. The Argentine investigation has had several false starts and has been mired in corruption, but in recent years has gotten on track. Last month Interpol voted overwhelmingly to issue a red letter calling for the arrest of five Iranians (along with Hezbollah’s external operations chief Imad Mughniyah) on the basis of the Argentine investigation. The publicly available report on the AMIA bombing offers tremendous insight into the Iranian regime’s modus operandi and worldview.

Full Prosecutor: Argentina bombings ordered by Iran
The NIE & Rafsanjani
Cog in the Regime
ABOUT IRAN’S BUENOS AIRES BOMBINGS
The NIE’s Iran finding was based on…an old laptop and the word of Rafsanjani?

Troubles for Argentina’s New Evita

The suitcase full of Chavista money is also in the news:
Stung in Miami

Ballet star Bocca bows out in Buenos Aires

ARUBA
Natalee Holloway Case Officially Closed

BOLIVIA
Bolivia: $872,000 from Chavez with Love

A meltdown in Latin America

Bolivians fear political unrest as rivals face off

BRAZIL
Petrobras to Invest Up to $1 Billion With Bolivia State Company

Lula Says 2007 Was Exceptional, 2008 Will Be Better

COLOMBIA
FARC’s Real Aim: Ending Democracy

Colombia protests over Nicaragua’s FARC remarks

CUBA
Chavez deepens investment in Cuba

Via Gates of Vienna, Seven Questions: Castro’s Decline

Cuban Refinery Inaugurated, With Chávez in Spotlight

Venezuelan leader Chavez presides over oil summit in Cuba

Chavez dice desde Santiago que Venezuela y Cuba son una misma nacion

Omnibus Includes $33.6 Million for Democracy Promotion in Cuba (Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen)

On a Purely Personal Note

Blogging from Cuba: Generacion Y?

Fidel hints at retirement

ECUADOR
Santa Claus Lives

MEXICO
Intifada On The Mexican Border

Running just to stand still: How to reform the flawed behemoth that is the world’s sixth-biggest oil producer

NICARAGUA
Nicaraguan expats to join forces in opposition to Daniel Ortega

Iran making diplomatic inroads in Nicaragua

New friends in the neighborhood

Iran’s push into Central America

The Skunk Is Back In Nicaragua

PERU
Chavez: At it Again

PUERTO RICO
Puertorican politics remain the same as they were when I lived there: politicians continue to use the “status” as a smokescreen behind wich to hide the real underlying problems of the island:
Statehood topic tops all issues in Puerto Rico<: House panel energizes debate by calling for new referendum

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — The governor is under criminal investigation, crime and unemployment are soaring and the economy is faltering as foreign firms are shutting down factories.

But to hear the politicians on this gem of a Caribbean island tell it, the only real issue on the public agenda is whether Puerto Rico should become the 51st state, ending its decades-old status as a U.S. commonwealth.

A bill calling for a referendum on the issue recently won approval in a U.S. House committee, triggering a new round of intense debate on the island, despite the fact that final congressional approval and an actual vote are still iffy propositions at best.

Some tiring of debate
After decades of rowdy argument, though, some Puerto Ricans appear to be tiring of the seemingly eternal debate over what is known here as the “status” issue.

Don’t I know it.

VENEZUELA
Prodigality as state policy:
The case of Hugo Chavez

The Hallaca Effect: Chavez’s Undoing

The Nixon Moreno case: Political Persecution is alive and well in Chavez’ revolution

“Ironically, the United States is financing Chavez’s Bolivarian revolution”

Che shirt wearing Cuban idiots booed in Venezuela, also at Citizen Feathers

El movimiento estudiantil, antídoto contra Chávez

Chavismo without Chavez?

Venezuela, redux

Venezuela falls behind the times

More Venezuela price caps may go
About time
And speaking of Chavez…

The 2007 result: the surprising abstention

Analisis psiquiatrico de Hugo Chavez:
Entrevista al Dr. Franzel Delgado Senior

HUMOR
Hillary Hires King Juan Carlos to Manage Husband

Beam me up, Hillary!

La Isla Bonita

BLOGGING ABOUT THE CARNIVAL
A colombo-americana’s perspective

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For more Carnival fun, don’t miss the Carnival of Christmas, 2007 Edition

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December 17, 2007 By Fausta

The Bolivian secession edition of the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

UPDATE
Not secession – federalism, instead.
See below (*)

The big news this week in Latin America: The four richest Bolivian regions declared autonomy from the Morales government, on the same day as Evo Morales formally received a new draft Constitution.

(*) Clarifying: It’s not secession; it’s federalism
I just received an email from Alek Boyd of VCrisis

First off governors of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija have been democratically elected, as Morales. Ergo that rules out accusations about lacking democratic credentials the official propaganda machine is leveling against them.

Second, they are not seeking independence. Contrary to what the MSM is publishing the autonomic statute in first article states:

“Santa Cruz se convierte en Departamento Autónomo, como expresión de la identidad histórica, la vocación democrática y autonómica del pueblo cruceño, y en ejercicio de su derecho a la autonomía departamental, reforzando la unidad de la República de Bolivia, y los lazos de hermandad entre todos los bolivianos”.

That is to say they are not proposing secession, what they are proposing is self rule in economic, education, tax and resource management issues.

Some of you may think that such a thing amounts to independence from Bolivia, however the prefectos have been very clear in that respect, their proposal is similar to the current system of autonomic regions in Spain.

Third, the issue of autonomic rule was presented to popular vote through referendum. In 4 out of the 9 departments (Santa cruz, Beni Pando and Tarija) the SI option, that is the one supporting autonomy, won. Ergo, said proposal is as democratic as Morales’-driven national constituent assembly from a strictly legal point of view, for if what Morales needed to rewrite the constitution was the approval of “the people” said approval was granted by “the people” to provincial statutes of self rule in those regions.

Fourth, Morales’ constituent proposal has violated procedures, the most striking evidence of it is a) the seat of constituent assembly discussions to get the new charter approved was moved from Sucre to Oruro, so that Morales supporters could get it passed by simple majority [2/3 of votes were never reached], and b) the text approved in Oruro contained originally 408 articles as opposed to the one presented to Morales last Saturday which contains 411 articles. A drafting committee in charge of modifications has introduced 3 new articles which have not been approved
by the constituent assembly, therefore illegal.

Related links in Spanish: Gobierno Departamental de Santa Cruz, and Con los estatutos, prefectos controlan tierras y tributos. From reading this information it’s clear that what the prefectos are after is a federal system like the USA’s.

Special thanks to Alek for clarifying this question. My apologies for my mistake.

Previous post:
Links listed from most recent to older:

Bolivia set on collision course over autonomy

All the legislation – as well as a separate and especially contentious constitutional provision limiting the size of landholdings – has to be submitted to referendums that are expected to take place early next year.

“I am convinced that we will not retreat a millimetre nor move one step to the side,” Ruben Costas, the governor of Santa Cruz, told tens of thousands of jubilant supporters waving the department’s green and white flags. Mr Costas warned the central government not to send in troops or police. “This is a warning. Do not dare to invade us or militarise us.”

Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando departments, which all announced autonomy on Saturday, form a half-moon shape around the solidly pro-government capital and heavily indigenous departments of La Paz, Potosi and Oruro. Two other departments – Cochabamba and Chuquisaca – are unhappy with the new constitution, railroaded through by an emergency session of a constituent assembly eight days ago by pro-government supporters. “The country has taken two different directions,” said an editorial in El Deber, a daily newspaper published in Santa Cruz.

The deputies at the Constituent Assembly approved one version but Evo received a different one; VCrisis has the captures. The first version states that the power comes from the people while the second version stresses the preselection of candidates. Gateway Pundit has more.

At play? Natural gas, which Gazprom is eyeing, along with Brazil and Chile.

Ed Morrissey correctly points out

If these districts can secure themselves against the central government, this could get very, very ugly. Natural gas is their chief export and their resource for hard currency. If the breakaway districts can keep it for themselves and safely export it (mainly to Brazil), they can build a significant war chest while leaving Morales to feed the rest of Bolivia’s poor in the west. That will prompt Morales to march on the east, perhaps assisted by Chavez in Venezuela, and a civil war will almost certainly erupt — and sooner rather than later.

Publius Pundit, Blue Crab Boulevard are blogging on the story, while Marginal Revolution asks, What does Bolivia have to do to make the front page?

Bolivians Now Hear Ominous Tones in the Calls to Arms

Bolivia tense amid autonomy push

Cardinal Terrazas calls for peace in overcoming crisis in Bolivia

Bolivia Leader Is Mobilizing Armed Forces

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SPANISH-LANGUAGE WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Two this week:
Penultimos dias, and Red Liberal Hispanoamerica

LATIN AMERICA and CARIBBEAN
The Bank of the South:
Bolivarian finance: The IMF can sleep easy

Caribbean nations, EU reach agreement on access to markets. The Caribbean countries are Jamaica, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname.

Caribbean Net News is an excellent resource on the islands. Don’t miss also HACER‘s weekly roundup

ARGENTINA
Marital bliss: A different Kirchner is in charge, but many of the policies remain the same

Irish Tourist Ronan Lawlor Missing in Argentina or Chile

ARUBA
OpenSEA adds members, promises smooth saling for 802.1x NAC

BRAZIL
Is Brazil changing its focus from income redistribution to income creation?

Energy: Brazil’s not peaking

CAYMAN ISLANDS
Lesson 4: Not Every Disaster is a Disaster

CHILE
Insulza’s Divided Attention

COLOMBIA
Pouty Hugo: “I Will Not Speak to Uribe For As Long As I Live”

FARC FAILS to Kidnap President Uribe’s Two Sons

Uribe’s anticorruption chief resigns

CUBA
Cuban diplomat seeking asylum in Spain

A Cuban diplomat who allegedly aided a dissident doctor in Mozambique has skipped a flight out of Paris to seek political asylum in Spain, Spanish daily El Mundo reported Sunday.

Lorenzo Menendez said he faces prison for helping the dissident but believes socialist Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will bow to pressure from Havana to deport him.

Zapatero is a weak leader, indeed.

BEATDOWN IN HAVANA!!… Castro Thugs Bash Democracy Protesters

video: Now you see the light

Huckabee does a flip-flop on Cuba

Huckabee Unaware of Issues Between U.S. and Cuba

Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty continue their campaign.

DOMINICA
One laptop per child project initiated in Dominica

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Pirate Captain William Kidd’s Ship, the Quedah Merchant, Possibly Found in the Caribbean

ECUADOR
Correa celebrates the Chavez coronation in Argentina: A faustian pact called bolivarianism

GUATEMALA
A post on Guatemala’s new and more restrictive adoption law And Even More…

GUYANA
Relations between Venezuela and Guyana remain strained due to the continued incursions of Chavez’s military into the other country, the latest of which was

Last November 15, a contingent of 36 armed Venezuelan military personnel, led by a general, forced the crew off of Guyanese-owned dredges and bombed the pontoons.

That was followed by unauthorised overflights by Venezuelan helicopters in Guyana’s airspace.

Guyana-Venezuela joint group to be set-up to prevent incursions

MEXICO
The Fantastico Mr. Fox

Lessons for Mexico in Brazil’s Boom: In the energy sector, open markets work.

The Dark Side of Microlending

NICARAGUA
Iran making push into Nicaragua

Iran and Nicaragua: A new relationship?

Iran’s foothold in Monkey Point, Nicaragua

Danielito gone wild

PERU
Peru Is In, Now Where’s Colombia?

Peru: Barrick Gold Corp. Helicopter Crashes because of Engine Failure

Converted Buses to be Taken Off Peru’s Highways

PUERTO RICO
Rush’s Snakes & Arrows world tour to be extended

VENEZUELA
Venezuela, and Oil and podcast

Organized crime in Venezuela administration

Venezuelan Chavista agents arrested in the US for voting plot

Miami Maletagate indictments: Just the tip of the iceberg?

Chavez lives down to his reputation

LAC roundup

Patria, Vuitton o Muerte! Gastaremos!

Chavez vs. The Venezuelan Electorate

HUMOR
Funnimetric’s Post details: Fausta’s Carnival of Latin America

Chucha Libre (Spanish)

Mundial de patos (Spanish)

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BLOGGING ABOUT THE CARNIVAL:
A colombo-americana’s perspective
A Second Hand Conjecture
Babalu
Billy Jones
Sex and the South
Wizbang

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More Carnival fun at SheBlogs Carnival, brought to you by Sex and the South

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December 3, 2007 By Fausta

Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean: The post-Venezuelan-referendum edition

With Hugo in the headlines again, the Carnival goes on.

If you have a chance, please listen to last night’s 1/2hr podcast on the Venezuelan referendum.

SPANISH LANGUAGE BLOG OF THE WEEK:
Basta de apartheid en Cuba

POSTS ON LATIN AMERICA IN GENERAL;
How to enjoy traveling abroad

Venezuela: A Political Storm Rages Over the Andes

MS-13 Creeps Into Canada: Documentary videos at LiveLeak.

Hugo and Raul, Chew on This … OohRah!

ARGENTINA
Really intact Dinosaur found

ARUBA:
Brothers in Holloway case walk away from jails — again

COLOMBIA
Force, Not Talk

Proof of FARC captives’ survival

Is S. America a terrorist incubator?

CUBA

“His family in Puerto Rico had to send him the medicine”

Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty

Are you afraid of ghosts?

Media: Cuba is a Demcracy, Right?

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s Correa’s communist freak show in Montecristi

JAMAICA
This is not news

MARTINIQUE:
Tremor in Martinique

NICARAGUA
Nica news for Nov 27

Nica news for Dec 1

PANAMA
Thinking about Santa and Panama

PUERTO RICO
Beauty queen ‘wasn’t pepper sprayed’

VENEZUELA:
The Limits of 21st-Century Socialism

Via Human Rights Foundation,
Caracas Nine:

HRF Seeks Protection for Leader of Student Movement in Venezuela; Yon Goicoechea is “Caracas Nine” Dissident #2

The Path to Self-Destruction

Here are a few links to recent posts on Venezuela:
On Election Eve, Chavez Ally Turns Against Him

US Senator Carl Levin Rejects Chavez Allegations of Interference

Venezuela Loses Its Mind – And Its Freedom!

Chavez cuts ties to Columbia, Threatens to expel US Diplomat

The Left Begins Venezuelan Black (DGI/DISIP-driven) Op

Chavez’s Ex Apologizes for His Government

Is Chavez Hurt by His Incessant Insults?

Why Chavez is a Leftist Hero

Useful idiocy personified

The President in his Labrynth

Hugo Chavez: The Musharaff of South America

Hugo Chavez’s Most Dangerous Enemy? It’s Chavez Himself

Hugo Chavez and his Allies are State Sponsors of Terror

Al-Jazeera’s Mariana Sanchez reporting from Venezuela finds discontent among Chavez’s base:

BLOGGING ON THE CARNIVAL:
A colombo-americana’s perspective
ECrisis

Prior posts and roundups from the last 7 days:
Hugo’s meltdown, at IBD
Wednesday: Countdown to Tyranny
Thursday: Today’s Countdown to Tyranny
The “Blame the CIA Game” is back!
Friday: Countdown to Tyranny: Last-minute Chavista Propaganda Offensive
Countdown to Tyranny: The day before the vote
Election day roundup

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November 12, 2007 By Fausta

The Third Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

This week’s big Latin American news is that the King of Spain told Chavez to shut up during the XVII Latin American Summit in Chile.

Mind you, the King not only told him to shut up, King Juan Carlos told him in the most in-you-face disrespectful way. Thank you, your majesty.

Bloggers from all over are posting about it:

King Juan Carlos has Chutzpah: Entire Diplomatic Corps Needs Some to Undo Jabba-like Take Over
Spain’s King Tells Chavez to Shut Up

The King and Chavez: Chavez reaching the deep end

Not one to stop when having dug himself into a hole, now Chavez Accuses King of Coup Knowledge

Red Liberal has a selection of Spanish bloggers posting on the story.
More at Spanish Pundit

THIS WEEK’S SPANISH-LANGUAGE BLOG:
Via Kate, this week’s Spanish language blog Resistencia Universitaria

Also in Spanish, WSJ Americas

SOUTH AMERICA: general articles:
Sources: Feds Target Hezbollah Cell in L.A

Via Beth, The Arab Invasion of South America

HACER commemorates World Freedom Day

ARGENTINA-BOLIVIA-CUBA
(In Spanish) El mito del cadaver del Che Guevara (The myth of Che Guevara’s corpse)

ARGENTINA
Don’t Cheer for Cristina, Argentina

BRAZIL
Via Siggy, Brazil discovers huge oil reserves
Bad news for Hugo?
Others blogging on this:
Bad Debt
Gateway Pundit
Gustavo Coronel
Memeorandum
Protein Wisdom
Venezuela News and Views
Weekly Standard

Major Anti-piracy Street Raids In Brazil

COLOMBIA:
Colombian president angered by Sen. Clinton’s opposition to free trade accord (h/t Instapundit)

CUBA:
Useless nothings: UN praises Cuba’s ability to feed people
Abortion and Oscar Elias Biscet; Un sueño cubano

Picturing the Past

MEXICO:
‘I Wish My American Friends Who Fret About Mexican Immigrants Could Be Here with Me…’

NICARAGUA
The recent missteps of Danielito in Chile

PERU:
Peru and other menaces

TRINIDAD
Trinidad must be stopped

VENEZUELA:
A Caracas Musharraf

Hugo Chavez’s criminal paradise: Under the anti-globalization president, Venezuela has become a haven for global crime.

Diamonds, Guns And Dirty Money

Useless Idiots, A Century Later

Gunmen fire on Venezuela protest

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Would you like to send a link to next week’s Carnival on Monday November 19? Email me: faustaw “at” yahoo “dot” com

Others posting about it
A colombo-americana’s journey
Heading Right podcast
Obi’s Sister

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November 5, 2007 By Fausta

The second Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome! This week’s posts on Latin America and the Caribbean are:

On Latin America in general:
Wealth and Nations, via Dr Sanity

Latin American Report

SOS: Truth Telling Deeply Needed for Latin America (link now corrected)

ARGENTINA:
Via Eneas of the Hispanic American Center for Economic Research, Corruption in Argentinian election – 28-October-2007

Via Siggy, Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina: Jewish community welcomes new president, who has taken a strong position against terrorism and the Dirty War.

BOLIVIA:
Learning English through avatars

CUBA
Poster relates Che’s dark side

“The Victims of Che Guevera” poster, produced by the Young America’s Foundation, centers on a collage that uses tiny photos of those killed by Cuba’s communist regime to compose the face of the Marxist guerrilla, who has become a popular T-shirt icon.

Via Larwyn, WaPo Writer Waxes Poetic for Castro Regime Control Mechanism

Castro’s Cuba

Son: [Oscar Elias] Biscet is “an inspiration”; The unyielding ones

ECUADOR
The Vatican Denounces Chavez-Correa anti-Freedom Constitutional Epidemic

HAITI
Again… UN Troops Involved In Another Child Sex Scandal

MEXICO
Chucha Libre

NICARAGUA
Nica news for Nov 2

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s Constitutional Reform continues the item-by-item review

The New York Times Does PDVSA: The Perils of Petrocracy

EXPOSING THE CHAVEZ NIGHTMARE IN LATIN AMERICA

When Hugo Met Naomi

Troops Attack Venezuelan Protesters – Again