Tag Archives: Latin America

Millions missing after party-loving mayor went on the run

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“Last summer the mayor of a forgotten corner of Brazil went on the run, accused of skimming millions from public funds. Lidiane Leite bragged about how much money she had on Instagram and directed staff back at the office via social media. Known as the WhatsApp mayor, she became an emblem of Brazilian corruption.  ‘I can buy whatever I want,’ she boasted. ‘I’m going to spend money on what I want and I don’t care what people say about me.’  Alarm bells rang. Now, after months of looking into the affairs of small, sleepy Bom Jardim, with its mango trees and cattle, prosecutors believe $4m (£2.7m) may have been embezzled from the public coffers.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35242163

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Jacob Hornberger: Let Puerto Go

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“Isn’t it amazing how America’s turn toward empire in 1898 is a gift that keeps on giving? Today, Puerto Rico, one of the colonies the United States acquired in the Spanish-American War, is defaulting on part of its massive debt. Having failed so far to convince its overseers in Congress to permit the colony to declare bankruptcy, the Puerto Rican government is at a loss as to how it is going to cope with a massive debt that it simply cannot repay. The fact that Puerto Rico’s debt problems are a matter for the United States to resolve just goes to show how America’s turn toward empire and intervention in 1898 continues to reverberate negatively today.”

http://fff.org/2016/01/04/let-puerto-go/

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Cops in ‘Podunk’ Florida Town Sent Millions to Venezuela, Other Countries

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“A routine Department of Justice inquiry into a police forfeiture account found, according to the Herald, ‘no arrests, no audits, lack of reports, and massive amounts of drug money sent to banks without alerting federal agents. The DOJ concluded that Bal Harbour misspent hundreds of thousands in forfeiture funds on police salaries.’ The city had to return the money, a short time after another forfeiture account unknown to the public came to light.  The Herald found Bal Harbour police had sent $4 million to Panama and $1.6 million to China. Venezuela came in third out of nine countries and territories, at $305,000 sent by police to Venezuela. That number now matches Panama’s.”

https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/28/cops-in-podunk-florida-town-sent-million

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Last flight for US-funded air war on drugs as Colombia counts health cost

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“For more than two decades crop dusters have buzzed the skies of Colombia showering bright green fields of coca with chemical defoliant as part of a US-funded effort to stem the country’s production of cocaine.  Farmers across the country have long complained that indiscriminate spraying also destroys legal crops, and that the chemical used – glyphosate – has caused everything from skin rashes and respiratory problems to diarrhoea and miscarriages.  Authorities in Colombia and the United States – which has funded the aerial eradication programme with as much as $2bn since 2000 – scoffed at those claims.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/06/colombia-air-war-drugs-last-flight-looms-health-cost

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Colombian president signs decree to legalise medical marijuana

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“Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos has signed a decree legalizing the growing and sale of marijuana for medical purposes, a dramatic shift in a country long identified with US-backed policies to stamp out drug crops.  Santos said the new regulatory framework was long overdue given that Colombians had been consuming marijuana and marijuana-based products in a legal void for years.  Conservative critics in Colombia and abroad see Santos’s drive to reform drug policy, including a decision earlier this year to end a two-decade-old campaign of spraying illegal coca crops with herbicides, as a sign that the government’s resolve is weakening.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/22/colombia-president-legalise-medical-marijuana

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Latin America Says ‘Adiós’ to the Populist Left

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“The defeat of the Kirchner government in Argentina was the first strong sign of the new Latin American zeitgeist. Next Sunday Venezuelan voters, the polls tell us, will strongly repudiate the Hugo Chávez legacy, although widespread election fraud is likely. Chavisimo won’t go quietly.  Similar stories are emerging elsewhere. Barely 10 percent of Brazilians support President Rousseff, and legal proceedings began this week that could lead to her impeachment. Ecuador’s Correa had to suspend his attempt to change the election rules so he could seek permanent reelection. The recent elections and polls are a clear shift toward free markets and transparent government.”

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=8608

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Brazil Shuts Down WhatsApp, Wants To Shut Down The Social Web

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“A judge in Sao Paulo has ordered WhatsApp to shut down for 48 hours, starting at 9pm Eastern tonight.  WhatsApp is the single most used app in Brazil, with about 93 million users, or 93% of the country’s internet population. It’s a particularly useful service for Brazil’s youth and poor, many who cannot afford to pay the most expensive plans on the planet.  But if Brazil’s conservative Congress gets its way, they’re going to take down the entire social web as we know it, with bills circulating through the legislature to criminalize posting social media content and to allow the government to spy on its citizens.”

http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/16/brazils-congress-has-shut-down-whatsapp-tonight-and-the-rest-of-the-social-web-could-be-next/

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Thousands of Brazilians march for president’s removal

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“Thousands took to the streets in cities across Brazil demanding that embattled President Dilma Rousseff — facing a weak economy and calls for her impeachment — be removed from office.  It was the fourth time this year that demonstrators across the sprawling nation of 204 million marched to demand the removal of the country’s first female president.  Political uncertainty is adding to the country’s economic woes, with GDP down 4.5 percent in the third quarter year-on-year, and the national currency down a third against the dollar this year.  With her approval ratings at only 10 percent, Rousseff has little political support to mount a defense.”

http://news.yahoo.com/weak-turnout-brazil-impeachment-protests-180205914.html

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Never Mind $35, The World’s Cheapest Oil Is Already Close to $20

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“Oil has slumped to levels last seen in the global financial crisis in 2009 amid a global supply glut. While the prices of benchmarks West Texas Intermediate and Brent hover in the $30s, they represent a category of crude — light and low in sulfur — that is more highly valued because it’s easier to refine. Some producers of thicker, blacker and more sulfurous varieties have suffered heavier losses and are already living in the $20s.  Ironically, those selling at the lowest prices have even more incentive to pump, potentially deepening the glut that’s weighing on prices.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-14/never-mind-35-the-world-s-cheapest-oil-is-already-close-to-20

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Goldman’s BRIC Era Ends as Fund Folds After Years of Losses

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“The bank’s asset-management unit folded its money-losing BRIC fund, which invests in Brazil, Russia, India and China, and merged it last month with a broader emerging-market fund. Goldman Sachs pulled the plug on the nine-year-old product because it doesn’t expect ‘significant asset growth in the foreseeable future,’ according to a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  The downfall of the BRIC fund, which had lost 88 percent of its assets since a 2010 peak, also underscores how the strategy of bundling disparate countries into a single investment theme is losing its appeal among investors.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-08/goldman-s-bric-era-ends-as-fund-closes-after-years-of-losses

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