INTL Latin America and Islands- November 2019

[Plain Jane]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ivia-power-vacuum-splits-region-idUSKBN1XL1DT

NEWSNOVEMBER 11, 2019 / 6:25 AM / UPDATED 15 MINUTES AGO
Morales' exit leaves Bolivia power vacuum, splits region
Daniel Ramos, Gram Slattery
5 MIN READ

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Looting and roadblocks convulsed Bolivia on Monday after President Evo Morales’ resignation ended 14 years of socialist rule and left a power vacuum his opponents scrambled to fill.

The departure of Bolivia’s first indigenous president, one of a wave of leftists who dominated Latin America’s politics at the start of the century, followed weeks of violent protests over a disputed Oct. 20 re-election.

The 60-year-old former llama herder and coca leaf farmer was viewed by many as a champion of the poor who brought steady economic growth, but to others he was an autocrat who overstepped by defying a referendum on presidential term limits.

His government collapsed on Sunday after the Organization of American States (OAS) delivered a damning report into serious irregularities during the October vote, prompting ruling party allies to quit before the army urged him to step down.

Foes celebrated Morales’ departure but also moved swiftly to find a temporary successor before a presumed new election in the landlocked nation that is one of South America’s poorest, dependent on farming and natural gas.

With Morales’ deputy and many allies in government and parliament gone with him, opposition politician and Senate second vice-president Jeanine Añez flew into the capital La Paz saying she was willing to take control.


“If I have the support of those who carried out this movement for freedom and democracy, I will take on the challenge, only to do what’s necessary to call transparent elections,” said Añez, who is constitutionally next in line to assume the presidency.

Speaking tearfully about the crisis, she said the Senate would look to hold a session on Tuesday and urged members of Morales’ Movement for Socialism (MAS) party to attend to find a constitutional solution and interim president.

Morales’s resignation still needs to be approved by the Legislative Assembly, convened by both chambers of Congress.

That looked set to be delayed until at least Wednesday after the Chamber of Deputies said it would suspend a planned meeting on Tuesday as some of its members were unable to reach La Paz citing “force majeure” and insecurity.

A man walks past buses burned during a protest after Bolivia's President Evo Morales announced on Sunday that he was resigning, in La Paz, Bolivia November 11, 2019.

GANGS, FIRES, CLASHES
Overnight, gangs roamed the highland capital, businesses were attacked and properties were set on fire. Schools and shops were largely closed, while public transport halted, roads were blocked, and rival political groups clashed on the streets.

“I am afraid of what will happen, everything is a mess in the city. There are fights between neighbors,” said Patricia Paredes, a 35-year-old secretary in La Paz.

Morales’ exact whereabouts were unknown, though it was thought he left in the presidential plane for his stronghold of Chapare province, where he rose to prominence as a union leader.


Morales repeated on Monday accusations he was the victim of a conspiracy by enemies including election rival Carlos Mesa and protest leader Luis Fernando Camacho. “The world and our Bolivian patriots repudiate the coup,” he tweeted.

Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez echoed Morales’ denunciations, as did Mexico which has offered him asylum. “It’s a coup because the army requested the resignation of the president, and that violates the constitutional order of that country,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

In a redrawing of Latin America’s political landscape, the left has regained power in both Mexico and Argentina, though powerhouse Brazil still retains a right-wing government.

“A great day,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted, in apparent reference to events in Bolivia.

Slideshow (13 Images)
In Venezuela, opponents of Morales ally Nicolas Maduro also hailed the fall of the Bolivian leader whom they call a dictator, saying they hoped Maduro would be next.

Further afield, the United States urged civilians to keep control while Russia backed Morales.

Amid the chaos, prominent Bolivian opposition figure and academic Waldo Albarracin tweeted that his house was set on fire by Morales supporters. A video appeared to show people inside Morales’ own property with graffiti daubed on the walls.

“People are trying to cause chaos,” fretted Edgar Torrez, a 40-year-old business administrator in La Paz, saying politicians and criminals were all taking advantage of the situation.


Under Bolivian law, the head of the Senate would normally take over provisionally. However, Senate President Adriana Salvatierra also stepped down on Sunday.

Possible interim leader Añez is a member of the Democratic Union party and senator for the department of Beni in the country’s lowland northeast. On arrival at El Alto airport, she was met by an Air Force helicopter to be taken to a military academy before traveling to Congress, another senator said.

Bolivia under Morales had one of the region’s strongest economic growth rates and its poverty rate halved, but his determination to cling to power and run for a fourth term alienated many allies, even among his indigenous base.

Reporting by Daniel Ramos, Gram Slattery, Monica Machicao in La Paz, Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Dave Graham and Miguel Gutierrez in Mexico City, Tom Balmforth in Moscow; Writing by Hugh Bronstein and Adam Jourdan; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Andrew Cawthorne

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/msm-adamantly-avoids-word-coup-bolivia-reporting

MSM Adamantly Avoids The Word "Coup" In Bolivia Reporting
Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/11/2019 - 10:25

Authored by Caitlin Johnstone via Medium.com,

There has been a military coup in Bolivia backed by violent right-wing rioters and the US government, but you’d hardly know this from any of the mainstream media headlines.

Bolivian President Evo Morales steps down following accusations of election fraud” proclaims CNN.

“Bolivia’s Morales resigns amid scathing election report, rising protests” reports The Washington Post.

“Bolivian Leader Evo Morales Steps Down” says The New York Times.

“Bolivian President Evo Morales resigns amid fraud poll protests” declares the BBC.

“President of Bolivia steps down amid allegations of election rigging” we are informed by Telegraph.

“Bolivia’s President Morales resigns after backlash to disputed election” says the Sydney Morning Herald.


So there you have it. The indigenous leader of a socialist South American government which has successfully lifted masses of people out of crushing poverty, which happens to control the world’s largest reserves of lithium (which may one day replace oil as a crucial energy resource due to its use in powering smartphones, laptops, hybrid and electric cars), which has an extensive and well-documented history of being targeted for regime change by the US government, simply stepped down due to some sort of scandal involving a “disputed election”. Nothing to do with the fact that right-wing mobs had been terrorizing this leader’s family, or the fact that the nation’s military literally commanded him to step down and are now currently searching for him to arrest him, leading to ousted government officials being rounded up and held captive by soldiers wearing masks.

All perfectly normal and not suspicious at all.


Secretary Pompeo
✔
@SecPompeo
Fully support the findings of the @OAS_official report recommending new elections in #Bolivia to ensure a truly democratic process representative of the people’s will. The credibility of the electoral system must be restored.

3,799
1:44 PM - Nov 10, 2019
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As is usual, mass media’s reporting on this story is in full alignment with the US State Department, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also advancing the “disputed election” line in a tweet shortly before the forced resignation of Morales. Pompeo cited the evidence-free and discredited allegation of suspicious vote tallies during Morales’ re-election last month from the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS). As Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic & Policy Research explains in a recent article for The Nation, the OAS receives 60 percent of its funding from Washington, which gives the US tremendous leverage over the supposedly neutral and international body. This ties in interestingly with what we discussed the other day about Washington’s known history of using its disproportionate financial support for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as leverage to force that supposedly neutral and international body to comply with US agendas.


The field of narrative management keeps making more and more advances.


Mark Weisbrot
@MarkWeisbrot
They never did find any evidence of fraud in the October 20th election, but the media repeated the allegation so many times that it became "true," in this post-truth world. Thread: https://twitter.com/MarkWeisbrot/status/1193629359925579776 …

Mark Weisbrot
@MarkWeisbrot
Well it's officially a military coup now in Bolivia. And, as usual, backed by the United States government. Without the US-dominated OAS, & a lot of terrible and even false reporting, it probably wouldn't have happened.

8,196
4:38 PM - Nov 10, 2019
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The US-centralized empire just keeps throwing coup attempts at unabsorbed governments until they stick. The coup in Venezuela failed in 2002 and again in 2019, but they’ll just keep attempting them until one takes hold. A kickboxer throws strikes in combinations with the understanding that most attacks will miss or do minimal damage against a trained opponent, but eventually one will get through and score the knockout blow. Imperialist regime change agendas employ the same punches-in-bunches philosophy: just keep attacking and undermining at every possible turn, and eventually something will stick.

And the empire can afford to do this. When you have all the power and resources, you can bide your time, knowing that if the current attempt at toppling the government in a sovereign nation fails, there’s always tomorrow.


At a United Nations Security Council meeting last year, President Morales summed up the true nature of America’s role in the world very accurately, and, it turns out, very presciently.

“I would like to say to you, frankly and openly here, that in no way is the United States interested in upholding democracy,” Morales said. “If such were the case it would not have financed coups d’etat and supported dictators. It would not have threatened with military intervention democratically elected governments as it has done with Venezuela. The United States could not care less about human rights or justice. If this were the case, it would have signed the international conventions and treaties that have protected human rights.It would not have threatened the investigation mechanism of the International Criminal Court, nor would it promote the use of torture, nor would it have walked away from the Human Rights Council. And nor would it have separated migrant children from their families, nor put them in cages.”

“The United States is not interested in multilateralism,” Morales continued. “If it were interested in multilateralism it would not have withdrawn from the Paris Agreement or given the cold shoulder to the global compact on migration, it would not have launched unilateral attacks, nor have taken decisions such as illegally declaring Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel. This contempt for multilateralism is motivated by the thirst of the United States for political control and for the seizing of natural resources.”

“Each time that the United States invades nations, launches missiles, or finances regime change, it does so behind a propaganda campaign which incessantly repeats the message that it is acting in the course of justice, freedom and democracy, in the cause of human rights or for humanitarian reasons,” Morales also said.

“The responsibility of our generation is to hand over a fairer and more secure world to the following generation,” Morales concluded. “We will only achieve this dream if we work together to consolidate a multipolar world, a world with common rules that are respected by and defended from all the threats ranged against the United Nations.”

Indeed, the only reason the US is able to wage its endless campaign of regime change agendas against unabsorbed governments is because the unipolar world order it rules has allowed it the power, resources and leisure to do so. A multipolar world would enable the citizenry of this planet to have a say in what happens to them in a way that is not dictated by a few sociopaths in and around Washington, DC. A multipolar world is to democracy as a unipolar world is to monarchy. The citizens of the world should oppose this unipolarity.

* * *

 

[Plain Jane]

https://apnews.com/9b44906479cf4c24a0c51782a0b345ce

Freed ex-president tells crowd Brazil’s left can win in 2022
By MARIO LOBÃO and DIANE JEANTET
November 9, 2019

SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil (AP) — Freed from his cell, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told thousands of jubilant supporters Saturday that the left can take back Brazil’s presidency in the 2022 election.

Dressed in a black blazer and T-shirt, da Silva spoke from a stage outside the union near Sao Paulo that he once led and that served as the base for his political career. The crowd of red-clad supporters cheered and waved flags.

“We are going to do a lot of fighting. Fighting is not one day on, then three months off, then back. Fighting is every day,” said da Silva, a 74-year-old who promised to bring the energy of a 30-year-old to the streets.

In his 45-minute speech, he spoke briefly of conservative President Jair Bolsonaro, who won the 2018 election after da Silva’s corruption conviction barred him from running. Da Silva said Brazilians must accept the results of the democratic election and work to defeat the “ultra-right” in 2022.

He also called for solidarity with fellow South American countries and lambasted U.S. President Donald Trump, saying his border wall plan is unacceptable and aimed at keeping out poor people.

“Trump should resolve Americans’ problems and not bother Latin Americans. He wasn’t elected to be the world’s sheriff,” said da Silva, who in a Twitter post Friday backed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person can be jailed only after all appeals to higher courts have been exhausted. Da Silva was released the next day, after 19 months imprisonment.

He is still appealing his conviction related to the alleged purchase of a beachfront apartment and remains entangled in other cases. He was also convicted by a lower court judge in a case involving ownership of a farmhouse in Atibaia, outside Sao Paulo.

If he loses his appeals in either conviction, he could be locked up again.

Da Silva has denied any wrongdoing and accused prosecutors and Sergio Moro, then a judge and now justice minister, of manipulating the case against him.

Moro said on Twitter earlier that the Supreme Court’s decision should be respected, but Congress could alter the constitution to change when convicted criminals start serving their sentences.

Some Brazilian groups organized demonstrations in dozens of cities in support of the Bolsonaro administration, but turnout was low.

The president’s son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, said on Twitter that da Silva’s release will prompt people to set aside differences and unite against the Workers’ Party, a sentiment that helped carry his father to the presidency.


Jair Bolsonaro had refrained from commenting on da Silva, but when asked by journalists about the case Saturday, the president responded: “He is free, but he still has all his crimes on his back.”

Da Silva said he had a message for his opponents in power: “I want to say to them: I’m back.”

___

Associated Press writer Mario Lobão reported this story in Sao Bernardo do Campo and AP writer Diane Jeantet reported from Rio de Janeiro.

 

[Dozdoats]

MSM Adamantly Avoids The Word "Coup" In Bolivia Reporting

"WE'RE having a coup and they can't share it."

 

[jward]

There is coverage of this ongoing event in WOW thread that you might wish to read or repost.

 

[Dozdoats]

WOW thread

Speekee engrish preee.

Or offer a link?

 

[jward]

Sorry. Apparently I don't speed read, but rather, read in shorthand. I thought the correct title of thread was W.O.W.
Here's the link, should you be interested: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...1-15-2019___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

Hope that helps.

 

[Plain Jane]

Sorry. Apparently I don't speed read, but rather, read in shorthand. I thought the correct title of thread was W.O.W.
Here's the link, should you be interested: http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...1-15-2019___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

Hope that helps.

Thanks jward!

 

[AlfaMan]

Bet we send troops there to "help the new government" when they get one. AND to secure the lithium supplies. Strategic metal, folks. We have an interest there.

 

[Texican]

The blood of citizens and patriots has to be shed to defeat socialism.... And the enemny defeated and put int he ground....

Texican....

 

[Plain Jane]

https://apnews.com/6b2c94306089451d9761878c9f7ce2f1

AP Explains: Did a coup force Bolivia’s Evo Morales out?
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Did Bolivia experience a coup or the culmination of a popular movement demanding a president’s resignation?

Bolivians and countries around the world are weighing that question after Evo Morales stepped down from power following weeks of upheaval.

The nation’s first indigenous leader contends he was forced out of power by a coup instigated by the opposition, while detractors claim his alleged abuse of power triggered a legitimate uprising in the streets.

___

WHAT SPARKED BOLIVIA’S UPHEAVAL?

The South American nation has been embroiled in protests since Morales claimed that he won the Oct. 20 presidential election outright.

Bolivia’s leader for nearly 14 years needed a 10 percentage-point margin over his closest rival to avoid a December runoff in which he faced a high probability of losing to a united opposition in his quest for a fourth consecutive term.

Election officials abruptly stopped releasing results from a quick count that showed Morales leading the race but not by enough to win in the first round. The development led to accusations of fraud and sparked deadly protests.

Days later, Morales declared victory, holding up election results showing he had narrowly edged opposition candidate Carlos Mesa.

Many in Bolivia were already skeptical that the vote would be fair, contending the nation’s electoral authority is biased toward Morales.

The president had also chosen to run for a new term despite a 2016 referendum in which voters shot down a proposal to change constitutional term limits and let him run again. A top court that critics claimed was stacked in Morales’ favor threw out the restrictions, paving the way for him to run again.

WHY DID MORALES STEP DOWN?

The leader’s troubles escalated Friday evening when police forces across Bolivia decided to join the protests and break with Morales.

The following day, the Organization of American States announced that its preliminary audit of the Oct. 20 had found serious irregularities.

Morales agreed to hold a new vote, but that wasn’t enough to quell protests or satiate an opposition convinced it would not be possible to hold a fair election as long as he remained in the presidential palace.

Labor groups, including some that had marched in favor of Morales, began turning against him and calling on the leader to resign.

On Sunday, the head of Bolivia’s armed forces, Gen. Williams Kaliman, issued a statement declaring that in light of the ongoing social upheaval, military officials were “suggesting” to Morales that he resign.

Shortly thereafter Morales announced he was calling it quits, likening his departure to an overthrow by an opposition threatening both him and his followers.

___

WAS IT A COUP?

A coup d’état is commonly defined as a forceful change in government through the use or threat of violence by a member of the state, often the armed forces.

Whether the events Sunday in Bolivia constitute a coup d’état is now the subject of debate in and outside the nation.

On one hand, there was a clear involvement of the military in civilian affairs, notes John Polga-Hecimovich, a political scientist at the U.S. Naval Academy.

However, unlike Cold War-era coups in which military troops marched on capital cities and took control of government buildings, Bolivia’s armed forces only issued a statement with a “suggestion” of what Morales should do.

Thus, Bolivia’s “coup” is largely a question of semantics.

“The military didn’t use violence,” Polga-Hecimovich said. “It issued a verbal declaration and did not give the president an ultimatum. I think that’s the crux of the matter. Whether you want to view that as a threat or not. If you view it as a threat, it’s a coup. If you don’t view it as a threat but as a suggestion, then you don’t.”

Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, highlighted that there is also no indication right now that the military plans to rule.

Nonetheless, he added: “I don’t’ think we can be happy about what seems to have been a role of the military in causing Morales to step down.”

WHO IS ON EACH SIDE OF THE COUP DEBATE?

Morales allies who share his socialist ideology have backed his claim that he was removed in a coup d’état.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called it “a coup prepared with violence.”

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvia also came to the leader’s defense, saying Morales had been “obliged” to step down.

“It is unfortunate that Latin America has an economic elite that does not know how to coexist in democracy and with social inclusion of the poorest,” he wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, conservative Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro questioned the coup assertion.

“The word coup is used a lot when the left loses,” he told Brazil’s O Globo newspaper. “When they win, it’s legitimate. When they lose, it’s a coup.”

Others are avoiding a direct stance and calling for new elections.

The head of the Organization of American States said the international body “rejects any unconstitutional resolution of the situation” while calling on Bolivia’s legislature to name new election authorities to ensure a fair vote.

The European Union reiterated a call for calm and said it stands ready to send election observers if a request is made.

___

DOES IT MATTER WHAT IT’S CALLED?

Yes.

As long as there is uncertainty about whether Morales was overthrown in a coup, any incoming government could face legitimacy challenges.

The armed forces could also now be perceived of having become politicized, Polga-Hecimovich said.

All this could mean that an already polarized Bolivia grows more divided.

“If they can’t agree on the facts, it’s going to be very difficult to agree on a common consensus and a common governance plan,” the analyst said.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?

All eyes will be on who steps in to fill Bolivia’s present power vacuum.

Those immediately next in line to assume the presidency have resigned.

Jeanine Áñez, the Senate’s second vice president, said Monday that she would be willing to assume the presidency on an interim basis pending new elections.

“I just want to help provide a solution for this terrible crisis we are living,” she said in tears. “Let it be clear this would only be for a transition.”

It remains to be seen whether legislators belonging to Morales’ party — who still hold a majority — might try to block her.

Whoever steps in will face an uphill battle in establishing a new electoral office, organizing a vote and trying to quell tensions.

Morales has vowed not to back down, saying rival opposition leaders will be remembered by history as “racists and coup plotters.”

On Twitter, he said he’s been moved by an outpouring of solidarity from supporters.

“They will never abandon me,” he said. “And I will never abandon them.”

 

[Plain Jane]

https://www.ecuadortimes.net/ecuador-will-begin-large-scale-gold-production/

Ecuador will begin large-scale gold production

Posted On 11 Nov 2019
On November 14, 2019, Ecuador begins the production of gold through large-scale mining. In the Fruta del Norte mining project, located in Los Encuentros (Zamora Chinchipe), the Canadian company Lundin Gold plans to start its gold production this Thursday.

The operation is the first gold production through large-scale mining in the country.

In February of this year, government authorities indicated that in its first year of production Fruta del Norte will generate $ 375 million in exports and $ 6.3 billion in its 15 years of useful life.

The Canadian, who signed a contract with the State in 2016 to begin works in 2017, has invested $ 480 million so far in the project, from which they expect to extract 3,500 tons of ore per day. The company will invest a total of $ 1 billion in the country.

The mining company Lundin announced last June 26 that it has begun the extraction of the first gold production in the Fruta del Norte project, in Zamora Chinchipe. The objective of the firm is to obtain the metal at the end of the year.

In July of this year Ecuador premiered as a copper producer. The Mirador project, located in the Tundayme parish (El Pangui), in the province of Zamora Chinchipe, carried out the testing of its beneficiation plant, which processes copper concentrate that is exported to China since last month.

The goal is to extract 400 tons of concentrate a day. From that amount, 12 tons of pure copper will be obtained.

https://www.expreso.ec/economia/ecuador-produccion-oro-mineria-gobierno-XF3263123

 

[Plain Jane]

An older article but it fills in some details.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...mexico-for-argentinas-fernandez-idUSKBN1XF0PU

NEWSNOVEMBER 5, 2019 / 1:38 AM / 6 DAYS AGO
Latin American left rising? First stop Mexico for Argentina's Fernandez
Frank Jack Daniel
5 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The prospect of a more united Latin American left grew on Monday after the incoming president of Argentina and his Mexican counterpart discussed reviving a regional diplomatic alternative to the Washington-backed Organization of American States.

Latin American countries have oscillated between left-wing and conservative governments, often with radically different economic and social policies, over the past few decades.

Since last year, anger at corruption, inequality and poverty have pushed conservatives out in Mexico and Argentina, while fueling protests in recent weeks that forced Ecuador and Chile to water down liberal economic policies.

Argentina’s president-elect Alberto Fernandez used his first foreign trip since winning office last month to proclaim a new era of leftist cooperation, in an apparent bid to demonstrate he will not be isolated despite South American neighbor Brazil’s right-wing government.

I am determined to make Latin America united again, to again join forces to face the challenge of globalization in another way,” Fernandez told reporters in Mexico’s presidential palace after meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Next year, Mexico will assume the presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, a regional body established in Venezuela during late President Hugo Chavez’s government that has lost influence in recent years.

That is a chance to boost one of the organisms, one of the spaces for integration that have been forgotten recently,” Fernandez said of the organization, seen by some on the left as a future counterweight to the OAS, which they argue is a vehicle for U.S. influence in Latin America.

Mexico’s deputy foreign minister for Latin America lent credence to the idea of the region’s second and third largest economies working together from opposite ends of the continent to revive the grouping known as CELAC.

“Mexico and Argentina have in front of them the opportunity to promote the repositioning of Latin America in the world,” Maximiliano Reyes wrote in the La Jornada daily.

MADURO’S PRAISE
Apart from managing Mexico’s relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, Lopez Obrador has not taken a prominent global role so far, skipping events like the Group of 20 Summit and the U.N. General Assembly.

However, he has stepped back from his predecessor’s robust criticism of Venezuela’s current socialist leader President Nicolas Maduro - instead pursuing Mexico’s traditional policy of non-intervention in other countries’ affairs.

Under U.S. sanctions and declared an illegitimate president by right-leaning governments in the region, Maduro praised Lopez Obrador and Fernandez in a speech in Cuba on Sunday, calling them leaders of a new progressive front in Latin America.

“New winds are blowing,” said Maduro, who has presided over an economic meltdown and who is accused of abuses by rights groups.

Mexico and Argentina’s new foreign policy, combined with the protests and allegations of rights violations by Chilean security forces was “very good news for Maduro,” said David Smilde, a Latin America expert at Tulane University and senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America.

Still, when asked if he would pursue a stronger alliance with like-minded governments in the region, Lopez Obrador demurred on Monday, stressing he had a “very good” relationship with Trump.

When asked to comment on Maduro’s praise for him, Lopez Obrador again sought to occupy the middle ground.

“Not to show off, but the same thing president Maduro is saying, president Trump is saying.”

Different in style to Chavez, who reveled in verbal clashes with the U.S. “empire,” or jailed former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who felt at home on the global stage, Lopez Obrador was unlikely to announce himself leader of any bloc, said Mexican academic John Ackerman.

But the Mexican president’s return to Mexico’s non-interventionist stance was equally important and was acting as a “wall of contention” against those interested in meddling in other countries, said Ackerman, a constitutional law expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico who is close to Lopez Obrador’s administration.

“People said Mexico arrived late to the pink tide, and now it’s arriving early to the second pink tide,” said Ackerman, using a term that described the election of socialist governments in Latin America in the early 2000s.

It’s not a straggler, it’s a leader of this new wave.”

Additional reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Daina Beth Solomon and Dave Graham in Mexico City, Anthony Boadle in Brasilia and Sarah Marsh in Havana; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...26977?cid=clicksource_76_null_articleroll_hed

Spanish king and queen arrive in Cuba for first royal visit
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain have arrived in Cuba on the first state visit to the island by a Spanish royal
By
MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press
November 11, 2019, 9:19 PM
2 min read

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain arrived in Cuba on Monday night on the first state visit to the island by a Spanish royal.

The couple disembarked in Havana at the start of a three-day visit to Cuba's capital and the eastern city of Santiago.

The king and queen will tour historic sites during the week as Havana celebrates the 500th anniversary of its founding, but they will leave before the actual anniversary on Saturday.

The trip has sparked criticism from right-wing politicians in Spain and inspired critical opinion pieces in conservative-leaning newspapers over a trip seen as a step forward for normal relations between Spain and its former colony, a single-party communist state that cracks down harshly on dissent.

The royal couple plan to meet with cultural figures and entrepreneurs but avoid interaction with members of Cuba's illegal political opposition.

Spanish hotel chains and other tourism-related businesses serve hundreds of thousands of travelers to Cuba each year, and hundreds of thousands of Cubans have claimed Spanish citizenship through laws granting passports to the children and grandchildren of Spanish immigrants.

Felipe's father, King Juan Carlos, never made a state visit to Cuba during his four decades on the throne following the return of democracy to Spain after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. Pressure from conservative political parties nixed any chance of a visit.

Juan Carlos did travel to Havana in 1999 for the Ibero-American Summit. He also returned to the island after he had abdicated in 2014 to attend the funeral of Fidel Castro.

Pablo Casado, the leader of Spain's conservative Popular Party and opposition leader to Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has criticized the King Felipe's trip.

"It doesn't seem logical (that Sánchez) sends, a day after an election, the king and queen to visit the gerontocratic dictatorship of Cuba," Casado said.

———

Associated Press writer Michael Weissenstein reported this story in Havana and AP writer Joseph Wilson reported from Madrid.

 

[Melodi]

The blood of citizens and patriots has to be shed to defeat socialism.... And the enemny defeated and put int he ground....

Texican....

Uh sorry, it is a bit more complicated than that - because in this case "the enemy" is likely to be "replaced" not by any sort of real "Republic" that represents the majority of the citizens, but so far all things point to a "coup" (or whatever) by:

The original oligarchy combined with Corporatism/multinational corporations whose real goal is power, money, and influence for themselves.

Or as my old Latin American studies professor used to say:

"It can be very difficult getting new students to understand that certain terms we use for one thing in the United States do not always mean the same thing they do in the US, starting with the term socialism."

In Latin America, it tends to get used almost like a "catch-all" phrase for "let's redo society so we don't have a 000.1 percent owning everything and everyone else lives in abject poverty."

I mean Bolivia is one of the places where a big multinational talked a previous government into "corporatizing water" to "improve" water only instead they raised the prices higher than at least half (or more) of the population could pay.

The results were community-led massive civil "disobedience" as en mass the elders got the young folks to just keep opening up the water pipes and using the "forbidden" water that they couldn't pay for and would die without.

Eventually, that government-backed down - but hey if you've experienced the extremely minority governments that don't represent you or anyone you know not only making your miserable but seeming actively bent on trying to kill you and your family; and especially if you are barely or totally uneducated (in a modern sense) any "ism" that promises to improve things probably sounds pretty good.

South American especially, is NOT a land of small shop keepers and business owners who want to protect themselves from a powerful commercial power like the US Colonies vs. England.

Some of the more conservative ones like Bolivia are essential feudal kingdoms full of lords (called Dons or Patrons) and serfs (peasants).

Places like Venezuela WERE on the way to become modern industrial countries with middle classes etc but still had huge numbers of people stuck in the role of surfs, that and rising expectations (which do often lead to revolutions historically) are what derailed things there.

So I'd be careful just who I saw as the "good guys" vs. "the bad" guys in Bolivia, as they are not all that obvious.

Not to mention that it is looking more and more like the "Bigs" (Big Agra/Pharma/Mining/Industrial etc) wanted something out of Bolivia that Morales and his backers were unwilling to simply hand over and/or allow the destruction of local villages to provide to the outside world.

Now that's just a first impression, but I'm hearing this from people I kind of trust, though again no leader is perfect and Morales probably make mistakes that didn't help this situation.

 

[Dozdoats]

Ecuador will begin large-scale gold production

AKA alpaca pasture

Another company - http://www.aurania.com/

 

[Plain Jane]

Ecuador will begin large-scale gold production

AKA alpaca pasture

Another company - http://www.aurania.com/

Hmmm. So Ecuador has political unrest and then discovers gold mines in its future.

And now this from Bolivia. Alfaman called it !

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopoliti...-less-week-after-morales-stopped-lithium-deal

Bolivian Coup Comes Less Than A Week After Morales Stopped Lithium Deal
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by Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/12/2019 - 13:29
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Authored by Eoin Higgins via CommonDreams.org,

The Sunday military coup in Bolivia has put in place a government which appears likely to reverse a decision by just-resigned President Evo Morales to cancel an agreement with a German company for developing lithium deposits in the Latin American country for batteries like those in electric cars.

"Bolivia's lithium belongs to the Bolivian people," tweeted Washington Monthly contributor David Atkins.

"Not to multinational corporate cabals."

The coup, which on Sunday resulted in Morales resigning and going into hiding, was the result of days of protests from right-wing elements angry at the leftist Morales government. Sen. Jeanine Añez, of the center-right party Democratic Unity, is currently the interim president in the unstable post-coup government in advance of elections.




Investment analyst publisher Argus urged investors to keep an eye on the developing situation and noted that gas and oil production from foreign companies in Bolivia had remained steady.

The Morales move on Nov. 4 to cancel the December 2018 agreement with Germany's ACI Systems Alemania (ACISA) came after weeks of protests from residents of the Potosí area. The region has 50% to 70% of the world's lithium reserves in the Salar de Uyuni salt flats.

Among other clients, ACISA provides batteries to Tesla; Tesla's stock rose Monday after the weekend.

As Bloomberg News noted in 2018, that has set the country up to be incredibly important in the next decade:

Demand for lithium is expected to more than double by 2025. The soft, light mineral is mined mainly in Australia, Chile, and Argentina. Bolivia has plenty—9 million tons that have never been mined commercially, the second-largest amount in the world—but until now there's been no practical way to mine and sell it.

Morales' cancellation of the ACISA deal opened the door to either a renegotiation of the agreement with terms delivering more of the profits to the area's population or the outright nationalization of the Bolivian lithium extraction industry.

As Telesur reported in June, the Morales government announced at the time it was "determined to industrialize Bolivia and has invested huge amounts to ensure that lithium is processed within the country to export it only in value-added form, such as in batteries."

It's unclear what the next steps are for the industry in a post-coup Bolivia, according to global intelligence analysis firm Stratfor:

In the longer term, continued political uncertainty will make it more difficult for Bolivia to increase its production of strategic metals like lithium or develop a value-added sector in the battery market. The poor investment climate comes at a time of expanding global opportunities in lithium-ion battery production to meet rising demand from electric vehicle manufacturing.

ACISA told German broadcaster DW last week that the company was "confident that our lithium project will be resumed after a phase of political calmness and clarification."

On Sunday, Morales resigned.

 

[Plain Jane]

From post 17:

"The Sunday military coup in Bolivia has put in place a government which appears likely to reverse a decision by just-resigned President Evo Morales to cancel an agreement with a German company for developing lithium deposits in the Latin American country for batteries like those in electric cars. "


And now we have the rest of the story.

https://www.dw.com/en/elon-musk-tesla-to-build-car-and-battery-factory-in-berlin-area/a-51218101

Elon Musk: Tesla to build car and battery factory in 'Berlin area'
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk pledged to build "Gigafactory 4" in the Berlin area, German media reported. Several countries have attempted to sway the company towards building a factory on their territory.

The best-known produced of electric cars, Tesla, will build a car and battery factory near Berlin, several news outlets reported on Tuesday.

The outlets cited the statement by Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk who is visiting Berlin for the annual Goldene Lenkrad (Golden Steering Wheel) automotive awards organized by car magazine Autobild, an offshoot of the daily Bild.

********
More at the link.

 

[Melodi]

And yet again, Confessions of an Economic Hitman for 10,000 (and Alfaman) ding, ding, ding!

 

[Dozdoats]

Oh, Bolivia (by way of the Spaniards) discovered gold mines in its future in the 1500s.

http://www.aurania.com/projects/the-lost-cities-project/history/

 

[Plain Jane]

What gets me about this is 5-10 years from now when the activists show up to protest the dislocations and death of Indigenous Bolivians, who will get blamed for the electric cars?

Hispanic AOC and her Green New Deal? No, it will be Nordic looking Greta's huge murals that will attract all of the ire. And the poor kid won't know what happened.
This is all kind of happening in her name.

I still don't think that those cars are the panacea that people insist that they are. They are simply a means to a less mobile end.

 

[Plain Jane]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...overy-of-china-brazil-relations-idUSKBN1XM205

NEWSNOVEMBER 12, 2019 / 10:30 AM / UPDATED 9 HOURS AGO
BRICS summit marks recovery of China-Brazil relations
Jake Spring, Anthony Boadle
4 MIN READ

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Jair Bolsonaro’s repeated bashing of China on the campaign trail last year left diplomats on both sides worried he might take a wrecking ball to one of the world’s biggest trading partnerships.

Supporters of Chinese President react as the presidential convoy arrive in Brasilia before the BRICS summit meeting in Brasilia, Brazil November 12, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
But 11 months into Bolsonaro’s presidency, the visit this week of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for the BRICS summit looks set to complete a repair of the relationship.

Presidents of the group of major emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - will meet in Brazil’s capital on Wednesday and Thursday for what are widely expected to be low-key, technical discussions.

The five leaders will focus on stimulating investment in their countries amid a slowing world economy, while patching up disagreements on issues such as Venezuela and Bolivia, diplomats said.

Before the summit, Xi and Bolsonaro will hold bilateral meetings on Wednesday morning.

“It’s going to be the endpoint of a process of making up after what was the worst crisis of the relationship between Brazil and China of the past decades,” said Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian university.


China will likely seek to signal that it is an “all-weather friend” to Brazil, Stuenkel said.

China, which is Brazil’s largest trading partner with $98.7 billion in two-way trade last year, buys vast quantities of commodities from South America’s largest country. Chinese demand has surged for soy and other farm products amid China’s trade war with the United States.

In the lead-up to the last year’s election, things looked very different. “The Chinese are not buying in Brazil. They are buying Brazil,” Bolsonaro said on repeated occasions.

But the far-right former army captain has struck a more conciliatory tone since taking power. There have been high-level meetings and friendly gestures.

China has authorized exports from 45 Brazilian meat plants, helped by visits earlier in the year by Vice President Hamilton Mourao and Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias.

Chinese state oil companies CNOOC (0883.HK) and CNODC were the only bidders other than Brazil’s own state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA) in a massive oil auction last week, following an invitation made by Bolsonaro during his visit to the Asian nation.

Senior Chinese officials told reporters last week they hope the summit will help “inject confidence into a worried international community” and “uphold multilateralism in the face of unprecedented challenges and rising protectionism.”

AGREE TO DISAGREE
Most notable perhaps will be a desire to avoid confrontation over Venezuela, a key point on which Brazil disagrees with Russia and China. It will be discussed, though not publicly.

“Venezuela is not off the table, but it will not be mentioned in the joint declaration,” a diplomat from one BRICS nation said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The resignation of Bolivian President Evo Morales on Sunday brought another division within BRICS, as Brazil welcomed his departure as opening the way to fair elections and Russia called it a coup.

Last week, diplomats at Brazil’s Foreign Ministry laid out the BRICS agenda including beefing up cooperation in fighting terrorism and corruption.

The main thrust will, however, be to get the group’s New Development Bank to lend more for infrastructure and other projects to boost growth. Created in 2014, the bank has taken time to get going, leading to impatience among member countries.

Slideshow (8 Images)
Even though it has now approved projects valued at a not-negligible $12 billion, there is a need for BRICS to move beyond speeches and speed up action in financing development, diplomats said.

Bank executives, business leaders and officials are expected to discuss an expansion of the bank to include new members.

Reporting by Jake Spring and Anthony Boadle; Additional reporting by Cate Cadell in Beijing; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Steve Orlofsky

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

TB2K's long thread on Bolivia protests and Morales' departure.

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?563622-TROUBLE-IN-BOLIVIA

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ment-employees-to-leave-bolivia-idUSKBN1XN06M

NEWSNOVEMBER 12, 2019 / 9:33 PM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
U.S. orders family members of government employees to leave Bolivia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday ordered family members of U.S. government employees to leave Bolivia due to civil unrest in the South American country, the State Department said in a statement.

The department also warned American citizens against traveling to Bolivia and said the U.S. government had limited ability to provide emergency services after a disputed election sparked protests that led Evo Morales to resign as president and flee the country.

Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Mohammad Zargham

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...pirates-in-mexico-two-crew-hurt-idUSKBN1XM2YG

NEWSNOVEMBER 12, 2019 / 6:47 PM / UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO
Italian ship attacked by pirates in Mexico, two crew hurt
2 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Pirates attacked an Italy-flagged offshore supply vessel in the southern Gulf of Mexico, injuring two crew members, the Mexican Navy said on Tuesday, in the latest outbreak of robbery and piracy to hit oil platforms and infrastructure in the area.

One of the crew members of the boat, “Remas,” received a bullet wound, and the other suffered a concussion, and both were transferred to a nearby hospital, the Navy said in a statement.

Owned by Italian offshore contractor Micoperi, the boat is a supply vessel for Mexico’s oil industry.

It had a crew of about 35 when the attack occurred off the city of Ciudad del Carmen in the state of Campeche, according to two people familiar with the matter and local media reports.

About eight armed pirates arrived in two small ships and boarded the vessel, robbing the crew, the reports said.

Micoperi and the Italian embassy in Mexico did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mexican state oil firm Pemex has said robbery is increasingly affecting its oil infrastructure. Sophisticated equipment has been stolen and resold, and crews robbed.

Most registered attacks have been in the southern rim of the Gulf of Mexico, where dozens of oil platforms produce thousands of barrels of crude per day.

Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, Marianna Parraga and Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Richard Chang

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[danielboon]

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#UPDATE Venezuela's former military intelligence chief has gone missing in Spain just days after a court approved a request for his extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges, police said Wednesday

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3 Retweeted

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This morning they opened the doors to Guaidos representatives that are officially recognised by Brazil EndGameWW3 Retweeted

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Venezuelan officials at the Venezuelan embassy in Brazil have recognised Guaido as president. The officials were until this morning loyal to Maduro but have now recognised Guaidos ambassador to Brazil instead.
#Venezuela #Brazil

 

[danielboon]

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Prison riot ongoing at the western Prison centre in Táchira. Prisoners are reportedly rioting over a lack of food
#Venezuela

 

[danielboon]

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Some officials still loyal to Maduro have locked themselves in the Venezuelan embassy in Brazil after the majority of embassy staff recognised Guaido as president this morning and invited Guaidos ambassador into the embassy
#Venezuela #Brazil

 

[danielboon]

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Guaido taking a surprise tour through the streets of Sabana Grande in Caracas
#Venezuela

 

[danielboon]

Trump’s Stance on Bolivia Slammed by Argentina’s Next President Argentina’s next leader threw his first barbs at U.S. President Donald Trump even before taking office.

Expressing opposing views over Latin America’s political upheaval, President-elect Alberto Fernandez criticized Trump’s support for the departure of Bolivia’s Evo Morales, who fled Monday to Mexico after the military asked him to step down following weeks of public unrest due to irregular election results.

Fernandez, who takes office Dec. 10, saw the events in Bolivia as a military coup. Trump applauded the leftist Morales leaving Bolivia.

The U.S. “regressed decades” on foreign policy and “moved back to the worst of the 1970s, endorsing military interventions against popular governments,” Fernandez told an Argentine radio station Tuesday.

It stood in stark contrast to Trump’s view.

“The United States applauds the Bolivian people for demanding freedom and the Bolivian military for abiding by its oath to protect not just a single person, but Bolivia’s constitution,” Trump said in a statement.

The disagreement comes just ten days after Trump called Fernandez to congratulate him on his election victory. At the time, Fernandez told Trump he hoped they’ll have a “cordial” relationship, yet some analysts say the rapport is poised for a tumultuous future given the different political ideologies of both leaders.

Fernandez also doesn’t share Trump’s view that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is a dictator. Trump has made Venezuela his top policy priority in Latin America, with current Argentine President Mauricio Macri serving as an ally to Trump on the issue.

Read More: Why Venezuela Will Influence Argentina’s IMF Talks

Separately, Fernandez must renegotiate a record $56 billion credit line with the International Monetary Fund. With the U.S. as the IMF’s largest financier, the Trump administration will likely influence the future of any new deal with Fernandez’s government. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...bolivia-slammed-by-argentina-s-next-president

 

[danielboon]

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Amir Taheri
‏

@AmirTaheri4
Nov 12
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With #Evo #Morales, Bolivia's ousted President, seeking refuge in Mexico, Iran strands to lose $200 million "interest free loan" given to Bolivia during #Ahmadinejad's presidency. Iran has already lost some $1.1 billion in similar loans to another Latin dictatorship: #Venezuela.

 

[Plain Jane]

That no less than clueless Glen Beck said this morning that our State Department had a role in Morales' departure telles me that we need to keep an eye on this.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopoliti...farious-coup-opposition-senator-names-herself


Evo Slams "Sneaky, Nefarious Coup" As Oppo Senator Names Herself Acting President Of Bolivia
Profile picture for user Tyler Durden
by Tyler Durden
Wed, 11/13/2019 - 15:06
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After now ousted Bolivian President Evo Morales showed up in Mexico, where he's been granted asylum, chaos continues gripping the streets of the Latin American country, as Morales-supporters have taken to the streets en mass to condemn what they're calling a military coup.

Making matters worse Senator Jeanine Añez Chavez, the deputy senate speaker, on Tuesday declared herself interim president of Bolivia, yet without so much as a senatorial quorum or public vote on the matter, yet with the support of the army which says it's in line with the constitution. She vowed, however, that she hopes to see elections “as soon as possible.”

Regional reports noted that only Morales’ critics showed up to the Senate session where Anez unilaterally named herself interim president.


Morales, meanwhile, was quick to respond from his place of asylum in Mexico that she is a “coup-mongering right-wing senator” and said his supporters' attempts to access the Senate had been denied. Morales also called the series of events which led to his rapid ouster at the start of the week "the sneakiest, most nefarious coup in history."

Meanwhile security forces have vowed to take back the streets, deploying heavily in the administrative capital of La Paz, where throngs of angry Morales supporters squared off against police. The US embassy has evacuated all non-essential personnel according to reports, as pro-Evo socialist demonstrators have vowed to reject the "right-wing coup".

Bolivia's attorney general, Juan Lanchipa, said Tuesday that seven people have died in unrest since the election, raising the previous toll of three.

The United States meanwhile warned its citizens against travel to Bolivia, ordered its diplomats' family members to leave and authorized non-emergency employees to depart due to the unrest.

Anti-Morales opposition activists have haled Sen. Anez's declaration as being in accord with the Bolivian constitution, while legislators from Morales' Movement for Socialism declared the assembly session "illegal".

Left-wing critics of the turnover in power are likening the crisis to a new imperialist takeover and "coup" hostile to indigenous communities.


Waleed Shahid
✔
@_waleedshahid
“The Bible returns to the Palace,” says the new self-declared president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez, in shot against indigenous communities "

And to be expected, Washington chimed in, with the White House issuing a statement on Morales' ouster, calling it a “significant moment for democracy in the Western Hemisphere” and accused the former socialist president of attempting to "override the Bolivian constitution and the will of the people" in seeking a fourth term, which triggered the opposition uprising in the streets against him.

The White House also stated" "These events send a strong signal to the illegitimate regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua that democracy and the will of the people will always prevail." And added provocatively, "We are now one step closer to a completely democratic, prosperous, and free Western Hemisphere."

 

[Plain Jane]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...occupation-of-embassy-in-brazil-idUSKBN1XN1SJ

NEWSNOVEMBER 13, 2019 / 9:04 AM / UPDATED 14 HOURS AGO
Venezuelan opposition group ends occupation of embassy in Brazil
Sergio Moraes, Anthony Boadle
3 MIN READ

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Backers of Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido left the country’s embassy in Brasilia on Wednesday, after a tense 11-hour standoff that created a diplomatic embarrassment for Brazil’s right-wing government.

Brazil’s foreign ministry said a diplomat it sent to mediate a peaceful end to the dispute managed to convince the group of 10 people to leave the mission.

Representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro later regained access to the building, creating a tricky situation for Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who has recognized Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.

The incident caused scuffles outside the embassy in an embarrassment for Brazil’s government as it hosts the BRICS summit of major emerging economies in the capital on Wednesday and Thursday. Leaders Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia, who support Maduro, attended the event.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Twitter the “violent” occupation had ended peacefully, thanks to the intervention of the Brazilian authorities.

Members of the Guaido group said embassy staff had allowed them to enter the embassy in the morning and that they did so peacefully.

Guaido’s envoy in Brazil, Maria Teresa Belandria, has not been able to access the embassy since she arrived 10 months ago and has been living and working out of a Brasilia hotel.

Crowds of Brazilians who gathered outside the embassy to support the rival claims of Maduro and Guaido traded insults and some came to blows before police could separate them.

“The Brazilian government ordered us to leave our country’s embassy and we were escorted out by the back door like delinquents,” Venezuelan Army Mayor Jose Gregorio, who deserted to Brazil this year, said by telephone after leaving the embassy.

Venezuelan embassies around the world have become flash points for the competing claims of Guaido, the head of country’s National Assembly, and Maduro, a socialist who took over from late President Hugo Chavez in 2013.

Slideshow (17 Images)
Earlier this year, Guaido invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency, arguing that Maduro’s re-election last year was fraudulent. He has since been recognized by most Western nations as the rightful leader of Venezuela.

An occupation by protesters at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington in May resulted in arrests before the building was returned to Guaido’s representatives, who are recognized by the United States.

Reporting by Sergio Moraes and Anthony Boadle; Additional reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Brad Haynes, Paul Simao and Richard Chang

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

An older story but part of the big picture.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ressure-over-bombing-casualties-idUSKBN1XG36K

NEWSNOVEMBER 6, 2019 / 6:59 PM / 8 DAYS AGO
Colombia defense minister resigns amid pressure over bombing casualties

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian Defense Minister Guillermo Botero said on Wednesday he would resign in the midst of mounting political pressure over alleged extrajudicial killings and the threat that Congress could force him out.

Botero, a 71-year-old businessman, has been battered by repeated scandals. This week a senator accused him of hiding information that children were killed in a recent bombing raid targeted at a dissident member of the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels.

Botero has said the operation was legitimate and the military was unaware there were minors in the camp. Eight children are believed to have died.

“It is my duty as minister of defense to have an appropriate read on the political climate, which is why I have decided to present my resignation,” Botero said in a letter posted on Twitter by the ministry.

Opponents say the alleged murder of two former FARC combatants at the hands of the military and a purported increase in human rights violations also showed Botero was unfit for his post.

In September the government was forced to defend a military report that it said proved the Venezuelan government supports guerrilla groups and drug traffickers, after officials admitted it contained uncredited photographs taken by media outlets in Colombia, not Venezuela.

Both left-wing parties and centrist groups that had previously backed Botero said they would support a motion of censure against him in Congress, which would have obliged the government of right-wing President Ivan Duque to remove him.

Duque does not have sufficient majorities in either house to protect Botero’s position with only the backing of his own party and the Conservatives. If Botero had been forced out, he would have been the first minister in the history of Colombia to be removed by censure.


A previous censure motion failed to pass the lower house in June when Botero did have centrist support.

Botero, charged with managing the Andean country’s fight against crime gangs, FARC dissidents and the still-active National Liberation Army (ELN), has held his post since the start of Duque’s administration in August 2018.

Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Leslie Adler

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Melodi]

As I said before, neither the US State Department/CIA/Etal nor the old Oligarchs (aka that Bible is back shot across the bow) should underestimate the potential power of Morales among the indigenous population (aka most of the population) especially since he did not voluntarily step down in his role as "Inca."

Yes, in the long run, the "powers that be" may very well be able to "put things down" but it may not be easy, it may not be cheap and it could result in a multigenerational nearly permanent state of Civil War such as exists in Guatemala and several other Latin American countries (Colombia etc).

 

[Kathy in FL]

I'll be going to Chile in February so I'll give you some personal boots on the ground intel at that time. Until that time I'm laughing at some of the overblown MSM crap the way people that live there do. Central and South America has always experienced social and political upheaval. It's part of the identity of many countries there.

As for boots on the ground right this moment … three people that just came back from Chile (one a personal friend and two FOF) said its a nothingburger unless you are stupid enough to go to where the protesting occurs. Our friend said he's seen more violence at a English soccer match than what he is seeing during the protests.

Santiago is a large city and the protests, when they do occur, are confined to a small downtown area and even that isn't every day all day long. Go a few blocks over and you'd never know anything was happening. Pretty much just the status quo civil unrest.

We are also in contact with some wineries in the countryside. One man said that sure people are talking but that's all they are doing, all they ever do. If people stopped talking he wanted to know what would we do with all the extra oxygen? They are very sanguine about the whole thing. It is their way of life.

 

[Melodi]

Thank you Kathy that is a great update!

 

[Plain Jane]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...scussion-of-venezuela-divisions-idUSKBN1XO2T4

NEWSNOVEMBER 14, 2019 / 3:11 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
BRICS leaders avoid discussion of Venezuela divisions
Jake Spring, Anthony Boadle
4 MIN READ

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Leaders of the BRICS major emerging economies made no mention of Venezuela during a two-day summit in Brazil’s capital, according to diplomats, putting aside a rift over the fate of the chaotic South American country to focus on global economic issues instead.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro pose for a photo at the BRICS summit in Brasilia, Brazil November 14, 2019. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS
Among BRICS members at the summit that ended on Thursday, Russia and China back Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro. But under right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, host country Brazil supports opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

An economic meltdown and political turmoil in Venezuela have sent 4 million refugees flooding across its borders into Brazil and other neighboring countries in a humanitarian crisis that is considered one of Latin America’s top regional security issues.

Yet the final joint declaration approved at the summit of the BRICS countries, which include India and South Africa, did not address Venezuela.

India’s government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also stood by Maduro.

“Venezuela is not on the agenda, it is not a topic for this summit,” said Wang Xiaolong, special envoy on BRICS issues for China’s foreign ministry, told reporters following the approval of the declaration.

“As far as I recall it wasn’t discussed by the leaders either during the closed door session or the open keynote.”


Two Brazilian and a South African diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Venezuela was not raised in the leaders’ meetings.

A high-profile standoff between Maduro and Guaido supporters across town at the Venezuelan embassy failed to force the issue.

Guaido supporters invaded the embassy, where they held out for 11 hours before the Brazilian government asked them to leave and turn it back over to diplomats loyal to Maduro.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday the embassy invasion was a “provocation” timed to coincide with a major international event in Brasilia, TASS news agency reported.

In the lead up to the summit, Brazil considered raising the Venezuela issue but ultimately gave up on the idea as there would be no chance of an agreement because of “ideological differences,” one of the Brazilian diplomats said.

The BRICS summit largely focused on common ground on economic and trade issues, with leaders vowing to support free exchange and stand against rising protectionism globally.

Political crises that erupted in recent months in Chile and Bolivia were also not mentioned in the final summit statement, even though it mentioned conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Libya and elsewhere.


Bolivia is another point of contention within BRICS. Russia said the departure of President Evo Morales was a coup, while Brazil welcomed his resignation as a democratic step toward clean elections.

Russia said on Thursday it was ready to work with Bolivia’s new interim leader, Senate Vice President Jeanine Anez, but noted she had come to power without having a full quorum to back her in parliament.

Reporting by Jake Spring, Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Tom Brown

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[danielboon]

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4h4 hours ago
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Nicolas Maduro has given new orders for there to be armed patrol on the avenues and streets across Venezuela. He has also given the order to convert from Organic Law to The Constitutional Law of the FANB and give military rank to the Bolivarian militia.
#Venezuela

 

[danielboon]

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@ConflictsW
4h4 hours ago
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The move to include the Bolivarian militia as part of the armed forces is controversial and involves changing the Venezuelan constitution, a move many in the Venezuelan military are against