The New York Times and the Miami Herald both report this morning that the Peruvian Congress has suspended two legislative decrees issued by President Alan Garcia that would have opened up large tracts of the Amazon for oil and logging development. The AP report in the MH says the suspension was interpreted as an attempt to restart negotiations with leaders of Peru's 400,000 Amazon natives. Nevertheless, a leader of Peru's largest indigenous group said the move was not enough to stop protests as nationwide marches against the government were called for Thursday. “They've mocked the indigenous peoples and we are consulting with the eight regional organizations that make up our group in order to make a decision,” said Daysi Zapata, the vice president of the Peruvian Jungle Inter-Ethnic Development Association. Meanwhile, Alberto Pizango, the indigenous leader sought by the Peruvian government on sedition charges, remained in the Nicaraguan embassy in Peru, awaiting Peru’s agreement to give him safe passage out of the country.
In the LA Times, a profile of Yuri Melini, the Guatemalan environmental activist who heads the Center for Legal, Environmental, and Social Action (CALAS) in Guatemala. The paper writes, “Using a mix of grass-roots activism, lawsuits and old-fashioned lobbying, his organization tackles issues from illegal logging in protected forests and the impact of a growing mining industry to the supply and cleanliness of water.” And such activism has made Melini the target of drug traffickers, loggers, mining companies, politicians, and a corrupt military. Nine months ago he was shot 9 times, but Melini has continued his fight. Last June, his work led to a Supreme Court ruling that struck down parts of the nation's mining law as too lax. He has relied primarily on foreign sources for funding, with most coming from a special environmental program of the Dutch government, and those who admire him say Melini is forging a new path in environmental justice work by bringing his complaints to the courts, what the LAT calls “a tactic that is common in the United States but not in Guatemala or much of the surrounding region.” Last month, Melini was honored by the Irish-based human rights group Front Line for his efforts to stop illegal logging and mining.
The Washington Post writes again from Venezuela on the pressure being placed on opposition television station, Globovision, by the Chávez government. As others have reported in the past week, the Chávez government has “publicly accused Globovisión's directors of hatching assassination plots against the president, generating panic by covering an earthquake before state television issued an official report, and inciting Venezuelans to deadly violence.” The United Nations and the Organization of American States have both raised concerns about the government's measures. Interestingly, the article does note that many of the print and radio media outlets in the country still remain critical of Hugo Chávez, but Globovisión has been singled out to be marginalized by the government. And, the paper notes that the government’s “wrath against Globovisión” has roots in the 2002 coup that briefly deposed Chávez. Globovisión and three other anti-government stations called for protests, gave free commercial airtime to anti-Chávez organizations and aired positive coverage of opposition leaders while blacking out coverage of Chávez’s return to power.
And the Wall Street Journal says Brazil, along with Russia, will unload U.S. Treasury bonds as they prepare to receive $10 billion each in new IMF securities that will “bolster the nations’ aid programs.” The paper writes that the moves are “part of a bid by the so-called BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- to play a bigger role at the IMF and other international institutions.” “This is an investment that Brazil is doing with part of its reserves and making available financing so that the IMF may help emerging countries, especially developing countries which face today a shortage of capital because of the global financial crisis,” Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega remarked at a press conference where he announced the new moves. Moreover, the WSJ notes that while the IMF is looking to permanently increase its “lending war chest,” the emerging BRIC nations have only agreed to buy IMF bonds, a less permanent form of backing the institution. The countries have argued that “they should get bigger voting shares in the IMF before they are expected to make deeper commitments to IMF financing.” These announcements came one day after official Brazilian statistics showed that the country had finally entered a technical economic recession. The Brazilian economy contracted by 0.8 percent in the January-March period compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, when it registered a 3.6 percent decline. [A recession is defined as two straight quarters of negative growth.]
In other news, the American couple accused of spying for the Cuban government for three decades was denied bail Wednesday, saying they represent a flight risk. The AP writes that the two appeared together in court, “clad in rumpled blue jail jumpsuits and white T-shirts.” They showed little emotion as their attorney, Tom Green, asked the magistrate to detain them at home, under supervision. In stating his reasons for denying this request, the judge in the case said, “If convicted, they face incarceration for what may very well be the rest of their lives. That fate provides a most compelling motivation to flee and avoid it at all costs.”
In the NYT, the AP also writes that the legislature in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon has banned the use of cell phones by on-duty city officials and police officers in the state in an effort to stop corrupt officials from communicating with drug cartels. This month alone federal agents have raided police stations in 18 towns in Nuevo León and detained some 78 officers suspected of working with drug smugglers.
And Reuters writes that President Hugo Chávez has ordered perhaps his most bizarre ban to date. On Wednesday the populist president ordered Coca Cola to stop distribution of Coke Zero in his country, citing unspecific health dangers. The Venezuelan health minister said the government would be investigating the beverage’s ingredients.
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