LA Quick Hits: Cholera Kills in Haiti, Juarez (Again), Hugo and Santos, Bolivia - Not So Gassy, Peru Talks Security, PRD Drops Godoy & More

• Cholera outbreak in Haiti kills 150 thus far; not in Port-au-Prince but earthquake to blame. WaPost and LAT also follow story.
• 15 youths dead in Juarez.
• Santos and Hugo to meet in Caracas on October 29.
• Bolivia gas reserves a lot lower than previously believed.
• Colombia, Brazil and Peru talk security (notice the source link and how they play down Chavez nuke plans).
• Peru says FARC is hanging out there.
• Peru talks narcos with Bolivia.
• PRD dumps Godoy. Why did they accept him in the first place. Godoy has ties to organized crime and still sits in Chamber of Deputies. He is immune from prosecution while in office.
• PAN's preemptive strike against AMLO fails - they should just ignore him. They are turning him into a martyr...again.
• Colombia has more fauna under threat than any country in world, save Mex.
• Susana Villaran still has a 14K vote lead in Lima mayoral race with over 88% of votes counted.

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: 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.