Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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The Chanel show Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

The ultimate Potemkin village show went to Cuba, obscene as it could get, which inspired Juan Abreu’s NSFW Ayer soñé con el culo de Lagerfeld (H/T Babalú). Hollywood Stars Cavort in Cuba while Arrests of Dissidents Hit New High

ARGENTINA
Lord Price said UK and Argentina at the start of a new era of bilateral relations

President calls to fight poor quality, ‘useless’ jobs

BOLIVIA
Bolivia natural gas exports fall sharply in first quarter to $594.4 mn

BRAZIL
Brazil Senate’s Impeachment Committee Votes to Try RousseffPresident could be forced to step down next week

Uh, oh! Mexico’s Top Broadcasters Forgo Airing Rio Olympics. Televisa’s coverage of 2012 London games pushed up costs without generating additional revenue growth

CHILE
Experts Blame El Niño For Dead Sea Creatures on Chile’s Beaches

Food Crisis as Fishermen Block Access to Island in Chile

COLOMBIA
Colombia to send jets against criminal gangs

Ingrid Betancourt Returns to Colombia with Call for Unity

ECUADOR
UN reports quake death toll hits 660; donor response poor

IMMIGRATION
Mexico Will Issue Birth Certificates to Illegal Immigrants in United States. Amendment Could Provide Birth Certificates to 2 Million Mexicans

JAMAICA
Church group says darkness of evil over Jamaica

MEXICO
Ex-Mexican President Vicente Fox trolls Trump about his ties, which are made in China.

Mexico: the most dangerous country in the Americas for journalists. Five reporters have been killed in 2016 so far, according to an NGO

PANAMA
Panama Papers source ‘John Doe’ sends manifesto to explain data-release actions

PERU
Quad/Graphics Discloses Peru Foreign Bribery Investigation

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Governor Warns of Another Default. Puerto Rican Gov. Alejandro García Padilla said the territory won’t make a roughly $800 million payment due in July on its most senior bonds, a move that would accelerate the island’s debt crisis.

Say it, Louis!

VENEZUELA
Germán Malvare Venezuelan Opposition Leader Fatally Shot

Lights out

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The beer-less Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

21st Century Socialism at work: TEN years ago I posted that Hugo Chávez had taken over the beer trucks. Now Empresas Polar closes its breweries because the government

hasn’t allocated the dollars the company needs to pay for imported raw materials such as malted barley.

Polar says it’s been warning the country for a year about the need for sufficient access to foreign currency “to keep making products demanded by Venezuelans.”

ARGENTINA
Obama pokes fun at Trump’s foreign policy experience: ‘Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina . . ’

The Triumphant Return of Argentina to International Capital Markets

BOLIVIA
Bolivian Judge Orders Morales, Alleged Son to Take DNA Tests

BRAZIL
Brazil registers 91,387 possible Zika cases in two months

CHILE
Chile: An Island of Stability in South America

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s economic outlook darkens: report

CUBA
Philip Hammond becomes first Foreign Secretary to visit Cuba since 1959 Revolution

ECUADOR
Rescuers Pull 72-Year-Old Man From Rubble 13 Days After Ecuador Earthquake

FALKLAND ISLANDS
Leaving EU would fuel Argentine aggression towards Falkland Islands, official claims

JAMAICA
Cuba and Jamaica to sign multi-destination agreement

MEXICO
Four Questions about the ‘5th Bus’ in Case of Mexico’s Missing 43

Other View: Mexico’s Faltering Efforts to Fight Corruption

PANAMA
Grueling Trek to U.S. Leaves Thousands of Cuban Migrants Stranded in Panama

#PanamaPapers: How ex-Nigerian minister bought two penthouses in Panama for N837million

Panama’s Economy Grows as Rest of Latin America Stalls. Region Faces Worst Scenario since 1982, IMF Report Explains

PARAGUAY
Paraguay may serve as a convenient “gateway” for Russia to the markets of other Mercosur countries, head of the Paraguayan Congress Mario Abdo Benitez said.

PERU
PHOTOS: 33 Rescued Circus Lions Airlifted From Peru To South Africa

The animals were rescued from circuses in Colombia and Peru after both countries passed new laws to ban the use of wild animals in circuses, according to ADI.

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico debt rescue plan engulfed in Great Recession ‘bailout’ politics

SURINAME
Islamic bank offers billion-dollar loan to Suriname (emphasis added),

A delegation from the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) has ended a fact finding visit here offering Suriname a loan of US$1.75 billion, Finance Minister Gilmore Hoefdraad has announced.
. . .
Hoefdraad said government was considering the loan and that while projects that will be funded through this loan would be taken through a rigorous selection process, funds would immediately be made available to finance imports of social merchandise, such as basic goods and medicines.
. . .
Hoefdraad said that while the enormity of the loan could be daunting, as it regards 40 per cent of the gross national product (GDP) of Suriname, the money would help the country bridge the economic crisis it is facing.

VENEZUELA
Venezuela turmoil may alter region’s energy landscape



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The collapsed bike path Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Almost emblematic of Brazil’s current political and economic situation, a bike path collapsed, leaving two dead, as Ties emerge between city officials and the company responsible for building the elevated bike path that collapsed on Thursday, killing at least two people.

ARGENTINA
Leonardo Fariña, associate of Lázaro Báez, is singing like a bird claiming Báez and Ernersto Kirchner conspired to steal public money.

After a US Judge Allows Argentina to Resume Paying Creditors, Argentina Delivers $597 Million Windfall to Bond Investors

BELIZE
Belize-Guatemala border tensions rise over shooting

Tensions between Guatemala and Belize over a border dispute have risen sharply after a shooting incident in which a Guatemalan teenager died.

Guatemala says the 13-year-old boy was attacked by Belizean soldiers. Belize says its troops shot in self-defence after coming under fire.

Belize also accuses Guatemala of “amassing” troops along the border.

Guatemala’s claim to parts of territory governed by its neighbour dates back to when Belize was a British colony.

BOLIVIA
Today’s Capt. Loius Renault moment: Bolivia’s Morales Gives Pope 3 Books on Coca and Recommends Taking It

BRAZIL
Must-read: Brazil’s Giant Problem.Corruption is just a symptom of Brazil’s deeper issue: a vast state apparatus that has tried to be the country’s engine of economic growth. I don’t see a change in this miindset:

“The problem is, from time immemorial, Brazil’s political leaders only see one way forward, the growth of the state,” said Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former leftist intellectual who sought to reduce the size of Brazil’s government while president from 1995 to 2002. “But you need another springboard for progress, that doesn’t exclude the state but that accepts markets. This just doesn’t sink in in Brazil.”

Brazil’s political crisis: The darkest hour. The economy is in freefall. The president is likely to be impeached. Brazil’s democracy faces its toughest moment since the end of dictatorship

CHILE
What Is Behind Bachelet’s Push to Reform the Chilean Constitution? “Supervised” Town Hall Meetings Dishonest, Ineffective Method For Rewriting Founding Principles

Humberstone and Santa Laura Works, The GHOST TOWN declared a world heritage site: Inside the spooky mining settlement which has been abandoned for more than 50 years in Chile

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s Anti-Drug Policy Benefiting BACRIM: Inspector General

Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado said the criminalized paramilitary networks known as BACRIM (from the abbreviation of “criminal bands”), alongside rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC), have profited the most from the government’s decision in May 2015 to ban the aerial spraying of glyphosate on coca crops, reported El Espectador.

What the FARC’s Elusive Finances Mean for Peace

The Economist recently published estimates that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia –FARC) had assets worth 33 trillion Colombian pesos in 2012, even after paying to maintain its guerrilla army. That is $11.4 billion at the current exchange rate. The value was reportedly based on an “unpublished study by government analysts.”

CUBA
Change In Cuba — But Not For The Better

Another Sunday of repression in Cuba, April 10, 2016, but Smokey Robinson and other U.S. artists hail new ‘love’ with Cuba

ECUADOR
Ecuador death toll reaches 654

HONDURAS
Denials Follow Revelations in Honduras Drug Czar’s Assassination

MEXICO
U.S. Muslim Plotted with Islamic State to Smuggle Fighters Through Mexico, Say Feds

Mexico President Pena Nieto proposes relaxing marijuana laws

NICARAGUA
Thousands March to Protest Proposed Nicaragua Canal

PANAMA
Investigators raid property of ‘Panama Papers’ law firm Mossack Fonseca

PARAGUAY
Life Is Like Purgatory in the Squalid Shanty Towns of Paraguay

PERU
Peru’s Fujimori and Kuczynski seen tied in poll on June run-off

Discovery of 4,500-year-old female mummy sheds light on ancient Peru. Archaeologists say the mummified remains, found near one of the oldest cities in the Americas, probably belong to a noblewoman aged 40 to 50

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Moving Closer to Deal With Some Bank Bondholders

Why Puerto Rico Presents Real Challenges in Fighting Zika

URUGUAY
Uruguay VP to hold enhanced trade, economic talks in IranUruguay’s Vice President Raul Sendic Rodriguez will pay an official visit to Iran to hold talks with Iranian officials on ways to strengthen trade and economic cooperation.. . .The two sides are expected to hold talks on a variety of issues, including oil export, construction of refineries, joint ventures, customs and banking cooperation, marine transportation and shipping, husbandry, science and technology.
VENEZUELA
VENEZUELA’S PATHETIC DECLINE CONTINUES

And now, no beer: Polarapocalypse Now



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The Carnival Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Well, well, Carnival Cruise Lines expected Cuba’s communist regime to lift its restriction on Cuban-born Americans who arrive by sea, but nooooo . . . and now a group of Cuban Americans have a discrimination lawsuit against Carnival in federal court.

Babalu posts that

the MV Adonia, that is scheduled to sail to Cuba was found to be deficient in meeting safety standards set by the U.S. Coast Guard and that it’s first voyage to the Dominican Republic under Fathom’s flag was canceled.

Additionally, last Tuesday protestors demonstrated in front of Carnival Corp.’s Doral headquarters. Among them was Ramon Saul Sanchez, president of the Democracy Movement, which organized the protest. Now, after living in the U.S.A. for forty-nine years, Ramon Saul Sanchez Has U.S. Residency Application Denied.

Sanchez, who obtained legal entry into the U.S. in what is known as a “parole,” applied for permanent residency in 2002 so he could legally travel aboard the many flotillas he has organized over the years and return easily to the United States.

That permanent residency request was denied and his parole has now also expired, according to the letter issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“You are not authorized to remain in the United States and should make arrangements to depart as soon as possible,” stated the letter, dated April 7 and received by Sanchez Thursday. “Failure to depart may result in your being found ineligible for immigration benefits and inadmissible to the United States in the future.”

The letter also states that the decision cannot be appealed. However, a motion to reopen the case could be filed. Sanchez said he has lawyers working on the next step.

Maybe he ought to have tried calling himself a “Dreamer,” or claim to be Syrian.

ARGENTINA
Time Warp: Five dead in Argentina after taking drugs at electronic music festival that ‘got out of control’. Doctors said they were trying to determine what drugs the victims had taken

Argentina ex-president Fernandez de Kirchner defies court

The former Argentine President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has refused to testify at a court hearing into fraud allegations.
. . .
Emerging from the courthouse, Ms Fernandez gave a stirring hour-long speech to the crowds. She suggested she and other leftist leaders in the region had been unfairly accused of corruption by a “media, political and judicial matrix”.

The crowd trashed the location.

BOLIVIA
Evo feels the Bern at the Vatican,

BRAZIL
Re: the impeachment vote, go here.

Two days ago, Brazil’s Rousseff Works to Sway Lawmakers on Eve of Impeachment Vote. President meets with officials at her residence while other lawmakers continue congressional session

WHY BRAZIL IS WORRIED ABOUT ISIS. The Olympics are scheduled to open on August 5th.

CHILE
Storms leave three million without water in Chile capital

“Unfortunately the weather system over the metropolitan region brought rain that caused increased sediment in the Maipo River, which means a water cut for the population affecting about three million people,” Santiago Mayor Claudio Orrego told a news conference.

COLOMBIA
Colombia struggles with peace fatigue.

Santos published an op-ed in The Guardian, As Colombia’s leader, I know we must rethink the drugs war.The president of Colombia argues that his country’s narco-related violent history illustrates exactly why a global rethink on prohibition should be the key discussion at this week’s UN general assembly special session on drugs

CUBA
Panama Intercepts Major Drug Shipment From Cuba

Today’s Capt. Louis Renault moment: Raúl Castro hardens rhetoric, warns Cubans to be alert to U.S. intentions

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
993 kilos of cocaine seized off Dominican Republic

ECUADOR
Leaked Documents Confirm Ecuador’s Internet Censorship Machine

Cubans in Ecuador want to fly directly from Quito to reach the U.S.

Earthquake headlines:

RING OF FIRE: 7.8 MAG ROCKS ECUADOR…
JAPAN EXODUS AS MORE QUAKES SHAKE…
Region ‘swaying every hour’…
Rescuers race against landslides…
TOYOTA stops operations due to supply shortage…
Mysterious foam fills streets…
Top scientist: Could foreshadow ‘mega quake’…
LIST: STRONGEST SINCE 1900…

Bernie Sanders’s new friends, ¿Una nueva alianza de izquierdas?: Bernie Sanders, Evo Morales y Rafael Correa juntos en Roma

MEXICO
U.S. Goes After New Cartel, Mexican Government Defends the Criminal Group

Authorities have just identified and moved to seize some assets tied to a new cartel in Mexico that had been quietly working under the radar for year supplying large quantities of heroin into Philadelphia. Soon after the announcement, a Mexican governor rushed to their defense claiming they were not a security threat.

Known as the Laredo Cartel, the group had been supplying the streets of Philadelphia with a steady supply of heroin from Mexico.

‘New’ Vigilante Groups Keep a Violent Tradition Alive in Michoacán

PANAMA
IMF chief: regulators long ‘alarmed’ over Panama’s handling of taxation.Christine Lagarde responds to Panama Papers revelations, noting that authorities were concerned but did not take ‘expected’ action

PUERTO RICO
Dethroned Puerto Rico Miss Universe contestant files £2.1 million lawsuit. That’s $3million in America.

Ms Caride was stripped of her title after she was criticised for being dismissive and saying she did not love cameras in an interview with a local newspaper.

Say “NO” to the bailout: Puerto Rico rescue falters under attack by conservatives, investors.

VENEZUELA
Shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic, Venezuela travels forward in time half an hour to help ease energy crisis.Nicolás Maduro rolls back measure enacted by Hugo Chávez to provide more daylight during hours of peak energy consumption amid drought conditions

This week’s podcast,



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The Peruvian election Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
Cristina Fernández, Ex-Argentine President Fernandez charged with money laundering: media

Mauricio Macri, Panama Papers: Argentina President Macri to go before judge

BOLIVIA
Protesters Reach Accord, Lift Blockade on Main Bolivia Highway

BRAZIL
Brazilian President Rousseff’s Campaign Was Financed with Bribes. Construction Company Executive Reveals Information in Exchange for Reduced Sentence

Brazilian Public Favors New Presidential Election.Poll finds support for new vote if Dilma Rousseff, Michel Temer leave office

CHILE
As Graft Cases in Chile Multiply, a ‘Gag Law’ Angers Journalists. A new law would punish anyone who makes public information about current judicial investigations with up to 541 days in prison.

Missing in Chile: What happened to Boris Weisfeiler?

COLOMBIA
Photos: Colombia’s “lost city of marijuana”

CUBA
“Bring out your dead”? Fidel Castro makes first public appearance in almost a year after lambasting US President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba
-Former Cuban president, 89, makes first public appearance since JulyFidel Castro handed over power to his brother, Raul, in 2008
-Castro survived several assassination attempts by the US over the years
-He recently criticised Obama’s visit to the US and overtures by Americans

Video of Cuban Rafters Reaching US Soil Goes Viral.Viewers See What It’s Like To Flee Castro’s Cuba Successfully

EL SALVADOR
Panama papers: Mossack Fonseca offices in El Salvador raided

FALKLAND ISLANDS
The Argentines are childish stalkers who menace us Falkland Islanders

MEXICO
“Say hello to my leeddle fren”

Secrets of El Chapo’s money laundering scheme revealed: How brokers used nicknames like ‘Tony Montana’ to funnel US cocaine dollars back to cartels in Mexico and Colombia using sophisticated ‘layering’ technique.
-A joint investigation between Miami-Dade authorities and federal investigators led to 22 suspects being charged in money laundering ring.
-The illicit operation involved $1 million a month in drug moneySuspects have links to Colombian cartels and El Chapo’s drug gang.
-Scheme is ‘very sophisticated,’ a federal investigator told Daily Mail Online

GRAPHIC: Mexican Border State Cop Arrested as Hitman for Los Zetas Cartel

Aurelio Nuño Mayer, A young political star in Mexico takes on a major battle: Fixing the nation’s schools. Mexico’s woeful educational system is holding back a growing economy, officials say.

PANAMA
How Panama ended up in the middle of a financial scandal. Panamanians were riding high, with hopes of a financial boon. Then two reporters got ahold of the Panama Papers.

British PM Cameron makes historic move over Panama Papers

PERU
Three dead in attack ahead of Peru election.Suspected leftist rebels in Peru have killed three people in an attack ahead of Sunday’s presidential election

Peru Presidential Candidate Keiko Fujimori Faces Father’s Dual Legacy.Front-runner in Sunday’s vote embraces his law-and-order record while rejecting his authoritarian excesses

Peru election: Keiko Fujimori wins first round, early results say

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico governor declares bank emergency

URUGUAY
Uruguay: at least two years needed to sort out troubled economy — Astori

The debt to GDP ratio is close to 70% and is still expected to increase, according to some independent Uruguayan economists. Meanwhile, the sharp depreciation of the peso on the foreign exchange market — over 60% compared to the dollar in the past three years — has fuelled inflation, which ended 2015 at 10.5%.

VENEZUELA
Venezuela arrests Interpol detective over cocaine haul. Interpol’s chief detective in Venezuela has been arrested over allegations he was involved in shipping 349kg (770lb) of cocaine to the Dominican Republic.

How Nicolás Maduro’s Spy Network Silences the Opposition.Venezuelan Government Taps Phones to Keep Opposition in Check



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The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
Newton’s Third Law at work:
For every action Argentina reiterates claim to Falklands, there is an equal and opposite reaction Falklands MPs reject Argentina’s claim to islands

Argentina Said to Revise Nuclear Pact With China to Favor U.S.

BAHAMAS
An Island in the Bahamas Where Pigs Swim Free. On Big Major Cay, tourists and pigs play together on the sand and in the water.

BOLIVIA
China’s Sinosteel Signs Contract for Mill at Bolivia Iron-Ore Mine

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Vice President Michel Temer Aims Higher. Having led his party out of President Dilma Rousseff’s embattled government, former ally turns foe and angles for presidency

Brazil Investigator Alleges Connection Between Murder and Corruption Scandal. Judge Sergio Moro alleges money siphoned from Petrobras may have been used to cover up death of Celso Daniel

In January 2002, Mr. Daniel, the former mayor of Santo André, a suburb of São Paulo, was found shot to death a few days after being kidnapped. Six men were convicted and sentenced to prison, but the case has been reopened and closed several times since.

Mr. Moro on Friday alleged funds siphoned from the state-owned oil company at the center of the complex web of bribery and coverups, Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, could have been used to pay hush money related to Mr. Daniel’s murder.

Brazil Court Crimps Judge’s Probe. Sergio Moro’s aggressive probe of a bid-rigging-and-bribery scheme at state oil company Petrobras has put him in open conflict with President Dilma Rousseff—and made him a star to her many detractors.

CHILE
Bolivia Suing Chile at The Hague over Water Dispute

COLOMBIA
Thousands protest government handling of peace process in Colombia

Colombia unsure about hostage numbers before talks with ELN rebels

CUBA
Cuba After Obama Left

Obama’s Cuban Disgrace

This Is Not the Path to Cuban Freedom

In Cuba, image is king – whatever horrors lurk beneath it

Hypocrisy update of the day: Castro regime seeks reparations for slave trade

ECUADOR
Kiwi drug accused Scott Elliott speaks of ‘dreadful situation’ in Ecuadorian jail

JAMAICA
Jamaica, Beyond the Beach. The nation is recasting itself as a glamour and eco-tourism destination, but its African-inflected culture is what lulls you.

MEXICO
Argentine Experts Question Report on Missing Mexico Students

NICARAGUA
Miami Fugitive on Run for 20 Years Found in Nicaragua

PARAGUAY
Can Paraguay Escape Decades of Despotism, Ineptitude, and Corruption? Despite promising one of the biggest turnaround stories in the southern hemisphere, President Horacio Cartes has more work to do.

PERU
The drug mule’s makeover: Incredible transformation of ‘Peru Two’ Brit as she shows off new blonde hair and smarter, slimmer look in first interview since leaving jail for smuggling £1.5million of cocaine

PUERTO RICO
Why Puerto Rico’s super restructuring is bad policy

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s Economy, As Told by A Hot Dog. Like the Famous Venezuelan Hot Dog Pepito, the Chavista-made Economic Crisis Comes in Layers



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The Rolling Stones Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

The weekend’s top story: Lots of dollars, and fifty years late, the Cuban communist regime finally allowed the now septuagenarians Stones to play in the island-prison, while still persecuting the local rockers. As expected, it was largely attended by foreigners who could cough up the admission price.

ARGENTINA
Can Mauricio Macri Save Argentina’s Economy? With Obama’s trip offering new access to international markets, Argentina’s new president will have to be tough to survive the bold reforms he seeks.

Macri’s macroeconomic challenges are vast, however, and success will depend on his administration’s ability to curb a 5.4 percent GDP budget deficit (the biggest since 1982), temper soaring inflation (current annual levels are about 36 percent), and stimulate economic growth. But necessary fiscal and monetary tightening could actually hurt economic improvement in the near term, risking the government’s ability to pay for the costs of implementing longer-term reforms. Already, Argentina’s economy is set to contract 1 percent this year.

Crying in Argentina update: false number of “dictatorship” victims exposed

Nisman Case to Be Investigated as Political Murder, Argentine Court Rules

Nobody promotes freedom abroad like Obama! ‘Decide what works’ between communism, socialism or capitalism and go with it Also at Gay Patriot.

OBAMA ON FREEDOM VS. TOTALITARIANISM — WHATEVER WORKS

Video of the whole speech (41:00 for capitalism vs, communism),

Barack Obama is to tango what Yogi Berra was to water polo.

BOLIVIA
Bolivian State Threatens to Close Down over 500 Radio Stations. Decree by President Morales Hinders Renewal of Licenses

Gabriela Zapata es presa política, dice su abogado. ICYMI: Bolivia Arrests President’s Former Mistress

BRAZIL
Brazil Economic Woes Deepen Amid Political Crisis. Country is heading for one of its worst recessions ever, yet its political straits draw all the attention

Brazil’s Rousseff slams ‘fascist’ attempts to oust her. Brazilian president says in newspaper interview her removal would be a coup

CHILE
Harvest time begins at Latin America’s largest marijuana farm. The pioneering plantation in southern Chile produces about 1.5 tons a year for medical use

Chile’s Future: On the World Stage. What can Chile’s Santiago a Mil festival tell us about the country?

COLOMBIA
“Army searches for explosives buried by the FARC in the areas surrounding schools in Baraya, Huila. More information at 12:30PM”

CUBA
Dissidents’ Delight? New York Times Heaps Praise on Obama, Its Man in Havana

ABC’s Muir Wonders to Obama: Does Castro ‘Have a Point’ Criticizing U.S. for No Universal Healthcare?

ECUADOR
Ecuador Plans to Hike Taxes on Cigarettes, Alcohol and Soft Drinks

GUATEMALA
Guatemala’s CICIG: An Experiment in Motion Gets a Report Card. Two recent reports on Guatemala’s CICIG illustrate the international’s body’s potential to affect powerful shifts in the status quo, as well as its broad limitations.

HONDURAS
Residents Flee Honduran Capital Neighborhood after Gang Threats

MEXICO
How Mexico Awarded $30 Million to Juárez Cartel Operator. A former executive of the Bank of Mexico received government contracts worth over $30 million despite his conviction years earlier of being a financial operator for the Juárez Cartel.

Turning the tables: Mexicans Should Reject Trump’s Populism at Home. Bravado, Victimization, Nationalism All Belong to Mexico’s Political History

Mexican ex-president posts video attacking Trump over planned wall“. Running a business does not mean having the leadership to run a nation,” Fox tells mogul. May I remind you, Under Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony.

NICARAGUA
As Venezuela Falters, So Too Will Nicaragua

PANAMA
Panama: The Next Big Country for Latin American Films? An exponential surge in the quantity and quality of films has come out of Latin America over the past few years

PERU
Peru’s Electoral Jury Rejects Barring Presidential Candidate Keiko Fujimori

PUERTO RICO
Plan to Rescue Puerto Rico Advances, Led by House Republicans (emphasis added)

The plan, being drafted as legislation by House Republicans, would not grant Puerto Rico’s most fervent request: permission to restructure its entire $72 billion debt in bankruptcy. It would, however, give the island certain crucial tools that bankruptcy proceedings can offer — but only if it first comes under close federal oversight and meets other conditions.

VENEZUELA
Inside Venezuela’s ‘top children’s medical unit’ where patients are dying. Quality health care for everyone in Venezuela was one of the great promises of the revolution but even in the best equipped paediatric unit, there’s a shortage of drugs and medical supplies

Lying about Margarita. Sumito Estévez wants to persuade you Margarita is a swell place to vacation in 2016. In doing so, he makes himself an accomplice to an outright swindle.



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The Ides of March Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerIdes of March means the middle of March, and here we are.

ARGENTINA
Nine Barrick Gold Employees Face Continued Probe over Cyanide Spill in Argentina

VIDEO: Moment huge glacier collapses in Argentina. Argentina’s massive Perito Moreno glacier collapses in front of thousands of people in Los Glaciares National Park

BOLIVIA
Bolivia’s Evo Morales Faces Questions About a Lover, Their Child, and Her Chinese Employer

Bolivian Government Sees Politics at Work in Case of Morales’ Ex-Lover. Of course.

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Rousseff Vows Not to Resign amid Burgeoning Political Crisis

CHILE
Chile Halts Inquiry on American Who Disappeared 31 Years Ago

In 2012, eight retired police and military officers were finally indicted with his abduction, a breakthrough after years of cover-ups and diplomatic intrigue.

But now the mystery of what happened to Mr. Weisfeiler will probably remain unsolved — because a judge has closed the case.

The judge, Jorge Zepeda, has put an end to the 16-year investigation into Mr. Weisfeiler’s death by applying a statute of limitations on the case, clearing all those charged, denying the family any compensation and failing to establish what had ultimately happened to Mr. Weisfeiler.

COLOMBIA
Dunford: Colombia Is at Inflection Point

The Colombian government’s imminent peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, will help to put an end to an insurgency that stretches back to the 1960s, but it also complicates the situation in Colombia, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today.

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. told reporters traveling with him that Colombia is at an inflection point, and the challenges facing the government and the Colombian military don’t end with the pact.

CUBA
“Good luck with that:” AT&T, Starwood, Marriott Poised to Complete Cuba Deals. White House officials express hopes business deals can be set before Obama visits Havana on March 20

ECUADOR
Workers in Ecuador sue Occidental over bonuses. Jobs were lost in Occidental’s Ecuador dispute

EL SALVADOR
In World’s Most Violent Country, 30 New Firearms Registered Daily

JAMAICA
Jamaica’s New Parliament

MEXICO
Meet the Warlord of the Viagras, Mexico’s Hardest Cartel Yet. During a meeting in his hidden basecamp, one of Mexico’s most wanted warlords talks drugs, corruption, and life on the run.

NICARAGUA
30 years after Iran-contra affair, Nicaragua once again facing threat of rebel fighters

PANAMA
Wiretaps Paint Unflattering Picture of Former Panama President Ricardo Martinelli

PERU
Elimination of Peru Presidential Candidate Sows Confusion

Peru’s electoral council on Wednesday blocked the candidacy of Julio Guzman, saying the technical mechanism by which his party chose him violated the party’s own internal rules.

PUERTO RICO
SOS: Puerto Rico Is Losing Doctors, Leaving Patients Stranded

URUGUAY
New Muslim convert stabs Jewish businessman to death in front of his son and tells witnesses ‘I killed a Jew on the orders of Allah’ in Uruguay

  • Carlos Omar Peralta Lopez had changed his name to Abdullah Omar
  • He ran up behind his victim David Fremd, 55, and stabbed him to death
  • Mr Fremd was head of the Jewish Community of Paysandu, Uruguay

My post here.

VENEZUELA
You name it, we can’t treat it.” What’s it like trying to run a clinic when prices have been frozen since 2013, and inflation’s made things seven times more expensive since?

Miners Disappearance Exposes Perverse Nature Of The Chávez “Revolution”



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