Fausta's Blog

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April 18, 2011 By Fausta

Brazil: Iranian cleric recruiting for Islam…in time for the World Cup and the Olympics

Brazil will be hosting the World Cup in 2014, and the Olympics in 2016. Meantime, Mohsen Rabbani, an Iranian cleric who is wanted by Interpol in connection with two terrorist attacks in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994 that killed 114 people, is in charge of converting young Brazilian men to Islam and training them in Iran.

Reinaldo Azevedo blogs at Veja (link in Portuguese) that once converted to Islam, the young Brazilian men will travel to Iran, all expenses paid, with the official objective of “religious instruction.”

Rabbani is considered one the two masterminds of the Buenos Aires attacks, and is also wanted for his involvement in terrorist acts of 2006, according to Veja’s report (my translation. Please link to this post and credit me)

“Now based in Iran, he continues to play a significant role in propagating extremism in Latin America”, said Alberto Nisman, chief investigator at the Argentinian Public Ministry special unit for terrorism.

Veja reports that three groups of Brazilians have traveled to Iran for “religious instruction.” The participants are hand-picked by Rabbani.

25948
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Filed Under: Brazil, Iran, Islam, terrorism Tagged With: AMIA, Fausta's blog, Mohsen Rabbani

November 23, 2015 By Fausta

Argentina: Macri wins

Mauricio Macri, age 56, the non-Kirchnerist candidate, won yesterday’s runoff election by 2 percentage points. Earlier in the evening he was winning by nearly eight points.

MacriScioli

The Telegraph has a profile.

Macri will be will be heading a nation where a monolithic Kirchnerism dominates the institutions, as it has for the past twelve years. That will be the challenge to any changes he may want to implement. CNBC’s headline, Argentina’s Macri ousts leftist Peronists from power, is entirely inaccurate. Speaking in his first news conference after winning the election,

Mr Macri said that “currency controls are a mistake, not providing information and statistics and not having an independent Central Bank are things we’re going to correct”.

Reactions vary from the very rosy to the somber. Here is a roundup:

Mary O’Grady looks at Argentina’s Political Earthquake. Mauricio Macri, the new president, pledges to end the conflict of the Kirchner years.

The big winner in this election is political pluralism. The Kirchners entered national politics in 2003, during a period of great economic hardship. Over time they tried to replicate the strategy used by the Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez to destroy institutional checks on presidential power and to install a one-party state. The election outcome means that the nation has managed to repel this authoritarian power-grab. But Mrs. Kirchner also hands Mr. Macri a fiscal and monetary mess in a period of global economic weakness and during a recession in Brazil, Argentina’s lead trading partner. He will have one shot at creating a comprehensive set of policies to inspire confidence, the sooner the better.

Jason Poblete believes Center-Right Argentina Win Could Impact Politically Beyond the Southern Cone

The socialists in Latin America are apoplectic as well as concerned. Macri, for example, is no fan of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and he said as much during the campaign. While I doubt Macri will publicly chastise the left in the region, nor do I expect an immediate break, it will not be business as usual. Socialist regimes in Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and a few other Western Hemisphere left-wing outpost will surely need to re-adjust their foreign policy toward Argentina. Maybe, just maybe, Macri and his policy advisors will slowly tear to shreds the ALBA, CELAC, and other cockamamie regional economic and political schemes that have set back several nations in the region.

I highly recommemd Gaurav Sharma’s analysis at Forbes, which must be read in full, but here are a couple of prargraphs,

Macri is likely to bring the charge de affairs back to the country’s ministry of foreign affairs. The conciliatory tone might even involve participating in the hitherto off-limits oil and gas exploration in Falkland Islands waters.

Away from the contentious side issue, it is the direction of Argentina’s shale exploration that is of much bigger significance in a global context. Earlier this year, the US Energy Information Administration noted that excluding the US and Canada, only Argentina and China happen to be producing either natural gas from shale formations or crude oil from tight formations (tight oil) at an international level.

How Argentina’s promising Neuquen Basin develops further would have a massive bearing on the economy. The Argentine Energy Institute says macroeconomic stability is essential for attracting foreign direct investment during the current oil and gas market downturn.

Macri has promised to bring about just that, even making a pledge to enact laws promoting investment and a more credible framework for the oil and gas sector. Restoring credibility, much of which has been lost under Kirchner, would be an entirely different matter.
. . .
The troubling situation requires radical action from Macri. More specifically, if Neuquen Basin’s oil and gas activity has to thrive, the new government needs to be bolder in making the giant Vaca Muerta shale play more viable.

HACER is hopeful, #Argentina Adiós Cristina: La esperanza retorna de la mano de la república.

Carlos Alberto Montaner is very optimistic: He sees the beginning of the end for populism in Argentina (in Spanish), and expects it will influence the upcoming Venezuelan election, and Brazil’s and Chile’s politics.

Eamonn MacDonagh, in a string of tweets last night, posted succinct and insightful analysis: He’s happy for Macri’s victory “for what it stops, the definitive end of the attempt to install a regime in Argentina and put an end to liberal democracy in Argentina.”

3.…end to liberal democracy in Argentina. Apart from Macri himself, the single person who deserves most credit for this.. #ArgentinaDecide

— Éamann Mac Donnchada (@EamonnMacDonagh) November 22, 2015

4.… is Massa. He was the one who put an end to the dream of changing the constitution to allow CFK to run for a 3rd term.

— Éamann Mac Donnchada (@EamonnMacDonagh) November 22, 2015

MacDonagh mentions,

8.In the presidential debate almost the only concrete commitment from Macri was to invoke the democracy clause of Mercosur…

— Éamann Mac Donnchada (@EamonnMacDonagh) November 22, 2015

9… and have Venezuela expelled from the bloc. He also committed himself to annulling the shameful pact with Iran…

— Éamann Mac Donnchada (@EamonnMacDonagh) November 22, 2015

10.… designed to cover up the AMIA massacre. Whatever Macri’s numerous defects, he is as normal as a very rich and ambitious person…

— Éamann Mac Donnchada (@EamonnMacDonagh) November 22, 2015

I am deeply skeptical of any measures that need carrying out through Mercosur/OAS/UN and the like.

As for the Nisman investigation, it currently stands as a suicide investigation, not a murder investigation.

Macri has his work cut out for him. Let’s wish him luck.

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Filed Under: Argentina, elections, politics Tagged With: Eamonn MacDonagh, Fausta's blog, Mauricio Macri, Vaca Muerta

April 5, 2015 By Fausta

The pizza Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Pizza has been in the news recently, so enjoy this week’s Carnival with a slice.

ARGENTINA
Nearly three months after his murder, Experts to inspect Nisman’s apartment

Buenos Aires streets empty as transport strike hits
The streets of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, remained largely empty on Tuesday morning as a number of transport workers’ unions went on a 24-hour strike.

Good: Argentina: Britain Spied to Ensure Falklands Security, Report Says
Britain spied on Argentine military and political leaders to ensure the security of the Falkland Islands from 2006 to 2011, an Argentine television channel reported on Friday, citing intelligence documents provided by Edward J. Snowden.

The Rise of Bitcoin in Argentina
Cryptocurrency Entrepreneurs Sidestep Onerous Restrictions, Financial Chaos

BOLIVIA
Don’t lose your shirt? Bolivia defence minister sacked over controversial top
Bolivian President Evo Morales sacked Defence Minister Jorge Ledezma on Tuesday over a controversial top he wore on a trip to neighbouring Chile.

BRAZIL
#Odebrechting – an Easter egg in the Brazilian media

Rio favela still wracked with fear and violence as Olympics 2016 approaches
Rio’s Complexo da Maré favela is being taken over by police from the soldiers that have been trying – and failing – to pacify it since before last summer’s World Cup

Brazil priest suspended for nude selfie
Brazilian priest known for conservative views on moral issues suspended for sending a nude photograph of himself to an apparent mistress
. Padre Alberto is much better-looking, though.

CHILE
Freak rainfall in Chile’s Atacama, the driest desert on earth, triggers catastrophic mud slides
Several dead, many missing as area gets lashed with seven years of rain in just 12 hours

CUBA
Whitewashing and Policy Laundering Cuban Terrorism, Part II

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Obama’s Justice Department Charges Menendez … But Not Reid

ECUADOR
Even the International Criminal Court has rejected the Chevron Shakedown

Ecuador Bulldozes Guayaquil Slum, Leaves 40 Families in the Street
Over 100 Houses Marked for Destruction amid Public Outcry

GUATEMALA
Johns Hopkins sued for $1B over Guatemala venereal disease study

IMMIGRATION
Punjabi Sikh-Mexican American community fading into history

JAMAICA
Jamaica Activates Army Reserves Ahead of Obama Visit

Obama and the CARICOM heads of government are expected to proceed from the high-level encounter in Jamaica to Panama City for the 6th Summit of the Americas, set for April 10-11.

MEXICO
U.S. Trade Commission Upholds Sugar Pact With Mexico
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Thursday to uphold an agreement that suspended duties on sugar imports from Mexico, a decision that Mexico’s Economy Ministry welcomed as positive for Mexican producers.

PANAMA
Historic encounter: Obama, Raúl Castro to have ‘interaction’ at summit

PARAGUAY
PARAGUAY SPECIAL FORCES SEEK HELP OF TEXAS BORDER SWAT IN DEALING WITH CARTEL SPILLOVER

Paraguay has seen a spillover of organized criminal activities from countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Argentina which manifests itself in home invasions, kidnappings, and shootouts with drug traffickers, Maldonado said.

PERU
Peru names new prime minister amid spying scandal
Peru’s president has named Defense Minister Pedro Cateriano as new prime minister in a bid to calm a political crisis. Former Prime Minister Ana Jara was sacked this week amid allegations of spying and corruption.

PUERTO RICO
The Many Faces of Puerto Rico

VENEZUELA

Venezuelan hotels are asking tourists to bring their own toilet paper but
Venezuela plans to buy more Russian and Chinese arms

Venezuela, harboring ETA terrorists, El régimen narco-terrorista de Maduro ignora petición urgente de España para confirmar ubicación del ETARRA De Juana Chaos

US Federal Court Declares Venezuela in Default over $740 Million Claim
Facing $125 Billion Debt, Caracas Tries to Duck Gold Reserve Inc. Ruling

The week’s posts and podcast
Coming up next: State Dept. To Fly Central American Children Into US

Cuba: The next Hotel California? UPDATED

A happy thing for Easter weekend

Bach Johannes Passion

Venezuela, national security threat; Argentina wants a Sandwich

Cuba Forever, Indiana Never

Podcast: US-Latin America stories of the week

Yes, it’s April Fools’ Day

Mexico: Uber driver attacked

Argentina: Yet another Iran connection

Would Peru go for Chavismo?



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Filed Under: Argentina, Barack Obama, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela

March 23, 2015 By Fausta

The crashed plane Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

An Argentine turboprop airplane crashed and burned shortly after taking off, killing all 10 people aboard,

Witnesses at the airport said that a few minutes after takeoff they heard a significant explosion followed by a huge fireball.

The passengers were members of the Argentine company La Rural which is an associate in a project to exploit a Convention Center under construction in the Atlantic resort of Punta del Este and had flown to Uruguay for a business conference with their Uruguayan partners and the local government.

La Rural is a leading company in Argentina and Latin America in the fairs, congress and events industry.

Was it an accident?

ARGENTINA
Exactly two months after his murder, Argentine Government Accuses Nisman of Embezzlement

Dead Argentine prosecutor was zeroing in on a terror threat to the entire Western Hemisphere

Investigan un supuesto refugio de jerarcas nazis en Argentina

BRAZIL
POLL NUMBERS!!! Dilma’s drop

Why is Brazil so angry?
Big Question: Over a million people took to the streets over the weekend calling for the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, five months after she won a general election

CHILE
Hundreds protest over Chile bishopProtesters shout as Rev Juan Barros enter the Osorno cathedral
Hundreds of people in Chile try to stop the ordination of Catholic Bishop Juan Barros, accusing him of covering up a sex abuse scandal.

COLOMBIA
Drug Gang Led by Female Trafficker from Mexico Nabbed in Colombia

Guerra y paz en Colombia

CUBA
[pdf file] An Illusory Opening to Cuba:
Why Florida Shouldn’t Walk Through the Breach

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Where “Cold War Charm” is the half-century long misery endured by the inmates of the island-prison: Cuba’s Cold War charm has D.R. wary about losing U.S. tourists to next-door neighbor

ECUADOR
#19M Protests Put Correa’s Citizen Revolution on Notice
Thousands March in Ecuador as Anti-Authoritarian Outrage Boils Over

Populist Playbook: The Slow Death of Democracy in Correa’s Ecuador

HAITI
Clinton Foundation’s chickens coming home to roost in Haiti?

WaPo Reporter: Bill Clinton ‘So Disliked’ in Haiti After Charity Work ‘He Couldn’t Even Run for Mayor’

HILLARY CLINTON’S BROTHER DEFENDS HAITI GOLD MINE DEAL: ‘I RAISE MONEY FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE’

HONDURAS
Are Special Economic Zones the answer? How ZEDEs Can Make Honduras Prosperous
Next-Generation Zones for an Anti-Poverty Success Story

Honduras sends soldiers to protect ‘lost city’ from drug cartels
Expendition team reportedly split on how to safeguard artefacts from looters after ‘lost city’ rediscovered in Honduras jungle also used by drug trafficker

JAMAICA
US Say Courts Crippling Ja Narcotics Fight

MEXICO
US Court Convicts Mexican of Kidnapping Mexican in Mexico
Federal Jury Convicts Mexican Citizen Living in San Antonio for His Role in Kidnapping Scheme

NICARAGUA
Wang Jing: The man behind the Nicaragua canal project

PARAGUAY
Paraguay and Latin America are officially the happiest nations in the world, in a Bobby McFerrin sort of way?

PERU
Peru’s Premier Removes Senior Spy Officials
Peru’s prime minister removed the head of the National Intelligence Service and other high-level officials, as allegations widened that the spy agency for years gathered information on a broad range of well-known people.

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico’s Catholic Church Calls for Referendum on Gay Marriage

SOUTH AMERICA
The Islamization of South America

URUGUAY
After years in Guantanamo, ex-detainees find little solace in Uruguay Apparently they don’t have Uruguayan passports yet.

VENEZUELA

#MADURO ¡GOLPISTA! ¡GOLPISTA! ¡GOLPISTA! pic.twitter.com/KXhrTB9I17

— Swing Traders COL (@swingtraderscol) March 21, 2015

Unbroken: Former Venezuelan Political Prisoner Speaks Out
Police Chief Lucchese Describes His Year Behind Bars at Ramo Verde Military Prison

Enabling Maduro’s Tyranny in Venezuela
US Sanctions Give Perfect Excuse for Crackdown on Dissent
. I disagree – the crackdown has been going on, well before any sanctions.

Maduro’s English in action,

Yes, Venezuela is a security threat

Drums of War or Pipes of Peace?

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Filed Under: Argentina, Bill Clinton, Bolivia, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Catholic Church, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fausta's blog, Haiti, Hillary Clinton, Honduras, Jamaica, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Rafael Correa, Uruguay, Venezuela

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