Juanson World

Unfilled tunnels are a weak link at the US-Mexico border. LA Times

Chilean president Michele Bachelet has signed a decree so that the morning-after pill may be given to girls as young as 14 without parental consent. BBC

Bolivian president Evo Morales’s push for indigenous language instruction in the country’s curriculum has met resistance. Washington Post

Morales plans to advance on plans to nationalize state telecommunications company Entel. Financial Times

South American governments are increasingly naming women as defense ministers. AP

Protestors in Bolivia have blocked the only road leading to Argentina and Paraguay. They believe that nationalization efforts over oil and gas companies have not gone far enough. BBC

The Miami Herald editorial page praises Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s heightened efforts against drug trafficking. Miami Herald

According to Andres Oppenheimer, one should never forget the “human factor” behind important world events, including the downfall of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega. Miami Herald

David Rieff comments on the unipolar world and Hugo Chavez’s role within it. New York Times Magazine

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The border between Mexico and Guatemala continues to witness significant migration from the south. New York Times

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez denied that he will seize individuals’ luxury assets, despite claims that nothing will stop 21^st century socialism. AP

Since a coup attempt in 2002, Chavez has bolstered state-run television station VTV while attempting to shrink private media. Miami Herald

El Salvador commemorates the 15^th anniversary of the end of its civil war this month, as former guerillas and soldiers reflect on why they fought the war. Washington Post

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Cuba sent a high-level delegation to Venezuela to sign deals totaling $1 billion in cooperation between the two countries. Miami Herald

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez threatened to expel US Ambassador William Brownfield from the country for statements Brownfield made concerning compensation to American companies who have invested in industries that Chavez plans to nationalize. AP

Salvadorans question the 380 soldiers their country has deployed in Iraq. New York Times

Former Argentine naval captain Alfredo Astiz denied that he was culpable for the disappearance of two nuns and a dozen others in 1977. AP

Initial evidence points to pilot error as being responsible for the crash that led to the death of Ecuador’s defense minister. LA Times

The drop in the price of petrol on the world market may force Chavez to raise the price of gasoline in Venezuela from its current rate of $0.09 cents a gallon. Financial Times

Mexican president Felipe Calderon, in addition to mobilizing troops to fight narcotraffickers, has initiated efforts to reform the country’s security forces. The Economist

The Economist deems Brazil’s plan to boost growth as being largely “too timid.” The Economist

Despite record high copper prices, Chile’s economy grew at a respectable but not stellar 4.6 percent last year. Critics consider a fiscal rule on counter-cyclical budgeting to blame. The Economist

Cuban doctors continue to be exported abroad. The Economist

Marcela Sanchez urges Washington to influence and aid the resolution of Colombia’s parapolitics scandal. Washington Post

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Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez claims that Fidel Castro is recovering and “almost jogging.” BBC

Ecuadorian defense minister Guadalupe Larriva, sworn in 9 days ago, was killed in a helicopter accident near the military base in Manta. AP

The number of Venezuelans seeking asylum in the US has increased dramatically in the last two years. Miami Herald

Drug use within Mexico has increased, resulting in cartels fighting over markets and territory rather than shipping routes. AP

International Crisis Group senior VP Mark Schneider advocates for compromise between Bolivian president Evo Morales and his opposition. Miami Herald

The World Court rejected Uruguay’s request that Argentina remove roadblocks on bridges linking the two countries in protest of Uruguay’s construction of a $1.2 billion pulp mill. Financial Times

Brazil hopes to become the “India of the Americas” by enticing US companies to outsource to the country. Wall Street Journal

The Christian Science Monitor argues for the establishment of a Plan Mexico similar to Plan Colombia to fight drug trafficking. Christian Science Monitor

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Mexican president Felipe Calderon has attacked drug cartels, monopolies, and poverty throughout the beginning of his term. Christian Science Monitor - Part I, Part II, Part III

Congressmen in Washington urge the easing of travel restrictions and the loosening of the embargo on Cuba. Financial Times

US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Thomas Shannon said that the US is willing to work with Chavez, and urged Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa to also work with the US. Miami Herald

President Bush mentioned Cuba in his State of the Union address, saying that his administration would continue to speak out for freedom in the country. Miami Herald

Chavismo has become increasingly difficult to define, as Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez’s influences are as wide ranging as are his ambitions. New York Times

While former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega will be released from a South Florida prison this year, he still faces pending charges in Panama and France. Miami Herald

Twenty-five years after the Falkland Islands war, Argentina still maintains its claim to the Malvinas islands. Washington Post

There is uncertainty as to who would fill the leadership void in Cuba after Fidel and Raul Castro. Financial Times

Marcel Granier, chairman of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), laments Chavez’s aggressive moves towards Venezuela’s private media. Wall Street Journal

Andres Oppenheimer tells of the five lessons Latin America could learn from India. Miami Herald

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Former Chilean president and current senator Eduardo Frei said that his father, also a president of the country, was actually murdered in 1982 after a Belgian investigation found traces of mustard gas in his body. BBC

The Financial Times interviews Mexican president Felipe Calderon as he reflects on his first 50 days in office. Financial Times

Calderon has cozied up to members of the Mexican elite rather than taking on entrenched interests head on. Wall Street Journal

Bolivian president Evo Morales retains high approval ratings after his first year in office, despite unrest throughout the country. Miami Herald, BBC

A fledging organization of anti-Chavez Venezuelan ex-pats in South Florida is seeking greater political influence. Miami Herald

Reporting from Bangalore, Andres Oppenheimer writes that the Indian city can be a model for Latin America’s schools. Miami Herald

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Mexico extradited four major drug traffickers to the US, breaking a longstanding practice. There are more extraditions to come. New York Times, LA Times, Reuters

Colombia’s parapolitics scandal has ensnared a wide ranging swatch of the country’s political elite. New York Times

Public unrest in Bolivia is forcing delays in the constituent assembly process. Washington Post

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva unveiled a package of tax cuts and public spending that is hoped to stimulate economic growth. Financial Times

Brazil’s development of energy reserves in the Amazon is complicated by environmental, labor and activist opposition. New York Times

Most European countries have declined to join the United States in condemning Cuba. Miami Herald

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez’s nationalization of the telecommunications company CANTV as well as his decision to raise gasoline prices domestically comes with tremendous risks. Wall Street Journal

Mary O’Grady compares Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa’s economic policies to Lenin’s. Wall Street Journal

Anthony DePalma tells of his recent visit to Cuba. Few Cuban exiles believe they will reclaim their old houses. New York Times

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At least 20 former Latin American presidents face human rights charges or are currently in prison. Miami Herald

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez’s nationalization announcement last week have sent Venezuelan markets into a tailspin. Financial Times

Former AES chief executive Dennis Bakke recalls his meeting with Chavez in 2000 as being positive, although he admits that buying such a large stake of Venezuela’s energy utility was a huge mistake. Washington Post

Radio Caracas Television, a fiercely anti-Chavez channel in Venezuela, is not having its license renewed much to the criticism of those who consider the move censorship. Washington Post

Presidents of the Mercosur trading bloc meet today for its annual summit in Rio. Bolivia and Ecuador are lobbying for entry into the group. Some analysts contend that Mercosur may have shifted from an trade bloc to a political integration force. AP

Mexican authorities captured drug cartel chief Pedro Diaz Parada, representing the first major drug arrest for president Felipe Calderon’s administration. AP

Hernando Gomez, an alleged Colombian drug trafficker held in Cuba since 2004, has not been extradited despite no evidence that he smuggled drugs on the island. El Nuevo Herald

According to sources in a Madrid hospital, Fidel Castro turned down a colostomy, opting for a riskier procedure that exacerbated health complications. AP

Cubans have remained silent regarding Castro’s health. Miami Herald

Ecuador plans on making its initial external debt payment if there is enough left over after domestic social spending. AP

Colombian authorities have seized $54 million in cash in Cali belonging to Norte del Valle cartel. BBC

Marifeli Perez-Stable argues that representative democracy, not direct democracy as practiced by Hugo Chavez, Rafael Correa, and Daniel Ortega, is the better path for Latin America. Miami Herald

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Doctors in South Florida contend that if reports from El País are credible, than there is little chance that Fidel Castro will survive from this illness. New York Times, Miami Herald

A second warrant was issued for the arrest of Isabel Peron by Argentine federal judge Norberto Oyarbide. AP

Nicaragua’s new finance minister Alberto Guevara is focusing much of the new Ortega administration on poverty reduction. Financial Times

Salvatore Mancuso is the first Colombian paramilitary leader to confess to his crimes in the demobilization process. Christian Science Monitor

The Mexican government sent a diplomatic note to the United States condemning the killing of a migrant in Arizona. AP

Jake Dizard of Freedom House offers an overview of the organization’s annual index of freedom, noting that elections region-wide have strengthened countries’ ratings but security and laws restricting NGOs restrict the region’s freedom. Miami Herald

Denise Dresser of ITAM writes that Mexican president Felipe Calderon must work to overhaul the country’s judicial and law enforcement system in order to systemically dismantle the country’s crime and drug trafficking rings. LA Times

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, through regulations and funding, aims to boost Venezuelan movies, music, and art. Christian Science Monitor

The Wall Street Journal editorial page comments on Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Latin America. Wall Street Journal

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Venezuela will not negotiate with foreign companies during the nationalization process, said the country’s oil minister. AP

El Pais is reporting that Fidel Castro has had at least three failed operations and is suffering from diverticular disease, an intestinal infection. Cuban authorities denied the report. AP, BBC, Miami Herald

Eugenio Montoya, alias Don Hugo, was arrested in the Colombian town of El Dovio. Montoya is believed to be a leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel. BBC, AP

Rafael Correa was sworn in as Ecuador’s president, announcing the launch of a “citizen’s revolution” through debt restructuring and the call for a constituent assembly. LA Times, BBC, AP

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged close ties with Nicaragua on a visit to Managua as he continued his tour of Latin America. BBC

Ahmadinejad also met with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in Caracas, much to the chagrin of Venezuelan Jews. New York Times

Rolando Alfonso Borges, head of the Ideology Department of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, reportedly called for a broader range of stories by the state-run media that reflect the realities facing the Cuban population. Miami Herald

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As the governor of Cochabamba, Manfred Reyes Villa, seeks to call a referendum on local autonomy, violence between supporters of Evo Morales’s government and supporters of autonomy in the city of Cochabamba has resulted in two deaths. BBC, AP

Amidst the violence, some members of Morales’s Movement Against Socialism (MAS) party have expressed their desire to scrap the constituent assembly process. Financial Times

An Argentine judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of Isabel Peron, now living in Spain, for the disappearance of a government opponent in 1976 when she was president. BBC, AP

Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Cariles was indicted in Texas on charges that he defrauded the US government on his mode of entry into the country. Miami Herald

Former Argentine finance minister Roberto Lavanga declared his candidacy for president, yet he faces an uphill battle against sitting president Nestor Kirschner or the possible candidacy of his wife. The Economist

In a US Senate hearing on security, top intelligence officals declared that Raul Castro has firm control over Cuba in the short term, and that Venezuela and Bolivia are two countries where elected leaders are seeking to consolidate executive power. Miami Herald

Former Colombian minister of development Fernando Araujo tells the story of his escape and captivity by FARC rebels for six years. AP

Guatemala must improve its procedures for adoptions by American parents or else the US will not approve visas for the babies. The country is the second highest source of adopted babies after China. AP

Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega must walk the tightrope between his leftist brethren Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and his declared willingness to have positive relations with the United States. The Economist

Marcela Sanchez highlights some of the urban planning innovations coming from Latin American cities. Washington Post

The Financial Times editorial page says that market reaction to Chavez’s Monday speech was overblown. Financial Times

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Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was inaugurated yesterday and his speech contained characteristic bombast and socialist rhetoric. New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Economist, Christian Science Monitor

Daniel Ortega was also inaugurated yesterday as Nicaragua’s president and was joined by fellow leftist presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Financial Times, LA Times, AP

Ecuador and Colombia came to an agreement over Colombia’s aerial spraying of coca plants near the Ecuadorian border. Colombian president Alvaro Uribe and his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa met during Ortega’s inauguration and Uribe pledged that Colombia would let Ecuador know in advance of any spraying. BBC

Venezuelans are shocked by Chavez’s unveiling of plans to nationalize the electricity and telecommunications companies. Miami Herald

Ricardo Sanguino, head of Venezuela’s congressional finance commission, assured that Chavez’s government would compensate any private firms it nationalizes. Shares of CANTV and the national stock market recovered yesterday. AP

Manuel Vazquez says that Fidel Castro is figuratively already deceased. Miami Herald

Over 1,000 Mexican troops were dispatched to Acapulco and two other cities in the state of Guerrero but unlike the operation in Tijuana the troops will not relieve local police of their weapons. AP

Bolivian president Evo Morales repeated his pledge to nationalize the country’s mining industry. AP

The Miami Herald editorial page urges compromise between Morales and opposition leaders. Pro-Morales protestors sparked violence in Cochabamba as they demanded that the state prefect resign. Miami Herald

In what was deemed a prank gone awry, two members of the Colombian army died from burns in a fire accident. AP

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Hugo Chavez’s remarks on Monday announcing plans to deepen “21^st century socialism” could mean significant losses for foreign companies like Verizon and AES that invest in Venezuela. Chavez was sworn in today. New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald,

American newspapers were universally critical of Chavez. New York Times, Washington Post

As the transition in Cuba continues, a debate over a potential gradual opening of the economy is taking place. Wall Street Journal

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Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez unveiled plans to nationalize large sectors of the national economy, as well as restrict the autonomy of the central bank. BBC, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

Venezuela’s financial markets took a plunge due to president Hugo Chavez’s proposed nationalization plans. BBC, Financial Times

Nicaraguan president-elect Daniel Ortega stands to get inaugurated on Wednesday, returning to power after a sixteen-year absence. Financial Times

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is launching a new television show paid for by his supporters. BBC

Increased cooperation between Bolivia and the Venezuelan military has been criticized by opponents of President Evo Morales. New York Times

Mexican president Felipe Calderon has initiated a sweeping effort to combat drug trafficking in Baja California and Michoacan, yet some question the effectiveness of his strategy. New York Times

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Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez shook up his incoming cabinet by firing vice-president Jose Vicente Rangel (replacing him with the former head of the Electoral Council) and interior minister Jesse Chacon. Chavez cited recent prison violence in his announcement. New York Times, Financial Times, AP

Federal authorities sent to Tijuana by Mexican president Felipe Calderon ordered local police to turn over their weapons as part of an investigation into ties with drug traffickers. Without weapons, the police force abandoned their patrols. LA Times

El Salvador plans on sending its eighth contingent of soldiers to Iraq. AP

Former Colombian minister of development Fernando Araujo escaped from FARC capture, where he had been held after having been kidnapped six years ago. BBC

Colombia extradited a former police officer and airport employee to the United States on accusations of smuggling large shipments of cocaine on commercial airlines. AP

Mexican president Felipe Calderon might face congressional opposition every time he decides to embark on a trip abroad due to a law that requires legislative approval to take international trips. Washington Post

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces challenges reaching his goal of 5 percent GDP growth for Brazil’s sluggish economy. The Economist

The uncertainty surrounding Fidel Castro’s health and the smooth transfer of power to brother Raul makes Cuba’s future increasingly unknown. The Economist

The Miami Herald editorial page condemns Chavez’s declaration that he would not renew the license of opposition television station RCTV, deeming it a move towards authoritarianism. Miami Herald

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As Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez aims to consolidate his supporters into one political party, tensions among his coalition are becoming evident. New York Times

The governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro requested the deployment of the national security forces to the state as a response to recent acts of violence against civilians. BBC

Operation Tijuana was launched yesterday as Mexican federal authorities began investigating police stations, which are believed to be worked in concert with drug gangs. AP

Ten days before being sworn in as Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa has reaffirmed several of his contentious election promises, which has made investors wary as well as casting uncertainty over the payment of the country’s $11 billion debt. Financial Times

In the Peruvian Amazon, a local program funded by USAID is promoting a fish-farming venture to export the paiche as an alternative to coca cultivation. Christian Science Monitor

Argentina’s rapid recovery from its 2001-2002 sovereign debt collapse has resulted in a windfall for certain investors in the country’s debt restructuring. Financial Times

Guatemalans who have lived in the United States for over a decade may run the risk of being deported as their asylum claims are finally being processed and denied. AP

Cubans resort to unorthodox measures in order to supplement their meager incomes. BBC

Pat Holt argues that Cuba was never a threat to the United States. Christian Science Monitor

Marifeli Perez-Stable advocates for an economic opening under the successor government in Cuba. Miami Herald

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US Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon said that although a transition has taken place in Cuba, the regime has yet to distance itself from Fidel Castro and engagement will not take place until there is evidence of change. Dallas Morning News

Mexican president Felipe Calderon sent more than 3,300 troops and police officers to Tijuana in his continued hard-line crackdown on narcotrafficking and gangs. LA Times, AP, BBC

The murder rate in Colombia reached the lowest point in the past twenty years in 2006. BBC

Despite verbal sparring and political differences, trade between the US and Venezuela has more than doubled in the past four years, now standing at about $47 billion a year. BBC

Soaring summer temperatures in Argentina have caused a strain on the country’s power grid, as president Nestor Kirschner maintains price controls on energy that some analysts say are unsustainable. Financial Times

The arrival of luxury goods companies to Argentina reflects the growth in consumer spending as the country’s growth continues since its 2001-2002 sovereign debt collapse. Wall Street Journal

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The Wall Street Journal provides a recap of Latin America’s strong stock market performance for 2006. Wall Street Journal

A new generation of young leaders, such as Fidel Castro’s niece Mariela, will chart Cuba’s path. Christian Science Monitor

Three explosions at a police warehouse in Sao Paulo has left one officer dead and three injured. BBC

Brazilian president Inacio Luiz Lula da Silva was sworn in to his second term of office, vowing to spur economic growth and attack violence that he called “terrorism.” AP

Bolivian president Evo Morales passed a decree requiring a visa for US travelers to Bolivia, calling it a “matter of reciprocity.” AP

Members of FARC killed four civilians on New Year’s Day in the Colombia province of Antioquia. AP

The disappearance of Jorge Julio Lopez, a witness in the trial of Luis Patti, accused of human rights abuses while serving as a police officer in Argentina’s Dirty War, has cast a shadow over the proceedings after a first witness was kidnapped and then released. Financial Times

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced that he would not renew the license of private television station RCTV, the second-largest in the country, when it is up for renewal in March. New York Times

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