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
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…
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
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
En #elBrief: Los niños-esclavo de las FARC. Enterrados como perros en la selva: https://t.co/hSbhHem68d #Colombia pic.twitter.com/8Ln4Hz8duD
— Actuall (@actuallcom) July 28, 2016
CUBA
Military and family remittances, a well-kept secret
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
