VENEZUELA: Swine Flu Returns... 202 Confirmed Cases; Opposition Working Rural Heartland To Defeat Chavez.

M. PRESS
   Officials report two deaths from swine flu with 202 cases confirmed said Health minister Eugenia Sader (pictured).
   82 cases are confirmed in the state of Merida.
   In Caracas, 49 people were also diagnosed with H1N1 swine flu.


AND:     President Hugo Chavez's opposition will soon hold a primary vote to choose a single candidate to challenge him next year. Several potential candidates including Leopoldo Lopez, 39, (pictured) are working the rural heartland trying to capitalize on the growing frustration with Chavez's programs, soaring crime and runaway inflation.

    Chavez's response: "Choose your candidate. We're waiting for you."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i4GbPAkBn8h0Kyv3OGIp0E1jHMFA?docId=e54849fa742e48f1ae415d23ab30c470

MEXICO: Tourism Rises 7.3% in First Half Of 2010.

LAHT/      Despite troubling reports of increasing violence, an extensive advertising campaign and a weak peso helped tourism grow in the first 6 months of 2010 with a 7.3% increase over the same period of 2009. International visitors increased by 2.6% to 6.75 million. Tourism trails oil exports and remittances as Mexico's biggest source of income. In May and June 2009, a swine flu epidemic all but shut down Mexico's tourist industry, spurring a massive exodus of foreign tourists.

Still Kissing And Touching In Spain Despite Swine Flu Warnings.

GLOBALPOST.COM.
Kissing and touching are instinctual in Spain. For doctors’ swine flu prevention advice of "don't kiss, don't shake hands" to be adopted, “the situation would have to be tremendously serious, almost a catastrophic epidemic like the Black Death,” says one sociologist.

Costa Rican Leader Has Swine Flu.

BBC.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has swine flu.

"Apart from the fever and a sore throat, I feel well and in good shape to carry out my work by telecommuting," said the 68-year-old.

Arias had been mediating Honduran crisis talks.

But the negotiations stopped two weeks ago.

Swine Flu In Latin America: Mucho Alarm, Few Details.

From the Knight Center for Latin American Journalism.

Peru Cancels Largest Parade Because Of Swine Flu Fears.

From Bloomberg.

US Issues Travel Alert For Swine Flu In Argentina.

From Mercopress.com

Swine Flu Waylays Chile.

From GlobalPost.com.

Santiago's heavy pollution and advanced labs that can diagnose the flu quickly and easily...compared to Argentina...contribute to the large number of infected.

Another link here:

:http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/argentina/090714/swine-flu-deaths

21 Dead from Swine Flu In Argentina

Twenty one people have died from swine flu while almost 1,400 people in Argentina have come down with the H1N1 fever there.

In fact, Brasil is cautioning people over the age of 60, children younger than 2 and people with a weakened immune system postpone trips to Argentina and Chile, because of the serious outbreaks there.


http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=337943&CategoryId=14093

Mexican Tourism Slow to Rebound after Swine Flu Outbreak

Mexico's famous destinations like Cancun and Cozumel have seen few foreign tourists since the swine flu outbreak in April that killed 108 people...despite a $91 million dollar ad campaign.

Instead a new class of tourists has emerged...locals... that some brand as "cheapskates"...lured by the new steep discounts.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=agXnNkxtqHEA

Cuba Allows Mexican Flights to Resume

Granma reports that tomorrow, Monday, June 1st, flights from Mexico to La Habana can resume.
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/mayo/vier29/Informational-Note.html

The Castros essentially ended all flights from Mexico on April 30th...because of their swine flu fears.

For those tourists who have been anxiously tanning their heels for days...or even weeks...on Cancun's beaches, waiting for flights to resume...relief finally appears imminent.

I say appears...IMMINENT.

I would DREAD cueing up for tomorrow's first flights...on Click or Cubana.

Or, for that matter, even for several days afterwards.

The colas...just to buy tickets at the tiny, one-person Cancun airport counters...will be PURE HELL...as only an experienced Cuban visitor can appreciate!

It will resemble La Habana's usual... long... 5 peso pizza lines..at lunch time!

Then there's the planes themselves : tons of oversized luggage in the overheads and even the aisles, no empty seats, miserably humid heat because of lousy ACs in the dilapidated Russian and American planes that make the CUN-LAH run.

But, for the grace of God...and the recent termination of VivaAerobus flights from Austin, Texas...go I.

After getting there... Cuba in junio...is no picnic.

Except for the mangoes! Yum!

They are size of nerf footballs...and sweeter than any Mexican variety I have ever tasted in the US.

And super cheap. Maybe 5 pesos....each...at season's height (about $.20 US).