Fausta's blog

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean. If you would like your posts included, please email me: faustaw2 "at" gmail "dot" com.

This week's big story, which was rather predictable: Yesterday's referendum in Bolivia continues the current status, with Evo Morales still in power and the opposition also in Eastern Bolivia remaining strong:

Bolivians voted Sunday to keep President Evo Morales in office, with unofficial returns on a recall referendum giving him a victory even larger than the one that put him in office more than two years ago.

But despite drawing more than 60 percent of the vote, according to partial counts from polling stations, Morales appears to have not fundamentally changed the prevailing political deadlock in this Andean nation. The governors in eastern Bolivia, who form the powerful opposition to Morales, also held their seats by wide margins, leading to concerns that the voting results could exacerbate tensions here.

The president, vice president and eight of the nine state governors were subject to Sunday's recall vote. Three governors, including Morales opponents from La Paz and Cochabamba, were defeated. Meanwhile, the governor of Santa Cruz, the relatively wealthy lowlands state that has led the fight for more regional autonomy and to remove Morales, was backed by nearly 70 percent of voters, Bolivian television reported.

The departments voting against Morales are: Santa Cruz (70%), Beni (78%), Tarija (62%) and Chuquisaca (61%). As you may recall, last May Santa Cruz, home to 25% of Bolivia's population, voted for autonomy, a result which Mprales dismissed.

Noticias24 has a video (in Spanish) of the final results.

Resultados del referéndum de Bolivia
by noticias24

Official results will be available in 7-10 days.

Morales to push on with Bolivian reforms after winning vote. The Beeb makes it sound as if having opposition in Bolivia is a bad thing, since they claim that the referendum was "designed to heal the country's wounds" - into a Communist country.

As regular readers of this blog know, Evo Morales has the financial and ideological support of Hugo Chavez. Version Final estimates that in the past two years Chavez has sent Morales US$2,912,851,275, including $55 million for the purchase of helicopters and $30 million for improving the Bolivian army ifrastructure. More at the PDF file in Spanish (via el duende de Santa Cruz). Gateway Pundit posts that Venezuela and Iran are to loan Bolivia 225 million dollars to create a state cement company for the construction of roads and houses, ignoring housing shortages in their own countries.

In other Latin American news, Colombia has destroyed a FARC outpost described as "a small city" with 43 houses, where the Colombian military found weapons, electrical plants and documents. The information leading to this strike was provided by two informants.

ARGENTINA
With buddies like these, Argentina and Venezuela are in real trouble.

BOLIVIA Articles prior to the referendum:
Bolivia, Shell Oil reach pipeline compensation deal

Bolivia reached a "friendly" agreement Aug. 8 to compensate Royal Dutch Shell for its stake in the nationalized gas pipeline company Transredes

Morales Says He `Doesn't Fear' Results of Recall Referendum

Bolivia: Se acerca la batalla del jacha uru

Protests Mount as Bolivia Heads for Crucial Vote

BRAZIL
Brazil to Fight Ethanol Tariffs

Paying for the forest: Donations are welcome, even from foreigners

CHILE
Bomb Explodes at Brazilian Embassy in Santiago, EFE Reports

Viento en contra sobre la Concentracion

COLOMBIA
So ... Should Colombia Give the Hostages Back to the Terrorists?

Afghanistan: Colombian soldiers to back Spanish troops

Red (Double) Crossed

FARC Commanders Indicted Over Kidnappings of Americans

CUBA

The picture of the Revolución
This photo is the perfect metaphor for the half-century long Communist dictatorship: the infrastructure, the economy, and Cuban society crumble away while the cult of personality is highlighted in bright letters.

A disident’s return to Cuba