Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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The Copa America Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Soccer fans everywhere are cheering their teams. Since I’m not a fan, all I can do is point you to their Twitter feed.

ARGENTINA
Argentina to suspend RT from national broadcasting

Por orden del papa Francisco, Scholas Ocurrentes rechazó los 16 millones de pesos que le donó el gobierno de Macri

“El Gobierno argentino tiene que acudir a tantas necesidades del pueblo, que no tienen derecho a pedirle un centavo”, fue el argumento del Santo Padre; sorpresa y malestar en la Casa Rosada

Taxi Drivers Protest against Uber in Argentina

BOLIVIA
Bolivia to File Counter-Suit against Chile over Silala River Dispute

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Iguatemi sees early signs of confidence returning

Brazil’s Fiscal Accounts Were a Nasty Surprise to Temer’s Team

Brazil’s Rousseff calls for referendum on early elections

Brazilians Supporting Dilma Rousseff Protest Temer Government

CHILE
Chile is “sick” from the lack of a pluralistic press, journalist says

COLOMBIA
Ex-President Uribe Launches Signature Drive against Colombian Peace Accords. Santos finds it laughable:

CUBA
Is Cuba preparing to extradite convicted cop killers back to the US?
Obama’s Cuba Trip Was Just a Family Vacation

ECUADOR
Visiting Ecuador After the Earthquake

HONDURAS
Honduras gang violence uproots thousands a month: UN

MEXICO
Mexican Government Protests Border Agent Shooting Illegal Alien In Self-Defense

Striking Teachers Burn Government Offices in Mexico

Zetas drug gang ‘used Mexico prison as extermination camp to kidnap and kill 150’

NICARAGUA
Earthquake hits Nicaragua close to Honduras

PANAMA
The Panama Canal Expansion: Changes Beyond the Waterway

PERU
Peru’s Keiko Fujimori vows to lead opposition in sour concession

PUERTO RICO
Obama urges Senate to pass Puerto Rico aid bill quickly

US Geological Survey says it will end water monitoring

Puerto Rico gets help in Congress as July deadline looms

Puerto Rico Lawmakers Mull Bill to Prevent Water Utility Default

VENEZUELA
‘We want food!’ Looting and riots rock Venezuela daily

Few options as Venezuela nears brink
NPR + NYT: A RECIPE FOR CLUELESSNESS



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Peru: Still no final count on the election

Latest tally gives Kuczynski slight lead in Peru presidential race, but the final results may not he known for days, after Sunday’s presidential runoff:

Absentee ballots are arriving from Chile, the U.S., Spain and elsewhere. Receiving votes from remote communities, particularly those deep in Peru’s Amazon rain forest, has also taken time. And the counting of votes in a rugged and isolated coca-growing region, a hotbed for leftist rebels, was delayed by bad weather and security challenges, the election agency said Tuesday

And so we wait.

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The radical tourists Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Nick Cohen takes to task “lefty westerners who trawl the world for revolutions to praise:” Radical tourists have been deluded pimps for Venezuela, in The Guardian, no less.

ARGENTINA
Viviana Fein still trying to justify herself: Alberto Nisman may have been forced to kill himself, says Argentine prosecutor. Shot in the back of the head, no less.

BOLIVIA
Bolivia police, workers clash at protest over plant shutdown

Dynamite Used at Bolivian Protest, 3 Injured, 76 Arrested

BRAZIL

Brazil’s Revised 2016 Budget Projects Worse-Than-Expected Fiscal Picture. Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles says forecasts are ‘transparent and realistic’

Brazil Partners with WHO to Track Tobacco, Alcohol Industries. Country Also Plans to Monitor Use of Alcohol and Sugar Intake. I don’t drink or smoke, but this gives me a craving for a Derby and caprinhas.

CHILE
Violent protests erupt during Chile president’s speech

Chileans are angry because of an economic downturn and a corruption scandal involving Ms Bachelet’s family.

COLOMBIA
Colombia and FARC Rebels Reach a Deal to Free Child Soldiers

FARC has said in the past that it no longer recruits child soldiers. But during a visit this year by a New York Times reporter to a rebel camp,minors said guerrilla fighters had taken them into custody in recent months.

COSTA RICA
At Drudge:  Hell opens? Costa Rica volcano erupts…

Hundreds hospitalized…

CUBA
Cuban and North Korean Special Forces in Venezuela

Furthermore, how this arrangement stems from a confidential military cooperation and intelligence-sharing agreement that North Korea’s Kim Jong-un with Cuba’s Castro regime in March.

ECUADOR
Ecuador Bank Hacked — $12 Million Stolen in 3rd Attack on SWIFT System

Ecuador deporta a cinco de los cubanos detenidos en el Hotel Carrión

JAMAICA
Venezuela’s Maduro stopped by: Venezuelan president in Jamaica for working visit

MEXICO
Mexican Marines Denounce Superiors’ Unwillingness to Fight Cartels

‘El Chapo’ Extradition to the U.S. Approved. The Mexican Foreign Ministry said Friday that the government has authorized the extradition of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán to the U.S. where he faces drug trafficking and other charges.

Mysterious Roar And Light In The Sky Wake Mexican City

Police, soldiers swarm Acapulco, killings continue…

Lord Rolls Royce (en español),

PANAMA
Panama ends sale of Mexico air tickets to stranded Cuban migrants

PARAGUAY
Paraguay battles over land rights in the courts and across the airwavesAs soya companies appropriate land in Paraguay, many small-scale campesino farmers are forced out to cities. For those who stay to fight for their land, the conflict can turn bloody

PERU
Peru’s Fujimori faces money laundering investigation ahead of election. Prosecutors have opened an investigation against Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori and her husband. The probe comes shortly before nationwide polls and will look into suspicious campaign contributions.

PUERTO RICO
Creditors of Puerto Rico Government Bank Revive Lawsuit Over Debt Moratorium

URUGUAY
Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro is ‘Crazy as a Goat’, says former Uruguayan president. The colloquial equivalent in American English is “batshit crazy.”

VENEZUELA
Good luck with that, Oil-for-Drugs Swap: India’s Answer to Venezuela’s Unpaid Bills

Chains of the Foolish

Sugar shortage forces Coca-Cola to stop production in Venezuela

Venezuela, where hamburger is officially $170…

Socialist paradise turned living hell…

‘We are like a bomb’…

Fidel Castro, Evo Morales discuss ‘imperialist efforts’ in Latin America…



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The collapsed bike path Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Almost emblematic of Brazil’s current political and economic situation, a bike path collapsed, leaving two dead, as Ties emerge between city officials and the company responsible for building the elevated bike path that collapsed on Thursday, killing at least two people.

ARGENTINA
Leonardo Fariña, associate of Lázaro Báez, is singing like a bird claiming Báez and Ernersto Kirchner conspired to steal public money.

After a US Judge Allows Argentina to Resume Paying Creditors, Argentina Delivers $597 Million Windfall to Bond Investors

BELIZE
Belize-Guatemala border tensions rise over shooting

Tensions between Guatemala and Belize over a border dispute have risen sharply after a shooting incident in which a Guatemalan teenager died.

Guatemala says the 13-year-old boy was attacked by Belizean soldiers. Belize says its troops shot in self-defence after coming under fire.

Belize also accuses Guatemala of “amassing” troops along the border.

Guatemala’s claim to parts of territory governed by its neighbour dates back to when Belize was a British colony.

BOLIVIA
Today’s Capt. Loius Renault moment: Bolivia’s Morales Gives Pope 3 Books on Coca and Recommends Taking It

BRAZIL
Must-read: Brazil’s Giant Problem.Corruption is just a symptom of Brazil’s deeper issue: a vast state apparatus that has tried to be the country’s engine of economic growth. I don’t see a change in this miindset:

“The problem is, from time immemorial, Brazil’s political leaders only see one way forward, the growth of the state,” said Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former leftist intellectual who sought to reduce the size of Brazil’s government while president from 1995 to 2002. “But you need another springboard for progress, that doesn’t exclude the state but that accepts markets. This just doesn’t sink in in Brazil.”

Brazil’s political crisis: The darkest hour. The economy is in freefall. The president is likely to be impeached. Brazil’s democracy faces its toughest moment since the end of dictatorship

CHILE
What Is Behind Bachelet’s Push to Reform the Chilean Constitution? “Supervised” Town Hall Meetings Dishonest, Ineffective Method For Rewriting Founding Principles

Humberstone and Santa Laura Works, The GHOST TOWN declared a world heritage site: Inside the spooky mining settlement which has been abandoned for more than 50 years in Chile

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s Anti-Drug Policy Benefiting BACRIM: Inspector General

Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado said the criminalized paramilitary networks known as BACRIM (from the abbreviation of “criminal bands”), alongside rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC), have profited the most from the government’s decision in May 2015 to ban the aerial spraying of glyphosate on coca crops, reported El Espectador.

What the FARC’s Elusive Finances Mean for Peace

The Economist recently published estimates that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia –FARC) had assets worth 33 trillion Colombian pesos in 2012, even after paying to maintain its guerrilla army. That is $11.4 billion at the current exchange rate. The value was reportedly based on an “unpublished study by government analysts.”

CUBA
Change In Cuba — But Not For The Better

Another Sunday of repression in Cuba, April 10, 2016, but Smokey Robinson and other U.S. artists hail new ‘love’ with Cuba

ECUADOR
Ecuador death toll reaches 654

HONDURAS
Denials Follow Revelations in Honduras Drug Czar’s Assassination

MEXICO
U.S. Muslim Plotted with Islamic State to Smuggle Fighters Through Mexico, Say Feds

Mexico President Pena Nieto proposes relaxing marijuana laws

NICARAGUA
Thousands March to Protest Proposed Nicaragua Canal

PANAMA
Investigators raid property of ‘Panama Papers’ law firm Mossack Fonseca

PARAGUAY
Life Is Like Purgatory in the Squalid Shanty Towns of Paraguay

PERU
Peru’s Fujimori and Kuczynski seen tied in poll on June run-off

Discovery of 4,500-year-old female mummy sheds light on ancient Peru. Archaeologists say the mummified remains, found near one of the oldest cities in the Americas, probably belong to a noblewoman aged 40 to 50

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Moving Closer to Deal With Some Bank Bondholders

Why Puerto Rico Presents Real Challenges in Fighting Zika

URUGUAY
Uruguay VP to hold enhanced trade, economic talks in IranUruguay’s Vice President Raul Sendic Rodriguez will pay an official visit to Iran to hold talks with Iranian officials on ways to strengthen trade and economic cooperation.. . .The two sides are expected to hold talks on a variety of issues, including oil export, construction of refineries, joint ventures, customs and banking cooperation, marine transportation and shipping, husbandry, science and technology.
VENEZUELA
VENEZUELA’S PATHETIC DECLINE CONTINUES

And now, no beer: Polarapocalypse Now



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The Rolling Stones Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

The weekend’s top story: Lots of dollars, and fifty years late, the Cuban communist regime finally allowed the now septuagenarians Stones to play in the island-prison, while still persecuting the local rockers. As expected, it was largely attended by foreigners who could cough up the admission price.

ARGENTINA
Can Mauricio Macri Save Argentina’s Economy? With Obama’s trip offering new access to international markets, Argentina’s new president will have to be tough to survive the bold reforms he seeks.

Macri’s macroeconomic challenges are vast, however, and success will depend on his administration’s ability to curb a 5.4 percent GDP budget deficit (the biggest since 1982), temper soaring inflation (current annual levels are about 36 percent), and stimulate economic growth. But necessary fiscal and monetary tightening could actually hurt economic improvement in the near term, risking the government’s ability to pay for the costs of implementing longer-term reforms. Already, Argentina’s economy is set to contract 1 percent this year.

Crying in Argentina update: false number of “dictatorship” victims exposed

Nisman Case to Be Investigated as Political Murder, Argentine Court Rules

Nobody promotes freedom abroad like Obama! ‘Decide what works’ between communism, socialism or capitalism and go with it Also at Gay Patriot.

OBAMA ON FREEDOM VS. TOTALITARIANISM — WHATEVER WORKS

Video of the whole speech (41:00 for capitalism vs, communism),

Barack Obama is to tango what Yogi Berra was to water polo.

BOLIVIA
Bolivian State Threatens to Close Down over 500 Radio Stations. Decree by President Morales Hinders Renewal of Licenses

Gabriela Zapata es presa política, dice su abogado. ICYMI: Bolivia Arrests President’s Former Mistress

BRAZIL
Brazil Economic Woes Deepen Amid Political Crisis. Country is heading for one of its worst recessions ever, yet its political straits draw all the attention

Brazil’s Rousseff slams ‘fascist’ attempts to oust her. Brazilian president says in newspaper interview her removal would be a coup

CHILE
Harvest time begins at Latin America’s largest marijuana farm. The pioneering plantation in southern Chile produces about 1.5 tons a year for medical use

Chile’s Future: On the World Stage. What can Chile’s Santiago a Mil festival tell us about the country?

COLOMBIA
“Army searches for explosives buried by the FARC in the areas surrounding schools in Baraya, Huila. More information at 12:30PM”

CUBA
Dissidents’ Delight? New York Times Heaps Praise on Obama, Its Man in Havana

ABC’s Muir Wonders to Obama: Does Castro ‘Have a Point’ Criticizing U.S. for No Universal Healthcare?

ECUADOR
Ecuador Plans to Hike Taxes on Cigarettes, Alcohol and Soft Drinks

GUATEMALA
Guatemala’s CICIG: An Experiment in Motion Gets a Report Card. Two recent reports on Guatemala’s CICIG illustrate the international’s body’s potential to affect powerful shifts in the status quo, as well as its broad limitations.

HONDURAS
Residents Flee Honduran Capital Neighborhood after Gang Threats

MEXICO
How Mexico Awarded $30 Million to Juárez Cartel Operator. A former executive of the Bank of Mexico received government contracts worth over $30 million despite his conviction years earlier of being a financial operator for the Juárez Cartel.

Turning the tables: Mexicans Should Reject Trump’s Populism at Home. Bravado, Victimization, Nationalism All Belong to Mexico’s Political History

Mexican ex-president posts video attacking Trump over planned wall“. Running a business does not mean having the leadership to run a nation,” Fox tells mogul. May I remind you, Under Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony.

NICARAGUA
As Venezuela Falters, So Too Will Nicaragua

PANAMA
Panama: The Next Big Country for Latin American Films? An exponential surge in the quantity and quality of films has come out of Latin America over the past few years

PERU
Peru’s Electoral Jury Rejects Barring Presidential Candidate Keiko Fujimori

PUERTO RICO
Plan to Rescue Puerto Rico Advances, Led by House Republicans (emphasis added)

The plan, being drafted as legislation by House Republicans, would not grant Puerto Rico’s most fervent request: permission to restructure its entire $72 billion debt in bankruptcy. It would, however, give the island certain crucial tools that bankruptcy proceedings can offer — but only if it first comes under close federal oversight and meets other conditions.

VENEZUELA
Inside Venezuela’s ‘top children’s medical unit’ where patients are dying. Quality health care for everyone in Venezuela was one of the great promises of the revolution but even in the best equipped paediatric unit, there’s a shortage of drugs and medical supplies

Lying about Margarita. Sumito Estévez wants to persuade you Margarita is a swell place to vacation in 2016. In doing so, he makes himself an accomplice to an outright swindle.



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Today’s Peru’s presidential election, Vargas Llosa not voting

20 million voters will elect Peru’s president in today’s runoff
I’ll be posting the results once they are in, but check out The Latin Americanist for analysis and Living in Peru for news.

Oh, and after campaigning for Humala, Mario Vargas Llosa won’t be voting for him, since his doctor says he needs to rest. No word as to whether this was due to a cognitive dissonance explosion.

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Humala wins in #Peru

Ollanta Humala so far has 52% of the votes counted in today’s presidential election in Peru.

This is very bad news for the hemisphere, as Peru has now chosen a leader that may not continue the country in the growth agenda the country has followed for the past decade.

A leader who’s been backed by Hugo Chavez, and who allegedly has killed and tortured people.

Live feed (in Spanish, via Eneas) below the fold,
(more…)

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The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerLATIN AMERICA
The Chinese Dragon Sweeps Through Latin America
Time to stand up and take notice — English and Spanish speakers alike

ARGENTINA
Jorge Macchi
South American magic on show in the north

BRAZIL
Bossa nova and Elenco Records
A moody soundtrack for Brazil

No Samba for Chavez this time around

COLOMBIA
After 11 Months Colombia Asks, Who’ll Stop the Rain?

Take a seat

COSTA RICA
Organized Crime in Costa Rica and the Other Balloon Effect

ECUADOR
Ecuador: Uncertainty and Division

Report Links Ecuador’s President With Colombian Guerrillas

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa may have received as much as $400,000 from Colombian guerrillas and their drug trafficking allies for his 2006 presidential campaign, a U.K. think tank concluded in a report released Tuesday.

Ecuador emerging as new cocaine centre

Ecuador’s constitutional referendum
A close count
The balance of powers hangs in the balance

Oppenheimer Report; Ecuadorian media censorship

EL SALVADOR
El Salvador Quits the Market Model
The country’s debt has been repeatedly downgraded as President Mauricio Funes has increased government spending.

The problem is not only reckless spending but also hostility toward business. The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom, which once ranked El Salvador as the ninth freest economy in the world (2000), now places it at 39.

MEXICO
Battle With Mexican Gang at Texas-Border Lake Kills 13

HAITI
Martelly inaugurated as Haitian president

NICARAGUA
Qaddafi’s Man in Managua
Sandinista boss Daniel Ortega is an old friend of the Libyan tyrant.

PANAMA
Fears grow that US unready for larger Panama canal, via The Latin Americanist.

PERU
Giuliani accompanies Keiko Fujimori on campaign

PUERTO RICO
American Airlines Backs Puerto Rico Airport Plan

VENEZUELA
Hugo Chavez: FARC’s unreliable partner
Close logistical support is suggested in new report between Venezuelan officials and wanted murderers – so what do we do about it?

Hugo Chavez’ main link to the FARC, trusted adviser (and twice Interior Minister) Ramon Rodriguez Chacin

Committee to Free Venezuela Foundation’s Anonymous Effort

The week’s posts,
Chavez, nursing knee injury, tweets
Zelaya returning to Honduras
Raiding private pensions: it’s not just for Argentina anymore
Ecuador’s Correa and the FARC
A guitar grows in Argentina
Bin Laden’s cousin arrested in Ecuador for human trafficking
Makled now in Venezuela

At Real Clear World
Venezuela Wanted FARC to Act as Hit Men
Iranian Training Camps in Latin America

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