The top story from the Americas in the New York Times this morning is a report from Mexico where the case of a French woman, sentenced to 60 years in a Mexican jail for her alleged role in a kidnapping ring led by her boyfriend, is back in the news, paradigmatic of the flaws and public opinion of the Mexican legal system. According to the NYT, French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants the woman, Florence Cassez, to be sent back to France. Under an international treaty, Ms. Cassez could waive her right to further appeals and ask to return to France to serve her sentence. But in Mexico there is almost universal opposition to sending her back. Given the fact that so many cases go unsolved in the Mexican justice system, the NYT writes that public opinion quickly hardens against suspects when they do appear to be resolved — no matter how imperfect the case. According to security expert, Guillermo Zepeda, a suspect appears before a judge in fewer than 2 percent of crimes. In large part this is because Mexicans have so little faith in any aspect of the criminal justice system that only 12 percent of crimes are ever reported.
In the Washington Post, a scathing editorial on Cuba today criticizes Congressional Black Caucus members who met with the Castro brothers this week in Cuba but not with dissident leaders. One activist in particular, Jorge Luis García Pérez, has spoken out for harsh treatment against him because of his color, says the WaPo. The paper argues that “congressional pressure, and that by leftist Latin American presidents who have been streaming to Cuba in recent months, is very likely to undermine President Obama” as he tries to alter U.S. relations with Cuba while still promising “liberty” to Cubans on the island. According to the paper, “as long as Congress is moving to unilaterally dismantle U.S. leverage -- and shunning Cuba's democratic opposition -- the regime will have no incentive to compromise.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva removed the chief executive of Brazil's largest public-sector bank, Banco do Brasil, after expressing his frustration over high interest rates charged to consumers. The WSJ calls the move an example of “the increasing political influence over banking decisions.” A recent study showed that interest rates charged on credit through Brazil's banking system are up to 10 times as high as those charged by banks abroad. Bank officials claimed lowering interest rates would lower consumer confidence and cause investors to get out of the market. But Brazil’s finance minister, Guido Mantega, maintained that given the fact that Brazil is one of the few countries with government-controlled banks, the country “can play a fundamental role” in softening the blow of the crisis.
At the LA Times, a report on immigration examines the detentions, and at times deportations, of some U.S. citizens and legal residents, which are coming under intense scrutiny as immigration officials have mounted workplace roundups and jailhouse sweeps in search of undocumented immigrants. The paper reports that, “unlike suspects in criminal matters, immigration detainees have no right to government-appointed counsel -- and, in some cases, have no access to paid lawyers.” Moreover, fast-track deportation procedures enacted by Congress in past years also limit court review once the expulsion process is underway. Officials in Washington said last month that the Obama administration was expected to limit the use of controversial workplace raids -- shifting enforcement emphasis to target employers rather than workers.
The Miami Herald runs an opinion piece by Marifeli Pérez-Stable of the Inter-American Dialogue which examines the future of the Cuba-Venezuela alliance. Pérez-Stable writes that, since 2005, Venezuela sends Cuba 100,000 barrels of oil daily at subsidized prices. Bilateral trade grew from $388 million in 1998 to $7.1 billion in 2007. And Havana, in 2007, provided Caracas with the services of 39,000 Cubans, including 31,000 health professionals and around 8,000 political and security advisors. She argues there are three scenarios for the future of this relation: 1. A struggling attempt to continue on its present terms, even as oil prices drop 2. A distancing between the two countries if Cuba, under Raúl Castro, opens the economy and eases tensions with the United States, or 3. Unknown relationship changes due a shift in the domestic circumstances in either Cuba or Venezuela.
Also in the NYT, an AP report from Venezuela says opposition figures are denouncing recent moves by President Hugo Chávez to centralize power. “It's a government that's becoming more strongly centered on the figure of the president and it's becoming more repressive,” says Venezuelan historian, Margarita Lopez Maya, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. New laws will soon transfer authority to oversee the capital of Caracas to an official appointed by the president. Another law brought seaports and airports under federal control recently. And prosecutors have also resurrected a corruption case against opposition leader Manuel Rosales and jailed former Defense Minister Raul Baduel, a government critic who faces an accusation that funds went missing on his watch.
And the NYT writes that a Brazilian court has ordered new trials for two men accused of murdering an American-born nun over a land dispute in the Amazon rainforest. Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, a rancher who had previously been acquitted of orchestrating the murder of the nun, Sister Dorothy Stang, a 73-year-old rain forest activist, will be retried with Rayfran das Neves Sales, who had confessed to pulling the trigger and was already sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Finally, at the LA Times blog, La Plaza, a posting writes that “since President Daniel Ortega's return to power in 2007, the number of Nicaraguans who prefer not to speak openly about political topics has grown dramatically”-- this according to a study conducted by CID Gallup. The Knight Center for Journalism also reports that when a public opinion survey asked whether Nicaraguans feel safe and respected if they make political commentaries in public places, 68% said no. Communications Media Observatory has said the government of Daniel Ortega has limited several freedoms and discriminated in furnishing information to journalists, calling 2008 “the worst year for freedom of expression in the country.”
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