Paraguayan President Impeached and the Reverberations in Mercosur

article from June 28, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

Paraguay, a country that was long ruled by the iron fist of its dictators, the Alfredo Stroessner family, managed to slip into an uneasy kind of democracy a few years back subsequently electing the horny bishop who has fathered at least four illegitimate children, His Eminence Fernando Lugo.

But all that came to a screeching halt last week when he was “impeached” by Congress over a bloody shootout between landless peasants and the authorities that left 19 dead in total. His impeachment trial was a farce, with his side not being allowed to mount a defense. It basically was just a vote in the opposition Congress to get rid of him because, as a socialist, he had always taken the side of the poor, which rubbed the very wealthy elite of Asuncion the wrong way.

Paraguay, a founding member of Mercosur, suddenly found itself being chastised by its fellow members, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. They were also uninvited from the Mercosurial Presidential shindig to be held in Mendoza, Argentina, June 28-29. Lugo had initially announced that he would attend, but changed his mind because the new president would likely not let him go or not allow him back into the country.

While the leaders of South America, including Venezuela, expressed their outrage at the actions of the Paraguayan Congress, the United States of America is doing and saying nothing, probably wondering what country Paraguay belongs to. The State Department’s reaction is very similar to their initial reaction to the military coup in Honduras: nothing! The latest comments from Washington merely defer to future OAS actions and sanctions.

Meanwhile, with Paraguay’s suspension from Mercosur, business leaders in that landlocked nation are cheering for their leaving the flawed trade block altogether, going way back in history to the War of the Triple Alliance, where Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay banded together to carry out the extermination of almost 60% of Paraguay’s population. Old wounds to the national pride are still festering!

The fact of the matter is that, in spite of all the good intentions when Mercosur was formed in 1991, Brazil and Argentina have always treated the “junior members” of the alliance as their prostitutes, using their labor forces and resources for their own benefit, while at the same time (today) halting all imports from the small nations of Uruguay and Paraguay. To quote Paraguay’s head of the Industrial Union, Eduardo Felippo: 

 “Outside of Mercosur we will have greater options. We are going to develop our muscle to export to other countries, we are going to ensure that our trade partners in the future will be other countries, other continents and not our neighbors which whether we like it or not, were part of the Triple Alliance”

Best of luck, during these trying economic times.

Perhaps this would be a great time for Paraguay to renegotiate the agreements reached for selling electricity dirt cheap from the Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant, which supplies almost all of São Paulo’s energy, as well as a substantial amount of Argentinean electrical needs at a very unfair, low cost. Bringing the price of that energy up to market values would do a lot to bring much-needed foreign currency into the coffers of the impoverished nation, but it would also take on the risk of being invaded by the bully nations. As I have mentioned in previous articles, Argentina is charging Uruguay three times the cost of the electricity transmitted from Paraguay through its grid just for the use of it, in addition to Uruguay having to pay for the original cost of the energy it is buying. That is particularly harsh when there is a draught in Uruguay, as presently exists, limiting the tiny nation’s electricity generation from its own hydroelectric sources.

It is my opinion that for all practical purposes, Mercosur is useless. It might as well be just a customs union between Argentina and Brazil. But currently even those two nations are bickering over imports and exports with each other. The current summit in Mendoza may clarify things a bit, but I may just as easily be confusing many of the issues with multiple meaningless political grandstanding by Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff.

Jamie Douglas

(Not) holding my breath in La Paloma

[Image of disposed Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo via Flickr]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Is Argentina Really Schizophrenic or Are They a Nation of Great Actors?

article from February 18, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

The answer is neither. They are just a nation in incredible denial of everything from the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner being so untruthful about the nation’s inflationary figures to the incredible energy shortage facing the nation.

Every day, up and down this nation, you can see thousands of trucks and automobiles waiting at the few gas stations scattered around the country, sitting there sometimes for a mere few hours, or as was the case earlier this week, two to three days, with the consequence of lost productivity in untold tons of cargo not being moved from farm to market, and this at the peak of harvest time.

The Argentine Confederation of Transport Workers on Wednesday, Feb 15, ratified a chicane against British ships. They will randomly block any vessel flying any type of British ensign from being allowed to dock in Argentina, as well as slowing down the docking and departure procedures to six hours each on those vessels that are allowed. The head of the maritime workers union, Omar Suárez, stated that this will be selectively carried out without notice and that it could spread all over Latin America.

Apparently, word did not get to Mr. Suárez in time to avoid the embarrassing revelation that currently, the British Rugby, belonging to BP and flying the flag of the Isle of Man, is berthed in Puerto Ingeniero White, where the lovely 84,000 ton LNGC carrier, the third of five awarded to British Petroleum last December, is unloading its cargo.

The main problem for continued delivery is not the empty barking of a neutered dog – in this instance, a trade union that has lost all its power with the Peronista justicialista administration – but rather, that energy-hungry Argentina must pay for all of its purchases on the spot market with US cash dollars, something that is not exactly in abundance in this bankrupt and self-delusional nation. It would be amusing if it were not such a Greek tragedy playing itself out in the Southern Cone.

So the average Argentinean spends a good portion of their vacation waiting for the YPF tanker trucks to come into the gas station to unload their cargoes of precious refined fluids, only to get to the head of the line and find that they are out again. The consumers are wise to the fact that they need to get their fuel when they can. They buy several drums worth and any other containers they can fill.

Meanwhile Argentina’s Energy Institute, known by its Spanish initials as IAE, has issued a strong warning that the country faces an “unprecedented energy crisis” after squandering its existing resources by exporting huge amounts to Chile for several years to earn foreign exchange reserves, thereby selling to Peter what they stole from Paul and owed to Néstor. A better-worded statement released by the IAE, which is made up of former energy ministers of the nation (go figure; they suddenly got to be the “wise elders”), put it this way: “…the current energy situation in Argentina is no surprise: it was expected since there are not now, nor have there been for a long time, comprehensive long term policies for the industry. In fact there has been a total lack of an adequate implementation of serious policies.”

Under Néstor Kirchner’s administration, and continuing under the puppetry of his stand-in, his now-widowed wife, Cristina, the country’s reserves of crude dropped 6% while the formerly overabundant natural gas reserves fell by 41% as the nation’s artificial affluence has put hundreds of thousands of new vehicles on the road – all on easy credit, of course. Meanwhile, the actual production of refined products fell by almost one-fifth, which has led to the current shortages affecting agricultural production.

Cristina’s answer is to renationalize the oil companies. Good luck with that, Argentina. We already experienced what happened when Aerolineas Argentinas was re-nationalized: forty pilots per aircraft and a payroll of over 10,000 people.

Good luck Argentina, particularly those of you in line trying to buy fuel.

Jamie Douglas

Sitting Pretty in San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Brazil’s Other Power Woman

article from January 26, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

As most of us know, Brazil, the Southern Hemisphere’s uncontested economic powerhouse, has been very efficiently run by highly a competent technocrat, President Dilma Rousseff, who succeeded the wildly popular Lula da Silva.

Brazil has become a huge player in the energy industry with its homegrown Petrobras, the world’s fifth-largest oil company. It’s fast growing natural gas and power division has been very capably led by a woman named Maria das Gracas Foster, and as such, she has been accountable only to CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli, who announced his resignation to become a politician, abandoning his position at the helm of one of Brazil’s most dynamic companies.

To many in the Latin American energy sector, it came as no surprise that his successor was quickly named, and it turns out to be 58 year old Maria Foster, a 34-year veteran of the Rio-based energy giant’s fastest-growing division. Her task is monumental, as she will be in charge of a US$225 billion expansion plan that aims to poke holes as deep as six kilometers beneath the sea floor to look for black gold and gas. The targets that were set for 2011 were missed because of the double whammy of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico rig disaster and difficulties in obtaining required equipment. I am sure that the recent Chevron oil spill off the coast of Brazil will have some cascading effects, as well. But Ms. Foster is clearly the woman of the moment, as the announcement of her appointment caused the company’s stock to surge to its highest level in more than eight months. The stock gained almost 5% between Friday and Tuesday’s close.

The story of her rise to the top is one of those enviable rags-to-riches tales. Born into a working-class family on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, she collected recyclables as a child to pay for her school supplies, eventually getting a degree in chemical engineering. She subsequently went to work for Petrobras, where she has been employed continuously, with the exception of a three-year break when she worked for Dilma Rousseff, the energy secretary for the state of Rio Grande do Sul at the time.

Foster has worked in every single division of Petrobras, having started her career as an intern in 1978. Her nomination, which is certain to be approved, will be voted upon on Feb 9. Congratulations to her, to Petrobras and to Brazil!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Feliz Nuevo Año: News from Brazil, Argentina for Jan 7, 2012

article from January 7, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

Brazil’s fizzle

As the New Year begins, Brazil is bursting at the seams. The world’s financial wizards deposited a record US$65.2 billion in the fizzling economy during the past year, an increase of 168% over 2010. Why fizzling? Just like when you open a bottle of sparkling wine, it has a lot of little bubbles, which fizzle out after a while. The champagne bottle named Brazil has now been open for several years, benefitting mostly from China’s oversupply of US dollars and that country’s need to plan ahead for the future by assuring abundant raw material and food supplies for its ever-growing population. But China’s overheated economy is starting to feel the pinch of the global slowdown and returning cycle of recession, and after stockpiling hundreds of millions of tons of raw minerals and signing very long-term contracts with developing nations, it is possible that a saturation point is approaching.

Meanwhile, Brazil will need to increase its availability of electricity by 56%, according to a study released January 4, 2012, by the state-run EPE, the energy research corporation. It forecasts a consumption increase from the current 472,000 gigawatt-hours (gwh) to 736,000 gwh. That is a helluva jump, equal to three times the capacity generated by Itaipú, the world’s second-largest hydroelectric facility after China’s Three Gorges Dam. Itaipú generated 92,245 gwh of electrical current last year, putting it in the number-one slot worldwide for electrical generation.

Brazil is counting very strongly on three major manmade ecological disasters to avoid the coming brownout: the Belo Monte, San Antonio and Jirau hydroelectric projects, the first one being very strongly opposed by humanitarians and ecologist worldwide, as well as the native aboriginal tribes having lived off that land for eternities. There are court battles going on, lives have been lost and more will be lost; but in the end, the “greater good” will be the evil winning the day.

Argentina military reassignments

Most of you probably know that La Cristina, current figurehead of the Kirchneristas in Argentina, underwent a full thyroidectomy on Wednesday, Jan 4. According to her doctors, it was a full success, or as the official release stated, with “no inconvenience or complications.” Early detection is the best way to beat cancer, and in the case of cancer of the thyroid, the survival rate is over 90%. I am very happy for her as well as me, as her continued incompetent flailing is giving me fodder for writing on a daily basis.

What many of you have probably not heard about is that one of her last acts in exercising her executive powers before going under the knife was the abrupt cashiering of 36 military generals and admirals. An official announcement in The Gazette on Monday declared that Chief of Staff Operations Commander Jorge Telado will be retiring effective immediately and that he has been replaced by Kirchner loyalist Brigadier General Humberto Claudio Trisano.

The next day, The Gazette announced the forced retirement of twelve army generals, ten air force generals and thirteen navy admirals. Obviously Madame Fernández de Kirchner is somewhat aware of her nation’s circular history, and she most likely preempted what may have been the whispers of Argentina’s next military coup d’état.

Wisely, she confirmed in their positions the armed forces chief of staff, the army commander and the air force chief, all three avowed loyal Kirchneristas.

Just when I thought it was getting interesting around here!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Central America News Roundup Sept 20, 2011: Mexico, Belize

article from September 20, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Mexico’s oldest person

There is hope for me yet. Leandra Becerra Lumbreras of Zapopan, Jaliso, celebrated 124 years of being on the planet on August 31, 2011. That’s almost twice my age! And listening to her talking, she may yet have a few years ahead of her. She has lived in the house she is in for over 40 years, outliving all her children and most grandchildren. Her great- granddaughter Miriam Albear Hernández showed pictures of a lovely young girl, an old photo of Leandra from the turn of the century. On Sept 16, Mexico celebrated its 201st anniversary since independence, making the Aztec nation a mere 77 years old when she was born. During her lifetime, she witnessed the Mexican Revolution, which lasted from 1910 to 1920 (some say 1917), killing between one and two million citizens, as well as the 1918 flu epidemic, which was responsible for another 300,000 casualties. Two world wars passed, along with major changes brought to Mexico by the constant march of time. From very primitive peasantry to very modern cities and superhighways, this woman witnessed so much history from the sidelines.

Undiscovered archeology

When going back in time, there are, of course, many archeological sites throughout the country, some fully restored, but many more are still waiting to be explored or discovered. Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta, an official with the National Institute of Archeology and History (INAH by its Spanish initials) estimates that there are over 40,000 such sites in the state of Chiapas alone. The terrain of Chiapas is very rugged and covered in jungle, making the rediscovery of the sites very difficult. I have stumbled through the jungles of Chiapas on several occasions and was always taken by the fact that there were signs of civilization everywhere. Being an archeologist in Mexico is one profession with good job security!

US-Mexico bilateral relations

In bilateral relations between Mexico and the USA, Felipe Calderón and Barack Obama signed a multinational agreement to promote transparency and combat corruption.

Does that mean that all the lobbyist and corrupt politicians in the USA will be exposed for the crooks they are? Wishful thinking!

Belize butane problem

Belize is suffering from a butane problem. The government of Belize is in a dispute with regional butane companies that refuse to use authenticated scales in distributing their product in Belize, so those companies are on strike against selling in Belize. Several other companies have stepped up the effort to keep Belizeans supplied with butane imported from Mexico, but this is a more expensive product. The public is being advised to remain vigilant about the prices being charged, which are supposed to adhere to a controlled price listing that is dependent on the source of the butane.

Cell-phone crime in Belize

While consumers suffer through this debacle, crimes committed with cell phones as well as cell-phone theft are about to suffer a big blow of their own. A new law is coming into effect requiring all citizens to register their cell-phone numbers or risk having their SIM cards deactivated. Theft of a person’s cell phone must be reported immediately, otherwise the owner will be held liable for any crime that can be traced to that phone. Prosecutors expect this to greatly enhance the ability of the police to investigate crimes. At the same time, they assure that a set of Supreme Court procedures are in place to protect from the invasion of privacy of the country’s citizens. If I lived in Belize, I would be among the first to register, because the police need all the help they can get!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec Wine is always Fine

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Sept 14, 2011: And the Latest from Argentina is...

article from September 14, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Argentinean wheels of justice

Argentina: Where Anything is Possible. And occasionally, the slow wheels of justice provide an amusing glimpse at life here. Take for instance a young couple’s wedding celebration in July 2006:  They hired the Miraculous Medal Chapel and adjoining facilities to celebrate their future together. It was a pretty big shindig and the high point of their lives so far. Caterers were called in to make sure all the guests had food in their stomachs while consuming the mass quantities of alcohol Latin American weddings are famous for. Tailors spent many hours laboring over all the dresses for the wedding party’s female members and, of course, photo and video crews were on hand to document the happy affair, when, wouldn’t you know, the electricity goes out.

At first, it was assumed that this was a temporary outage; but as time dragged on, the formerly happy couple was getting more and more distressed, what with sitting in the darkness of the chapel. The power never did come back on. The bands could not perform, the hired disc jockey had no way to play the music, the videographers could not film and the few pictures that photographers were able to take in the semi-darkness all had that horrible rabbit-eye syndrome.

After the wedding, the families decided to investigate why the power went out. To their surprise, electricity supplier EDESUR had no explanation, so they made a claim directly to them for actual damages suffered during their fiasco of a wedding. EDESUR decided to not honor said claim, and off to court it went, where, with the snail’s pace of Argentinean justice, it was resolved in a relatively speedy five years time.

The Buenos Aires court ruling in effect affirmed a lower court’s decision to award the pair US$2,350 each, since EDESUR was “unable to justify any credible cause for the blackout,” and the wedding finally took place under very different circumstances than what was planned. It was a tumultuous beginning of their new existence together, without a doubt.

Rising inflation

Meanwhile, congressional opposition leaders released the unofficial but correct inflation rate for the month of August 2011: 1.87%, or an annualized rate of 22.44%, which is up substantially from July’s rate of 1.62%, or 19.44% for the full year. That is a disturbing increase of 3%. Surely this can’t go on much longer without serious consequences. With the upcoming presidential election, however, the government of Christina Fernández de Kirchner is compelled to be disingenuous about the figures, admitting to a mere 0.8% rate. I don’t understand the why’s of the shuffling of the figures, as there is virtually no chance of the opposition stealing the election from her at the last minute.

To counter this ever-worsening economic news, Argentineans, along with their fellow Scotch Whiskey lovers throughout Latin America, are consuming record amounts of that antidepressant, boosting imports of the golden substance by a whopping 49%. Salud, amor, dinero, y tiempo para gozarlos.

Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo scandal

Meanwhile, the ever-widening scandal of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo seems to have involved the president of that organization, Hebe de Bonafini, along with her daughter, who apparently are holding several Swiss and Spanish bank accounts where maybe one will find some of the millions of dollars that have been looted from that organization, funds that were to pay for low income “Share your Dreams” housing construction, but instead went to their former financial manager, Sergio Schoklender. He was hired by the Mothers after being released from prison, where he served 14 years for killing his parents with his brother. I don’t know what kind of rationale was applied to retain him and give him control over millions of dollars in charity funds. But hey, this is Argentina. Todo es possible en Argentina.

Jamie Douglas        

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where that Malbec Wine is always Fine!

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

South America News Roundup Sept 12, 2011: Uruguay Energy, Argentina-Brazil Defense Cooperation

article from September 12, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Uruguayan energy

Once again, this small republic, la República Oriental del Uruguay, or en inglés, the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, is marching to its own drummer. Lacking its own energy sources save for a few small hydroelectric projects, this nation, squeezed by its much bigger, energy hungry neighbors, Brazil and Argentina, has to seek its resources from abroad. The Uruguayans have been paying a premium to the Argentineans for power transmitted over that nation’s grid from the Itaipu hydroelectric project located mostly in Paraguay, which is exploited by the neighboring giants at prices that were established in the 1980s and beyond.

Now enter the good guys in white hats: Spain’s Enerfin Sociedad de Energia SA has offered to build wind farms in this notoriously windy country, proposing to sell the harnessed energy for US$62 per mw/h. Compare that to the $10 per mw/h that Argentina is charging Uruguay just for the use of its grid. This is because the Argentinean government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner wants to buy all the surplus electricity generated by Paraguay for itself at the highly controversial rates established earlier, without taking into account that the market price for energy has risen steeply.

Uruguay has 500 mw of wind power projects in the works, and according to Ramon Mendez, the country’s director of energy at the Ministry of Industry, the plans are to up that to create 25-30 percent of the country’s energy need from biomass and wind power, which is 40% cheaper than the cost of energy generated with fossil fuels. Since the announcement by Mr. Mendez and the awarding of contracts to Spain’s Abenoga SA, several others have made proposals to the Uruguayan authorities to produce the power for as low as $62.35.

Currently the cost of fuel-generated electricity is $73 per mw/h, while within three years, the cost of that, with the inclusion of the wind power generated, is forecast to drop to $45 per mw/h. The Eastern Republic stands to gain significantly from the economic crises that have engulfed Europe and the USA because there is very little demand in the struggling developed nations, but the manufacturing capacity needs to be utilized. Competition is fierce between the different providers of systems, giving way to the happy situation of a buyer’s market.

I hope that Uruguay will hold on to its third-place ranking among low polluters in the region. Viva Uruguay!

Argentina/Brazil defense cooperation

Last week, these two South Atlantic economic powerhouse nations held a high-level meeting while in Buenos Aires for a regular defense and cooperation conference, and to the great benefit of their people, they agreed to declare the region as a peace and cooperation zone, free of nuclear weapons. The groundwork for this historic agreement was laid following the recent meeting between the two presidents, Dilma Rousseff and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. At the same meeting, the two nations signed an agreement for Brazil to refurbish Argentina’s aging inventory of tactical missiles, just in case…

Plans are to hold joint military exercises, with the possible participation of third nations, as well as the coordination of responses to actions by others (I assume the UK) and further cooperation in logistics and support of Antarctic operations.

Both of these nations have very poor track records with the abuses committed by their armed forces against their own citizens, and I am wondering why they would want to keep such highly armed forces on their national territory. The monies that could be saved, along with the benefits in education, housing and medical care, would greatly contribute to the safety of the state and contribute to the well-being of its citizens. Perhaps during the next meeting, a voice in the wilderness will plant the seed of multilateral 80% disarmament, with the rest of the forces being combined into a regional defense force that could be deployed for the region’s many natural disasters. Well, I can dream, can’t I?

Jamie Douglas

San Malbec, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

South America News Roundup Sept 5, 2011: Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru, Colombia

article from September 5, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

A lot has happened since my last news roundup.

Chile

Tragedy has struck in Chile, where a Chilean Air Force CASA-212 aircraft was lost with 21 people aboard while attempting to land in deteriorating conditions on Juan Fernandez Island, 400 miles off the Chilean coast. On board were several employees of Chile’s TVN, including Felipe Camiroaga, a beloved on-air personality. They were on the way to the island to do a follow-up report on the earthquake and tsunami damage and recovery from the February 2010 disaster that hit Chile. We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the people of Chile.

The last few weeks have brought a great deal of unrest to Chile in connection with President Piñera’s attempt to make education a “consumer good,” further entrenching the status quo by removing the state from any responsibility to educate the masses of poor Chileans and making quality education something only obtainable by the wealthy. Massive street demonstrations by all classes have shown their disapproval of his position, with the labor unions joining in the protests and calling for a two-day national strike. In the midst of all the chaos, a young boy was shot to death by the carabineros while he was pushing his brother in a wheel chair.

Meanwhile, the general director of the Chilean carabineros was forced to resign, after it was disclosed that he personally covered up his son’s culpability in a hit-and-run accident in Providencia. In his resignation letter, he claims to be stepping aside for health reasons while, of course, denying the allegations raised against him by the investigative group CIPER.

Uruguay

In good news from Uruguay, it was reported that consumer inflation has fallen slightly to 0.56%, or an annual rate of 7.57%, down from 8.25%. But one must keep in mind that these are “official figures” compiled by government technocrats. I am sure my correspondent, Guy in Uruguay, would take issue with these figures. While they no doubt represent a slight improvement over the previous month, they are still well below the targeted rate of 4-6%.

Unfortunately, Uruguay’s economy has been affected by the double-dip recession hitting the “developed” countries in the Northern Hemisphere. In July, the nation’s fiscal deficit ballooned to US$40 million, while in July 2010 there was a sizeable $55 million surplus.

The Uruguayan national oil company, ANCAP, announced that it will start exploring for oil in the inland regions of Tacuarembó and Salto, where the discovery of oil-eating bacteria, in higher concentration than in Argentina’s Neuquén Province, has led to speculation that there may be crude oil in them thar hills. Uruguay could certainly use natural resources of this type, as most of its energy sources originate from outside the country, fanning the flames of inflation and national deficit.

Brazil

Brazil’s Presidenta Dilma Rousseff has just been anointed for a second term by her mentor, former President Lula da Silva, when he announced that he will step down from seeking a third term as president of that economic powerhouse, paving the way for her succession. President Rousseff has been challenged by the same entrenched corruption that plagued her predecessor, which ultimately brought her to the political forefront when she became Lula’s chief of staff before resigning that position to run for president, herself. But Brazil being Brazil, there is no telling what will happen there politically or fiscally in the next three years. The country is not isolated anymore from outside economic calamities, and the huge spending programs in progress now for the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup may yet end up draining the treasury. The infrastructure improvements that are necessary to make for a success of the games will have to be analyzed in terms of how much good they will bring to the country’s poor and undereducated. I personally would have liked to see this trillion dollars put into education, housing and sanitation projects in the rural areas that have so long been neglected. In the long run, that would provide security to the nation by allowing more of its citizens to climb the steep socio-economic ladder and eliminating the gap between the lowest class and the middle class.

Peru

In Peru, where the election of Ollanta Humala brought about a collapse of the Lima Stock Exchange because of fears that he would destroy the mining industry and drive investors away, things are going very well indeed. Ollanta Humala has become the darling of Wall Street and big investors. The mining companies that were so worried were happy to go along with his proposals to pay slightly higher royalties for minerals extracted in exchange for long-term commitments. This, in turn, will lead to more equal distribution of the wealth in a country that, like Brazil, suffers from abject poverty and lack of infrastructure in rural areas. We wish him and the good people of Peru much success in this new endeavor.

Colombia

And poor Colombia: Whenever that cocaine-cursed nation seems to be coming out of one crisis, it enters the next. The gold mining industry, an enterprise with the potential to eclipse the drug trade, is being plagued by all the usual suspects with terrorism, extortion, kidnappings and violence. I am rooting for Colombia to be able to leave the legacy of the cocaine cowboys behind. Colombia’s citizens are hard working, aspiring to be more than what they have been limited to by circumstances beyond their control; but through no fault of their own, they have repeatedly been victimized by the crime lords, the paramilitaries and fear of the dark. The current administration came into office on the heels of some great gains, but it seems that for every step forward, they slide back two. Large portions of the country are considered unsafe and unstable, so much so that not even the military is established there. Nobody seems to have a solution to these peculiar problems plaguing Colombia, but the time has come for a renewal.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec grape vines are starting to sprout!

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

The Latest News from Venezuela, Aug 18, 2011

article from August 18, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

The past few days have brought several interesting news items from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the forefront. Let’s get the one out of the way right away: President Hugo Chávez returned from Cuba after the latest round of chemotherapy, and according to his blog, he is feeling better and his cancer has not metastasized. Personally I am still in the dark as to why he could not find proper treatment in his own country.

The good news about Venezuela’s crude oil industry is the proclamation by OPEC that Venezuela now is sitting on top of the largest proven reserves in the world, exceeding those even of Saudi Arabia. The national oil monopoly, PDVSA, is fourth in the world’s rankings of oil companies.

The country should be sitting on a big pile of cash, but for years of unchecked spending and corruption. Unfortunately, many if not most of the social programs that have been announced to gain the support of the masses never really got off the ground. Added to this lack of proper fiscal planning, with Chávez having promised the Moon to many poorer Latin American nations, is an astonishing level of corruption that, together, have cost the Venezuelan treasury billions of US dollars (half a billion has been stolen from the PDVSA’s pension fund by a Ponzi scheme).

In spite of this wealth in the ground, the nation’s leader has been in direct contact with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to obtain an express loan worth US$4 billion. Time will tell what that Wiley Russian Fox will extract in concessions from Venezuela in exchange for the loan, but one thing seems certain: It will come with not just strings, but ropes attached. It is a given that the New Russia, while not so much engaged in a “communism vs. capitalism” struggle as during the Cold War, is finding itself playing second fiddle to China in Latin America. Getting a good foothold in Venezuela will at least make for some face saving. While Russia itself has an abundant supply of energy resources, it is never enough in a world of shrinking supplies.

These latest twin announcements from the president also involve the nation’s currency reserves and gold stash. The finance ministry is studying a plan to transfer over US$6 billion in cash away from US and European banks to more allied countries’ financial institutions. Brazil, Russia and China are of prime consideration in the transfer of the cash. They are also considering moving 211 tons of gold that is being held in European banks to the Caracas Central Bank vault, where it would be added to the 154 tons already there, making it a total of 365 tons in local storage.

Then cometh the announcement that President Hugo Chávez wants to nationalize the gold industry, so as to gain complete control of production and increase the output of the mines. He stated that it will be “by a decree to take the gold sector, which still remains in the hands of the mafia and smugglers.”

Chávez is preparing to make some new friends again. Venezuela certainly is a nation in flux. So stay tuned for the next exciting future history episode of the Bolivarian Colossus.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec Wine is Always Fine!

[Image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Brazil’s Continuing Struggle Over Land and Natural Resources

article from May 30, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

This past week, horrific violence has caused the Amazon Basin of Brazil to suffer a great loss. Land-hungry cattle ranchers are stealing the indigenous territories with impunity, hiring criminals to get rid of the opposition, who many times are ordinary citizen activists, as was the case on Tuesday, May 24, and again on Friday, May 27.

José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espírito Santo Silva, were found murdered on Tuesday morning. Then, on Friday night, 57-year-old Adelino Ramos was attacked and shot to death in the state of Rondônia. All three victims were known activist who were hoping to make a difference in saving large portions of the Amazon Basin rainforest from illegal loggers, miners and cattle ranchers.

 

Two suspects were detained by federal police this Sunday, May 29, in the murder of Adelino Ramos. However, police in Nova Ipixuna, to no one’s surprise, “have no leads” in the brutal double murder of the two environmentalist farmers there. The police, of course, are easy prey for the wealthy landowners because of their measly salaries that are supplemented by payoffs and shakedowns.

 

After these two assassinations, the Catholic NGO MISEREOR urged the Brazilian government to do more to protect the remaining voices in the jungle that are fighting  against overwhelming odds and to do more to protect this huge environmental treasure. To her credit, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff immediately ordered a very thorough investigation of the crimes by the federal police, an institution that is not as easily corrupted as the local police, particularly when under a presidential mandate.

 

Meanwhile, in Zürich, Switzerland, an unexpected guest showed up, dressed in his Amazonian feathery finest. Twenty-seven-year-old Bolívar Sinãrî Xerente, the first of his tribe ever to go outside his environment to study law, travelled to Switzerland to bring awareness to the rest of the world of the shenanigans that were being used to rob the Xerente of their subsistence lands. This tribe that now consists of about 3,000 souls was almost completely wiped out by settlers in the 1950s, when they were reduced to a mere 435 tribal members.

 

“We fought for our lands and survival with our blood and sweat,” Sinãrí explains. It was not until the 1970s when Brazil’s federal government finally acceded to worldwide pressure and granted them a reservation of 140,000 hectares. However, constant outside pressure from the cattle industry and, more recently, soy monoculture has reduced their holdings substantially since then.

 

For the Xerente, the environment has been degraded to such degree that sustenance by hunting and fishing can no longer provide the protein needed for the tribe to survive, and therefore they had no choice but to acquire for themselves about 150 head of cattle.

 

The Rio Tocantins, a tributary of the Amazon, has been tapped for hydro-electricity, with the first dam having been completed near Palmas and four more planned that are bound to destroy the Xerente’s way of life. This entire tribe of people is being sacrificed to the “greater good,” the industrialization of Brazil, soon to be the world’s fifth-largest economy and home to the largest fresh-water reservoir on the planet.

 

In a typical bureaucratic brainfart, some officials decided that raising chickens would be a great way for the Xerente to enter mainstream Brazil’s economy (as if they were aspiring to that). The result of that experiment was that the local climate, in the form of unrelenting heat, killed the entire brood stock in a matter of weeks.

 

Schools on the reservation end after grade 8, and the quality of education is way below the standards of the rest of Brazil. Quality health care is another thing lacking, and until recently, the naming of the children was left to the nurses and other lay health care providers who roam the Amazon Basin, registering the vital statistics in the vast region as well as they can and in the process assigning “white” names to the indigenous children, such as Bolívar Sinãrî Xerente’s name. His being named after Hugo Chávez’s hero, Simon Bolívar, would be comical, were it not so tragic.

[Image of the Amazon Rainforest via Wikipedia]

Jamie DouglasSan Rafael, MendozaWhere the Malbec Wine is Always Fine!

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.