The nationalized Venezuelan oil contractors Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Cross-posted

Welcome to the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean.

This week's big story: Chavez's nationalizing the oil contractors, removing books from public libraries, threatening Globovision, all for the purpose of consolidating power around himself, which was the subject of this morning's podcast. See the links under Venezuela below.

Another big story: while the OAS aims to legitimize the Cuban regime by granting it membership in the organization, the Cuban government rejected the idea via an article by Fidel Castro in Granma, the official organ of the Cuban Communist Party.

In other news, Peru is also granting asylum to Bolivian ministers who oppose Evo Morales. as you may recall, Peru recently granted political asylum to Venezuelan opposition leader Manuel Rosales.

ARGENTINA
U.S. Government Funds $400,000 Study on Gay Sex in Argentina Bars

BARBADOS
Commentary: Thompson's immigration declaration too harsh

BRAZIL
At least 31 dead, 50,000 homeless in Brazil flooding

Vale iron ore train in N. Brazil halted by floods

COLOMBIA
Colombia and Venezuela: Latin America Bond and Currency Preview

CUBA
At the Melia Cohiba

Castro le teme al huracán Obama

The OAS, Cuba and Memory Loss

Cuba Doesn't Belong in a Democratic Club
Castro's apologists make a move at the OAS.

ECUADOR
Deep in the Jungle, Ecuador Targets the FARC. Let’s hope so.

Ecuador's Correa until 2017?

FALKLANDS ISLANDS
A Small Place
Nearly half the Falkland Islanders are immigrants. What draws people to a grim chunk of rock in the South Atlantic?

GUATEMALA
Spanish think tank awards Manuel Ayau for his exemplary lifework in the defense of liberty



MEXICO
After Dems Bailout, GM To Move Out of US

The cracks opened up by the flu: As the swine-flu outbreak appears to subside, Mexico is left to contemplate the cost and to ponder the authorities’ response

MONTSERRAT
Frogs flown from Montserrat to flee deadly fungus

PANAMA
Panama and the decline of the Sao Paolo forum

Panama bucks the Latin American left

Super 09: A supermarket king defeats the Left

PARAGUAY
Paternity Makes Punch Line of Paraguay President

El video "personal" de Lugo



More!



PERU
Peru's Garcia Gives Asylum to Bolivian Ministers -- Bolivia's Morales Calls Garcia “Vulgar”

Nadine Heredia, esposa de Ollanta, recibe dinero de diario 'chavista'

Crime in Peru: Printing Money
Quantitative easing in a new capital of counterfeiting

VENEZUELA
Chavez accelerates the pace of destruction of Venezuela, taking over oil service companies.

Chávez Seizes Assets of Oil Contractors

Venezuela: Chavez's government seizes oil contractors Photos here

Chavez latest seizures will likely reduce production

Chávez seizures fuel Venezuela oil fears

El Día Mundial de la Libertad de Expresión visto desde los barrios

You do not need to be an economist to know that things are not going well in Venezuela

Globovision shakes chavismo early this morning

Eurocámara apoya a "perseguidos" venezolanos

María Conchita busca "desenmascarar" a Chávez

Venezuelans aim to kick crime out

Trade unions in Venezuela: Socialism v labour. Curbing opposition to chavismo

Hugo Chávez Attacks Media Opponents Again, Threatens to Withdraw Their Licenses

Special thanks to Maggie and the Baron. Congratulations to Eneas Biglione on his Leadership Award

The Ecuador default Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

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

This week's big news: Ecuador defaults on its foreign debt, basically because it doesn't want to:

And while developing world economies have taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent months, Ecuador is ceasing payments not because the oil-rich country cannot afford to pay but because it has made a political decision not to.

The default is Ecuador’s second in a decade and seventh in its 178-year history. More links and posts below.

LATIN AMERICA
The Real Latin-American Left: One We Can Work With

Caracas Russians, Managua Misrule

Latin American Democrats Need U.S. Support
Free trade is one way to help prevent the resurgence of autocracy in the region.

ARGENTINA
Economic Storm Batters Argentina's Breadbasket
Sharp Price Drop Brings Sudden End To Good Times

BOLIVIA
Observatorio de Medios de Bolivia reveló que suman 245 los ataques a periodistas en el último año; alarmante crecimiento desde septiembre de 2008

Evo admite que la Unasur no es plenamente legal

Via American Digest, “Coca Si, Cocaina No”. Let’s hope Aldana Cohen is better informed about his topic than he is about Coca Cola. Coca Cola hasn’t contained any cocaine since 1929.

BRAZIL
Israel's El Al plans direct flights to Brazil

CHILE
A heroic pooch

COLOMBIA
Alleged Colombian coke kingpin in U.S.

Reputed one-time Colombian cocaine kingpin Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez is in Florida after being extradited from his South American homeland, U.S. officials say.

Known as "Don Diego," Montoya Sanchez allegedly once commanded the North Valley cartel, a narco-trafficking empire that exported at least 1.2 million pounds of cocaine to the United States. But Friday he was sitting in a tiny federal jail cell in Miami, The Miami Herald reported.

U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said the Colombian's extradition marked a historic point in efforts by the United States to smash the vast cartel, saying Montoya Sanchez's arrest was the most significant since the convictions of brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, the 1980s leaders of Colombia's Cali cartel.

CUBA
Allegations of Biological Weapons Research in Cuba Need Clearing Up

Guantanamo’s Jihad: The Show Begins…

Elián González marks his 15th birthday

¿Cumpleaños o aniversario?

Obama Should Put the Castros in Their Place

Vladimir Alejo Miranda, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 12/14/08

Buques rusos atracarán en Cuba por primera vez desde caída de URSS Russian ships landing in Cuba for the first time since the fall of the USSR. Russian navy: Russian warships to visit Cuba

ECUADOR
The return of the 1980s?

Ecuador decides to stiff creditors

ECUADOR DEFAULTS ON FOREIGN DEBT

Ecuador Default May Hit ‘True Monsters’ Harder Than Argentina

What Did the U.S. Congress Do With Correa's Propagandists and Ministra Viteri?

HAITI
Nutritional value of World Food Program rice distributed in Haiti questioned

MEXICO
Arrested: Suspected Killers of Sheriff’s Deputy. But Was It Ordered by the Mexican Mafia?

Mexico: Growing Terror and Close to Collapse

NICARAGUA
More backyard fun

PARAGUAY
Urgent prayer request

PERU
Innocents Die in the Drug War

PUERTO RICO
Who let the big cat out of the bag? Puerto Rico searches for panther prowling suburbs

Wildlife officials patrolled streets and undeveloped lots in a sort of suburban safari Sunday, searching for a nocturnal predator that has mauled a sheep, ripped apart chickens and dominated newspaper headlines in the tropical U.S. territory since last week.

I didn't know there were any sheep or chickens in Rio Piedras, either.

VENEZUELA
Miguel Octavio was part of a Round Table discussion at the White House on Human Rights Day

Systematic abuse and compulsive lies

A great Venezuelan gets an award

The ultimate idiotic conspiracy theory: The US created credit crisis to get back at Hugo and other revolutionaries

Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape

Venezuela Debt Rating Outlook Cut to Negative by S&P

Black-Out Blights Venezuela for the 4th Time This Year
Power Outage in Caracas Brings Out Social Traits

Via Brazilian Neocon, Jaime Bayly on Chavez's Alo Presidente's diarrhea program, part 1 (in Spanish)


Part 2


AMERICAN POLITICS
Texas Hispanics upset with Democrats

ENTERTAINMENT
Killer Chic: Hollywood’s sick love affair with Che Guevara

Che what

Special thanks to Ada, Baron B., Eneas, Larwyn and Maggie.

This week's podcasts and posts
Obama makes it to the Nativity scene
Soderbergh’s Chegasm





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The second Monday in August Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Crossposted

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




Political prisoners end hunger strike

GUATEMALA
US tourist hacked to death in Guatemala

ECUADOR
Constitutional coup d'etats by Chavez and Correa

Death Threats Received by Archbishop and Human Life International Leader in Ecuador for Opposing "Abortionist" Constitution

Special forces search for FARC

HAITI
George Soros' Testing Ground

MEXICO
Mexico's Poor Forgo Goods as Income From U.S. Drops

Drug cartels feeling the heat
Under unprecedented pressure, Mexico's drug cartels have unleashed epic violence, which some say shows that antidrug measures are working.

The Mexican kidnapping business

NICARAGUA
Vinculos de Daniel Ortega con las FARC

PARAGUAY
The next leftist on the block: Measuring up Fernando Lugo's plans for a misgoverned country

TURKS and CAICOS
Commentary: Are the Turks and Caicos Islands ready to leave the nest?

VENEZUELA
In Enacting Decrees, Chávez Makes New Power Grab

VENEZUELAN BUSINESSMAN TURNS THIEVES INTO EMPLOYEES
Alberto Vollmer's programs for poor squatters and young hoodlums seen as a model for defusing social tensions.

Power Grab
Venezuela's Hugo Chávez launches a new attack on his country's freedoms

S.O.S. Venezuela's Political Disaster - August 7, 2008

What now in Venezuela? How do you fight against a "legal" coup d'etat?

Chavez accused of reviving old reforms

Chavez's way

Chavez continues nationalization drive

About those Russian planes….

AMERICAN POLITICS
A Lousy Latin Lover

PODCAST
I'll be talking about Bolivia in this morning's podcast at 11AM Eastern. The call in number is 646 652-2639 and chat will be open at 10:45AM, please join us!



Special thanks to the Baron, Eneas, Maggie and Siggy.

Four Bolivian regions declare autonomy

The richest-Four Bolivian regions declare autonomy from government on the same day as Evo Morales formally received a new draft constitution.

The deputies at the Constituent Assembly approved one version but Evo received a different one; VCrisis has the captures. The first version states that the power comes from the people while the second version stresses the preselection of candidates. Gateway Pundit has more.

At play? Natural gas, which Gazprom is eyeing, along with Brazil and Chile.

Ed Morrissey correctly points out

If these districts can secure themselves against the central government, this could get very, very ugly. Natural gas is their chief export and their resource for hard currency. If the breakaway districts can keep it for themselves and safely export it (mainly to Brazil), they can build a significant war chest while leaving Morales to feed the rest of Bolivia's poor in the west. That will prompt Morales to march on the east, perhaps assisted by Chavez in Venezuela, and a civil war will almost certainly erupt -- and sooner rather than later.

olivia Leader Is Mobilizing Armed Forces

Publius Pundit, Blue Crab Boulevard while Marginal Revolution asks, What does Bolivia have to do to make the front page?



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Bolivian Myths at TNR

The New Republic (who disgraced itself with the Scott Thomas Beauchamp story) has an excellent article by Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Bolivian Myths: What Do the Bolivian People Really Want:

After talking to Bolivians from all walks of life in areas ranging from the rural outskirts of Santa Cruz, in the east, to Cochabamba, in the highlands, and from the jungles of Chapare to Tiwanaku, the site of an ancient citadel peopled by indigenous Bolivians, I am persuaded that Morales' government is ruling based on myths. Those myths need to be exposed before other Andean countries where ethnic and social divisions are also abrasive follow suit.

• The greatest myth is that Bolivia's population is alien to Western culture imposed by 300 years of colonial rule and two centuries of republican life.
• The second myth pursued by Morales is that Bolivians want communal property.
• Another myth is that the regions calling for local autonomy want to break away from Bolivia.
• One last myth is that the nationalization of natural gas in the southeastern lowlands will liberate the indigenous population.

As they say, read the whole thing.

Update

What would Bill Cosby say?


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Bullsh*t headline of the day: "Venezuela's aid to Latin America exceeds that of U.S."

The AP's Natalie Obiko Pearson and Ian James got the bullsh*t by the horns, and they're tooting Hugo's "charismatic-leader-helping-the-poor-offering-free-health-care-education-adult-literacy-and-job-training-initiatives-that-help-millions-of-[insert country name here]" fantasy (emphasis added):

Bolstered by windfall oil profits, Chavez's government is now offering more direct state funding to Latin America and the Caribbean than the United States. A tally by The Associated Press shows Venezuela has pledged more than $8.8 billion in aid, financing and energy funding so far this year.

Promises, promises.

After whetting our appetites, however, AP has a brief reality check:

While the most recent figures available from Washington show $3 billion in U.S. grants and loans reached the region in 2005, it isn't known how much of the Venezuelan money has actually been delivered. And Chavez's spending abroad doesn't come close to the overall volume of U.S. private investment and trade in Latin America.

Or the billion$$$ in remesas (private money transfers) the legal and illegal immigrants to the USA are sending their relatives in Latin America daily.

Gustavo Coronel explains how Hugo Chavez’s Big Splurge: Buying Few Real Friends. Of course, Ian hasn't read that one.

Ian's the guy that did the puff piece on Hugo and Sean's Excellent Adventure earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Ian's way behind the times: The NYT is starting to wake up They've noticed a change

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has taken over from Fidel Castro the mantle of Latin America's leading opponent of the United States, which remains the largest customer for Venezuela's oil.

And they're not happy:

Mr. Chavez's claim that he is increasing "participatory democracy" by giving voice to Venezuela's disenfranchised poor rests on gestures like the proposal to create grass-roots governing councils with executive authority over a range of issues. In fact, they would further erode democratic checks and balances by stripping power from state and local governments, where opposition parties retain some vestigial power, and giving it to entities dependent on the central government.

Indeed, Mr. Chavez's plan to allow himself to run for re-election as many times as he wants - to achieve his stated goal of governing until the 200th anniversary of Venezuelan independence in 2021 - could lock Venezuela in the grip of an all-powerful strongman for years to come. It's participatory democracy in which only Mr. Chávez and his friends get to participate.

But the AP's notoriously gullible: Notice how they say, Castro Signs Essay Amid Health Rumors, as if they had witnesses to that action.

Over in Bolivia the coca leaves, the production over which Evo's union leader, re making predictions: the coca leaves predict Castro will recover.

I kid you not.

I fully expect Ian and Natalie to have faith in Evo and his coca leaves.

The Bolivians, however are not as enthralled over the Bolivian politcal situation. Indeed, they're in the midst of a political crisis.


(Re the use of bullsh*t on the headline: Long-time readers of this blog know that I strive to keep a certain level of discourse. However, words have meaning, and the meaning really applies in this situation.)
-----------------------------------------------------------
In a somewhat related item, when I posted about Hugo and Sean's Excellent Adventure, I applauded Maria Conchita Alonso.

Maria Conchita became a naturalized American citizen last week, and has declared herself an enemy of populist governments (link in Spanish).

Unfortunately she forgot her panties (link in Spanish). Let's hope she finds her way.

Another jogging suit photo-op coming up?

Bolivia's Morales visits Cuba

It's unclear if Bolivian President Evo Morales will meet with Fidel Castro in Cuba

I'n sure Fidel will wear Addidas again and make a show of the newspaper, like he did here:

and here:

and here:


Heck, at this rate, Fidel might even convince the Addidas people to give Evo a jogging suit, too. The hard part's going to be getting Evo out of that sweater.

In more serious matters,
Cuban dissident Dr. Darsi Ferrer was released from police custody, while Fidel's exporting construction workers to Venezuela so they can work below the minimum wage.

India in Latin America, and other Caribbean items

I have blogged in the past on China's presence in Latin America, but Andres Oppenheimer says India will be big player in Latin America

It's not surprising that 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries have set up embassies here, more than they have in Russia.

''India is in a growth trajectory,'' Nath told me, noting that India is likely to grow at 10 percent annually in coming years. ``And Latin America is very important to us.''

While India's trade with Latin America lags far behind China's, Indian officials are working overtime to catch up, as I learned after meeting R. Viswanathan, the Foreign Ministry's head of Latin American affairs.

Unlike most Indian career diplomats, who tend to be low-key bureaucrats, Viswanathan is a highly visible Latin America promoter. His business card reads, ''Passionate about Latin America,'' and he personally runs three blogs and one website, Business with Latin America [link added], dedicated to the region.

Oppenheimer notes that politically, India has an advantage over China:

America for its Buddhist history and spiritual movements that are increasingly popular in the region, and for its booming information technology and pharmaceutical companies, he said.

''While China reminds me of 16th century Spain, which was only interested in extracting Latin America's natural resources, India is never going to be an imperial country,'' agreed Abdul Nafei, head of the Latin American studies program at Jawhardal Nehru University.

My opinion: Get ready to hear more about India in Latin America. In addition to a 1.1 billion population, democracy and a booming economy, India will offer an alternative economic role model -- based on exporting services rather than manufacturing -- that some in the region will find more appealing than China's. Lagos, the former Chilean president, knew what he was talking about.

In other Caribbean items,
Former tinpot dictator Daniel Noriega of Panama will be released from prison later this year:

When Noriega steps out of his specially built, apartment-like cell at the Federal Correctional Institution in Southwest Miami-Dade, he probably won't be free. Noriega -- reportedly 68 or 72, depending on conflicting birth records -- is wanted in Panama and in France.

Noriega was sentenced to a 30-year term for protecting Colombian cocaine shipments through Panama in the 1980s.

At least he can still speak out: Former Chavez confidant becomes critic in Venezuela

President Hugo Chavez's political mentor -- who once persuaded the fiery leader to seek power through elections after he led a failed coup -- now says the regime has "all the characteristics of a dictatorial government."

Richard Rahn writes about the Collapsing Venezuela

Venezuela no longer has an independent central bank, and inflation is already up to 17 percent and rapidly rising. We know countries thrive with economic freedom but decline without it, and Venezuela is now down to 126 out of 130 nations in the 2006 Economic Freedom of the World the most rapid decline ever (in 1995 it was No. 75). And, finally, we know that when a state becomes totally corrupt an economic collapse always follows.

Here are some NEW DEAD CASTRO RUMORS, in case you thought I forgot.

Meanwhile in South America,
Evo replaced seven out of 16 ministers of his cabinet - a day after celebrating his first year in office.

In Spanish: Los muertos de Castro, a must-see video on The Cuba Archive:

"Say 'ello to my leetle fren'", part 2

The caption says,

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, laugh with Bolivia's President Evo Morales holds his hand during the inauguration of Rafael Correa as new president of Ecuador in Quito, Monday, Jan. 15, 2007

Makes you want to sing,

"Feelings, wo-o-o feelings,
Wo-o-o, feelings again in my arms.
Feelings...",

doesn't it?

(thank you, M.)

Update, Sunday 21 January: Love, Look at the Two of Us

Prior posts 'Jad's junket
"Say 'ello to my leetle fren'"
Shall we dance?