The Christmas Eve edition of the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Welcome to thie Christmas Eve edition of the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. I wish all of you a very happy Christmas.

If you have a post or a news item you would like to contribute, please email me: faustaw -at- yahoo -dot- com.

The big story of the week: The bombing of the Argentine Jewish community center in 1994 and Iran, the NIE, and Rafsanjani.

SPANISH LANGUAGE WEBSITE OF THE WEEK:
El Cato

LATIN AMERICA
The Carnivorous and Vegetarian Lefts, by Carlos Alberto Montaner. This was his speech at the Opening Plenary Session, The Whitherspoon Institute, Princeton University, Dec. 6, 2007.
UPDATE: Speaking of vegetarian lefties, Chavez Faces Challenge From Former Comrade: Venezuela's New Hero Has Respect in Army; a Vegetarian Mystic

A South American arms race?

Latino-Islamic Terror: Hezbollah Shows Off Their Latin Bombers

De-Fence, De-Fence

Via Babalu, Chavez offers oil for bananas deal

The Changing Dynamic in Latin America

ARGENTINA
Iran's Nuclear Terror. More at Patterico's Argentina, Iran and nuclear weapons.

AMIA and the NIE

AMIA, the communal offices of the Argentine Jewish community, was struck by a massive suicide truck bomb on July 18, 1994 – 85 were killed and over 200 injured. Iran and Hezbollah were suspected from the beginning. The Argentine investigation has had several false starts and has been mired in corruption, but in recent years has gotten on track. Last month Interpol voted overwhelmingly to issue a red letter calling for the arrest of five Iranians (along with Hezbollah's external operations chief Imad Mughniyah) on the basis of the Argentine investigation. The publicly available report on the AMIA bombing offers tremendous insight into the Iranian regime's modus operandi and worldview.

Full Prosecutor: Argentina bombings ordered by Iran
The NIE & Rafsanjani
Cog in the Regime
ABOUT IRAN'S BUENOS AIRES BOMBINGS
The NIE's Iran finding was based on…an old laptop and the word of Rafsanjani?

Troubles for Argentina's New Evita

The suitcase full of Chavista money is also in the news:
Stung in Miami


Ballet star Bocca bows out in Buenos Aires

ARUBA
Natalee Holloway Case Officially Closed

BOLIVIA
Bolivia: $872,000 from Chavez with Love


A meltdown in Latin America

Bolivians fear political unrest as rivals face off

BRAZIL
Petrobras to Invest Up to $1 Billion With Bolivia State Company

Lula Says 2007 Was Exceptional, 2008 Will Be Better

COLOMBIA
FARC's Real Aim: Ending Democracy

Colombia protests over Nicaragua's FARC remarks


CUBA
Chavez deepens investment in Cuba

Via Gates of Vienna, Seven Questions: Castro's Decline

Cuban Refinery Inaugurated, With Chávez in Spotlight

Venezuelan leader Chavez presides over oil summit in Cuba

Chavez dice desde Santiago que Venezuela y Cuba son una misma nacion

Omnibus Includes $33.6 Million for Democracy Promotion in Cuba (Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen)

On a Purely Personal Note

Blogging from Cuba: Generacion Y?

Fidel hints at retirement

ECUADOR
Santa Claus Lives

MEXICO
Intifada On The Mexican Border

Running just to stand still: How to reform the flawed behemoth that is the world's sixth-biggest oil producer

NICARAGUA
Nicaraguan expats to join forces in opposition to Daniel Ortega

Iran making diplomatic inroads in Nicaragua

New friends in the neighborhood

Iran’s push into Central America

The Skunk Is Back In Nicaragua

PERU
Chavez: At it Again

PUERTO RICO
Puertorican politics remain the same as they were when I lived there: politicians continue to use the "status" as a smokescreen behind wich to hide the real underlying problems of the island:
Statehood topic tops all issues in Puerto Rico<: House panel energizes debate by calling for new referendum

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — The governor is under criminal investigation, crime and unemployment are soaring and the economy is faltering as foreign firms are shutting down factories.

But to hear the politicians on this gem of a Caribbean island tell it, the only real issue on the public agenda is whether Puerto Rico should become the 51st state, ending its decades-old status as a U.S. commonwealth.

A bill calling for a referendum on the issue recently won approval in a U.S. House committee, triggering a new round of intense debate on the island, despite the fact that final congressional approval and an actual vote are still iffy propositions at best.

Some tiring of debate
After decades of rowdy argument, though, some Puerto Ricans appear to be tiring of the seemingly eternal debate over what is known here as the "status" issue.

Don't I know it.

VENEZUELA
Prodigality as state policy:
The case of Hugo Chavez

The Hallaca Effect: Chavez's Undoing

The Nixon Moreno case: Political Persecution is alive and well in Chavez' revolution

"Ironically, the United States is financing Chavez's Bolivarian revolution"

Che shirt wearing Cuban idiots booed in Venezuela, also at Citizen Feathers


El movimiento estudiantil, antídoto contra Chávez

Chavismo without Chavez?

Venezuela, redux

Venezuela falls behind the times

More Venezuela price caps may go
About time
And speaking of Chavez...

The 2007 result: the surprising abstention

Analisis psiquiatrico de Hugo Chavez:
Entrevista al Dr. Franzel Delgado Senior

HUMOR
Hillary Hires King Juan Carlos to Manage Husband

Beam me up, Hillary!

La Isla Bonita

BLOGGING ABOUT THE CARNIVAL
A colombo-americana's perspective

----------------------------------------------------------------

For more Carnival fun, don't miss the Carnival of Christmas, 2007 Edition



Share on Facebook