Pirity Basin (Oil/Gas region) circled

Correction: "focussed" is the British spelling. The rest of the info still stands.

President Energy, an oil and gas exploration company (that has spelling problems, but hopefully better attention to detail in the work they conduct), has recently announced that they plan to test for oil in the Pirity Basin in the Chaco of Paraguay (the western region). Reports are that they'll do 2-D and 3-D seismic testing beginning in March 2013 with assistance from Texas-based Global Geophysical Services. Exploration wells (3 according to this site, 6 according to this) will be drilled in early 2014.

The Paraguayan Vice Minister of Mines and Energy Hugo Cacace reacted to the news with measured confidence, saying that chances are very high that Paraguay has oil and/or gas reserves but that that could only be known once the exploration wells were dug. The Paraguayan President Federico Franco was much less cautious and promised that by May or June of 2013 Paraguay would be producing its first barrels of oil, almost a year before the initial exploration wells are even going to be dug by President Energy.

Patricia Macchi, a representative for President Energy, insisted that the wells would be dug in March 2014 and described President Franco's statements as "very optimistic" (i.e., not realistic).

Everyone in Paraguay realizes that:
a) 2013 is an election year and current President Franco is looking to ensure that his successor is a member of his own political party.

b) promises of oil are frequent in Paraguay and have yet to be delivered on.

President Energy is "Focussed" on South America

[Hispanics] should be a natural Republican constituency: striving immigrant community, religious, Catholic, family-oriented and socially conservative (on abortion, for example). The principal reason they go Democratic is the issue of illegal immigrants. (Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post)

My predictions: the GOP will do some soul-searching on how to reach out to Latinos since even the steady support they've had in the Cuban-American electorate is declining every election (Fox News own exit polls in Florida found that 50% of Cuban-American voters supported Romney and 47% supported Obama).

They'll first look to find a way to use immigration reform as a quick solution to the situation. And then they'll discover that there's actually a deeper problem of orientation and how Latinos and Latin-America are talked about. Words like "illegal aliens," "invasion," "pandering," "good vs bad Latinos" are not helpful terms and, in fact, alienate.


The Latino Vote in 2012
by David Frum

Winning quote:

Any idea that the immigration issue - and the immigration issue alone - would enable Republicans to staple a good chunk of the Latino vote to the conservative coalition - without changing anything else - is a dangerous self-deception.

Dick Morris: "Why I Was Wrong"
by Katrina Trinko

Winning quote:

I’ve got egg on my face.  I predicted a Romney landslide and, instead, we ended up with an Obama squeaker.  The key reason for my bum prediction is that I mistakenly believed that the 2008 surge in black, Latino, and young voter turnout would recede in 2012 to “normal” levels.  Didn’t happen.  These high levels of minority and young voter participation are here to stay.  And, with them, a permanent reshaping of our nation’s politics. In 2012, 13% of the vote was cast by blacks.  In 04, it was 11%.  This year, 10% was Latino.  In ‘04 it was 8%.

Analysis: Romney Done in by GOP's Latino Problem
by Jordan Fabian

Winning quote:

Unlike Latinos in western states who are primarily Mexican-American and place a high priority on the issue of immigration, Cuban-American and Puerto Rican voters comprise the bulk of Latino voters in Florida and generally are not as concerned about immigration status issues. While those voters do not necessarily have to deal with the immigration issue personally, the tone of the debate is still seen as a sign of respect to the community. 

As the U.S. Presidential election draws near, here are some of my favorite resources and analysis on U.S. Latinos/Hispanics and politics in the U.S.

Latino Decisions
A fantastic site that analyzes polls and, yet, has a strongly nuanced view of the diversity of the Latino community in the U.S. (and how that might shape voter preference).

Latino Vote Map
A fantastic map of the electoral college that lets you simulate outcomes given Latino population and votes. Warning: you can easily spend hours playing with this.

Pew Hispanic Center
Fantastic research. Lots of statistics and maps.
Key finding: Latinos prefer Obama over Romney 3:1, but they're less likely to actually vote than other groups.

National Institute for Latino Policy
A non-partisan institute that has some great reports (if you're looking for historical trends, starting in the 1980s).

Citizenship and Latino Voting Eligibility
Article (slightly dated) that breaks down the numbers. Money quote:

The impact of citizenship and age on the eligibility of voters varied widely between the major racial-ethnic groups. While 77 percent of Whites and 68 percent of Blacks remained eligible voters after taking into account these two factors, only 41 percent of Latinos, 51 percent of Asians, and 62 percent of Pacific Islanders remained eligible voters.