News of the Restless

Does Alan Garcia give a shit? Aporrea thinks not:

Human rights groups have denounced the disappearance of 11 persons during military operations to search for a column of Shining Path guerrillas in southeastern Peru.

The denunciation was made by a peasant woman who "escaped a military incursion in the hamlet of Pichis, where soldiers arrived on September 14 by air and ground, shooting and launching rockets", according to Yúber Alarcón, representative of the Pro-Human Rights Association of Ayacucho, quoted by AFP.

The woman, Lucy Pichardo Fernández, fears that her husband, and five other family members--two children among them--and five lumberjacks have been killed by the military, Alarcón added.

Paula Capcha, the campesina's attorney, said that she had presented the denunciations to the People's Defender and the magistrate's office of Ayacucho, as well as a habeas corpus so that the authorities offer information as soon as possible.

"We don't know right now if they have been killed or kidnapped, and that's why the family members want to know the whereabouts of their loved ones," Capcha told AFP.

Translation mine.

And of course, the government of Peru isn't exactly quick off the mark on this; their defence minister will say nothing except to deny that any of the missing people have been "detained" by the militaries.

So, then, the operative question becomes, Who disappeared these missing people? After all, they didn't just wander off and disappear themselves. Will the government of Peru be laying all this at the feet of commies yet again?

Just one more example of what Otto calls "investment grade" Peru, no doubt.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Revolter at BoRev calls it Valijagate. But we of the jet set just call it bullshit!

Why would Chavecito shake hands with this fat slimebag?

Story from YVKE Mundial:

On August 4, 2007, [Guido] Antonini was taken into custody in Buenos Aires with a briefcase stuffed with $800,000 US. Antonini, according to a campaign directed by opposition media against Cristina Fernández and Hugo Chávez, was trying to finance Fernández's electoral campaign with funds from the Venezuelan state oil firm, PDVSA.

President Chávez said that the case has been a script badly performed from the start. "You recall that he (Antonini Wilson) said he had lunched that day with me. I said to check it out...and it turns out that Mr. Antonini did try to enter Miraflores Palace that day. He couldn't, so the plan failed, but it was in the script. The script failed!" said the president during a press conference at Miraflores.

Translation mine.

Readers of this blog may also recall that I translated, in full, an article by Jaime Bayly some months ago, in which the Peruvian writer revealed that Guido Antonini Wilson, the "pudgy goodfella", is in fact a Miami mafioso, not an agent of the Venezuelan government. He may well be an agent of some other government, though--and I'm not talking about Argentina.

Well, Jaime Bayly is in the videos too. Have a look--he once again reveals that Antonini hates Chavecito's guts. Strange, then, that such a man would claim to be an agent of his, eh?

Chavecito's right--this whole business is nothing but a garbage operation. And that's a polite way of putting it!

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, folks, I'm talking about those two once-notable authors, Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes, who have both decided to keep their names in the news by turning their pens to machetes in the name of right-wing hackery.

Since it's currently fashionable in certain circles to bash Chavecito for everything from his impoverished background to his military career to his friendship with Fidel to, yes, his nonwhiteness--well, when talent deserts you, you just gotta turn your hand to something, and why not something fashionable? It's either that or the bottle of Victory Gin (and I wouldn't put that past either one of these sour old boys, either. Hey, it worked out fine for Christopher Hitchens--he gets to crapagandize and drink himself insensible with the proceeds.)

Now, Russia doesn't have a notable journalistic tradition that I'm aware of. (Mind you, Pravda may not be the best thing to go by on this one.) No more than it has a lengthy and illustrious history of parliamentary democracy. But I can see I shall have to visit Tiwy.com more often, because this is one Russia-based news site that strives to get things right.

Case in point: Nil Nikandrov's excellent piece on the two writers-turned-crapagandists. Nikandrov definitely seems to have Vargas Llosa's number--and on speed-dial, at that:

Continue reading "Two "prestigious" Chavez-haters get owned by a Russky" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...I think you dropped something. Namely, all mention of a tyrannical Latin American president--in PERU!

In view of the protests of 60 ethnic groups from the Amazonian jungle against official decrees, the Peruvian government declared three provinces and one municipality in state of emergency on Monday.

According to a resolution published in the official journal El Peruano, the state of emergency was declared to keep the peace after at least nine people were injured during some encounters between the police and the natives.

The measure provides the suspension of constitutional rights which prevents the exercise of certain rights like the freedom of assembly and movement, and gives the police authority to arrest and carry out raids without a warrant.

The state of emergency comprises the provinces of Bagua and Utcubamba, the north of the Amazon and Datem del Marañon, Loreto in the west, and the municipality of Echarate in the southern region of Cuzco.

Well, looky there. Alan Garcia ruling by decree--and not within limitations of constitutionality and basic human decency like Chavecito, either. He's tyrannizing over the indigenous, in particular.

Now: For the entire last 18 months, when Chavecito had power to legislate by decree, there was not a single state of emergency in Venezuela, despite lashings of violence from the opposition which could, legitimately, have resulted in a crackdown. Contrast that with the situation in Peru, where people routinely get their heads busted open for simply protesting!

But will the major media mention it, let alone in the context of tyranny in Peru, the way they often do Chavecito, who has not a scrap of actual tyranny to his name? Noooooo. At most, they only cite this approvingly as an example of his "law and order" program at work. (And get this: they make out like it's the "Indians" who are at fault.) No mention of the suppression of constitutionality. Not a peep from Andres Oppenheimer, Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Simon Romero or any other crapaganda-cranker about tyranny. Couldn't be because Peru's tyrant, like Colombia's, passes muster with Big Crapital, while Venezuela's democrat doesn't...could it?

Nahhhhhhhh...of course not.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How else to explain these Peruvian poll numbers?

Or the success of Evo in Bolivia, which just seems to keep on growin'?

Or the fact that El Ecuadorable has now come out as a socialist?

Or the big celebration as Fernando Lugo of Paraguay becomes the latest leftist teddybear to join the South American picnic?

Yep, it can only be the doing of the usual big red-shirted suspect. After all, Hurricane Hugo has sucked in pretty much any part of Latin America that isn't nailed down by Washington. Or at least, so you'd think to read what all the crapaganda whores are saying. They seem to be having tremendous difficulties with the concept of popular will, no?

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alan Garcia finally takes his doctor's advice and starts his new aerobics program. Maybe he'll finally lose some of that weight.

Crikey, what is up with the president of Peru? Dancing around like a marionette while Pisco is still in such rough shape? And the LatAm president who's actually done something helpful there is not himself but evil, wicked Chavecito--who, if Reuters says true (and you can never be too sure with English-language wires these days), is only doing it to prop up the chances of his Peruvian pal, Ollanta Humala?

At this rate, the Peruvians probably wish they had voted for Ollanta in the first place. At least he wouldn't look so ridiculous trying to dance.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YVKE Mundial has a lulu for us, all the way from Peru:

Continue reading "Stupid Sex Tricks: Lady Godiva she ain't!" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

He'd make you giggle too, if you heard him say things like this:

The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, is concerned because he sees his Peruvian colleague, Alan Garcia, as "very fat and not much of an anti-imperialist", as he said yesterday.

Morales recalled that in 1989, he attended a conference in Peru with Garcia, who was then, in his opinion, "a first-rate public speaker, anti-imperialist" and, also, "very slim".

"Now I see him as very fat and not much of an anti-imperialist. I'm very worried about Alan Garcia," said Morales at a conference on the outskirts of La Paz.

Translation mine.

Not only is it funny, it's also true. Here's a pic of him with the gordito imperialista. See if you can tell me which is which.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't think of any other reason why he would say something like this, unless he's also a plant.

Oh wait...

"Hugo Chavez is a destabilizing factor in the region. Hugo Chavez is dis-accelerating the process of integration. But despite Hugo Chavez the region for the first time in its history has an enormous opportunity to make a qualitative jump and take a predominant place in the world economy."

I did tell you to wait, didn't I? Here's the part I told you to wait for:

Toledo, who was president of Peru from July 2001 until July 2006, worked for the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations before his election.

The World Bank? Yeah, that's a wonderful qualifying factor right there. No wonder he thinks Chavecito is a "destabilizing factor" who is "dis-accelerating the process of integration". The fact is, Chavecito is a stabilizer who is integrating Latin America in a way that shuts the international bankers (especially the World Bank and its Bretton Woods twin, the IMF) out of it and puts people first. Toledo, the failed neo-liberal of Peru, is probably pissed as hell to see all the bogus "progress" he worked so hard for falling apart now that he's no longer in any position to do doodly-squat about it.

Three guesses as to who the real destabilizing, "dis-accelerating" (is that even a word?) influence in Latin America (still) is.

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And for some reason, I found a lot of funny pix from it...and for some reason even stranger, most of the funniest ones had Evo in them. In some funny context or other.

Like this one, in which he's chatting with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel:

What do you suppose is going through her mind? My educated guess is it's something like this:

Continue reading "Festive Left Friday Blogging: Some summit that was in Peru" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yeah, I know...me neither. But apparently it's a big deal in Miami, where the hatred for all things Chavez knows no bounds, and neither do the plans to sabotage him. And yes, this is one of those. It supposedly casts doubt on the election of Cristina Fernandez, the president of Argentina--supposedly. I've long had a sneaking feeling it was all bullshit. And now, when nobody's looking, suddenly the truth comes out. And lo and behold, the truth is that it WAS all bullshit:

Jaime Bayly, the Peruvian writer who has never hidden his aversion to President Hugo Chavez, admitted in his column "Lost Papers" this 28th of January in the Correo del Peru that he met Guido Antonini Wilson in the beginning of 2002, the year of the coup d'etat.

Wilson freely confessed to being friends with ex-president Carlos Andres Perez, and to being opposed to President Chavez, whose time in office, he asserted, would soon come to an end.

"Chavez won't last. He'll fall soon. We're going to topple him...he's going to end up in jail," Antonini told Bayly. A few months later, the April 2002 coup occurred, which removed President Chavez from power for 40 hours.

Antonini Wilson is the Venezuelan-American businessman who was arrested in August 2007 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, carrying a briefcase with some $800,000 US which he did not declare to customs authorities. Later, he escaped to Miami, where he is protected by US authorities.

Bayly's assertions are of interest, given that various sources have accused Antonini of working for the Venezuelan government, with the objective of handing over the money to the then-presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez.

Translation mine.

Of course, there is no way in Hades that Cristina Fernandez would have accepted that cash. A woman who denounces US imperialism in no uncertain terms would be rather reluctant to take any amount of Yanqui dinero, no?

Add to that the fact that this cash came directly from Miami, that the bearer was a friend of another Miamero fugitive, none other than the spectacularly crooked Carlos Andres Perez (who is most noteworthy for saying that Chavecito deserved to "die like a dog"), and bragged of being part of a conspiracy to bring Chavecito down some three months before the fact, and you have some pretty clear indicators that he was also planning to bring down a good friend and ally of said Chavecito, yes?

A translation of the full article by Bayly follows.

Continue reading "Remember that Argentine briefcase incident?" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jeezus. Just when I thought Alan Garcia could sink no lower...he sank lower. Aporrea explains:

The president of Peru, Alan Garcia, celebrated the failure of a police strike promoted "by communists" today. He made this statement without proof, and without identifying either organizations or persons involved.

The statement was rejected by the secretary-general of the Peruvian Communist Party (PCP), Renán Raffo, who denied that his organization had anything to do with the matter, and said that the accusation was a piece of sophistry to cover up Garcia's governmental ineptitude in the face of social problems.

The president made the declaration while asserting that the police were on duty as usual, in spite of reports of a 24-hour strike by a supposed clandestine "Peruvian Police Union".

According to Garcia, "Communism has failed in its attempt to create disorder and chaos" by way of a police strike.

Continue reading "Blame communism!" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How else but with a "free" trade agreement?

Congress will give priority treatment to approval of a trade pact with Peru when it reconvenes in September, the head of the House Ways and Means Committee said Monday.

"It is a priority when we return to the Congress in September," Rep. Charles Rangel, a Democrat from New York, told reporters after meeting with President Alan Garcia.

Continue reading "How to enable a tyrant" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Although, if you ask me, I'd say his tears are of a distinctly crocodilian variety...

Peru's President Alan Garcia has said his government has not done enough to improve the lives of the poor.

In a speech marking his first year in office, Mr Garcia - who has seen a sharp decline in his popularity - urged Peruvians to show patience.

He promised that increased investment would cut poverty before the end of his term in 2011.

Peru's economy is booming, but correspondents say the poor are yet to feel the benefits of its growth.

Continue reading "The Peruvian tyrant apologizes" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

And why not? This is the most embarrassing show of prime-ministerial hubris I've seen in a while.

Stephen Harper became the first Canadian prime minister to visit Colombia this week, and dismissed criticism that Canada is putting trade ahead of human rights.

Colombia continues to struggle with Marxist guerrillas and a flourishing drug trade.

"When we see a country like Columbia that has decided it has to address its social, political and economic problems, it wants to embrace economic freedom, it wants to embrace political democracy and human rights and social development, then we say we we're in," Harper told reporters Monday in Bogota.

The prime minister went on to announce that Canada has started free-trade negotiations with Colombia, considered the most violent country in the western hemisphere, and Peru.

Continue reading "I am cringing as I type this" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 2:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

(Translation: "Alan's back, let's get out of here!")

And now he's got the entire country on strike against him, not even one year after taking office for the second time in his very checkered career. This has got to be some kind of record.

Continue reading "Oh darn, there's that Peruvian tyrant again!" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

...in Peru.

The Peruvian government declared a state of emergency on Thursday for 15 days in the province of Coronel Portillo, Ucayali department, because of violent confrontations between strikers and police. The decree suspends constitutional guarantees of liberty and personal security, the inviolability of the home, and the freedom to meet and travel.

From Aporrea; translation mine.

Incredible. And yet, not a word about it in the US media. They're too busy trying to tar Hugo Chavez with the dictator label and make it stick. Meanwhile, Alan Garcia is acting the part much more closely, and do you think anyone says boo about him? No. Why? No oil. Or at least, not enough of it...and no resistance to international vampire corporations on the part of Garcia. In fact, he's more than happy to repress strikers and suspend constitutional liberties in an entire region.

Lovely!

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You better kiss my boots for this, people, I had to go all the way to Cuba to get it.

(Well, all right--to Granma.)

Throughout the world, many countries have adopted sovereign decision to not renew [broadcast] concessions or to allow them to expire. For example:

Peru, in April 2007, decided to shut down two television channels and three radio stations for incompliance with its Radio and Television Law, expired licenses and utilization of non-homologous equipment.

Say, who is the president of Peru? A communist? Nope...Alan Garcia. The "neo-liberal" darling of the newspaper neo-cons.

Continue reading "More untold news about TV licence revocations" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hmmm...I wonder. Seeing as Alan Garcia of Peru isn't making any noises about socialism, unlike a certain Chavecito of Venezuela, I can't see it happening. Can you?

Peru's parliament has granted emergency powers to President Alan Garcia in order to deal with drug trafficking and organised crime.

Congress overwhelmingly approved the move but around 20 Congressmen walked out of the session before the vote.

President Garcia has promised not to abuse the powers, which are valid for the next 60 days.

He will only have the power to rule by decree on nine specific types of crime, most of which relate to trafficking.

Continue reading "Will the international media call THIS president a tyrant?" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

And right along with it, all hope that Peruvian president Alan Garcia might have learned from mistakes of the past:

Environmental and human rights group in Peru have denounced the government's campaign to auction off large swathes of the Amazon to oil and gas companies.

They say the amount of Peruvian Amazon territory open to exploration has risen from 13% to 70% in two years.

They say this is putting at risk the biodiversity of the Amazon and the lives of indigenous people.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia has said the plans are part of his investment programme to tackle widespread poverty.

Continue reading "There goes the neighborhood" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Peruvian prime minister sure put his foot in it recently. Never ask what "it" is; just be thankful it didn't come out of YOUR mouth:

Venezuela rejected on Friday reported comments by Peru's prime minister predicting an end to President Hugo Chavez's support if oil prices fall.

"It is precisely those who continue accusing President Hugo Chavez of meddling in the politics of other countries who end up meddling in our politics," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said, calling the declarations by Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo "unacceptable."

Del Castillo was quoted in Peruvian media this week as saying that Chavez did not present a "stable proposal" and that his government would fail to leave a lasting mark.

"When the price of oil falls, 'Chavismo' ends," Del Castillo reportedly said.

Continue reading "When pigs grow wings and fly" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How's this for stupid, from the AP's Mark Stevenson:

"NEWS ANALYSIS: Leftist tide may be ebbing"

Conservative Felipe Calderon's apparent victory could signal that the leftist tide sweeping Latin America has reached its high-water mark, as voters frightened by the radicalism of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez seek refuge in more mainstream ideas across the region.

That trend has emerged with Mexico's presidential vote count Thursday, the setback dealt to Bolivian President Evo Morales in a referendum Sunday, and Peruvian moderate Alan Garcia's victory over Chavez ally Ollanta Humala last month.

Intolerance, confrontation, messianic attitudes and stridency — once staples of Latin America's left — are proving less attractive than leaders who can provide stability and strengthen historically weak institutions, like the separation of powers, independent central banks and judiciaries.

Continue reading "Headline Howler: The "ebbtide" that ain't" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 1:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who will advance to the second round of the Peruvian elections? O Wise Swami, who knows all and sees all, gaze into thy crystal ball.

And lo! Here are the standings so far, according to El Beebo:

Ex-army officer Ollanta Humala seems certain to face former President Alan Garcia in Peru's presidential run-off, partial first-round results suggest.

With just one percent of the vote left to count, Mr Humala leads with 30.7%, followed by Mr Garcia on 24.3%.

Continue reading "Here's one for the ol' El Predicto" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Depending on where you sit, this could be an example of Hugo Chavez putting his foot in it yet again, or of him being downright fucking brilliant yet again. From the Beeb:

The Peruvian authorities say comments made by Venezuela's president about candidates for the April election in Peru are unacceptable.

Hugo Chavez described the conservative Lourdes Flores as the candidate of the Peruvian oligarchy.

He also praised the nationalist former army officer, Ollanta Humala, saying he stood for Peru's "abandoned people".

Mr Chavez's comments come a week after Peru accused him of interference and recalled its envoy for consultations.

Continue reading "Uh oh, Hugo...now you've pissed off Peru!" »

Posted by Sabina Becker at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)