Argentine Foreign Minister Asks UN to Mediate Malvinas/Falklands Conflict

Argentine foreign minister Jorge Taiana met with UN Sec. General Ban Ki Moon on Wednesday, arguing Great Britain’s oil exploration off the disputed Falkands (Malvinas) Islands was one in a “long chain of illegal acts.” “The oil exploration is a unilateral act in a long chain of unilateral acts that we believe are illegal, contrary to international law and which we believe must not be allowed to go forward so as to not worsen the situation,” Taiana told reporters after leaving his meeting with the UN Sec. General. Additionally, the BBC reports, Taiana asked that the UN continue to serve as a mediator to the conflict.

Both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times this morning take analysis of the Argentine-British conflict deeper. According to the WSJ’s Matt Moffett, “while most Argentines are bothered by the drilling, they seem mostly resigned to it and emphatic that their government confine itself to a peaceful protest.” In October 2009, an Ibarometer survey showed some 80% of Argentines saw their claim to the Malvinas Islands as important—one of the few issues that unifies nearly all Argentines, many analysts say. But the poll indicated that only 3% saw the islands as an issue worth going to war over—something the Argentine government itself has said it seeks to avoid at all costs. Meanwhile, the Times Alexei Barrionuevo adds a different spin on just why Argentina is so upset about the beginning of British oil development off the islands, saying its mostly about jealousy. “The notion that Argentina could watch as British companies discover sizable oil deposits so close to its shores would be a crushing blow to a country already envious about the huge oil discoveries made in the past three years in neighboring Brazil,” writes Barrionuevo. The Times goes on to say that Argentina’s own lack of oil development stems from “oil companies [who] are wary of working in Argentina these days.” According to Federico Mac Dougall, an economist and analyst at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, “This is a case of a lost girlfriend. Argentina lost its girlfriend, and now she is going out with somebody else, and together they may very well strike it rich with oil.”

To other stories today:

· The Miami Herald reports that Cuban security forces have increased internal security measures, fearing protests after the death of dissident Orlando Zapata. Human rights activists on the island say between 25 and 50 opponents of the Castro regime have been arrested or were being “kept home” by security agents as the family of Zapata prepared for his burial Thursday. The Wall Street adds to reporting on the crackdown, saying many analysts believe it could now be politically unviable for the US to make new overtures to Cuba, at least in the short-term. “Opponents of the embargo,” the paper continues, “worry that Mr. Zapata's death could actually bolster the Castro regime if it serves to slam the door on more-open trade and travel.” And with its pro-embargo line, the Washington Post asks anti-embargo activists the following in the wake of Mr. Zapata’s death: “Is the new, Castro-friendly approach [of the US] working?” The Post editorializes: “As Mr. Zapata died, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was arriving in Havana for another warm reunion with the brothers -- his third in the past two years. The embarrassed Brazilian president said he ‘deeply lamented’ Mr. Zapata's death. Too bad he and other Castrophiles were not willing to speak out on his behalf before he died.”

· On the drug war in Mexico, the LA Times has two pieces this morning. The paper first examines the practice of parading those arrested in the country’s fight against cartels before the media. “The ritual is called a presentacion, Spanish for ‘presentation’ or ‘introduction,’ though no one ever shakes hands,” says the LAT. “Almost daily, one of the thousands of suspects who have been rounded up in the drug war is paraded in front of cameras, posed with seized weapons and contraband and even grilled by police officers while reporters jot down answers that are often self-incriminating.” Many human rights advocates are “appalled by the practice,” the paper continues, “saying it violates suspects' rights by exhibiting them as if they were guilty before they have even been charged.” But for the government, the “presentations” serve as a way to prove they’ve captured the individuals they claim to have—an attempt, perhaps, to build some sense of trust in security forces while at the same time feeding the desires of the country’s sensationalized “red news.” Also from the LA Times, Mexican President Felipe Calderon addressed critics who say his government has gone easier on the Sinaloa cartel than others operating in the country, calling the claim “absolutely false.” This as one of the “most brutal and feared drug kingpins in Mexican history,” Gulf cartel capo Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after an ultra-secretive, private sentencing in Houston, Texas.

· A day after the OAS’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a report critical of the state of democracy and human rights in Venezuela, the government of Venezuela responded. First the government’s ombudsman, Gabriela Ramirez, said the IACHR had taken many statistics out of context and used others selectively. According to Ramirez, the real data shows that human rights violations in Venezuela have actually decreased in recent years. Later, President Hugo Chavez addressed the new report directly, vowing to withdraw his country from the IACHR—a body which he called a “mafia.” Chavez went on to call the commission’s head, Argentine Santiago Canton, “pure excrement,” accusing him of tacitly backing the 2002 coup against the Chavez government.

· In Honduras, Honduras Culture and Politics reports on the removal of Gen. Romeo Vasquez, active in the June coup against then President Manuel Zelaya, as commander of the armed forces. The move was largely due to international pressure placed on the Lobo Sosa government, says RNS. Meanwhile, Zelaya himself is planning to head off on a regional tour shortly, including stopovers in Venezuela, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Zelaya also addressed new corruption charges laid against him earlier in the week, saying the accusations amount to “political persecution.”

· Brazilian President Lula da Silva arrived in Haiti Thursday, proposing, as many others have, that the country’s external debt be forgiven. Lula also signed cooperation accords with President Rene Preval related to education, family-based agriculture, and other infrastructure projects. Also on Brazil, the BBC says the United States will be attempting to convince the country to support a new round of sanctions on Iran within the UN Security Council. The subject will be among those on the agenda of Sec. of State Hillary Clinton as she heads to Brasilia and other parts of the region shortly. In addition, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, William Burns, will also be making a pass through Brasilia.

· In Colombia, EFE reports that President Alvaro Uribe had a private meeting with CIA director Leon Panetta on Thursday. The subject of conversation was allegedly drug trafficking but the meeting was held “behind closed doors.”

· From AQ, a report on Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom’s visit to the UN last week and issues of impunity in the country.

· Finally, from the Guardian, CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot offers his take on the recent Latin American Unity Summit in Mexico and the decision taken there to form a new Latin America-exclusive regional body. Weisbrot writes, “The increasing independence of Latin America has been one of the most important geopolitical changes over the last decade, affecting not only the region but the rest of the world as well...An organisation without the US and Canada will be more capable of defending democracy, as well as economic and social progress in the region when it is under attack. It will also have a positive influence in helping to create a more multipolar world internationally.”

IACHR Report Critical of Human Rights Situation in Venezuela

The OAS’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a 300 page report on Venezuela Wednesday, saying, in the Washington Post’s words, the country “constrains free expression, the rights of its citizens to protest and the ability of opposition politicians to function.” The report entitled “Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela” focuses on political rights while making note of cultural, social, and economic rights in the country as well. To this point, the IACHR says it “recognizes the State's achievements with regard to the progressive observance of these rights, including, most notably, the eradication of illiteracy, the reduction of poverty, and the increase in access by the most vulnerable sectors to basic services such as health care.” But, the IACHR press release goes on:

“The Commission emphasizes that observance of other fundamental rights cannot be sacrificed for the sake of realizing economic, social, and cultural rights in Venezuela. Human rights constitute an indissoluble whole, and, as the American Convention sets forth in its preamble, ‘the ideal of free men enjoying freedom from fear and want can be achieved only if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as his civil and political rights.’”

Notably, the IACHR says it has not actually visited Venezuela to conduct an on-the-ground assessment of the human rights situation since May 2002 because the Venezuelan government has refused to grant the IACHR permission to carry out such a mission. On that point, the IACHR writes, “the fact that the State to date has refused to allow the IACHR to visit not only undermines the powers assigned to the Commission as the principal body of the OAS for the promotion and protection of human rights, but also seriously weakens the collective protection system created by the Organization’s Member States.” With reactions to the report, the Inter-American Dialogue’s Michael Shifter tells the Post that “This is a professional report, and the commission has been progressively more critical about Chávez over the years.” Brazilian commission member, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, says the fact that “threats to human rights and democracy are many and very serious” led to the report’s publication. And while Hugo Chavez himself has not yet reacted, his ambassador to the OAS, Roy Chadderton tells the Post that he believes the OAS has become a “confrontational political actor instead of an advocate for defending human rights.”

With other notes on Venezuela this morning, Reuters puts together a fact box of one-time political allies of Hugo Chavez who have split from the president in recent years. The AP reports that the Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled the 2008 election of an anti-Chavez mayor in the municipality of Sucre in the state of Zulia. The justification: the mayor’s evasion of $292 in local taxes. The court has appointed Humberto Franka Salas, a member of Chavez's ruling party, as interim mayor. In an opinion in the Miami Herald, Marifeli Perez-Stable analyzes the confrontation between Hugo Chavez and Alvaro Uribe at Tuesday’s Latin American and Caribbean Unity Summit lunch. She argues Chavez is very close to “liquidating democracy” focusing on the president’s “clamp down” on the private sector, recentralization of power, changes to the electoral system, among other issues.

To other stories today:

· Brazilian President Lula da Silva was in Havana, Cuba following the Rio Summit in Mexico. BBC Mundo reports that the purpose of the trip was to consolidate a number of economic accords between the two countries (including those related to investigations into oil deposits off the Cuban coastline). But, the BBC writes, the Brazilian head of state did little in terms of public appearances while on the island instead keeping a relatively low profile. The AP picks up the story from there this morning, saying Lula was received by Fidel for about an hour yesterday. The two apparently discussed “various subjects,” among them the UN climate change conference recently held in Copenhagen. Lula’s visit comes after the death of a Cuban dissident/political prisoner who had been on a hunger strike for over two months. The death led the US to reiterate its demand that all of Cuba’s more than 200 political prisoners be liberated. The event also leads to a series of opinions in the Miami Herald this morning, including an editorial which says the UN, the OAS, and EU should increasingly be speaking out against human rights violations on the island. Journalist Miriam Leiva, meanwhile, presents the case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo and the circumstances of his imprisonment in 2003.

· On Colombia, three important stories this morning. From Time, a look at how crime is once again on the rise in Medellín after a number of years of reduced homicide rates. The magazine writes, “last year was not a good one for Medellín. Murders doubled in 2009, to 2,899, according to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Science. It was the largest number of homicides since 2002, when there were some 5,000 murders (there were an estimated 6,500 in 1991). The situation is directly attributable to a drug war that has once again engulfed the hillsides ringing the city.” This led the government to dispatch some 900 additional police officers to the city while some 1300 more are expected to arrive shortly. President Alvaro Uribe has also controversially proposed to pay students to act as informants against criminals working in the area. CNN meanwhile looks at the questionable closure of Colombia’s Cambio. And reports indicate that former Colombian senator and close ally of President Alvaro Uribe (also Uribe’s second cousin) was arrested Wednesday for colluding with far-right paramilitary death squads. Also look for a decision on re-election from the constitutional court in Colombia sometime this week.

· BBC Mundo also reports today on how women have increasingly become victims in the drug wars of Mexico and Central America, especially in those areas where the Zetas have increased their presence. At Global Post, a piece by journalist Ioan Grillo who writes on the UN International Narcotics Control Board’s harsh criticism of drug decriminalization moves in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia. The INCB in particular criticizes the efforts of various former Latin American leaders who’ve called for decriminalization in the last year. “Regrettably, influential personalities, including former high-level politicians in countries in South America, have publicly expressed support for that movement. The Board is concerned that the movement, if not resolutely countered by the respective Governments, will undermine national and international efforts to combat the abuse of and illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs.” One of those leaders, former Colombia President Cesar Gaviria dismissed the INCB’s complaint. “The United Nations meets every 10 years to say that in the next 10 years the world will be free of the consumption of drugs but it never happens. And the violence problems are putting Mexico and Colombia in real danger.” For more on the US war on drugs and Latin America, NACLA has a piece out from Professor Susanna Reiss, published in its most recent issue of the Report on the Americas.

· In Honduras, the AP writes that corruption charges have been filed against former president Mel Zelaya. The charges stem from an investigation by the country’s anti-corruption prosecutor which claims Zelaya channeled “$1.5 million in government welfare funds to his campaign for a referendum on reforming the constitution.”

· Finally, with opinions and analysis. At the Latin American News Dispatch, a recap of a meeting of DC Latin America experts earlier this week on US policy toward the region after one year of the Obama presidency. The Inter-American Dialogue’s Peter Hakim looks at the foreign policy choices facing Brazil as it continues to rise on the global stage. The Dialogue also has Q & A with Peter Hakim, Diego Arria, Luiz Felipe Lampreia, Carl Meacham, John F. Maisto on the upcoming OAS Sec. General elections and the performance of current Sec. General José Miguel Insulza. Just the Facts has up its latest podcast, this time focusing on arms sales and transfers around the region. And Andres Oppenheimer offers his opinion on the new Latin American body formed this week in Mexico. His argument: “What lies behind the creation of the proposed Community is an effort by Mexico to regain a foothold in Latin America, after three years in which the Calderón government has allowed Brazil to virtually displace it from the region's diplomatic community.”

The Beginning of the End for the OAS?

Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean agreed Tuesday to the formation of a new region-wide organization which, writes the New York Times, brings “Cuba into the fold but excludes Canada and the United States.” “We will strengthen our voice in the concert of nations through this new mechanism, to become protagonists and no longer mere spectators of what happens in the world,” Mexican President and summit host Felipe Calderon told the 32 heads of state who gathered near Cancun this week. The new bloc “must as a priority push for regional integration ... and promote the regional agenda in global meetings,” Calderon went on to remark. Some—the Times highlights Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez—say the new body should replace the “pan-Americanist” OAS. But for now, Calderon and other Latin American leaders say they will continue to participate in the inter-American body formed in 1948 while at once working to consolidate this new Latin American initiative which seeks to “streamline the work of a patchwork of regional groups, particularly on issues like poverty and economic development.” The specific function of the new organization has not yet been outlined, nor has an official name been chosen [although IPS is calling the new body the “Community of Latin American and Caribbean States” for now]. Leaders say such decisions will be decided at the next Rio Group meeting, scheduled for Caracas next year. Answering questions about whether or not the summit’s announcement signified the beginning of the end for the OAS, US Ass’t. Sec. of State Arturo Valenzuela said it would not. “This should not be an effort that would replace the OAS,” Valenzuela remarked Tuesday. Chile’s incoming president Sebastian Pinera agreed, telling reporters “The OAS is a permanent organization that has its own functions.”

The announcement of the new body came after tensions between Colombia and Venezuela flared up on Monday. Multiple reports indicate that after a verbal fight broke out over lunch, Chavez accused Uribe of planning his assassination. After Chavez then tried to exit the debate, Uribe went on the attack telling the Venezuelan president to “Be a Man,” not leave like a “coward.” To that Chavez replied “Go to hell!” [Tempers apparently cooled enough for Uribe to ratify his commitment to work with Ecuador’s Rafael Correa for the reestablishment of full diplomatic relations, however].

And finally, not making it on to the Cancun agenda: a formal discussion about bringing Honduras back into the regional fold. According to Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom regional leaders made a “tacit agreement” not to formally discuss the return of Honduras to the Organization of American States (OAS) at the summit. Nevertheless, Honduras did announce this week that it has reestablished diplomatic ties on its own with 29 nations around the world.

In other stories this morning:

· The Washington Post reports that the US plans to “embed intelligence agents” with Mexican law enforcement units that are fighting drug traffickers in Ciudad Juarez. The increasingly close partnership between the two countries would see “U.S. agents and analysts in a Mexican command center in [the] border city to share drug intelligence gathered from informants and intercepted communications,” the paper writes. The U.S. in the past has been hesitant to take part in such operations, fearing “corruption” and “incompetence” within the Mexican security forces. That attitude, however, appears to be shifting. The Post goes on: “Under the new arrangement, U.S. law enforcement officers, most likely from an agency such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, would work alongside recent graduates of the new Mexican federal police academy who were trained by FBI and DEA advisers as part of the U.S. aid package.” This news comes as US and Mexican officials hold a three-day conference in Washington DC on bi-national best practices to reduce drug demand. According to a DOS statement on the conference, “The meeting reflects the continuing commitment of the United States and Mexico to work together to reduce the demand for drugs and significant public health and safety consequences associated with illicit drug use.” It also comes just days after Mexican police nabbed notorious drug trafficker Jose Vasquez Villagrana in the state of Sonora. Vasquez—of the Sinaloa cartel—is accused of smuggling Colombian cocaine through Panama and other Central American countries to his ranch in northern Mexican where it is then sent on to the United States.

· Also on drugs this week, the UN International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) released its annual report which, according to a joint Transnational Institute-WOLA statement, “criticizes Argentina, Brazil and Mexico for moving to decriminalize the possession of drugs for personal consumption, cautioning that such moves may ‘send the wrong message.’” The TNI-WOLA Drugs and Democracy working group contends that “the criticisms leveled clearly overstep the INCB's mandate and constitute unwarranted intrusions into these countries' sovereign decision-making.” “There are too many consumers and small-time drug offenders overcrowding Latin American jails. This is not only inhumane, it also means justice systems are diverting their scarce resources and attention away from big traffickers,” says Pien Metaal, TNI Drugs and Democracy Program Researcher. WOLA’s John Walsh goes on: “Not only does the INCB lack the mandate to raise such issues, the INCB misreads the 1988 Convention itself, asserting an absolute obligation to criminalize drug possession when the Convention explicitly affords some flexibility on this matter.” Meanwhile, the INCB also says in its report that Peru may soon overtake Colombia as the world’s largest producer of cocaine. Cocaine production in Colombia fell over the last year while Peru’s production is on the rise.

· In the US Congress, a new bill was presented Tuesday to broaden travel and trade with Cuba. The bill, presented by the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Minnesota Democrat Collin Peterson, has 30 co-sponsors, including Republicans Jerry Moran of Kansas, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri. And, if passed, it would “eliminate the current need to resort to banks in third countries to make agricultural sales to Cuba” while also ending “the requirement for Havana to pay for purchases before the ship carrying them leaves a U.S. port.” Also part of the proposed legislation: an end to the Cuba travel ban.

· For more on Cuba, the Lexington Institute’s Phil Peters has a new piece up at Foreign Policy. He takes up the case of USAID contractor, Alan Gross, still imprisoned on the island and argues the Obama administration should “slash or scrap USAID's Cuba program in an act of fiscal prudence” while also going further to allow the “free travel by Americans as a source of greater U.S. influence in Cuba.” Also on Cuba, news that dissident political prisoner, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died in a prison clinic Tuesday after going on a hunger strike weeks ago.

· On Haiti this morning, the Wall Street Journal highlights the exodus of emergency doctors from the country. The LA Times, meanwhile, looks at the struggles of Haitians who’ve been displaced to the countryside where food and aid are in very short supply.

· From Bolivia, news that the armed forces will be turning over military archives from the early 1980s dictatorial era to the country’s attorney general. However, the documents will not yet be made public, say military officials.

· Finally, a handful of opinions. In the Miami Herald, Brazilian President Lula da Silva pens an opinion, committing his country to “the long haul” in Haiti. Lula visits Haiti tomorrow and says “total funding allocated by Brazil in emergency assistance to Haiti has now reached $210 million.” He goes on: “We are also ramping up our presence, sending an additional 1,300 soldiers to strengthen MINUSTAH and assist in reconstruction.” On that reconstruction process, the Brazilian president says “we should avoid the proliferation of disconnected stand-alone projects that would fragment the country.” Rather, “long-term responses that will enable Haiti to implement, with sovereign control, programs that are truly in its national interest,” will be needed. In the Globe and Mail, Jeffrey Simpson offers his take on Brazil’s rise to the world stage. He writes:

“With so much heading in the right direction, it's little wonder that, in 2006, the Gallup survey of world happiness found that Brazilians believed they would be happier than any country in the world in 2011. Maybe the result reflected Brazilians' innate optimism. Or maybe a sense that, finally, the country of the future really is arriving.”

Argentina Gains Regional Backing in Dispute with Britain

Argentina received the support of its Latin American and Caribbean neighbors Monday in its claim to sovereignty over the Falklands (Las Malvinas) Islands. According to the AP, the 32 countries currently gathered on the Mexican coast for the Rio Group summit backed a statement presented by Mexico’s Felipe Calderon saying “the heads of state represented here reaffirm their support for the legitimate rights of the republic of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute with Great Britain.” The dispute between Argentina and Great Britain has become increasingly tense in recent weeks after the British announced their intention to drill for oil some 60 miles of the coast off of the disputed colonial islands (drilling, in fact, has now begun, says the BBC). As the Economist reports, exploratory wells had been drilled by the British in 1998 but further development of the oil fields was, at the time, seen as unprofitable. That appears to be changing, and the government of President Cristina Kirchner is taking note. Last week Argentina issued a decree requiring vessels travelling from Argentina to or around the islands to obtain permission from Buenos Aires first. The Kirchner government has reiterated that it “in no way wants to adopt military measures” as last happened in 1982, and the government of Gordon Brown in London has said “sensible discussions” on the matter will ultimately prevail but nevertheless tensions remain high. Added to the equation is Ms. Kirchner’s attempt to boost her own popularity domestically. In the Economist’s words, the president’s “outrage over the Malvinas plays well at home, even if few Argentines believe that it will achieve much.”

UN Sec. General Ban Ki Moon is expected to receive Argentine foreign minister Jorge Taiana in New York tomorrow to further discuss the dispute.

More news from the Mexico summit today includes an apparent verbal dispute between Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe. BBC Mundo says the two encountered one another over lunch yesterday when Uribe complained that the Venezuelan government’s treatment of Colombian companies paralleled that of the US embargo on Cuba. Uribe later interrupted Mr. Chavez while he was speaking, Chavez threatened to leave the summit and, says the BBC, Raul Castro was forced to intervene to calm the two leaders down. There was no decision yet on the creation of a new Latin America-exclusive regional organization, nor was the subject of Honduras treated in any depth on day one of the conference. Bloomberg reported Monday that Brazilian President Lula da Silva intended to lay out a plan for mending Latin America’s relations with the Central American country, including seeking its return to the OAS (Honduras was not invited to this week’s summit). This before the Brazilian president heads out on a “tour” of the region that will include stopovers in Cuba, Haiti, and El Salvador, another sign of Brazil’s rise as a regional power. “Brazil is committing to an increased level of development assistance and assistance for building trade capacity and infrastructure in the region, and these things carry a lot of weight,” Eric Farnsworth of the Council of the Americas tells Bloomberg. “Traditionally Brazil has not played any role of any consequence in Central America, Mexico or the Caribbean.”

For more on Brazil’s rise, see a recent piece by Uruguayan journalist Raul Zibechi at the Americas Program site, as well as a fascinating report in today’s LA Times about the growing demand for Brazilian-made Super Tucano military aircraft, now being purchased around the region for counter-narcotics and counter-insurgency operations.

To other stories today:

· The Washington Post reports that Haitian opposition politicians are trying to reconcile their differences with President Rene Preval in order to reach consensus on rebuilding the country after last month’s quake. The paper writes: “The objective, several political leaders said, is to cooperate with Préval's government in drawing up a unanimously backed reconstruction plan and an arrangement for broader political leadership during the emergency.” That plan will then be presented next month in New York at a UN donor’s conference. The report goes on to say that President Preval has not yet shown signs of wanting to cooperate with his opposition on reconstruction. Specifically, the Haitian president has not indicated whether he will seek inclusion of opposition groups in reconstruction planning or to agree to a “special assembly,” a “national conference,” or a “state council,” all ideas which the opposition is considering for broadening leadership of the recovery. Yet even as frustration with Mr. Preval’s leadership grows, many opposition politicians are hesitant to call for his resignation. “I think we have to put up with Préval for the rest of his mandate,” longtime opposition figure Evans Paul tells the Post. “He is non-performing, he is inadequate, but to avoid instability he should finish his term.” Also, this morning, news that a group of Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffers recently returned from Haiti. Laura Rozen at Politico has their initial report, which, Rozen writes, “expresses concern” about the coordination of Washington's governmental response to the crisis.

· From IPS’s Jim Lobe, an interview with Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom during the leader’s recent 3-day visit to the U.S. Colom tells IPS that he plans to extend the mandate of the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The Guatemalan president also discusses the appointment of a new attorney general—someone who he says will “facilitate and give a boost to the progress made by CICIG” and “deepen the purge of the public prosecutor's office." Other topics of discussion include the declassification of military archives and ongoing human rights abuses.

· IPS also reports on the lack of justice that has followed last year’s violence in Bagua, Peru. The report leads: “Although the technical investigations cleared two of the indigenous demonstrators accused in the murders of 12 policemen during a bloody June 2009 clash between native protesters and the security forces near the northern Amazon jungle town of Bagua, they are still behind bars.”

· From Venezuela, the AP reported yesterday on the creation of peasant militias in rural parts of the country, raising fears of possible violence among some ranchers. According to Hugo Chavez, the newly formed armed groups have been organized by the Venezuelan military and “will be responsible for protecting poor farmers from vigilante groups organized and financed by cattlemen and wealthy landowners.” The government claims that more than 300 peasants have been killed since a land reform initiative began in 2001. Others dispute that number and say those deaths that have occurred are attributable to common criminals and/or Colombian rebels and paramilitary groups present in the country.

· Also this morning, news that anti-Chavez broadcaster RCTV may be returning to the air after agreeing to abide by government regulations. Diosdado Cabello, director of Venezuela’s broadcasting regulatory body, said RCTV’s decision “merits an applause.” “They are recognizing the law.” And from Bloomberg, news that close ally of Hugo Chavez, Gov. Henri Falcon, has decided to break with president’s PSUV, saying he’s “concerned about the absence of an adequate space for dialogue” within the party. Patria Para Todos, a party allied with Chavez’s PSUV, accepted Falcon as a member following his resignation. According to one of the PPT’s leaders, Jose Hernandez, “We are an option for revolutionaries who seek a space for discussion and debate. We are a party for diversity.”

· Finally, an opinion today in the Miami Herald from CSIS’s Peter DeShazo who says it’s time for Alvaro Uribe to give up his bid for a third term. “Uribe's apparent quest for a third term clouds this largely positive panorama. His continuation in office would constitute an aberration in Colombia's history and run contrary to the constitution's emphasis on terms limits,” he writes. And, I also highlight this morning, the beginning of a new center for investigative journalism in Peru, IDL-Reporteros (mentioned at the Centro de Investigación e Información Periodística’s site), directed by journalist Gustavo Gorriti who discusses the new initiative here.

New Latin America-Exclusive Political Body Expected at Mexico Summit

Latin American leaders are close to agreeing on the formation of a new regional organization, to be exclusive to the countries of the region—thus excluding the U.S. and Canada. According to the AP today, the new organization has yet to be named, but leaders envision it as “the premier political forum for Latin American nations.” Further details are likely to emerge this week as representatives from 32 countries gather in Cancun, Mexico for the Unity Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The AP’s report on the new regional body—being described by many as counterweight to the OAS—follows others from the weekend. Last Friday, the Financial Times was the first to file a report, calling the new initiative a “Mexican-led” project and “a clear sign of Latin America’s growing confidence as a region.” In an interview with the paper Salvador Beltrán del Río, Mexico’s under-secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, said the new regional body would expand and replace the current “Rio Group,” founded in 1986. Even amidst ongoing differences between various Latin American nations, Beltrán del Rio noted there was “significant agreement” among all Latin American leaders that such an organization would be beneficial for giving the region some much needed “space.” Nevertheless, the proposal is not without its detractors. According to former Mexican foreign minister, Jorge Castaneda, the creation of the body may cause a further weakening of the OAS while the Inter-American Dialogue’s Peter Hakim says he holds doubts that such an organization will be able to find the “political glue” necessary to remain unified and effective. “I haven’t seen much success from Latin America’s integration efforts, and I can’t imagine that this is going to be terribly different,” he tells the paper.

Following the FT, some reports on the new Latin American regional body have already turned to Hugo Chavez. BBC Mundo, for example, says it’s Chavez, rather than Mexico itself, who intends to propose the new organization at this week’s Mexico summit. However, the BBC goes on to quote Mexican foreign minister, Patricia Espinosa, who said Saturday that the “diverse and pluralistic” region must advance on integration that “benefits each of the region’s countries and its communities.” An AP report over the weekend, meanwhile, adds more skepticism about the sort of effectiveness a new Latin American-exclusive body might have at the present moment. Writing in Mexico’s Proceso, former Mexican ambassador Olga Perciller says “At few moments in its recent history has Latin America been so polarized in terms of its political projects and various leaders. Launching a new organization is always possible but having it be a success, that’s another thing. ”

To other stories from this weekend:

· The Washington Post reports today that a commission has begun working to map out the reconstruction of greater Port-au-Prince. It’s head: the Haitian-born Howard University graduate, Patrick Delatour, who currently serves as the country’s tourism minister. Delatour, the paper writes, is responsible for “selling a future for Haiti to his own people and an audience of international donors, who will help fund an urban rebirth starting from virtually zero.” And he is doing so in a loft outside Port-au-Prince that now serves as the primary HQ for reconstruction planning. Already Delatour has begun discussions with the French government and a number of American universities about providing technical assistance in planning and engineering for the reconstruction of the city, but he adds, he’s “confident in Haiti's ability to offer the leadership that is necessary.” Time picks up the story of reconstruction from there, with reporting that PM Jean-Max Bellerive plans to take a “good recovery action plan,” one that “won't just rebuild what was destroyed but present the Haiti that we're all dreaming of 10 years down the line,” to a UN donor’s conference in NYC next month. But, Bellerive goes on to say, thinking about such a plan is difficult amidst so many urgent needs. “When you still have 10% of your population living in the streets, when basic human shelter problems aren't resolved yet, you can't say you're satisfied.” As so many other reports have noted as well, particular responsibility has fallen to Bellerive himself as President Rene Préval continues to “come under sharp criticism for his remote and lackluster example during the catastrophe.”

· With more Haiti stories, President Preval himself arrived in Mexico on a Mexican plane yesterday for the Rio Group summit. There he told reporters that the death toll from the January quake might reach 300,000. The New York Times reports on how survivors of the quake in need of aid are using text messaging to reach aid groups. More on the arrival of the rainy season in the Wall Street Journal this weekend, along with the increased reports of illness like diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria that are quickly accompanying the change in weather. And, from the AP, PM Jean Max-Bellerive also said this weekend that the government plans to expropriate private land to provide areas for the resettlement of homeless Haitian quake survivors. Such a plan has been advocated by aid and human rights groups, among them Human Rights Watch, which said Friday that “there is little evidence that meaningful efforts have been made to negotiate the land acquisition and secure proper land titles. It is essential that this be given priority.”

· Via Plan Colombia and Beyond, news about a recently released report, “Truth Behind Bars,” from the Berkeley Law School’s International Human Rights Law Clinic. The report documents the impact of U.S. extraditions of former AUC paramilitaries from Colombia. Such extraditions have added numerous challenges to the search for truth and justice in Colombia, the report argues, as victims have been unable to pursue “economic redress” against the accused and Colombian prosecutors have been unable to gain important information to further judicial investigations. The International Human Rights Law Clinic’s recommendations for the US government include: 1. To create an effective and efficient procedure for judicial cooperation, 2. Incentivize extradited paramilitary leaders to disclose details about all their crimes and the identities of their accomplices in the military, government and national and foreign businesses, and 3. Initiate investigations for torture committed by extradited paramilitary leaders. The report will be the topic of discussion at the Washington Office on Latin America, this Friday, February 26, for those in the Washington, D.C. area.

· From Mexico, the LA Times writes this weekend that the killing of a group of teenagers in Juarez at the end of January will likely be seen as turning point for the country’s fight against drug cartels. Tracy Wilkinson writes: “Some in Mexico are wondering whether this is their nation's tipping point, a moment when public outrage that has bubbled along finally overcomes the fear and fatalism that largely silenced or intimidated Mexican society.” Here’s Marcos Fastlicht, a Mexico City businessman who heads an organization calling for more citizen participation in crime prevention: “For the very, very first time, people, civil society as a whole, have come together and decided, this is enough. And they've said that to Calderon . . . to his ministers . . . that they are not going to take any more" neglect and broken promises.” New polls also show a significant decline in the support of Mr. Calderon’s government, with his anti-crime policies being the subject of most discontent. The Economist this week also highlights Mexico’s drug war in Juarez, as does Time who reports that those who have long been criticizing Calderon’s drug war strategy were joined this week by “some of the government’s key allies.” Among them, members of Calderón's own conservative National Action Party, regional business lobbies and the Roman Catholic Church. And also from the LA Times, news, via an opinion, that drug violence may be causing more and more Mexican immigrants to put down deeper roots in the U.S. rather than planning a return back to the country.

· Last week’s U.S.-Cuba migration talks ended after one day, and the LA Times says, the meetings were largely overshadowed by a U.S. decision to meet with dissident groups Saturday and the imprisonment of US contractor, Alan Gross. Also, interesting news by way of Miami Herald’s Cuban Colada blog that political prisoners in Cuba have petitioned Brazil’s Lula da Silva to talk with Raul Castro about the possibility of their release. The letter from 42 Cuban political prisoners to the Brazilian government says Lula can be “a magnificent interlocutor” who “can get the Cuban government to embark on the economic, political and social reforms that are urgently needed, advance in its respect of human rights, achieve the long-hoped-for national reconciliation, and bring the nation out of the profound crisis in which it finds itself.”

· From BBC Mundo, three stories of interest: a report that three Paraguayan businessmen were arrested in Miami for alleged links to Hezbollah; a statement from UN official and CICIG head Carlos Castresana in Guatemala who says the country’s security and justice systems have practically collapsed and are incapable of protecting citizens from rising crime; and news on the reopening of the Rettig and Valech Commissions in Chile this week to receive new citizen claims of human rights violations. The commissions will then decide on reparations for such victims and their families.

· Finally, the usual Monday opinions from Andres Oppenheimer on Brazil-Iran relations and Mary Anastasia O’Grady on Nicaragua-Venezuela relations.

Haitian PM: "Haitian Government Could Collapse"

In an exclusive 40 minute interview with the AP, Haitian PM Jean-Max Bellerive says he worries the Haitian government could collapse. According to the PM, political opponents are attempting to capitalize on the government’s inability to respond strongly enough to the after-effects of last month’s massive earthquake. So much is this a concern of the PM that “political divisiveness,” says Bellerive, is presently one of the two most immediate fears of the government in a country with so many pressing challenges. Here’s Bellerive in his own words:

“You have the feeling that everyone is trying to do his little part and accuse the other one of not doing his part. Everyone is trying to create conflict when we have the same enemy right now: It’s misery, it's disaster.”

Nevertheless, the PM goes on, he does understand the criticism that “Haiti's leaders didn't do enough to help” in the immediate days after the earthquake. “Because we didn't have any administration we could not give the services the population is entitled to. So they say there isn't any government.” According to the AP, a legislative election that was to take place at the end of this month has already been canceled, “threatening parliament's legitimacy.” A presidential election that is set for later this year also remains in doubt. And this leads Bellerive to believe that “The government is not able to resolve this situation alone.”

From Reuters, more news on “torrential” rains that are now beginning to hit Haiti. The report leads: “Providing shelter for hundreds of thousands of homeless earthquake victims in Haiti jumped to the top of the country's relief priorities on Thursday after heavy rain turned makeshift survivors' camps into muddy quagmires.” Speaking with Reuters late Wednesday, President Rene Preval reiterated his concerns about rain and a lack of shelter. “Every time I meet with foreign leaders and delegations, I tell them that [shelter] is the most urgent need. Now that we've attended to the wounded, taken away the dead, and we're distributing food and water, the problem of shelter, the tents, is the most urgent.”

In other opinions and analysis on Haiti this morning, development specialist Paul Collier writes in Foreign Policy on how to fix the inefficiencies and unaccountability in the aid delivery process. He maintains:

“Getting the government involved in a financially sustainable way would add oversight, coordination, and increased accountability to the NGO landscape in Haiti. Here's how it could work: Although it's true that the Haitian state cannot run mass service provision, the government could realistically allocate the funding for it. So, instead of donating to NGOs, donor money would all be streamed into a common pool. A new government agency would be charged with overseeing the common pool, setting clear criteria for NGO performance, monitoring the NGOs, and giving out money from that pool based on the set standards and community needs. In return for funds, the new agency would require NGOs to co-brand their services with the government, giving it much-needed visibility.”

AEI’s Roger Noriega offers his opinion on the matter, arguing only private capital and the free market will “ensure a quick and sustainable recovery.” CEPR has a response to Noriega at its Haiti Relief and Reconstruction blog. President Rene Preval, with Nicole Guedj, pens an opinion in the Guardian yesterday calling for increased international cooperation to coordinate recovery efforts in his country. There’s news that the UN has made a massive Haiti appeal of $1.5 billion to the international community. And via CEPR, a new statement from a handful of NGOs—among them, Partners in Health, the NYU School of Law’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti—which lays out a strategy for ensuring “accountability, transparency, empowerment, and capacity building” in the recovery process, ahead of the March Haiti Donors’ Conference.

Moving to other headlines today:

· The New York Times’ leads its Americas coverage today with news that the man accused of killing New York City journalist Bradley Will while he covered street clashes in Oaxaca in 2006 was released from jail on Thursday. According to the paper, “the ruling was congruent with what the victim’s family and human rights groups have long asserted, that the journalist was not shot at close range by an antigovernment protester as the government has maintained.” Amnesty International praised the decision of the court. “This release was long overdue. Juan Manuel (the accused) has been used as a scapegoat by the Mexican authorities to claim there has been progress in the investigation around Brad Will’s death.”

· The AP reports on the beginning of a new set of migration talks between the US and Cuba, to begin today. According to the wire service, “the last time U.S. diplomats traveled to Havana, they held secret talks with their Cuban counterparts that were hailed as the most significant in decades.” Since then, however, “almost nothing has gone right for U.S.-Cuba relations,” putting today’s meetings “under a cloud of mutual mistrust and dashed hopes.” The US delegation to Havana is being led by deputy assistant secretary of state, Craig Kelly, who will be the most senior U.S. official to travel to Cuba in years. [Kelly's subordinate, Bisa Williams, led September meetings that sought to re-establishing direct mail service between the US and Cuba]. And according to reports, today’s meetings may reach beyond migration alone, with many hinting that the imprisonment of US contractor, Alan Gross, will also be discussed.

· Meanwhile, today’s talks are being strongly opposed by pro-embargo legislators, many of whom signed a letter to President Obama demanding migration meetings with the Cubans be canceled. At the Miami Herald, the Center for Democracy in the Americas’ Sarah Stephens responds. Citing Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, Stephens says the only “national security threat posed by Cuba “would be a mass migration from the island if the government decided it could not cope with rising discontent over economic conditions.” So, she asks, why suspend talks seeking to address this very problem?

· A new poll from Colombia says Alvaro Uribe would win re-election in May should he be allowed to seek a third consecutive term. If not, his ally and former Defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, is currently the strongest contender. Reuters writes: “Should Uribe run, 46 percent of those surveyed said they would vote for him, followed by former Medellin mayor Sergio Fajardo and leftist candidate Gustavo Petro, each with 9 percent approval, according to the Centro Nacional de Consultoria poll broadcast by CM& television Tuesday night.”

· Also from Colombia, news that Uribe and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa have confirmed a meeting to take place at the upcoming Rio Summit in Cancun. And a Reuters report looks at current “political risks” in Colombia. Among them, Uribe’s possible re-election bid, congressional elections, armed groups and traffickers, and tense relations with neighboring Venezuela.

· Honduras, reports indicate, has not been invited to the Rio Summit by host-country Mexico, indicating its reintegration into the international community is not going quite as smoothly as other reports have indicated in past weeks. Mexican foreign minister Patricia Espinosa, in a statement on the matter, said the OAS must first decide whether or not to bring the Central American country back into the fold.

· In the meantime, former Honduran President Mel Zelaya will be heading out on an international tour that will include stopovers around the region, as well as in the US and Spain. Zelaya says he will speak about the need to guarantee democracy in the region, as well as strengthen the democratic charter of the OAS to help prevent future coups against democratically elected governments in Latin America.

· Andres Oppenheimer writes about making the OAS more effective as well today. His position: “The OAS’ problem is not Insulza. It's the group’s absurd tradition of reaching decisions by consensus, which in a polarized region amounts to a recipe for not making any substantive decisions.”

· From RNS at Honduras Culture and Politics, a primer on those who will be heading the truth commission in Honduras.

· And finally a new interesting report, via Tim’s El Salvador Blog, on extractive industries in El Salvador. The 49-page “El Salvador: Gold, Guns, and Choice” is written by Prof. Richard Steiner of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Commission on Environmental Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP) and looks at “the security situation in Cabanas, the recent wave of extra-judicial killings of environmental leaders opposing the mine there, continuing threats toward citizens, the government response to the situation, the CAFTA actions filed by mining companies against the government, and the effort to ban metals mining in the country.”

Back in Juarez, Calderon Makes New Pledges

Mexican President Felipe Calderon was back in Ciudad Juarez Wednesday, this time making a promise to residents of the city embattled in drug violence that his government would begin investigations into “all complaints of extortion and kidnapping.” “The city will become a city of law,” Calderon pledged. This after meeting with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano in Mexico City, the AP says. However, near immediate violence befell the state of Chihuahua following Calderon’s latest speech. As the wire service continues, “Hours after Calderon spoke, gunmen killed the mayor of Guadalupe y Calvo, a town on the other side of Chihuahua state from Ciudad Juarez.” The mayor’s car was ambushed by hit men as it left a meeting in Chihuahua city.

Back in Juarez, Calderon’s second visit in two weeks was greeted yet again with protests. Police clashed with students, in particular, angered both by the president’s failed militarization of Juarez as well as comments he made after the murder of 16 teens in late January, implying they were connected to trafficking groups.

Also on Mexico’s drug war this morning, EFE reports that Mexico has entered talks with Russia over the purchase of new weapons and military equipment. The news comes after a joint press conference given by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa. Lavrov called Russia’s military sales in the region [last year the country became Latin America’s largest supplier of military equipment], a “purely economic question, not political.” Ditto in Guatemala, Lavrov’s stopover before arriving in Mexico and the site of a new accord between the two countries to fight drug trafficking. “The [Guatemala-Russia] agreement seeks to broaden our cooperation, exchange of information, and counternarcotics capacities” Lavrov said in a press conference in Guatemala Monday.

And finally, from AQ, Arjan Shahani offers seven possible ideas for quelling drug violence in Mexico. Among them: using the military to contain rather than destroy cartel activity; strengthening the rule of law; acknowledging the drug problem will not simply disappear and, therefore, creating “drug-use and related industry tolerance zones;” and working with the media to end sensationalist reporting.”

On to other stories:

· Today’s US headline on Haiti comes from the Washington Post who reports that “The United Nations' top humanitarian relief coordinator has scolded his lieutenants for failing to adequately manage the relief effort in Haiti.” The words come from a leaked confidential email from John Holmes, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who wrote that “an uneven response in the month after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake has undercut confidence in the United Nations' ability to deliver vital assistance” (the Post’s paraphrasing). According to Post UN reporter (and new FP blogger), Colum Lynch, the email “portrays an organization that is straining to set up enough shelters, latrines and other vital services for Haiti's displaced population.” Holmes’ particular criticism focuses on the implementation of a so-called “cluster strategy” which intended to hand out responsibility for aid coordination of basic services like water and shelter to key U.N. relief agencies.

· Also, from the AP, in the absence of a strong government presence, Haitians themselves have taken the initiative to restore some semblance of normalcy. In massive encampments, the AP writes, tent cities have appeared, complete with bakeries and other services in many cases. However, without coordinated planning, those who have resettled in such camps face disease, crime, and further natural disaster as spring rains pick up. From the Miami Herald, a report on French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Haiti—the first French head of state to set foot on the island since the colonial power was officially expelled from Haiti 200 years ago. Sarkozy gave two speeches—one with President Rene Preval by his side—and pledged $245 million in French aid for rebuilding as well as $54 million for the Haitian government's budget. However, there was no discussion of reparations Wednesday, an issue raised by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.

· From the Washington Office on Latin America, a statement this week highlights Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes’ recent speech marking the anniversary of El Salvador's Peace Accords. WOLA says El Salvador finds itself facing significant challenges at the present moment, including the fallout of the economic crisis, rising crime (see today’s report from IPS on the presence of “death squads” carrying out “social cleansing” of suspected Mara gang members), and violence against anti-mining activists. Yet, WOLA says:

“Despite these difficulties, the government has taken a number of important steps on impunity and human rights. Investigations into police corruption have been launched, with suspensions and several arrests to date. Investigations into corruption by government officials have been launched. In November, in a dramatic break from previous administrations, President Funes honored the six Jesuit priests and their two companions who were murdered in 1989. The Peace Accords anniversary speech is part of this process.”

· In Honduras there are also disturbing new reports of ongoing violence against campesinos in Bajo Aguan. Members of the peasant group, Movimiento Unificado del Aguan (MUCA), say armed groups entered their lands last Friday, critically injuring at least two individuals. MUCA says the groups take their orders from large landowner, Miguel Facussé, who, along with other terratenientes in the area, took advantage of the June coup against Mel Zelaya to not recognize agrarian reform initiatives initiated by Zelaya. For more, RAJ has details and links, as well as analysis about how such violence remains largely absent from national news coverage in Honduras.

· The Minister of Government in Ecuador, Gustavo Jalkh, sat down recently for an interview with Ecuador’s El Comercio. Jalkh indicated that UNASUR, currently headed by Ecuador, plans to approve the creation of a counter-narcotics council in March in order to coordinate regional efforts against organized crime and drug trafficking.

· From the Andean Information Network, news from Bolivia that the Armed Forces appear to be reneging on a pledge to open files on human rights abuses committed during the Garcia Meza dictatorship of the 1980s. AIN’s Kathryn Ledebur writes: “Accountability for past human rights violations is most likely the main point of friction in the strategic alliance between the Morales administration and a largely supportive armed forces. Yet, an end to impunity for these abuses is essential to maintain the credibility of a government with stated social justice objectives.”

· From Just the Facts, a new podcast on citizen security in Medellin, Colombia.

· The latest issue of AQ highlights various young Latin American leaders in business, politics, and civil society. Also, from AQ’s weekly news round-up, interesting information from a new ILO report which says young people in Latin America were the hardest hit by the economic downturn in 2009.

· From Brazil, a recent report on the construction of an Amazonian climate change observatory—a joint German-Brazilian undertaking that “plans to provide more trustworthy estimates on the greenhouse effect based on climate in the tropical jungle over the next 30 years.”

· From Argentina, the UN will be stepping into a new British-Argentine conflict over the Falklands Islands. The most recent dispute stems from a British project to begin oil exploration off the islands—something Argentina says infringes on its sovereignty.

· In a letter to the Washington Post, Chilean foreign minister Mariano Fernández Amunátegui adds his voice to others criticizing the Post’s recent editorial blasting the OAS and its Sec. General José Miguel Insulza. “The OAS can be improved, but we must remember that it consists of sovereign nations, hence the values of consensus, dialogue and nonintervention must be respected,” the foreign minister argues.

· And finally this morning, some quite fascinating news from Uruguay where this week a new parliament was sworn-in to office. Both the lower and upper bodies of parliament will be led by the left-leaning Frente Amplio coalition, and, for the first time in history, both will be presided over by female presidents. In fact, heading the Senate will be former Tupamaro fighter, Lucía Topalansky, wife of incoming president (and also one-time guerrilla) José Mujica. As MercoPress writes:

“…what the Tupamaros urban guerrilla movement was unable to achieve through armed violence almost half a century ago, they have now conquered legitimately through democratic elections. They (through their political party, the MPP) have the strongest and most voted grouping in the ruling coalition, they have control over both houses and as of March 1, the guerrilla leader Jose Mujica becomes the elected president of Uruguay.”