Around the Hemisphere - Thursday Edition

The U.S. elections swiftly approach, and Latin America has virtually fallen off the political radar in this country. Not to blame the candidates for that; pretty much all foreign policy issues, even Iraq, are taking a backseat to the economy these days. Still events in Latin America roll on, and we can't stop paying attention:

• Russia offers to help Bolivia…fight narco-trafficking? Seems like an odd combination to me, but then again Russia has been rather active in the region of late, perhaps looking to further expand its influence in the hemisphere.
  

• McCain is losing ground among U.S. Hispanics. Another area where his campaign is failing to adapt to realities on the ground…
  

• Condaleeza Rice is in Mexico to address increasing drug violence. Hope she has better luck there than she did in the Middle East.
  

• The Pemex vote is imminent in Mexico’s legislature. The debate is whether parts of the state-run oil company should be privatized, and how much autonomy the company will have in decision making.
  

• Fujimori’s “Megatrial” in Peru suspended as the former president falls ill and is taken to the hospital. Looks like he’s screwed anyway.
  

• Ties between Cuba and the European Union were formally restored after five years of limited relations. This includes a $30 million humanitarian aid package for hurricane relief. The question now: Will Obama finally make the bold move of lifting the embargo?

Foto: Latuff

Around the Hemisphere

If I was undecided yesterday (which I really wasn't), then today I am decidedly certain...the real question is, why is this man smiling?

• With elections not looking favorable, Chavez looks to distract the electorate with more threat generation. This quote from a former Venezuelan ambassador to the UN is one of the best encapsulations of Chavez’s tactics that I have seen: "President Chávez has used his anti-Americanism as a form of government policy, not only internationally but also when faced with a series of errors that he cannot explain." Hell, he hates us so much he even goes after McDonalds…
  

• Argentina places restrictions on imports from Brazil and China. Is there lead in the empanadas?
  

• Jose Miguel Vivanco, the HRW official expelled from Venezuela by Chavez last month, tells his version of the story, as linked to by Daniel at VZ News and Views.

• Meanwhile, HRW goes after Uribe in Colombia for interfering with the judicial process by trying to lean on judges for investigating links between members of his government and paramilitaries.
  

• U.S. consulate in Monterrey, Mexico attacked.
  

• Carlos Menem is being investigated for arms trafficking, supposedly selling weapons to Ecuador and Croatia in the 1990s.
  

• The Cocaine Diaries is a BBC series featuring Alex James of Blur traveling around Colombia looking into how the cocaine business works. I haven’t had a chance to see any of the series, but it comes highly recommended. I’m hoping it will re-run on BBC America at some point. If anyone knows of alternative means of viewing, by all means share…
  

• Serious environmental disaster in Bolivia, as the heavily polluted Choqueyapo River poisons agriculture and drinking water

Photo: Foto-cualquiera.com

Around the Hemisphere

"Ahhh...te bañaste..."

• Is it possible to be in the CIA and FBI at the same time? According to Venezuelan Minister of the Interior, Tarek Al Aissami, it is. The Excrement elaborates. Just goes to show you, never trust anyone named Tarek (q)…?
  

• Chavez the Economist: The foundations of capitalism are being shaken and it’s the fault of American imperialism, neocolonialism, and Lauren sleeping with Audrina’s boyfriend.
  

• In Nicaragua, Ortega seems to be pushing socialist reform forward slowly but surely. It appears he wants to be able to negotiate the price of public land for private use at a rate different than that of the free market. Specifically, he proposed to : “negociar los terrenos a precio catastral y no a precio del libre mercado”. I’m unclear what exactly “precio catastral” means in English (if someone who knows the nuances of financial Spanish better than me, I would welcome any input), but it has something to do with the value of a piece of land before speculators drive up the price. What I can glean from this is the following: Ortega has plans to undertake massive public works projects in the future, most likely with Venezuelan and possibly Iranian funds. In order to move these projects forward, the government will need to acquire large tracts of private property through some sort of eminent domain purchase. Instead of paying market rate for the confiscated land, Ortega would like at least a 20% discount on what the ‘speculated value’ is. Well, at least Ortega is actually offering to pay something for the land, unlike Chavez who just seized large fincas in Venezuela for “Bolivarian Revolution” and allowed squatters to come in and destroy the land…

• Does the American lifestyle promote obesity? Compelling evidence that merely living near the border will make you fat.
  

• National museum dedicated to “o jogo bonito” now open in São Paulo.
  

• Alfonso Portillo, ex-Guatemalan president, extradited back home from Mexico to face corruption charges.
  

• Talks on a Free Trade Agreement re-open between the European Union and Colombia/Peru. Considering the previous iteration of this deal was with all four CAN (Comunidad Andina de Naciones) members, it looks like Bolivia and Ecuador aren’t feeling the free-ness.

Around the Hemisphere

What a weekend it was in the Western Hemisphere. Not only is the United States firmly in the grip of election fever and a faltering economy, elsewhere around the region crises are being resolved, deals negotiated, bribes paid, political figures brought down by their own greed, and rampant European sex tourism...
But what was really important was that the Detroit Shock won the 2008 WNBA Championship! Let's keep things in perspective here, people...

• Iran, Russia, China and Venezuela create their “own financial system”?

• Brazil forced to stop trading as stock market plummets.
  

• Talks aimed at resolving crisis in Bolivia going nowhere for the moment.
  

• Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mining resigns in light of a bribery scandal involving hydrocarbon concessions awarded to a Norwegian energy company, Discover Petroleum.
  

• Latin America, prime destination for pedophiles?
  

• Chavez, the environmentalist.
  

• Calderon proposes decriminalization of certain drugs in Mexico. Could it help ease the violence?
  

Photo: Detroit Free Press

Around the Hemisphere

• Good article on Brazil’s emergence as a global economic power.
  

• Caracas lands at the top of FP’s list of Murder Capitals of the World.
  

• More on the impact of the financial crisis in Latin America
  

• More FARC members land on the Treasury Department’s "Lista Clinton":
  

• The failure of Chavismo to provide even basic services to Venezuela’s sprawling slums, as regularly documented by Radar de los Barrios: “If you don’t pay for the tank…there won’t be water. After ten years of discussions about ‘socialism’, water has become ‘privatized’ in the most perverse way. As such, the only thing the “revolution” has efficiently distributed is thirst…”
  

• Perhaps in response to Venezuela’s recent shopping spree on Russian weaponry, a comparison of Brazil and Venezuela’s military defense capabilities. The author makes a case for strengthening Brazil’s air-land defense capacity (just in case Paraguay wants to invade I guess?)
  

• Speaking of Paraguay, the nation’s equivalent of Paris-Dakar is the Transchaco Rally. According to Wikipedia (I seem to hear those three words a lot lately…as if it makes Wikipedia any more reliable) rally racing is Paraguay’s second most popular sport after fútbol. Unfortunately, the race has been postponed this year due to a sustained drought in the region. In the meantime, dozens of owners of souped-up 1983 Subaru DLs sit waiting to kick some ass…
  

• Colonialism as the primary cause of the current crisis in Bolivia; exploring historical roots, looking at the crisis from a regional standpoint, with the obligatory “U.S. is behind it all” scenario thrown in for good measure.
  

• In the Antonini Maletagate case, one witness confirms that the money came from the Venezuelan government.