VENEZUELA

• The good news is that there will be a referendum in Venezuela and it will be on August 15, in advance of the deadline of August 19 that would have simply provided fo Hugo Chávez's Vice-President to take his place for the remainder of the term. The bad news is that Chávez is busy packing the courts - especially the Supreme Court - with his cronies. Not content to merely have control of the executive branch and the congress, Chávez is now seeking control of the courts, thereby eliminating any separation of power and assuring judicial compliance with his regime.

• Human Rights Watch has a report that is essential reading on this subject. Essentially, the legislature passed a new law and Chávez signed it which expands the Supreme Court from 20 to 32 judges and gives the governing coalition the right to nullify existing judge's appointments. If that is not enough to give the impression that the fix is in, will decide any legal challenges related to the referendum.

• To complicate matters even further Chávez has a significant war chest increased recently by the increases in oil prices that have flowed into the coffers of PDVSA, the state-owned oil company (which also owns Citgo).

• The wording of the referendum votes is as follows: "Are you in agreement with leaving without effect the popular mandate awarded through legitimate democratic elections to citizen Hugo Rafael Chávez Frias as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela?"

• Compare this to what the Pinochet regime's referendum on his rule in 1978 in response to accurate accusations of torture and murder committed by his regime: "Faced with international aggression launched against our fatherland, I support President Pinochet in his defense of the dignity of Chile and reaffirm the legitimacy of the government." Birds of a feather; peas in a pod.

• As always to stay on top of issues in Venezuela, check out Caracas Chronicles and The Devil's Excrement

COLOMBIA

• After the brutal massacre by the FARC of workers at a jungle cocaine producing ranch that resulted in the deaths of 34 and this article about the futility of coca eradication, it is hard to feel optimistic about the possibility of a cessation of violence in Colombia.

• Carlos Castaño remains missing, the hardliners still seem to be leading the right-wing paramilitary AUC and the FARC are as intransigent as ever. The coca industry still remains the lifeblood of both the FARC and the AUC, whether they are producing the powder or extorting "taxes" from those who are.

• Nevertheless, one trace of good news emerges in the past several weeks: the ELN, another left-wing guerilla group has made some movement towards peace talks with the government. Francisco Galan, a jailed leader of the ELN has proposed the start of peace talks and the government regarded this seriously enough to fly him from prison to Bogotá to speak before congress. Mexico has offered to mediate the talks. It's a start, but with so many other recalcitrant players in this drama, the road is long and difficult.

BOLIVIA

• The citizens of Ayo Ayo, Bolivia fed up with their mayor and allegations of corruption against him decided to kidnap Benjamin Altamirano from La Paz, take him back to Ayo Ayo and burn him to death.

• In light of the anti-government demonstrations that resulted in the ouster of President Sánchez Lozada last year and increasing protests around the country, this is indeed worrisome and may be a harbinger of more violence. Bolivian bloggers Eduardo Avila and Miguel Centellas have more on this crime and the history of violence and disputes in Bolivia's Altiplano.

BRAZIL

• Brazil's preliminary victory in the World Trade Organization in which subsidies paid to US cotton farmers were ruled illegal has now been confirmed in a final verdict. The implications of this ruling are enormous and not just for US farmers, but also for Japanese and EU farmers who, unlike much of the developing world, are heavily subsidized by their governments. It may not be long before sugar and orange juice subsidies also fall by the wayside . . .

• What impact this will have on the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement or other trade negotiations remains to be seen. Clearly, American farmers are worried as Brazil is the largest exporter of soybeans and a major producer of ethanol and American companies with a long history of investment in Brazil are well aware of this. On the other hand, maybe "free" trade will actually be free.

ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES

• At its recent general assembly, the OAS reaffirmed its intention to fight corruption. Of course it's hard to argue with that, but this is clearly one time in which actions will speak much louder than words.

• Certainly progress has been made: Fujimori was ousted after trying to steal an election and Montesinos is on trial in Peru. Menem cannot return to Argentina without facing legal consequences. Francisco Alemán, the former president of Nicaragua has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to a significant jail sentence. So much more needs to be done, however, and a focus also needs to be given to corruption's even more evil twin: impunity.

CHILE

• Chilean former dictator Augusto Pinochet, not content to enjoy a quiet dotage with his grandchildren decided to be interviewed by a Miami television station last November to burnish his reputation. What he failed to realize was that in order to avoid prosecution for crimes against humanity on the basis of dementia, you had to actually be demented.

• His going public has now reopened the case against him and delighted his opponents. He should have taken a page from Vincent ("The Chin") Gigante and at least given the impression that he was demented. I don't expect much to come of this, but I would be content if he merely had to answer for this act of terrorism that his secret police committed in Washington, DC in September 1976.

Randinho's Latin America Briefing will be back next month. Meanwhile, regular updates concerning Latin American events can be found at Beautiful Horizons.