Honduras

December 5, 2017 By Fausta

Honduras: Police won’t enforce curfew UPDATED

When it rains, it pours:

First, Protesters Block Roads, Clash With Police in Honduras.

Now, Hundreds of members of the Honduran riot police force known as Cobras refused to carry out orders to enforce a night-time curfew on Monday.

About 200 Cobras gathered at the police headquarters and announced they were no longer willing to confront protesters, arguing that it amounted to “taking sides” in the political battle between Mr Nasralla and President Hernández.
“We are rebelling. We call on all the police nationally to act with their conscience,” one masked officer told Reuters news agency.

There’s a recount in the works.

Meanwhile, Eric Conn got nabbed. Who? Honduran authorities have captured a fugitive US lawyer who was on America’s most wanted list.

Eric Conn fled from the US six months ago after pleading guilty to stealing $600m (£450m) by filing bogus disability claims.

UPDATE

Hissy fit n foreign press about electronic fail n Honduras. Baloney. All sides signed a doc that final results req reviewng physical “actas”. N all had reps at the tables and copies of signed “actas.”
Nasralla offered path 2 challenge. Refuses. For press doesn’t mention this.

— MaryAnastasiaO'Grady (@MaryAnastasiaOG) December 5, 2017

December 4, 2017 By Fausta

Honduras: Incumbent Hernandez ahead by 1.59%

Honduran electoral website shows president 1.59 percent points ahead

Hernandez had 42.98 percent of the vote, while TV star Salvador Nasralla had 41.39 percent, with 99.96 percent of votes tallied, according to the tribunal’s website.
. . .
After the count suddenly halted for more than a day, the sporadic vote count started leaning in favor of the incumbent.

Aaand,

Hillary’s old friend Mel Zelaya is again destabilizing Honduras. https://t.co/42X7NhvpUN

— MaryAnastasiaO'Grady (@MaryAnastasiaOG) December 4, 2017

How so?

like a bad centavo, pro-Chávez Honduran former President Manuel Zelaya turned up in the midst of one angry mob.

Zelaya no longer has his tin-foil lined room at the Brazilian embassy now that Dilma’s not in office.

March 10, 2017 By Fausta

Trump does Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador a favor

Monica Showalter explains how (emphasis added),

But the bigger favor is the one he’s done for Central America, particularly the “northern triangle” states of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Those nations, plus Mexico, in varying degrees, are in a demographic death spiral, losing too many people in prime working years they cannot afford to lose. Their window of development is getting narrow, a UCLA professor of economics explained to me. The statistics here show that by 2025, the fertility rate will be just 2.08% for the region as a whole, which is at or below replacement rate. The years following will be below replacement rate. Immigration, which primarily involves young people in their prime working years, has been a disaster for those countries, as has been their government’s dependence on remittances. There is not just a negative effect of dollars coming in to displace local productivity; there is also a social cost as families are broken up by migration. In fact, the IMF has pointed out that remittances tend to keep a country artificially underdeveloped. The money itself tends to benefit government cronies and make corruption less costly.

So let’s not kid ourselves as to what has happened. Trump’s statements and tweets have spared Americans billions in costs associated with illegal immigrants. But they have spared Central Americans the near fatal cost of unchecked emigration.

Just the other day I posted on how Mexico is spending US$50million on legal aid for immigrants to fight deportation in the U.S., since the country makes more money from Mexicans who leave the country than from those who stay.

Plus immigration is a useful pressure valve for the discontent.

December 23, 2016 By Fausta

Immigration: Central American border surge from the Northern Triangle

From the WSJ:
Central Americans Surge at Border Before Trump Takes Over. Migrants from violence-plagued El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala push north in anticipation of new administration’s tougher border measures

The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 47,214 migrants along the southwest U.S. border in November, an increase of 44% compared with November 2015. It was the Border Patrol’s busiest month since June of 2014, when illegal entries from Central America were cresting.

Over the past six months, Border Patrol agents have caught nearly 240,000 migrants, an average of more than 1,300 a day—30% more than the same period a year earlier.

Click on the graph to read the article:

More at InSight Crime:
Honduras news

Report Says El Salvador Gangs Have Created a Parallel State

Cargo Robberies in Northern Triangle Hamper Regional Commerce

September 14, 2016 By Fausta

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.

July 18, 2016 By Fausta

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
Argentina judge orders cash seized from Fernandez’s daughter, Florencia Kirchner.

BOLIVIA
Fitch cuts Bolivia’s credit rating

Chile rejects Bolivia call for talks on sea access

BRAZIL
Brazil reviews security measures ahead of Rio Olympics

Rio de Janeiro’s Airspace to Be Restricted on July 24, Ahead of Olympics

CHILE
Stormy seas hit Chile copper exports, could buoy prices

COLOMBIA
The Chilean fighting in a foreign conflict in Colombia

CUBA
Good question: In Age Of Terror, Why Is Obama Rushing to Open Daily Flights With Cuba?

ECUADOR
Steve Hanke: “Electronic money leads into bankruptcy”

HONDURAS
Former Honduran President Zelaya to Supporters: “Ready Your AK-47s”. Deposed Seven Years Ago, Leftist Manuel Zelaya Seeks to Return to Power in 2017

MEXICO
Mexico to its Expatriates: “The Door Is Open to You Here”

PANAMA
Panama’s Manuel Noriega to Have Surgery on Brain Tumor

PERU
Spanish Historian Recounts Quest to Locate Last Inca Capital

PUERTO RICO
Zika Virus Jump: Puerto Rico Sees Big Increase in Case Count

VENEZUELA
Venezuela Comptroller General Says Cabinet Members Being Investigated

June 13, 2016 By Fausta

The Copa America Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Soccer fans everywhere are cheering their teams. Since I’m not a fan, all I can do is point you to their Twitter feed.

ARGENTINA
Argentina to suspend RT from national broadcasting

Por orden del papa Francisco, Scholas Ocurrentes rechazó los 16 millones de pesos que le donó el gobierno de Macri

“El Gobierno argentino tiene que acudir a tantas necesidades del pueblo, que no tienen derecho a pedirle un centavo”, fue el argumento del Santo Padre; sorpresa y malestar en la Casa Rosada

Taxi Drivers Protest against Uber in Argentina

BOLIVIA
Bolivia to File Counter-Suit against Chile over Silala River Dispute

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Iguatemi sees early signs of confidence returning

Brazil’s Fiscal Accounts Were a Nasty Surprise to Temer’s Team

Brazil’s Rousseff calls for referendum on early elections

Brazilians Supporting Dilma Rousseff Protest Temer Government

CHILE
Chile is “sick” from the lack of a pluralistic press, journalist says

COLOMBIA
Ex-President Uribe Launches Signature Drive against Colombian Peace Accords. Santos finds it laughable:

Mientras @JuanManSantos se ríe de los colombianos, nosotros defendemos una paz con justicia y sin impunidad. https://t.co/NOo6MlcIij

— Óscar Iván Zuluaga (@OIZuluaga) June 12, 2016

CUBA
Is Cuba preparing to extradite convicted cop killers back to the US?
Obama’s Cuba Trip Was Just a Family Vacation

ECUADOR
Visiting Ecuador After the Earthquake

HONDURAS
Honduras gang violence uproots thousands a month: UN

MEXICO
Mexican Government Protests Border Agent Shooting Illegal Alien In Self-Defense

Striking Teachers Burn Government Offices in Mexico

Zetas drug gang ‘used Mexico prison as extermination camp to kidnap and kill 150’

NICARAGUA
Earthquake hits Nicaragua close to Honduras

PANAMA
The Panama Canal Expansion: Changes Beyond the Waterway

PERU
Peru’s Keiko Fujimori vows to lead opposition in sour concession

PUERTO RICO
Obama urges Senate to pass Puerto Rico aid bill quickly

US Geological Survey says it will end water monitoring

Puerto Rico gets help in Congress as July deadline looms

Puerto Rico Lawmakers Mull Bill to Prevent Water Utility Default

VENEZUELA
‘We want food!’ Looting and riots rock Venezuela daily

Few options as Venezuela nears brink
NPR + NYT: A RECIPE FOR CLUELESSNESS

April 25, 2016 By Fausta

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