In the meantime, what’s happening in Peru? Well the outcome of the election is still not clear and looks like it won’t be for a while, seeing as its gone off into a ‘run-off’’ second round. The interesting news is that given the state of play, a dodgy manoeuvre is the signing a free-trade pact with the US – signed in Washington by President Alejandro Toledo, last Wednesday. Me thinks – pushing something lik e that through at a time like this is a bit sneaky? The deal is said to be similar to a 2003 deal between the US and Chile, which at the time was fiercely opposed by Chilean labour groups. The Institute for Public Accuracy has some insightful analysis on this topic and I was particularly interested in what Pedro Francke (Professor of Economics at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, and also involved with ForoSalud, a coalition of organizations focusing on healthcare in Peru) had to say:

“The Peruvian Minister of Health has said that this agreement will double the price of medicine within 12 years, and will particularly affect those with AIDS, tuberculosis and other health problems. The Health Ministry has also calculated that between 700, 000 and 900,000 people would lose health coverage because of the agreement. It also prevents Peru from protecting its farmers. We are collecting signatures for a petition demanding that agreement be subject to a referendum.”

last night”s Newsnight was hilarious, just superb: a look at what”s happening in Latin America, with the upcoming elections in Peru, and discussions related to whether there is such a thing as a “continental drift to the left”. ( and if so, what could the US administration”s reaction possibly be..)

Gavin Esler interviewed Ollanta Humala, one of Lima”s presidential candidates, while Greg Palast had a chummy chat with Hugo Chavez and took a look around Caracas and reported, amongst other things, on the health situation and the Cuban doctors.

the really amusing bit of course was when “Ambassador Otto Reich” - who is the “assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs” and back in the day was once the US Ambassador to Venezuela - came on air and was asked his opinion on Latin American politics. he seemed to be under the impression that any democracy is of course due to efforts of guess who - Big Brother USA - and of course, at the same time, there had been no such thing as Big Brother “intervening” in any coups in the past. oh no not at all, so Gavin Esler ( with a big smile on his face) reminded him of the scandals back in the day - when mr. reich was linked to that rather well known character - mr. oliver north.

brilliant - and dear Otto swung back with some retort along the lines of “aha you have just exposed your anti-US feelings on the BBC!” what a lot of jolly comedy. good one Gavin, i”m sure you really enjoyed that as much as the rest of watching along and having fits of laughter. im sure had otto tried to retain some cool he”d have been that much more “believable”. then again im sure he”s aware that people have terrible memories and kids nowadays - hell the 80″s was a long time ago. who”s going to remember who was connected to whom anyway?

this guardian article has some useful reading on Reich”s dodgy exploits back in the day

the Summit of the Americas is being celebrated:

molotov cocktail: an incendiary bomb made from a breakable container, such as a bottle, filled with flammable liquid and provided with a rag wick. Used by the Soviets against the invading German armies in World War II, these bombs were nicknamed after V. M. Molotov, a foreign minister of the Soviet Union at that time. { the new dictionary of cultural literacy. 3rd edition}

oh dear.. looks like the discussion on free trade for the americas is beset with trouble yet again. the “highest hemispheric political forum” is being held in Argentina and a few people have had a few things to say. e.g. Chavez. interesting viewing the mainstream american news headlines…“Chavez aims to challenge Bush on trade!” , “Anti-American protest rages before Summit!”

[ in the meantime, a 'killer tornado' strikes Indiana..]