Antigua-Barbuda

April 28, 2014 By Fausta

The giant telescope Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmer In this week’s news, Telescope in Puerto Rico Detects Strange, Rapid Bursts of Radio Waves

[Director of the Astronomy Section at Arecibo Observatory, a part of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Fernando] Camilo said the phenomenon has been detected at least seven times through the radio telescope in Australia, but the importance of this one is that for the first time it has been documented at another observatory, which confirms that this is an astronomical reality and cannot be attributed to some peculiarity of a particular instrument.

“The question now is the nature of this phenomenon,” said the scientist, who for years studied astronomy in the United States.

“This could be a powerful burst of radio waves faraway in the universe, a kind of signal never detected before,” which appears to come from outside our galaxy.

The Arecibo telescope was one of the James Bond locations in GoldenEye (1995, and yes, the clip is dubbed),

ANTIGUA
Antigua’s Parliament to Dissolve in preparation for the general elections that must be held by July 25.

ARGENTINA
ARGENTINA Y EL NARCOESTADO (PARTE III)

Surge in Vigilante Justice Ignites Lynching Wave in Argentine Province

Yowza! Argentina Trade Surplus Plunged 95% on Year in March
Broad Decline in Commodities, Manufactured Goods Exports Led to Drop

BOLIVIA
Bolivia dismisses protesting troops
Bolivia’s military chiefs have ordered the dismissal of more than 700 troops who have been protesting to demand better working conditions.

BRAZIL
Violence Roils Brazil’s Biggest Cities
A professional dancer’s death sparked a violent protest in a Rio de Janeiro slum, and armed men torched nearly three dozen buses outside São Paulo.

Life as a Brazilian Woman

CHILE
Chile’s national police to expand by 6,000 officers

COLOMBIA
Santos is losing the plot while Enrique Peñalosa is on the rise.

Will the real Mr Santos please speak up
A tepid election fraught with risks for Colombia

Drug ritual kills gap-year Briton in Colombia
Henry Miller, a 19-year-old from Bristol who was due to start university in September, died after taking hallucinogenic drugs as part of a tribal ritual in South America

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
To the tune of $325,000: Dominican Republic lawmakers waddle in ‘sweet beans’ scandal

The Chamber of Deputies on Friday confirmed allocating more than RD$14.0 million (US$325,000) for its 185 members to hand out the ingredients to cook the traditional Easter dish ‘habichuelas con dulce’ (sweet beans), first aid kits, inflatable swimming pools, domino games and other items, in what it called: “expenditures for the Easter operation 2014 and to assist relief agencies in each province.”

CUBA
@NETmundial: Russia and Cuba Push for Internet Censorship

ECUADOR
Ecuador may try to print 10-yr as low as mid 6%. It would take a lot more yield to convince me to buy it.

HAITI
Haiti in the Shadow of Cholera

JAMAICA
Saving Goat Islands, Jamaica

LATIN AMERICA
Netflix to launch first Spanish-language show

MEXICO
Mexican Drug Cartel Clashes are Exploding Anew in Tamaulipas

Competition bill passes Mexico’s Senate, easing legislative logjam

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua: Revolutionary reminders around every corner
Its political and military dramas once dominated the news, but these days, says Chris Moss, Nicaragua makes a fascinatingly enigmatic destination . . . only if you don’t mind communist propaganda.

PANAMA
Venezuelans flock to Panama to escape Maduro economy

PERU
Peru buys surveillance satellite from France

PUERTO RICO
John Paulson Calls Puerto Rico Singapore of Caribbean

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s Security Forces: A Killer Elite Beyond the Law
As violent protests return, the death toll is down, but families are struggling hopelessly to find justice for their loved ones killed in demonstrations earlier this year.

Peaceful protests bother you? Just ban them. And force punitive delation.

The week’s posts and podcast:
Vargas Llosa: Venezuela a “pathetic failure”

Garcia Marquez’s black eye: Vargas Llosa ain’t telling

Ecuador: Adiós, Security Cooperation Office

En español: La vida de los “Enchufados” en Miami

Venezuela: American arrested for murder

Venezuela: #1 in misery index

Colombia: Gustavo Petro back in city hall

Argentina: SCOTUS hearing Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital

En español: Terapia intensiva #204

Well, there’s at least one person out there who dislikes Gabriel García Márquez more than I,

Colombia: Santos throws the towel

At Da Tech Guy Blog:
Venezuela: Misery and missiles

“Positive discrimination”

Podcast:
Cuba, Venezuela & US-Latin America stories of the week.

June 1, 2013 By Fausta

Roundup: More on Iran in Latin America

Following up on yesterday’s post on Iran’s infiltration in Latin America,

Demonstrators holding photos of the 85 people who died in the 1994 AMIA bombing

BBC: Iran ‘in Latin America terror plot’ – Argentina prosecutor
An Argentine prosecutor has accused Iran of trying to infiltrate countries in Latin America to sponsor and carry out “terrorist activities”.

AP: Argentine Prosecutor: Iran Infiltrating Continent

NYT: Prosecutor in Argentina Sees Iranian Plot in Latin America

In his report, Mr. Nisman contended that the 1994 bombing was not an isolated event. “It has to be investigated as a segment in a larger sequence,” he said in a report summary, pointing to parallels with the case of two Guyanese men convicted in 2010 of conspiring to attack Kennedy International Airport in New York.

In that case, a former Guyanese government official, Abdul Kadir, opened himself to a claim by prosecutors in New York that he secretly worked for years as a spy for Iran when he said during cross-examination that he had drafted regular reports to Iran’s ambassador in Venezuela on plans to infiltrate Guyana’s military and police. The plot to attack the airport did not advance beyond the conceptual stage.

Mr. Nisman, who has investigated the bombing since 2005, suggested that “criminal plans” by Iran could be under development in Latin America, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.

And let’s not forget the direct flights fron Tehran to Caracas.

WSJ: Iran in America’s Backyard
Remember that botched attempt to blow up John F. Kennedy airport in 2007?

Connecting the dots, Mr. Nisman found that one of the Iranian agents in the plan to incinerate JFK—Guyanese citizen Abdul Kadir—had a “close relationship and hierarchical subordination” to Rabbini. But Kadir’s activities were supported from other countries as well. He “was very important to the plot, not only because he was a successful leader, but also due to his deeply rooted connections with Iran and its embassy in Venezuela.” And he was active in countries throughout the Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago; Dominica; Barbados; Antigua and Barbuda; Surinam; and Grenada. “His activity as an Iranian leader allowed him to establish and strengthen relations with other regional Islamic leaders and by 1998 he was the representative of the Secretariat of the Caribbean Islamic Movement.”

It is unlikely that either Kadir or Rabbani would have gotten as far as they did without the use of a seemingly benign activity to shield them. “The dual use of institutions controlled by the Iranian Regime, the cultural, religious and propagation activities conducted by its agents abroad and the radical indoctrination of its supporters” become operational with “the construction of intelligence stations,” the summary explains. These have “the capability to provide logistic, economic and operative support to terrorist attacks decided by the Islamic regime.”

Telegraph (h/t Gates of Vienna): Argentine prosecutor accuses Iran of establishing Latin America terrorist networks
An Argentine prosecutor accused Iran on Wednesday of establishing terrorist networks in Latin America dating back to the 1980s and said he would send his findings to courts in the affected countries.

The Economist, back in January: Argentine-Iranian relations
A pact with the devil?

US State Department: Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

June 18, 2012 By Fausta

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmer ANTIGUA
Stanford Sentenced to 110 Years in Prison for Ponzi Scheme

ARGENTINA
Peso Blues

Talk Radio Gives Voice to Falklands Veterans
Thirty Years After U.K. Victory, Argentines Work Through Their Trauma on the Air; ‘Like a Psychiatrist’s Couch’

The shows highlight Argentine veterans’ difficult postwar adjustment process. A repressive military government mobilized the veterans, often conscripts from working-class backgrounds, for Argentina’s 1982 invasion of the islands in a last-ditch bid to rally popular support. Argentina’s leadership hadn’t expected the British to dispatch its own invasion force to retake the islands. Argentine troops were left underequipped and with only an improvised plan to confront the professional U.K. army.

Britain warns Argentina over Falklands “aggression”

UK must ‘negotiate’ over Falklands sovereignty Argentina President Cristina Kirchner tells UN
Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner tells the UN that negotiations between the UK and Argentina would benefit ‘all countries around the world’.

COSTA RICA
Princeton U goes on the road: Lacrosse Team from American Ivy League School Visits Costa Rica

CUBA
Sen. Bob Menendez regarding the arrest of Cuban pro-democracy leader

GUATEMALA
The gringo was Russian, The Fish That Ate the Whale:
The Life and Times of America’s Banana King, via American Digest.

ECUADOR
ALBA attacks justice, human rights

FALKLAND ISLANDS
Falkland Islands to hold referendum on sovereignty
The Falkland Islands will hold a referendum on its “political status” in a bid to end the dispute with Argentina over the archipelago’s sovereignty.

The referendum will be organised by the Falkland Islands government and will take place in the first half of next year.

MEXICO
NBC Breaks Two Year Embargo on Fast & Furious; Offers Viewers a Detailed Account of Lethal Covert Operation That No One Authorized

The NYTimes magazine has a must-read report, Cocaine Incorporated (h/t AD), with a yowza,

In 2007, Mexican authorities raided the home of Zhenli Ye Gon, a Chinese-Mexican businessman who is believed to have supplied meth-precursor chemicals to the cartel, and discovered $206 million, the largest cash seizure in history. And that was the money Zhenli held onto — he was an inveterate gambler, who once blew so much cash in Las Vegas that one of the casinos presented him, in consolation, with a Rolls-Royce. “How much money do you have to lose in the casino for them to give you a Rolls-Royce?” Tony Placido, the D.E.A. intelligence official, asked. (The astonishing answer, in Zhenli’s case, is $72 million at a single casino in a single year.)

Go read every word.

NICARAGUA
Venezuela buys 12.56% of Nicaragua exports
Nicaragua’s global exports have increased by 11% in 2012

VENEZUELA
Venezuela court decisions shake up 2 small parties

The TEA Party and the GOP can learn a thing or two from Venezuela.

Venezuelans consider the unthinkable: a government without Chavez

VIRGIN ISLANDS
“A sunny place for shady people”, Sideways.

The week’s posts:
Chavez’s Iranian drones

Low expectations for the G20

The racing Zetas

Hmmmm…

October 5, 2009 By Fausta

The Olympic Rio Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. The week’s big story: Rio de Janeiro gets the 2016 Olympics.

In Honduras, a US Senate delegation and a House delegation have visited the country since Friday. The New Republic’s James Kirchick writes on Ousting Zelaya
Is Obama on the wrong side of the Honduran constitutional crisis?

The events of the past several months reveal a lack of consistency in Obama’s approach to various foreign conflicts. How does this administration justify its recognition of results of elections in Pakistan, Iraq, and other countries mired in constitutional disputes, but now refuse to recognize an election in Honduras, even if it is conducted in a free and fair manner? And why give greater diplomatic dignity to the representatives of Iran–who have no legitimacy whatsoever–and not those of democratic Honduras? Even after blatantly stealing the presidential election, the White House referred to Ahmadinejad as the “the elected leader” of Iran (which White House spokesman Robert Gibbs later had to retract).

In the immediate wake of Honduras’s constitutional crisis, it was understandable that the administration, caught by surprise, might jump the gun in its denunciation of the military action as a “coup.” Now, three months later and with legal repudiation from within its own government, U.S. policy has become a mistake in search of a rationale.

LATIN AMERICA:
Don’t miss Mary O’Grady’s excellent article in today’s WSJ: Revolutionary Anti-Semitism
Chávez imports Ahmadinejad’s ideology to Latin America.

The Honduras debate is not really about Honduras. It is about whether it is possible to stop the spread of chavismo and all it implies, including nuclear proliferation and terrorism in Latin America. Most troubling is the unflinching support for Mr. Zelaya from President Barack Obama and Democratic Sen. John Kerry—despite the Law Library of Congress review that shows that Mr. Zelaya’s removal from office was legal, and the clear evidence that he is Mr. Chávez’s man in Tegucigalpa. On Thursday, Mr. Kerry took the unprecedented step of trying to block a fact-finding mission to Honduras by Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who is resisting Mr. Obama’s efforts to restore Mr. Zelaya to power.

Otto Reich talking about Honduras, Venezuela and Obama:

ANTIGUA
Did lawyers’ legal advice aid Allen Stanford’s banking empire?

BOLIVIA
Elecciones para consolidar el autoritarismo

BRAZIL
BRICs Insist on Greater Voice at IMF, Brazil’s Mantega Says

CUBA
Reclaiming History

Agustin Cervantes, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 10/4/09

Some details emerge of 2 foiled concerts

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s president: Correa and the golden ponchos
A popular leader faces mounting opposition on both left and right

Funding Evil

GUATEMALA
Guatemala: A Source of Weapons for Mexican Criminals

HONDURAS
For the latest updates with in-country blogging, check out La Gringa. Her latest today: Sorry no refund policy for Zelaya

Kerry’s Banana Politics
Congress: Banana republic politics aren’t just confined to Honduras these days. On Thursday, Sen. John Kerry tried to halt Sen. Jim DeMint’s trip there in a tit-for-tat slap. And he thinks it’s Hondurans who need dialogue?

Zelaya’s Chief Propagandist Endorses Hitler and the Holocaust

Honduras’s power struggle: Cracks within and without
Micheletti overplays his hand

Jim DeMint Criticized for Fact Finding Mission to Honduras by History Revisionist

Is Obama’s Handling of Honduras a View of Our Future?

Eye-Rubbing Hypocrisy of Delahunt & Co.

Democrats and Honduras

Jewish Leaders Outraged Over Obama’s Pal Zelaya’s Anti-Semitic Remarks

MEXICO
Mexico’s troubled oil industry: How many Mexicans does it take to drill an oil well?
More than 140,000, and even then they’re not very good at it. For this, now acute, problem, blame the politicians

PANAMA
Mosto Bistro Again

URUGUAY
Education in Uruguay: Laptops for all
A pioneering project’s chequered start

VENEZUELA
Politics and Prison in Venezuela
Student Protester’s Saga Shines New Light on Chávez’s Approach to Dissent

Only in Venezuela, part 58,271,943

Eva Golinger: US Will Attack Venezuela

VenEconomy: Victory for the Leader…

A surreal holiday

XXIst Century Socialism Union Leaders, race horses included

AMERICAN POLITICS
You can play a great game and still not win,”

IMMIGRATION
Sharp rise in Chinese arrests at U.S. border
At least 261 have been arrested this year trying to cross near Tucson. Illegal Chinese immigrants can be big money for smugglers.

Sophisticated Asian mafias organize intricate journeys to the U.S. A typical route leads from Beijing to Rome to Caracas, Venezuela, to Mexico City to the border, according to Matthew Allen, chief agent of the Phoenix office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Special thanks to the Baron, Dick, El Marco, Eneas, Larwyn, Maggie and Maria.

This week’s posts and podcasts
Rio and the crime problem
DeMint’s trip to Honduras is on; UPDATE: photo from the visit
Kerry’s political blackmail
Lula, Arias, Honduras, and the US: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Newt on Honduras
Is it time to confront Hugo Chavez? 15 Minutes on Latin America
Honduras suspends civil liberties: 15 Minutes on Latin America UPDATE: Micheletti will restore civil liberties
U.S. blasts Zelaya for “foolish” return

And
Welcome, Dodgeblogium readers. Please visit often!

August 17, 2009 By Fausta

The hot day in August Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The really big news this week: Mexico to Consider Free-Trade Agreement With Brazil. This would have huge implications for the entire hemisphere. Daniel glances at the possibilities.

LATIN AMERICA
Bill Ayers and Hugo Chavez: Blood Brothers in Terror

Where are the leaders?

Latin American geopolitics
The dragon in the backyard
Latin America is tilting towards China, Iran and the global “south”—and away from the United States

ANTIGUA
The curious case of Chavez giving Antigua US$ 50 million in aid

ARGENTINA
Argentina demands Honduran ambassador stop supporting coup

Football and politics in Argentina
Hand of gold
Another government bail-out

BRAZIL
Latin America’s new alliances: Whose side is Brazil on?
Time for Lula to stand up for democracy rather than embrace autocrats

George Soros Cut Petrobras Stake in Second Quarter

Brazil’s foreign policy
Lula and his squabbling friends
A bold Brazilian attempt to integrate South America has run into difficulty. Critics at home say Brazil should put national interest over leftist ideology

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s Uribe Seeks Diplomatic End to U.S. Base Dispute

CUBA
Nelson Curbelo Rodríguez, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 8/16/09

Willy Chirino on Juanes

Antihero

4 Cuban athletes ‘missing’ on Spanish isle

ECUADOR
Ecuador to get political neighborhood watches like Cuba

HONDURAS
Honduran Media Bias Caught On Tape

Zelaya supporters battle with police

Honduras Takes on the World

MEXICO
U.S. Firms Probed in Mexico Oil Scam

Speaking in Mexico, Obama Calls American Opponents of Immigration Amnesty ‘Demagogues’

Mexican Army takes over customs on US border

PARAGUAY
Paraguay: Fundación Libertad dice que Presidente puede ir a juicio

PERU
Peru: Best Performing Stock Market in 2009

PUERTO RICO
Tropical Depression Ana soaks Puerto Rico

VENEZUELA
Chavez Forces Attack Opposition Protests As Venezuela Passes Socialist Education Law

Reflecting on Bolivarian and Cuban Organized Crime

Ceci N’est Pas Une Innondation

Report: Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez aggressively seizing control of media
An unclassified report lists examples of Venezuelan government efforts to crack down on or seize control of media outlets to stifle criticism.

Gas Shortage of a Different Kind Hits Venezuela

Hugo Chavez’s Imperial Chess Game

This week’s posts and podcasts
Today’s podcast at 11AM: Venezuelans Protest Journalist Beatings
Firebombs thrown at Honduran newspaper office
Golf: Chávez’s latest target
Oscar Arias gets the flu, and other headlines from Latin America

At Real Clear World:
Venezuelans Protest Journalist Beatings

February 24, 2009 By Fausta

Allen Stanford and US lawmakers

In today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern, Stanford and Firm Spent $7.2 Million on Lawmakers. How the resident of St. Croix and holder of dual US-Antigua citizenships Texan billionaire supported American politicians.

Chat’s open at 10:45AM, and if you can’t listen to the live podcast, it’s archived for your convenience.

February 23, 2009 By Fausta

The Lugar Report Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. If you would like your link included in next Monday’s Carnival, please email me, faustaw2 “at” gmail “dot” com.

Two big stories last week:
Allen Stanford, resident of St. Croix and holder of dual US-Antigua citizenship, managed to bilk thousands of investors across Latin America, and went missing for a few days. He eventually was located in Virginia. I did a background post for Real Clear World and will continue to follow the story in months to come.

The second big story is the (pdf file) “CHANGING CUBA POLICY — IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL INTEREST” report by the committee headed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Richard Lugar (Rep. – Indiana). The report – as the title says – recommends a change in US foreign policy with Cuba. Don’t miss today’s podcast on the Lugar report.

LATIN AMERICA
Reality intrudes on drug war

Is Obama Planning a North American Common Market?

CARIBBEAN
The restless Caribbean: Unhappy islanders
Troubles strike far-flung satellites of France and Britain

ANTIGUA-BARBUDA
$8bn ‘missing’ from Allen Stanford’s offshore bank

Howzat!
Shocking allegations against Stanford Group, so soon after the arrest of Bernard Madoff, suggest this will be a fraud-infested downturn

ARGENTINA
Embarrados

Por qué tenemos el futuro hipotecado?

Argentine farmers start protest

BOLIVIA
Bolivia pays a high price for nationalization

Gobierno nacionalizará tres empresas eléctricas

BRAZIL
Lime Slime’s Brazil: Skinheads and Celsos

Carnival queen sambas with Obama’s face on thigh

CHILE
Fidel, Raúl at odds, Chilean editor says

Bachelet vexed by Fidel’s article

Chile’s economy: Stimulating
Cashing in the fruits of rigour

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s Uribe Seeks Brazilian Oil, Milk, Beef Investments. Colombia Seems a Better Client than Ecuador, Venezuela or Bolivia for These Sectors

Hugo Chavez seguirá protegiendo a las FARC

Colombia police in wiretap probe
Colombia’s secret police is under investigation over claims rogue agents may have intercepted phone calls and passed on information to criminals.

Via IBD Blog, Unrest in Bogotá over ‘pico y placa’

CUBA
Lugar, GOP Senate Report Urge Fresh Look at Relations With Cuba

PDF file Changing Cuba Policy – in the United States National Interest. Staff trip report to the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate

Still waiting

José Manuel de la Rosa Pérez, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 2/22/08

ECUADOR

Ecuador expels second US diplomat for ‘meddling in internal affairs’
Ecuador ordered the expulsion on Wednesday of a second US diplomat for allegedly “meddling in its internal affairs” in a dispute over an aid programme, fuelling tensions between the OPEC member and its most important trade partner.

Ecuador says expelled diplomat was ‘CIA chief’

Hedge Funds for the Few & Socialism-Communism- Labor Union Populism for the Many

Ecuador Police Raid Stanford Office

EL SALVADOR
El Salvador and the Chávez Model
With the presidential election approaching, chavismo weighs heavily on voters’ minds.GUADALOUPE
Race, class fuel social conflict on French Caribbean islands

Economic Riots In Guadalupe Turn Racial

GUATEMALA
Presidente de Guatemala conoce proyectos con Chavez y aumenta nexos con Cuba

HONDURAS
Hallan avioneta venezolana abandonada en Honduras Authorities found Venezuelan airplane abandoned in Honduras. The plane was believed to have carried nearly a ton of cocaine.

MEXICO
Earth to President Obama: Our neighbor Mexico is in dire straits

Bret Baier Reports on Problems with Mexico, Drug Cartels, and Kidnappings (VIDEO)

Must-read report on the Mexican drug wars at the Wall Street Journal: The Perilous State of Mexico
With drug-fueled violence and corruption escalating sharply, many fear drug cartels have grown too powerful for Mexico to control. Why things are getting worse, and what it means for the United States.

The New York Times and Terror Tourism

Mexico’s ceramics industry: A clean plate
A battle for lead-free pottery

NICARAGUA
Political tension in Nicaragua: The new Somoza
Daniel Ortega’s slide to autocracy

PANAMA
Chavez holds Venezuela

RV Caravan From Texas To Panama

PUERTO RICO
In Bronx, Little Houses That Evoke Puerto Rico

VENEZUELA
Abrogation of the soul

Chavez on despots’ term-cutting edge

The consequences of the 2009 vote

Some parting shots on Chavez, Venezuela and Stanford

Antisemitism in Venezuela: troubling findings

Is a Venezuelan diplomat promoting antisemitism?

Venezuela: Expectations & Challenges 2009 – The Opposition’s Perspective . Part 1 here, continues at YouTube

ENTERTAINMENT
Che’s image and its perception

IMMIGRATION
EDITORIAL: Illegal-alien outrage

audio feature: How migrant workers from El Salvador risk their lives to get to the US

US POLITICS
Via IBD Blog, Mexico needs Obama’s eye

TRAVEL
Vacation Rental Homes in Costa Rica

Special thanks to Ada, the Baron, Eneas, Larwyn and Maggie

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February 19, 2009 By Fausta

The Stanford Bank scam & the missing crook, Part 2

UPDATE
7PM Eastern: CNBC reports that Allen Stanford has been found in Virginia by FBI agents

My news roundup article, Missing Stanford and His Destructive Path is up at Real Clear World Blog. Please read it and leave a comment.

Still on the Stanford subject,

A comparison between Stanford and Madoff at the WSJ:

And a note on the bloggers’ influence in the investigation, from The Economist,

The SEC stepped up its probe after its Madoff mis-steps. But a bigger impetus may have been a deeply sceptical report on Stanford’s investment returns, published in January by Alex Dalmady, an independent analyst. The blogosphere picked this up, and within days it was making headlines worldwide. This offers hope for those who despair of the SEC’s bungling, suggesting that in the internet age forensic vigilantes and devil-may-care bloggers can, to some extent, fill the gap left by dilatory regulators and libel-constrained mainstream media.

Bloomberg

R. Allen Stanford and his employees contributed $31,750 to Barack Obama’s presidential run, making the new president the third-largest recipient of Stanford campaign cash, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

An Obama aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the money was donated yesterday to charity.

UPDATE
Ain’t that the truth

This new scandal, coupled with Bernard Madoff’s pyramid, plus the Colombian pyramids scheme, plus the Brazilian and Mexican derivatives scandals that triggered a tumble in stocks, is helping erode the confidence in financial markets built up for years, and giving another excuse to populist presidents and politicians (most them opportunistic idiots) for launching attacks on banks and free markets and corporate independence.

Check out also The Devil’s Excrement‘s posts on Stanford, which Kate recommends in the comments.

Earlier today: Part 1 & Podcast.

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