Russia Now Largest Supplier of Arms to Latin America

February 8, 2010

Russia displaced the United States last year as Latin America’s largest overall supplier of weapons and defense-related equipment, according to a recently released assessment by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Mexico and Colombia, however, still purchase the majority of their defense munitions from U.S. companies.

Over the past year, Russian defense companies have signed new military agreements with Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia for a wide range of military equipment. Venezuela alone, which is the second-largest purchaser of Russian weapons, has bought over $4 billion in arms since 2007.

Growing military expenditures in Latin America, which have almost doubled from $24 billion in 2003 to $60 billion in 2008, have been a source of concern for the United States. In Americas Quarterly, Miguel Angel Centeno of Princeton University had previously written on the changing role of many of the region’s militaries.

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Piñera’s Cabinet to be Announced

February 5, 2010

Chile’s new president-elect, Sebastián Piñera, will announce his first cabinet picks on Tuesday, February 9, after what has been a rather complicated process.

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En la Frontera: Una Conversación con el Escritor Mexicano Yuri Herrera

February 5, 2010

En 2004, una novela de poco más de 100 páginas sirvió para situar a Yuri Herrera (Actopan, México, 1970) entre los escritores más destacados de la narrativa mexicana contemporánea. Trabajos del reino, el primer libro de Herrera, narra el ascenso y la caída de un compositor de corridos deslumbrado por la vida en la “corte” de un capo del narcotráfico. Se trata además de una reflexión sobre el arte, la violencia y el poder contada con sorprendente lucidez y belleza. La editorial Periférica recuperó Trabajos del reino para el público español en 2008. El año pasado apareció —también en Periférica— la segunda novela de Herrera, Señales que precederán al fin del mundo, sobre el viaje de una muchacha que atraviesa la frontera en busca de su hermano.

En diciembre de 2009 Herrera se convirtió en el primer ganador del premio “Otras voces, otros ámbitos” por Trabajos del reino. El galardón, otorgado en España por un jurado compuesto por cien personas del ámbito literario, pretende rescatar obras valiosas que no han tenido éxito comercial, con el objetivo de reeditarlas y distribuirlas en más de ochenta librerías. Recién llegado a México después de haber realizado un doctorado en la Universidad de California, Berkeley, Yuri Herrera habla sobre las relaciones entre la literatura y el conflicto político y social en su país.

Colanzi: Élmer Mendoza describe a los narcotraficantes y su mundo de manera minuciosa; en Trabajos del reino, los personajes son arquetipos y el narcotráfico no se menciona. ¿Cuál es tu posición con respecto a la narco-literatura?

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Our Man, Cuba’s Pawn

February 4, 2010

This post is a follow-up to my Unleash the Googles entry from last week. But now I would like to specifically focus on the human rights implications of Alan Gross’ detention.

Why is the U.S. keeping so quiet… still? This has been a vexing question. There’s no grand geopolitical strategy behind our silence.

Alan Gross did not sign a privacy waiver. That simple. Out of respect for this request, the U.S. won’t say anything about Gross—either in his defense or in defense of our policies. This is true even though it’s in our best interests to clarify what Gross was doing and what equipment he was distributing.

For now, it’s all very murky, enhancing the cloak and dagger mystique around this 60-year-old guy from the suburbs of Washington DC. This makes the nature of his work seem all the more insidious.

We could be rebutting more aggressively the charges that the Obama administration is still Cuba’s arch enemy, working stealthily to topple its regime. Gross is being turned into the predictable tool for the Castros and the Chavistas to denounce the U.S., reminding me of how Fidel Castro sought to use Elián González as a pawn against the United States.

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Argentina’s New Central Bank President Seeks to Calm Markets

February 4, 2010

In her first public comments, Mercedes Marcó del Pont, the new president of the Central Bank of Argentina, promised today that she would bring about “reasonable” policy changes and that she was “thinking of maintaining the monetary and exchange rate policy with regards to the type of competitive managed float.”

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The 7 Things President Hugo Chávez Has Taught Me

February 4, 2010

With the 11th anniversary this week of President Hugo Chávez’s ascension to power, I started reflecting on what I had learned from the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.  President Chávez’s behavior and profile, internationally and nationally, provide a powerful lesson on how to challenge and defy traditional wisdom—and with it international norms and precedent. 

1) Break All Diplomatic Rules and Decorum and You’ll Get a Free Pass: President Chávez has called U.S. President George W. Bush  “the devil” on the floor of the UN; said on his regular, one-man variety show Aló Presidente that then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice needed a real man and described how he would seduce her; called the Secretary General of the Organization of Americas States, José Miguel Insulza a “pendejo” (to put it nicely, a jerkwad), just to cite a few of the incidents of his intemperate name calling.  And what has the international community done?  Besides King Juan Carlos of Spain telling him to “shut up” at the Ibero-American Summit, nothing.   This over-the-top behavior challenges the traditional civility of diplomacy.  Arguably, these sorts of outbursts don’t deserve a polite response.  But they have had the effect of intimidating would-be critics, cowing heads of state and multilateral organizations all the while President Chávez thumbs his nose at democratic and human rights norms. The international community has watched as standards for free and fair elections have declined; stood on the sidelines as the government systematically dismantles freedom of expression by closing down opposition media; and given a meek response when it has jailed opponents.  And the recommendation by many observers?  Don’t provoke Chávez, implying that even raising legitimate issues is forbidden because it may provoke a childish reaction.   President Chávez’s behavior also has the benefit of reinforcing a convenient image of a buffoon (see #7 below).

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

February 3, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Costa Rica Gears up for Presidential Elections

Alex Leff blogs for Americas Quarterly about Costa Rica’s presidential campaigns ahead of the February 7 elections. Campaigns have taken a turn for the quirky, from conservative candidate Otto Guevara’s televised polygraph test to the Social Christian Unity Party’s Luis Fishman’s slogan that “the lesser evil is better.” While Guevara’s support in the polls rose from 13 to 30 percent in September, surveys estimate that President Óscar Arias’ chosen successor, Laura Chinchilla of the National Liberation Party, will win 40 percent of the vote.

Congressional Report Examines U.S. Policy toward Haitian Migrants

In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, a Congressional Research Service Report examines U.S. migrant interdiction and detention policies toward Haitians. Human rights advocates have raised concerns over these policies, saying Haitians receive inferior treatment when compared to other asylum seekers trying to enter the United States.

Read an AS/COA analysis about the U.S. debate over Haitian immigration.

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United States Seeks Noriega Extradition Following Court Decision

February 3, 2010

The U.S. government has asked a Miami federal judge to grant Manuel Noriega’s extradition to France after the Supreme Court decided not to consider the former Panamanian dictator’s appeal.

Noriega is charged with laundering money through French banks.  His attorney, Jon May, will ask the Miami court for a rehearing on February 19, based on dissenting arguments from Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Noriega should not be extradited before then, May said Tuesday.

Noriega was convicted of drug racketeering and declared a prisoner of war in the United States in 1992.  He has remained in detention since his sentence ended in 2007, while his lawyers have fought the extradition to France. They claim the Geneva Conventions and Noriega’s prisoner of war status require his extradition to Panama, not to France. The Supreme Court did not rule on that contention.  Justice Thomas wrote in a dissenting opinion joined by Scalia that the Court should rule on Noriega’s argument because it would also resolve important legal questions for the detainees currently held in Guantanamo Bay.

The Panamanian government has also called for Noriega to return to his home country, where he faces a 20-year sentence for ordering the 1985 murder of dissident leader Hugo Spadafora.

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In Memory: Tomás Eloy Martínez

February 2, 2010

In spring 1997 I found my way, pretty much by accident, into an upper-level college course at Rutgers University, called “Historical Fiction in Latin America.” I knew little about the instructor, other than the fact that he wrote critically-acclaimed fiction, often about two singular figures in the history of Argentina: Juan and Eva Perón.

Little did I know that until my graduation and for many years to come, Tomás Eloy Martínez would single-handedly influence, give shape and inspire my obsession with journalism and my desire to practice it in Latin America. With his patience and kind and humble wisdom, he encouraged me every step along the way.

We read books and short stories voraciously, discussing them long after the class period ended. Arráncame la Vida by Angeles Mastretta was a particularly memorable one; Tomás knew her personally and reveled in sharing with us a mix of unofficial and scandalous truths and fictions about her life. We also read The Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig, and Operación Masacre by Rodolfo Walsh, which still sends chills down my spine every time I think of it, and which opened my eyes to the important role of journalists as champions of human rights, critics and witnesses.

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Proposed Cuts in U.S. Aid to Latin America Reflect Changing Priorities

February 2, 2010

President Barack Obama’s proposed budget plan for fiscal year 2011 would decrease aid to Latin America by nearly 10 percent, mostly by cutting military and police support. Released on Monday, the plan—a blueprint of the president’s budget priorities that will now be debated in Congress—calls for economic development aid in the region to stay about the same, while aid for health programs would increase.  Obama’s budget proposal increases overall spending by the State Department, with much of the proposed increase going toward programs in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Colombia and Mexico, currently the largest recipients of U.S. aid in Latin America, would receive less funding in 2011 under Obama’s plan.  Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew said the cuts represent the Plan Colombia and Merida Initiatives moving on to less costly phases.  Most of the helicopters the U.S. promised Mexico to help counter drug cartels under the Merida Initiative, for example, have already been purchased.  Colombian Minister of Defense Gabriel Silva, however, plans to ask U.S. congressional leaders to maintain support for Plan Colombia when he travels to Washington on Monday.

The Obama plan would cut aid specified to combat drug trafficking by $16 million, especially in Colombia, although anti-narcotics programs across the region would still receive $690 million in 2011.  Assistance directed toward Latin American development initiatives would essentially remain constant with 2010 funding, with $736 million allocated for programs such as alternative agriculture techniques, judicial reform in Colombia and support for Cuban civil society.

Cutting aid to Colombia, calling for greater parity between military and development spending, and increasing aid to Central America were also priorities reflected by  the Obama administration in its 2010 budget requests. 

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Truth or Dare in Costa Rica’s Presidential Campaign

February 1, 2010

Costa Rica's presidential campaign has become quite tense in the lead-up to the February 7 elections, but it also has turned rather goofy.

One of the latest displays of wackiness took the form of a lie detector test, which several leading candidates actually agreed to take on national television.

I was eating dinner at a Japanese restaurant here on the east side of San José, when right-wing candidate Otto Guevara popped on the restaurant's TV screen strapped to a polygraph machine.

"Have you profited in any way while carrying out your duties for which you could be legally charged?" a moderator asked Guevara, 49, of the Libertarian Movement. "Have you lied to the media during your election campaign?" she asked.

Guevara replied "No" to both, and the machine gave him a green light—Canal 7 told viewers he was telling the truth. The front-runner in the campaign, National Liberation Party's (PLN) Laura Chinchilla, refused to participate in the televised interrogation. Guevara is in second place in the polls, hovering at or under 30 percent. Not to miss the opportunity to capitalize on the polygraph test, he bought a two-page spread in national newspapers that boasted he is the only honest candidate in the race.

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Paraguay Arrests Member of Armed Insurgent Group

February 1, 2010

Paraguayan officials have arrested a man accused of participating in acts perpetrated by the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP)—an armed group that officials say has ties to Colombia’s Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). José Villalba was taken into custody in Concepción (a city near the Brazilian border) during an operation by the national police and armed forces. He is the brother of the man believed to be the EPP’s principal leader.

Mr. Villalba is the 10th person to be arrested in recent weeks in connection to the kidnapping of Fidel Zavada, a prominent rancher who was allegedly held by the EPP for 94 days before being released for a $550,000 ransom.

Officials say that the EPP is a splinter group of the Free Motherland Party (PPL), which was involved in the 2005 kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas, the daughter of a former Paraguayan president. Up to a dozen individuals who are also suspected of being members of the group have been spotted in remote jungle areas near the site of Villalba’s arrest. Officials say they are carefully monitoring the group’s movements and are likely to make more arrests soon.

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Unleash the Googles on Cuba

January 29, 2010

U.S.-Cuba dynamics continue to follow the traditional script of mixed signals. The romance is there; the trust is not.

Shortly after U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Bisa Williams returned from extended talks in Havana, the Cuban regime seized Alan Gross, a U.S. subcontractor for a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) democracy program in Cuba.

Another kicker came on Thursday when the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, told reporters that immigration talks in Havana were scheduled for February 19.

Part of the Cuban agenda presented to the government of the United States is a proposal for a new immigration agreement and solidifying cooperation in the fight against people trafficking,” Rodríguez is translated as saying in English by Reuters. Let’s hope that Cuba’s wishes to exchange Gross for the Cuban Five will remain a non-starter.

The imprisonment of Mr. Gross (or “Harold,” as he was first named to me in early December) serves as a good reminder of the criminals-in-office we are dealing with in Havana. And also a reminder of our ill-conceived, yet well-intended, Cuba policies and programs.

Why didn’t we complain louder about Gross’ continued detention? For one, the man and his family did not sign a privacy waiver with the State Department, and without that waiver the U.S. Department of State and U.S. embassies and consulates abroad cannot release information on an individual—even when it hurts our national interests.

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World Economic Forum Honors Lula

January 29, 2010

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was honored this morning at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, with the forum’s first-ever Global Statesman award. The president was absent from the ceremony after he cancelled his European trip due to a blood-pressure spike that left him hospitalized earlier this week in Recife, Brazil. Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations Celso Amorim received the award on the president’s behalf.

In a speech prepared by Lula and read by Mr. Amorin, the president said the, “award increases my responsibility as a leader, and my country’s responsibility as an increasingly active player on the global scene.” On the domestic front, it highlighted achievements in economic growth and poverty relief programs. On the international side, it stressed the need to tackle the global economic crisis and climate change, and called for “the need to establish a new international economic order, one that is more just and democratic.”

Early this week President Lula attended the World Social Forum (WSF), a counter-globalization event that meets annually in Brazil on the same dates as the WEF. There, in front of over 10,000 activists, the president criticized the global financial system saying it “triggered the greatest global crisis in recent history through mere irresponsibility.” In front of cheering crowds Lula declared, "I'm going to Davos just as I did in 2003 proud of what I have to say and demonstrate" and "with the mission of telling the developed world that if they had (taken their own economic advice to heart) we wouldn't have had the crisis."

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Mexico’s PAN-PRD Alliance

January 28, 2010

Mexican politics are frustratingly fascinating.

This seems like a paradox, but then again, so does our history as a modern state. With presidential elections 2.5 years away, unlikely candidates and alliances are already beginning to form. This leaving me wondering if this country has any recollection of the political roads we’ve traveled and the costs they’ve instilled on us.

Let’s retrace our steps for a minute. The Mexican Revolution that started 100 years ago was supposed to set the basis for a system, which would alleviate the poverty gap, provide better worker conditions and at the very least, treat citizens with respect and provide the political rights that people lacked.

But this complex era in Mexican history resulted in what Luis Aboites Aguilar called (in a very politically-correct manner) “a political arrangement which made stability possible in the long term.” Along came the time of the PRIismo, an authoritarian regime with a masked one-party system run by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). As they had with Diaz, once again Mexicans deposited their trust in a strong presidential figure who fed them with the possibility of a better tomorrow.

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Sale of Nicaraguan TV Station Provokes Journalist’s Departure

January 28, 2010

Carlos Fernando Chamorro, a popular Nicaraguan journalist and outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega, announced this week that he will be leaving Telenica Channel 8 after the station was allegedly sold to relatives of the president. The son of former President Violeta Chamorro (1990-1997) and martyred newspaper editor Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, he hosts a nightly news show, Esta Noche, and a weekly program, Esta Semana.

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Central America’s Rule of Law: Guatemala Captures Portillo But Honduras Rewards Micheletti

January 27, 2010

For decades, impunity has reined in Central America. Dictatorial rule, coups, murder, and genocide have, for the most part, gone unpunished. This month, however, events in Guatemala have suggested a potential turning of the tide. In the last three weeks, Guatemalan authorities have solved the potentially destabilizing Rosenberg case and arrested ex-President Alfonso Portillo for money laundering $70 million when he was in power. Meanwhile, in Honduras, the rule of law appears as in jeopardy as ever, as the Congress has rewarded de facto President Roberto Micheletti and pledged amnesty for all those involved in ousting President Manuel Zelaya. When it comes to the rule of law, Honduras lags as far behind as ever.

Since the Peace Accords brought Guatemala’s 36-year civil war to an end in 1996, Guatemalan activists and international observers have demanded justice for the state-sponsored genocide in the 1980s. For the most part, however—as in most of Latin America—justice has not come. Moreover, since the late 1990s, crime has spiraled out of control, perceptions of corruption are high, and the legal system has proved incapable of apprehending and prosecuting both common criminals and thieving politicians. Pervasive impunity partially explains the horrific practice of lynchings that plagues Guatemala. But the failing of the rule of law in the region also contributes to Guatemalans’ disenchantment with democracy (desencanto democrático).

Not only have Guatemalan voters lost faith in democratic government’s ability to bring economic development and alleviate massive poverty, but vast swaths of the citizenry have come to believe that the laws simply do not apply to the powerful. As the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) has shown, perceptions of corruption and insecurity negatively affect democratic values in Guatemala. Compared with other Latin American countries, it is unsurprising that Guatemala ranks low in popular preference for democracy as a form of government.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

January 27, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Honduras Tries to Turn Page with Lobo’s Inauguration

Seven months after the overthrow of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya left Honduras in a state of political chaos, the Central American country inaugurated Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo as the new leader on January 27. In his first act as president, Lobo declared amnesty for all involved in what was widely regarded as a coup. He won the November election by a large margin, though its recognition was hotly disputed by several Latin American governments.

On the eve of the inauguration, the Honduran Congress also approved amnesty for Zelaya and those involved in his ousting. That, along with a Supreme Court decision to clear chief military officers of coup-related charges, is seen as a step toward reconciliation as the new president takes power.

Read an AS/COA analysis of the inauguration.

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Porfirio Lobo Takes Office as Manuel Zelaya Leaves Honduras

January 27, 2010

The presidents of Panama, Taiwan, Guatemala, and Dominican Republic arrived in Tegucigalpa Wednesday morning, joining U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Craig Kelly for the swearing-in ceremony of Porfirio Lobo Sosa. The ceremony began at 6:30 a.m. in the National Congress and was scheduled to end at 1:00 p.m. 

Dominican President Leonel Fernández left Santo Domingo in his official jet Wednesday morning, planning to return the same day with former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted from power by the Honduran military on June 28, 2009.  On Tuesday, Fernández and Lobo signed an agreement granting Zelaya’s safe passage out of Honduras. 

Dignitaries from Colombia, Canada, Israel, Italy, Peru, Morocco, Belize, and Turkey also planned to attend the ceremony, though several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, have not recognized Lobo’s electoral victory on November 29, 2009. 

It was not known prior to the ceremony whether interim President Roberto Micheletti would hand over the presidency to Lobo. Micheletti was hospitalized due to high blood pressure on Monday, the day a new congress was also sworn in. 

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Opposition Still Hopes to Block Referendum in Colombia on Uribe Candidacy

January 26, 2010

A Colombian opposition party called for candidates in the May 2010 presidential elections to work together to prevent President Álvaro Uribe from seeking a third consecutive term in office.  In a January 25 statement on Caracol Radio, Jaimie Dussán, director of Polo Democratico Alternativo party, asked fellow opposition leaders to sign a letter rejecting Uribe’s possible candidacy. 

The letter would be delivered to Colombia’s Constitutional Court, which is reviewing a bill calling for a national referendum on the issue.  The bill passed Colombia’s lower house in September after the Senate approved it in August. 

Dussán, who considers the referendum illegal, wants conservative politicians including German Varags Lleras and Noemi Sani to join left-leaning politicians in opposing it.

Uribe’s supporters hope the referendum can be approved and passed in time for his name to be on the May ballot.  Uribe previously circumvented a constitutional ban on reelection through a national referendum in 2006 before winning his second term by a landslide. 

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Haiti’s Post-Traumatic Mental Recovery

January 26, 2010

For two weeks Haiti has been at the forefront of our collective consciousness. But looking at long-term rebuilding efforts, aid organizations must recognize a challenge that goes beyond providing basic supplies and rebuilding: helping Haiti’s people to move toward psychological and emotional recovery.

On January 11, 2010, the day before the earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, the gap between Haiti’s need for mental health services and the presence of available care was already enormous. Other than the visionary accomplishments of Partners in Health in the central plateau in Haiti, public sector primary health care did not exist, and similarly, community-based mental health care remained a dream. There were few trained professional personnel and none of the infrastructure necessary to run hospitals and health centers.

Mental disturbance had already emerged as a major public health concern in Haiti, its incidence exceeding that of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. The reason for this unfortunate state was the combination of extreme poverty and unremitting despair. The World Bank has ranked Haiti as having the 133^rd highest GDP in the world, better off than only several small island nations and a few war-torn African countries. Even the opportunity for people to lift themselves out of poverty by subsistence farming is not an option for struggling Haitians: there are no trees, no top-soil and no arable land. Poverty and minimal hope have devastated the mental well-being of many Haitians, leading to high rates of suicide, gender-based violence (54 percent of women reported sexual assault in one study), child abuse, and alcohol and substance abuse.

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Former Guatemalan President to Be Extradited to the United States

January 25, 2010

A tribunal in Guatemala yesterday ordered the arrest of former President Alfonso Portillo (2000-2004) on charges of embezzlement. The decision came a day before a seven-year investigation led to the formal indictment today in the United States of Mr. Portillo by the U.S. District Court in New York on charges of money laundering.

Mr. Portillo has been accused of siphoning away millions of dollars in public funds and funneling much of the money through banks in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. During his presidential campaign, Mr. Portillo ran largely on an anti-corruption platform.

According to reports, the Guatemalan police have executed four search warrants in different locations but have not yet located the now-fugitive former president.

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Transportation Strike Ends in Peru

January 22, 2010

The Peruvian government and a conglomeration of trucking and inter-provincial transportation-service representatives reached an agreement yesterday to end a three-day strike. The transport stoppage had temporarily crippled Lima’s economy and posed a threat to the capital’s food supplies.

The strike originally called for the elimination of Peru’s selective consumption tax on fuel, which the transportation sector claims is excessively burdensome. It began last Tuesday, but was only adhered to by a select group of companies. By Wednesday of this week, however, it achieved near total support as attacks by picketers forced nearly all companies to comply with the strike. Prior to the agreement the government threatened to revoke the license of any company whose employees were caught in any act of violence. A state of emergency was declared in the departments of Lima and Junín.

Yesterday’s agreement came when the government proposed a 30 percent reduction of the gasoline tax, which amounts to approximately $.06 (S/0.2) for a gallon of diesel.  The final reduction that was agreed upon is 50 percent larger than the government’s original offer and will translate into an estimated $80 million in lost revenues for the Peruvian government.

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Four Months Until Colombia’s Election: Is President Uribe Already Running?

January 21, 2010

It’s hard to believe that President Uribe won’t run for a third term after more than two years of keeping the country in political limbo. In yet another sign that he wants to be re-elected for a third term, he is now stopping the TV transmission of his weekly communal council meetings in towns across Colombia. This may yet be another signal that he does not want to have an unfair advantage over other candidates. Could his “soul” no longer be at the crossroads?

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Calderón Defends the Military

January 21, 2010

The Mexican government issued a strong rebuttal yesterday to a recent Human Rights Watch report that criticizes President Felipe Calderón’s use of the military for policing and other civilian matters. The report contends that “Mexico's armed forces have committed serious human rights violations, including killings, torture, rapes, and arbitrary detentions.”

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

January 20, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Aftershock Hits Ravaged Haiti

A 6.1-magnitude aftershock hit Haiti early Wednesday morning even as the country reels from last week’s ruinous earthquake. At least one person suffered injuries immediately after the aftershock. No deaths or damages were immediately reported. Even in the midst of chaos, officials around the world are considering what efforts can be implemented to aid Haiti’s long-term recovery. In a blog post on NationalJournal.com, COA’s Eric Farnsworth writes: “A long term project will require long term attention, and political will that goes beyond the provision of emergency relief efforts.” Foreign Policy features five views on how to help Haiti rebuild using emergency aid and development.

Piñera Victory Ends Concertación Rule

Business tycoon Sebastián Piñera won Chile’s runoff elections on January 17, marking the first win for a conservative presidential candidate since the country’s return to democracy. According to an article in The Washington Post, Chile will most likely continue to follow free-market policies that rendered the country prosperous since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship. COA’s Christopher Sabatini, quoted in the article, said Latin Americans “are making the choice to support market economies and rational leaders.”

Read an AS/COA analysis of recent and upcoming Latin American elections.

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Massachusetts Senate Election has Implications for Latin America

January 20, 2010

Yesterday’s election in Massachusetts to fill Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat had little to do with Latin America, but the implications of Scott Brown’s victory over Martha Coakley will nonetheless resonate across the region. That’s because the victory of the Republican candidate breaks the Democrats’ super majority of 60 votes in the Senate, and will likely require renewed negotiation and accommodation in order to pass the massive health care bill that has been the top priority of the White House and Congressional leaders since early 2009. Further delay on health care means that other agenda items will have to wait even longer for the political attention required to address them, and the mood on Capitol Hill could well become still more partisan and sour.

That’s doubly true for controversial legislation, particularly as we move further into 2010, which is a midterm election year. Since President Obama was inaugurated one year ago today, three out of the four special elections have been won by Republicans (the Massachusetts Senate seat and the Governorships of Virginia and New Jersey). Only an upstate New York Congressional seat was won by the Democratic candidate, and that was after the Republican vote split over two candidates. Looking ahead to the elections in November, many observers predict that Democratic losses will mount, which means the White House and Congressional leadership will do whatever they can to improve the midterm prospects by juicing the economy, creating jobs and strengthening the support of the Democratic base, particularly organized labor.

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Argentine President Cancels China Trip

January 20, 2010

Skeptical of leaving the country for 10 days, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner postponed her Asian trip on Tuesday, calling it “too long especially when the country’s Vice President does not fulfill the role that has been assigned to him.” She went on to say that Vice President Julio Cobos cannot serve his role and be a “dissident.”

Cobos and Fernández de Kirchner have been at odds most recently over her desire to force Central Bank President Martin Redrado to step down. But the vice president urged her to "reconsider the situation" and go to China, promising that he would not sign any decrees in her absence without consent.

The January 25-28 trip would have been the first state visit to China since taking office in 2007. Her agenda was scheduled to have included meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao. Numerous cooperation agreements were to have been signed.

Bilateral relations grew tense last month after an Argentine judge had requested that Interpol issue an arrest warrant for former Chinese President Jiang Zemin over treatment of Falun Gong practitioners. With concerns mounting about Argentina’s debt, neither side would discuss whether China was prepared to provide any aid or grant loans.

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Costa Rican President's Approval Rating Lowest on Record

January 19, 2010

Costa Ricans’ confidence in the administration of President Óscar Arias has reached its lowest level in four years according to a poll released by Unimer Research International. An approval rating index maintained by the firm showed a significant drop in the first month of 2010 to 1,697 from 2,260 in November 2009. A drop in voter satisfaction was recorded in a range of areas from the government’s management of public funds to the president’s own performance.

The results come three weeks from Costa Rica’s February 7 elections during which Arias’ successor will be decided. Polls indicate that Laura Chinchilla, who resigned as vice-president in the Arias administration to run for president, is the leading candidate. However, it is likely she will face a runoff election against presidential hopeful Otto Guevara. It seems unlikely that Ms. Chinchilla will suffer due to her past association to the current administration, as both candidates are using the growing dissatisfaction with President Arias to bolster their own campaigns.

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Suspending Canada’s Parliament, Again

January 15, 2010

By suspending Parliament on December 30, 2009, the second December in a row, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was hoping to get some breathing space away from the glare of the House of Commons where his minority government’s every move has been scrutinized.

But it hasn’t exactly been a restful time. Harper’s decision to suspend the parliamentary session has been highly criticized by opposition parties and political observers alike. It has even earned him a strong rebuke in The Economist, which called the prime minister’s reasons to prorogue unconvincing.

Parliament was set to return on January 25 but will now resume on March 3. The first order of business will be the customary Throne speech to open the session, and will outline the Conservative government’s main priorities. Next up, a new deficit-fighting budget. The hope, observers say, is that the firestorm over the calls by a House of Commons parliamentary committee to establish an inquiry into the so-called Afghan detainee affair will have lost steam. Allegations that the government knew that Afghan prisoners transferred by Canadian soldiers were being abused in Afghan jails have proven embarrassing.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the Prime Minister dismissed his critics. He described his decision as a “routine” prorogation that was necessary to “recalibrate the government’s agenda” in order to focus on the economy. He even hinted in a later interview that prorogation could become a regular annual occurrence, noting that two- to three-year sessions were a bad idea.

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Campaign Ends, Piñera and Frei in Tight Race

January 15, 2010

Heading into Sunday’s presidential elections in Chile, the latest survey reports a statistical tie between Alianza candidate Sebastián Piñera (50.9 percent support) and Concertación candidate Eduardo Frei. (49.1 percent).

But the key to victory is likely to rest with the 7 perent of voters that are reported to be undecided. Voting in Chile is mandatory for all those registered.

Candidates finalized their campaigns late yesterday. Mr. Piñera did so by traveling 400 miles (600 kilometers) to three cities, with the message that he will be a president of unity. The Alianza candidate asked Chileans for an opportunity to show that he could establish a hard-working and honest government.

Mr. Frei’s last stop was in San Greogorio, one of Santiago’s poorest neighborhoods, where he emphasized that people should not “neglect democracy” by casting a blank vote and highlighted the achievements made under 20 years of Concertación rule. He stated this morning that the election will be decided by just a single vote at each polling location and thanked popular Chilean President Michelle Bachelet for her support.

Polls open on Sunday at 6:30 a.m. (EST) and begin to close at 2:30 p.m. (EST). The first official results are expected no later than 3:30 p.m. (EST).

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A Haitian-American Perspective: Resilience in the Face of Tragedy

January 14, 2010

“Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed.”

Those were the words of Haitian President René Préval as he described the level of damage caused by the 7.0 earthquake and multiple, comparable aftershocks that hit Haiti on Tuesday evening. With pictures and videos flooding in from news sources, relief organizations and even camera phones, the extent of the physical destruction seems unfathomable. Not to mention the psychological trauma of seeing everything from your house to your National Palace, the most proud symbol of Haitians' rich history, reduced to rubble. Corpses now line the streets of Port-au-Prince, and as my cousins described it, the city “smells like death.”

For many around the world, the deluge of news covering the earthquake is the first time that the conditions in Haiti are nearly impossible to ignore. And although this earthquake and its aftershocks are perhaps the worst single natural disaster to hit Haiti, it is certainly not the only one in recent years. Between August and September of 2008, Haiti was pummeled by four consecutive hurricanes that devastated the coastal region of Gonaives and left more than 800,000 in need of immediate humanitarian aid. In other words, Haitians are no strangers to nature’s fury.

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Honduran Congress Approves Withdrawal From ALBA

January 14, 2010

On Tuesday, Honduras’ Congress approved a decree handed down in December by interim President Roberto Micheletti to end Honduras’ membership in the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (ALBA), a regional organization started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Presidential spokesman Rafael Pineda, in an apparent reference to Venezuela, explained that the decision to leave was taken because “some of the countries in the organization have not treated Honduras with the respect it deserves.” Pineda also cited Venezuelan threats during the initial stages of the Honduran coup last year to invade Honduras in support of deposed President Manuel Zelaya.

Honduras joined the regional organization on August 25, 2008, during a meeting between former President Zelaya and President Chávez. However, it was not until October 9 that the membership agreement was ratified by the Honduran Congress—then, ironically, presided over by Mr. Micheletti himself.

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Reflecting on Haiti’s Earthquake

January 13, 2010

The presidential palace was, at least at the time of my visit a little over a year ago, one of the most solid-looking buildings in Port-au-Prince. Located at the center of the Champ de Mars plaza, the white structure was said to have been modeled after the White House and meant to inspire reverence.

But as we drove around the potholed streets surrounding the plaza and saw the piles of garbage and rows of crumbling buildings located within a few blocks, I remember thinking of the everyday plight of ordinary Haitians.

Sadly, the building and its neighborhood have now collapsed. And no one knows how many people may be trapped in the rubble. Yesterday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake has left the presidential palace in ruins, as well as the national cathedral located downtown and a large hospital in the suburb of Pétionville. As the news continue to trickle in, I fear that many more parts of Port-au-Prince, other large cities and parts of the countryside have fallen to pieces, leaving thousands dead or missing, and without shelter.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

January 13, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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Haiti Rocked by Destructive Earthquake

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, resulting in widespread chaos and substantial casualties. “Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed,” said Haiti’s President René Préval in an interview with The Miami Herald, who described the catastrophe as “unimaginable.” The United Nations and other agencies have warned that the rampant devastation is hampering efforts and The International Red Cross says as many as three million people have been affected and tens of thousands may have been killed by the earthquake, the epicenter of which lies just outside the Haitian capital. Images and reports of the destruction have been widely distributed via Internet and social media. Get updates via Twitter at #Haiti.

AS/COA has compiled a resource page with information about how to support relief efforts and get more information.

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