Latin America news roundup - December 7, 2009

A man carries a gas canister by a sign reading 'Evo' referring to Bolivia's President Evo Morales, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009. Morales was reelected president on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

TOP STORY - The Speed of Change: Bolivian President Morales Empowered by Re-Election (Upside Down World)

Honduras - Honduras' Zelaya to stay in Brazil embassy (Reuters)

Latin America - Development First: Rural Development and Illicit Crop Cultivation in Afghanistan and the Andes (WOLA)

Mexico - On the mayor's agenda: 'Civilize' Mexico City (USA Today)

United States - A new report questions "suicides" at Guantanamo (Salon)

Venezuela - Tyler Bridges has left the building (Inca Kola News)

Venezuela - Venezuela Bolivar, Bonds Rebound as Chavez Scales Back Threats (Bloomberg)

World - The Battle in Seattle: 10 Years Later (GRITtv)

World - Back to Bush? World Media and Obama (GRITtv)

World - Rep. Kucinich on Afghanistan War: “We’re Acting Like a Latter Day Version of the Roman Empire” (Democracy Now!)

Honduran elections exposed

The Real News Network

December 7, 2009

"There is wide agreement that last week's presidential election in Honduras..." begins an editorial in Saturday's New York Times, "...was clean and fair." The editorial gives no hint as to whom all these people are that are in agreement, except for the 'official' data from the same regime that overthrew the elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, at gunpoint. The Times joins governments, commentators and editorial pages around the world that have fallen victim to the 'official' coup data. But, as this video shows, the proof of the fraud was sitting out in the open the whole time.

Second Latin America news roundup - December 6, 2009

TOP STORY - Thousands attend funeral of Chilean singer Victor Jara (DPA)

Bolivia - We are All Bolivians Now (FireDogLake)

Colombia - Former Rebel Hostage Running for Colombian Senate (Latin American Herald Tribune)

Colombia - The Ill-Advised US Certification of Colombia on Human Rights (COHA)

Colombia - A US-backed terror state (Green Left Weekly)

El Salvador - Report Cites Progress in El Salvador in First 100 Days of Funes Administration; CDA Offers Sympathy to Flood Victims (PR Newswire)

Guatemala - Guatemala army officer convicted in civil war case (Associated Press)

Honduras - Tragedy of Honduras appears lost in news of troop escalation in Afghanistan (New York Daily News)

United States - Do Obama officials know what his Afghanistan plan is? (Salon)

World - Australian and New Zealand socialists support Chavez's call for a new international organisation of the left (Links)

Latin America news roundup - December 6, 2009

TOP STORY - Obama's Latin American Policy Looks Like Bush's (Time)

Argentina - Mujica and Mrs. Kirchner to meet next week in Montevideo (MercoPress)

Bolivia - The Bolivian Elections Part I: Five Things to Understand About the Process (Democracy Center)

Bolivia - Bolivia’s Election Part II: The Candidates for President (Democracy Center)

Bolivia - Bolivia’s Elections Part III: The Issues (Democracy Center)

Ecuador - Correa: Oil companies must "invest or leave the country" (Los Angeles Times)

Honduras - Lula Digs His Heels In: Brazil Took a Stand on Honduras and Won't Go Back (Brazzil Magazine)

Honduras - On recognition and Brazil (Honduras Coup 2009)

United States - The face of rotted Washington (Salon)

United States - Michael Moore to Obama: Do you really want to be the new "war president"? (MichaelMoore.com)

Latin America news roundup - December 5, 2009

TOP STORY - Noam Chomsky: The Unipolar Moment and the Culture of Imperialism (Dandelion Salad)

Brazil - 700-strong Brazilian delegation for climate talks (AFP)

Honduras - Honduran "Electoral Observers" Launch Verbal Attack on Americas Program Director (Americas MexicoBlog)

Honduras - Honduras revises down participation in disputed polls (AFP)

Honduras - U.S. endorses conservative victor in Honduras' disputed presidential election (Seattle Post Globe)

Uruguay - Uruguay's grandad president (Aljazeera Blogs)

World - South Must Harmonise To Take Advantage of Common Interests (IPS)

World - Economic Crisis from a Socialist Perspective (Ensaios Imperfeitos)

World - Seize the Crisis! (Monthly Review)

World - Abbas: Obama ‘doing nothing’ to help bring peace among Israelis and Palestinians (Monday Morning)

Latin America news roundup - December 4, 2009

From left, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009, before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

TOP STORY - Dispatches from the Edge: A Coup at Foggy Bottom (Berkeley Daily Planet)

Bolivia - Bolivia president says he's disappointed in Obama (Associated Press)

Bolivia - New Report Looks at Bolivia's Economic Performance Over Last Four Years: Record Growth Aided by Sizeable Fiscal Stimulus (CEPR)

Colombia - Uribe on the wrong side of the Honduras crisis (Colombia Reports)

El Salvador - Salvadorian vice president visits Cuba (Xinhua)

Honduras - The Obama Administration’s First Latin American Waterloo (COHA)

Latin America - Former Presidents and Noted Experts Debate Drug Policy on December 10 in Washington (WOLA)

Latin America - OAS secretary general praises UNASUR security resolution (Caribbean Net News)

Uruguay - The Frente Amplio and José Mujica: Turning Activists Into Voters in Uruguay (Counterpunch)

Venezuela - Venezuela Probing Bank ‘Irregularities,’ Chavez Says (Bloomberg)

Lula on whether to recognize Honduras' election: "No, no and no; categorically no"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, left, adress the media during a joint news conference in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

ESTORIL, Portugal, Dec 1 (IPS) - The hard-line stance taken by Brazil, Argentina and most other Latin American countries has clashed with U.S. efforts to push for international recognition of the elections organised Sunday by the de facto regime in power in Honduras since the Jun. 28 coup.

Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and Peru, the only countries in the region that called for the results of the elections to be accepted, ran up against Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's emphatic "no, no and no; categorically no."

Lula was speaking at the 19th edition of the Iberoamerican summit, annual meetings that bring together heads of state and government from 19 Latin American countries along with Spain, Portugal and Andorra.

Leaving Estoril, the beach resort 20 km from Lisbon where the summit was held, a few hours before it ended Tuesday, the Brazilian president said "we must not recognise, or even converse with," Porfirio Lobo...

(click here to view entire report)

Latin America news roundup - December 3, 2009

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim speaks during a press conference after a Ministerial meeting of the Group of 20 (G20), in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. The 7th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, WTO, is held in Geneva from November 30 to December 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Keystone/Martial Trezzini)

TOP STORY - Brazil's Differences With Washington Are Unavoidable, And Positive (ALAI)

Bolivia - Bolivia's Morales looks set for re-election win (Reuters)

Chile - Spanish Judge Demands US$77 Million From Pinochet’s Wife And Advisers (MercoPress)

Honduras - Mark Weisbrot: Valenzuela Speech Suggests U.S. Will Blame Zelaya (Just Foreign Policy)

Honduras - Zelaya calls for Latin America leaders to reject polls (AFP)

Latin America - Latin America’s Twenty-First Century Socialism in Historical Perspective (Global Research)

United States - Obama's exceedingly familiar justifications for escalation (Salon)

United States - Larry Summers is unqualified and should step down (Puma Eyes)

Uruguay - Mujica to meet with Lula da Silva next week in Montevideo (MercoPress)

Uruguay - Mujica wants “the best possible relations” with Argentina (MercoPress)

Brazil's Slavish Obsession With 'Democracy'

The President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, adresses the media during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

BoRev.Net

December 2, 2009

Jesus, Brazil, what will it take to make you publicly recognize these fake Honduran elections presided over by a prestigious military junta? Lord knows the pretend voting process has already gotten the stamp of approval by the United States and, let's see, Israel for some reason (WTF?), so why can't you just abandon your fancy "democratic principles" and stop making Barak Obama look like a complete asshole over here, ok?

Fine, whatever. We'll just get the journalists to tell the American people that you've changed your position then, so suck it.

Honduran Elections Marred by Police Violence, Censorship, International Non-Recognition, CEPR Co-Director Says

Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)

November 30, 2009

Quote from Mark Weisbrot:

"You cannot carry out free or fair elections under a dictatorship that has overthrown the elected President by force and used violence, repression, and media censorship against political opponents for the entire campaign period leading up the vote, including election day."

(click here to view entire press release)

Brazil, Spain, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guatemala, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba oppose recognition of Honduran election results

Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, left, joins the hands of Spain's King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luiz Zapatero, right, following their meeting during the XIX Ibero American summit Monday, Nov. 30, 2009, in Estoril, outside Lisbon. The annual summit brings together the leaders of 19 Latin-American countries plus Portugal, Spain and Andorra. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Xinhua

December 1, 2009

Excerpt from report:

Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said "elections cannot be valid if made without the restoration of the constitutional president, Manuel Zelaya."

This position is supported by Brazil, Spain, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guatemala, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba...

(click here to view entire report)