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VitalSigns posted:Wait what, how can "old money" claim any sort of merit to their wealth, the literal definition of old money is inherited money ie money that came to them because of their genes and their last name. They at least some type of front. Old money came from either one of the many dictatorships before the 4th or straight up descendants of plantation owners. Even the PDVSA chairpeople didn’t go to the obscene lengths of corruption the bolibourgeoisie reached. Corruption cases in the 4th republic, like the one Carlos Andres Perez got indicted for, or the RECADI scandal feel like drops in the bucket compared to the poo poo you see now. When I mean new money, I mean like Diosdado Cabello going from a lieutenant in the military making some reasonable amount of money to owning literally billions of dollars in offshore accounts, all in the span of a single presidency. The distinction here between old and new is also important to note that a lot of things simply changed hands. Many important companies, Lácteos Los Andes comes to mind, simply were handed over to other people, who subsequently ran them into the ground. In the specific case of Lácteos Los Andes, it was handed to a colonel who of course, ran it into the ground. Corpoelec, formed by nationalizing a dozen of electrical companies, handed to a collection of bozos including Ali Rodriguez Araque and Luis Motta (who famously blamed blackouts on iguana sabotage), who guess what, ran the electrical system into the ground. Previous governments could function at least marginally better because a lot of important positions were staffed by fairly qualified people, many of them a product of Venezuelas long history of investing in its public universities. Almost all of the presidents of the central bank prior to Chavez were accomplished economists who graduated from UCV’s economics school, one of the best in the country. Who did Chavez appoint after the then current president of the central bank died? Nelson Merentes. He’s not an economist, he’s a mathematician, which I mean, not a big deal, it’s all numbers and the man seems like he’s got the qualifications for the job regardless. Except he spent the entirety of his two terms coked up going from one affair to the other. In 2012 his beach apartment got broken into, cash and jewelry were stolen, the police investigated and found no evidence of a break in. Later on, his 17 year old girlfriend confessed to having handed over the keys to her parents. No official investigation was made, and he went on to serve 5 more years. This is the same guy who decided to just, stop posting economic indicators as a way to fix the economy. fnox fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Mar 9, 2022 |
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Mar 9, 2022 23:27
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why is nelson such a popular first name in latin america
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Mar 10, 2022 04:34
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i say swears online posted:why is nelson such a popular first name in latin america No idea, it's one of those anglo names that somehow became popular in the region. In Venezuela there's a lot of people named "Jhon". There's also the entire region of Zulia who loves giving kids really weird names like 
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Mar 10, 2022 10:19
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i say swears online posted:why is nelson such a popular first name in latin america Could it be the Mandela Effect we've been hearing so much about?
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Mar 10, 2022 12:09
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fnox posted:No idea, it's one of those anglo names that somehow became popular in the region. In Venezuela there's a lot of people named "Jhon". There's also the entire region of Zulia who loves giving kids really weird names like No one can top Brazilian names tbh (esp boys names). I saw a guy on tinder the other day named Werllysson
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Mar 10, 2022 14:07
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I heard leidi is popular because of a weird fascination with lady Diana
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Mar 10, 2022 14:35
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One last piñericosa for the road. Now gently caress off forever https://twitter.com/televisivamente/status/1502100937980231693?s=21 Redczar fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Mar 11, 2022 |
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Mar 11, 2022 02:53
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The European parliament recently passed a resolution decrying the persecution and killings of journalists and activists in Mexico, in which it also condemned the Mexican president AMLO for his criticisms of the media:quote:[The Parliament] condemns the frequent attacks by President Lopez Obrador to media freedom and in particular, journalist and media workers including by publishing sensitive personal information; reminds that journalism can only be practised in an environment free from threats, physical, psychological or moral aggression, or other acts of intimidation and harassment. AMLO fired back with a statement saying that the Parliament had "added itself like sheep to a reactionary and anti-democratic ("golpista" in his words) strategy that opposes the 4T", a response that appears to have even alienated other prominent Mexican leftists. https://twitter.com/fernandeznorona/status/1502142970480541696?s=20&t=Jwfz0INDJZq1Tb-9duYGnw According to the resolution, Mexico is considered by Reporters Without Borders as the most dangerous country for journalists in the world. E: curiously I cannot link tweets.
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Mar 11, 2022 08:37
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re: name chat
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Mar 11, 2022 17:54
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Redczar posted:One last piñericosa for the road. Now gently caress off forever Is that loving Don Francisco? He's still around?
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Mar 11, 2022 17:58
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fnox posted:Is that loving Don Francisco? He's still around? Holy poo poo it appears he is indeed still around, hearing his voice just brought me back to my childhood. Sabado Gigante was a mainstay in my parents´house.
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Mar 11, 2022 18:01
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papasyhotcakes posted:Holy poo poo it appears he is indeed still around, hearing his voice just brought me back to my childhood. Sabado Gigante was a mainstay in my parents´house. My mom had it on near constantly on a CRT we had at the kitchen. Just thinking about it makes me hear the trumpet of el chacal de la trompeta in my head.
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Mar 11, 2022 18:16
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It’s odd how much Sabado Gigante is such a staple in Latino culture. Also does anybody have exit poll data on voter demographics for Bolivia, Ecuador, or last Venezuela elections? I can only find information on Mexico.
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Mar 11, 2022 19:09
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growing up in texas i always thought sabado gigante was made in mexico lol, i never considered it was from south america. maybe that was abundantly clear but i was never fluent
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Mar 11, 2022 20:37
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Another podcast from El Hilo on the assassinations of journalists in Mexico: https://elhilo.audio/podcast/periodistas-asesinados-mexico/ It's worth noting that it's not narcos who appear to be most responsible for killings, but corrupt officials. Sometimes cartels commit reprisals against journalists for reporting on local officials.
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Mar 11, 2022 20:39
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We didn't have Sabado Gigante in Brazil though, for obvious reasons. How much did we miss out?
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Mar 11, 2022 21:12
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there were a lot of great boobs tbh
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Mar 11, 2022 21:22
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Negostrike posted:We didn't have Sabado Gigante in Brazil though, for obvious reasons. How much did we miss out? The show was three hours long and your grandma was glued to it the entire time. There were also a lot of hot women who look like Instagram models who wore skimpy outfits. Also, lots of music performances.
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Mar 11, 2022 21:29
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Negostrike posted:We didn't have Sabado Gigante in Brazil though, for obvious reasons. How much did we miss out? It was pretty much Domingão do Faustão but in spanish.
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Mar 11, 2022 22:14
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hello i am phone posted:It was pretty much Domingão do Faustão but in spanish. helloooo carol nakamura
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Mar 11, 2022 22:17
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punk rebel ecks posted:The show was three hours long and your grandma was glued to it the entire time. There were also a lot of hot women who look like Instagram models who wore skimpy outfits. Also, lots of music performances. Like we have here on sundays, than (with Faustão, Gugu, Silvio Santos etc)
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Mar 11, 2022 22:33
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Good news: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/puerto-rico-formally-exits-bankruptcy-largest-public-debt-restructurin-rcna20054
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Mar 16, 2022 07:03
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So I’m currently in a tour in Bolivia. And the tour guide is going on rants about how Evo Morales was evil because he hates Americans and how he’s selling shot off to China. Also that he isn’t the real first indigenous president because he doesn’t speak an indigenous language and forced Spanish as the only language so he’s a poser indigenous.
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Apr 8, 2022 17:39
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punk rebel ecks posted:So I’m currently in a tour in Bolivia. And the tour guide is going on rants about how Evo Morales was evil because he hates Americans and how he’s selling shot off to China. Also that he isn’t the real first indigenous president because he doesn’t speak an indigenous language and forced Spanish as the only language so he’s a poser indigenous. He forgot to mention that he's a horrible drug smuggler too
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Apr 8, 2022 18:00
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Spice World War II posted:He forgot to mention that he's a horrible drug smuggler too That hasn’t come up yet, but he did say that “Bolivia is actually mostly an Amazon country like Brazil as that’s where most of the land area is. Only around ten million people live to the small portion of the East.” *Bolivia has a population of 12 million. Edit - He also mentioned how gangs were leaving graffiti on the abandoned trains attraction like “Free Palestine.” I rose my fists and he was confused, I told him I was Palestinian. punk rebel ecks fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Apr 8, 2022 |
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Apr 8, 2022 18:19
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Has he said anything about Anez yet?
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Apr 8, 2022 18:32
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Nucleic Acids posted:Has he said anything about Anez yet? When he showed us the picture of recent presidents it was just Evo and Arce. Like Abe’s didn’t exist.
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Apr 8, 2022 19:06
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She was just a constitutionally appointed interim leader who returned the country to democracy, and no one really can say who did all the violence and persecution during that time. It might have been some fascists, but it is also very possible that it was mas thugs, as usual.
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Apr 8, 2022 19:25
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reminds me of my tour guide in israel, yeah
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Apr 8, 2022 19:26
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So uh...what's going on in Peru right now? Sounds like a big mess.
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Apr 8, 2022 20:37
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An (somewhat sensationalist to be fair) article that caught my attention from El Pais claims that Castillo's cabinet is now being influenced by people tied to Fujimori and a certain climate of paranoia is taking hold in the presidential palace.quote:Esta no ha sido la primera ocasión en la que Castillo pensó en aplicar el estado de emergencia. En noviembre del año pasado, según una fuente contó a EL PAÍS en un reportaje, Castillo quiso llevarlo a cabo. La oposición había convocado una marcha en la capital para promover su destitución. Le dijo a su gente de confianza que tenía informantes en provincia y que venían muchos autobuses, que iba a ser una manifestación gigantesca. “¿Cómo vamos a sacar los militares a la calle? Esto no es Centroamérica”, le cuestionó su número dos en ese momento, Mirtha Vásquez, una política serena y sensata. Otros ministros, sin embargo, creyeron que era una buena idea. Horas después, el presidente desistió del plan. La marcha fue del tamaño de una reunión de amigos, no tuvo apenas repercusión. “¿Ve presidente? No era nada”, le escribieron por chat. quote:This is not the first time Castillo has thought about applying a state of emergency. Last november, as told by a source to El Pais in a report, things were about to be taken to a head. The opposition had convened a march in the capital arguing for Castillo's destitution. He told his trusted advisors that he had informants and that several buses were going to bring a giant manifestation. "Are we really going to bring the military out on the streets? This isn't Central America.", asked Mirtha Vásquez, his second-in-command and a politician [quote on quote from the article] "serene and sensible". Other ministers, however, thought it was a good idea to do so. A few hours later, the president reneged on the plan. The march wound up being quite small, and nothing happened. "See Mr. President? It was nothing", they [who?] wrote to him by chat. E: translate more text from the article and make clear my own comments. E1: one impression I'm getting is that maybe Castillo himself is a little too online. I'm imagining one of Castillo's advisors was looking for people to hire and showed his boss like "wow look at this!" 
America Inc. fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Apr 8, 2022 |
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Apr 8, 2022 22:50
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https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-lower-house-backs-mining-law-change-nationalize-lithium-2022-04-18/ Mexico's lower house just passed a bill nationalizing the country's entire lithium reserves with 298 votes for, 0 against, and 100+ abstaining. It used to be part of the comprehensive energy independence bill ALMO was supporting that failed to gather the 2/3rd majority needed. I'll be very interested to see if more of the big energy bill is passed in chunks.
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Apr 19, 2022 23:05
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So, how long till we get the first article about the need for regime change in Mexico?
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Apr 20, 2022 03:04
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^^ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/18/mexico-president-slams-opposition-for-voting-down-power-bill quote:Washington also had said the reforms risked bringing “endless litigation” that would impede investment and undermine joint efforts to fight climate change Who is going to be filing this "endless litigation" against Mexico? Its a mystery.
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Apr 20, 2022 07:57
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So I just got back from a trip from Latin America, specifically Bolivia and Brazil. While there I saw many interesting things, especially those through a political lens. I will share it here since I feel it may be of some intertest. Bolivia This is a country like nowhere else. Not only is much of the population settled in the literal mountains  but it's one of the very few if only countries in Latin America with the majority of the population being indigenous. This leads to a very rich, unique, and vibrant culture you won't find anywhere else. Of course this isn't a thread about Latin American culture, but politics, and in Bolivia the political atmosphere is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Whether you are walking around the more touristy areas of La Paz or the poorest areas of the countryside, you will be greeted by political graffiti.     All of these pictures were taken in La Paz, but I assure you, you will find such graffiti no matter where you are in Bolivia. I will say that in La Paz the graffiti tends to be around 70% pro MAS and 30% anti MAS, but the anti MAS graffiti tends to be...well really anti MAS. The further in the countryside you go into, the more pro MAS graffiti you'll see. To the point where driving by a relative poor area in the countryside I saw exclusively pro MAS graffiti. But it isn't just the graffiti, it's also the weird little things too. For example, I noticed places that are anti MAS tend to be pro Israel, such as having Israeli flags hanging. It isn't super common but happens enough that I noticed it. In contrast pro MAS tends to be very pro Palestine. You also can't turn on the news without hearing about politics: https://i.imgur.com/5qv7WGu.mp4 (right click --> show controls --> turn on volume) I'm not sure what they are saying but they are talking about Anez and the story before involved Evo and he seemed to be facing some criminal charges and worries about him running again. However, the meat of the trip came from my two tour guides. One being multi-racial and growing up around Santa Cruz, and the other being indigenous and growing up in El Alto. Speaking politics with both of them painted a very different picture of Bolivia. Santa Cruz Tour Guide: - As he is giving the tour he makes several odd remarks about Bolivia. Such as despite most of the population being in the West in the mountains, he considers Bolivia to be a tropical country since by land area it is mostly warm and tropical. To spell it out, the Eastern (anti MAS) portion of Bolivia is the true Bolivia instead of the Western (pro MAS) portion. - He was very interested when I said I was American. Stating that he would love to move to America since it has the world's largest economy and it's so easy to move around in. - He took a lot of pride in being multi-racial, and being able to speak several languages. He brought up that his father was Brazilian and his mother was something I can't remember. - During the train part of the tour he remarked how the area became dangerous at night as gangs would roam around selling drugs and mark "pro Palestine" graffiti. - He stated that Incan culture wasn't that important to Bolivia as they were there only 100 years before the Spanish and that Bolivians were primarily descendants of the Tiwanaku, a people who mysteriously disappeared some hundreds of years ago. The most surreal part of the tour was when he flipped the pages of the two most recent Bolivian presidents (Morales and Arce)  .The tour guide points at Evo Morales and turns to me: "You are American correct?" I responded, "Yes I am". "You had to pay for a visa to get in here correct?" I responded, "Yes I did." He turns to the other passengers who are French. "Did either of you had to pay for a visa to come into this country?" They both shake their heads. He turns backs to me. "How much did you have to pay?" "$160", I said. He points to Evo again. "This man. He hates America. Because of him you had to pay the visa to get in here. That $160 you lost out on, it's because of him and his hatred for America." As the day goes on he states what he thinks of Evo and MAS. He initially voted for Evo Morales as he felt that he would do good for the country. He said that he did a lot of good things his first term, but he became hungry for power and did less and less as time went on. He said that while it was cool that he was the country's first indigenous president, he wasn't really indigenous because he spoke Spanish in the Palacio Quemado instead of an indigenous language, so he wasn't a real indigenous person. He also lamented how frustrated he was that Evo stayed in power for so long stating that "I feel if people are president for so long they start to get crazy and out of touch with the people." He stated that prior to Evo there were plenty of American tourists, but since his reign, he has replaced American companies with Chinese ones and now the country is frequently visited by Chinese "Maoists". He also touched upon how corrupt the government is, such as state funds for poor towns simply disappearing. El Alto Tour Guide: It took some time before politics were referred to by this tour guide. Probably because we didn't talk much. Unlike the other tour guide I was all alone with him as I was the only person who showed up for the tour. But I was running off of 2 hours of sleep so I was a zombie. During the tour though he did let his political opinion slip. - He seemed to drop tidbits of how he respected Cuba. - While we were at Sun Island he talked about how he had huge respect for the Incan culture and how it related to Bolivian culture as a whole. He remarked about how harsh the climate was here and despite that they made everything work. - One of the tenets of Incan culture was "don't be lazy" and he stated this was a huge part of Bolivian culture in the West. He said nobody works harder and deserves more respect than than indigenous Bolivian farmers and workers as they work in the harshest climates in South America. He stated that people in the Eastern portion of Bolivia aren't as hard of workers on average as "they simply have to pick fruit on trees" and don't have to climb up and down mountains and hills to till the soil. He then invited me to speak politics with him. Basically he stated that unlike most of Latin America, Bolivia doesn't practice "neoliberalism" and that's a very good thing. Unlike their neighbors they have low inflation, poverty has been freefalling, and human development has been skyrocketing. He prided Bolivia for being more independent than other countries. During the trip we were in a boat ride with several Europeans who wouldn't stop talking about how Russia was evil and their invasion of Ukraine was unprecedented. So it came to no surprise that during our conversation he brought it up and said "Yeah what Russia is doing to Ukraine is bad, but didn't the U.S. invade Iraq, Afghanistan, and just has a lovely track record of invading countries? Why are they seen as heroes and Russia seen as monsters?" He was kind of like a polar opposite of the tour guide who was raised in Santa Cruz, he paints a picture of a caring government and a hardworking, independent, and communal Bolivia. I also wasn't sure where to add this in, but you can see some of Bolivia's neoliberalism at work. You rarely see McDonald's or other chains in La Paz. The largest cellphone company, Entel, is nationalized and the headquarters is in La Paz. When purchasing medicine, the pharmacist don't know what "Tylenol" or "Pepto-Bismol" are. Most of the medicine are Bolivian brands, and they work every bit as good as the major companies abroad anyway. Just thought it would be worth sharing. Are Venezuelan Refugees "My Country Yearns for Freedom!!!" Types? Interestingly, while on the bus to La Paz there were a couple of Venezuelan refuges on board. I did not speak with them, but it was obvious who they were due to their accents and them literally saying stuff like "I'm here because of Hugo Chavez!" All of them would either be considered black or dark skinned Latino if they were in America. And judging from the way they were dressed and their mannerisms they were far and a way from a bougie Latin American person that you will see in Miami. It paints the picture that everyone is leaving Venezuela and not just rich light-skinned people. Brazil In contrast to Bolivia, Brazil wasn't as outwardly political. Sure you will see some things such as communists flags randomly hung on places:  Or Lula 2022 graffiti:  But unlike Bolivia they aren't anywhere near as ubiquitous and honestly don't have the same "bite" as Bolivia does. I will also say, unlike Bolivia, or really most other countries I've been too, my trip to Brazil was a bit more "safe". Like I didn't go far from touristy areas, both due to the lack of time and fear for my safety (why the gently caress do I need to have a Brazilian Tax ID to get a SIM card!?). That said, even in this environment you will notice some things. For the most obvious...the police. The police in Brazil seem to operate of how the right wing in America want the police to operate there. They are dressed even more militarized, and even are called "Military Police". They have squad cars where they stand by them and just watch folks stroll through the city. I managed to see two men in an argument to which the police officer put one man in a chokehold while the other man in the argument yelled at him. I don't speak Portuguese so I wasn't sure of the context but I was thinking "isn't it standard procedure to separate them in order to deescalate that situation?" Also, remember how I said that in Bolivia much of the major industries are dominated by Bolivian companies? This isn't the case in Brazil. McDonalds, Burger King, and almost everything else you can imagine corners much of Brazil's streets. Going to the pharmacy is very similar to going to Walgreens as you will see many familiar brands, though there are exceptions. All of the major phone companies are European, I don't recall one of the being Brazilian. In terms of speaking politics with the locals, I got nothing. The closest is that during the Amazon river tour someone asked "How the gently caress did they manage to build powerlines this far out in the middle of nowhere?", to which the tour guide responded "President Lula ordered the build them over a decade ago. People here now have electricity." That's about it for my trip. I figured it may interest some in this thread. I will also say both countries are incredible, and even if you don't give a poo poo about politics you should visit them both. They are both very rich in culture and activities and I wish I could have spent more time in both. I understand why Brazilian posters on this site have such a love/hate relationship with their country. Sure the government sucks and the country can be dangerous, but it's so unique, fun, and unlike anywhere else. Bolivia is also a fantastic country in it's own right. punk rebel ecks fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Apr 21, 2022 |
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Apr 21, 2022 01:19
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Thanks for the report!
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Apr 21, 2022 02:25
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fnox posted:They realized that Maduro is literally exactly the neoliberal kleptocrat that I've said for a long while it is, and that the US actually have no ideological reason to truly oppose him (other than, you know, he's a murderous dictator who regularly jails and assassinates political enemies and civilians, but that's standard fare for the US), since now that PDVSA is bankrupt he'll give US companies concessions anyway? I mean isn't this the same thing that has happened to Cuba in some regards?
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Apr 21, 2022 02:58
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are east/west flipped in that post?
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Apr 21, 2022 04:45
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i say swears online posted:are east/west flipped in that post? Yes it was, I'm an idiot. My American brain finds it hard to say "East of the country = non-blue voters".
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Apr 21, 2022 05:19
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lol "obviously the westerners are the neolibs" got into my brain too so i had to do geography brain. not calling you out, it just itched wrong. great post
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Apr 21, 2022 06:00
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