A quick recommended list of news and articles around the Americas on this Wednesday. First, the Bank of the South is one step closer to becoming operational. Finance ministers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, in Buenos Aires last Friday, reached what MercoPress calls “the definitive agreement for the launching of the Bank of the South.” The multilateral organization is expected to fund development and infrastructure projects with initial capital of $7 billion (down from the original plan of $10 billion). The “final stitch” will be gaining parliamentary approval for the bank in the seven signatory nations.
One of the financial institutions many Bank of the South supporters hope will be off set, when the regional development bank is operational, is the IMF. The Center for Economic and Policy Research argues in a briefing paper that the proposed changes in the voting shares of the IMF will not significantly alter the balance of power within the organization. While at the Inter-American Dialogue this week, the results of the 2008 AmericasBarometer Survey were discussed, with a focus on what effect the economic crisis might have on democratic governance. Read a summary of the event here.
On the inter-American system and regional cooperation, post-Trinidad and Tobago, Richard Feinberg writes in Foreign Affairs that the Summit “marked the further eclipse of the original inter-American dream -- an open, U.S.-led network of stable democracies with free markets, effective governments, and strong social policies.” Feinberg adds that the decision of ALBA nations not to sign the final communiqué “was a public act of betrayal and an open rebellion against any revival of a true inter-American system.”
There’s news on both Rep. Elliot Engel and Sen. Jim Webb’s commissions that are looking drug policy and public security at Just the Facts blog.
And Adam Isacson reports at Plan Colombia and Beyond that Arturo Valenzuela’s appointment as the next Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs was made official yesterday. The Senate must now approve the Georgetown professor and former Clinton NSC hand, who, as Isacson notes, was once a “principal proponent of increased military assistance to Colombia under the 2000 Plan Colombia appropriation.”
Weekly Briefs.
Central America. Spain’s El País reports that ‘displaced” narcotraffickers from Colombia and Mexico are finding refuge throughout much of Central America and using many countries of the region as a place to buy weapons and start “operation camps.”
The AP writes on the deportation of a top drug lord, Reynerio de Jesús Flores Lazo, from Honduras to El Salvador. Interpol had issued an arrest warrant for the 41-year-old on trafficking charges, as well as tax fraud and document falsification suspicions.
The AP also writes that Dr. Yuri Melini, a Guatemalan anti-mining activist who recently survived an assassination attempt, won an international human rights award Friday for his efforts to stop the rapid development of mines in the mineral-rich Central American nation. In September, Melini, director of the Center for Environmental Law and Social Action, was shot seven times in his stomach and legs on a Guatemala City street.
Inter Press Service reports that the School of the Americas Watch is petitioning the incoming government of Mauricio Funes in El Salvador to stop sending military officers to the infamous U.S. military academy, now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
El Salvador.com writes that the country’s Minister of Security, René Figueroa, claims that in recent years the National Civil Police have fired nearly 1500 police officers for non-compliance with institutional norms, adding that the security forces President Maurice Funes will soon take over are not contaminated with elements connected to organized crime.
And, The Economist Intelligence Unit has a report on the daunting challenges facing Funes when he takes over in June.
Argentina. El País writes that parliamentary elections moved to late June will not only be about maintaining a parliamentary majority for the Kirchners, but they “have become a direct struggle over power…and about knowing who will be situated as an alternative to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in 2011.”
Meanwhile, the AP writes that Nestor Kirchner, in a recent interview, said the major opposition to he and his wife is from the media. “Unfortunately, there are some media outlets that instead of being independent, are filled with ideology,” Kirchner remarked.
Bolivia. At the Cochabama-based Democracy Center’s blog, a very good back-and-forth moderated by Jim Schulz on claims of U.S. funding of violent opposition groups. Schulz begins with discussion of a recent article by Dan Beeton of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Beeton responds, as does the National Endowment for Democracy. Recommended reading for better understanding the situation in Bolivia from various perspectives.
Also, the AP reports that Evo Morales said Monday the current military leaders of the country recently informed him that there are no secret military archives in the country that might aid in finding the whereabouts of 152 Bolivians disappeared during dictatorships that lasted from 1964 to 1982. The news came as a surprise to human rights organizations, many of whom remain skeptical of the president’s claims.
And, in In These Times, writer April Howard has a good piece on the rush to mine lithium in Bolivia’s salt flats. Howard writes that “concerns remain about the environmental impact of extraction and refining, and whether the LiIon battery is really the “deus ex machina” that the auto industry is looking for.”
Brazil. Xinhua news agency reports that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Silva is set to visit China from May 18 to 20 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
While, domestically, El País writes that members of the PSDB opposition are trying to latch on to Lula’s popular Bolsa Familia social program, arguing that the program has only been an extension of a similar program created under form PSDB president Fernando Cardoso. The party claims that if they return to power in 2010 they will maintain and perfect the current initiative.
Chile. The Latin Americanist blog reports that the Chilean Education Ministry has announced the expansion of Chinese education in the country's high schools. According to the ministry's plan, the number of high schools that run Chinese courses as a foreign language will rise from 5 to 10 in 2009 and the number of high school students learning Chinese will rise to 1,700 from 850 in 2008.
EFE news agency writes that the Chilean government is willing to study a proposal by a group of architects that would provide landlocked Bolivia with access to the sea through a tunnel to an artificial island in the Pacific Ocean. Access to the Pacific has been a point of conflict between the two countries since Bolivia lost all of its Pacific coastline to Chile in a 19th-century conflict that also involved Peru.
Colombia. Plan Colombia and Beyond breaks down the State Department’s recently released “Summary and Highlights” document for its 2010 foreign assistance request giving clues about the future direction of U.S. foreign aid. Also, the usual list of weekly Colombia links related to Uribe’s re-election bid, the “Office of Envigado” narco-mafia group, and more.
The BBC reports on new, top military officials arrested in the “false positives” scandal.
The BBC also reports that seven Colombian soldiers were killed in an apparent ambush by FARC rebels.
The AP writes that Colombian Cardinal, Darío Castrillón Hoyos, was contacted by FARC and ELN guerrillas about starting a new dialogue with President Alvaro Uribe.
And the Colombian ambassador to Great Britain critiques a recent human rights delegation’s report on Colombian human rights abuses in a letter to The Guardian. The ambassador says “Since 2002, as a result of the Democratic Security and Defence Policy, we have reduced homicides by 49%, kidnappings by 85%, the number of victims of massacres by 75% and displacement by 47%.”
Cuba. El País writes that Fidel Castro, in a recent column, praised former U.S. President Jimmy Carter as an example of collaboration between the U.S. and Cuba.
Also in El País Cuban bloggers are reporting that the government has intensified its battle against them by preventing Havana hotels from selling internet connection cards to Cuban clients staying in such establishments.
From the AP, Fidel also defended his state-run press in Cuba this week with an ad hominem of sorts, critiquing the media in capitalist countries. “Today, only through gigantic investments can you provide centers that produce the news for the whole planet. And only those who manage them decide what gets reported and how it gets reported,” Castro wrote.
The La Plaza blog of the LA Times reports that online travel company Orbitz has entered the anti-travel ban coalition with their Open Cuba campaign.
And, an interesting piece on the continued treatment of Chernobyl survivors in Cuban medical facilities at Inter Press Service. The health initiative began with 139 Ukrainians and today the exchange has benefited more than 24,000 people. Cuba has promised to help survivors with medical care as long as Ukraine needs it.
Mexico. The weekly round-up of stories from Mexico this week:
· First, on the economy, flu, and drug violence, a terrific essay by Mike Davis entitled “A Day without Tourists: Tijuana versus the Plauge.” at The Nation.
· On U.S. military aid to Mexico, Narco News reports that 72 Mexican civil society organizations have sent a letter to the U.S. Congress demanding military aid to their country be stopped. The report says this most recent letter marks a sharp divergence from an NGO letter drafted by Amnesty International and signed by many of the same signatories in May 2008.
· On drugs, native rights, and the environment, Truthout has a piece on how drug traffickers have infiltrated even the most isolated of native villagers and destroyed the environment. “They come; they kill the trees and afterwards we have to choose: either we leave our lands or we stay to grow their drugs,” a Tarahumara indigenous leader says.
· On the economic crisis, the Financial Times reports that a 17 billion peso tax stimulus plan for the private sector was announced. Tax breaks as well as reductions on monthly payments of employee healthcare. At the same time, the FT also writes that wide-ranging tax reform is being considered by the government to increase taxes (on other sectors) and allow the government to abandon its strict spending limitations during difficult times.
· On the U.S.-Mexico border, the New York Times reported this week that, after three years of delays and false starts, construction began this week on a “virtual fence” aimed at stopping illegal immigration and smuggling along the border with Mexico.
· On drug policy, Narco News writes that new drug laws in Mexico will decriminalize simple possession but “if someone is caught with an amount of drugs that falls within the boundaries of simple possession, the authorities will record the person's name and personal information and pass it on to health authorities, who will contact the person and inform them of drug rehabilitation options in their area.”
· Also on drug policy, the Drug Policy Alliance reports on Vicente Fox’s recent statements saying he believes now is the time to renew the debate to tax and regulate drugs as a strategy to deal with the increased drug-related violence in Mexico.
· On election polls ahead of July legislative elections, Bloggings by Boz has the latest poll numbers showing the PRI with a narrow lead. 33% for the PRI, PAN at 28% and the PRD 10%.
· And on anti-mining protests, Narco News reports on growing confrontation in Oaxaca between the Canadian Fortuna mining company and environmental and indigenous activists, along with the Church, near San Jose del Progreso.
Paraguay. El País reports that Brazilian President Lula da Silva visited Paraguay to meet with President Fernando Lugo. Front and center on the agenda: Paraguay’s demand for a better deal on the Itaipu hydroelectric dam the two nations share. But Mercopress writes that the two heads of state only agreed to discuss the topic again in June.
The AP reports on demonstrations in Asuncion by “Sin Techo” housing activists demanding the construction of popular housing by the government. Five women led the protests with nails piercing both hands as a form of protest.
And a very good photo essay by freelancer Evan Abramson at NACLA on the effects of agribusiness soy farming in Paraguay. The report says that today about 77% of Paraguayan land is owned by 1% of the population.
Peru. EFE reports that the Peruvian Congress approved an investigative commission’s report recommending the Peruvian government close so-called “ALBA houses” that have actively supported Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. The report calls them a form of “political infiltration.”
Also, the AP reported this week that governing APRA party has asked Congress to investigate the income of Nadine Heredia, wife of opposition leader Ollanta Humala. According to a recent report, Heredia had received payments of 4.000 dollars from two Venezuelan companies.
The Economist writes this week that Peru has become the counterfeiting capital of the Americas. In the past two months, Peru’s police have seized some $40m in near-perfect replicas of American dollar bills in $20, $50 and $100 denominations, as well as $5m in fake Peruvian currency. That compares with total worldwide seizures of counterfeit dollars by the United States Secret Service (one of whose jobs is to protect the integrity of the currency) of $103m between October 2007 and August 2008.
And with the spike in violence attributed to the resurgence of the Shining Path, the Council on Foreign Relations has a backgrounder on the guerilla group.
Venezuela. The AP reports on a law currently in the Venezuelan congress that would impede foreign NGOs frp, giving money to Venezuelan civil society groups. Under the proposed legislation, funds sent to Venezuelan NGOs from abroad would have to pass through a fund controlled by the state.
The Economist writes on the tension between socialism and independent trade unions in Venezuela. A new bill in the pro-Chávez National Assembly would eliminate collective bargaining and give powers in labor matters to the new “worker councils,” which, according to the magazine “amount to branches of the ruling Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela.”
In El País, a piece on Chávez’s rejection of an Inter-American Human Rights Commission report that lists Venezuela as one of the countries of the region that systematically violates human rights. Chávez has continually criticized the Human Rights Commission for not speaking out against a 2002 coup against him.
And, does the mainstream media give Chávez a fair shake? Peter Hart writes on the FAIR blog that the Washington Post frequently ignores facts when demonizing the Venezuelan leader, pointing most recently to an April 30 editorial which levels a questionable critique of Chávez-Obama relations.
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