Central America. The BBC reports that a US federal appeals court has said Panama's ex-leader, Manuel Noriega, can be extradited to France. The US convicted Noriega of laundering illicit drugs money in 1990 and he was sentenced to 30 years. France convicted him in his absence in 1999 for laundering money through French banks, though it says he will be granted a new trial.
And a photo journalism report at UpsideDownWorld.org on the Rio Negro Massacre at Pak'oxom, Guatemala.
Argentina. The AP reports that a court has ordered that the construction of a wall separating an upper-class neighborhood and a shantytown be stopped.
Bolivia. The AP reports that Bolivian President Evo Morales ended his hunger strike Tuesday after Bolivia’s Congress passed an election law that will allow him to run for re-election in December. Xinhua had reported that Evo cancelled plans to attend the Summit of the Americas because of the issue. No word on if that decision has been reversed but imagine it has.
Also, an interesting report from the European think tank, Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior, details what they call the “different political paths” of Venezuela and Bolivia. A report summary says, “Evo Morales is trying to reconstruct a State and to build a democratic regime which includes the indigenous population” while “Hugo Chávez is trying to reconstruct the Venezuelan state implementing a concentration of power in his hands.” The authors recommend that EU policy be made with this difference in mind. Click here for a summary and a link to the full report.
Brazil. The Miami Herald has a piece on the effects of massive Brazilian state hydroelectric dam projects, one of which could flood the homes of 19,000 people. Opposition to the projects have brought native community members together with environmentalists to oppose the Belo Monte dam project—what would be the world’s third largest dam.
The Inter Press Service has a piece on barriers being built in Rio de Janeiro as well. The report says “the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro insists that a wall being built around a poor neighborhood is designed to protect what remains of Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest from further encroachment by the slum; human rights groups say it is designed to further separate the rich and poor.”
And AFP reports that Brazil's Labor Ministry on Thursday announced a sharp rise in unemployment claims of 7.9 percent in the first quarter while EFE writes that the value of Brazilian agricultural exports was $12.59 billion in the first quarter of this year, down 9.4 percent from the same period in 2008—signs of increasing economic worries in Latin America’s largest economy.
Chile. The BBC reports that James Anaya, UN special rapporteur for indigenous rights, says there is evidence to suggest police officers in Chile use excessive violence against the indigenous Mapuche communities. The Mapuche claim that their ancestral lands have been stolen by the state, and by large forestry companies that have destroyed thousands of acres of native forest to make way for pine and eucalyptus plantations.
Colombia. Reported at Plan Colombia and Beyond, left-wing journalist, Carlos Lozano, a supporter of dialogue with the FARC, speaks about his recent letter condemning a reported FARC plan to assassinate the El Tiempo’s director, Enrique Santos, and his brother Juan Manuel, the minister of defense.
Also at Plan Colombia and Beyond, a very well-argued response to WaPo reporter Scott Wilson’s article “Which Way in Afghanistan? Ask Colombia for Directions.” And a summary of the Center for International Policy’s new report, “Ecuador’s Humanitarian Emergency: The Spillover of Colombia’s Conflict,” which “documents the consequences of the spillover of Colombia’s conflict into Ecuadorian territory and the extent of the humanitarian crisis in Ecuador’s border provinces.”
Bloomberg reports that Colombia has been hit particularly hard this year among Latin American countries due to the economic downturn and its prospects may not improve as exports fall--this according to Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor.
Inter Press Service writes that a group of parliamentary and labor leaders from Great Britain, Canada, and the U.S. said they were shocked by the state of human rights in Colombia. They issued a statement which accused the government of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe of being an “accomplice of crimes against humanity.”
The BBC reported that at least 29 were killed late last week in a fight between drug trafficking groups over control of an assassination organization set up by Pablo Escobar of the Medellin cartel.
And Colombia Reports says the United States has confirmed that it is looking into the possibilities of moving its military capacity to Colombia after the closing of its base off the coast of Ecuador. “I am not going to deny that we are talking about this possibility,” U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield said this week.
Cuba. Two articles not directly related to Monday’s tweaking of U.S. Cuba policy. At The Nation, this author and Marcus Raskin write how an old idea for turning Guantánamo Bay into a medical research facility is being resurrected amidst the closure of Gitmo’s detention camps and a possible opening in Cuba.
And, in Newsweek, Patrick Symmes writes that Guantánamo Bay should be opened up to free trade.
Haiti. From In these Times, a report on a congressional bill that would create a truth commission to explore the U.S. role in the 2004 regime change in Haiti. The bill, sponsored by Barbara Lee (D-CA) “is languishing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee with only 12 co-sponsors.” Lee introduced the bill January 8 without fanfare and has brought the same bill to the U.S. House almost every year since 2004. It has never advanced out of committee.
Mexico. The weekly round-up of stories from Mexico this week:
· On Mexico and US drug policy, The Atlantic writes the U.S. may be sending a mixed signal on drug policy: sending troops to the border signaling the fight against drugs will be a military one in Mexico while allocating $64 million to U.S. drug courts, making it possible for more users to get treatment rather than incarceration at home.
· On corruption and the drug trade, Foreign Policy reports on a Felipe Calderon interview where the Mexican President says U.S. corruption is partly to blame for the surge in violence.
· On the Mexican economy, Business Week says multinational companies have continued to pump billions of dollars into Mexico for new factories even as drug violence has risen (although the souring of the economy may be changing that soon).
· Also on the Mexican economy, Bloomberg reports that the World Bank approved a $1.5 billion loan to Mexico to support health and education programs for poor children.
· On drug violence and entertainment, the Houston Chronicle says that “that Mexico’s bloody narcotics trafficking culture has seeped into the TV drama.” “The specter of real-world drug violence is putting a sharper, darker edge on the TV dramas even as Mexico’s casualties spiral beyond the stuff of fiction,” says the paper.
· On immigration, the Arizona Republic reports that illegal-immigrant arrests are down 29 percent along most of Arizona’s border. However, corpse recoveries and marijuana seizures are up dramatically.
· On immigration to Mexico from Central America, EFE reports that Federal Police intercepted a total of 88 undocumented immigrants from Central America in two separate operations this week.
· On the new face of drug trafficking, Reuters writes that “a savvy new generation of drug smugglers is moving up the ranks of Mexico's cartels wielding college degrees and keeping low profiles to outsmart police.” The piece says that, “often the urbane offspring of cartel founders, they bring a clean-cut management style to the murky multibillion dollar enterprise.”
· On gun smuggling, Newsweek asks why is Attorney General Eric Holder backing away from an assault weapons ban?
· On President Obama’s Mexico visit, WOLA has a list of media points.
· And on police in Mexico, EFE reports that the Mexican government has started a program intended to recruit 10,000 new law enforcement agents from its universities.
Peru. Voice of America reports on Barack Obama’s conversation with Peruvian President Alan Garcia ahead of the Summit of the Americas. The two discussed how to restore economic growth to the hemisphere.
And in Indian Country Today, a report on how oil exploration by a Brazilian state owned company in Peru could change the way a tribe has lived for 1,500 years in the region.
Venezuela. In The Economist a piece on the changes in Venezuela following February’s referendum writes that “one of the Bolivarian Revolution’s main traits will be the repression of dissent and the concentration of even more power in Mr Chávez’s own hands.” According to the Easter message of Catholic bishops, Venezuelan democracy is in “serious danger of collapse.”
From VOA, Hugo Chávez praised President Obama’s call for a nuclear-free world from Tokyo last week.
And, according to the AP, Chávez met with Colombian president and, at times, adversary, Alvaro Uribe to deepen bilateral economic and energy cooperation. After a five hour meeting, the two agreed to create a $200 million fund to support small businesses on the border.
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