The top story from the Americas in the New York Times this morning is from Brazil where the paper writes that President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva may see a drop in his domestic popularity as industrial production falls and unemployment rises in his country. Over the years, Lula has gained the reputation of one of the developing world’s most forceful advocates, says the NYT, but three new polls show a recent drop in his previously high approval ratings and much controversy over comments made last week, in which he blamed “white people with blue eyes” for the economic crisis. According to the NYT, these comments set off a wave of fury among Brazil’s elites, many of whom resent the popularity of Mr. da Silva, a former metal worker with a fourth-grade education. Brazil’s gross domestic product fell by 3.6% in the last quarter of 2008 from its third quarter numbers, the worst drop of any Latin American nation. The country also lost 654,946 jobs in December 2008, and 101,748 more jobs in January.
From the Washington Post, a piece on the continuing debate over changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba. The report says that Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) has called on President Obama in a personal letter to appoint a special envoy to initiate direct talks with the island's government and to end U.S. opposition to Cuba's membership in the Organization of American States. According to the WaPo, Lugar added that the nearly 50 year-old embargo puts the United States at odds with the views of the rest of Latin America, the European Union and the United Nations, and “undermines our broader security and political interests in the Western Hemisphere.” The Indiana Republican is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this week that would end all restrictions on travel to Cuba, except in cases of war or direct threats to health or safety. Lifting all restrictions -- and the trade embargo -- requires legislation, says the WaPo.
Both the Wall Street Journal and the Miami Herald have lead reports this morning from Venezuela where President Hugo Chávez has ordered the jailing of a former defense minister turned government critic, Raúl Baduel. Mr. Baduel was arrested on corruption charges Thursday. The MH writes that military prosecutor Ernesto Cedeño said there was ''sufficient proof'' to justify charging Baduel with stealing “a large amount of money from the armed forces.” He added that formal charges would be laid out within 30 to 45 days. The WSJ adds that this new arrest comes after the Venezuelan attorney general sought a court order in late March to arrest Manuel Rosales, a former state governor who ran for president against Mr. Chávez in the 2006. Rosales has since gone into hiding, representatives for the politician now say. A former general, Mr. Baduel was once a close friend to Mr. Chávez and played a key role in restoring him to power after a brief coup in 2002. However, Baduel emerged as an opposition figure in 2007, when he helped turn public opinion against a referendum to give Chávez the right to unlimited re-election.
And the LA Times and many others publish a report from Mexico on the arrest of the suspected No. 2 kingpin in the Juarez drug cartel. Mexican authorities on Thursday announced the capture of Vicente Carrillo Leyva, son of late drug lord, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, in Mexico City. Mr. Carrillo Leyva, 32 years old, had a $2 million reward on his head and was paraded before reporters in a white, Abercrombie & Fitch track suit after his arrest, reports the LAT. He is known as “The Engineer,” says the WSJ, and he is allegedly a member of a generation of educated “narco-juniors,” a group of heirs to family-run drug empires. The LAT adds that Carrillo's uncle, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, known as "the Viceroy," remains free as the leader of the Juarez cartel, one of the four largest trafficking organizations in Mexico.
Also the NYT, WaPo, and WSJ, all report from Mexico on meetings between top U.S. officials and their Mexican counterparts about border issues Thursday. The details of the agreements were not finished, U.S. officials said, but they are to be announced when President Obama visits Mexico later this month. It is expected that the new measures will improve cooperation in investigating and prosecuting gun smugglers, to upgrade shared fingerprint databases and to increase inspections of vehicles coming into Mexico, according to the NYT. The WaPo has a more skeptical analysis, writing that an announcement by Mexican officials that “an agreement to create a joint working group that could produce a timely report” signifies that little progress was made. The WSJ adds that participating in the meetings were U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Eduardo Medina Mora, Mexico's attorney general, among other Mexican security officials.
On discussions about easing restrictions on travel to and trade with Cuba, the MH reports that Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) has also issued a letter to President Obama, albeit from what he calls the perspective of a “dissident.” In the note, Martinez asks President Barack Obama not to “'put commercial considerations ahead of political freedom” for Cubans on the island. Mr. Martinez phoned famous Cuban hunger striker Jorge Luis ''Antúnez'' García after sending the letter, praising him for bringing attention to Cuba's human rights record.
From the LAT, a report from the U.S. border county of Starr County, Texas, what the paper calls an economically “booming” area where “unemployment is half of what it was a decade ago, sales tax revenue is up, and the median income is rising.” The catch: illicit gains from the drug trade seem to be playing at least some role in that renaissance as traffickers “feel they can buy law enforcement.”
And, finally, a strange editorial in the WaPo today on how the “fiscally strapped D.C. government” allegedly tried to donate old city fire equipment to the small Dominican community of Sosúa, through a D.C.-based peace organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment