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.

Drugs and LA

Drugs, drugs and drugs. If you would lived in LA you would think nothing else matters to US. Can you blame the people of LA for being resentful. We extol the virtues of the market, preach about the importance of free trade and one product that they can produce in abundance and seems to have impressive demand in the US is the one thing that we chastise them for.

In Mexico they recently snagged 10 tons of coke as well as a Sinaloa cartel head but Mexicans are still wary of an anti-drug aid package proposed by W. Meanwhile coca cultivation is ramping up in Ecuador and I don't care what the LAT piece says Correa will run US out eventually and stop cooperating to control the trade. A concern for US is the fact that we are scrambling for a new base in LA without much success.

I don't drink and I don't smoke. I've never touched a narcotic except once or twice in my younger days as friends shared and I happened to be seated between. So no, I did not inhale, exhale or even hale. That being said I say LEGALIZE IT. Stop punishing the cultivators for our sins. Stop encouraging illegal trafficking. Who is to say that those same networks will be used to smuggle in terrorists or even weapons of mass destruction?

LA Quick Hits: Evo is Loved, Hugo Beats China, Ecuador Kicks US Out, Lula's Package, Calderon Fights and Fights, Harleys in Havana & More

• One year in and Evo is still popular but divisive. What helps is the increased revenue from his nationalization program and that the economy is still growing. Evo marked the anniversary with a Fidel-esque 4 1/2 hour speech.
  
• The biggest customer in the arms market since 2005? Would you believe Hugo? Venezuela chipped in $4.3 billion to buy weapons and other military hardware (en esp.) while the China Reds ponied up $3.4 billion.
• Ecuador made clear that it is booting the US from the base in Manta (en esp.) in 2009, when the pact with US expires. Ecuador also looks to get into the LA arms race. (en esp.)
• CSM's excellent series on Calderon continues. Now the discussion focuses on his economic policy particularly the difficulty of dealing with monopolies. Ironically FT has a story on Calderon's planned assault on monopolies.
• Lula unveiled his growth package and it was bigger than expected.
• Calderon unveiled an 8-point plan to fight the drug war. He plans to rely more on local police in the future.
• Speaking of the police in Mex another cop was killed in Monterrey and...
• ...police in Tijuana are using slingshots, while they wait for their guns back.
• Miami (and Hugo) has given us a new pressure group Independent Venezuelan-America Citizens. They seem to be following the CANF model except that they will try to reach out to middle America by speaking English.
• Danny sliced his salary and those of his cabinet. (en esp.)
• Having a Harley in Cuba isn't easy.
  

LA Quick Hits: The Hugo Effect, Evo Destruction, Insulted Insulza, The AMLO Show, Babalu Bash & More

• The markets respond to Hugo's nationalization plans with a freefall. The Carcas exchanged dropped almost 19% and the street value of the bolivar plumetted to almost half its previous value. The Hugo effect also nailed other LA markets with Argentina, Mexico and Brazil registering almost 2% losses or more. I would imagine Mexico will bounce back relatively quickly with Argentina and Brazil trailing but recovering too. It is unlikely that any of them will follow Hugo. I'm sure that investors in the Hugo alliance (Ecuador, Bolivia and maybe Nicaragua) will think twice before fronting more money. If nationalization goes through the US is expecting compensation but as far as I'm concerned they don't deserve it. I am incredulous at investors who are shocked that this is happening quicker than they thought. Does that mean that they expected it to happen anyway and were hoping he just took his time. These companies deserve what they got.
• CSM has an overview of what is going down in Venezuela.
• Evo lovers are making a mess in Cochabomba - they are hoping to oust the anti-Evo gov. Blog from Bolivia thinks this is unlikely and unproductive.
• The Cuban dissident in Bolivia has been deported to Colombia. Sure the US helped, via the UN, (en esp.) but why wouldn't we take him?
• Ecuador cried to the OAS yesterday (en esp.) about Colombia's border spraying.
• OAS members backed Insulza (en esp.) after Hugo's tirade.
• The AMLO show had it's premiere - the paid infomercial ripped Calderon's anti-crime initiative and proposed a law to break up "monpolies." God idea! Let's start with PEMEX!
• I can't defend Oscar Corral this time...he trots out the old boring story that we've heard a thousand times - that travel restrictions and the embargo divide the Cuban exile community. I can recite that crap in my sleep. This piece will get ripped on Babalu before sun up.
  
• This is a shock - Mexico extradited a murder suspect back to the US. I doubt we waived the possibility of the death penalty.
• There are now "only" 333 dissidents in jail in Cuba. Newsflash - the entire friggin' island is a jail.
• More Cuban doctor stuff. How can you beat propoganda like that? Perhaps by doing some of it yourself. It's certainly cheaper than funding crop eradication and it makes someone happy.
• In case anyone was wondering ETA confirmed that they bombed Madrid...oh and by the way the ceasefire is still on. Go ahead Zapatero - take the bait.