Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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The endless election season Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

With weeks to go before U.S. election day . . .Bloomberg Businessweek: Univision Needs Clinton Win For FCC Relief

ARGENTINA
Pope Francis makes Argentina’s “gaucho priest” and 6 others saints

BRAZIL
One picture says it all,

Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva at a recent event.
Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva at a recent event. AFP

Brazil’s Lula faces third set of corruption charges. Court cases could spell the end for former president’s hope of political comeback. One can hope.

COLOMBIA
Spain’s El País cries salty tears over evangelicals: How Colombia’s Evangelists undermined the peace referendum. Government underestimated power of group in run-up to vote on peace accords with FARC. I don’t think the translator realized that the word evangelists usually refers to itinerant preachers or the four writers of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

CUBA
Journalists Arrested in Cuba for “Illegal” Reporting of Hurricane Matthew

EL SALVADOR
MS13 Pooled Resources to Fund ‘Elite’ Unit: Report

HAITI
Under Hillary Clinton, US Officials Asked Haitians, Do You Like Bill?

The State Department would not say how much the agency paid for the polling in Haiti. The polling firm, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, was paid nearly $4 million for political polling in the 2014 campaign cycle, almost entirely by Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Stan Greenberg, the research firm’s chairman and CEO, served as Clinton’s pollster during his 1992 run for president.

MEXICO
Mexico’s Zapatista rebels to field a presidential candidate

Mexico Expects to Extradite ‘El Chapo’ to US in 2017; if he’s still alive, that is.

PANAMA
Offshore secrets of Brexit backer Arron Banks revealed in Panama Papers. Financier who spent £7.5m funding Nigel Farage’s Leave.EU campaign linked to tax haven companies in British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar

VENEZUELA
Trickle-Down Effects Of Rapidly Deteriorating Venezuela



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Life and death in El Salvador’s no-go zones

Rachel Nolan reports on Salvadorian Colonias,
Complicated Situation

For the October issue of Harper’s Magazine, Rachel Nolan traveled to El Salvador, the only country in the world that systematically finds and punishes women suspected of having abortions. In January, after the number of registered Zika cases there climbed over 4,000, the Health Ministry recommended that women avoid pregnancy for two years. As she writes in her piece, “Innocents,” this response seemed particularly absurd for El Salvador, a country of 6.3 million where at least five women are raped a day, gangs use rape as an initiation rite, and a third of those pregnant are under the age of nineteen. To stop Zika from spreading, health officials have also been going out on eradication rounds. One day this spring, Nolan tagged along.

She writes,

When I joined a group of Health Ministry officers on their eradication rounds in San Salvador, the capital, we were assigned to the neighborhood of Colonia Iberia, where, they explained, the situation was certainly complicated. The crew seemed nervous, and not at all happy to have me with them. “It’s a community,” a health officer said, and another translated that this meant that gang members prowl openly. If you call the police, they won’t come—they might not be allowed in. That day, the “community leaders” (the gang hierarchy), had given us permission to enter.

Read the full article, Innocents: Where pregnant women have more to fear than Zika

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Salvadoran Maras in Spain

El País reports, Police arrest Mara 18 leader tasked with starting gang activity in Spain. Man known as ‘The Mexican’ detained while setting up extortion, kidnapping and trafficking ring

Spain’s National Police force has arrested a man known as ‘The Mexican’ on suspicion of being one of the leaders of the international criminal organization known as Mara 18. He is thought to have been tasked with starting a new chapter of the violent gang in Spain.

I was rather confused over the headline, since I remembered reading that Mara 13 were rivals of Barrio 18.

Th always valuable InSight Crime clarifies,

Barrio 18 and MS13 are concentrated in the Northern Triangle region ofHonduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and they also have a presence throughout much of the rest of Central America, as well as Mexico and the United States. Nonetheless, the extent of the gangs’ transnational ties remains an open question, as the links between the different branches areoften highly tenuous.

The presence of Central American-based gangs in Europe is not a new phenomenon; both the MS13 and Barrio 18 have had a presence in Italy since the mid-2000s. There is increasing evidence, however, that the gang members in Europe are taking orders from Central American bosses. In addition to the recent case involving Mexicano, the gang members arrested in 2014 in Spain were reportedly Salvadorans sent overseas to build up MS13 operations in the country.

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El Salvador: Coming for the private retirement accounts

In El Salvador, FMLN vs. ANEP.
Mary O’Grady reports on El Salvador’s Market Economy Under Siege. A broke government wants to loot private pension accounts.

In the late 1990s El Salvador implemented changes that made it second in the region only to Chile in economic freedom. Many of those reforms have been erased under the FMLN, and El Salvador risks becoming another Venezuela, complete with political persecutions and a state-controlled economy. Nonetheless Team Obama has dumped hundreds of millions of dollars in bilateral aid into its pockets.

The latest chapter in the FMLN [Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front] power grab is a move by the government of President Salvador Sánchez Cerén—a former guerrilla leader during the bloody Marxist insurgency of the 1980s—to rein in the independence of the National Association of Private Enterprise (ANEP) by placing the FMLN’s preferred candidate in charge. A vote to choose the association’s next president comes this week.

This is a pivotal moment for the nation but also for Central American stability. El Salvador is part of the “Northern Triangle,” where organized crime financed by U.S. drug consumers has made life unbearably violent and spurred emigration. If the country becomes a Venezuela Mini-Me, things will get even worse.

At play $8.5 billion of private property invested in the privatized pension system, which the FMLN wants. Read the whole article.

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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 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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The Superbowl weekend Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerARGENTINA
Argentina in $6.5bn offer to debt holdouts after its 2001 default on $100bn.

BOLIVIA
Gabriela Zapata vive en una lujosa vivienda que pertenecía al político Guillermo Fortún

Bolivia’s Morales reveals that in 2007 he had a child that died

BRAZIL
Brazil Health Researchers Say Zika Virus Is Active in Saliva, Urine. Pregnant women advised to take precautions to avoid coming in contact with others’ saliva; other researchers suggest such fears are overblown

Palestinian Authority opens embassy in Brasilia

CHILE
Privatization success: Chilean Pension Funds Grow 4.1% Year-on-Year in January

COLOMBIA
Colombia is preparing for peace. So are its drug traffickers. If FARC guerrillas accept a peace deal, the fight over the country’s cocaine business may escalate.

Islamist Militants Join Latin American Drug Lords in Explosive Duo. Hezbollah Seeks Closer Links with Drug Cartels Due to Iran’s Falling Oil Revenues

This week, the DEA announced the arrests of Hezbollah operatives with connections to ‘La Oficina de Envigado,’ a major Colombian Drug Trafficking organization responsible for a large share of the cocaine shipped to US and European markets. The presence in Latin America of Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based and Iran-backed Shi’a Islamic terror group is hardly news.

The group has been active in money laundering and other illicit activities in the region for decades, predominantly in the lawless tri-border region between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Most notably, Hezbollah bombed a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994, killing 85 and wounding hundreds. However, the recent increase in cooperation with drug traffickers, as evidenced by these high-profile arrests, represents an alarming trend and a dangerous prospect for the future of hemispheric security.

Falling oil prices are affecting Iran’s economy, and Hezbollah must diversify and pursue other revenue streams. The lucrative Latin American drug trade is a natural choice.

White House seeks to boost aid to Colombia to $450 million

President Barack Obama promised to throw the White House’s full support behind the Colombian government’s efforts to sign a historic peace agreement with leftist rebels, including a pledge of $450 million in aid annually to help demobilize rebels who’ve been fighting an insurgency for 51 years.

The ELN in action, Colombian Policeman Killed in Rebel Attack

COSTA RICA
2nd Group of Cuban Migrants Stuck in Costa Rica Flown Out

CUBA
Pope Che’s going back to Cuba: In Historic Move, Pope to Meet With Leader of Russian Orthodox Church

ECUADOR
Ecuador protests to Turkey over Erdogan speech scuffle

Ecuador has protested to Turkey over an incident in which demonstrators were violently ejected during a speech by visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital, Quito.

Video:

EL SALVADOR
El Salvador detains ex-soldiers for 1989 Jesuit priest killings

HAITI
Crisis in Haiti turns deadly as power vacuum looms

Protesters in Haiti have beaten a man to death in a clash with ex-soldiers, as political uncertainty continues.
Witnesses say the crowd in the capital Port-au-Prince attacked the man, thinking that he was from the country’s disbanded military.

JAMAICA
Jamaica Ready to Celebrate 71st Anniversary of Birth of Bob Marley

LATIN AMERICA
A Channel 2 Action News investigation discovered a leaked secret document showing a spike in people from terrorist nations illegally crossing our country’s Southern border.

Congratulations to Eneas Biglione: HACER entre los 75 centros de estudios más influyentes de EEUU

MEXICO
“La reina del sur” in hot water: Mexican Judge Grants Del Castillo Protection against Arrest

The runaway cops visit the burnt-out unit,

PANAMA
Panama expected to follow Brazil’s lead and release genetically modified mosquitoes whose offspring die as larvae in a bid to stop the spread of the terrifying Zika virus

PERU
Peru may bar presidential hopeful from April elections

PUERTO RICO
State of emergency declared in Puerto-Rico as Zika cases climb to 22

VENEZUELA
Venezuela Is Socialist, Senator Sanders. Any Questions?

Printing Error. Venezuela is now importing 100 bolivar bills by the planeload: more banknotes, actually, than the whole of the European Union needs.



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The MLK Jr Day Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerARGENTINA
Argentina’s President Declassifies Files on Dead Prosecutor Nisman. Federal Intelligence Agency Has 30 Days to Hand Over Documents to a Judge

BELIZE
ABC producer was ‘murdered and sexually assaulted while on vacation in Belize’

  • Producer Anne Swaney, 39, arrived last Saturday to Nabatunich Resort, Benque Viejo in Belize
  • She disappeared on Thursday after doing yoga by the Mopan River
  • Swaney’s half-naked corpse was found floating on the river on Friday

BRAZIL
Brazilian Unemployment Climbs to 9%

Doctors’ union in Rio has warned that Olympic visitors will not get medical attention if they fall sick during 2016 games. Some major hospitals have been forced to close while even the most seriously ill patients cannot be admitted because of a funding shortfall

Brazil fire: Explosion unleashes toxic gas in Santos

CHILE
Thousands of squid wash up on Chilean shore

COLOMBIA
Colombia Cancels Anglo-Australian Consortium’s Oil Contracts

CUBA
Report: Cuban Army Gets Lion’s Share of Foreign Investment. NGO Documents Suffocating Network of Military-Run Businesses

EL SALVADOR
US renews El Salvador travel warning due to rampant violence

MEXICO
The Manhunt for the Drug Kingpin El Chapo. Joaquín Guzmán Loera’s meeting with the movie star Sean Penn gave the authorities the break they needed to help recapture him.

Crime in Mexico: From Penn to pen. El Chapo’s recapture heralds closer co-operation with the United States. Maybe.

PANAMA
How Panama Canal Expansion Will Affect U.S. Shipping Sector

PUERTO RICO
Congressional Hearings Grapple with Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Train Wreck. Island’s Power Authority Insolvent, US$1 Billion Payment Looms

URUGUAY
Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Peru fined over homophobic chants.
• Fifa takes action over chants during 2018 World Cup qualifying
• Chile’s fine is biggest at £48,000, for incidents at four games

VENEZUELA
“A day late and a dollar short”?
Venezuela decrees economic emergency

Soldier stands guard in a supermarket in San Antonio de Tachira, Venezuela (27 August 2015)

The Venezuelan government announces a 60-day economic emergency to deal with the country’s worsening crisis.

Venezuela: Economy on brink?

Oil row may damage Maduro

wsv-783361Venezuela’s First Lady criticises America for ‘kidnapping’ her relatives and charging them with trafficking. Cilia Flores, wife of President Nicolas Maduro, has spoken for the first time about the arrest of her relatives on charges of plotting to traffic 800kg of cocaine into the United States

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