LA Quick Hits: Hugo Wins Huge, Calderon Cuts II, The New Demagogues, Pinochet Lives! (Barely), Cuban Embargo Talk and More

• Hugo's crushing victory, 61.3 percent to 38.4 percent with 78 percent counted, was in his words "another defeat for the devil." Legally Hugo only has one more term to go so in order to fulfill the will of the people he promised to change the constitution to serve indefinitely. Hugo was thrilled with his victory and the "Socialist Revolution." Hugo marked his victory by pulling the plug on Telemundo as it covered the election.
• Calderon's cuts could save $2.5 billion. Calderon cut his own salary by 10 percent.
• Evo's gas deals are now law, he signed off on them yesterday. Evo and the opposition meanwhile are trying to come to terms with differences (en esp.). A sticking point is the Constitutional Assembly. Evo prefers 50+1 to pass but the opposition wants a supermajority.
• The iconoclastic historian Niall Feguson discusses the "New Demagogues."
  
• Haiti had elections too.
• Pinochet is in intensive care.
• Consenso Cubano an umbrella organization that includes both the Cuban Study Group and CANF called for relaxing the embargo. David Rivera, a state rep who should be more concerned with things he can actually vote on, was quick to denounce the proposal.