Latin America: March 2014

      We've sent the Minister of Latin American Affairs on another fact finding mission this weekend.   he'll be splitting time between Colombia and Brazil.   With John Kerry's focus on Ukraine and its Crimea, much of the western hemisphere has been under the radar, so to speak.
      As often happens, front page headlines are the big attention grabbers, especially when the grabber is the Eurasia thug, Vladimur Putin and his Russkie minions.   Having used the Sochi Winter Olympic Games as his cover(where he monopolized the TV coverage), he has maintained his grip on the international landscape by 1) giving cover to ousted Ukraine Pres. Yanukovysch,2) moving 6000 unidentified armed troops into Crimea,3) isolating the Crimean/Ukrainean military bases in Crimea, 4) sending 100,000 Russian troops on the border with Ukraine to engage in maneuvers, 5) overseeing a referendum vote on annexation of Crimea by Russia.
       So, the minister has to keep his eyes open in Latin America where unrest in Venezuela continues to roil local politics; Argentina looks more and more like a 3rd world orphan, and Brazil economy is falling off the tracks.   2 weeks of fact finding will give him enough time to get all the current news from the local streets of the two countries, both experiencing labor unrest and economic uncertainty.  It will prove to be an important trip for 2014.