barriomulas.com - Latin American Update

Just skimming through my daily Latin American news:

Ecuador

An assembly elected to rewrite Ecuador's constitution has dissolved the country's opposition-dominated Congress on its first day of work....

In April, nearly 80% of voters backed his call for an assembly that would bypass Congress and rewrite the constitution. In September, voters then chose assembly members, giving 80 of the 130 seats to his Alianza Pais party. BBC

Venezuela

Marisabel Rodríguez, former wife of President Hugo Chávez, Thursday said it would be hard for the ruler to accept a likely defeat in a referendum next December 2 on his proposed changes to the Constitution, which include his indefinite reelection. El Universal

I must say that this is probably one of the most ignorant things I've ever read in a professional news agency. Chavez is eliminating term limits; something that is very much different then "his indefinite reelection". Puerto Rico along with many developed nations lack term limits; while many U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia and even European Union members Spain and the UK still have paper kings and queens still lingering around.

Plus, check out this interesting article on Chavez's bartering experiment from Reuters.

Brazil:

Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to make his first visit as president to a favela, or shanty town, in Rio de Janeiro.

The favela of Cantagalo has been the scene of recent clashes between police and drug gangs, but no exceptional security measures will be in place. BCC

I'd like to see a U.S. President talk through a slum with "no exceptional security measures".

Nicaragua:

A Nicaraguan appeals court Wednesday blocked a recently approved law designed to keep President Daniel Ortega from creating citizen councils as part of his government...
Under a measure passed by lawmakers, the councils would be allowed to exist just like any other politically active group, but could not be directly linked to the presidency...

Ortega said late Tuesday that he would create the councils Nov. 30, no matter what Congress decided.
"They are making a huge mistake in denying the right of the people to organize," he said. "It's absurd." International Herald Tribute

What makes these citizen councils any different from Sila Calderon's Comunidades Especiales?

Colombia:

Despite far-right President Álvaro Uribe's attacks, Colombia's left opposition Polo Democrático swept the Oct. 28 elections for Bogotá's Mayor - the second most important political position in the country...

As a result, the Polo Democrático increased its vote in the capital from 797,000 to 915,000, and became the largest single party on Bogotá's asamblea, while defeating all the rightist parties in 17 of the city's 20 zones to more than double its representation on the city's local juntas. This success has positioned Garzón as the obvious choice to be the Polo's candidate in the next presidential elections, although the party's current national leader, Carlos Gaviria, has strong support amongst the activists...

Gaviria is considered more radical than [current mayor] Garzón, and has the support of Colombia's influential Communists, but workers organised in the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores union confederation lean towards former union president Garzón...

The Partido Comunista Colombiano, standing candidates as part of the Polo Democrático, won more than 20 positions throughout the country, including local mayors, state asamblea representatives and consejo positions on Bogotá's asamblea. Upside Down World

Mexico:

A broad electoral reform that infuriated Mexico's broadcast industry by barring political parties from buying radio and television advertisements will take effect on Wednesday.The reform attempts to level the political playing field by requiring television and radio stations to broadcast 48 minutes of free political advertising each day and forbidding parties from buying their own air time. AP

Amen.

Regional:

Leaders of 19 Latin American countries met with their counterparts from Spain, Portugal and Andorra at the 17th Ibero-American summit on 8-10 November in Santiago de Chile...

However, this diversion has not erased regional attention from the summit's 15 agreements, including the Multilateral Social Security Convention to allow nearly 6 million migrant workers in Latin America, Spain and Portugal to transfer social security benefits between their nations. Hardbeatnews