The Driving Energy Politics of Brazil
The drive from Paraguay to Rio de Janeiro was a long one. I crossed the chaotic border at the notorious smuggling town of Ciudad de Este to Foz do Iguacu. This put me on the Brazilian side of the triple […]
May Day Arrival, Buenos Aires
Clare and I arrived at the Gran Hotel Hispano, Avenida de Mayo, Argentina, just up the street from the plaza of the same name. It was curiously appropriate that we should arrive on this socialist celebration. It has been a […]
Energy; Southern Cone
Here in the cone of South America as in many parts of the world, one of the major issues is energy. What with the Andes and all, there are plenty of hydroelectric plants and underground thermal energy but the tricky […]
A question of Royalties
By Latin American standards, Chile is an industrialized nation par excellence. Their exports are on a par with Venezuela’s, ranking a close third to Brazil and Argentina. But, when it comes to the primary industries, like the huge mining industry, […]
Venezuela, Rogue State?
“Well at least we’re not a rogue state! [like you know who!]”. The Buenos Aires Times was trying to feel better about themselves, comparing Argentina favorably to its raunchy new Mercosur partner, Venezuela. Hugo Chavez was back in Buenos Aires […]
People in Greenhouses
Power is money, money power. Global power is measured in barrels of crude oil or BTU’s of natural gas; money, as we are carefully trained to believe, in US dollars. The direct correlation is the pricing of the World’s energy […]
A Divided Bolivia
The newspapers suggested that “Nothing can stop the Santa Cruz movement.” The peaceful protests in La Paz on the 28th of January and all over the country yesterday suggest otherwise. Pro-government protests like the one in La Paz, are taking […]
A Gentleman’s Insurrection
In the remote Peruvian mountain town of Andahuaylas, not far from where I write a strange media revolution has taken place. Don’t get me wrong! This was a real attempt at a coup d’Etat complete with guns, death and violence […]
Argentina and the IMF, Time for hardball?
When the new IMF Managing Director (MD), the unfortunately named Rodrigo Rato, paid a visit to Buenos Aires last month he must have come prepared to lay down the law. Boy, was he in for a surprise! Rato set his […]
Crossing the Andes, No Road (Part II)
From Port Velho across Acre into Madre de Díos and over the Andes to Cuzco