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The post-conventions Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

The RNC and the DNC had their conventions in two consecutive weeks, and after their monopolizing media attention, we’re glad they are over.

Almost unnoticed, however, was the story of the Syrian terrorist released from Guantanamo to Uruguay, who supposedly needs crutches to get around, was missing for several weeks, to eventually turn up some 4,600 miles away from Montevideo (a little under the distance from New York to Moscow), in Venezuela, of all places, just so he can petition the Uruguayan consulate – which he could do in Montevideo – to “ask for assistance to fly to Turkey or some other country to be reunited with his family.” Which gave him plenty of time to do all sorts of things.

ARGENTINA
New species of dinosaur discovered in Argentina

BOLIVIA
Bolivia’s president isn’t lowering his sights despite a scandal worthy of a telenovela

Record-setting dinosaur footprint discovered in Bolivia

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Lula faces trial over Petrobras

Four terror suspects ‘tried to travel to Brazil for Olympics’

Rio’s ‘wall of shame’ between its ghettos and shiny Olympic image

Rio 2016: Athletes warned to keep mouths closed while in faeces-infested water. All efforts by the government to clean the Rio waters seem to have failed

Stelberto Soares, a municipal engineer who has worked on Rio sanitation issues for decades, said that the government’s efforts to clean the waters were superficial at best.

“They can try to block big items like sofas and dead bodies, but these rivers are pure sludge,” he said, “so the bacteria and viruses are going to just pass through.”

Headlines from Drudge:

Brazil Preps for Olympics With Warships, Troops…

Athletes told ‘keep mouths closed’ in feces-infested water…

Rio Murders Rise…

Muslim female athletes compete while covered…

Fire in Olympic Village…

CHILE
Watch Chilean police bust $12 million worth of cocaine that was headed to Europe

15 Reasons To Put Chile On The Top Of Your Travel List

COLOMBIA
Colombian Courts Greenlight Controversial FARC Peace Referendum. Colombia’s Constitutional Court Issues Regulations for Yes/No Vote on Guerilla Peace Talks

The FARC made them an offer they couldn’t refuse: Colombia Indian Community Made Peace with FARC 20 Years before the Government

Colombia Town Anxious Ahead of Peace Plan's Experiment in Coca Substitution

Colombia Town Anxious Ahead of Peace Plan’s Experiment in Coca Substitution

CUBA
Military and family remittances, a well-kept secret

ECUADOR
Everything You Need to Know About the DNC’s WikiLeaks Scandal. Emails Released by Julian Assange and WikiLeaks Reveals Democratic FoulPlay During Primary Season

Ecuador Ends One Chevron Battle. What Does It Mean for the War?

GUATEMALA
Who Killed Guatemala’s Prison ‘King’ Byron Lima? (Part I)

MEXICO
Rafael Caro Quintero, Fugitive godfather of Mexico’s drug trade speaks out from hiding to deny he is back in business

Criminal Groups Benefit from Mexico’s Crackdown on Migrants

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua Electoral Authority Unseats Opposition Lawmakers

Nicaragua’s top electoral authority decimated the country’s political opposition on Friday by unseating practically all of its remaining lawmakers in congress as President Daniel Ortega prepares to seek a third term.

The Supreme Electoral Council ousted 16 opposition legislators from the Liberal Independent Party and its ally the Sandinista Renovation Movement Friday for not recognizing their officially sanctioned leader. That leader, Pedro Reyes, had recently been given that authority by the Supreme Court, which removed the opposition party’s previous leader following a long-running political dispute. Reyes is seen by some within his own party as a tool of Ortega.

PANAMA
First LNG Carrier Transits the Expanded Panama Canal

PARAGUAY
Brazilian Drug Lord Found Serving Time in Paraguay Prison ‘VIP’ Suite

PERU
Peru’s new president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski sworn in

PUERTO RICO
CDC: Zika could affect 10000 pregnancies in Puerto Rico by year’s end

More Defaults Likely to Come: What Puerto Rico Owes on Aug. 1
– Sales-tax payment of $256 million expected to be made
– Island owes $1.3 million of interest on general obligations

The commonwealth and its agencies owe about $346 million in bond payments on Aug. 1, most of which goes toward repaying sales-tax supported debt. The deadline follows the island’s July 1 default on nearly $1 billion of principal and interest, the largest such payment failure in the history of the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market.

URUGUAY
Uruguay Formally Ends its Presidency of Mercosur Trade Bloc

VENEZUELA
NO ARRIVALS: THE VISIBLE ISOLATION OF CARACAS

Chavistas Demand That Venezuelan Legislature Be Outlawed

From Socialist Utopia To Slave-Nation – Venezuela Unveils Shocking “Forced Labor” Law

Venezuela’s new decree



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Ecuador: SCOTUS denies appeal

U.S. Supreme Court Backs Chevron in Treaty Dispute with Ecuador

The United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal lodged by the government of Ecuador that contested a $96 million arbitration settlement awarded to the American oil company Chevron.

Texaco, the company Chevron bought out in 2001, originally filed the suit against the Central American country for breaking from the terms of oilfield development contracts and international agreements.

In effect, the highest court in the U.S. upheld a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which favored Chevron in an arbitration deal issued by The Hague’s Permanent Council of Arbitration in the Netherlands.

There’s $106billion involved (emphasis added),

The arbitration process started in The Hague in 2006 with Texaco claiming that Ecuador’s court system failed to resolve disputes in a timely manner, as the nation had agreed to in a 1997 investment treaty with the U.¬S. government.

The panel awarded the multimillion-dollar settlement to Chevron, which prompted it to file a federal suit with the U.S. government in order to collect the amount of the award. The year 2013 saw the approval of the deal under the gavel of a federal judge, but Ecuador lodged an appeal soon after, arguing that the arbitration tribunal did not have jurisdiction over the case since Texaco had ceased operations in Ecuadorian oilfields in 1992—five years before the treaty at play.

The amount of the award now stands at $106 million after the calculation of interest, according to company spokesperson Morgan Crinklaw, who also said the oil and gas major was “pleased” that Ecuador would be held accountable.

On the one hand, Ecuador was saying that in this case “the arbitration tribunal did not have jurisdiction over the case since Texaco had ceased operations in Ecuadorian oilfields”. On the other hand, in a different case Ecuador claims Chevron is liable for damages even when Chevron never conducted oil production operations in the country.

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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 Christmas week Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Merry Christmas to all visitors! Here’s the Carnival,

ARGENTINA
Macri’s Promising Start in Argentina. The new president lifts capital controls and moves to stabilize the peso.

Argentina Needs to Leave Tradition Behind

BOLIVIA
Disappearance of Bolivia’s 2nd Largest Lake Declared a Natural Disaster

BRAZIL
Scary signal: Brazil’s worrying change of finance ministers. Joaquim Levy’s resignation is reason for alarm. Calling Capt. Louis Renault,

That change is likely to make a terrible situation worse. It suggests that Mr Levy lost an argument within the government about whether austerity is the right cure for Brazil’s sickly economy, and that he lost it not because his economic remedy was wrong but because it was politically unpalatable.

Market Shudders As Brazil Risks “Succumbing To Fiscal Populism” With New FinMin

CARIBBEAN
Canada’s War on Drugs in the Caribbean Had a Very Good Year

CHILE
Chile and the Southeast Pacific. The South American country has a growing presence in the Asia-Pacific.

COLOMBIA
UAE sending Colombian mercenaries to Yemen: sources

COSTA RICA
Switzerland extradites Costa Rica ex-football chief to US

Mr Li is one of seven officials with Fifa, world football’s governing body, who were arrested in Zurich in May, amid a huge corruption investigation.

CUBA
Must-Watch: What Happens to Cuban ‘Entrepreneurs’ Who Aren’t Subservient

Cuba, U.S. reach agreement to resume direct passenger flights. The accord is a breakthrough, but it would be a few months before Americans could book flights.

ECUADOR
Chevron: surviving in the new world of low oil prices and nuisance law suits

Ecuador Makes History With $650 Million Payment to Bondholders

IMMIGRATION
Open-borders money backs Marco Rubio

LATIN AMERICA
Iran Taking Over Latin America

JAMAICA
The quest for leadership in Jamaica

MEXICO
Mexican Judges Release 9 Cops Convicted of Working with Los Zetas Cartel

U.S. Consulate Warns Americans Traveling to Mexico During Holidays

New traffic laws in the DF,

PANAMA
Wider Panama Canal has Wilmington port dreaming big, But some question port’s plans to attract larger vessels

PERU
Cambridge University graduate killed in psychedelic ceremony in Peruvian Amazon. Unais Gomes, a 26-year-old high-flying London financier, was killed by a friend during ayahuasca ceremony near the jungle city of Iquitos

PUERTO RICO
Inside the Billion-Dollar Battle for Puerto Rico’s Future

Some warn that Puerto Rico could be a test case for the rest of the country, paving the way for troubled states like Illinois to escape unsustainable debts.

Stephen J. Spencer, a restructuring expert representing Puerto Rico bondholders including some hedge funds, said letting the government renege on agreements with hedge funds and other investors would set a dangerous precedent, undermining the integrity of the bond market.

“It’s really a wealth transfer from the bondholders to the municipalities,” Mr. Spencer said.

The bondholders include large numbers of retirees.

VENEZUELA
Roberto Rincon arrested in Houston for money laundering

Roberto Rincón trades his little Woodlands house for a jail cell. Roberto Rincón, the enchufado of Tradequip and Ovarb Industrial fame, is spending tonight in a Houston-area federal jail cell awaiting arrainment [sic] on money laundering charges.



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The Venezuelan passports Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

The big news of the week: Venezuela is issuing passports, voter registrations, to Hezbollah and Syrians – actual, authentically government-issued yet fraudulent passports and voter registrations.

ARGENTINA
Housecleaning: “Mysterious” Fire Hits Argentine Ministry Of Finance, Destroys Years Of Prior Regime’s Files

NSFW: Grupos kirchneristas habrían “meado” la Catedral de Buenos Aires

BARBUDA
Robert DeNiro’s Caribbean Mega-Resort Met with Opposition from Locals

BOLIVIA
Russian Technical Commission to Plan Bolivia Nuke Project

BRAZIL
Head of Brazil’s Largest Investment Bank and a Senator Arrested in Petrobras Probe. Brazil’s federal police arrested André Esteves, the CEO of Brazil’s largest investment bank, and Sen. Delcidio do Amaral, of the ruling Workers’ Party, in a widening of the Petrobras probe.

Soiling the sea

Vale Acknowledges Toxic Waste in River. Brazilian miner Vale acknowledged for the first time the presence of toxic elements in river water following the disastrous failure of a dam at its Samarco joint venture, two days after a critical U.N. report.

CHILE
Chilean Public Employees to Strike

COLOMBIA
Police Seize over 600 Kilos of Cocaine in Southwestern Colombia, presumably from the FARC.

CUBA
Flood of Cuban “migrants” annoys Latin American neighbors

Assad and Castro Are Simply Glorified Terrorists

ECUADOR
Canada warned against getting entangled in the Chevron Shakedown

U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador: Who Is Todd Chapman?

Ecuadorians Run against Correa’s Trade Barriers. Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce Promotes Commercial Freedom with 5K Race

EL SALVADOR
Targeting The Young: Gangs of El Salvador (Part 4)

FALKLAND ISLANDS
Falkland Islanders celebrate demise of the ‘Botox Queen’ Cristina Kirchner and welcome new president Mauricio Macri. The election of Mauricio Macri to succeed Cristina Kirchner is likely to see Argentina present a friendlier face

HONDURAS
Gang Violence Drives Hondurans Away from Home. The Maras Have Displaced Nearly 174,000 Hondurans in a Decade

IMMIGRATION
Number of Migrants Illegally Crossing Rio Grande Rises Sharply

Whistleblower: Many Unaccompanied Migrant Children Placed in Care of Criminals

JAMAICA
Jamaican lottery scammer to spend 20 years in US prison

LATIN AMERICA
Focusing on Latin America Is Essential in 2016

MEXICO
Houston-area former Marine released after being detained with children in Mexico

NICARAGUA
What did I tell you? $50bn Nicaragua canal postponed as Chinese tycoon’s fortunes falter. Environments concerns and Chinese stock market woes mean world’s biggest canal project will not begin for at least another year

PANAMA
Again, Panama canal expansion could suffer new delay – spokesman

PARAGUAY
Official sacked for ‘kicking’ woman. The president of Paraguay fires the head of the country’s indigenous affairs office after he kicks an indigenous woman.

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico among Caribbean islands under scrutiny amid pesticide poisoning concerns. Use of banned pesticide not isolated event in US territories

VENEZUELA
Violence breaks out as election season gets going in Venezuela

FARC Find Big Business in Smuggling Cattle from Venezuela. FARC Profit from Venezuela’s Border Closure, Smuggle Livestock

Reuters: In Venezuela, a tree named “Revolution” wilts from disease



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The Paris massacre Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

The week’s top story everywhere: Pres. Obama declared Isis had been contained on the same day ISIS suicide bombers killed at least 41 people in Beirut, Lebanon. The following day, ISIS claimed responsibility for 128 deaths on a coordinated attack perpetrated on an unarmed citizenry in Paris.

A headline that was mostly ignored, but will have dire repercussions in our hemisphere. Abandoning Past Assurances, U.S. Accepts Iran’s Arming of Hezbollah.

ARGENTINA
Argentine Government Slams High Court for Ordering Disclosure of YPF-Chevron Deal for the development of the giant Vaca Muerta shale formation.

Kirchners Nearly Double Size of Argentinean State in 10 Years. Official Report Warns Current Government Spending Is Unsustainable

China, Argentina pledge continued cooperation regardless of election outcome

BOLIVIA
Bolivia Rules Out Uranium Production, Opts to Focus on Lithium Industry

BRAZIL
Brazil Court Orders Retirement of Judge in Eike Batista Trial. A Brazilian appeals court Thursday ordered the early retirement of the federal judge who had been presiding over the trial of Brazilian businessman Eike Batista.

Immigration to Brazil:No golden door. Forbidding policies take an economic toll

They do not come because Brazil needlessly puts up additional roadblocks. Its legislation on immigration is “anachronistic”, admits Beto Vasconcelos, who handles the issue at the justice ministry in Brasília. The main law dealing with immigration, enacted by generals who ruled from 1964 to 1985, treats foreigners as a menace to national security and to Brazilian workers. It bars non-Brazilians from taking part in political rallies, owning stakes in newspapers or participating actively in trade unions.

CHILE
Bachelet Inaugurates Construction of World’s Largest Telescope in Chile

COLOMBIA
The FARC are not disarming: Colombia’s rebels want peace, but fear giving up their guns

Colombia is Top Cocaine Producer Again, Still Supplying Mexican Cartels

CUBA
Did Secretaries Pritzker, Vilsack and Amb. Thorne Violate U.S. Sanctions Law?

Cuban exile musings: What does it take to qualify as a charming “despot” nowadays?

ECUADOR
Ecuador Forced to Fork Over US$1 Billion to US Oil Firm OXY. Correa Claims Reduced Penalty Is Both a Victory, Attack on Nation’s Sovereignty

EL SALVADOR
Murder rate increases sharply in El Salvador

During the first 10 months of 2015, El Salvador — a country with a population of 6.5 million — reported nearly 5,500 homicides, making it the murder capital of the world, according to Elizabeth Kennedy, a San Diego State University social scientist.

HONDURAS
Honduras Indians’ land being seized by drug gangs and settlers, UN official says. Special rapporteur on indigenous rights finds land invasions and deforestation. Miskitos and other groups demand government help in remote region

JAMAICA
Serial Killers Stalking Jamaica – Researcher, Police Agree That Repeat Offenders Behind Murder Numbers

MEXICO
Mexico’s Teachers Gird for Mandatory Performance Tests. This weekend the first of Mexico’s 1.4 million teachers will start taking performance tests, a core feature of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s education overhaul that has engendered some violent protests.

Mexican Cartels Remain Unrivaled in US Drug Market. Local Gangs Join Forces with Criminal Groups South of the Border, Warns DEA Report

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua OKs canal’s impact studies, clearing way for construction

PANAMA
Panama rushes to secure canal after Paris attacks

PARAGUAY
Structural Problems Perpetuate Widespread Corruption in Paraguay

PERU
AP PHOTOS: Peru’s coca destroyers perform grueling work

PUERTO RICO
Little-known hedgie plays hardball with Puerto Rico’s debt

Puerto Rico: Isle of Disenchantment

URUGUAY
Uruguayan gov’t cuts Syrian family aid for gasoline incident

During a meeting with government officials last month, Merhi Alshebli doused himself with gasoline. He did not light himself on fire. Alshebli and other Syrian refugees resettled in Uruguay last year have complained that the government hasn’t helped enough.

VENEZUELA
Venezuelan president criticises ‘imperialist ambushes’ after two relatives arrested by US for drug trafficking. Franqui Flores de Freitas and Efrain Campo Flores, family of Nicolas Maduro’s wife, appeared before a New York court on drug trafficking charges on Thursday and were remanded in custody

Arrested nephews of Venezuela’s first lady could face life in prison

Good luck with that: Push for Venezuela to allow observers. Lawmakers from the US and Latin America urge Venezuela to allow OAS observers to monitor upcoming legislative elections.



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Today’s Capt. Louis Renault moment brought to you courtesy of Maduro’s nephews

As you already know, Efraín Campos Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas are in real trouble, after being indicted on drug trafficking conspiracy charges, and held without bail.

They have now hired attorneys Rebekah J. Poston and John Reilly, both partners at Squire Patton Boggs LLP.

Why is this a Capt. Louis Renault moment?

Last year Venezuela’s government-owned PDVSA’s subsidiary CITGO paid Squire Patton Boggs over $1.7 million for lobbying to Congress on its behalf.

“I am shocked, shocked!” that the Floreses would hire them.

I’d actually be shocked if the money did not come from PDVSA in some form or another.

[If the law firm’s name sounds familiar, Patton Boggs was involved in the Chevron/Ecuador case prior to its merger with Squires Sanders.]

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