TCRN STAFF: Mr. Opinion.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua continues it’s attempts to annex a piece of Costa Rica. Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega is setting himself up as a puppet Hugo Chávez by running, unconstitutionally, for another term. Both of these dictators are friends and allies of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega accuses Colombia of heading a “conspiracy” of countries within the Organization of American States (OAS), newspaper El Colombiano reported Sunday. Ortega accused Colombia of leading a campaign within the international body along with Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and Guatemala; countries which he said “have an interest in drug trafficking.”
The president accused Colombia of having “an expansionist policy in the Caribbean” and of encouraging Costa Rica to take over Nicaragua’s San Juan River.
Ortega at the beginning of November claimed that Colombia has encouraged maritime treaties with Honduras and Costa Rica that conflict with Nicaragua’s territory. Ortega threatened to withdraw from OAS, which he describes as a failure as the body has “lost all credibility”.
Apparently everyone is out to get Ortega, and he and his allies, Hugo Chávez, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are just innocent victims of the capitalist empire.
Venezuela
Chávez recently announced that his government would build housing, a highway, and an oil refinery in Nicaragua. Farther south, Venezuela has pledged to provide Ecuador with $1 billion in credit, a gesture that would soften the blow if that country’s leftist government follows through on its threat to default on foreign debt payments.
Along with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, a foe of the Bush administration, Chávez has announced a $2 billion international investment fund for Latin America.
Last week, Maj. Gen. Henry Rangel Silva, head of the Venezuela’s armed forces was quoted by the Caracas daily Ultimas Noticias “a hypothetical opposition government in 2012 would amount to selling away the country, and that’s not going to be accepted by the National Armed Force.”
President Hugo Chávez, warned that if an opposition candidate wins in 2012, there will be a “violent revolution”. Opposition leaders said these statements are unconstitutional, and as pre-announcements of a coup to retain power.
Some Latin American facts:
Venezuela is one of the world’s most corrupt countries, according to a report released Tuesday by Transparency International in Berlin. The report says that Chile is the most transparent country in Latin America.
Venezuela occupies the 164th position of the 178 countries included in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2010, below Paraguay and Haiti (both ranked 146th).
Honduras (134), Nicaragua and Ecuador (127 both) as well as Bolivia (110) were the other countries with low scores, AFP reported.
Chile was near the top of the global ranking among the 178 countries with a score of 21, followed by Uruguay (24), Puerto Rico (33) and Costa Rica (41).
Brazil and Cuba are in lower positions (both ranked 69).