American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture
In other Chile news,
Chile Just Converted 11 Million Acres Into New National Parks
Chile set aside 11 million acres of land for national parks aided by the largest private land donation from a private entity to a country. The conservation effort of the Tompkins Foundation helped pave the way for Chile to greatly expand its conservation of the pristine Patagonia wilderness.
News the MSM ignores: The LAHT reports, Trump Talks about Venezuela in Calls with Brazilian, Chilean Leaders (emphasis added)
Trump, who is spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, his exclusive Florida country club and resort, spoke with Temer on Saturday and with Bachelet on Sunday afternoon before returning to Washington.
According to a White House statement, Trump and Temer held a lengthy and fruitful chat in which the US leader emphasized the importance of the bilateral relationship with Brazil, a key partner in the Western Hemisphere.
The pair also discussed fostering respect for democratic and humanitarian rights in Venezuela, the White House said, and Temer said on his Twitter account that Trump invited him to visit Washington in the near future.
Trump then spoke with Bachelet Sunday afternoon and expressed his “concern” with the situation in Venezuela, and the two leaders agreed on the importance of advancing democratic principles throughout the Western Hemisphere, the White House said in a statement.
The mogul discussed the US-Chile bilateral relationship with Bachelet and issues linked to the close mutual cooperation on trade and security questions, the White House added.
Temer tweeted (my translation),
“Today I had a telephone call from @realDonaldTrump. He ffollows our work and congratulated us on our results.”
Recebi hoje telefonema de @realDonaldTrump. Ele está acompanhando o nosso trabalho e me congratulou com os resultados que já alcançamos.
— Michel Temer (@MichelTemer) March 19, 2017
“We strengthened our direct channels of communication with @realDonaldTrump. He would like us to visit him in Washington.”
Fortalecemos com @realDonaldTrump a manutenção de canais diretos de diálogo. Ele disse do seu interesse em uma visita nossa a Washington.
— Michel Temer (@MichelTemer) March 19, 2017
The Obama administration took a different approach to Venezuela.
Miami is unlike any other place in the USA, with stories like this, which go unnoticed by the national media:
Billions in drug dealers’ illegal Amazon gold ‘laundered’ through Miami refinery, feds say.
In brief, a Colombian guy named Juan P. Granda, working as director of operations NTR Metals, allegedly – with two other guys – was buying gold from illegal mines in Peru’s Amazonian rain forest, refining it, selling it, and then wiring the funds back to drug traffickers.
Things get complicated and at least seven countries are involved: Granda was born in Ecuador, is a U.S, citizen, the gold was coming from Peru, but was routed through Bolivia, and
At least one of the companies sending the gold to NTR was financed by a man identified as P.F. in the complaint. According to sources, he is “Peter Ferrari,” whose real name is Pedro Perez Miranda.
Ferrari was acquitted of narcotics money laundering in Peru. But he was later arrested on charges of illegal gold mining and laundering more than $500 million worth of gold.
After the Peruvian crackdown, smuggled gold was transported to Bolivia before it was shipped to NTR in Miami, the complaint said. Last year, Ecuadorean authorities made arrests involving about $400 million in gold from Peru bound for refineries in Miami, including NTR Metals, according to the complaint.
Federal agents said customs records show that NTR also participated in “highly suspicious gold imports” from Colombia, Chile, Guyana and the Caribbean.
To provide a benchmark for progress on gender equality in the labour market, The Economist has published its fifth annual “glass-ceiling index”. It combines data on higher education, workforce participation, pay, child-care costs, maternity and paternity rights, business-school applications and representation in senior jobs into a single measure of where women have the best—and worst—chances of equal treatment in the workplace. Each country’s score is a weighted average of its performance on ten indicators.
The overall picture painted by the data is that the long trend of improving conditions for working women has flatlined within the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries.
While Chile and Mexico are OECD members, The Economist did not include them in the study.
Why?
For the third time in eleven years, Chile’s privately-owned copper mine, which provides a mind-boggling five percent of the world’s total copper output, is on strike:
Workers at BHP Billiton Copper Mine In Chile Go On Strike. Move follows unsuccessful talks for new collective bargaining agreement, union official says
The decision to walk off the job is raising concerns in Chile about the strike’s impact on the economy, which was already posting weak growth. The economy expanded 1.2% in December, as mining activity contracted 3%, the central bank said Monday. Escondida accounts for about 19% of Chile’s production of copper, the country’s top export earner.
. . .
Labor disputes have flared up in Chile’s mining sector over the past year as worker demands conflict with company efforts to cut costs by reducing benefits and laying off employees due to low commodity prices.
Undoubtedly, the strike may raise copper prices in the short term. the real question is, what effect will the strike have on Chile’s weak economy, especially if it drags on, since
Escondida accounts for about 19% of Chile’s production of copper, the country’s top export earner.
Related headlines:
Fire at BHP’s Escondida mine in Chile injures three
BHP Said to Declare Force Majeure on Shipments From Escondida
Meaning “greater force,” force majeure is a contractual clause used when suppliers can’t meet obligations because of circumstances beyond their control.
Strike at BHP’s Escondida copper mine in Chile enters second day
Mary O’Grady writes on Fire and Terrorism in Chile. Setting churches and forests afire is the modus operandi of guerrillas in the south.
More than one million acres in the center and south of Chile have gone up in flames since July 2016, with almost 70% of the destruction occurring last month. The affected area is larger than the state of Rhode Island. At least 11 people have died and more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed.
There is now evidence that
Some fires have been intentionally set and this has elevated concerns in rural Chile about the rise in organized violence against civilians and private property by left-wing extremists aiming to topple the democracy. Ms. Bachelet was warned about the threat during her first term (2006-10), as was former President Sebastian Piñera (2010-14). Neither acted.
O’Grady writes that “left-wing extremist groups—claiming to represent the indigenous Mapuche” in La Auraucanía, Los Ríos and Bío Bío have been linked in the past to not only the Chilean Communist Party, but also to – surprise! – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
As you may recall from my prior post, Brazil’s largest criminal organization, the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital – First Capital Command) is recruiting Colombian FARC members.
InSight Crime reports,
Colombia’s peace agreement with the FARC grants the guerrillas 10 congressional seats in 2018, but their transition from illegal armed group to political movement will most likely be concentrated in local positions in their traditional areas of influence.
In plain English, that means that the FARC is well on its road to becoming a political power in Colombia . . . while its members branch out into criminal and terrorist activities throughout the hemisphere.
The worst forest fires in Chile’s history have now destroyed more than a million acres of land, leaving at least 11 dead.
Here’s a roundup from international media,
Huge planes help fight Chile forest fires
AP PHOTOS: Chile Continues to Battles Its Worst Wildfires
Russian plane combats forest fires in Chile
Deadly wildfires continue to ravage Chile
In pictures: Raging wildfires in Chile lead to mass evacuations
The Vatican and Argentina’s bishops have finished cataloguing their archives from the country’s “dirty war” and will soon make them available to victims and their relatives who have long accused church members of complicity with the military dictatorship. The 3,000 files being released, though, are a fraction of the documentation believed to be in the possession of the Argentine church.
A joint statement Tuesday by the Vatican and the Argentine bishops’ conference said the process of digitizing the archives had been completed and that procedures to access the information would be forthcoming. No date was set, and the opening for now is restricted to victims, detainees, their relatives and the religious superiors of victims who were priests or nuns.
BRAZIL
Brazil Turns Away From Establishment Politicians in Local Elections.
Even as President Michel Temer struggles to assure investors that Brazil is politically stable, this month’s municipal elections show restless voters fed up with Brazil’s ruling class and willing to gamble on unconventional newcomers
CHILE
Is Chile leaning to the right again?
COLOMBIA
Colombia government peace team to meet with Uribe allies
CUBA
What could possibly go wrong? Congress: Cuba to Share Critical U.S. Intel With Iranian Spies. Intel sharing with Cuba endangers America, lawmakers warn
He said that the action-oriented outcome document, known as the New Urban Agenda, enshrined now in the ‘Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All,’ should be seen as an extension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, agreed by 193 Member States of the UN in September 2015.
GUATEMALA
Comparing Presidential Corruption Scandals in Guatemala and Brazil: Part 2
Following a report in the Washington Post that the foundation raked in millions from foreign governments while Clinton was at the State Department, Clinton’s team discussed over email how to address questions about the Algeria donation from other outlets.
JAMAICA
More soldiers for western Jamaica
Government has announced plans to augment the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) in western Jamaica in an effort to have speedier and more effective response to any violent upsurge in that section of the island
DoD Official: U.S.-Mexico Military-to-Military Relationship ‘Worth Strengthening’
Clinton Trots Out Mexican Music Legend Vicente Fernández on Univision, Telemundo, as she panders,
PANAMA
COPA Launches New Low Cost Carrier to Colombia and More (H/T JC)
Panama’s Copa Holdings has unveiled a new low-cost carrier, Wingo, as it aims to turn its loss-making Colombian operations around.
Bogota-based Wingo will operate its first flight on 1 December, and will take over all of Copa Colombia’s routes except its flights to and from Panama City.
PUERTO RICO
Patients left in limbo as more doctors flee Puerto Rico
URUGUAY
Possible new home for Gitmo ex-detainee unhappy in Uruguay, but Lord knows where,
The group did not say which country made the offer and it was unclear if Dhiab has travel documents. Uruguayan officials did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
VENEZUELA
Opposition Protests Will Be Met With Colectivos: Venezuelan VP