Here is news from Latin America.
Bolivia’s Evo Morales Visits Tehran
Evo Morales isn’t doing himself any favours with this state visit to Iran, the first ever by a Bolivian President. The report from Agence France Presse:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Bolivia’s visiting left-wing President Evo Morales on Monday their two nations are natural allies and would boost energy ties, state media reported.
“The two revolutionary nations and the governments of Iran and Bolivia are natural allies and will boost their relations in the fields of commerce, industry, agriculture, gas, oil and politics,” he told Morales on the first day of a two-day trip to Tehran.
Mexico To Spend $25 Billion on Fuel Subsidies in 2008
Mexico’s government will spend about $25 billion (260 billion pesos) this year on gasoline subsidies to blunt the effect of inflation on consumers, President Felipe Calderon said on Monday. The figure was higher than the $19 billion (200 billion pesos) that the government previously said it would spend on fuel subsidies, which have gotten more expensive this year on higher oil prices. The story from Reuters.
Mexico’s Killing Spree
Mexicans have long been fed up with the escalating violence. But 20 months after conservative President Felipe Calderón launched a massive military effort against drug violence, the bloodshed has only gotten worse. The Christian Science Monitor looks at the drug-fueled violence in Mexico.
Chávez Threatens to Expel US Ambassador
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez has certainly stepped up the rhetoric and his arms buying in recent weeks. Fueling Chávez’s anger right now was a US DEA report that drug trafficking via Venezuela has sharply increased in recent years. The story from the New York Times.