Jamaica

October 31, 2016 By Fausta

The Halloween Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
Vatican, Argentina to open ‘dirty war’ files. The initial opening will be restricted to those directly affected by the purges from 1976 to 1983

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.

BOLIVIA
Gold Rush in Bolivia sparks conflict between miners and the community. Community members and miners are clashing north of Bolivia’s La Paz. Meanwhile, Bolivian Amazon rivers are being affected by the excessive dumping of mercury.

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

ECUADOR
HABITAT III: UN conference agrees new urban development agenda creating sustainable, equitable cities for all

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

HAITI
Clinton Campaign Coordinated With State Department to Answer Foundation Questions About Haiti. Clinton faced questions about $500,000 donation from Algeria

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

MEXICO
The daily struggle for life in Ecatepec, Mexico’s most dangerous city. At least 600 women have been murdered since 2012 in this slum, half-an-hour from capital

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

September 26, 2016 By Fausta

The pre-debate Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Yes, there’s a presidential debate tonight. Meh.

ARGENTINA
Argentina plans eurobond

Probe into Nisman’s death will go to federal courts

Stiuso habló de una “guerra” entre espías tras la muerte de Nisman. La versión del ex director de la SIDE sobre su pelea con el espionaje K

En su testimonio, afirmó que se dio una orden ilegal a Migraciones para saber sus movimientos, reveló el dueño de un teléfono clave y vinculó a Aníbal Fernandéz.

Argentina Seeks To Export Its Human Rights Policy

BOLIVIA
“Narcos”. Artículo completo de Veja sobre Evo y Álvaro – Evo Morales and his vice-president Álvaro García Linera, investigated by the DEA.

Give it up, Evo: Bolivia’s Morales accuses Chile of restricting access to ports

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Supreme Court Gives OK to Open Probe of New President Temer

Judge approves preliminary investigation, which is based on plea-bargain testimony by a key witness that implicates President Michel Temer, other PMDB members

CHILE
CIA found ‘convincing evidence’ Chilean dictator was behind 1976 D.C. attack

The latest revelations about the Cold War-era case come on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a leading opponent of the Pinochet regime and onetime Chilean foreign minister, and his think-tank colleague, Ronni Moffitt, in a car bomb on D.C.’s Embassy Row.

COLOMBIA
“The FARC’s abortionist confessed to [performing] 400+ abortions on abused girls. Is there pardon, justice, and reparation?”

El abortista de las Farc confesó más de 400 abortos practicados a niñas abusadas. ¿Hay perdón, justicia y reparación? #Villavicencio pic.twitter.com/Wt4xuMt3ny

— Óscar Iván Zuluaga (@OIZuluaga) September 22, 2016

CUBA
How Kim (DPRK) and Castro (Cuba) Blackmail Abe (Japan)

Nearly on a monthly basis, some senior North Korean is on a “working visit” to Cuba. Or some senior Cuban regime official is on a “working visit” to North Korea.

With the exception of China, there’s no other nation in the world that North Korean officials visit with such frequency.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Republic’s Former Anti-Drug Chief Sentenced to 20 Years

ECUADOR
Ecuadorian Police Oust Dozens of Cubans Demanding Visas from Quito Park

IMMIGRATION
HILLARY: THE THIRD WORLD HAS A “RIGHT” TO MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES. No, they don’t.

JAMAICA
American says he wants to protect Jamaica’s natural ganja

MEXICO
Priest Killings Highlight Mexico Govt’s Credibility Problem

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua rejects U.S. bill for loans with strings attached (emphasis added)
The Nicaraguan government was responding to the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. A version was introduced by Senator Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.

Nicaragua on Thursday criticized a proposal by U.S. lawmakers that would require the Central American country, which will hold elections in November, to make political changes in order to receive international loans.
. . .
The Nicaraguan government was responding to the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. A version was introduced by Senator Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.

The bill proposes blocking Nicaragua from obtaining loans from international financial institutions unless the country “is taking effective steps to hold free, fair, and transparent elections.”

On Nov. 6, Nicaraguans will vote for president and 90 members of the National Assembly.

President Daniel Ortega is the favorite as he seeks his third consecutive term.

PANAMA
Smithsonian opens climate change lab in Panama

PARAGUAY
Polka lessons

Budgets have been roughly in balance and public debt is low. The central bank aims for an inflation rate of 4.5% and usually gets close. Commercial banks are healthy (in part because they charge high interest rates and face little competition). Regulation, like the tax code, is business-friendly. Independent trade unions, suppressed under Stroessner, are weak.

PERU
Peru President Says Unasur Unable to Resolve Venezuela Crisis

PUERTO RICO
Where were you when the lights went out? The Puerto Rico blackout, from space

URUGUAY
More on Abu Wa’el Dhiab: Uruguay says ex-Gitmo detainee demands exceed government

“The Uruguayan government is doing everything possible,” Vazquez said. “But as I’ve said in the past: If the countries where the Syrian citizen wants to go don’t take him, we can’t do anything about it.”

VENEZUELA
Military and Police Corruption: Venezuela’s Growing Evil

September 12, 2016 By Fausta

The Deplorables Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

In an attempt at demonizing any opposition, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tars the Trump supporters as deplorable and/or clueless, and later tried to walk it back, making what even Mexican media called a half apology.

ARGENTINA
Uber Drivers in Argentina Could Face 10 Days in Jail. Officials Raid Buenos Aires Offices and Plan to Charge them for Operating Without a Permit

Protesters Set Up 100 Soup Kitchens in Argentine Capital. What took them so long?

Nisman’s Iran case reaches new appeal stage

The efforts to reopen the complaint filed by late AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman against former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in January last year will continue this week with a hearing at an appeals court to determine if Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas had reason to deny such a petition from the DAIA Jewish community group last month.

In parallel, Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio has been making progress in an accusation of treason against Fernández de Kirchner and former foreign minister Héctor Timerman in relation to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran.

ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, COLOMBIA:
South America’s Drug Slums: Jurisdiction of Organized Crime

BELIZE
Belize will not support second probe into death of Guatemalan teen

BOLIVIA
Bolivia proposes prison time for illegal coca production

BRAZIL
Upcoming event at Cato: Brazillionaires: Wealth, Power, Decadence, and Hope in an American Country, September 13, 2016, 12:00PM to 1:30PM

If you can’t make it to the event, you can watch it live online at www.cato.org/live and join the conversation on Twitter using #Brazillionaires. Follow @CatoEvents on Twitter to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.

Rousseff Abandons Brazil’s Capital after Ouster

Brazil’s Attorney General Asks High Court to Allow Abortions for Women With Zika. Brazil’s attorney general is urging the nation’s Supreme Court to permit abortions for pregnant women infected with the Zika virus.

CHILE
Affluent Chile draws migrants but it’s no picnic for them

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s ELN rebels and paramilitary heirs scramble to occupy FARC territory

The Secret History of Colombia’s Paramilitaries and the U.S. War on Drugs. After decades of atrocities, the warlords were finally being held to account. Then the Americans stepped in.

Colombian Condemns Murder of Owner of FARC Transition-Zone Property

CUBA
Cuba’s Walled Garden

House panel will consider bill to halt Cuba flights next week

Sirley Ávila León Cuban Democracy Leader Disappears From Commercial Flight

ECUADOR
Ecuador Begins Drilling for Oil in Pristine Corner of Amazon

Sweden puts pressure on Ecuador over questioning Julian Assange

HAITI
Hillary Cares About You? Ask the Haitians She Ripped Off

JAMAICA
Prince Buster: Jamaica’s True Voice of the People

MEXICO
<br /> ‘Wolf Boys’: 2 American teens become brutal hitmen for feared Mexican drug cartel

Chinese Billionaire Linked to Giant Aluminum Stockpile in Mexican Desert. U.S. aluminum executives claim Liu Zhongtian, founder of Chinese metals conglomerate China Zhongwang, used a factory in Mexico to game the global trade system

PANAMA
Panama Papers: Denmark to buy leaked data

PUERTO RICO
Latin America’s Largest Sail Training Ship Docks in Puerto Rico

URUGUAY
Abu Wa’el Dhiab, a.k.a. Jihad Ahmad Diyab, a.k.a. Abu Wael Dihab, a.k.a. Jihad Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab, is still at it:
Hunger-striking ex-Guantanamo inmate leaves Uruguay hospital

Uruguay searching for country to take ex-Guantanamo detainee (emphasis added)

Syrian native Abu Wa’el Dhiab has repeatedly said he is unhappy in Uruguay and is demanding he be allowed to leave the South American country, which took him in with five other former Guantanamo prisoners in 2014.
. . .
Although there’s nothing impeding Dhiab’s family from coming to Uruguay, the former prisoner is against it, Mirza said. “We’d have to ask ourselves why his family could not come to Uruguay when the families of other Guantanamo refugees came here when they wished.”
. . .
Dhiab also says that he feels like a prisoner in Uruguay.

A prisoner who traveled to Argentina, and through Brazil to Venezuela, that is.

VENEZUELA
FROM VOODOO ECONOMICS TO VOODOO

Almost 60 Percent of Venezuelans Say They Want Out

August 22, 2016 By Fausta

The #Rio2016 week 3 Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

The big all-over-the-world stupid story of the week: Ryan Lochte and three other swimmers got drunk and gave Brazilians an excuse to feign outrage over their country being embarrassed; I’m still waiting for the Brazilians to be embarrassed over the body parts washing on shore during the Olympics or over the six Brazilians a day who die at the hands of state security forces.

Meanwhile, a new word enters the lexicon, Iranophobia (emphasis added),

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will tour six Latin American countries next week to “foil the Iranophobia plots promoted by Israel,” the Islamic Republic’s semi-official state news agency Fars reported on Wednesday.
. . .
Zarif will be accompanied on his visit to Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela by a 60-member economic delegation.

Unlike Ali Baba, whose entourage was only forty-strong.

ARGENTINA
This may explain a number of things: Freudian psychoanalysis is so popular in Argentina, even prisoners go once a week

BOLIVIA
Bolivia opens ‘anti-imperialist’ military school to counter US foreign policies

The Santa Cruz academy was initially inaugurated in 2011 as the “ALBA School” after the now-weakened regional alliance that includes Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Cuba.

Morales’s invitation to that event of then-Iranian defense minister Ahmad Vahidi provoked an uproar in neighboring Argentina, where judicial authorities have accused Vahidi of a role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people.

BRAZIL

Rio Residents See Success of Police in Ryan Lochte Case as an Exception. Few real victims experience an efficient response from law enforcement as crime rises in the city

less than 3% of robberies in Rio, and less than 8% of murders, led to criminal sentences from 2003 to 2006.

Mercosur malaise 1: Brazil Summons Uruguay Ambassador as Mercosur Tensions Rise

Brazil summoned Uruguay’s ambassador on Tuesday after the neighboring country’s foreign minister accused Brazil of trying to “buy” its vote to block Venezuela from taking the rotating presidency of the Mercosur trade bloc.

In comments to lawmakers last week that were made public on Tuesday, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa said his government was “angry” with Brazil’s attempt to prevent Caracas from leading the regional group that also includes Argentina and Paraguay.
. . .
Since Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff was suspended in May, her replacement Michel Temer has moved the country away from leftist allies such as Venezuela and toward traditional allies the United States and Europe.

Argentina and Paraguay, once close allies to Caracas, have also moved to undermine Venezuela as the OPEC nation’s socialist government struggles with economic and political crises.

CHILE
Freight train falls into river after bridge collapses in Chile

COLOMBIA
InSight Crime three-part report: Colombia Elites and Organized Crime

Are New Groups Already Moving In On FARC Drug Empire?

The Libertarian Case against the Santos-Farc Agreement in Colombia

CUBA
One Year Later: Assessing President Obama’s Failed Cuba Strategy

HAITI
UN admits role in Haiti’s deadly cholera outbreak

JAMAICA
Bolt ends Olympic career with ninth gold

MEXICO
El Chapo’s Son Kidnapped? Ivan ‘El Chapito’ Guzmán Tweets Amid Reports Of His Abduction By Rivals

Mexico Michoacan: Police accused of executing 22 in ranch assault

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua struggles to control fire at sole refinery

PUERTO RICO
‘Gold Medal My Way of Giving Back to Puerto Rico’: Puig

URUGUAY
Mercosur malaise, 2: [Argentina’s] Malcorra blames Uruguay for leaving Mercosur ‘in limbo’. FM says Montevideo ‘should have waited’ before dropping bloc’s pro-tempore presidency

VENEZUELA
Rio 2016: Venezuela Is Very, Very Proud of Its Three Medals. The socialist government has taken to boasting of its athletic achievement, even when actual results are middling; ‘the Generation of Gold’

Hungry Venezuelans break into Caracas zoo and butcher a horse

June 20, 2016 By Fausta

The impending disaster Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

There’s always an impending disaster. In the case of the Rio Olympics, it looks more likely than most.

ARGENTINA
Argentina gripped by mystery: the ex-minister, a convent and bundles of cash. Ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the church face tricky questions after José López was found trying to stash $8.9m in cash at a nunnery at 4am. Cristina says she doesn’t know who gave him the money:

El dinero que Lopez tenia en su poder alguien se lo dio. Y no fui yo. Ni ninguno de los miles de militantes q integran este espacio político

— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) June 17, 2016

BOLIVIA
Why Bolivia turned away Bill Gates’ chicken donation. It’s about more than a few ruffled feathers

BRAZIL
Brazil ‘mass rape’ video: Seven suspects to be charged

Brazil’s Rio state declares financial disaster before Games

New Plan to Fix Brazil’s Royal Mess: Restore the Monarchy. How did that work out the first time?

Brazil Gets Worst Possible Resignation On Eve Of Olympics

Brazil President Michel Temer Says Graft Claims Are ‘Lies’

CHILE
Chile’s government, in major defeat, will cease work on key labor reform

The reform, aimed at strengthening organized labor in the South American country, was initially passed by the Senate in March after a bruising battle that opened divisions within the governing Nueva Mayoria coalition.

But Chile’s Constitutional Tribunal in April rejected a provision of the bill that said companies could only negotiate with legally designated unions during collective wage talks.

It also struck part of a measure that prohibited companies from extending many benefits to non-unionized employees.

COLOMBIA
Colombian President Threatens Bloodshed if FARC Peace Deal Fails. Critics Claims Juan Manuel Santos Has Become Too Close with Guerrilla Leaders

Colombia’s pilot crop substitution program to begin on July 10

On the one hand, Colombia sheds cocaine capital image as economy grows

On the other hand,

Colombia nadando en cocaína x culpa del desgobierno y #SantosNosAnunciaGuerra si no se aprueba su acuerdo impunidad pic.twitter.com/HFQLYYrOm3

— Honorio Henriquez (@honohenriquez) June 17, 2016

World Economic Forum in Medellin, Colombia

CUBA
FedEx Downsizes Cuba Ambitions in Amended Flight Request

Stonegate Bank is Breaking the Law by issuing a credit card for use in Cuba.

“Check it out, Mildred!” Rejoice, Cubans, Rejoice! Hark, Hark! Dolce & Gabbana coming soon to the historic center of Old Havana!

GUATEMALA
Guatemala ex-president and deputy face fresh corruption charges

JAMAICA
IMF approves US$80-m disbursement for Jamaica. From the IMF statement,

Jamaica’s economic reform programme supported by the fund’s Extended Fund Facility has made major strides in restoring macroeconomic stability, pursuing fiscal consolidation, reducing public debt and undertaking significant tax policy reforms, building financial sector resilience, and tackling structural issues.

MEXICO
Mexican minister says ties with Canada could strengthen if Trump elected

PANAMA
Panama Papers awarded Investigation of the Year

‘Panama Papers’ firm demands prosecution of suspect in Switzerland

PARAGUAY
Killing of Mysterious Figure Part of Larger Narco War in Paraguay?

PERU
Mrs. Ollanta Humala, Peru: first lady banned from going abroad (emphasis added)

A judge in Peru has banned First Lady Nadine Heredia from leaving the country while she’s investigated for allegedly hiding undeclared campaign contributions. The order handed down Thursday night prevents Heredia from travelling [sic] abroad for four months, as her husband, centrist President Ollanta Humala, leaves office in July.

Heredia has been dogged for years by accusations that she hid large contributions from socialist Venezuela that funded her husband’s 2006 and 2011 campaigns.

PUERTO RICO
Orlando shooting victim’s death takes a toll on Puerto Rico town

Puerto Rico could see hundreds with Zika birth defects, CDC says

URUGUAY
Uruguay: ex-Guantanamo detainee traveled legally to Brazil. He gets around.

VENEZUELA
Beautiful essay: The Last Flight

May 30, 2016 By Fausta

The Memorial Day Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Big news in Colombia: the ELN released Salud Hernández, Diego D’Pablos and Carlos Melo after holding them for a week. Details below.

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s Last Dictator Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Cross-Border Conspiracy

An Argentine court has sentenced Reynaldo Bignone, the country’s last dictator, to 20 years in prison for his part in Operation Condor.

It’s the “first time a court has ruled that Operation Condor was a criminal conspiracy to kidnap and forcibly disappear people across international borders,” The Associated Press reports.

Under this plan, the military dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil agreed to share information with each other to help track down political opponents and leftists starting in 1975. 376 people were killed as a result of Operation Condor, the BBC reports. As The Guardian describes, “after their arrest, the victims were made to ‘disappear’, usually by being cremated, or thrown drugged but still alive from military planes into the Atlantic Ocean.”

Argentina Plans Amnesty Over Funds Stashed Abroad. President Mauricio Macri tries to encourage Argentines to repatriate billions of dollars hidden in overseas vaults and accounts. If he succeeds, it’ll be very good news.

BAHAMAS
STRIKING NEW SNAKE SPECIES FOUND IN THE BAHAMAS

BOLIVIA
The Worst Boyfriend in Bolivia

BRAZIL
Dilma Rousseff claims her downfall in Brazil is ‘clearly’ a ‘coup’ after leaked tape ensnares her critics

Petrobras scandal highlights need for deep reform in Brazil. Political changes required to try remove the carrots that incentivise corruption

Brazil police launch manhunt after sickening gang rape

CHILE
Chile President Bachelet testifies in tax probe into daughter-in-law

COLOMBIA
Colombian rebels free Spanish journalist, 2 others

CUBA
Reports That Castro is Legalizing ‘Private Business’ Are False

JAMAICA
Jamaica, Venezuela, OAS and Caricom

MEXICO
Attorneys for Mexico’s Chapo Seek to Block Extradition to U.S.

Sinaloa Cartel’s Takeover of US Heroin Market Questionable

Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel has taken control of the US heroin market by elbowing out traffickers of the Asian product, according to a DEA official, but the dynamics of the drug trade on both sides of the border are somewhat more complex.

Mexico Has a New US Ambassador after 10-Month Blockade – Roberta Jacobson.

NICARAGUA
ICYMI: There is Nothing New Under the Nicaraguan Sun

PANAMA
Panama Papers May Inspire More Big Leaks, if Not Reform

PARAGUAY
Refuge in Paraguay gives street kids their lives back

PERU
Poll gives Peru’s Fujimori 5.8 point lead a week before election

PUERTO RICO

Puerto Rico’s born-again farmers dig for victory in island’s debt battle. They have a long way to go: agriculture accounts for less than 1% of the island’s GDP.

VENEZUELA
Oposición se reúne en secreto con régimen de Maduro para bloquear a la OEA

Chávez’s little blue book. Outsiders should push Nicolás Maduro to hold a recall referendum this year

In graphics: A political and economic guide to Venezuela

Venezuela Goes from Bad to Catastrophe. Until the country has a government that can build a sustainable economic system, its misery will only deepen

May 23, 2016 By Fausta

The radical tourists Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Nick Cohen takes to task “lefty westerners who trawl the world for revolutions to praise:” Radical tourists have been deluded pimps for Venezuela, in The Guardian, no less.

ARGENTINA
Viviana Fein still trying to justify herself: Alberto Nisman may have been forced to kill himself, says Argentine prosecutor. Shot in the back of the head, no less.

BOLIVIA
Bolivia police, workers clash at protest over plant shutdown

Dynamite Used at Bolivian Protest, 3 Injured, 76 Arrested

BRAZIL

In order for #Brazil to come out of its most recent economic #downturn, it must look externally & open its #economy. https://t.co/LfvFUYq8VR

— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) May 22, 2016

Brazil’s Revised 2016 Budget Projects Worse-Than-Expected Fiscal Picture. Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles says forecasts are ‘transparent and realistic’

Brazil Partners with WHO to Track Tobacco, Alcohol Industries. Country Also Plans to Monitor Use of Alcohol and Sugar Intake. I don’t drink or smoke, but this gives me a craving for a Derby and caprinhas.

CHILE
Violent protests erupt during Chile president’s speech

Chileans are angry because of an economic downturn and a corruption scandal involving Ms Bachelet’s family.

COLOMBIA
Colombia and FARC Rebels Reach a Deal to Free Child Soldiers

FARC has said in the past that it no longer recruits child soldiers. But during a visit this year by a New York Times reporter to a rebel camp,minors said guerrilla fighters had taken them into custody in recent months.

COSTA RICA
At Drudge: Hell opens? Costa Rica volcano erupts…

Hundreds hospitalized…

CUBA
Cuban and North Korean Special Forces in Venezuela

Furthermore, how this arrangement stems from a confidential military cooperation and intelligence-sharing agreement that North Korea’s Kim Jong-un with Cuba’s Castro regime in March.

ECUADOR
Ecuador Bank Hacked — $12 Million Stolen in 3rd Attack on SWIFT System

Ecuador deporta a cinco de los cubanos detenidos en el Hotel Carrión

JAMAICA
Venezuela’s Maduro stopped by: Venezuelan president in Jamaica for working visit

MEXICO
Mexican Marines Denounce Superiors’ Unwillingness to Fight Cartels

‘El Chapo’ Extradition to the U.S. Approved. The Mexican Foreign Ministry said Friday that the government has authorized the extradition of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán to the U.S. where he faces drug trafficking and other charges.

Mysterious Roar And Light In The Sky Wake Mexican City

Police, soldiers swarm Acapulco, killings continue…

Lord Rolls Royce (en español),

PANAMA
Panama ends sale of Mexico air tickets to stranded Cuban migrants

PARAGUAY
Paraguay battles over land rights in the courts and across the airwavesAs soya companies appropriate land in Paraguay, many small-scale campesino farmers are forced out to cities. For those who stay to fight for their land, the conflict can turn bloody

PERU
Peru’s Fujimori faces money laundering investigation ahead of election. Prosecutors have opened an investigation against Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori and her husband. The probe comes shortly before nationwide polls and will look into suspicious campaign contributions.

PUERTO RICO
Creditors of Puerto Rico Government Bank Revive Lawsuit Over Debt Moratorium

URUGUAY
Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro is ‘Crazy as a Goat’, says former Uruguayan president. The colloquial equivalent in American English is “batshit crazy.”

VENEZUELA
Good luck with that, Oil-for-Drugs Swap: India’s Answer to Venezuela’s Unpaid Bills

Chains of the Foolish

Sugar shortage forces Coca-Cola to stop production in Venezuela

Venezuela, where hamburger is officially $170…

Socialist paradise turned living hell…

‘We are like a bomb’…

Fidel Castro, Evo Morales discuss ‘imperialist efforts’ in Latin America…

May 16, 2016 By Fausta

The failed 21st Century Socialism Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Hugo Chávez “died without having to experience the tragedy of his legacy.” The country descends into chaos.

Chávez’s buddies Dilma and Cristina are not doing well, either:
In Brazil, Dilma Rousseff was suspended from office as the Senate voted to start her impeachment trial

on charges that she illegally moved money between state-controlled entities to make her government’s budget deficit appear smaller than it really was

The following day in Argentina, former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other officials were indicted on charges fraud and of manipulating the nation’s Central Bank during the final months of her administration. Losing billions sure does not help her case.

ARGENTINA
Argentina Agrees $217 Million In Energy Company Arbitration Deal

BOLIVIA
Chinese Company to Convert Bolivian Airport into Regional Hub

BRAZIL
New Brazil Government to Cut Public Spending, Audit Social Welfare Programs

Brazil’s new leader has a lot to fix — starting with the Olympics.

CHILE
Red Tide Becoming Environmental Crisis in Chile

COLOMBIA
Colombian Government and FARC Achieve Legal Certainty for Peace Agreement

Colombia to investigate ELN rebel leaders for nearly 16,000 war crimes

CUBA
Rousseff’s fall in Brazil casts cloud on Cuba

Over the last 13 years, Brazil’s leftist governments also provided at least $1.75 billion in credit on favorable terms, drawing fire from opponents who are also angered by a program that put 11,400 Cuban doctors to work in Brazil.

Those projects will now be re-examined after Brazil’s Senate voted on Thursday to put Rousseff on trial for breaking budget laws. She is now suspended from office while the trial takes place in coming months, and a likely conviction would end her presidency.

ECUADOR
Meet an indigenous tribe in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest

JAMAICA
Island story: Globalisation may be out of favour. Jamaica provides a surprising example of its value. Bottom line,

Turning round a country with a history of mismanagement and violence will be painful. The government needs to resist resorting to its bad old ways. In particular, abandoning the IMF’s programme just when it is beginning to work would be disastrous. Betting on globalisation does not guarantee a boost in the growth rate. Betting against it does guarantee sclerosis.

MEXICO
Former Mexico Pres. Vicente Fox Drops ‘F’ Bomb About Trump Wall — Again. Vicente Fox is starting to remind me of Dr. Seuss,