Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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The #Rio2016 Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, week 2

While the pools turn green, the athletes are breaking records and earning medals, even if some (like Ryan Lochte and four teammates) get mugged at gunpoint by men in police uniforms.

ARGENTINA
Theresa May reaches out to Argentina with ‘mutual respect’ as she works to ease restrictions on the Falkland Islanders exploiting their oil reserves

BOLIVIA
Evo Morales Confirms Bolivia’s Economic Downturn

BRAZIL
Brazil Mourns Olympics Guardsman Shot in Ambush.Out-of-town officer was part of large security contingent deployed to Rio for Games

Israeli Wrestler Takes Olympic Gold Without Winning Single Match After All Muslim Opponents Forfeit‘

NBC PANIC: RIO RATINGS HIT LOW…

From green pool to missing pontoon, problems won’t go away…

At The Economist, they’re not into records:

Why few records will be broken in Rio: The human body may have reached its limits
The factors fuelling America’s dominance of gymnastics
Why Pacific-island nations are so good at rugby
Olympians have discovered new fads and superstitions

CHILE
Chile’s privatized social security system, beloved by U.S. conservatives, is falling apart

COLOMBIA
Good luck with that: Colombia wants involvement of pope and UN in post-conflict courts.

CUBA
The fruits of “smart diplomacy”: Fidel Castro Lambasts US And Obama On 90th Birthday. The veteran Communist firebrand mocks attempts by America to kill him during Havana’s long Cold War stand-off with Washington.

Judicial Watch Investigates Starwood’s Hotel Deal With Cuban Military

MEXICO
Jorge Ramos Moves Towards Hitting Campaign Trail for Hillary. He will continue to call himself a “journalist,” which brings to mind this,

Mexico’s President Faces New Scrutiny. President Enrique Peña Nieto, whose past two years in office have been shadowed by a conflict-of-interest scandal linked to a Mexico City mansion, is facing new scrutiny linked to the first family’s use of a luxury apartment in Miami.

Ricardo Pierdant, a Miami-based businessman, in 2013 paid close to $30,000 in property taxes on behalf of first lady Angélica Rivera for an apartment she owns in Miami, according to tax records seen by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Pierdant is a close friend of Mexico´s first family, according to Mr. Peña Nieto´s office.

The first lady purchased her apartment in the wealthy island enclave of Key Biscayne in 2005.

Mr. Pierdant subsequently purchased another apartment directly above Ms. Rivera’s, according to Miami property records.

Texas Family Among Those Kidnapped by Los Zetas Cartel in Mexico

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua’s president makes a farce of democracy

Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega shows his true colors. Since taking office in 2007, the president has concentrated power in his family’s hands

PANAMA
IDEAS PANAMA PAPERS Joseph E. Stiglitz and Mark Pieth: Why We Left the Panama Commission

PARAGUAY
Murders Add to Fears of Narco War in Eastern Paraguay

Paraguay recalls ambassador in diplomatic dispute with Venezuela

Earlier this week, socialist Maduro accused Paraguay of being part of “an extreme right wing alliance” aimed at blocking Venezuela from assuming its role as head of Mercosur as scheduled during the second half of the year.

PERU
PPK works out: Peru’s 77-year-old new president isn’t acting his age. And Peruvians love it.

PUERTO RICO
1 in 4 Puerto Ricans will have Zika by end of year…

URUGUAY
Montevideo Is Considering Joining The Pacific Alliance Trade Bloc, since Peru and Colombia issued an invitation.

VENEZUELA
Again, Venezuelans cross into Colombia after border is reopened

Invictus, via Miguel Octavio,



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The post-conventions Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

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

Rio 2016: Athletes warned to keep mouths closed while in faeces-infested water. All efforts by the government to clean the Rio waters seem to have failed

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…

Rio Murders Rise…

Muslim female athletes compete while covered…

Fire in Olympic Village…

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

COLOMBIA
Colombian Courts Greenlight Controversial FARC Peace Referendum. Colombia’s Constitutional Court Issues Regulations for Yes/No Vote on Guerilla Peace Talks

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

Colombia Town Anxious Ahead of Peace Plan’s Experiment in Coca Substitution

CUBA
Military and family remittances, a well-kept secret

ECUADOR
Everything You Need to Know About the DNC’s WikiLeaks Scandal. Emails Released by Julian Assange and WikiLeaks Reveals Democratic FoulPlay During Primary Season

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

Venezuela’s new decree



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The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

ARGENTINA
Argentina judge orders cash seized from Fernandez’s daughter, Florencia Kirchner.

BOLIVIA
Fitch cuts Bolivia’s credit rating

Chile rejects Bolivia call for talks on sea access

BRAZIL
Brazil reviews security measures ahead of Rio Olympics

Rio de Janeiro’s Airspace to Be Restricted on July 24, Ahead of Olympics

CHILE
Stormy seas hit Chile copper exports, could buoy prices

COLOMBIA
The Chilean fighting in a foreign conflict in Colombia

CUBA
Good question: In Age Of Terror, Why Is Obama Rushing to Open Daily Flights With Cuba?

ECUADOR
Steve Hanke: “Electronic money leads into bankruptcy”

HONDURAS
Former Honduran President Zelaya to Supporters: “Ready Your AK-47s”. Deposed Seven Years Ago, Leftist Manuel Zelaya Seeks to Return to Power in 2017

MEXICO
Mexico to its Expatriates: “The Door Is Open to You Here”

PANAMA
Panama’s Manuel Noriega to Have Surgery on Brain Tumor

PERU
Spanish Historian Recounts Quest to Locate Last Inca Capital

PUERTO RICO
Zika Virus Jump: Puerto Rico Sees Big Increase in Case Count

VENEZUELA
Venezuela Comptroller General Says Cabinet Members Being Investigated



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Brazil: Four countries at highest Zika risk during Olympics

And they are not the industrialized countries:
Four countries face the highest risk of Zika virus from the Olympics

Four countries face the highest risk of a Zika outbreak if a single one of their athletes or travelers becomes infected during the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, according to a risk analysis published Wednesday by U.S. health officials.

The four countries — Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea and Yemen — have the factors that could result in a sustained spread of the mosquito-borne virus in a worst-case scenario, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All three except Eritrea are Muslim-majority countries.

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Puerto Rico as a Zika lab?

Zika Virus Swamps Embattled Puerto Rico. At the U.S.’s doorstep, one quarter of the territory’s population could be infected by year’s end, giving health authorities a rare chance to study the virus (emphasis added)

Puerto Rico’s battle with Zika is giving local and U.S. health authorities a rare chance to better understand the disease as it makes its relentless march across the Americas.

The island has advantages over Latin American and Caribbean nations that lack its modern medical system. It has strong public-health surveillance and anticipated Zika’s arrival, unlike Brazil, where the virus spread unnoticed for months.
. . .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 25% of Puerto Rico’s 3.5 million population will be infected with Zika by the end of 2016, says Tyler Sharp, epidemiologist in the CDC’s dengue branch, based in San Juan, which researches dengue and other viruses that are transmitted by the same mosquitoes as Zika.

Mark my words, the ones gaining from this will be the politicians.

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The Presidents’ Day Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerARGENTINA
Argentina Takes More Aggressive Stance with Bond Holdouts. President asks U.S. court to lift injunction preventing it from borrowing overseas

Economic data in Argentina: An Augean stable. The government is rebuilding its discredited statistics institute

BOLIVIA
Bolivia’s Morales Seeks Probe of Contracts That Went to Ex-Lover’s Company

BRAZIL
Brazil mobilises 200,000 military personnel in ‘day of action’ against Zika virus. Rio de Janeiro will host the Olympics in August, so defeating the virus on the city’s streets is the central priority

CHILE
Chile starts to flow electricity to Argentina for first time

COLOMBIA

Protests Paralyze Bus System in Colombian Capital

The FARC promise to stop adding to their child soldier problem

COSTA RICA
Microsoft to Train Costa Rican Inmates as Web Developers

CUBA
Hellfire Missile Mistakenly Sent to Cuba Has Been Returned to U.S. The training missile had been rerouted in Germany and put on a plane to Cuba, where it had remained for more than a year

Two “Brothers”: Pope Francis and the Chekist

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Does Focusing on Race in the Dominican Republic Impede Positive Change?

ECUADOR
Why did Erdogan’s bodyguards beat up these Ecuadorian women?

Ecuador To Sell One Third Of Pristine Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies. Ecuador is in the midst of talks to sell one-third of pure, untouched rainforest to Chinese oil companies despite environmental impact and protests from indigenous people.

MEXICO
Cartel Boss Behind Mexican Prison Massacre Linked to American’s Death

#VERGUENZANACIONAL En Mérida: Mayor (EjBV) ayudante del Maestro Chávez [ex gobernador de Barinas Hugo De Los Reyes Chávez padre del comandante Hugo Chávez] cae con 400 kilos de cocaína

Video: 1,400 American Workers Outraged as Company Informs Them It’s Sending Their Jobs to Mexico

PANAMA
Test of new Panama Canal locks where cracks were detected deemed a success

PARAGUAY
Murder Draws Attention to Paraguay-Uruguay Marijuana Trade

PERU
Oil from Peru pipeline spill reaches major river, indigenous group says

PUERTO RICO
Fiery debate over Puerto Rico’s debt at investment summit

The fiery debate between Jim Millstein, the U.S. territory’s lead debt restructuring adviser, and Nader Tavakoli, the CEO of Ambac — one of the largest insurers of PR-issued debt — was over whether the island should be granted access by Congress to Chapter 9 bankruptcy laws to restructure a large portion of its outstanding debt.

URUGUAY
What Happened with Marijuana Legalization in Uruguay? Lessons from the First Country to Legalize Cannabis Nationwide, Two Years Later

VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s Collapse Brings ‘Savage Suffering’. Dying infants, chronic power outages and empty shelves mark the world’s worst-performing economy

Venezuela leader’s foes move to oust him. The new opposition-controlled National Assembly in Venezuela plans to speed up moves to oust the government of Nicolas Maduro as economic woes deepen.

THE LIGHTS GO OUT IN BERNIE SANDERS’ UTOPIA, VENEZUELA



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The Superbowl weekend Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerARGENTINA
Argentina in $6.5bn offer to debt holdouts after its 2001 default on $100bn.

BOLIVIA
Gabriela Zapata vive en una lujosa vivienda que pertenecía al político Guillermo Fortún

Bolivia’s Morales reveals that in 2007 he had a child that died

BRAZIL
Brazil Health Researchers Say Zika Virus Is Active in Saliva, Urine. Pregnant women advised to take precautions to avoid coming in contact with others’ saliva; other researchers suggest such fears are overblown

Palestinian Authority opens embassy in Brasilia

CHILE
Privatization success: Chilean Pension Funds Grow 4.1% Year-on-Year in January

COLOMBIA
Colombia is preparing for peace. So are its drug traffickers. If FARC guerrillas accept a peace deal, the fight over the country’s cocaine business may escalate.

Islamist Militants Join Latin American Drug Lords in Explosive Duo. Hezbollah Seeks Closer Links with Drug Cartels Due to Iran’s Falling Oil Revenues

This week, the DEA announced the arrests of Hezbollah operatives with connections to ‘La Oficina de Envigado,’ a major Colombian Drug Trafficking organization responsible for a large share of the cocaine shipped to US and European markets. The presence in Latin America of Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based and Iran-backed Shi’a Islamic terror group is hardly news.

The group has been active in money laundering and other illicit activities in the region for decades, predominantly in the lawless tri-border region between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Most notably, Hezbollah bombed a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994, killing 85 and wounding hundreds. However, the recent increase in cooperation with drug traffickers, as evidenced by these high-profile arrests, represents an alarming trend and a dangerous prospect for the future of hemispheric security.

Falling oil prices are affecting Iran’s economy, and Hezbollah must diversify and pursue other revenue streams. The lucrative Latin American drug trade is a natural choice.

White House seeks to boost aid to Colombia to $450 million

President Barack Obama promised to throw the White House’s full support behind the Colombian government’s efforts to sign a historic peace agreement with leftist rebels, including a pledge of $450 million in aid annually to help demobilize rebels who’ve been fighting an insurgency for 51 years.

The ELN in action, Colombian Policeman Killed in Rebel Attack

COSTA RICA
2nd Group of Cuban Migrants Stuck in Costa Rica Flown Out

CUBA
Pope Che’s going back to Cuba: In Historic Move, Pope to Meet With Leader of Russian Orthodox Church

ECUADOR
Ecuador protests to Turkey over Erdogan speech scuffle

Ecuador has protested to Turkey over an incident in which demonstrators were violently ejected during a speech by visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital, Quito.

Video:

EL SALVADOR
El Salvador detains ex-soldiers for 1989 Jesuit priest killings

HAITI
Crisis in Haiti turns deadly as power vacuum looms

Protesters in Haiti have beaten a man to death in a clash with ex-soldiers, as political uncertainty continues.
Witnesses say the crowd in the capital Port-au-Prince attacked the man, thinking that he was from the country’s disbanded military.

JAMAICA
Jamaica Ready to Celebrate 71st Anniversary of Birth of Bob Marley

LATIN AMERICA
A Channel 2 Action News investigation discovered a leaked secret document showing a spike in people from terrorist nations illegally crossing our country’s Southern border.

Congratulations to Eneas Biglione: HACER entre los 75 centros de estudios más influyentes de EEUU

MEXICO
“La reina del sur” in hot water: Mexican Judge Grants Del Castillo Protection against Arrest

The runaway cops visit the burnt-out unit,

PANAMA
Panama expected to follow Brazil’s lead and release genetically modified mosquitoes whose offspring die as larvae in a bid to stop the spread of the terrifying Zika virus

PERU
Peru may bar presidential hopeful from April elections

PUERTO RICO
State of emergency declared in Puerto-Rico as Zika cases climb to 22

VENEZUELA
Venezuela Is Socialist, Senator Sanders. Any Questions?

Printing Error. Venezuela is now importing 100 bolivar bills by the planeload: more banknotes, actually, than the whole of the European Union needs.



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Zika in the news: Brazil’s government approves forced entry into homes, Venezuela lacks meds

Perigo. Agente da Secretaria municipal de Saúde coleta amostras numa casa abandonada na Avenida Maracanã: possíveis focos de 'Aedes aegypti' Foto: Agência O Globo / Custodio Coimbra

The Brazilian government has approved a Public Health Emergency Measure allowing health department employees accompanied by police to enter private homes by force, if necessary, to fumigate for Aedes aegypti mosquitos.

The Aedes aegypti transmit dengue, chikungunya, and zika.

O Globo reports that it applies to homes where the owner has been absent and appear to have been abandoned. Health department officials must give notice ten days in advance to the owner of record, and verify its vacancy by visiting the property twice during the 10-day period.

You can read the original article in Portuguese here.

In Venezuela,

Venezuelan Health Minister Luisana Melo on Friday said there are 4,700 people allegedly infected with the Zika virus in the country, out of which 225 people are suffering from one of the virus complications: the Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Although the minister, in an interview with state-run TV channel VTV, further admitted that Venezuela lacks immunoglobulin, which is the main treatment for the virus, she pointed out that THE antibody would be provided to patients who need it, since “we are facing a crisis.”

As for plasmapheresis, which is another treatment for this disease, Melo stated it is available only in 46 hospitals nationwide.

Seemingly, the local health authority said there is a 25% medicines deficit in drugstores. “We cannot deny this situation,” she stressed.

Melo, who blames consumers who brush their teeth for the toothpaste shortage, says “the country’s pharmaceutical industry would produce 80% of high-consumption drugs late in July this year”.

Good luck with that.

UPDATE
W.H.O. Declares Zika Virus a Global Health Emergency, First Time Since Ebola

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