MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images

This should be easy fodder for the anti-globalization crowd. A lobbyist for oil giant Chevron, which is embroiled in a potentially costly lawsuit with Ecuador over the dumping of toxic oil waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon, is complaining of mistreatment at the hands of the big bad South American nation:

"The ultimate issue here is Ecuador has mistreated a U.S. company," said one Chevron lobbyist who asked not to be identified talking about the firm's arguments to U.S. officials. "We can't let little countries screw around with big companies like this—companies that have made big investments around the world."

Chevron is playing hardball, asking the Bush administration to revoke special trade preferences with Ecuador if the case isn't dismissed. But the plaintiffs have the backing of Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, a Hugo Chávez ally, and two years ago secured the support of one Barack Obama, who wrote a letter arguing that the Ecuadorian peasants pressing the case should have "their day in court."

If the Bush administration doesn't act, and Obama wins in November, I wouldn't bet on Chevron in this rumble in the jungle.

NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images

Despite the recent biofuel backlash, there is one place still singing the praises of ethanol. It's estimated that Brazil has cut fuel costs by 30 percent since switching to fuels based on sugarcane -- an agricultural commodity that the country produces in droves. And the country hasn't just saved money from its biofuel habit: it has been turning some profit too, exporting several million tons of its crop to the United States, Europe, and even Japan this year and last.

Brazil's happiness with the ethanol boom underlies an important point about biofuel production: namely, that a regional or country-tailored approach works best. For a nation with a high production of sugarcane -- which packs more than five times the energy of corn and hasn't resulted in major environmental degradation -- it's understandable why biofuel is so popular and promising.

The sugarcane situation in Brazil isn't without its shortcomings: some sugarcane workers face slave-labor conditions, while some worry that their jobs will be replaced by more mechanized cane-cutting. But sugarcane production is an overwhelming boon for Brazil, and other countries would do well to learn from it's success -- and to benefit from it themselves.

The U.S. could step up its imports of cheaper, greener Brazilian fuel rather than continuing to subsidize domestically produced corn-based ethanol. The anti-biofuel crusaders could also stop lumping together Brazil's sugarcane with other "bad" ethanols so that countries like the U.S. will continue to lower trade barriers. That'll be a sweet deal for everyone.

STR/AFP/Getty Images

I thought yesterday's big bombshell from an anonymous Russian defense source about plans to base Russian bombers in Cuba was totally absurd. I still don't believe this is much more than one overzealous bureaucrat mouthing off to a reporter. But some people are clearly taking the prospect of 1962 redux a bit more seriously.

General Norton Schwartz, the current nominee for Air Force Chief of Staff, was asked how he would respond to such a scenario at his Senate confirmation hearing yesterday. He didn't seem to laugh it off:

I certainly would offer best military advice that we should engage the Russians not to pursue that approach. [...] And if they did, I think we should stand strong and indicate that that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America."

Meanwhile in Moscow, the story has ignited something of a media scandal. The Defense Ministry has denied the plans and accused Izvestia, the newspaper that originally reported the story, of fabricating the crucial quote and running the story under a false byline. Izvestia's editor is standing behind the piece, saying that the reporter's byline was changed because of the sensitive nature of the scoop. Considering Russia's media climate, that is somewhat plausible.

But what do the Cubans think about all this? The Miami Herald's Cuban Colada blog links to this article (Word document) by University of Miami Cuba expert Jaime Suchlicki, who says that while it's unlikely Raul Castro would ever go for such a risky scheme given the instability of his own regime, Russia's new best friend Hugo Chávez might be up for it.

We'll be keeping an eye out for more reactions.

It's going to be hard to top this Reuters headline for hilarity:

Chavez may hug king, won't shut up

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he would like to give the king of Spain a hug when he visits Europe next week, but the outspoken leader, referring to a diplomatic spat last year, said he will not shut up.

A show of hands: Who remembers anything that happened during John McCain's travels to Colombia and Mexico?

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?

Well, I'd bet you have a good handle on what Barack Obama is up to this week. He just came from Afghanistan, and now he's in Iraq, where he got a big boost when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki basically endorsed his withdrawal plan. After a few more days in the Middle East, he'll head to Europe, where by all accounts he'll be treated like a savior coming to rescue transatlantic relations from George W. Bush.

His trip is getting major, wall-to-wall coverage -- with much more to come -- but in fact, Obama has gotten the lion's share of media attention since the general election began:

Since June 9th, when Obama effectively clinched the votes for the nomination, the Project For Excellence In Journalism took a weekly look at 300 political stories in newspapers, magazines and television. In 77 percent of the stories, Obama played an important role, and 51 percent featured McCain.

A quick look at Google Trends shows that McCain hasn't even been able to capitalize on the times he has made news. Here's a graph of searches and news mentions for the past 30 days, with Obama in blue and McCain in red. As you can see, McCain's Latin America trip was during the first week of July (point A), and it barely made a dent:

Many conservatives, no doubt, will see the dark hand of media bias at work here. But is that really the case? Is McCain the victim of the liberal media? Or is Obama just more interesting and new than McCain? Discuss.

UPDATE: As for this, maybe the New York Times did McCain a favor. Check out this line from the op-ed that the Times supposedly spiked:

[Obama] makes it sound as if Prime Minister Maliki has endorsed the Obama timetable, when all he has said is that he would like a plan for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops at some unspecified point in the future.

Well, 2010 is getting fairly specific, no?

Memín Pinguín might be adored in his native Mexico, but he hasn't been feeling much love lately on the other side of the border. Wal-Mart has stopped selling comic books featuring the popular Cuban-Mexican character after a customer in Texas complained about the boy's racially insensitive appearance. Memín's mother, who looks an awful lot like Aunt Jemima, sparked similar complaints.

Let's be honest: Memín's huge lips, dark skin, and big ears really don't make for a flattering physical portrayal of African-Americans (Houston community activist Quanel X likened Memín's appearance to a monkey and his mother's to a gorilla).

But many Mexicans don't get what all the fuss is about, especially because they consider Memín a hero rather than a mocking caricature. He's known to them as an impish, yet thoughful boy who helps out his mother by shining shoes and selling newspapers. Says Javier Salas, a Spanish language radio-show host in Chicago,

We grew up reading, learning and educating ourselves with a lot of the topics [Memín Pinguín comics] always touched on, which was honesty, justice, tolerance. He was a very unique character."

The culture clash over Memín isn't new. Three years ago, a Mexican stamp collection featuring his likeness was discontinued after African-American leaders protested his stereotypical appearance. Yet despite the hits Memín has taken, his status as a Mexican cultural icon and a teacher of important life lessons isn't likely to fade. Nor too are the use of beloved cartoons that provoke outcries on both sides of the border (Speedy Gonzales, anyone?). Still, Memín could probably benefit from a facelift. Until then, his lessons on tolerance risk being overshadowed.

Colombian politican and recently freed hostage Ingrid Betancourt has some interesting words for her FARC captors on a recorded message being blasted from helicopters flying over the Colombian jungle:

Hey guerrillas, I'm Ingrid Betancourt. I want you to recover your liberty like I have. I'm waiting for you!" she shouts in one of the recordings, which includes Colombian pop star Shakira singing her hit "Estoy Aqui" or "I'm Here."

I'm not sure how the FARC rebels feel about Betancourt these days, but Shakira is a nice touch. Betancourt also made headlines yesterday by encouraging Colombian President Álvaro Uribe to tone down his aggressive lanugage directed toward the FARC.

El Espectador/Getty Images

Colombia announced today that it has rescued 15 hostages held by the country's notorious FARC guerillas, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. The rescued group also includes three American military contractors who were seized when their plane went down in FARC territory during an antinarcotics mission.

Fans of Betancourt worldwide are thrilled. A dual citizen of Colombia and France, she became a venerated figure during her six-year captivity, her frail figure and willfull words focusing the world's attention on a hostage crisis in a remote part of the Andes. Yet the celebration is bittersweet. As Betancourt and 14 others go free, largely because of their status as "bargaining chips" used by the FARC to gain political concessions, hundreds of others reportedly remain behind in the guerrilla group's hands.

EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP/Getty Images

Bolivian President Evo Morales and Peru's Alan Garcia have never been close amigos, but now the mudslinging has gotten worse.

Yesterday, Garcia told Morales to stick to his own country and "stop meddling in mine" after Morales criticized Peru's trade pact with the United States and allegedly started false rumors about U.S. military bases coming to Peru. Morales responded by calling Garcia an "antidemocratic president" whose "arrogance" shouldn't be tolerated.

At least Morales laid off the personal attacks this time. Last month, he called the centrist Garcia "fat and not very anti-imperialist." Ouch.

JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate John McCain jets off to Colombia tonight, where he'll stay for just a day before visiting Mexico. While he'll no doubt devote most of his time to photo ops with presidents Uribe and Calderon, here are a few things Senator McCain (or any future U.S. president) ought to know about Latin America before he goes:

• No "radical socialist revolution" is sweeping the region. Aside from Venezuela's Chávez, the aging Castro brothers, and to a lesser extent, Bolivia's Evo Morales and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, Latin American leaders are moderates (e.g. Lula in Brazil, Kirchner in Argentina, and Bachelet in Chile). These countries enjoy fairly good relations with El Norte, with which they have cooperated more closely on the trade and environmental fronts in recent years. Lula even signed an ethanol accord last year with George W. Bush, promising to boost research and production of biofuels.
• Since 9/11, President Bush has spent more time on security issues than on building Latin American goodwill. Talks on immigration reform with then-Mexican President Vicente Fox stalled and immigration enforcement got tougher. Latin American opposition to the Iraq invasion got pretty heated too -- Mexico and Chile both voted against the invasion at the U.N. in 2003, to Bush's displeasure. A transcript released last year revealed that Bush even threatened to stall a free trade agreement with Chile if the country voted against the United States. Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and El Salvador each had troops in Iraq at one point, but only El Salvador's remain.
• The drug war remains a major flashpoint. From 2000 to 2006, the United States spent $5.5 billion on Plan Colombia to combat drug production in the Andes, but cocaine production rose 14 percent from 2002 to 2007. Aerial spraying, an integral part of Plan Colombia, often kills licit crops and destroys farmers' livelihoods. And farmers in Bolivia have recently said they will stop accepting aid from USAID because the United States "undermines" leftist President Evo Morales. They plan to rely on Venezuela for help instead.
• Trade brings its own share of touchy points. NAFTA has met with mixed reviews for the less-than-expected boost it has given the Mexican economy. Many in Latin America fear that CAFTA will have a similar impact -- Costa Rica just narrowly ratified the agreement, almost two years after the U.S. Congress passed it. In Colombia, 57 percent approve of the proposed bilateral free trade agreement with the United States, which awaits congressional approval. President Bush and Senator McCain both support it, but Human Rights Watch has warned against its passage, citing the hundreds of Colombian trade unionists that have allegedly been killed by paramilitaries in recent years. Leading Democrats, including Barack Obama, also oppose the agreement in its current form.

State.gov

This may be the fresh approach American foreign policy has been looking for. According to The Miami Herald, U.S. Amb. James Cason has become a singing sensation in Paraguay after learning the native Guaraní language and recording an album of indigenous folk songs.

Cason, who became ambassador to Paraguay in 2005, has become quite the hit. His songs are in heavy rotation on local radio stations and he drew 1,000 to a sold-out downtown concert. He's used the proceeds from the concert and album sales to raise over $20,000 for English-language education scholarships, gaining plenty of attention from the locals along the way:

He's been on TV and in all the newspapers,'' said Nelson Viveros, 16, who traveled to meet the ambassador recently in Encarnación, by the Argentina border. "It's strange, but people love it.''

Not everyone is convinced. One Paraguyan senator, who has asked Paraguay's legislature to denounce Cason, said the diplomat "sings horribly and his pronunciation of Guaraní words is stammering. It is an offense to the Paraguayan people."

In 1960, the average Brazilian woman had 6.3 children. By 2000, the fertility rate was down to 2.3. The decline was comparable to China's, but Brazil didn't have a one-child policy. In fact, for a while it was even illegal to advertise contraceptives.

Many factors account for the drop in Brazilian fertility, but one recent study identified a factor most people probably wouldn't consider: soap operas (novelas). Novelas are huge in Brazil, and the network Rede Globo effectively has a monopoly on their production. Here's a sample:

During the past few decades, the vast majority of the population, of all social classes, has regularly tuned into the evening showings. The study, conducted by Eliana La Ferrara of Italy's Bocconi University and Alberto Chong and Suzanne Duryea of the Inter-American Development Bank, analyzed novelas aired from 1965 to 1999 in the top two time slots and found that they depict families that are much smaller than those in the real Brazil. Seventy-two percent of leading female characters age 50 or below had no children at all, and 21 percent had just one child. Hence, the authors hypothesized that the soap operas could be acting as a kind of birth control. 

Using census data from 1970 to 1991 and data on the entry of Rede Globo into different markets, the researchers found that women living in areas that received Globo's broadcast signal had significantly lower fertility. (And yes, the study did control for all sorts of factors and addressed the concern that the entry of Globo might have been driven by trends that also contribute to fertility decline. I'll spare you the gory econometric details.) Additionally, people in areas with Globo's signal were more likely to name their children after novela characters, suggesting that it was the novelas specifically, and not TV in general, that influenced childbearing.

These findings on the power of TV are reminiscent of last year's FP article "TV Privileges," which reported on a study about the effect of satellite TV on Indian villages. Women living in villages that acquired satellite TV -- whose shows tend to depict relatively liberated urban women -- came to have less tolerance for spousal abuse and less bias in favor of having boys. They also became more able to spend money without a husband's permission.

It all suggests that soap operas can be a soapbox for social change.

A new phenomenon has been taking Bolivia by storm in recent years: female wrestling. The women don traditional costumes, including a pleated, layered skirt, a bowler hat, shawl and pigtails, and put the WWE to shame:

AIZAR RALDES/AFP/Getty Images

AIZAR RALDES/AFP/Getty Images

Although legend has it that some indigenous women of the Aymara people, called Cholitas, have been wrestling for up to 20 years, the trend has only recently reached a critical mass. In 2007 a 20 min. documentary called "The Fighting Cholitas," was entered into several International Film Festivals, including the United Nations Association Film Festival. And in January the women, led by Carmen Rosa a.k.a. "The Champion" and Yolanda Amorosa a.k.a. "The Loving One," formed an association of women wrestlers, which organizes practices twice a week and matches every Sunday.

The Federation's founder, Carmen Rosa, explains the connection between women's equality and women's wrestling  in a not-to-be-missed BBC news video:

Because we Cholitas have been humiliated and very discriminated [against] in the past. That is what mostly drove me to be a fighter. I also wanted to show people, not only in Bolivia, but around the world, that women can do what men do and still be an indigenous woman."

Jorge Rey/Getty Images

As the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Barack Obama may continue to suffer from, of all things, a likability problem. Two weeks after John McCain pounced on favorable remarks made by a Hamas spokesperson that seemed to identify Obama as the group's preferred candidate, the junior senator from Illinois received another endorsement of sorts, this time from Fidel Castro.

A Reuters story yesterday cited an op-ed written by the retired Cuban leader:

In one of his periodic newspaper columns published in Communist Party newspaper Granma, Castro said he had 'no personal rancor' toward Obama, but 'if I defended him I would do a huge favor for his adversaries.'

Castro went on to call Obama "a strong candidate" as well as "the most progressive candidate" from "the social and human points of view."

Although Castro was highly critical of Obama's plans to continue the 50-year-old embargo, it's a safe bet that the McCain camp was not altogether disappointed with Fidel's comments.

Portugal, once a mighty world power, has given in to its former colony, Brazil, when it comes to spelling. Its parliament voted Friday to standardize the Portuguese language and spell words the Brazilian way. It also added three letters to the alphabet -- k, w, and y. The president is expected to approve the change.

The benefits: easier Internet searches, a uniform language for legal documents and international contracts, and less headache for textbook publishers. The drawback: wounded Portuguese pride.

PEDRO REY/AFP/Getty Images

If you were waiting to see who Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is supporting in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, it looks like you're going to be disappointed. Chavez sat down for an informal interview last Thursday with a group of visiting American newspaper editors and refused to bite:

Of the American presidential candidates, Chávez said, "It would be a lie to say I have no preference." But "I shouldn't say anything that would be used against someone."

The 20 editors spoke with Chavez for about 90 minutes on topics ranging from baseball (He's a Yankees fan, ironically.) to his relationship with Fidel Castro. He also stressed that the bombastic anti-American rhetoric he has used in the past is directed at the U.S. government, not ordinary Americans, and certainly not his friends in Hollywood:

I beg for forgiveness if in my speech I've hurt any feelings back in the States. I ask for forgiveness. When I speak about the United States, I do not refer to the people, to the citizens. I refer to the elite that is governing the United States - and not even referring to all of the elite governing the United States. Because we have friends among the elite governing the US. The economic elite, we have friends. We have friends among the cultural elite of the United States . . . Danny Glover. Kevin Spacey came over here. Sean Penn. Those are my friends, close friends . . . And when they come over here, they say what they like and what they don't like. And we still are friends. And that's what we want. We want to be friends. And I hope that with the new government we can then open new space for exchange - and discuss.

Chavez isn't getting too cozy though. He still worries about the U.S. invading to steal his country's oil wealth and is looking into buying more weapons from Russia to guard against this threat. He was also pretty evasive when asked about whether he planned to leave power when his term runs out in 2013, saying, "I don't think the Venezuelan people, at least part of the people, would allow me to get too far away from politics."

With his arch-nemesis on the way out, Chavez may be hoping to boost his appeal to the American population. But given how integral the image of Chavez as a third-world underdog railing against North American neoliberalism is to his appeal and legitimacy in Venezuela and throughout Latin America, it seems unlikely that he would ever get to friendly with the U.S., no matter who's sitting in the White House.

Just a few ordinary days in modern Mexico...

This weekend:

Gunmen killed 17 people over the weekend in the southern coastal state of Guerrero in a wild hunt for the head of the state cattlemen’s association, who has gone into hiding, the authorities said Monday.

On Saturday morning, several men dressed as commandos and carrying assault rifles opened fire on a cattlemen’s meeting at a hotel in Iguala, killing seven ranchers but missing the leader of the group, Rogaciano Alba Álvarez.

The next day, eight trucks full of armed men pulled up outside a house on Mr. Alba Álvarez’s ranch in Petatlán. The men asked for the owner of the ranch. His family and ranch hands denied knowing his whereabouts.

The gunmen then lined people up against a wall and opened fire, killing 10 people, including two young sons of Mr. Alba Álvarez, Alejandro and Rusbel, a witness told The Associated Press. Then they kidnapped a teen-age girl believed to be Mr. Alba Álvarez’s niece or daughter and fled, authorities said.

Last week:

TIJUANA – A confrontation between rival criminal gangs left 13 dead and nine injured early yesterday in gunbattles that started along a major thoroughfare and continued near a private clinic where police exchanged gunfire with injured suspects.

Saturday:

Police have recovered the remains of seven men who were killed and dumped along a road in northern Mexico.

The folks at Cuban Transition Project at the University of Miami have a handy chart on the shocking extent of Castro family involvement in the Cuban regime. Raúl is just the tip of the iceberg, my friends:

During the past few years family members of both Fidel and Raúl Castro have come to occupy important positions in Cuba's government. This Castro clan represents in addition to the military, the security apparatus and the Communist Party, a significant force in Cuba's political and economic structures.

Here's the list:

ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart

Relationship: Fidel Castro's son

Position: Advisor, Ministry of Basic Industry

 

ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Col. Alejandro Raúl Castro Espin

Position: Raúl Castro's son

Position: Chief, Intelligence Information Services, Ministry of the Interior; Coordinator, Intelligence Exchange with China

 

Jorge Rey/Getty Images

Ramón Castro Ruz

Position: Fidel and Raúl's oldest brother

Position: Advisor, Ministry of Sugar

 

ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Dr. Antonio Castro Soto

Position: Fidel Castro's son

Position: Investment Chief, Frank Pais Hospital. Doctor for Cuba's baseball team

 

ALEJANDRO ERNESTO/AFP/Getty Images

Major Raúl Alejandro Rodríguez Castro

Position: Raúl Castro's grandson

Position: Raúl Castro's military guard in charge of his personal security

 

ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Deborah Castro Espin

Position: Raúl Castro's daughter

Position: Advisor, Ministry of Education

 

ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Mariela Castro Espin

Position: Raúl Castro's daughter

Position: Head, Center for Sexual Education

 

ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Marcos Portal León

Position: Married to Raúl Castro's niece

Position: In charge of nickel industry, member of the Central Committee of Cuba's Communist Party

 

No pictures available:

Col. Luís Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, Raúl Castro's son-in-law

Chief Executive Officer of Grupo GAESA (Grupo de Administración de Empresas, S.A.) which supervises military enterprises

Alfonsito Fraga, Related to Raúl Castro

Ministry of Foreign Relations

The Mexican chapter of the anticorruption group Transparency International polled Mexicans on what percentage of their annual family income they spent on bribes.

Their answer? Nearly 8 percent. For more about corruption in Mexico, watch this National Geographic video below:

-/AFP/Getty Images

The French-Swiss-Spanish humanitarian mission to Colombia has apparently collapsed. There had been hopes the FARC rebel group would at least permit the mission's members to visit and treat ailing hostage Ingrid Betancourt. The former Colombian presidential candidate, who holds French citizenship, has been in captivity for five years. In rejecting the mission, a FARC spokesman placed the blame squarely on Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, whose military recently dealt the FARC a harsh blow.

We profoundly regret that while we were making palpable progress for a prisoner exchange, President Uribe planned and executed the cunning murder of comandante Raul Reyes, mortally wounding the hope for a humanitarian exchange and peace."

The failure of the mission is lamentable and the plight of the FARC hostages is tragic. Still, the high-level French attention to the issue is remarkable. President Sarkozy has declared himself ready to jet to the region if necessary to secure Betancourt's release. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner regularly wrestles with the details of the case. Betancourt's case has become a cause-celebre, and French politicians may simply be responding to the French street, but the sight of France's leaders hanging on the utterances of FARC guerrillas must have de Gaulle spinning in his grave.