September 1, 2009 | 9:45
am
In his new documentary "South of the Border," Oliver Stone is shown warmly embracing Hugo Chávez, nibbling coca leaves with Evo Morales and gently teasing Cristina Elizabeth Fernández de Kirchner about how many pairs of shoes she owns, writes Reed Johnson.
These amiable, off-the-cuff snapshots of the presidents of Venezuela,
Bolivia and Argentina, respectively, contrast with the way these
left-leaning leaders often are depicted in U.S. political and mass-media circles. That's especially true of Chávez, the former military
officer turned democratically elected socialist leader, who has become
the ideological heir apparent to Fidel Castro and the bête noire of Bush administration foreign policy officials.
In
setting out to make "South of the Border," which is scheduled to have
its world premiere this week at the Venice Film Festival, Stone, a
lightning-rod figure himself for the better part of three decades, says
he wanted to supply a counterpoint to the prevailing U.S. image of
Chávez, who's frequently represented in stateside op-ed pieces and
political cartoons as a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure.
Read on here.See more posts here on film, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia and culture.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
August 17, 2009 | 9:21
am
The BBC reports from Lima, Peru, on a row between it and its neighbor Bolivia:
"
Bolivia and
Peru are not always on the best of terms, but their latest row is not of a political nature -- it's down to the choice of a dress.
"For her appearance at the Miss Universe contest in the Bahamas this month, Miss Peru has chosen a dress inspired by an Andean dance popular in both nations.
"She will perform in a costume bedecked with diabolical horns and eyes.
"Bolivia has accused the Miss Peru organisers of unfairly appropriating Bolivian cultural heritage. The issue has pricked national pride on both sides of the border."
Read the rest of the report here.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
February 3, 2009 | 10:51
am
Despite Bolivia's low Internet penetration (among the lowest in Latin America, at 4.4%, compared with neighboring Chile's 36.1%, according to El Deber), the citizen media project Bolivian Voices is determined to spread Web 2.0 well beyond Bolivia's connected elite, reports MediaShift Idea Lab, a Knight News Challenge -funded community website.
"Their latest initiative, Web 2.0 for Everyone, began Friday with a public event in Cochabamba followed by a day of intensive workshops aimed at teaching more Bolivians how to make their voices heard and gain social capital from tools like Twitter, blogs, and various photo- and video-sharing websites," reported David Sasaki.
Participants were trained on how to use mobile tools such as Twitter and upload their videos to video-sharing sites such as YouTube, BlipTV and Vimeo.
Read here for the rest of the report on the Web 2.0 for Everyone event in Bolivia.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
January 30, 2009 | 10:11
am
Facebook, the Internet social network, is back in the political headlines again -- this time concerning Bolivia's president Evo Morales.
The Associated Press reports that a Facebook group apparently aimed at raising money to "liquidate" Bolivia's left-leaning Morales was removed by the site on Tuesday.
AP reports that the group -- called "Global collection to hire a sharpshooter to liquidate Evo Morales" -- stated that "we need to get the money to inspire someone to do it."
A Facebook spokeswoman, Jaime Schopflin, said the group clearly violated the company's terms of use.
Facebook hit the headlines earlier this month after a Uruguayan politician posted a photo of herself in the shower on her page on the network, upsetting opposition members. Read that story here.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
Image: Bolivian President Evo Morales. Credit: Los Angeles Times
January 16, 2009 | 9:51
am
U.S. filmmaker Oliver Stone kicked a soccer ball and chewed coca leaves with Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales earlier this week, reports the Associated Press.
The two men had their fun during an interview for a documentary Stone is planning on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close ally of Morales.
Photos released by the Bolivian government show Morales and Stone chewing coca and kicking a ball around the lawn of the presidential residence in La Paz.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
January 12, 2009 | 10:11
am
More affordable computers and an expanding broadband network are two of the factors helping to push Internet use in Latin America, according to a survey conducted by Pyramid Research for Google.
The Miami Herald reports that the recent expansion of Internet users in Latin America has been dramatic.
In 2007, for example, Colombia added 5.4 million Internet users, or about 12% of its population of 45 million -- an 80% increase in the number of Colombia's Internet users that year.
Brazil added 7.4 million Internet users in 2007 (17% growth), Mexico more than 2.2 million (an 11% increase) and Venezuela 1.58 million (38% growth).
Read the full report through the link above.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
November 10, 2008 | 8:47
am
The Christian Science Monitor reports:
Bolivia has given U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers three months to leave the country, claiming that agents were stirring up political strife in the deeply divided nation.
This fall, Ecuadoreans voted yes to a new constitution that calls for the closure by next year of one of the most important U.S. operations in the war against drugs.
And for the fourth year in a row, Venezuela was singled out by President Bush -- as was Bolivia for the first time -- for having "failed demonstrably" in anti-drug cooperation.
The U.S. has long had a presence in Latin America to stem the northward drug flow; Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia are the world's largest cocaine producers. The U.S. still boasts strong partnerships with many countries, such as Colombia and Mexico. But in others, particularly those led by leftists who have risen in collective condemnation of Washington, leaders are increasingly severing ties.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
November 9, 2008 | 10:37
am
John Kiriakou, now in the private sector, served as a CIA counter-terrorism official from 1998 to 2004. Today, he writes in Los Angeles Times Opinion about how he thinks Iran is making major diplomatic inroads into Latin America, right under Washington's nose.
It's amazing, really. Iran, after all, is regarded by most of the world as an outlaw country. Sanctions are in place on much of its military-industrial complex, and international loan guarantees are virtually impossible to come by. The Iranian economy is in tatters. Even while $100-plus oil was enriching most producers in the region, Iran's low-tech, outdated industry was barely profiting. In fact, 6% of the country's gasoline is imported.
Nevertheless, over the last year, Iran has worked diligently to expand relations with a host of Latin American countries, most of which have populist leaders who harbor a strong distrust of the United States and are looking for a powerful friend to help them rebuff Washington's influence.
Read the rest of "Iran's Latin America push" here.
— Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
November 2, 2008 | 9:33
am
Patrick J. McDonnell reports:
Bolivian President Evo Morales suspended operations by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Saturday after accusing the agency of aiding "criminal groups" that oppose his rule.
Morales' move was the latest sign of the deterioration in relations between his leftist government and Washington.
"There were DEA agents who worked to conduct political espionage and to fund criminal groups so they could launch attacks on the lives of authorities, if not the president," Morales told reporters during a visit to the Chapare region, a major production zone for coca plants, from which cocaine is extracted. "We are obligated to defend Bolivian sovereignty."
Bolivia is the world's third-largest producer of cocaine, after Colombia and Peru. A sizable DEA contingent has been working on interdiction in Bolivia for decades.
A senior U.S. State Department official called Morales' accusation "false and absurd."
"Should U.S. cooperation be ended, more narcotics will be produced and shipped from Bolivia," said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Read more of "Bolivia Halts U.S. Agents' Anti-Drug Operations" here.
Click here for more on Bolivia.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
October 22, 2008 | 9:07
am
Oscar Ordoñez and Patrick J. McDonnell report:
Bolivian legislators on Tuesday agreed to schedule a national referendum on their country's controversial draft constitution, a major victory for leftist President Evo Morales in this deeply divided nation.
"There is no going back from this process of change," said a jubilant, teary Morales, addressing thousands of supporters gathered in the Plaza Murillo in downtown La Paz.
The new constitution provides autonomy for indigenous groups and clears the way for more socialist measures by a president who has already moved to nationalize the nation's energy and telecommunications sectors.
Morales, however, reportedly agreed to modify several of the constitution's more incendiary sections, including those governing land reform and the authority of indigenous courts, which would augment the government judiciary.
Read more of "Bolivia legislators agree to put draft constitution before voters" here.
Click here for more on Bolivia.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
