Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

October 18, 2010 By Fausta

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
No rush to judgement

Argentina is booming! (And killing the peso.)
An easy way to get people buying again: if runaway inflation makes saving ridiculous, people will buy anything, especially real estate and other lasting commodities. It works in Argentina…right?

BOLIVIA
Bolivian court rejects attempt to put anti-racism law to popular vote

BRAZIL
A steep hill to climb

CHILE
Now Free Chile’s Entrepreneurs
The rescue of 33 miners marked how far Chile has distanced itself from Third World socialism. But if President Piñera isn’t careful, Chile could end up there again.

Chris Matthews Uses Chilean Miners To Promote Democrats In Midterms

CUBA
New York’s Lincoln Center Partners with Castro’s Secret Police

Neoliberalism

Cuba claims $1.1B loss in tourism revenue

Former Cuban political prisoner Paneque: ‘I have to carry this cross’

158 Cuban families face eviction in Varadero

CURACAO and St. MAARTEN
Dutch Antilles

ECUADOR

Ecuador Says Two Trapped Gold Miners Confirmed Killed, Two Remain Missing

HONDURAS
Enquistados en el Poder?

Saturday night excitement


MEXICO

Mexican authorities confirm beheading of lead investigator in Hartley disappearance
Spokesman for Tamps. AG says slaying had nothing to do with Hartley probe

Falcon Lake Murder: Mexican Investigator Beheaded
The Zetas double down by executing the lead investigator in the search for David Hartley.

Organised crime in Mexico
Under the volcano
The drugs trade has spread corruption and violence across Mexico. Can the police ever catch up with them?

Missing Element

PANAMA
Hip Hip Hurray

PERU
Lima mayoral elections still undecided, delay criticized

Detenido el “Camarada Izula” número dos de Sendero Luminoso

PUERTO RICO
Crocodile census causes alarm in Puerto Rico

VENEZUELA
Venezuelan missiles? Iran May Get S-300 Yet Via Venezuela

Euthanasia to be legalized in Venezuela?

Chavez assures Minsk of oil for another 200 years

Etarra Arturo Cubillas utiliza numero de cédula falso en solicitud de investigación a la fiscalía de Venezuela

When ridicule and tyranny meet

Democracy vs Elections


IMMIGRATION

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer slams ‘foreign interference’ in immigration lawsuit, via Gates of Vienna.

LITERATURE
Mario Vargas Llosa
A Latin American liberal
A great writer who has become his region’s conscience

23523
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Filed Under: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Chile, crime, Cuba, drugs, Ecuador, Honduras, Hugo Chavez, illegal immigration, immigration, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela Tagged With: Curacao, Dutch Antilles, Fausta's blog, Netherlands Antilles, St. Maarten

May 3, 2010 By Fausta

The first Monday in May Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerWelcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

LATIN AMERICA

Chávez says that Cuba helps Venezuela defend itself from U.S., Colombian malice

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo accuse journalists in mock trial

Antonini Wilson dice que era “vox pópuli” que el Gobierno argentino cobraba sobornos

BOLIVIA
Bolivia Takes Over More Firms

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Fraga Says Government Bailouts, Spending ‘Not Healthy’

Lula Tops Times List

What’s Good for Petrobras Proves Bad for Shareholders

CHILE
Carta destacada de la semana: Mapocho Navegable

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s presidential election
The maths of a Green revolution
Antanas Mockus is in many ways the opposite of Álvaro Uribe, the popular outgoing president. So why are the polls saying the upstart might replace him?

Economy, Not Security, Is Key Colombia Issue

Five Colombian troops killed in minefield

CUBA
Omar Gude Pérez, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 5/2/10

What Cuba can teach us about health care

The brevity of the slogans

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s President ‘Freeing’ Central Bank Funds for Citizens

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa said he will seek to change the central bank’s accounting rules in a bid to free capital needed to invest in the country’s development.

The government is seeking to change accounting rules regulating how the bank reports its reserve funds, Correa said in his weekly televised address to the nation, broadcast today.

Ecuador, which has defaulted on $3.2 billion of international bonds since Correa took office in 2007, is trying to plug a budget deficit the Finance Ministry estimates will reach $4.2 billion this year. The president of the country’s private bank association, Cesar Robalino, said March 29 the government was using central bank reserves to finance spending.

Ecuador’s new constitution, approved in a 2008 referendum, stripped the central bank of its autonomy.

“Why does a central bank that doesn’t even have a national currency need $2 billion in capital,” asked Correa, a 47-year-old former economics professor. “We are freeing the funds for the benefit of the Ecuadorean people.”

Yeah, right.

GRENADA
Grenada labour minister proposes extended weekend, shift work

HONDURAS
Journalists Killed in Honduras: The Myths and the Truth

The egg assembly line

MEXICO
Mr. Calderon, Tear Down this Wall

Mexico Accused of Human Rights Abuses in Amnesty International Report

Border disorder

Mexican officials condemn Arizona’s tough new immigration law

Italian in Mexican ambush safe and sound
Gunmen kill two in attack on humanitarian convoy

Inside Mexico, Illegal Aliens Get No Breaks

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
The Netherlands Antilles
The joy of six
Curaçao savours the prospect of autonomy

NICARAGUA
Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua
The show goes on
More blows against democracy

PANAMA
Police Seize 1.5 Tons of Weapons in Dolega, via Chiriquí Chatter

PUERTO RICO
Democrats ‘rigging’ Puerto Rico path to statehood?
House votes on option for island to become 51st state

US regulators seize three Puerto Rico banks

VENEZUELA
Deadly New Russian Weapon Hides In Shipping Container

A Russian company is marketing a devastating new cruise missile system which can be hidden inside a shipping container, giving any merchant vessel the capability to wipe out an aircraft carrier.

Potential customers for the formidable Club-K system include Kremlin allies Iran and Venezuela, say defense experts. They worry that countries could pass on the satellite-guided missiles, which are very hard to detect, to terrorist groups.

Oil-rich Venezuela gripped by economic crisis

Chávez Decaffeinates Venezuela
Coffee shortages predictably follow his price controls.

Housewives, bankers battle in Chavez militia

PRIMERO DE MAYO DESDE EL BARRIO (o “así se pudre un país…”)

PSUV: towards the Leninist model (with pictures)

Chávez, candanguero

While Venezuelan militia are trained to fire machine guns to the cry, “Kill the gringos,” Chávez asks Americans to wash their butts, again:

IMMIGRATION
AZTLAN ASTROTURF – MAY DAY MARCH in DENVER

“Our Gloria” Leads our Dear, DEAR “Latino brothers and sisters” in Los Angeles May Day March! (UPDATED)

HUMOR
Revisiting the Isla Presidencial:

(My apologies: the video starts automatically. You can watch it here)

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Great news from Colombia
VIDEO: Now Chavez wants Fidel and Evo to tweet, while Venezuela’s in ruins
Mexico’s illegal alien laws
Cuban blogger sentenced to prison: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Remember Noriega? He’s off to France
Cuba: Dania Virgen Garcia and the Ladies In White
Chavez as a security threat

At Real Clear World:
Chavez Tweets!

At Latineos:
Walking along Cortázar

Share

Filed Under: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Carnival of Latin America, Chile, Colombia, Communism, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Hugo Chavez, immigration, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Russia, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Grenada, Netherlands Antilles, Twitter

May 3, 2010 By Fausta

The first Monday in May Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerWelcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

LATIN AMERICA

Chávez says that Cuba helps Venezuela defend itself from U.S., Colombian malice

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo accuse journalists in mock trial

Antonini Wilson dice que era “vox pópuli” que el Gobierno argentino cobraba sobornos

BOLIVIA
Bolivia Takes Over More Firms

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Fraga Says Government Bailouts, Spending ‘Not Healthy’

Lula Tops Times List

What’s Good for Petrobras Proves Bad for Shareholders

CHILE
Carta destacada de la semana: Mapocho Navegable

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s presidential election
The maths of a Green revolution
Antanas Mockus is in many ways the opposite of Álvaro Uribe, the popular outgoing president. So why are the polls saying the upstart might replace him?

Economy, Not Security, Is Key Colombia Issue

Five Colombian troops killed in minefield

CUBA
Omar Gude Pérez, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 5/2/10

What Cuba can teach us about health care

The brevity of the slogans

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s President ‘Freeing’ Central Bank Funds for Citizens

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa said he will seek to change the central bank’s accounting rules in a bid to free capital needed to invest in the country’s development.

The government is seeking to change accounting rules regulating how the bank reports its reserve funds, Correa said in his weekly televised address to the nation, broadcast today.

Ecuador, which has defaulted on $3.2 billion of international bonds since Correa took office in 2007, is trying to plug a budget deficit the Finance Ministry estimates will reach $4.2 billion this year. The president of the country’s private bank association, Cesar Robalino, said March 29 the government was using central bank reserves to finance spending.

Ecuador’s new constitution, approved in a 2008 referendum, stripped the central bank of its autonomy.

“Why does a central bank that doesn’t even have a national currency need $2 billion in capital,” asked Correa, a 47-year-old former economics professor. “We are freeing the funds for the benefit of the Ecuadorean people.”

Yeah, right.

GRENADA
Grenada labour minister proposes extended weekend, shift work

HONDURAS
Journalists Killed in Honduras: The Myths and the Truth

The egg assembly line

MEXICO
Mr. Calderon, Tear Down this Wall

Mexico Accused of Human Rights Abuses in Amnesty International Report

Border disorder

Mexican officials condemn Arizona’s tough new immigration law

Italian in Mexican ambush safe and sound
Gunmen kill two in attack on humanitarian convoy

Inside Mexico, Illegal Aliens Get No Breaks

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
The Netherlands Antilles
The joy of six
Curaçao savours the prospect of autonomy

NICARAGUA
Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua
The show goes on
More blows against democracy

PANAMA
Police Seize 1.5 Tons of Weapons in Dolega, via Chiriquí Chatter

PUERTO RICO
Democrats ‘rigging’ Puerto Rico path to statehood?
House votes on option for island to become 51st state

US regulators seize three Puerto Rico banks

VENEZUELA
Deadly New Russian Weapon Hides In Shipping Container

A Russian company is marketing a devastating new cruise missile system which can be hidden inside a shipping container, giving any merchant vessel the capability to wipe out an aircraft carrier.

Potential customers for the formidable Club-K system include Kremlin allies Iran and Venezuela, say defense experts. They worry that countries could pass on the satellite-guided missiles, which are very hard to detect, to terrorist groups.

Oil-rich Venezuela gripped by economic crisis

Chávez Decaffeinates Venezuela
Coffee shortages predictably follow his price controls.

Housewives, bankers battle in Chavez militia

PRIMERO DE MAYO DESDE EL BARRIO (o “así se pudre un país…”)

PSUV: towards the Leninist model (with pictures)

Chávez, candanguero

While Venezuelan militia are trained to fire machine guns to the cry, “Kill the gringos,” Chávez asks Americans to wash their butts, again:

IMMIGRATION
AZTLAN ASTROTURF – MAY DAY MARCH in DENVER

“Our Gloria” Leads our Dear, DEAR “Latino brothers and sisters” in Los Angeles May Day March! (UPDATED)

HUMOR
Revisiting the Isla Presidencial:

(My apologies: the video starts automatically. You can watch it here)

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Great news from Colombia
VIDEO: Now Chavez wants Fidel and Evo to tweet, while Venezuela’s in ruins
Mexico’s illegal alien laws
Cuban blogger sentenced to prison: 15 Minutes on Latin America
Remember Noriega? He’s off to France
Cuba: Dania Virgen Garcia and the Ladies In White
Chavez as a security threat

At Real Clear World:
Chavez Tweets!

At Latineos:
Walking along Cortázar

19946
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Filed Under: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Carnival of Latin America, Chile, Colombia, Communism, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Hugo Chavez, immigration, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Russia, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Grenada, Netherlands Antilles, Twitter

May 1, 2009 By Fausta

Today’s podcast: the Hezbollah-Lat Amer drug connection

In today’s podcast at 11AM, the Hezbollah-Latin American drugs connection.

Podcasts are archived for your listening convenience.

Related links
Curaçao: Hezbollah Connection in Drug Arrests
17 arrested in Curacao on suspicion of drug trafficking with links to Hezbollah

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Filed Under: Colombia, crime, Cuba, drugs, Netherlands, Venezuela Tagged With: Curacao, Fausta's blog, Netherlands Antilles

April 30, 2009 By Fausta

Big Cocaine Gang Allied to Hezbollah Rounded up in the Caribbean

Big Cocaine Gang Allied to Hezbollah Rounded up (h/t GoV; emphasis added)

THE HAGUE, 30/04/09 – In cooperation with various other countries, Dutch authorities have rounded up a big cocaine gang that had links with Hezbollah. Seventeen suspects were arrested on Curacao, the biggest island of the Netherlands Antilles, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) has revealed.

International cooperation between police and judicial services of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles, Belgium, Colombia, Venezuela and the US led to the arrest of the 17 suspects by the Curacao police. They are believed to be part of a drugs and money-laundering organisation with international branches, thought to be responsible for the import and export of at least 2,000 kilos of cocaine per year, according to the OM. “The organisation maintained international contacts with other criminal networks, which in the Middle East support Hezbollah financially”.

In this investigation, launched at the beginning of 2008, containers with cocaine were intercepted earlier in Rotterdam (300 kilos), the Spanish city of Valencia (20 kilos) and the Belgian city of Antwerp (140 kilos). Three Colombian suspects have for some time been in pre-trial custody for their involvement in the Rotterdam shipment, discovered in October 2008.

The 17 suspects now arrested are from Venezuela, Colombia, Lebanon and Cuba as well as Curacao. The organisation shipped containers with cocaine from Curacao to the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Jordan. From Venezuela, drugs containers went to West Africa and subsequently to the Netherlands, Lebanon and Spain. Couriers smuggled cocaine from Curacao and Aruba to the Netherlands as air passengers.

The suspects invested the drugs profits in property in Colombia, Venezuela, Lebanon, the Dominican Republic and in companies on Curacao. “Large sums of money from the drugs trade have become available in Lebanon via underground bankers. From Lebanon, orders are also placed for weapons, which had to be delivered by the drugs organisation from South America.”

Babalu also posted on this atticle from the Lebanon Daily Star, Police link 17 ‘drug traders’ in Curacao with Hizbullah

BEIRUT: Police from seven nations arrested 17 people in the island of Curacao Tuesday suspected of involvement in an international drug ring with links to Hizbullah, Dutch authorities said. “The organization had international contacts with other criminal networks that financially supported Hizbullah in the Middle East. Large sums of drug money flooded into Lebanon, from where orders were placed for weapons that were to have been delivered from South America,” the Dutch prosecution service said in a statement.

The proceeds were allegedly invested in several countries, said the statement, adding that the suspects were from Curacao, the largest of the Dutch Antilles islands, as well as from Venezuela, Colombia, Lebanon and Cuba.

Yet another instance of the connection of drugs, terrorism and the weapons trade.

What is surprising is that the American media has no reports on this.

UPDATE
Welcome, Jawa readers. Please visit often.

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Filed Under: Caribbean, Colombia, Cuba, drugs, Hizballah, Hizbollah, Lebanon, Venezuela Tagged With: Curacao, Fausta's blog, Netherlands Antilles

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