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The downside of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe giving a "green light" to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez last month to help mediate the release of hostages being held by leftist rebels has become apparent since the two leaders' agreement was announced.
Control freak Uribe will have little control over the lengthy negotiation process about to begin, and he has set the stage for a significant gain in international stature for public enemy No. 1, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The FARC holds some 45 political hostages, including three U.S. defense contractor employees, some for as long as a decade, and Chavez will try to persuade the group to agree to a prisoner swap.
FARC representatives will soon meet with Chavez in Caracas as a preliminary step to Chavez talking to the rebels' top leadership, possibly the founding rebel himself, Manuel "Sure Shot" Marulanda.
Uribe presumably will be gritting his teeth as the rebels, whom he customarily describes as "terrorists" and "bandits," start showing up in suits and ties at Chavez's Miraflores palace and pose for photo opportunities. Uribe has also relinquished a leading role in the process to Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba, a leftist and Chavez sympathizer who will be the Colombian government's interface with the negotiators. She is already building a public profile, meeting with hostage families and foreign leaders.
As the Bogota daily El Tiempo put it today, Cordoba has become the nation's "humanitarian accord chancellor" while the real foreign minister, Fernando Araujo, "spends time visiting schools recounting his days as a FARC hostage."
Said Michael Shifter of Inter-American Dialogue in an e-mailed comment from Washington: "Uribe can be a big winner too — this is not necessarily a zero-sum game — especially if the hostages are released. But he needs to manage the effort with more confidence and exert discipline among his ministers and advisors. Otherwise, both Chavez and the FARC will pursue their strategic agendas, and Uribe will be carried along, with uncertain political results."
Posted by Chris Kraul in Bogota
Bill Clinton, in a meeting in New York with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner and his wife, Sen. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, says he can understand the allure of Bolivia's Evo Morales.
"If I were a Bolivian miner with kids and no job, I'd vote for Evo Morales too," Clinton told the couple, according to the daily Clarin.
The Kirchners are said to be great admirers of Clinton and his wife, Hillary. The Argentine first lady is the prohibitive favorite to succeed her husband in national elections next month. Inevitably, the question of the "first man" came up. Asked how he would handle the situation, Clinton responded, "I'm going to do what she orders me.''
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell in Bolivia
Bolivian President Evo Morales welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Bolivia on Thursday, sparking an outcry in Bolivia, where the leftist Morales is a hero to some, a divisive demagogue to others. He's seldom short of words.
The visit came a day after Morales, speaking at the United Nations, called for the end of capitalism and moving the U.N. headquarters away from New York. Delays in obtaining U.S. visas and clearing customs and immigration really irked Bolivia's first indigenous president, leader of Bolivia's coca-leaf growers.
"My ministers who came, indigenous people, are subjected to hours and hours of control, and some come to be threatened by the head of the household, by President Bush," Morales said, according to El Nuevo Día.
The newspaper's front page bannered word of Morales' wish to "eradicate capitalism."
Moving the U.N. seat from the United States, Morales said, would speed the descolonización (de-colonialization) of the world body.
While in New York, Morales also did a televised interview with comedian Jon Stewart, declaring, "Please don't consider me part of the axis of evil."
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell in Bolivia
Brazilian Sen. Eduardo Suplicy, 66, father of the high-octane rock star Supla, now finds himself short-listed for an MTV prize, Folha Online reports.
The lawmaker's up for Best Web Video in the Brazilian version of the MTV awards, thanks to his unusual rap arrangement, belted out impromptu during a senate session and made a hit by YouTube users. The song, “O Homem na Estrada” (The Man in the Road), by the rap band Racionais MC's, tells the story of a poor man drawn to crime due to circumstances he can't control.
What made the video noteworthy was the context: Suplicy read the quite lengthy lyrics during an otherwise dry Senate debate about reducing from 18 to 16 the age at which suspects can be tried as adults. The senator is opposed to the change, and used the lyrics as a tool to convince others. Senate TV caught the entire peformance, which made its way onto YouTube. The Senate ultimately rejected calls to lower the age threshold.
During tonight's awards ceremony, the senator plans to sing his favorite tune, "Blowin' in the Wind."
Posted by Marcelo Soares in São Paulo and Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires
Democrats and Republicans in Congress took a brief break from their usual bickering today to announce a $2.5-billion plan for aid and economic development in Latin America. Capitol Hill staffers say the Social Investment and Economic Development Act is a 10-year program that would require the recipient countries to contribute and would encourage corporations and nongovernmental organizations to provide matching funds.
The act is the work of Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, and Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican, as well as Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of New York and Republican Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana. The four unveiled the legislation at a news conference this morning. The ambitious plan seeks to reduce Latin American poverty, expand the middle class and invest in programs "to bring prosperity and stability to a region with which the United States shares deeply rooted common interests," staffers wrote in a release. No word on its chances for success.
Posted by Nicole Gaouette in Washington
That was the headline of an editorial in Bogota's El Tiempo newspaper Tuesday lauding Colombia for demanding that the $25-million fine Chiquita Brands paid the U.S. government -- for paying $1.7 million in protection money to paramilitary militias from 1997 to 2004 -- be sent back to the scene of the crime, as it were, to reimburse families of Colombian victims of paramilitary atrocities.
But on the facing page, El Tiempo columnist Claudia Lopez, an acknowledged expert in the paramilitary phenomenon, took her government to task in an essay titled "Outraged at Chiquita," claiming the company got off too lightly and that President Alvaro Uribe's administration has been too docile both in its reaction to the U.S. settlement and its handling of the Chiquita scandal.
After telling reporters in March that his office was investigating the Chiquita payments, as well as claims by jailed paramilitary leaders that Chiquita facilitated the delivery of arms and munitions to the port city of Turbo, Atty. Gen. Mario Iguaran has not followed up on threats to seek the extradition of Chiquita executives. Chiquita, which in 2004 sold its interest in a banana plantation in the Uraba region, has maintained that it paid the money to protect its employees and because the Colombian government could not offer protection.
Posted by Chris Kraul in Bogota
Brazilian authorities this week arrested a jail guard who allegedly ran a cellphone concession in the joint. He was accused of selling phones to inmates at the Presidente Venceslau prison for the equivalent of about $1,000 each, reports O Estado de São Paulo.
Officials have found it hard to keep the mobile culture out of Brazil's notoriously overcrowded and violent penal system. Cellphones are more than a means for prisoners to stay in touch. In Brazil, they're used on the inside to commit crime on the outside.
Last year, imprisoned gang leaders employed cellphones to coordinate synchronized attacks that resulted in a daylong shutdown of São Paulo, the country’s economic center.
Prisoners also use them in phony kidnappings, in which money is extorted in exchange for the supposed victims. Many terrified people have forked over ransoms after receiving anonymous calls telling them loved ones have been abducted. Authorities say many of the calls originate from inside jails and prisons.
Posted by Marcelo Soares in São Paulo and Patrick J. McDonnell in Lima, Peru
The publicity campaign in advance of the October release of a new memoir by former Mexican President Vicente Fox has caused a stir in Mexico and abroad. Outside Mexico, it's the excerpts in which Fox comments on President Bush that have raised eyebrows. Recalling their meetings following their twin victories in the 2000 elections in Mexico and the U.S., Fox says Bush was "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life" and a "windshield cowboy" intimidated by the very sight of a horse.
But in Mexico, it's the magazine spread in Quien, a kind of Mexican People, that is causing a buzz.
Shot at Fox's rural "rancho," called San Cristobal, in his home state of Guanajuato, the pictures have stunned Mexicans with their opulence. Where, Mexicans are asking, did Fox get the money to pay for such a mansion, including a new lake, swimming pool and all that luxurious furniture? Most Mexicans assume their elected leaders are enriching themselves while in office — but they don't expect them to flaunt their newfound wealth. Lino Korrodi, a top fundraiser for the 2000 Fox presidential campaign, told the newspaper El Universal that before Fox became president, the San Cristobal ranch was a "rustic" two-bedroom property with lots of old reupholstered furniture.
The expensive remodeling is proof of Fox's "cynical" use of public office to enrich himself during his six-year presidency, Korrodi said. In the same newspaper, columnist Ricardo Rocha agreed. He called the Quien photo spread, in which Fox appears with his wife, Marta, "a document that in itself would be proof enough to initiate an investigation into this excessive and offensive wealth.... It's as if they're rubbing our face in it."
Some legislators are calling for a government investigation. We expect we'll be hearing more about this new "Ranchogate" in the weeks to come.
Posted by Héctor Tobar in Mexico City
The Brazilian mega-city of São Paulo may well lead the world in helicopter commuters. Small choppers dart among the skyscrapers like so many buzzing bees. South America's most populous city is home to 173 helipads.
But authorities are planning to impose more controls on helicopter traffic after a near-tragedy last week involving a helicopter and a commercial airliner, reports O Globo.
According to the national aviation authority, São Paulo state is home to 467 helicopters representing 63 different models. The most popular is the Robinson R44 (four seats), with a fleet of 69. The second-most popular is the Bell 206B (up to five seats), with a fleet of 52.
Posted by Marcelo Soares in São Paulo
The 10th annual Gay World Cup, the first held in Latin America, begins today in Buenos Aires.
Competing are 28 teams from across the planet. It is a club competition, not one involving national teams, like the regular World Cup held every four years. The United States leads with nine clubs present. Four Argentine clubs are competing. Squads from Chile, Mexico and Uruguay are also participating, along with teams from Europe and Canada.
The event is meant as a strike against homophobia. Buenos Aires was chosen because of its tolerance of alternate lifestyles, organizers say. The Argentine capital has become a major destination for gay travelers.
"It’s a city recognized for social acceptance and respect for the community," Peruvian Tomás Gómez, president of the International Gay and Lesbian Football Assn., told the Clarin newspaper.
Posted by Andres D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires and Patrick J. McDonnell in Lima, Peru
The United States has been criticized for not accepting more refugees from the war in Iraq that it started. But Brazil has agreed to provide a home for more than 100 Palestinian refugees who fled Iraq for Jordan.
The Palestinians will receive housing subsidies, Portuguese-language classes and other aid until they are able to support themselves. They are to be settled in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Palestinians are often targeted in Iraq's sectarian killing grounds. An additional 1,750 Palestinians in Iraq remain in "deplorable" conditions along the border with Syria, the U.N. says.
The Palestinians benefit from a 2004 refugee plan adopted by 20 Latin American nations, which has been used mostly to help those displaced in the region, principally in Colombia.
Posted by Marcelo Soares in São Paulo and Patrick J. McDonnell in Lima
Rep. Jerry Weller, a Republican congressman from Illinois who is married to Guatemalan legislator Zury Rios-Montt de Weller, announced Friday that he would retire. Weller, a Latin America expert, has been hounded by questions about his real estate transactions in Nicaragua and is among a dozen lawmakers recently subpoenaed in a bribery trial involving an associate of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who is now in jail. Weller said he wanted to spend more time with his family. His wife is the daughter of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt. Weller is the 10th lawmaker and eighth Republican to announce plans to retire after the 110th Congress.
Posted by Nicole Gaouette in Washington
Like so many drenched and slightly tipsy waiters, great waves of penguins have begun to arrive at their breeding grounds along the Patagonian coast of Argentina, reports the daily Clarin. The sturdy birds make the annual odyssey from feeding areas off the coast of Brazil.
The reserve of Punta Tombo is said to be home to the world’s largest colony of Magellan penguins, hosting as many as 1 million after the chicks are born in November and December. Visitors can wander on marked paths amid the nesting birds, but care must be taken in the parking lot: The penguins scamper about freely.
Argentine authorities have set up a webcam
Posted by Andrés D’Alessandro and Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires.
Tired of owners whose pit bulls attack humans, officials of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, have come up with a new idea: They are implanting microchips in the dogs in a voluntary program.
The chips, implanted at no charge, help identify the owner of errant or abandoned pit bulls, officials tell the newspaper O Globo. Already, more than 300 dogs have received the implants. Many more owners have expressed interest.
Officials say there is no harm to the dogs.
Posted by Marcelo Soares in São Paulo and Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires
A new Brazilian film, "Tropa de Elite" (Elite Troop), about Rio police fighting drug traffickers, was to have its first public showing Thursday in Rio de Janeiro.
However, thousands had already seen the film, which was being widely distributed through pirated copies. It appears to be the first time a Brazilian film was a hit on the black market before opening in theaters.
"I am finally going to see people watching the movie as it was supposed to be shown," director Jose Padilha told the newspaper Folha.
Posted by Marcelo Soares in Sao Paulo and Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires
Political analyst Ali Kamel writes in O Globo that a textbook distributed to some 750,000 public school students "is an attempt to make students believe that capitalism is bad and the solution to all problems is socialism."
About the Cuban Revolution, the text cites "an undeniable public support" for "the confiscation of North American companies and the execution by firing squad of the torturers of the army of Fulgencio Batista,'' the Cuban dictator overthrown by Fidel Castro’s guerrillas.
Mao Tse-tung is described as "a great statesman and military leader.... He loved numerous women and they loved him back." While calling Mao a "great hero" to many Chinese, it also allows that he was a "dictator" to others.
Kamel asks: "How will our kids know that Mao was a cold-blooded assassin of multitudes?"
-- Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires and Marcelo Soares in São Paulo.
The late Colombian narco-trafficker assumed the classic pose of the Mexican revolutionary in one of a number of photos of Escobar’s life showcased in the Sunday magazine of El Pais, the Spanish daily. Escobar poses with a broad Mexican sombrero, rifle and cartridge belts crossing his chest. Is that a bottle of tequila on the table?
The snaps are from a new book, "The Memory of Pablo Escobar," a visual biography by James Mollison.
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires
A spokesman for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has proposed meeting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas on Oct. 8, a symbolically important date in that it is the anniversary of the 1967 killing of mythic leftist guerrilla Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Bolivia.
This month, Chavez got the green light from Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to mediate talks with rebels with the goal of effecting an exchange of some 45 high-profile hostages FARC is holding for hundreds of guerrilla prisoners in the hands of the government.
The spokesman told Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba during talks last week at an unidentified jungle rebel base that his meeting with Chavez would be a preliminary encounter, followed by a reunion of Chavez with longtime FARC leader Manuel Marulanda. But where that meeting will occur is already a bone of contention. Chavez has said twice publicly that he wants to meet Marulanda in the Colombian jungle, whereas Uribe maintains that any such summit must take place in Venezuela.
Posted by Chris Kraul in Bogotá
Like his fictional private detective, Héctor Belascoarán Shayne, the Mexican author Paco Ignacio Taibo II has an admitted fondness for a certain soft drink.
 "If Che liked Coca-Cola, why shouldn't I?" Taibo asked in an interview published in Argentina's Página/12 newspaper, alluding to the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary, Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
Taibo may be best known for his thrillers involving Belascoarán Shayne, the half-Basque, half-Irish one-eyed private eye trolling the noir streets of Mexico City. But the Mexican author is also a Guevara buff, having penned a biography of the guerrilla leader and having just edited a new collection ("El Cuaderno Verde del Che — El Che’s Green Notebook"), an anthology of poems by Pablo Neruda and others said to have been found in the slain militant's rucksack.
Taibo has pondered the many distinctions between Mexico, a nation that exalts its mestizo heritage, and Guevara's birthplace, Argentina, where European immigration supplanted indigenous cultures.
"How do you fluster an Argentine?" Taibo asks, providing his own answer: "Take him to Machu Picchu [the ancient Inca citadel in Peru] and tell him: 'Colleague, this is you, but you don't know because your country won't let you.' "
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires
Photo: Paco Ignacio Taibo II; Credit: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
Forensic studies of the bodies of 11 Colombian state lawmakers killed in June while they were hostages of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, showed that each was shot "an average of eight to 10 times" and that evidence was "manipulated" by the leftist rebels, according to Colombian officials.
An international forensic commission formed after the FARC announced that the 11 had been killed in an unspecified "military confrontation" delivered their findings Friday to the Organization of American States in Washington. Colombia’s OAS ambassador, Camilo Ospina, spoke to the group.
Nearly three months after the killings, the bodies of the victims were recovered by the International Committee of the Red Cross this month at a location that has not been disclosed. The dead were all members of the Valle del Cauca state assembly who were taken hostage in a daring 2002 raid of the legislative building. They were buried this week by their families, who spent five years hoping they would be released alive.
The case has shaken many Colombians, and it focused new attention on the plight of more than 3,000 kidnap victims, many of them being held by the FARC.
The government had been anxious to recover the bodies of the lawmakers and have forensic experts determine how they died. The rebels maintain they were caught in crossfire, while President Alvaro Uribe has maintained they were executed.
Other results showed that many of the bodies were shot "from below," Ospina said, which could mean they were fired on as they were on the ground. The commission also found that the bodies had been washed and reclothed after the killings, possibly to leave fewer ballistics clues.
Posted by Chris Kraul in Bogotá
The Andean smelter town of La Oroya, Peru, is the only site in the Americas named on the latest list of the world’s top 10 most polluted places compiled by the Blacksmith Institute, a New York-based environmental advocacy group. It also made the list last year.
Blood tests on children and others living near the La Oroya smelter complex have shown high levels of lead and other toxic substances, as The Times reported in June.
The smelter works are affiliated with Doe Run Co. of St. Louis.
The other nine "killer communities" are in the former Soviet Union, Asia and Africa.
The environmental group’s report also includes a larger list of the "Dirty 30" polluted spots, including five other Latin American sites: Mexico City (air pollution); Haina, Dominican Republic (lead contamination); Ecuador’s Oriente rain forest (oil industry toxins); Huancavelica, Peru (mercury); and Argentina’s Matanza-Riachuelo river basin (industrial wastes).
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires
Bolivia’s government is establishing diplomatic relations with Iran. And, as of Dec. 1, La Paz will mandate that U.S. citizens acquire visas before visiting Bolivia. Thus, it would seem, continues the downward trend in U.S.-Bolivian relations.
Bolivian authorities say the visa measure is "reciprocation" for requirements that U.S.-bound Bolivians have visas.
As for Iran, leftist President Evo Morales, who has accused Washington of trying to undermine his government, tells La Razón newspaper that there is nothing to fear. Even "pro-imperialist" nations have formal ties with Tehran, he noted.
Said Morales: "If Chile has diplomatic relations with Iran, if Colombia has diplomatic relations with Iran, if France has diplomatic relations with Iran, why should we be frightened?"
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires
While the United States recalled the six-year anniversary of the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington, Chile also marked the September date — Sept. 11, 1973, to be precise — when a military coup ousted President Salvador Allende, ushering in 17 years of military rule.
 President Michelle Bachelet led a homage Tuesday to Allende, who died in the Sept. 11, 1973, military assault on La Moneda, the presidential palace in Santiago.
El Mercurio published a photo of a wreath being laid at a monument to Allende in the plaza outside the palace.
In a lengthy investigation published Tuesday, the Santiago daily La Nación disputes a widely disseminated report that Allende committed suicide by using an AK-47 rifle that had been a gift from Fidel Castro. The article alleges that the military, under the leadership of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, invented the story — even fabricating a "dedication" from Castro on a rifle allegedly wielded by Allende that day. Questions remain in Chile as to whether Allende took his own life, died in the fighting or was executed.
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D'Alessandro in Buenos Aires
Photo: Salvador Allende in August 1973; Credit: AFP
 The media in Peru and Chile are filled with speculation on the case against ex-Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, known in his Peruvian homeland as "El Chino," though he is actually of Japanese ancestry.
Fujimori, currently free on bail in Santiago, faces extradition back to Peru on corruption and human rights charges. Fujimori has denied committing any crimes during his decade-long presidency, which ended in 2000 when he fled to Japan and resigned via fax. Chile’s Supreme Court is expected to announce its ruling on the case shortly.
While the Lima newspaper La República cites "favorable winds" for extradition, the Chilean daily La Nación reports that the judges are leaning against Peru’s request.
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires
Photo: Alberto Fujimori; Credit: AP
Once again, there is grim news from Mexico, apparently linked to the nation's drug wars. A leading human rights activist in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa has been killed in an execution-style slaying.
Ricardo Murillo Monge of the Sinaloa Civic Front was found dead in the passenger seat of a car in the city of Culiacan. He founded the group with his sister Mercedes in 1993. Among many other causes, Murillo Monge took up cases of alleged police and army abuse, including the case of three women and two youths killed by soldiers when their family car approached an army checkpoint in June.
Murillo Monge's is one of a series of killings recently, including that of an official of the Federal Investigative Agency (Mexico's equivalent of the FBI) in the border city of Mexicali this week. According to the newspaper El Universal, the shooting death of Jorge Rodríguez Mundo was just one of 15 suspected drug-related killings on Wednesday.
The continuing violence appears to contradict reports that the country's two leading drug-trafficking groups have reached a tentative agreement to divvy up the trade in illicit drugs.
Posted by Héctor Tobar in Mexico City
In a White House push to build congressional support for trade pacts with Peru, Colombia and Panama, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will lead a congressional delegation to those countries Sept. 12-15. The trade pacts, negotiated by the administration, have been in doubt since Democrats took control of Congress in January.
A delegation of about a dozen lawmakers will accompany Gutierrez to discuss the agreements and meet with business, labor and civil leaders. The group will meet with Panama's president, Martin Torrijos, Peru's Alan Garcia and Colombia's Alvaro Uribe. The U.S. is the largest trading partner of Peru, Colombia and Panama, according to the Commerce Department.
Posted by Nicole Gaouette in Washington
The return of a jailed former general and coup plotter has roiled Paraguay’s fragile political world.
Ecstatic supporters greeted Lino César Oviedo this week after he left a penitentiary outside Asunción, the capital. A military tribunal sprung the charismatic military man from his 10-year term for his part in an attempted 1996 coup.
As a colonel in 1989, Oviedo played a key role in ending the 35-year reign of former Paraguayan strongman Alfredo Stroessner. The tiny country has maintained a shaky democracy since.
Oviedo has vowed to govern Paraguay one day. He is widely expected to be a candidate in April’s presidential elections. After his release, he led supporters and journalists on a jog near a religious shrine, despite the tropical heat. "Enough, my general," moaned one exhausted follower.
Some question his legal status as a candidate. But not Oviedo.
"I consider myself entitled to exercise my political rights to vote and be elected," Oviedo told ABC Color newspaper.
Pablo Amarilla in Asunción and Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires
The media in Latin America, as in much of the world, is filled today with eulogies to the late Luciano Pavarotti, the baker’s son who became the world’s most beloved tenor.
Pavarotti first appeared in Buenos Aires in 1987, performing La Bohème at the celebrated Teatro Colón.
The Italian opera star was embraced in a country where so many trace their ancestry to Italy. Fans recalled his 1999 open-air concert with the legendary Argentine chanteuse Mercedes Sosa at La Bombonera, the stadium of the Boca Juniors soccer club.
In an interview four years ago with the daily La Nación, Pavarotti recalled "beautiful moments" spent in the Argentine capital.
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires
Otto Perez Molina, the conservative former chief of army intelligence, has climbed into a tie in Guatemala’s presidential race, according to a poll in the Guatemala City daily newspaper La Prensa Libre. Perez Molina, the candidate of the Patriot Party, is in a virtual tie with Alvaro Colom, the candidate of the center-left National Unity for Hope. The election is Sunday.
La Prensa Libre has Perez Molina leading Colom, an engineer, 31.8% to 31.7%. Colom had been leading most polls for months. Even more troubling for Colom, La Prensa Libre shows Perez Molina winning a likely Nov. 4 runoff 53% to 47%. Perez Molina has shot ahead with a campaign that promises to rule with a "firm hand" and crack down on crime.
Many observers say Colom performed poorly in a recent debate. He also has been the target of a vicious series of Internet and media attacks. In July, he issued a news release denouncing rumors that he was a devil worshiper.
Posted by Héctor Tobar in Mexico City
U.S. officials and lawmakers responded this week to Mexican President Felipe Calderon's harsh criticism of the U.S. government's crackdown on illegal immigrants — some of them gingerly and others with a heavy blast of their own criticism.
The Bush administration announced the tougher immigration enforcement measures in August after Congress' attempts to overhaul immigration laws failed earlier this summer. Among other steps, the administration has increased raids on factories that employ illegal workers and is working to expand a system to check worker status.
Calderon denounced those developments in his annual address to the nation on Sunday, saying they would "exacerbate the persecution" of Mexican workers.
Presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, a Republican congressman from Colorado, was not moved. "I'm sure the people of Mexico would be extremely grateful if Calderon showed as much concern over the well-being of Mexicans unlucky enough to still live there as he does for the people who have successfully fled his country," Tancredo said Tuesday. "If Mexico thinks we need some sort of permission slip to act unilaterally in our country's best interest, they have another think coming."
State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey was more cautious. "We're all aware of the importance of immigration for the government of Mexico as well as for our government," he said in a briefing. "It's an issue that has been there for a long time. It's one that we continue to work with Mexico on."
The official responsible for U.S. immigration enforcement, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, testified before Congress today and touted his department's progress in sealing the border. He noted that one sign of its effectiveness was a drop in remittances sent from the U.S. "I have to say, I think our foreign partners will find that not happy news, but it does happen to be a metric that shows that our enforcement measures have bite," Chertoff said.
Posted by Nicole Gaouette in Washington
U.S. officials say they are prepared to help countries affected by Hurricane Felix with supplies, manpower and financial aid. The Category 5 hurricane has killed at least 21 people in Nicaragua and left more than 200 missing, according to local reports.
State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Tuesday that the U.S. had positioned disaster relief teams in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Belize to help host governments assess those countries' needs in the wake of the storm. Supplies are ready in Florida warehouses for quick delivery and U.S. embassies are prepared to provide what financial assistance they can, he said. "We are very concerned about the situation," Casey said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations also sent in emergency teams to respond to the devastation. A six-person disaster assessment and coordination team went to Honduras on Tuesday to coordinate international assistance efforts, spokesman Michele Montas said.
The U.N.'s World Food Program has announced plans to send emergency teams to the region and says it has regional food stocks capable of feeding 600,000 people for a month. Other branches of the U.N. made advance preparations. Before the storm hit land, the U.N. Children's Fund, or UNICEF, prepositioned food, water, first-aid kits, hygiene kits, water purification systems and educational materials for 100 schools, Montas said.
Posted by Nicole Gaouette in Washington
The puzzling South American case of "Suitcase-gate" is in the hands of U.S. authorities.
Argentina has officially sent a petition to Washington seeking the extradition on currency-smuggling charges of a joint U.S.-Venezuelan citizen, Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson.
 Antonini, a businessman who resides in South Florida, flew into Buenos Aires last month with a suitcase containing almost $800,000 in undeclared cash. Customs seized half the money as a fine, but Antonini was allowed to leave Argentina.
The case has triggered a scandal, raising the specter of Venezuelan bagmen roaming the continent dispensing petro-dollars.
Antonini arrived from Caracas on a business jet chartered by the Argentine government. The jet, ferrying Argentina officials and executives of the Venezuelan state oil company, touched down on the eve of an official visit to Argentina by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan and Argentine governments deny any knowledge of the provenance or destination of the $800,000.
The mysterious Antonini, reportedly nicknamed El Gordo Wilson [Fat Wilson], has yet to speak publicly.
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires
Photo: Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson; Credit: AP
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) today urged Congress to approve trade agreements the Bush administration has signed with Peru, Panama, Colombia and South Korea. In remarks on the Senate's first day back after the summer recess, McConnell criticized the Democrats' record of achievement and cited as an example the lack of progress on the trade pacts.
"There are at least four vital free trade agreements that have not been acted upon," said McConnell, who blamed the bitter, partisan atmosphere on Capitol Hill for slowing things down. "There's only one way to accomplish all of that. It's going to have to be done on a largely bipartisan basis."
Prospects for the administration's trade deals looked uncertain when Democrats took power in January, but in May, Democrats announced they had come to an agreement with the White House on handling related environmental and labor issues. Since then, there has been little movement but lots of squabbling among Democrats, trade advocates and the administration. The only bright spot: The powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), traveled to Peru in August and promised that country's pact would be a priority this month. Prospects for the other deals remain unclear.
Posted by Nicole Gaouette in Washington
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has seen her approval rating plunge below the "psychological barrier" of 40% support, the Chilean media reports.
Since taking office almost 18 months ago as Chile’s first female president, Bachelet has suffered a series of blows, including large-scale student protests and a bungled mass-transit plan for Santiago, the capital. Just last week, union activists protesting stalled wages and social inequities staged massive demonstrations in Santiago.
Bachelet, a physician, lifelong socialist and onetime political prisoner, is the leader of the center-left coalition that has overseen Chile’s return to democracy since 1990, when Augusto Pinochet, the former military strongman, was forced out. Some analysts now cite a steady erosion of support for the ruling coalition.
With the conservative opposition gearing up for a new challenge in 2009, rumors swirl that Bachelet’s popular predecessor, Ricardo Lagos, may be contemplating an electoral bid to succeed Bachelet, his former protégé.
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires
Almost a year after Gol Airlines Flight 1907 plunged into dense Amazon rain forest, killing 154 people, the Brazilian news network O Globo has aired previously unseen footage of the extensive military efforts to reach the isolated crash site.
Brazilian air force searchers dropped by helicopter faced "thick forest, heat, danger of contamination and bee attacks," among other obstacles, O Globo reports. The operation lasted 54 days and involved more than 800 personnel. No survivors were found.
The Gol Boeing 737 crashed after colliding with an executive jet en route to the United States. The damaged business jet managed to land safely at a military base without casualties. Two U.S. pilots of the executive jet and four Brazilian traffic controllers face criminal charges in Brazil in connection with the crash.
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires
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Chris Kraul
Buenos Aires:
Patrick McDonnell
Caribbean:
Carol Williams
Mexico City:
Hector Tobar
Deborah Bonello
Marla Dickerson
Ken Ellingwood
Reed Johnson
San Diego:
Richard Marosi
Washington:
Nicole Gaouette