June 3, 2007 [LINK / comment]
In the mercantalistic (corruptly regulated) economies that predominate in Latin America, the only reliable path to success is through the "informal" sector -- street vendors and small shops that operate without licenses and trespass upon private property. Scoffing at the law has become a universal custom. Every once in a while, however, the government decides enough is enough, and the police crack down. That is what happened in Lima Peru last week, as several thousand petty merchants and their families were forcibly evicted after a month-long siege. From BBC:
The mayor of Lima, Luis Castaneda, had said the traders were illegally occupying the land which belonged to the local authority.
Last week, the government declared a state of emergency, suspending constitutional rights in the Santa Anita area of east Lima where the market is located.
Jim Faranda wrote me to make the point that the mainstream media [or their op-ed voices, rather, have] paid little or no attention to the shutdown of Venezuela's opposition broadcast media by Hugo Chavez. Good point, and it is indeed ironic, given that journalists ought to share a professional commitment to press freedom. I guess I just haven't been paying as much to our dumbed-down broadcast news lately. So what's the latest with Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan?
Meanwhile, Chavez staged another mass rally in Caracas yesterday; see BBC. Tens of thousands of his supporters are apparently very happy that their range of television choices has been narrowed. It's amazing what people will do for a free hot meal or perhaps a new article of clothing, and it's amazing that even the BBC is blind to the standard "rent-a-mob" tactics used by dictators. Or maybe it's not so amazing for a news service that hired the likes of Greg Palast...
UPDATE: Thanks to Randy Paul (who is leftist but not an apologist for Castro or Chavez), I came across an English language pro-freedom blog from Venezuela: Caracas Chronicles.