Follow-ups on Hugo Chavez, beauty queens, and more

The following are a list of follow-up articles on recently reported stories here on The Latin Americanist:

• Not content with nationalizing Venezuela’s oil and telecom sectors, President Hugo Chavez (first image) said that the government may take over the country’s banks.
• The FBI will launch a civil rights investigation into the violent conclusion of a May 1^st immigrants rights rally in Los Angeles.
• Record numbers of Haitian migrants keep trying to make it to the U.S.; earlier today the U.S. Coast Guard found a capsized boat in the Caribbean with 20 Haitians dead and over 60 missing.
• Miss Mexico isn’t the only controversial beauty queen from the Americas- Miss Peru was chosen behind closed doors and is the daughter of the president of the main sponsor of the Miss Peru contest.
• Peru’s mining strike enters a fifth day with more unions joining protesting laborers.
• After being released from a Buenos Aires hospital in early April, soccer legend Diego Maradona entered a mental health clinic yesterday to be treated for alcoholism.
• “DC Madam” Deborah Jeanne Palfrey apologized for the resignation of the former head of USAID; Randall Tobias quit last week after he revealed that he procured an escort service featuring Central American women.
• FIFA president Sepp Blatter (second image) took back comments made on Monday over the possibility of moving soccer’s 2010 World Cup to Mexico or the U.S.
• Despite his recent faux pas over the significance of the Spanish language, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich would be a favorite for the Republican presidential nomination should he choose to run.

Links- The Latin Americanist, International Herald Tribune, Living in Peru, Xinhua, Ireland On-line, news.com.au, WHBF, CNN, BBC News

Images- BBC News, Al Jazeera

USAID chief quits over prostitution link

An alleged affinity for Central American prostitutes may have led to the resignation of Randall Tobias (image) from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Tobias was touted by the Department of State as “a leader in helping the most vulnerable populations” while in charge of the U.S.’ main foreign aid agency. Yet he quit effective immediately on Friday after admitting to ABC News that he was a customer of an escort service featuring Central American women.

Ironically, Tobias had been the Bush administration's “AIDS czar” who “was responsible for overseeing all U.S. international HIV/AIDS assistance” according to Wikipedia.

Links- Reuters, U.S. Department of State, ABC News – The Blotter, White House, Wikipedia

Image- CBS News