Meanwhile, in Latin America

A former anti-communist leader in Nicaragua is warning of a return to authoritarian Sandanista rule in the country.

Adolfo Calero, feted by the Reagan administration during the Cold War struggles in Central America, also said former allies in the U.S. government were not returning his calls.

"They have clammed up and refused to see me," Mr. Calero told The Washington Times. He said he thinks he is getting the cold shoulder because he is "presenting a different picture of the situation" in Nicaragua than what U.S. officials wanted to hear.

A State Department official said he had never heard of Mr. Calero and could not comment on his statements.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian steel company EBX is pulling out of Bolivia.

'With the policy of nationalization, the rules of the game have changed,' [an EBX] spokesman said. 'We can't trust them anymore.'

Meanwhile, Venezuela may expand oil production and exploration, including finding ways to tap into its "nasty" -- yet vast -- heavy-oil and tar-sand deposits, which is as good a segue as any to note that Ron Bailey's masterful peak-oil piece is finally up at Reason.