Zelaya to Return to Honduras, with OAS Secretary General

Reports on the tense situation in Honduras, two days after a military coup d'etat ousted democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya, continue this morning around the major U.S. papers.  The AP has the latest on the situation, writing early this morning that Zelaya has vowed to return to Honduras in two days to reassume the presidency.  Standing with many leaders of the Latin American Left late Monday, Zelaya said he would accept an offer by the OAS's Secretary General, Jose Miguel Insulza, to accompany him back to Honduras and work to restore democracy.  However, Zelaya first wanted to rally more international support by speaking to the U.N. General Assembly in a special session on Tuesday.  Zelaya also urged Honduran security forces to stop repression of protestors in the country.  The LA Times leads its coverage with that story, saying "troops in battle dress chased chased rock-throwing demonstrators through the streets of Tegucigalpa...as a military helicopter whirred overhead."  The International Red Cross says at least 30 were injured in the protests and government officials say nearly 40 individuals were detained.  The Honduran military also cut off access to internet news sites and international cable television while seven international journalists working for Venezuela-based Telesur were briefly detained by the armed forces.  The Washington Post focuses on the swift international condemnation of the military coup.  Three of Honduras's neighbors cut overland trade with the country Monday and Mexico and Brazil joined a number of other Latin American countries in keeping their ambassador's out of the country.  Close Zelaya ally Hugo Chavez continued to be most forceful in his rhetoric, declaring "we are ready to support a rebellion of the people of Honduras."  The WaPo says "belligerence" on the part of Chavez is forcing the Obama administration into a difficult position.  Obama, meeting in Washington with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, called the Sunday's action a "coup" and a "terrible precedent" in the region.  But Sec. of State Hillary Clinton was  more tempered in her words, saying the military action would not trigger an automatic cut in millions of dollars of U.S. aid to Honduras.  The U.S. is far and away Honduras's largest trading partner and President Obama requested $68 million in economic and military aid for the country in his 2010 foreign aid budget.  And the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly the School of the Americas, confirmed reports that several of those military officials involved Sunday's coup were trained at the U.S.-run military academy during the 1980s and 1990s.  It's that past of U.S. policies that the New York Times leads with in its reporting.  The paper says the coup has pitted the U.S. against "a history of backing rival political factions and instigating coups in the region."  U.S. State Department officials, however, signaled that while they were not in agreement with President Zelaya's plans to move forward with a controversial non-binding referendum which could trigger a rewriting of the Honduran constitution, such moves did not warrant a coup d'etat.  "On the one instance, we’re talking about conducting a survey, a nonbinding survey; in the other instance, we’re talking about the forcible removal of a president from a country," an anonymous DOS official told the Times.                       

On the opinion pages, however, there is some disagreement about whether or not the actions taken by the Honduran military were justified.  The LA Times denounces the military coup and says it must be reversed, but, with the Post says a restoration of democracy would also include Manuel Zelaya stepping back from controversial measures to seek indefinite re-election.  LAT op-ed contributor Andres Martinez brings Cuba into the mix saying that while the coup should be rejected, the Castro government should not receive a free pass from Latin American leaders condemning the actions of the Honduran military.  In the NYT, Alvaro Vargas Llosa replaces Cuba with Venezuela, saying it is Hugo Chavez who has come out of Sunday's events with the moral high ground.  The Miami Herald, after reporting on the institutional weaknesses of Honduras, blames Zelaya for instigating Sunday's coup.  And in no uncertain terms, the WSJ, for the second day in a row, comes down in support of the Honduran coup, calling it the "triumph of law."        

Overshadowed by the situation in Honduras, the Wall Street Journal is the only paper to issue much of a report on the post-election environment in Argentina.  The paper says that the defeat of President Cristina Kirchner's faction of the Peronist party leaves her as a lame duck and opens the door for "moderate leaders to seize influence" in the country.  The elections seem to have been a stinging defeat for the Kirchners who even lost Nestor Kirchner's home state of Santa Cruz.  And their is speculation that many in the Peronist party may shift their allegiances to Sen. Carlos Reutemann, a former Formula One driver who has good relations with many in the Argentine agricultural sector.  Other potential candidates in the 2011 presidential contest include Kirchner V.P. Julio Cobos and Mauricio Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires.  Francisco de Narváez who led the rival ticket against the Kirchner's in Sunday's legislative elections cannot run for president because he was born in Colombia.  The AP highlights how the vote triggered the resignation of Nestor Kirchner as the Peronist Party's leader.  Daniel Scioli, governor of the Buenos Aires province, replaced Mr. Kirchner.  

And, in other news, preliminary Senate results in Haiti show President Rene Preval's party picking up 5 of the 11 Senate seats that were up for grabs.  Five different parties picking up the other seats and an independent candidate won one seat.  However, turnout was even lower in the second round of voting than in the first.  Finally, the LAT also reports on the drug war's spread to another border, that of the U.S.-Canada frontier.  In a story that has been reported by others, the paper connects a crackdown in Mexico to growing drug violence amongst cocaine dealers in British Columbia.    

Military Coup Overthrows Zelaya Gov't in Honduras

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown in a military coup on Sunday, in what the New York Times points out was the first military backed toppling of a democratically elected government in Central America since the end of the Cold War. After armed men raided the presidential palace, deposed the president-still in his pajamas-and whisked him off on a military plane to Costa Rica, the Honduran Congress voted Zelaya out of office and replaced him with the President of the legislative body, Roberto Micheletti. Zelaya immediately rejected assertions by coup backers that he had resigned. Leaders from around the hemisphere, however, were unified in their condemnation of the coup. As the NYT writes, the Honduran military's actions united countries as "ideologically disparate as Havana's communist rulers and conservative Colombia." For its part, President Obama issued a statement calling on Honduras to "to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic charter." By Sunday night, U.S. officials said they had spoken with Zelaya and were working for his return to power in Honduras-in distinct contrast to the U.S. position vis a vis the 2002 coup against Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. Interestingly, just hours before the coup, the Washington Post reports that Zelaya had praised the U.S. "Everything was in place for the coup, and if the U.S. Embassy had approved it, it would have happened. But they did not. I'm only still here in office thanks to the United States," Zelaya told Spain's El País on Saturday. However, Micheletti responded to the words of hemispheric leaders yesterday, saying the military had acted on orders from the courts to "defend respect for law and protect the principles of democracy." "'Nobody, not Barack Obama and much less Hugo Chavez, has any right to threaten this country," Michelleti declared. The ALBA bloc of nations to which Honduras is a member is expected to meet today in Managua, Nicaragua to discuss Sunday's events in Honduras and Zelaya will be present there. I have not seen good reports yet detailing any bloodshed that may have followed the military ouster, although one rights group, Freedom of Expression, is reporting that left-leaning legislator Cesar Ham died in a shootout with security forces trying to detain him. There were also unconfirmed reports that members of the Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan diplomatic corps in the country had been roughed up by the Honduran military forces. Meanwhile, in South Florida, the Miami Herald writes that some Honduran ex-pats took to the streets in support of the military coup. "The military is supposed to protect the country and that's what they did today," a Honduran store owner told the paper while labeling President Zelaya a communist. Wall Street Journal columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady also supports the military coup in her column, berating Zelaya, per usual, as a stooge of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. She even goes so far as to claim the Sunday coup plotters were "strictly following the constitution."  

Meanwhile, in other major news over the weekend, the ruling Peronist faction of the Kirchners conceded defeat in Sunday's legislative elections in Argentina late last night. As the Wall Street Journal reports, former President Nestor Kirchner conceded to the party list led by rival Francisco de Narváez after trailing the businessman 34.5% to 32.2% after 91% of votes had been tallied. Sunday's vote appeared to go off without irregularities, says the paper,  

The Washington Post has a report on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's visit to the White House this week. Uribe arrives in Washington on Monday, and it is expected that he will face tough questions about human rights abuses in his country. While the Obama administration offered no official word on Uribe's visit, "four people who have met with policymakers in the Obama administration say the United States is concerned about the wiretapping and surveillance of Uribe's critics by an intelligence agency controlled by the presidency and reports that as many as 1,700 civilians have been killed by Colombian army units in what a preliminary United Nations investigation characterized as ‘cold-blooded, premeditated murder.'" According to Adam Isacson of the Center for International Policy, "One of the first priorities of the Obama administration was to increase the number of friends [in Latin America], and he's made overtures to Mexico, Chile and Brazil. To Colombia, that's bad news because they become one of many friends, not the only friend." The WSJ also comments on the Uribe visit on its opinion page over the weekend. The paper argues that Obama should push for a U.S. military base in Palanquero, Colombia and be willing to push the stalled FTA with Colombia. "A U.S. military presence in the region is important, and the Palanquero option in Colombia is about the only one open to the U.S.," the paper provocatively writes.  

And the LA Times has news of new violence in Mexico. A deadly clash in Guanajuato between security officials and suspected drug traffickers ended with at least 12 dead on Friday. Police came under fire while attempting to raid a home in the rural central Mexican state. Also, from Mexico, the AP reports that 93 police officers were detained over the weekend, Mexican officials announced Sunday. The officers from the state of Hidalgo are suspected of aiding the Gulf Cartel's Zeta hitmen.

In other news, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, Janet Sanderson, announced she would be stepping down after 3 ½ years on the job. According to the MH, "Sanderson's tenure, say Haiti observers, reflects not just her own even-keeled temperament, but the changing tenor of U.S. policy in Haiti following years of political turmoil when the United States was seen as an aggressive bully favoring regime change but speaking with a contradictory voice." In Sanderson's own words, "When I first got here, nobody was going out, there were no police on the streets, no elected president in office, no functioning parliament. It was unclear to a certain extent what direction the country was going." Also, Venezuelan ambassador to the U.S. Bernardo Alvarez returned to Washington on Friday, saying the restoration of top envoys was "the first step in normalizing relations." The U.S. is expected to return its top diplomat to Venezuela this week. 

Finally, in an opinion piece published before Sunday's ouster of Manuel Zelaya, Andres Oppenheimer writes in the MH that the nine-nation ALBA bloc is promoting an erosion of democratic values in the region by championing constitutional amendments that end presidential term limits. I think it is safe to say that now, after Sunday's coup against Zelaya, the terms of the discussion over the matter have changed significantly.  

Honduras Heading toward Serious Political Crisis

Honduras is moving ever-closer to a potential political crisis, both the Wall Street Journal and an AP report in New York Times write this morning. President Manuel Zelaya has pushed a non-binding vote forward which seeks public opinion on his desire to rewrite the Honduran constitution but the country’s military, along with the Supreme Court, have come out in strong opposition to the vote. And one day after President Zelaya fired the military’s top general, the Honduran armed forces deployed around the Congress, presidential palace, and airport in Tegucigalpa. Opponents of the president say he wants to rewrite the constitution in order to end term limits, as his close ally Hugo Chávez did in February. As the WSJ writes, the crisis came to a head on Wednesday when the military refused to participate in distributing voting ballots for the Sunday vote, following the lead of the Supreme Court which ruled the vote illegal. Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue says in the paper that “Zelaya has provoked an institutional crisis” and “won’t get a lot of sympathy by defying the country’s institutions.” The AP adds that Zelaya supporters believe a military coup d’etat is underway. An investigation into the President’s actions is currently being undertaken by a 5-member commission in Honduras’s parliament, and one opposition lawmaker told the AP that, after the investigation concludes, “maybe we will take more drastic measures but they will be to save the republic.” The OAS has declared an emergency meeting to discuss the situation today while at the UN, General Assembly president Miguel D’Escoto said he “clearly and strongly condemns the attempted coup d'etat that is currently unfolding against the democratically elected government of President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras.” Regional divisions on the issue, it would seem, have now been drawn.

The LA Times adds more to a story that has not gotten much attention yet, confirming that the U.S. and Venezuela will indeed be restoring diplomats in the coming days. The two countries exchanged diplomatic notes that formalized pledges made by the President Obama and President Chávez at the April Summit of the Americas. The restoration of full diplomatic ties came a day after the State Department also said it would restore its ambassador to Syria, a position which was cut after the car bombing of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri in 2005. Analysts say the U.S.-Venezuela rapprochement came because of strong commercial ties linking the two countries, a U.S. desire to improve Latin American relations generally, and Mr. Chávez’s aspiration to improve his image. U.S.-Venezuelan trade totaled $5 billion last year, most of it Venezuelan oil exports.

And the Miami Herald writes that Latin American and Caribbean nations seem unified in their support of new U.S. Southern Command top leader, Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser. Interestingly, Nicaragua, currently in a dispute with the U.S. over a cut in economic aid, even flew its top military leader, Gen. Moises Omar Halleslevens Acevedo, to Miami to honor the friendship he had forged with outgoing Adm. James Stavridis. The MH writes “Acevedo's presence at the change-of-command ceremony is indicative of the new role that the U.S. military increasingly has played in the region since the end of the Cold War. Stavridis has worked hard over almost three years to forge military friendships that -- in most cases -- survive political disagreements between Washington and the region.” AFP adds to the reporting on Gen. Fraser, saying the he believes growing Iranian influence in Latin America is a “potential risk” for the region. “The real concern is not a nation-to-nation interaction, it is the connection that Iran has with extremist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah and the potential risk that that could bring to this region.” Fraser also said he was concerned with a large military build-up in Venezuela.

In other news, the AP reports that Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez again made statements against media outlets in the country that might be plotting against him. Without mentioning opposition outlet Globovision by name, he warned Venezuelans on Thursday to be on the lookout for a conspiracy that “has to do with a media outlet,” adding “it is possible the concession they have will come to an end.” To condemn the government's actions action against the media, dozens of demonstrators wearing red gags over their mouths protested outside a government building in the capital on Thursday.

And, finally, a story in the WSJ about a young Argentine boxer who is now trying her hand at politics in the country. The reigning women's junior featherweight boxing champion, Marcela Acuna, better known as La Tigresa, is running on the governing party’s Peronist list in Sunday’s legislative elections for a seat on the city council in the 3 de Febrero working-class municipality outside Buenos Aires. Inspired by Eva Peron herself, Acuna says she intends to assume the seat on the city council if elected, rejecting speculation by opponents that she is on the ballot to simply lure voters but would likely cede the office if really elected.

La Oroya, Peru: Environmental Devestation, amidst Dependence

Perhaps there is no better example of the environmental devastation which many indigenous Peruvians have been angered by, but are often dependent on, than the smelting facilities in La Oroya, Peru—called one of the 10 most toxic sites in the world. Simon Romero has a terrific piece in the New York Times this morning which explores disputes over the enormous Doe Run smelter in La Oroya (owned by New York billionaire Ira Rennert), writing “The tensions here over the lead emissions and the smelter’s financial meltdown is precisely the kind of dire mix of foreign investment and environmental contamination feared by indigenous groups elsewhere in Peru.” Facing financial trouble that its billionaire owner says have prevented the facility from doing environmental upgrades, the smelting operations at the plant may close for three months, putting nearly 3,000 jobs in the impoverished region at risk. Such a possibility led to strikes this week, and there is now a possibility that some compromise might be reached, perhaps even giving workers part control of the facility. Romero’s discussion of the contradictory sentiments toward the plant show just how difficult an issue mining is in Peru and in many other Andean countries, for that matter. “While some here seethe against Mr. Rennert and the company, Doe Run Peru, others defend them for providing work, making for a sharply divided town,” writes Romero. In perhaps the most illustrative quote of general feelings in the area, however, a local environmental leader asks, “What I still fail to understand is why we are exposed to the risks of an American investment, but not to the environmental protections enjoyed by the citizens of the United States.”

In the LA Times, Chris Kraul focuses on the other major dispute in Peru which has received primary attention in the past weeks. Reporting on the situation after the massacre in Bagua, and after the Peruvian government’s revoking of controversial land decrees, the LAT writes that indigenous groups appear to have won round one against the government “in a knockout,” using the words of one Peru analyst. Kraul writes that “the violence tarnished Peru's image abroad and forced Peruvians to confront what some analysts described as indigenous peoples' second-class status in society and politics.” While indigenous groups lifted roadblocks after the government moves last week, many do not see the issue of extractive development yet resolved. One leader cited in the piece said last week that his group wanted a half dozen other decrees revoked as well. Meanwhile, President Alan Garcia continues to receive criticism for his position on mining and development. As the LAT writes, “he has described the laws that the indigenous object to, including the two that were revoked, as essential in meeting criteria for a bilateral free trade agreement with the U.S. that went into effect in January.” Deep mistrust still remains on both sides.

On dissidents in Cuba, the Washington Post features a story and an opinion on five pro-democracy activists on the island who recently received an award from the National Endowment for Democracy. However, much of the article focuses on the fact that President Obama did not return a request from the NED to meet with the dissidents while in Washington, D.C. The President’s office did send a message to the event, at the last minute (and after the Post inquired about the President’s non-response to the NED), saying it was his “sincere hope that all political prisoners who remain jailed, including three of today's award recipients, will be unconditionally released and allowed to fully participate in a democratic future in Cuba.” In their editorial, the WaPo says President Obama did not meet with the Cuban dissidents, not because he “is too busy to concern himself with Latin American politics.” In fact, he met with President Michele Bachelet of Chile the day before. Rather, in the Post’s opinion, “for now, Mr. Obama's diplomacy is clearly centered on their oppressors.”

Moving to developments in Central America, the Honduran parliament voted this week to ask the OAS to remove its election observers from the country ahead of a vote on constitutional reforms. The referendum is to take place this Sunday, writes the AP in the Miami Herald. The nonbinding vote will ask Hondurans if they desire another vote to call an assembly which would rewrite the Honduran constitution. Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has long-argued that his country’s 27 year old constitution is the source of many of Honduras’s social problems. But the country’s Supreme Court has broken with the president, ordering the police and armed forces not to support the referendum vote.

And, the Wall Street Journal, has a feature piece this morning from Colombia about the entry of bird enthusiasts into areas once considered a war zone between security forces and FARC rebels. Discussing the new phenomenon of eco-tourism in Colombia, the paper writes “birding tours are proliferating, reserves are sprouting up in former combat zones, and ornithologists are discovering new species and reacquainting themselves with ones not seen in years.” And, interestingly, it seems many birders are very pro-Uribe in their politics. “In hindsight, say birders, the best thing to happen to Colombian birding was the ascension in 2002 of conservative President Álvaro Uribe.” While I am not sure if new birding eco-adventures are connected to the country’s new tourism campaign, they do seem to be one more component of Colombia’s attempt to restore its international image. As the campaign’s catchy slogan goes, “the only risk is wanting to stay.”

There are also a series of other articles today worth mentioning as well. The AP is reporting that the U.S. and Venezuela will restore diplomatic relations a nine month freeze. While the State Department said no time frame has yet been decided, Venezuelan officials said it would happen very soon.

The AP also has more on the UN’s annual drug report. As reported earlier, Colombia’s cocaine production fell, while Peru and Bolivia’s numbers were slightly up. Of particular note, however, were the words of the director of the UN’s office on drugs and crime. He noted that “organized crime related to drugs has become a threat to a number of countries.”

Speaking of the threat of organized crime, in Mexico, President Felipe Calderon said Wednesday that the issues of corruption and organized crime threatened the future of democracy in his country. He called for increased accountability for public officials at a conference on security issues, adding “To turn one’s head, to act as if you don’t see the crime in front of you, as some politicians want to do, is no option for Mexico.” According the MH, corruption and crime are not the only challenges facing Mexico. Yet another disease is spreading quickly through the country. This time it’s dengue fever, says the paper, writing: “In 2000, there were 1,781 reported cases of dengue fever in Mexico. Last year saw a total of 33,000, according to the Public Health Department. This year, the rate is up 15 percent.”

Also in the MH, a profile of Douglas Fraser, the Air Force officer who will take over control of U.S. Southern Command operations, replacing Admiral James Stavridis. Among his top priorities will be “shutting down the Guantánamo prison camp and combating the trafficking of people, weapons and drugs across borders.”

Finally, three other opinions in today’s papers. Andres Oppenheimer, columnist at the MH, writes that by year’s end Chile will become one of the world’s 30 richest countries. Gushing praise on the country, Oppenheimer says Chile’s success has come from “a national consensus to pursue a market economy, democracy and social policies.” The NYT has an editorial about the GAO guns report which says 70% of those guns recovered in Mexico have origins in the U.S. The NYT urges the U.S. to tighten gun restrictions by repealing measures that “prevent a national gun registry and bar local enforcement agencies from sharing in federal tracing information.” And in yesterday’s MH, Gen. Barry McCaffery lays out his case for next steps towards one day normalizing relations with Cuba. “Change is now inevitable as Castro edges off the stage of history. The critical issue for the United States is whether we are going to be a constructive guiding agent in this process of change,” he writes.

Developing Nations Gather at UN for Global Economic Conference

A UN conference exploring ways of reforming the global financial system is set to begin today in New York, bringing together leaders from a number of developing countries. Notably absent, however, will be the participation of prominent leaders from the world’s economic powers and top officials from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Reuters reports. Nevertheless, both president Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia are expected to speak during the 3-day conference. As the report writes, “the run-up to the conference has highlighted differences between radicals who want to give the 192-nation General Assembly much more say in tackling the financial crisis and major powers intent on keeping control in their own hands.” Many Western leaders have been particularly frustrated with the leadership of Nicaragua’s Father Miguel D’Escoto, the current president of the General Assembly. According to reports, the participants of the U.N. conference are close to reaching an agreement on a set of global economic proposals they hope delegates will accept during the meetings. Among the complaints of the smaller, developing active in the General Assembly meetings has been their exclusion from discussions about how restructure the global financial system—talks held thus far exclusively among nations of the so-called G-20. While Western diplomats who saw the draft proposal before its public release said the document had been improved over the last few weeks, some, says Reuters, are still worried about the documents recommendations, including one which calls for the General Assembly to create a “council of economic experts” to provide advice to member states on dealing with the economic crisis.

In other global economic news, the Wall Street Journal reports this morning on new economic forecasts by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for a pair of Latin American powers. The economic body said it expects Chile’s economy to contract by 1.6% this year due to the global recession and, in particular, a sharp fall in the price of copper. “Despite the authorities’ strong reaction and sound macroeconomic fundamentals, Chile will not escape the global recession,” the OECD noted in its latest report. The prediction is slightly more pessimistic than one made by Chile’s Central Bank which forecasted a 1% contraction of the economy a short time again. In addition, Latin America’s largest economy, Brazil, could shrink by 0.8% this year but will likely bounce back and experience growth once again in 2010, says the OECD. The international organization notes that “while unemployment appears to be stabilizing, and consumer confidence and retail sales are holding up, export growth remains weak due to the slowdown in Brazil’s main trading partners.”

From Mexico, another story in the Washington Post’s on-going series on the Mexican drug war reports on underground tunnels linking the U.S. and Mexico—a major thoroughfare for smugglers. In particular, the story looks at how a special team of U.S. Border Patrol agents, known as “Tunnel Rats,” have been discovering such subterranean passageways. The paper writes that over just past nine months, the Border Patrol has discovered 16 new tunnels dug by smugglers in Nogales, Arizona to move drugs, migrants, cash and weapons between the two countries. Indeed, the construction of a maze of underground tunnels in Nogales has become so widespread that the southbound traffic lane through the international port of entry collapsed, as did a parking lot at the customs office itself. Agents say it is no longer uncommon to see a manhole cover open up in the middle of the day and then to witness men suddenly pop out. Interestingly, underground tunneling around Nogales has been a popular means of smuggling since the Prohibition era of the 1920s, officials say. While the activity does appear to now be increasing, it seems that the city’s labyrinth of storm water drains have made it easier for new tunnels to be constructed by traffickers.

At the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, hosted by Mexico this week, the Mexican government took new bold steps toward offering global leadership on climate change issues. As the AP in the Miami Herald reports, “Mexican President Felipe Calderon made a push Monday for his proposal for a $10 billion ‘green fund’ as a more efficient way to fight climate change than carbon credits.” The so-called ‘green fund’ would be administered by the World Bank or another multilateral agency, said Calderon, and would be both funded by contributions from all nations and open to finance projects from all nations, in contrast to the largely private-sector carbon credit market that some countries have advocated. In the words of Calderon, “it will have a framework of greater multilateral participation, which will result in a more equitable and efficient distribution of funds.”

And an editorial in the LA Times which I did not have a chance to mention a few days ago comes out hard against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his current spat with the private media company, Globovision. The editorial says the recent words of Andres Izarra, head of state television network Telesur, are “nothing but paranoia-induced hyperbole.” Izarra, speaking in front of the Organization of American States a few weeks ago, compared Globovision’s broadcasting to the Rwandan radio stations that encouraged genocide during the 1990s. The paper goes on to argue that “In Venezuela, there are no newspapers with a national reach, and if a free press is essential to a vibrant democracy, then the country's political outlook is increasingly grim.”

In two other stories worth mentioning this morning, the AP says new personal accusations are coming out against Paraguayan priest-turned-president, Fernando Lugo. A woman who claims Lugo is the father of one of her children has now added that Lugo raped her during the first sexual encounter the two had. Lugo has declined to address the allegation specifically, but such accusations will inevitably hurt the already tainted personal reputation of the Paraguayan president. And on the global reach of organized crime, the AP also reports that Venezuelan authorities will deport a European drug trafficker and Italian mafia boss back to Italy. Salvatore Miceli was caught at a Caracas hotel on Saturday in a joint operation organized by Venezuelan and Italian officials. Miceli was one of Europe's top five drug traffickers and allegedly served as a link between South American and European organized crime syndicates.

Drug Cartels, Violence Criss-cross the U.S. Mexico-Border

A UN conference exploring ways of reforming the global financial system is set to begin today in New York, bringing together leaders from a number of developing countries. Notably absent, however, will be the participation of prominent leaders from the world’s economic powers and top officials from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Reuters reports. Nevertheless, both president Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia are expected to speak during the 3-day conference. As the report writes, “the run-up to the conference has highlighted differences between radicals who want to give the 192-nation General Assembly much more say in tackling the financial crisis and major powers intent on keeping control in their own hands.” Many Western leaders have been particularly frustrated with the leadership of Nicaragua’s Father Miguel D’Escoto, the current president of the General Assembly. According to reports, the participants of the U.N. conference are close to reaching an agreement on a set of global economic proposals they hope delegates will accept during the meetings. Among the complaints of the smaller, developing active in the General Assembly meetings has been their exclusion from discussions about how restructure the global financial system—talks held thus far exclusively among nations of the so-called G-20. While Western diplomats who saw the draft proposal before its public release said the document had been improved over the last few weeks, some, says Reuters, are still worried about the documents recommendations, including one which calls for the General Assembly to create a “council of economic experts” to provide advice to member states on dealing with the economic crisis.

In other global economic news, the Wall Street Journal reports this morning on new economic forecasts by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for a pair of Latin American powers. The economic body said it expects Chile’s economy to contract by 1.6% this year due to the global recession and, in particular, a sharp fall in the price of copper. “Despite the authorities’ strong reaction and sound macroeconomic fundamentals, Chile will not escape the global recession,” the OECD noted in its latest report. The prediction is slightly more pessimistic than one made by Chile’s Central Bank which forecasted a 1% contraction of the economy a short time again. In addition, Latin America’s largest economy, Brazil, could shrink by 0.8% this year but will likely bounce back and experience growth once again in 2010, says the OECD. The international organization notes that “while unemployment appears to be stabilizing, and consumer confidence and retail sales are holding up, export growth remains weak due to the slowdown in Brazil’s main trading partners.”

From Mexico, another story in the Washington Post’s on-going series on the Mexican drug war reports on underground tunnels linking the U.S. and Mexico—a major thoroughfare for smugglers. In particular, the story looks at how a special team of U.S. Border Patrol agents, known as “Tunnel Rats,” have been discovering such subterranean passageways. The paper writes that over just past nine months, the Border Patrol has discovered 16 new tunnels dug by smugglers in Nogales, Arizona to move drugs, migrants, cash and weapons between the two countries. Indeed, the construction of a maze of underground tunnels in Nogales has become so widespread that the southbound traffic lane through the international port of entry collapsed, as did a parking lot at the customs office itself. Agents say it is no longer uncommon to see a manhole cover open up in the middle of the day and then to witness men suddenly pop out. Interestingly, underground tunneling around Nogales has been a popular means of smuggling since the Prohibition era of the 1920s, officials say. While the activity does appear to now be increasing, it seems that the city’s labyrinth of storm water drains have made it easier for new tunnels to be constructed by traffickers.

At the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, hosted by Mexico this week, the Mexican government took new bold steps toward offering global leadership on climate change issues. As the AP in the Miami Herald reports, “Mexican President Felipe Calderon made a push Monday for his proposal for a $10 billion ‘green fund’ as a more efficient way to fight climate change than carbon credits.” The so-called ‘green fund’ would be administered by the World Bank or another multilateral agency, said Calderon, and would be both funded by contributions from all nations and open to finance projects from all nations, in contrast to the largely private-sector carbon credit market that some countries have advocated. In the words of Calderon, “it will have a framework of greater multilateral participation, which will result in a more equitable and efficient distribution of funds.”

And an editorial in the LA Times which I did not have a chance to mention a few days ago comes out hard against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his current spat with the private media company, Globovision. The editorial says the recent words of Andres Izarra, head of state television network Telesur, are “nothing but paranoia-induced hyperbole.” Izarra, speaking in front of the Organization of American States a few weeks ago, compared Globovision’s broadcasting to the Rwandan radio stations that encouraged genocide during the 1990s. The paper goes on to argue that “In Venezuela, there are no newspapers with a national reach, and if a free press is essential to a vibrant democracy, then the country's political outlook is increasingly grim.”

In two other stories worth mentioning this morning, the AP says new personal accusations are coming out against Paraguayan priest-turned-president, Fernando Lugo. A woman who claims Lugo is the father of one of her children has now added that Lugo raped her during the first sexual encounter the two had. Lugo has declined to address the allegation specifically, but such accusations will inevitably hurt the already tainted personal reputation of the Paraguayan president. And on the global reach of organized crime, the AP also reports that Venezuelan authorities will deport a European drug trafficker and Italian mafia boss back to Italy. Salvatore Miceli was caught at a Caracas hotel on Saturday in a joint operation organized by Venezuelan and Italian officials. Miceli was one of Europe's top five drug traffickers and allegedly served as a link between South American and European organized crime syndicates.