Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

August 23, 2010 By Fausta

The live Chilean miners Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean VIDEO

LatinAmerWelcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

This week’s big story is that all 33 Chilean miners trapped by a cave-in 18 days ago are alive.

Chile’s trapped miners could be stuck until Christmas
Thirty-three miners trapped underground in Chile for the past 17 days are alive, but rescue workers may not be able to reach them before Christmas, officials said

Chile secures lifeline to trapped miners

Rescuing 33 miners trapped in Chile ‘to take months’

I’ll be talking about this in this morning’s podcast at 11AM Eastern.

You can watch another video report at the end of this post – below the fold since it starts automotically.

Another big story:
Police Held in Mexico Mayor’s Death
Authorities Say Officers Confessed; Vow Reforms of Law Enforcement

Seven police officers were arrested Friday for allegedly helping assassinate a Mexican mayor.

The arrests came a day after Edelmiro Cavazos, 38, the mayor of Santiago, was buried. His body—gagged, blindfolded, and showing signs of torture—had been found on the side of the road after he was kidnapped.

“They have confessed,” Alejandro Garza y Garza, the attorney general of Nuevo Leon state, said at a news conference.

Six of the arrested police officers, including Mr. Cavazos’s bodyguard, were displayed to reporters. A seventh police officer was detained later Friday.

Mr. Garza y Garza said other arrests were imminent as well.

An eyewitness said a group of at least 15 gunmen, dressed in the uniforms of a defunct Mexican police force, drove up to Mr. Cavazos’ Santiago home in a convoy of SUVs.

Adrian de la Garza, head of the Nuevo Leon State Investigations Agency, said four of the arrested officers had guarded the highway while a group of kidnappers including one of the arrested officers grabbed Mr. Cavazos.

The mayor’s bodyguard, Jose Alberto Rodriguez, who was also arrested, was allegedly grabbed with Mr. Cavazos by the kidnappers, but released unharmed shortly afterward.

During the news conference, Mr. Rodriguez said he was innocent.

The alleged involvement of so many local police in the kidnapping and killing of Mr. Cavazos goes to the heart of Mexico’s security problem, analysts say.

Corruption is deeply entrenched among Mexico’s more than 2,000 municipal and state police forces, as well as in its relatively small federal police force.

Perhaps Felipe Calderon ought to work on that, instead of coming to the USA to criticize us.

About the only good news on this is that at least the policemen were arrested.

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s economy
Happy-go-lucky Cristina
Who cares about austerity? That may come, but not until the day after tomorrow

Argentina orders shutdown of ISP owned by Clarín

BRAZIL
Rio Luxury Hotel Invaded By Gunmen, Hostages Taken

Brazil’s Rocket Envy Aside, Iran Ally Nets $50,000,000 Worth of Sensitive U.S. Technology

Brazil getting extreme makeover in preparation for Olympics
As Brazil prepares to host the 2016 Olympics and the 2014 World Cup, the country expects nothing short of an urban renaissance.

CHILE
Carta destacada de la semana: “Túnel bajo Andrés Bello”

COLOMBIA
Trading Growth for Instability?
Colombia Drifts Backwards as Democrats Dawdle

Will Captured Illegal Arms Dealer Victor Bout, the “Merchant of Death” Link Democrats to the FARC Terror Group?

CUBA
“Smart Policy” Change in Cuba Policy Will Not Advance U.S. Interests

Injured Urbanity

Ramadan in Cuba


Mexico, the Victim of Castro’s New Role

Dissidents assail Church over mediation; Church defends its efforts to free prisoners

***BREAKING NEWS***
Reina Luisa Tamayo is allowed to attend church today

ECUADOR
Residents Mourn the Death of Chelito the Giraffe

GUATEMALA
El incólume Ideario de la Universidad Francisco Marroquín

HAITI
Wyclef Jean Blocked From Haitian Presidential Bid

Keep the Faith

It’s no wonder the Haitians wanted Wyclef Jean
The star’s brief candidacy gave hope to people deeply in need

Give Back Stolen Cash? Not So Easy

HONDURAS
La Gringa’s Mocha Gelato

Tráfico “Gris”

MEXICO
When is the Obama administration going to get serious about Mexico?

Mexico: If it walks like an insurgency and quacks like an insurgency, is it an insurgency?

PANAMA

$13 billion budget, utopia or reality?

PERU
American Ordered to Return to Prison in Peru

Peru police seizes US $58,300 in almost perfect counterfeits

High in the Andes, Keeping an Incan Mystery Alive

URUGUAY
Luis Polakof trafico de influencias

VENEZUELA
Via Bill, Venezuela, More Deadly Than Iraq, Wonders Why

Via Dick, And all that without the suicide bombings…

Venezuela Court Revokes Ban On Violent Photos In Newspapers

Iran’s secret pipeline into the U.S.

Hugo Chavez and his despotic friends

Drink good coffee, support your FARC guerrillas

Another of Chávez’s Prisoners, Alejandro Peña Esclusa

Crime in Venezuela
Shooting gallery
The government blames the media for crime

Graphic photos NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK at this post (in Spanish) LA INSEGURIDAD NO TERMINA CON LA MUERTE EN LOS BARRIOS DE LA VENEZUELA MILLONARIA


Chavez plan to lower crime rate

Rotten Town from El Flying Monkey on Vimeo.

Interesting post from 2008: From FARC to Venezuela to…

IMMIGRATION
Via Jim,


Justice Dept. threatens to sue Ariz. sheriff Arpaio in civil rights inquiry

The week’s posts and podcasts:
Colombia captures Venezuelan drug lord VIDEO
And now for a post in Spanish: No hay “chévere”
In today’s podcast: Venezuela and Mexico
Venezuela: Censorship comes out of the closet
Easing travel restrictions to Cuba?

More on the Chilean miners:
(more…)

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Filed Under: Argentina, Brazil, Caribbean, Carnival of Latin America, Chile, Colombia, Communism, Cuba, FARC, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hugo Chavez, illegal immigration, immigration, Iran, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viktor Bout Tagged With: Arizona, Cristina Fernandez, Fausta's blog, Lori Berenson, Reina Luisa Zapata Tamayo, SB 1070, Wyclef Jean

August 17, 2010 By Fausta

Easing travel restrictions to Cuba?

I just got a press release from Amnesty International calling on Cuban Authorities to End the Harassment of the Mother of Deceased Prisoner of Conscience. The press release reads,

(Washington, D.C.) The Cuban authorities must act to end the harassment of the mother of a prisoner of conscience who died following a hunger strike to push for the release of other prisoners, Amnesty International said today.

Reina Luisa Tamayo, whose son Orlando Zapata Tamayo died in February this year, told Amnesty International she has been repeatedly harassed by authorities and government supporters during the regular marches in memory of her son that she carries out in the town of Banes.

“Reina Luisa Tamayo is simply paying tribute to her son who died in tragic circumstances, and that must be respected by the authorities,” said Kerrie Howard, Amnesty International’s Americas deputy director.

Every Sunday Tamayo, who is usually accompanied by relatives and friends, walks from her home to the church of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad, to attend mass and then they march to the cemetery, where Orlando is buried.

On Sunday August 15, government supporters arrived early in the morning and surrounded her house, Tamayo told Amnesty International, preventing her and her relatives and friends from marching and attending mass at the church.

Ahead of the march, Cuban security forces also allegedly detained in their homes some of the women due to attend for up to 48 hours, without any explanation for the measure.

Tamayo told Amnesty International that six loudspeakers were installed near her house and were used to shout slogans against her and the Ladies in White, an organization of female relatives of prisoners of conscience campaigning for their release.

On August 8, Tamayo was confronted by government supporters, who blocked her path and, according to her account, beat relatives and friends of the family. She said a police patrol was parked nearby watching the events, but failed to intervene.

Amnesty International has also expressed its concern at a series of recent detentions by the police of independent journalists and dissidents. “At a time when the Cuban government has begun to release prisoners of conscience, the campaign of harassment against Reina Luisa Tamayo and the arbitrary detention of journalists and dissident figures shows that the authorities are yet to make significant progress on human rights,” said Howard.

Writer Luis Felipe Rojas Rozabal was detained by the police at 7 a.m. on August 16, at his home in the town of San Germán, province of Holguín.

Rozabal’s family is unaware of the reasons of his arrest, but they have said they suspect this might be related to his criticism of the government. He has been arbitrarily detained on several previous occasions in similar circumstances.

Several members of the Eastern Democratic Alliance, a network of political dissident organizations, have also been detained.

As you may recall, yesterday I posted on how the Communist regime has been harassing Mrs. Tamayo.

While Tamayo, Rozabal, Yoani Sanchez and others are cruelly repressed, the NY Times has an article on U.S. Said to Plan Easing Rules for Travel to Cuba

The Obama administration is planning to expand opportunities for Americans to travel to Cuba, the latest step aimed at encouraging more contact between people in both countries, while leaving intact the decades-old embargo against the island’s Communist government, according to Congressional and administration officials.

The officials, who asked not to be identified because they had not been authorized to discuss the policy before it was announced, said it was meant to loosen restrictions on academic, religious and cultural groups that were adopted under President George W. Bush, and return to the “people to people” policies followed under President Bill Clinton.

Alberto de la Cruz points out,

Conspicuously missing from the New York Times article, however, is any mention of what, if any, positive effects those academic and cultural exchanges during the 1990s had. As far as I can remember, none of those visits helped the enslaved people on the island achieve freedom and democracy. While all those American artists and academics were hobnobbing with the members of Castro’s elite in Havana during the Clinton days, the Cuban people continued to be repressed and brutally subjugated by the dictatorship. Also missing from the article is any speculation on how people-to-people contacts would be any different this time.

Perhaps these pesky realities were purposely omitted due to the fact that these “exchanges” do nothing to help the Cuban people. They do make the liberal elite feel good though, and in the end, that is all that really matters; who cares about the enslaved Cuban people–somebody has to make the mojitos and roll the cigars.

The repression continued, Cubans continue to be slaves of their government, and the easement from the EU has had no positive effect.

Any questions?

(post re-edited to add omitted links)

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Filed Under: Barack Obama, Communism, Cuba, Democrats, politics Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Reina Luisa Zapata Tamayo

August 16, 2010 By Fausta

The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
Kirchner presiona a los jueces de la Corte por la Ley de Medios

BRAZIL
President’s Chosen Successor Widens Lead in Brazil Poll

Still on top

American brothers

CHILE
The trapped Chilean miners

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s new president
Opening gambits
Juan Manuel Santos takes charge

His own man

Colombia, Venezuela Reestablish Diplomatic Ties


El Gobierno heroico de Álvaro Uribe

Colombia and Venezuela to restore political ties

CUBA
CUBAN BLOGGER ARRESTED BY REGIME

Audio evidence of the Castro regime’s brutal repression of Reina Luisa Tamayo Otro domingo de represión contra Reina Luisa Zapata Tamayo y sus familiares.

Cuba’s Cash-for-Doctors Program
Thousands of its health-care missionaries flee mistreatment.

Cuba’s Fidel Castro
A ghost reappears
Fidel’s return is a mixed blessing for his brother

The desperate “Cuba Expert”

Six freed Cubans demand refugee status; say they will sue Spain if they don’t get it

The Wait

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Human Rights Commission expresses concern over threats to Dominican journalist

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s Chevron shakedown
Environmental case designed to grab billions

GUYANA/USA
2 Are Convicted in Plot to Bomb Kennedy Airport

HAITI
Clouds gather over Wyclef Jean’s Haiti bid

Sean Penn questions Wyclef Jean bid for Haitian presidency

HONDURAS
La Influencia Militar Alemana en Honduras

La Gringa’s Cinnamon Ice Cream

En la cocina

Don’t forget to check out what’s new at Honduras blogs, where I found the superfantastic May-hem

MEXICO
Mexico and drugs
Thinking the unthinkable
Amid drug-war weariness, Felipe Calderón calls for a debate on legalisation

Fox vs. Calderón, Round Six Million

Obama, Border Security and The Emerging Failed State of Mexico

Mexican Police Protest Corruption in Ciudad Juarez


MEXICO UNDER SIEGE
Mexico drug cartels thrive despite Calderon’s offensive
Nearly four years after President Felipe Calderon launched a military-led crackdown, the cartels are smuggling more narcotics into the U.S., amassing bigger fortunes and extending dominion at home.

NICARAGUA
Quote of the day: Nicaragua

PANAMA
Should a road be built to connect Panama and Colombia?

Volvo Gets Order For 1,000 Buses To Panama City

PARAGUAY
Doctors confirm Paraguay’s Lugo has cancer. Let’s hope the SOB pays his child support: New paternity test for Paraguay’s President Lugo
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo has been ordered to take a DNA test to see if he is the father of a two-year-old boy, as the child’s mother claims

PERU
Tensions Over Chinese Mining Venture in Peru

Peru stock market integration with Colombia, Chile faces obstacles, says analyst

URUGUAY
Sonia Breccia trafico de influencia con Tabare Vasquez

VENEZUELA
San Pedro Alejandrino, as much a place of reckoning as ever

Latin American brawl

The Case of the Vanishing Monetary Base Data

Barrio de lejos, barrio de cerca, barrio cara a cara…

Military Prosecutor goes after retired General for denouncing Cuban presence in Armed Forces

The Human Wrongs of Hugo Chavez

IMMIGRATION
Florida Attorney General Proposes Stricter Immigration Law

On ICE

Sheriffs unhappy with ICE chief visit

The Laredo Truthers Ride Again Laredo “invasion” nonsense rides again

RADIO
Conservative Hispanic radio show debuts in Dallas; KVCE live feed here

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Filed Under: Argentina, Brazil, Caribbean, Carnival of Latin America, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Florida, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, illegal immigration, immigration, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Fernando Lugo, Reina Luisa Zapata Tamayo, Sean Penn, Wyclef Jean

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