Greg Weeks explains.

Via the BBC:  Mexico drug war deaths over five years now total 47,515 That number is since 2006 and the escalation of the drug war by President Felipe Calderon. According to the piece, while the murder rate continues to increase on an annual basis, the growth rate has slowed: The PGR said that the 11% [...]

Via the BBC:  Colombia Urabenos ‘drug gang leader’ shot by police Officials in Colombia say the alleged leader of a powerful criminal gang has been killed in a police operation. Prosecutors accuse Juan de Dios Usuga and his brother Dairo Antonio of jointly leading the Urabenos gang, which controls much of the drug-trafficking in the [...]

After stints in Florida and France, he now heads to Panama. Via the BBC:  Ex-ruler Noriega heads for Panama to serve jail terms The 77-year-old has already spent more than 20 years in French and US prisons. Last month, a French court approved a request from Panama to send him back home to be jailed [...]

The FARC now has an opening for supreme commander.

Back during the Nevada senatorial elections, it was often noted that voters in that state have the option to vote for “none of these candidates.”  However, this none of the above option isn’t real, insofar as even if a plurality of voters voted for said option, the winner of the office would be the candidate [...]

Via the Miami Herald:  Political hackers are one of Latin America’s newest headaches Cyber-crime has been prevalent in Latin America since the dawn of online transactions. But many nations are struggling with a new threat: politically-motivated hackers. [...] Just this year, groups claiming to be affiliates of Anonymous — perhaps the largest and most well-known [...]

Via El Tiempo:  El lunes empieza la quimioterapia de Lula por cáncer de laringe. According to the piece the news came via a press release from the Worker’s Party and was a surprise. Apparently, the tumor was discovered today. Lula was president of Brazil for two terms and will turn 66 this week.

Or, direct traffic… Via ABC News:  Mimes Hired to Act Like Traffic Cops in Venezuela. About 120 mimes were dispatched into the chaotic traffic capital of Caracas to wag their fingers and silently shame lawless drivers, according to the Associated Press.  Newly-trained mimes, dressed in clown-like costumes complete with face paint and white gloves, descended [...]

After a lengthy wait, free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea have been approved by Congress.

Via the BBC:  Hugo Chavez denies media reports of health emergency Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has denied US media reports that he was rushed to hospital with kidney failure linked to his cancer treatment. "I’m fine, I’m having my first coffee of the day," Mr Chavez, 57, told state TV by telephone. Mr Chavez, who [...]

Via the Miami Herald:  Venezuela’s Chavez finishes 3rd round of chemo. Interestingly, unlike his surgery and his first two rounds of chemo, which were all conducted in Cuba, this latest round was in Venezuela.

Via the BBC:  Cuban Defence Minister Julio Casas Regueiro dies Cuban Defence Minister Julio Casas Regueiro, a veteran of the revolution, has died of heart failure, aged 75. He oversaw the Cuban military’s economic activities until 2008, when President Raul Castro made him defence minister. Julio Casas Regueiro was an accountant who fought under Raul [...]

From a few days ago via the BBC:  Thirty-six seized in Colombia anti-drug operation Thirty-six suspects have been arrested in two operations against drug-trafficking in Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos has said. [...] The operations were carried out jointly with the US. The authorities seized large amounts of drugs, 21 light aircraft and submarines used [...]

Via the BBC:  Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez to resume Cuba cancer treatment. This time, the trip was expressly authorized by the Venezuelan parliament. It remains unclear (to me, at least) why it is necessary to go to Cuba for the treatments.

Via the BBC:  Venezuela’s Chavez expects further cancer therapy "I had a big, big tumour," he said. "When I saw that image, I said, ‘My God, it’s a baseball."’ "I’m in the second stage of the disease, [going through] an organ-by-organ assessment and other factors. I mustn’t give more details." According to the piece, the [...]

Via the Miami Herald:  Transgender activist resigns after clash with Castro daughter.

Institutions, or the lack thereof, matter.

Via the BBC:  Ten decapitated bodies found in Torreon, Mexico The decapitated bodies of three women and seven men have been found in an abandoned lorry in the northern Mexican city of Torreon, police say. One head was found on the windscreen. The others were dumped by the roadside, along with threatening messages. [...] National [...]

The US Supreme Court declined to stay the execution of a child raping murderer over a technical violation of a treaty.

Hugo is back in Venezuela. Via the BBC:  Triumphant return for ailing Hugo Chavez Dressed in military uniform with a red beret, he stood on the balcony of the palace to sing the national anthem and address his supporters. It’s been a triumphant return for the president who looked frightened and apologetic in his message [...]

Christopher Sabatini of America’s Quarterly has an interesting post up on Chávez for those interested in the subject:    Will Bolivarianism Outlive Hugo Chávez? Unlikely. A key paragraph: The situation should be a reminder, not just to the U.S. whose policy on Venezuela has been adrift the last three years but also to Venezuela’s neighbors that [...]

A follow-up to my previous post on Venezuela via the BBC:  Venezuela ‘is calm’ after Hugo Chavez cancer surgery Venezuela’s army has dismissed concerns about political instability in the country after President Hugo Chavez’s admission that he had cancer surgery. "The country is calm," the army chief, Gen Henry Rangel Silva, said. It strikes me [...]

The BBC has an update on the condition of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez: Chavez tells of surgery to remove cancerous tumour. Mr Chavez said he underwent a first operation on a pelvic abscess on 10 June, just as officials had informed the Venezuelan public. But during his recuperation, tests had "confirmed the existence of a [...]

The normally loquacious Chávez has been almost silent since emergency surgery in Cuba on June 10th.

Coca cultivation is down in Colombia! But guess what is true about Peru?

Via the Miami Herald:  Drug gangs using homemade “narco-tanks” The two armored vehicles were cloaked in inch-thick steel plating. Built on a three-axle truck bed with a heavily armored cabin, the latest “narco tanks” are far larger than previous versions. “You can easily fit 20 armed people in here,” an unidentified army officer told El [...]

Internet addresses (via Reuters):  Internet addresses: Colombia’s hottest export? Colombia, which had only 28,000 registered Internet addresses before it opened up the .co domain a year ago, has just signed up its millionth customer. "It’s globally recognisable, it’s short, and it’s got an incredible technology behind it," says Juan Diego Calle, chief executive of .CO [...]

The Jerusalem Post is passing along a report from the German newspaper Die Welt that Iran is in the process of building rocket launching facilities in Venezuela: BERLIN – The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Thursday edition. Venezuelan [...]

Via USAT:  Walking dead: Bin Laden lookalike roams Colombian neighborhood.

Via the BBC:  Fidel Castro at Cuba congress alongside Raul It is the first time the two have appeared publicly together since Fidel, 84, handed over the presidency to Raul five years ago. Congress also elected Raul, 79, to take over from Fidel as first secretary. Communist Party stalwart Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 80, was [...]

Via the BBC:  Chile to exhume former President Salvador Allende. The question:  did Allende commit suicide on the day of the military coup of September 11, 1973 or was he murdered?

Via the BBC:  Mexico: Zetas cartel blamed over Tamaulipas mass graves The number of bodies found in mass graves in north-eastern Mexico over the past week has risen to 116, after 28 more corpses were discovered. [...] Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales said the 116 had died "as a result of criminal actions apparently caused [...]

Via the AP:  US: FARC and Taliban are among largest drug trafficking organizations in the world Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield said drug-trafficking organizations have aligned with political and ideological movements in recent decades. He cited the followers of Osama bin Laden and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as examples. Brownfield said that [...]

Via the BBC: Honduras drops arrest warrants for ousted Manuel Zelaya. As we all may recall, Honduran President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya was invited, one fine Sunday morning, to board a plane to Costa Rica. Now, I must confess that I would very much like to go to Costa Rica, but there is a good way [...]

Obama is visiting Brazil and Chile while American fighting men join the coalition against Libya.

Via the BBC:  Hillary Clinton backs Mexico drug war comes the following: The Mexican authorities argue that the rising violence shows that the gangs are being weakened and turning increasingly on each other, but critics argue the use of troops has only served to provoke increasingly gruesome murders. Emphasis mine. This is not an isolated [...]

Via the BBC:  Dominican Republic confirms first cholera death Health officials said the victim was a 53-year-old Haitian who was being treated in the eastern town of Higuey. [...] Almost 4,000 people have died of cholera in Haiti and close to 200,000 have been infected since the epidemic broke out in October. The Dominican Republic [...]

Via the BBC:  Brazil flood deaths top 800 with 400 still missing Officials in Brazil say more than 800 people are now known to have died in floods and landslides in the south-east of the country this month. More than 400 people are still missing after torrential rain caused whole hillsides to collapse. [...] The [...]

Diplomacy means having to be nice.

Via the BBC: Colombian drug lord Guerrero was ‘drunk’ when he died: Colombian police say Pedro Guerrero, one of the country’s most wanted men, was drunk when he fell into a river and died while trying to flee from police. Guerrero, known as Cuchillo (“The Knife”), led a 1,200-strong army and largely controlled the drugs [...]

Via the BBC:  Cuba puts ‘imperialist’ US Wikileaks online Of 2,080 leaked cables in which Cuba is mentioned, Wikileaks have so far made public only 62. Cubadebate said it would focus on cables originating in the US interests section in Havana, the source of 507 leaked cables. The documents have been translated into Spanish. The [...]

A headline you don’t see everyday (via the BBC):    Venezuela’s Chavez to move into Gaddafi tent Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is going to govern temporarily from a tent so that families made homeless by recent floods can take refuge in his office. Mr Chavez said he would have a Bedouin tent given to [...]

Would troops to Mexico help in the drug war?

Via the BBC:   Cuba says Castro video game tries to legitimise murder State-run media said the game, Call of Duty: Black Ops, attempted to legitimise murder and assassination in the name of entertainment. The Cubadebate website said it would also turn American children into sociopaths. It is expected to be one of the biggest selling [...]

The Haitian health ministry has confirmed that the cholera outbreak I noted last month has reached the capital (via the BBC):   Haiti: Cholera confirmed in Port-au-Prince.

Via the BBC:  Scores die in Haiti cholera outbreak At least 196 people have died and 2,634 have been hospitalised by the illness, which causes diarrhoea, acute fever, vomiting and severe dehydration. [...] Local hospitals were "overwhelmed", and a number of people were being evacuated to clinics in other areas, he added. At one point [...]

Venezuela have reached a series of agreement on energy. Should the US be concerned?

After two months deep underground, thirty-three Chilean miners are finally back home.

Having noted the Bozo story, how could I not also note (via Reuters):  No joke as clown is Brazil’s most voted congressman Voters the world over complain about having clowns for politicians, but Brazilians embraced the idea on Sunday by sending a real one to Congress with more votes than any other candidate. Francisco Everardo [...]