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.
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