LA Quick Hits: Correa's Cops, Evo in Iran, FTA for Peru, Mex Senate Finds a Cash Cow, APRA's Pick, To Godoy or Not To Godoy & More

• Correa nixes amnesty talk for cops.
• Evo wants Iran to invest in Bolivia.
• Peru and Thailand to sign FTA next month.
• They are STILL counting votes in Lima mayoral contest.
• Mexican Senate votes to raise cigarette taxes from 10 to 35 cents. If enforced I have no doubt that Mex will be running a surplus for years on end.
• APRA ticket in Peru likely to be led by a woman, Mercedes Araoz, former Finance Minister and grad school grad of The U. APRA is President Alan Garcia's party.
• PRD flips...Godoy stays.
• China's Eximbank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) sign letter of intent to boost trade in the region.
• Mex Mayor and AMLO thorn Ebrard tries to get international cred in Spain.
• Peru and Ecuador have bi-national cabinet meeting tomorrow.

LA Quick Hits: Mex Drug Cartels Go South, Don Diego Lives!, Correa the Commie, Begging Bolivia & More

• Colombia is not backing down on its FARC accusations and tells Hugo where to stick his "Plan de Paz."
• Great piece in WaPost on Mex Drug Cartel Violence going to Central America. Did you know that homicides per capita in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras far outstrip Mexico's?
• Kidnappers of Don Diego release photo and letter. Depressing and awful.
• Correa starts to set the stage to nationalize petrol companies.
• Ortega talks up US Sec of Labor Solis, kind of nauseating actually. She is visiting the Nicas.
• Alvaro Vargas Llosa is cautiously optimistic about the release of political prisoners in Cuba. Even then, he is too optimistic. The Church got a role in all of this because Ortega is a tool and can be manipulated not because it brings anything to the table.
• US Charges d' Affaires in Bolivia whines and begs Evo to cooperate in fight against narcos. Seriously, why should he? So the US can help the way they help Mex? The way they helped sink Colombia to the brink of collapse? Why should they lift bring more killing, corruption and crime just to raise the price of cocaine by $1 a kilo? Evo should give him the middle finger and say - "We don't snort or smoke, you deal with it."
• Maradona is out - the vote was unanimous.
• Peru's State of the Union/4th of July is tomorrow - one legislator's plea..."Don't lie."

LA Quick Hits: FARC in Venezuela, Hugo Gets Pissed, Santos Invites Neighbors, Car Bomb in Mex, Killing Labor, Bolivar is Dead, Peru "Slows" & More

• FARC and ELN leaders are chilling out in Venezuela. Colombians have pictures and film to prove it - the evidence goes back to 2002 and...
• Venezuela is SHOCKED by the allegations...Hugo pulls his ambassador from Colombia. That Ambassador must have some pretty awesome frequent flier miles.
• You're invited! Santos invites Hugo and Correa to his inauguration...good luck with that.
• First car bomb in Mexico's drug war goes off in Ciudad Juarez - four dead.
• Mexican drug cartels have US made grenades.
• Argentina oks same-sex unions - Cristina takes a swipe at the US, of course.
• Hugo's unions take on the old unions and 75 union leaders have died. How come we only hear about Colombia?
• Cuban Commie spy is sentenced for life. His wife gets off easy with only six and three quarter years.
• Not a parody - Hugo exhumes Simon Bolivar, speaks to the remains and relates it all to a national audience. The crazy thing is that if he ran tomorrow, Hugo would probably still get re-elected.
• Cardinal Ortega visited US in June - met someone, but Obama Admin is not confirming who.
• Peruvian economy continues to sizzle, growing 9.2% in May
• Happy Birthday Plan Colombia! $8 billion, 84% reduction in terrorist attacks, 88% reduction in kidnappings, 58% in coca production and 45% reduction in homicides.
• Correa gears up for war against crime.
• Ten candidates for Prez of Brazil, only Dilma and Serra matter.
• Twelve Candidates for Mayor of Lima, right and center right candidates leading.

Uribe, Chavez & Correa Hold Hands and Sing Kumbaya

The mess is over...for now. More on this later when I can expand on it.

Correa Knew About Reyes Being In Ecuador

I know it may come as a shock but according to a report Correa knew of Raul Reyes being in Ecuador back in June 2007. Actually they even mentioned the precise location where he was offed last week. Boz is all over this. Boz mentions that Ecuador arrested five FARC "militants" and is hopeful that this is a sign of something. I am more inclined to believe these are tokens offered up for appearances and that each one of these individuals is inconsequential.

Hugo the FARC Lover

Hugo is making some noises and Correa is following his lead. Myles Frechette, a former ambassodor to Colombia, made the rounds in the papers. I don't want to read too much into it but it appears to me that the Frechette tailored his message to his audience. For the Herald Frechotte cited Hugo's motivation for his actions:

"You'll see a lot of [diplomatic] movement in the next few days,'' Frechette said, adding, "Chávez is playing to the cheap seats in Venezuela. His ratings are down. The economy is suffering, and the people know it. He's using this as a smoke screen. Note that Chávez has carefully not said he'll attack Colombia"

In the WaPost piece Frechette goes out of his way to say that Uribe is the one in dire straights:

"Uribe has got to go down there, meet with Correa, calm him down, and he's going to have Chávez fuming at the border," Frechette said. Uribe is "in a pickle, in the sense that diplomatically he's got to get himself out of this corner that he's got himself in."

Every piece even the one at NYTimes notes Chavez is gets along fine with the FARC. NYTimes article defined Chavez/FARC relations as warm and noted, just like WaPost, that Reyes and Hugo had met three times.

In the Tanks: Heritage on Correa

A Heritage Foundation paper by James Roberts points out the similarities between Hugo and Correa - not much new there. All the usual notes are hit, the drive to socialism, the eagerness to rewrite the constitution, tweak the US and kiss Iranian tush. How we stop the lefty Latin slide makes up the last part of the paper:

The U.S. should do the following:

• Reiterate to President Correa that the United States expects Ecuador to continue to respect democratic neighbors, continue cooperation on fighting drug trafficking and international crime, and invest in its own long-term stability and prosperity through policies that favor political and economic free choice;
• Develop new programs to boost personal contact with Americans and counter the armies of Cuban doctors and Venezuelan security advisers streaming into Ecquador;
• Increase support for civil society groups and beef up public diplomacy efforts to strengthen local voices proposing independent solutions to Ecuador's poverty and governance troubles;
• Demonstrate goodwill regarding possible resumption of free trade talks if the situation improves; and
• Redirect security assistance as necessary and adjust strategies if America loses tenant rights at Ecuador's Manta air base for drug interdiction efforts.

All well and good but kind of vague isn't it? I could come up with this stuff and I am not even an expert, although I play one in the blogosphere. Here's one that I would like to see us try - stop bugging our neighbor's to the south about drug trafficking. If there is money in the drug trade it is only because we want it. It's not Shorty's fault that I am 15 lbs. overweight. It is my fault for insisting on getting the full dinner of baby back ribs with a side order of corn on the cob.

I'll discuss more on it later but the Foreign Policy's cover story says it best - Legalize It.

LA Quick Hits: Calderon's Challenge(s), Mexican Mess, Manny To Go Free (Kind of), Hugo is Nice, Paper War Continues, Evo & ETA & More

• CSM closes out its excellent series on the troubles facing Calderon. The last piece focuses on the income gap in Mex.
• Speaking of Mex income Calderon said no gov't official should make more than him. Is that before or after bribes?
• Mexican tourism officials are freaked out over the new passport requirements that took affect Tuesday. They should be.
• A PRD official from Oaxaca was gunned down.
• W mentioned Cuba in the State of the Union last night, Ros-Lehtinen was predictably ecstatic. Somehow Fidel's nephews did provide a quote to the Herald. Meanwhile some lawmakers want to make life easier for Fidel and his posse.
  
• Manuel Noriega will be set "free" Sept. 9 although it appears that he will be extradited to France or Panama where he is wanted for crimes. The Panamanians want him but France is more likely to get him.
• US wants good relations with Correa - I doubt he does.
• I have no idea what Marcela Sanchez means when she calls Chavez' s 21st century socialism polite but she comes across like a fellow travelling apologist.
  
• A once prominent Chavista turns critic - too little too late.
• A pretty decent profile of Chavez's Venezuela in today's NYT. It features the best definition of Chavismo that I've seen thus far "It is a series of arbitrary improvisations from a fellow obeyed by everyone in his circle."
• ChiTrib has its own Chavez profile but it hits familiar points.
• Only the geniuses at Vigilia Mambisa could make a puny group of Chavez apologists look rational.
• World Court says Argentines can block bridges into Uruguay - Uruguay is steamed and Kirchner says that Uruguay has no choice but to talk to them now.
• Evo denies ties to ETA - liar!
  

LA Quick Hits: Hugo Talks (and Talks and Talks), Nutty Correa, Lula's Plan, Evo is Stuck, Monterrey, Cuba Libre! and More

• Hugo's babfest, Alo Presidente, was back on the air. Hugo told US to "go to hell," spoke of Brazilian babes in string bikinis, the hanging of Saddam, a plan to jack up taxes, raise the famously low price of Venezuelan gasoline and his plan to not pay market value for the nationalization of CANTV (en esp.) - the telecom company.
• FT has a round up of LA. Among the issues explored: Hugo's power grab and insane fiscal policy, Correa's even nuttier fiscal plans and the promising start of Calderon.
• Lula is set to unveil a growth package for Brazil. Among the features of Lula's plan: tax breaks, increased public spending on infrastructure along with other cuts in spending.
  
• Mercosur tabled plans of expansion, despite Hugo's enthusiasm for it.
• CSM begins a very promising series on Calderon's crackdown.
• Calderon's people insisted that they will carry on with the drug war and the AG insisted that extradition of drug traffickers had nothing to do with pressure from US.
  
• Bolivia's constitutional assembly is stuck in the mud and the politics of that country are a mess. Divisions abound and Evo has had to adjust.
• 5 killed by FARC bomb.
  
• 11 Iraqis bound for US were arrested in Mexico.
• Residents of Monterrey are accused of being cheap by fellow Mex. Is it an accident that Monterrey is the most business friendly and entrepreneurial major city in Mex?
  
• Monterrey is finishing off its own "River Walk."
• Who wants a free Cuba? No one but US.

LA Quick Hits: Fidel's Ass, Former Para Talking (Dead Man Walking?), Isa Going to Jail?, Correa Takes Reins, Nica Poverty Fight, Just Say No! & More

• Castro almost got an artificial anus but opted against it. This and other scintillating details about Fidel's colon and rectum were revealed by el Pais in Spain.
• Salvatore Mancuso, a former "para" leader in Colombia, confessed/boasted about his crimes in an effort to take advantage of a deal provided to all "paras" to disclose crimes and serve reduced sentences.
• A second arrest warrant has been issued for Isabel Peron, a request for extradition should come next.
  
• El Salvador marked the 15th anniversary of the signing of the peace accords that allowed the FMLN to put down its weapons.
• Correa marks his first day on the job by signing an oil deal with Hugo.
• Nicaragua's new finance minister is making poverty his number one concern. He says the right things but is incredibly vague as to the policies that he will implement - that is rarely a good thing.
  
• Calderon starts a jobs program providing incetives to companies to hire first time workers.
• Evo's land reform is posing challenges to its benficiaries.
  
• Mexico is ticked that an illegal border jumper was killed by the Border Patrol.
  
• Texas border mayors say "no" to a fence. I can respect that but what should be done then, any suggestions? One mayor sends that a barrier would send the "wrong message." The message that a wall/fence says to me is don't cross the boder illegally - is that the "wrong message."
  

LA Quick Hits: Cochabamba Clash, MAS Scrap, Correa/Uribe Talk, Peron Lives, Hugo Helps Danny, Human Rights Watch Wakes Up & More

• Violence broke out again in Cochabamba yesterday leaving two dead.
  
• Evo's MAS (Movement Towards Socialism) is threatening to scrap the Constitutional Assembly. Evo had previously threatened to impose his reforms by edict if this happened.
  
• Correa is touting the successful dialogue that he had with Uribe (en esp.) concerning the spraying on the border.
  
• Isabel Peron, the former president and the strongman's widow, has an arrest order for her from an Argentine judge. This stems from accusations made about her role of the disappearance of a leftist during the "Dirty War." Peron lives in Spain.
• Nicaragua has signed a couple of pacts with Venezuela to take advantage of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). (en esp.) This is Hugo's version of what we call the FTAA but that our Spanish speaking neighbors refer to as ALCA. Danny's deal gets him a refinery and housing.
• FT has an incredibly tepid op-ed on Hugo's "Left Turn."
• Oppo leader Manuel Rosales said that Hugo wants to perpetuate his reign - I'm glad he told me because I never would have guessed. (en esp.)
• Human Rights Watch rips Hugo for stacking courts and destroying the independent judiciary.
• Human Rights Watch also expressed disappointment over the new and improved UN Commission on Human Rights. I can't believe that it took them this long to realize that the reformed commission is barely an improvement over its previous incarnation. The whole thing should be scrapped - obviously the UN is beyond being an effective defender of Human Rights.
• Cubans paid homage to deceased dissident Miguel Valdes Tamayo. Tamayo died at 50 of a heart attack.
• Posada Carriles has been indicted for lying...that's like saying he has been indicted for breathing. I've said before and I'll say it again - if Posada would have kept his mouth shut and laid low no one would have bothered him. Unfortunately ego, delusions of his supporters and the cloistered hardline Cuban exile community allowed the genius to stage a grand press conference drawing attention to him and his cronies. The US gov't had to act then. The man got what he deserved.
• The UN is looking to help Monterrey Mex with its drug war.
  

LA (Not So) Quick Hits: Hugo's Shocker, Mexican Mess, A Grounded Prez, Bachelet Gets Love, Correa Gets Hate & More

• Another shocker from Venezuela as Finance Minister Nelson Merentes announced he was stepping down. He will be replaced by another Hugo sychophant. Merentes was a mainstay in Hugo's cabinet and had been spared in previous shuffles. In his Foreign Policy cover story Javier Corrales explained the importance of Merentes (sub. required):

  One of Chávez’s most influential electoral whizzes is the quiet minister of finance, Nelson Merentes, who spends more time worrying about elections than fiscal solvency. Merentes’s job description is straightforward: extract the highest possible number of seats from mediocre electoral results. This task requires a deep understanding of the intricacies of electoral systems, effective manipulation of electoral districting, mobilization of new voters, detailed knowledge about the political proclivities of different districts, and, of course, a dash of chicanery. A good head for numbers is a prerequisite for the job. Merentes, no surprise, is a trained mathematician.

  The results are apparent. Renewing a passport in Venezuela can take several months, but more than 2.7 million new voters have been registered in less than two years (almost 3,700 new voters per day), according to a recent report in El Universal, a pro-opposition Caracas daily. For the recall referendum, the government added names to the registry list up to 30 days prior to the vote, making it impossible to check for irregularities. More than 530,000 foreigners were expeditiously naturalized and registered in fewer than 20 months, and more than 3.3 million transferred to new voting districts.

• The Ecuadoran Congress met and four anti-Correa parties have formed a coalition to frustrate his intention of creating a constitutional assembly (en esp.) a la Hugo. The coalition holds the majority.
• Tijuana police have walked off the job after being told to turn in their firearms - the federales wanted to investigate the use of these weapons in crimes.
• A state legislator in Acapulco was gunned down.
• In the "You've Got to Be F'in Kidding Me" Dept., two Mexican states are thinking of providing migrants with GPS locators ostensibly to show them how hard it is to cross the border. Obviously these guys are bigger liars than Nick Saban, the locators will be distributed to facilitate crossings.
• Meanwhile GPS deprived gunmen attacked a Border Patrol site manned by National Guardsmen before retreating back over the border. One report says that the site was overrun by the gunmen.
  
• Mexican laws are weird - in order for the Prez to travel out of the country he needs permission to leave from the Mexican Congress. The previous Congress rejected Fox twice and Jorge Castaneda insists that Fox did not come to the US after 9/11 out of fear of rejection.
• El Salvador is having its own "surge" in Iraq.
• The OAS is looking into Ecuador's crying (en esp.) about Colombian spraying.
• A fund for those that want to invest in Cuba before they can invest in Cuba.
• In case you were wondering Bachelet is popular in Chile.
• Zapatero says that he won't be intimidated by ETA the same way he was intimidated by Osama...actually I added that last part.