Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

January 30, 2017 By Fausta

Brazil: Eike Batista arrested

Eike Batista, who once was Brazil’s richest man, was arrested after returning from New York (emphasis added),

The entrepreneur, who for a brief period was Brazil´s richest man, is accused of paying $16.5 million in bribes to the former governor of Rio de Janeiro state, Sérgio Cabral, according to a police spokesman. The alleged payments were made from 2007 to 2014, while Mr. Cabral was in office, according to police officials.
. . .
Mr. Batista and his lawyer, Fernando Martins, said the businessman left Brazil for business reasons Tuesday night, two days after police sought to arrest him, and didn’t know an arrest warrant was about to be issued.

Batista is in deep trouble; in addition to the above mentioned bribery charges,

Brazilian prosecutors said in September that Mr. Batista paid bribes of $2.35 million to the presidential campaign of former President Dilma Rousseff in 2010. The prosecutors, who are leading Brazil’s so-called Operation Car Wash investigation centered on embezzlement at state oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, said Mr. Batista came forward in June to offer them the information.

Prosecutors filed no charges against Mr. Batista at the time and said they were investigating the alleged payment.

Mr. Batista also was indicted for financial crimes related to the failure of OGX, the oil company he created, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013.

O Globo (link in Portuguese) reports that Batista negotiated with federal authorities the terms for his return, since they regarded him as a fugitive. However, according to O Globo, the authorities did not make a formal request to the U.S. for Batista’s arrest.

Sometime between his departure and return to and from NYC, Batista shaved his head, which has caused quite a buzz in Brazil,

Share

Filed Under: Brazil, crime Tagged With: Eike Batista, Fausta's blog

November 16, 2015 By Fausta

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.



Share

Filed Under: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela Tagged With: Chevron, Eike Batista, Fausta's blog, Hezbollah, Vaca Muerta

September 15, 2014 By Fausta

The third Monday in September Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerARGENTINA
Judge Thomas Griesa Rules Against NML Capital in Argentine Debt Case
Citibank Doesn’t Have to Hand Over Documents in Hedge Fund’s Bid to Block Next Interest Payment

Argentina: Down the Tubes, Again

BOLIVIA
A Nuclear Bolivia? Why Not?

BRAZIL
Pelé unveils unique football pitch where players’ energy produces electricity
Brazillian football legend launches a revolutionary artificial pitch that converts players’ energy into electricty to power Rio de Janeiro favela

Brazilian Tycoon Faces Criminal Charges
Brazil’s federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Brazilian businessman Eike Batista, compounding the legal woes of the once high-flying entrepreneur.

CHILE
Memory is not history
“Dirty war” memorials should not be used to rewrite the past

The historical truth silenced by “memory” is that the cold war in Latin America was fought by two equally authoritarian sides. Argentina’s coup in 1976 was triggered in part by the violence of the Montoneros, a leftist-nationalist guerrilla group of which several of Ms Fernández’s officials were members.

In Chile, too, memories of history can be incomplete. The museum in Santiago is not trying to impose an interpretation of history, just recounting facts, Ms Bachelet told Bello in July. Yet the only clue that Allende’s government, through its attempt to impose a Marxist programme, had itself contributed to the breakdown of democracy and “the destruction or weakening of many points of consensus” is contained in a quote from a Truth Commission of 1991, which is inscribed on a wall tucked away by the toilets. Allende will be commemorated on this week’s anniversary of the coup as a fallen hero of democracy, with no mention of his own mistakes—even Zhou Enlai, then China’s leader, warned him that he was moving too fast towards communism.

Chile MP charged over 1981 killings
Chilean MP Rosauro Martinez is charged with the killing of three left-wing militants during the dictatorship of Gen Augusto Pinochet.

COLOMBIA
Chikungunya infections spread to Colombia

COSTA RICA
Costa Rica seizes 1.5 tons of pot in chase at sea

CUBA
Cuba to send doctors to Ebola areas

Cuban Political Prisoner of the Day, Daniel Enrique Quesada Chaveco, Sept. 13, 2014

Gerard Depardieu, great friend of the Castro dynasty, avatar of hypocrisy

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Poll Shows Dominicans Most Worried About Crime, Economy

ECUADOR
State Oil Firms to Invest $400 Million in Ecuador Oil Block
Exploration in the 490,000-Acre Oil Concession to Start in January

Ecuador’s Petroamazonas will have a 51% stake in the project, while Sipetrol SA, a unit of Chile’s state-owned Empresa Nacional de Petroleo, or Enap, will own 42% and Belarus’s Belorusneft will have the remaining 7%.

EL SALVADOR
Even Stronger: Truce Between El Salvador Gangs Has Unintended Consequence

But free of violence does not mean free of gangs. The entrance to Ilopango is still controlled by the Mara Salvatrucha, while a northern stretch of the suburb is controlled by 18th Street. Nothing about the agreement has impeded Gonzalez or any of his gang from walking around freely and exerting full control. In fact, it’s only strengthened their power.

GUATEMALA
Firms from Russia, China, Spain, U.S. Interested in Guatemala Pipeline

Companies from Russia, China, Spain and the United States are interested in participating in the construction of a pipeline linking Mexico and Guatemala, the Central American nation’s economy minister said Thursday.

HAITI
Ex-President of Haiti Put Under House Arrest

JAMAICA
In Jamaica, Rastas Ready for Pot Decriminalization

MEXICO
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif calls for deepening of ties with Mexico

ICE OFFICIALS DEPORT MEXICAN NATIONAL WANTED FOR MURDER

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua Requests U.S. Help in Investigating Meteorite

PANAMA
Egypt issues stamps to mark new Suez Canal – but uses pictures of Panama Canal
The multi-billion pound scheme to widen the canal was announced last month, but officials have suffered a series of false starts

PARAGUAY
Paraguayan bus drivers in crucifixion protest

PERU
Assassinations in the Amazon: how will Peru respond?
Indigenous leaders killed near Brazil border following logging and land title battle

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Finds It Has New Friends in Hedge Funds

VENEZUELA
Venezuela to charge two opposition activists deported from Colombia last week
Lorent Saleh and Gabriel Valles, two Venezuelan opposition activists, will face charges after they were deported last week from Colombia.

Venezuela Arrests 64 for Anti-Maduro Protests: Rights Group

Now what? Venezuela on static noise

Venezuela’s ongoing collapse

Glen Chavez?

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Venezuela: The next default

Venezuela: Deadly new illness

Today’s illegal invasion headlines

En español: Unidad de quemados

Chile seeks foreign help in subway bombing case

September 11: In memory of Joe Angelini, Jr.

55 years a slave: The new Cuba-Brazil human traffic

Venezuela, springboard for Hezbollah

Puerto Rico: Trump golf course defaults

Chile: Terrorist attack injures 14

This week’s podcast:
US-Latin America stories of the week with Fausta Wertz editor of Fausta’s Blog

At Da Tech Guy Blog:
“Obama’s Betrayal of the Constitution”

Gov. Walker and the curious case of the district attorney’s wife

Share

Filed Under: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela Tagged With: Eike Batista, Fausta's blog, Gabriel Valles, Gerard Depardieu, Lorent Saleh

December 16, 2013 By Fausta

BNDES: Brazil’s really big bank

Juan Forero reports on BNDES, the Brazilian Development Bank, A bank that may be too big for Brazil.
BNDES:

  • has loaned a third of a trillion dollars since 2010, twice the amount the World Bank provided to about 100 countries combined
  • According to critics, most of the money goes to the country’s richest and most politically connected companies, among them JBS (the largest contributor to Dilma Rousseff’s campaign), construction giant Odebrecht, and now-broke Eike Batista’s EBX Group (which received $4 billion in loans).
  • Treasury funds and payroll tax revenue are used for loans.
  • In exchange for loans, BNDES has acquired a minority stake in dozens of private companies, giving the bank’s executives a say in their operations.

For all practical purposes, BNDS is acting as an investment bank, not a public institution focused on fostering social development, while maintaining its lack of transparency,

But analysts say there is another downside to BNDES’s big spending: It fans inflation, which has remained stubbornly high at just under 6 percent a year.

To keep it under control, the Central Bank on Nov. 27 raised its benchmark rate to 10 percent. Such a high interest rate — the highest of any developed country — is believed to crowd out the development of private lenders.

What could possibly go wrong?

Share

Filed Under: Brazil, business Tagged With: Eike Batista, Fausta's blog, Odebrecht

May 28, 2012 By Fausta

The Memorial Day Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerARGENTINA
Argentina Banks Lost $518M In Foreign Currency Deposits Last Week

EU takes action against Argentina at WTO over import restrictions.

Argentina’s resource-rich province tries to develop gas fields

BRAZIL
Eike Batista
The salesman of Brazil
Brazil’s richest man is betting on resources and infrastructure. Can he deliver?

GE Bets on Brazilian Tycoon Batista

CHILE
Gay rights in Chile
An atrocity prompts change
A sad milestone in the battle for tolerance

COLOMBIA
Giving peace a chance
Or letting justice rule untrammeled

CUBA
The internet cable that only works for the Castro dictatorship

Vatican Launches New Program: Medals for Tyrants and Their Lackeys

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
After Leonel
The new president risks governing in his predecessor’s shadow

ECUADOR
Minsk to deepen co-operation with Cuba, Ecuador

MEXICO
Why Lorenzo Pagina and Sergio Brino had to found Google in Mexico, via American Digest.

Drug Probe Targets Mexican Army

Mexico finds cartels making fake military uniforms

Women on the rise in Mexican drug cartels

PARAGUAY
Deliberately late pizza deliveries raise awareness of world hunger and money for charity
A risky advertising campaign cooked up by agency ONIRIA/TBWA has seen two pizzerias in Paraguay provide a deliberately slow service to help customers begin to understand those affected by hunger
, via Best of the Web, which says,

So the pizzeria failed to deliver what it promised and was more interested in making its customers feel guilty about their success. Is this a true story or a parable about the Obama administration?

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico bail referendum sparks rights debate

VENEZUELA
Iran invites Venezuelan President Chavez to NAM summit; $5 says he ain’t gonna make it.

New Tensions as Colombian Soldiers Killed Near Venezuela

Ties between Bogota and Caracas are starting to fray again after 12 Colombian soldiers were killed near the Venezuela border, allegedly by Colombian rebels who are said to be using the neighboring country as a comfortable refuge.

The week’s posts:
Venezuela: The posters

Cuba: Hookers rob chef

Gay Cuban-Americans protest Raul Castro’s daughter’s visit

Venezuela: Chavez back on TV

In Silvio Canto’s podcast.


Share

Filed Under: Argentina, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Latin America, Mexico, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Venezuela Tagged With: Eike Batista, Fausta's blog

Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed
  • Sunday palate cleanser: Russia Russia Russia

Recent Comments

  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • jeff henry on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com