Daily Headlines: March 17, 2015

* Colombia: A new U.N. report named the “bandas criminales” groups of demobilized right-wing paramilitary members and criminal gangs as the primary security threat in Colombia.  

* Argentina: Citigroup will pull out of the custodial business in Argentina after a U.S. judge opted not to remove an injunction that prevented the bank from processing $2.3 billion in Argentine bond payments.

* Mexico: Was the recent firing of acclaimed investigative journalist Carmen Aristegui from Mexico’s MVS radio network justifiable or censorship?   

* Brazil: A new femicide law was enacted last week in Brazil that includes increased prison time for those convicted of the gender-based killing of women.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources –Reuters; euronews; CNN; Voice of America

Daily Headlines: February 5, 2014

* Mexico: President Enrique Peña Nieto pledged to spend $3.4 billion in funds for social and infrastructure programs in Michoacán, a Mexican state where recently legalized “self-defense” groups have battled against the Knights Templar drug gang.

* Puerto Rico: Puerto Rican Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla’s plans to present a balanced budget a year ahead of time were not enough to present Standard and Poor’s from lowering the credit rating of the commonwealth to “junk” status.

* Brazil: Several million Brazilian residents were affected by blackouts that hit parts of the country, and that occurred amid record heat and low reservoir levels at the country's hydroelectric plants.

* Peru: Autopsy results could explain the cause of death of over 400 deceased dolphins that washed up on the coast of northern Peru in January.

Video Source - euronews via YouTube ("Government authorities in the Mexican state of Michoacan signed a deal (last week) allowing the police to work with local vigilante "self-defence" volunteer groups.")

Online Sources- GlobalPost; Reuters; ABC News; The Guardian

Daily Headlines: August 10, 2011

* El Salvador: Nine former Salvadoran soldiers detained for their supposed role in the infamous murder of six Jesuit priests in 1989 could be extradited to Spain.

* Latin America: Stock markets throughout the region rebounded yesterday after suffering heavy losses on Monday.

* Venezuela: Three people including two former prison governors were charged with corruption in connection to deadly rioting weeks ago at the El Rodeo prison.

* Mexico: An alleged “anti-technology group” took responsibility for setting off a bomb that injured two university professors at a college campus near Mexico City.

Image – Reuters via The Guardian (“A stone engraved with the names of the six Jesuit priests killed during El Salvador's 1980-92 civil war.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, The Guardian, Voice of America, BBC News

Daily Headlines: July 6, 2010

* Venezuela: As part of Venezuelan independence day celebrations on Monday honors were given to Manuela Saenz- the lover and confidant of independence hero Simon Bolivar.

* Argentina: Argentine officials are none too pleased with local Chilean authorities that permitted a group of students to visit the Falklands in order to take English-langue classes.

* Brazil: President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva may find himself at odds with Brazilian evangelicals over his plan to preserve classic theatres for film, not for preachers.

* U.S.: The company formerly known as Countrywide Financial has been sued in Illinois over allegedly pushing very risky subprime loans at black and Latino customers.

Image – BBC Mundo (Ecuadorian-born Manuela Saenz is seen by some as adulterous but viewed by others as a key ally to Bolivar’s independence movement in the 19th-century.)
Online Sources- ABC Online, MSNBC, MercoPress, The Consumerist

Daily Headlines: June 15, 2010

* Latin America: According to a joint OECD-FAO study, food prices worldwide will rise over the next decade though farm production in Latin America is also expected to increase.

* Mexico: A magnitude 5.7 earthquake followed by minor aftershocks rattled areas along the California-Mexico border Monday evening.

* Venezuela: Citing a “grave financial situation” the state took over and may possibly close Banco Federal CA.

* Brazil: The country’s leading political parties selected their candidates for October’s presidential elections.

Image –National Geographic (“
Tortilla maker Leticia Balino gathers a pile of the flatbreads in her shop in México City on January 10, 2007.”)
Online Sources- NASDAQ, BusinessWeek, CNN, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: June 9, 2010

* Chile: Chile's ambassador in Argentina reigned yesterday after a stunning verbal faux pas praising the dictatorship under the late strongman Augusto Pinochet.

* El Salvador: San Salvador’s archbishop praised President Mauricio Funes for “taking important steps” to promote democracy in El Salvador.

* Venezuela: The country’s new government-regulated foreign exchange market is set to begin operations today.

* Bolivia: Bolivia’s legislature approved a measure designed to give indigenous communities more judicial autonomy.

Image – The Guardian (2006 image of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet).
Online Sources – MSNBC, BBC News, Spero News, Wall Street Journal,

Daily Headlines: May 25, 2010

* Venezuela: As part of a government-led crackdown on currency speculating Venezuelan authorities raided the county’s biggest private brokerage on Monday.

* Haiti: Is a “new comedy soap opera” set in a Haitian earthquake survivor camp tasteless or appropriate?

* Panama: President Ricardo Martinelli issued a state apology and a “recognition of mistakes” during Panama’s military rule between 1968 and 1989.

* Mexico: “El Tri” lost 3-1 to England at Wembley in an international friendly roughly two weeks ahead of the upcoming World Cup.

Image –The Telegraph (Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has widened a crackdown on brokers after accusing them of running a “parallel” exchange market).
Online Sources- The Guardian, ABS-CBN News, AP, Reuters

Daily Headlines: September 7, 2009

* Ecuador: The judge overseeing an environmental damage case against Chevron withdrew himself days after the oil giant claimed that they secretly videotaped him in a bribe scheme.

* Cuba: Belgium became the latest European country to agree to house an inmate from the U.S.-controlled Guantanamo Bay prison.

* Mexico: A suspected member of Mexico’s Juarez drug cartel has been arrested and charged with the murders of seventeen people at a Ciudad Juarez drug rehab center last week.

* Argentina: The government refused to accept further aid from the International Monetary Fund despite credit problems.

Image- MSNBC
Online Sources- Reuters, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, CNN, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: September 1, 2009

* Mexico: Residents of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula are gathering supplies and officials are preparing evacuations ahead of the Hurricane Jimena to hit land tonight.

* Venezuela: Venezuela’s economy may be sagging but the country’s stock market has been pretty bullish this year.

* Argentina: According to a local Jewish group the number of anti-Semitic attacks in Argentina has gone up this year.

* Cuba: The Castro administration is none too pleased that a group of European Union diplomats visited the home of an imprisoned dissident last week.

Image- ABC News (“In this satellite image released by NOAA Monday, Aug. 31, 2009, Hurricane Jimena is seen off the coast of Mexico. Jimena, a dangerous Category 4 storm, could rake southern Baja California by Tuesday evening, forecasters said.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, BBC News, LAHT, JTA

Row could hurt Colombia, Venezuelan economies

The diplomatic spat between neighboring Colombia and Venezuela may end up hurting political relations between both countries. More crucially, however, is the economic damage that the crisis could cause.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was peeved over plans by the U.S. to expand its military presence in Colombia and even more displeased over the alleged selling of arms from Sweden to Colombian rebels via Venezuela. Thus, he ordered on Tuesday the withdrawal of his diplomatic team stationed in Bogota and warned that he might “freeze (economic) relations with Colombia".

As to be anticipated, the financial response in Colombia on Wednesday was not good. The peso fell by over 3% as Colombian investors worry over what will happen to business with their second-biggest trade partner. Exporters have plenty to lose if the spat worsens should there be a cut in trade. Colombia's Trade Minister said that finding suitable alternative export markets is difficult and it could take years to replace a partner as major as Venezuela.

Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said that the government has yet to order a shutdown of trade with Colombia. Perhaps it might be since a possible trade embargo on Colombia would also be very damaging to Venezuela:

Venezuela is Colombia's second-largest market for exports, after the U.S. But a rupture in trade flows would likely be far more problematic for Venezuela - which imports manufactured goods and about two-thirds of the food that it consumes - than for Colombia…

Venezuela depends on Colombia for basic goods such as dairy, meat, clothing and, more strategically, imports 300 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, twice as much as originally agreed upon.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state-owned oil firm, needs natural gas for its oil reservoirs to increase pressure and boost production, and as raw material for its petrochemical industry.

Image- Christian Science Monitor (“Trucks loaded with Colombian merchandise wait at customs for permission to enter Venezuela near the border city of La Raya, Venezuela.”)
Online Sources- Colombia Reports, NASDAQ, The Latin Americanist, CNNMoney.com, Bloomberg, BBC News

Bank of the South to soon start operations

A Latin American regional bank designed to serve as a counterweight to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank is expected to begin operations in May.

The Bank of the South will be launched with $10 billion in startup capital, according Venezuelan Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez. "Several pending items were resolved," added Rodriguez after finance representatives of the seven member countries met yesterday in Caracas.

Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela pledged $2 billion each for the Bank while Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia will each allocate $1 billion for the new institution.

The Bank of the South was created in December 2007 and at the time was both praised and panned by political analysts. Shortly before the Bank was launched, Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz enthusiastically backed it:

(…) "One of the advantages of having a Bank of the South is that it would reflect the perspectives of those in the south," he told a media conference. It would boost Latin America's development and provide a useful alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

"It is a good thing to have competition in most markets, including the market for development lending," Prof Stiglitz said.

Image- El Clarin (The heads of state of several South American countries launched the Bank of the South in 2007).
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, WSJ.com, Prensa Latina, The Economist, Guardian UK, Center for International Policy, IHT

Colombia: Pyramid scheme victims to get pittance

Thousands of Colombians who invested nearly $700 million in a massive pyramid scheme will face further insult to injury.

The collapse of some pyramid operations late last year led to outrage, protests, and riots in several cities. These faux-financiers specifically targeted lower-class people and promised as much as 150% return. One company in particular- DMG Holdings- was even accused of being a money laundering front for Colombian drug gangs.

In the case of DMG, the firm was able to operate for three years under lax government supervision and alleged corruption. It was for this reason why some investors duped by the company defended DMG founder David Murcia as a Robin Hood-like figure.

Resentment and anger which still persists among those who lost their savings in DMG are likely to be peeved off at a government decision made today:

Thousands of investors who lost savings, big and small, in a Colombian pyramid scheme will receive just $96 apiece in compensation, the government announced Friday.

Maria Mercedes Perry, the official named to oversee DMG Group Holdings SA, said the government so far has recovered just 52 billion pesos — about $20.5 million — largely in cash found in the company's offices.

She said it would be divided equally among the 214,000 investors, regardless of how much they had deposited.

Granted, something is better than nothing. But for those whose goals of buying a new house, and investing for their future children (like some in my family) $96 does little to repair their shattered dreams.

Image- AFP (“A man holds a sign reading "what about my money?" in Popayan, department of Cauca, Colombia.”)
Online Sources- AP, Americas Quarterly, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, The Latin Americanist, Plan Colombia and Beyond, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: March 13, 2009

* Chile: Several U.S. banks are being sued by Chile’s government over allegedly helping the late dictator Augusto Pinochet embezzle public funds.

* Cuba: The country’s government continues to repress independent journalists despite the emergence of bloggers critical of the Castro regime according to Reporters Without Borders.

* Ecuador: The government will formally default on a bond debt of $2.7 billion that is due in 2030.

* Dominican Republic: Hundreds of health professionals demanding higher wages went on a 24-hour strike yesterday.

Image- CBC
Online Sources- Reporters Without Borders, IHT, cbs4.com, CNN

Report: $7M Merrill bonus to LatAm banker

Former executives with Merrill Lynch has come under fire for the granting of multimillion dollar bonuses shortly before the firm was acquired by Bank of America.

The bonus controversy has garnered more attention due to the investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. He has looked into why so much money in bonuses were given out while the company asked for (and subsequently received) roughly $45 billion of a Wall Street rescue package.

The latest chapter in the bonus debacle reportedly involves the distributing of one Latin American banker who got a hefty check from Merrill:

Merrill Lynch & Co paid Latin American investment banker Alexandre Bettamio, whom it poached from UBS AG (UBSN.VX), at least $7 million in guaranteed bonuses for 2008, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The firm's investment bankers in Latin America, including Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, earned revenue of about $50 million through late December, while piling up at least $100 million in expenses, most of them compensation-related, one person familiar with the results told the paper.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Image- The Telegraph
Online Sources- Gothamist, Huffington Post, AFP, Reuters

Bank runs hit LatAm over Stanford fraud

Billionaire tycoon Sir Allen Stanford gave himself in after F.B.I. agents found him in Virginia. Stanford has been accused of bilking customers out of over $8 billion dollars via his investment fund and other financial entities.

Stanford’s alleged scam led to bank runs in several Latin American countries and forced governments in the region to take drastic actions. Panamanian branches of Stanford bank were closed while Colombian authorities are seeking details over Stanford’s dealings in that country. Mexican officials are looking into Stanford's supposed links with violent drug gangs.

Venezuela’s government quickly intervened to “stem fears of investors”:

Venezuela has seized a local bank owned by Allen Stanford…after panicked investors withdrew millions of dollars worth of deposits.

Ali Rodriguez, the Venezuelan finance minister, said on Thursday that Stanford Bank SA would be sold and the government would back all deposits, after at least $26.5m was withdrawn in two days.

The move comes despite the Venezuelan government trying to reassure depositors that the local bank was healthy.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- AFP, Reuters, The Telegraph, BBC News, Monsters & Critics, Al Jazeera English

Brazilian banks face tough times

On Monday U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that more U.S. banks are likely to fail due to the economic crisis. Coincidentally, he could’ve said the same thing about Brazilian banks:

Banco Bradesco SA, Brazil’s second- largest non-government bank, posted a 27 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit, the biggest drop in two years, as the company increased provisions for bad loans.

Net income fell to 1.61 billion reais ($692 million) from 2.19 billion reais a year earlier, the Osasco-based company said today in a statement. It was the biggest decline in profit since an 85 percent drop in the third quarter 2006. Adjusted net income was 1.81 billion reais in the quarter, compared with 1.85 billion reais a year earlier. The adjusted result missed the 1.86 billion reais average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Over the past few years Brazilian banks have made most of their profits by expanding loan services. Yet the default rate has jumped and banks are less likely to make loans. "The crisis has spread in way that has never been seen before," Chief Executive Marcio Cypriano said in an article by Reuters.

Nevertheless, Bradesco execs said that they will open 170 new branches this year. The move is necessary in light of the soon-to-be completed merger between Banco Itau SA and Unibanco Holdings SA.

Image- O Globo
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, Reuters, IHT,

Colombia: Shock, anger over failed “pyramids”

A new house.

The savings of a young couple.

The financial future of an upcoming child.

These were a few of the aspirations held by thousands of Colombians who placed their trust in so-called “pyramid” businesses around the country. These firms targeted lower-class people in cities and often functioned out of rented storefronts in poor neighborhoods. The faux-financiers touted as much as 150% return as long as investors gave them their money and signed contracts promising not to withdraw it.

Over the past few weeks, several of these “pyramids” have shutdown under the cover of darkness and the executives have fled. In their wake are duped customers clamoring for their lost savings and desperately seeking answers. Yesterday, their rage reached a boiling point as riots flared in several cities:

Police used batons and tear gas to control angry investors and curfews were declared in several cities.

In Popayan in the south-western department of Cauca, 2,000 depositors stormed an investment firm's offices.

In Pereira, in Risaralda, police caught two men hurrying out the back door of a scheme's office with suitcases of cash.

They offered one of the cases to the police to let them go.

Who’s to blame? There are those that fell for the Ponzi schemes, the unscrupulous men running the firms, and even the government who didn’t intervene to stop the obvious scams.

In the end, there are the dreams deferred of the victims whose savings have been apparently wiped out. The goals mentioned at the top of this post represent those of some of my family whose aspirations served as carrion for vultures. Their situation- like so many others- is heartbreaking and hopefully one that can serve as a lesson.

Image- AFP (“A man holds a sign reading "what about my money?" in Popayan, department of Cauca, Colombia.”)
Sources- AHN, BBC News

LatAm stocks continue sinking

Stock indices worldwide have been hit hard during trading today; the Dow Jones industrial average fell below the 10,000 mark for the first time in almost four years while Europe’s Stoxx 600 index tumbled by 7.6%.

Much like in advanced industrialized nations, shares in “emerging markets” from Russia to India to Latin America have also nosedived. Mexico's Bolsa stock index fell be nearly 10% while the country’s peso dropped to its lowest point since 1997. Currencies in countries like Chile, Colombia, and Argentina depreciated by as much as 4%. The lowest point in Latin American trading occurred in Brazil’s stock market which had to be suspended twice today as the Bovespa index plunged by a whopping 16%.

Why is today turning out to be yet another dark day for the financial markets? BBC News cites analysts’ worry that massive bailouts will be insufficient to turnaround the global economic crisis:

Investors fear that official action might not be enough to stem the crisis.

This was despite a $700bn (£398bn) US bank bail-out being passed late last week, and efforts by several European countries including Germany and Denmark to boost confidence in their banks. "The fact is people are scared and the only thing they're doing is selling," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"Investors are cleaning out portfolios and getting rid of everything because nothing seems to be working."

Image- New York Times (“A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.”)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Marketwatch, Bloomberg, Guardian UK, BBC News

LatAm finances flounder over financial mess

Global financial figures have taken a massive hit today over the events over the past 48 hours involving the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America and Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. Stocks, bonds and currencies in emerging markets have posted big losses and Latin America has been no exception.

Brazil’s Bovespa index fell by 7.3% as stocks for state-run Petrobras tumbled the most since 2002. In Mexico, the peso dropped to a six-month low as analysts anticipate further loses due to growing inflation. Bonds in countries like Argentina and Venezuela moved closer to default according to one source while an expert interviewed by CNN en Español anticipated a rapid withdrawal of foreign investments. One “senior currency strategist” with Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. warned about declining currencies especially the Argentine peso, Peruvian sol and Chilean peso.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to put a brave face on the financial mess though he cautioned that happy days wouldn’t be coming soon:

"The American people can remain confident in the soundness and resilience of our financial system."

However he warned that uncertainty remained and it was likely that there would be further "rough spots" ahead before the market was corrected.

Turmoil would continue in financial markets until the housing correction was completed, he added.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama tried to spin the crisis in their favor; McCain promised to “replace an outdated, patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight” on Wall Street while Obama emphasized the need for tougher financial regulations. (The mess cannot be addressed in mere bullet points by either candidate so please take the aforementioned remarks with a massive grain of salt).

Image- Canada.com (“A ticker sign announces Lehman Brothers losses yesterday in New York City.”)

Sources- Bloomberg, BBC News, Economist.com, CBC, Guardian UK, MarketWatch

Daily Headlines: August 20, 2008

* Puerto Rico: Nearly five months after being charged with possible electoral fraud and corruption, boricua Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila faces a new set of indictments of wire fraud and money laundering.

* Venezuela: Mexican officials are hoping that Venezuela’s government will negotiate with cement firm Cemex after President Hugo Chavez ordered its nationalization.

* Chile: Chilean stocks dipped in trading on Tuesday and the country’s currency also fell in value.

* Caribbean: The tropical red lionfish has somehow invaded Caribbean waters and is “wreaking havoc on an ecologically delicate region.”

Image- Los Angeles Times

Sources- Los Angeles Times, IHT, Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, UPI